wise and ought to be defeated. That the bill under consideration would have that effect appears to be recognized by the chairman of the committee, and he answers by saying he does not care.

"Now, Mr. Chairman, it would seem to me that no argument should be necessary to convince any one that the cost of carrying the different classes of mail matter varies materially. If the argument adduced from the position taken and the assumptions made finds itself based on a false assumption, then the argument itself necessarily falls to the ground. It must be apparent that the cost of handling and carrying first-class mail matter is much larger than the cost of carrying and handling second-class matter. The handling of the pieces of mail matter known as first-class matter involves a large number of separate handlings. In the first place, the stamps must be printed, distributed, and canceled. Every piece of first-class mail matter passes through from three to four postmarkings. Then, in addition to that, the various distributions which do not obtain in second-class mail matter must be taken into consideration.

"In handling second-class mail matter, under the present laws and regulations a large amount of the handling, perhaps one half of it fully, is done by the publishers themselves. The publications are assorted into mail sacks for States, cities, counties, etc., and are delivered in that condition to the Post Office Department, and by it delivered to the various places along the various postal routes. It must be evident, therefore, that the cost of handling that class of matter is not at all equal to the cost of handling first-class matter.

"But let us give an illustration of the methods of reckoning adopted by the committee with reference to this matter. Now, it is alleged-and the attack made upon the existing law is based upon the allegation that it costs 84 cents per pound to carry all of this matter which it is sought by the bill to cut out of the privilege it enjoys under the present rate.

"During the year ending June 30, 1894, there was an increase of 43,000,000 pounds of secondclass mail matter carried. The methods of computation adopted by the committee give the expense of carrying this increase in the amount of second-class matter to the department, and, according to their methods of computation, it must have been the sum found by multiplying 43,000,000 pounds by 84 cents per pound, which it is alleged to have cost, or in the aggregate $3,655,000.

"Now, it is shown by the report of the Second Assistant Postmaster-General of the same year that the total increase of the expenses of the department was but $1,777,362.22, and that increase covered not only the cost of carrying the mails, but it covered also the cost of securing 766 new routes, representing an increase of 913-37 miles, with an actual increase in the distance traveled of 15,310,780-61 miles, and included the salaries of railway and post-office clerks necessary, and special facilities and mail equipment. The average cost of carrying the mails per mile for that year is stated to have been 11:43 cents. At that rate. the cost to the department of the increased facilities must have been $1,750,022.21. Take away from the increased cost of running the department in that year the cost of obtaining and conducting the increased mail facilities for that year, and it leaves the total increase of cost of carrying the mails at $27,340.01. And yet we are told by the committee in the face of these facts, which are in the reports cited by the committee and approved by them, that the chief cost due to the carrying of this second-class matter to which they object at the pound rate was $3,655,000.

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"Now, if the committee can present any sort of demonstration to the House which will unravel that problem, it will do more than has yet been done by any member of the committee and more than I believe to be within the possibilities. If the increased expense for transportation and mail service generally costs $1,777,362.22, and the increased facilities thereby secured are valued at $1,750,022.21, how much did it actually cost the department to carry the 43,000,000 additional pounds of second-class matter?

"The cost of carrying the second-class matter is not at all what it is alleged to be. For the reason that I stated at the outset, a large proportion of the cost is paid by the publishers of these publications, who assort them, separate them, put them into sacks for delivery along the postal routes, at no expense to the Government other than the mere transportation and delivery by the Post Office Department at the points of destination. It does not require a very wise carrier to understand that if he has a wagon and team capable of carrying 50 boxes of goods of any kind and he has but 40 to carry, the expense of his trip is not thereby reduced. On the contrary, the humblest drayman understands that the offer of 10 additional boxes would increase his receipts without increasing his expenses (wear and tear excepted). In fact, it would be just that much money found.

"I have not time to say all that I should like to say upon this bill. It seems to me that, instead of having the title which is given to it, it ought to be entitled 'A bill to tax the dissemination of intelligence among the people.'

"While there have been and are abuses which ought to be remedied in the administration of the postal system, it is unquestionably true that under the operation of existing laws and regulations the United States leads the world in the production of newspapers and periodicals of the highest grade and at the lowest prices. The publishing business of the country is not conducted as a charity; it is a business, and is engaged in and conducted for a profit. When the profit ceases the business fails or is abandoned. The postage is an item of expense that is taken into account as is any other item of expense. Had this bill been in operation during the past twenty years the magnificent daily newspapers now published at 1 cent per copy in all parts of the country, a mirror of the world's doings up to the hour of going to press, would have been an iridescent dream.' If there were no other objection to the bill, this ought to be sufficient to insure its defeat.

"But it strikes a harder blow, if possible, at the country newspapers, which at best have a hard row to hoe. And the country newspapers are entitled to the highest consideration in any legislation which proposes to change existing postal laws and regulations. The right to send out sample copies, the right to send a copy free to a friend, the right to exchange with other papers, the right to continue a subscription after the time paid for has expired, the right to offer as an inducement for additional subscribers a premium in the shape of a supplement containing some work of fiction, the right to combine his own paper with some metropolitan weekly which is furnished at a very low price, are all regarded as valuable, and, speaking from personal experience, they are valuable. All of these rights are jeopardized by this bill, if they are not entirely swept away. It is not a hazardous prediction to say that if this bill becomes a law the country press, the mainstay of patriotism and devotion to free institutions among the masses of the people, will be weakened financially and weakened in its ability for good. The splendid country weeklies

of to-day, carrying to the homes of the people each week a volume of excellent and varied information, will in all probability be reduced to the decrepit weeklies of a quarter of a century ago, in which were merely chronicled the sayings and doings of the neighborhoods in which they were published. This would be a calamity.

"The bill proposes to drive out of the second class into the third class, or out of the mails entirely, all books or reprints of books, whether they be issued complete or in parts, whether they be bound or unbound, whether they be sold by subscription or otherwise, or whether they purport to be premiums or supplements or parts of regular newspapers: all sample copies of newspapers or periodicals; all exchange copies of newspapers or periodicals; all copies sent free by the publisher; all unsold copies returned to news companies or to the publishers. And, in addition to all this, it invests the Post Office Department with supreme power to adopt such rules and regulations for the determination of any question affecting the right of a newspaper or periodical to be carried in the mails as secondclass matter as practically creates a press censorship; narrows the field now occupied by a large portion of the press of the country, and necessarily cripples its usefulness. All this is proposed in the interest of economy in the service, upon a theory which has been shown to be visionary and unsound. "Third-class matter costs the Government to handle more than double what it costs to handle second-class matter. It covers printed matter other than periodical publications. In addition to the handling and furnishing and canceling of stamps, the packages must be handled and sorted, both at the office of deposit and that of delivery. The mails are used as a rule only to send small packages, or to places remote from the railroads, and which are not reached by the express companies.

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The express companies carry this class of matter to practically all of their delivery points, under a special printed-matter' rate, at 2 cents per package less than the mail rate. The rate is advertised as 10 cents for each 1 pound or less, and for single packages exceeding 1 pound, 1 cent for each additional 2 ounces. The third-class mail rate for 1 pound is 12 cents, and 1 cent for each additional 2 ounces or fraction. This 'printedmatter' rate was evidently adopted by the express companies for the purpose of securing the handling of all such matter as can be handled profitably, leaving to the Government the handling of packages costing less than 10 cents per package, or destined to remote points not reached by the companies. This becomes very apparent when it is remembered that the 'printed-matter' rate was not the result of competition among the companies, but was a 'pool' agreement among them. For the year ending June 30, 1894, the pieces of third-class matter carried by the mails only amounted to about 12 per cent. of the whole number of pieces of mail carried, and the percentage has not increased very much, if any, since. Under the operation of this bill, should it become a law, all of the matter transferred from the second class to the third class which can be profitably handled will be carried by the express companies.

"When the declaration of the chairman of the committee that he does not care' is remembered, along with the significant fact that the express companies are all for the bill, is it wholly unwarrantable to inquire if the bill is not framed rather in the interest of the express companies than of the people? If the express companies continue to handle the profitable third-class matter, which they will do as long as they have a cheaper rate, how

will the increase of third-class matter through the transfer to that class of matter now in the second class decrease the deficit in the revenues of the department? Since it costs about as much to operate a postal car carrying 10 tons of mail as it does when it carries 20 tons, inasmuch as the operating expenses of the department are not seriously decreased by a decrease in the amount of mail handled, the question of how this bill enacted into law will enable the Post Office Department to become self-sustaining becomes a problem which will probably wait for a solution until it is demonstrated how one from 2 leaves 3."

The measure was reported with amendments in the Senate by a majority of the committee on post offices and post roads, and Mr. Butler, of South Carolina, presented a minority report in opposition.

The majority report said:

This bill was received from the House on Jan. 7, 1897. The committee found a widespread interest in the bill prevailing throughout the country; on the one hand on the part of those patrons of the mails sending second-class matter, who appeared to desire to preserve the present system substantially as it exists, and on the other hand on the part of those who wish alleged abuses to be corrected, hoping that the saving in expenditure thereby effected will enable the Post Office Department, without too great an increase of its annual deficit in revenues, to give to the public a 1-cent rate of postage on single letters, or otherwise to give benefits to the community not now attainable. Hearings were asked for on both sides and given by the committee on the 16th, 23d, and 30th days of January.

"As time has passed, it has seemed to the committee that with the wide difference of opinion existing between the various interests and also among members of the committee as to the extent of existing abuses and the proper method of providing remedies, it will not be possible to secure passage of the bill through the Senate at the present session.

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The committee, however, report the bill to the Senate, with certain amendments prepared by the acting chairman, in order that it may be taken up for consideration, if time permits, each member reserving opinion upon the amendments and the bill until they come up for consideration.

"The committee also recommend that a postal commission be created by legislation, as follows:

"That the questions concerning the correction of alleged abuses in the postal service in connection with second-class mail matter, the extension of free delivery to rural regions, the reduction of the cost of the railroad transportation of the mails, the adoption of 1-cent postage for single letters, and other like questions, shall be examined by a postal reform commission of five, to consist of the two chairmen in the Senate and House of the present Committees on Post Offices and Post Roads, the PostmasterGeneral, and two citizens to be appointed by the President, who shall make their report and recommendations for legislation to the next Congress; and for the services of said civilian commissioners and the expenses of said commission the sum of $10,000 is hereby appropriated, to be immediately available and to be expended according to the direction of the Postmaster-General; said commission to expire on the 31st day of December, 1897."

The minority report asserts the deficiencies in the Post Office Department to be due to exorbitant rates paid for mail service:

"The attempt to reform the mail service and reduce expenses in the manner proposed by this bill, without any information from the department or otherwise as to what are the abuses, seems to the

undersigned as very inopportune, and is, at least, a leap in the dark, if there are no interested parties promoting the legislation. It will be seen by a letter from the Postmaster-General, attached to this report, that the department has no information which will enable it to point out what class of matter sent through the mails occasions the deficit. The department is unable to make any estimate of the cost of carrying newspapers, and particularly the great Sunday dailies, through the mails, and the cost of carrying the literature which is authorized by law. It is stated that the average cost of all mail matter is over 8 cents per pound, or $160 per ton. It seems to the undersigned that a great reduction might be made in the aggregate cost of carrying the mails. It will be observed that the second-class matter pays 1 cent per pound, or $20 per ton, and as this goes in bulk the expense of handling it can not be greatly in excess of the expense of handling ordinary freight. The average distance which this second-class matter would, we should suppose, without accurate information, certainly make the charge more than 1 cent per ton per mile, which is largely in excess of ordinary freight rates. The enormous cost of $160 per ton for carrying the mails, it seems to the undersigned, can not be accounted for by the expense of handling the letter mails and business connected with the first-class mail matter. This amount is certainly many times the cost of the service rendered. Neither the express companies nor private individuals pay any such rate.

Without any means of making an accurate examination ourselves, our attention has been called by various persons professing to be experts to the extravagance of the department in dealing with the railroad companies. A very able and carefully prepared article on this subject, written by Hon. James L. Cowles, the author of A General Freight and Passenger Post,' appeared in the February number of the Outlook." This article proves very clearly that the deficit is caused by the very exorbitant and unreasonable rates which the Government now pays to railroads for carrying the mails. The New York World,' among others, published a statement on Jan. 30, showing that a saving could be made of more than the deficiency by proper supervision and contract with the railroads and the enormous amount paid for the leasing of cars, which could be largely saved if the Government owned its own cars. The saving which could be made in this respect alone is estimated by experts to amount to at least $10,000,000 per year. Of course, the undersigned is unable at this time to go into details with regard to these matters, but, on a cursory examination, is thoroughly satisfied that the deficiency in the mails results from

"First, the exorbitant charges paid the railroads

for the use of mail cars. "Second, the very liberal contracts which the Government makes with the railroad corporations for carrying the mails. The amount paid per ton is enormously and absurdly high.

"Third, the lax supervision which the Government exercises over the performance of the service, and especially with reference to the amount of matter which the railroads profess to haul, and for which the Government is charged.

"The statements that the present postal deficit is due to the transportation of second-class postal matter at 1 cent per pound are altogether misleading-I had almost said intentionally misleading. It seems perfectly clear from the facts presented in the articles above referred to that the postal deficit is not due to the 1-cent-a-pound postal rate paid to the Government by the people, but to the 8-cent-a

pound tax levied on the Government by our railway kings, and this, although the service would yield a handsome profit at one half a cent per pound. The Government pays the railroads for a great deal more weight than the roads really haul. It is the fault of the Government that this is done. Besides, the contract price is entirely too high. During the last twenty years freight rates have been reduced about 40 per cent., yet the Government is now paying about the same rates that it did twenty years ago. Why do not those who are so much concerned about the deficit in the Post Office Department turn their attention to these big leakages and gross abuses? Let those who profess to favor economy and reform help to correct these abuses." The measure was not put to a passage in the Senate.

Copyright.-Feb. 9, 1897, the House passed a bill amending the copyright law, which the Senate amended and passed on March 3, as follows:

"Be it enacted, etc., That section 4963 of the Revised Statutes of the United States be, and the same is hereby, amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 4963. Every person who shall insert or impress such notice, or words of the same purport, in or upon any book, map, chart, dramatic or musical composition, print, cut, engraving, or photograph, or other article, whether such article be subject to copyright or otherwise, for which he has not obtained a copyright, or shall knowingly issue or sell any article bearing a notice of United States copyright which has not been copyrighted in this country; or shall import any book, photograph, chromo, or lithograph, or other article bearing such notice of copyright or words of the same purport, which is not copyrighted in this country, shall be liable to a penalty of $100, recoverable one half for the person who shall sue for such penalty and one half to the use of the United States; and the importation into the United States of any book, chromo, lithograph, or photograph, or other article bearing such notice of copyright, when there is no existing copyright thereon in the United States, is prohibited; and the circuit courts of the United States sitting in equity are hereby authorized to enjoin the issuing, publishing, or selling of any article marked or imported in violation of the United States copyright laws, at the suit of any person complaining of such violation: Provided, That, this act shall not apply to any importation of or sale of such goods or articles brought into the United States prior to the passage hereof. "SEC. 2. That all laws and parts of laws inconsistent with the foregoing provision be, and the same are hereby, repealed.'

The measure was approved by the President.

The Congress passed, for the protection of dramatic and musical authors, the following amendment to the copyright laws, which the President duly approved:

"Be it enacted, etc., That section 4966 of the Revised Statutes be, and the same is hereby, amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 4966. Any person publicly performing or representing any dramatic or musical composition for which a copyright has been obtained, without the consent of the proprietor of said dramatic or musical composition, or his heirs or assigns, shall be liable for damages therefor, such damages in all cases to be assessed at such sum, not less than $100 for the first and $50 for every subsequent performance, as to the court shall appear to be just. If the unlawful performance and representation be willful and for profit, such person or persons shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction be impris oned for a period not exceeding one year. Any injunction that may be granted upon hearing after

notice to the defendant by any circuit court of the United States, or by a judge thereof, restraining and enjoining the performance or representation of any such dramatic or musical composition may be served on the parties against whom such injunction may be granted anywhere in the United States, and shall be operative and may be enforced by proceedings to punish for contempt or otherwise by any other circuit court or judge in the United States; but the defendants in said action, or any or either of them, may make a motion in any other circuit in which he or they may be engaged in performing or representing said dramatic or musical composition to dissolve or set aside the said injunction upon such reasonable notice to the plaintiff as the circuit court or the judge before whom said motion shall be made shall deem proper; service of said motion to be made on the plaintiff in person or on his attorneys in the action. The circuit courts or judges thereof shall have jurisdiction to enforce said injunction and to hear and determine a motion to dissolve the same, as herein provided, as fully as if the action were pending or brought in the circuit in which said motion is made.

"The clerk of the court, or judge granting the injunction, shall, when required so to do by the court hearing the application to dissolve or enforce said injunction, transmit without delay to said court a certified copy of all the papers on which the said injunction was granted that are on file in his office."" The reasons for this action are set forth in the committee report in favor of the measure:

"The purpose of the proposed measure is twofold: First to secure to musical compositions the same measure of protection under the copyright law as is now afforded to productions of a strictly dramatic character. There can be no reason why the same protection should not be extended to one species of literary property of this general character as to the other, and the omission to include protective provisions for musical compositions in the law sought to be amended was doubtless the result of oversight. The committee is of the opinion that the existing law should be so amended as to provide adequate protection to this species of literary production. "The bill provides, secondly, for added means for the protection of authors of dramatic and operatic

works.

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In recent years the business of producing and staging plays and operas by American authors has largely increased, and in many instances have met with the very highest measure of success. Many of the best stage productions of modern times have been the work of American authors.

These productions in many instances have been carefully and elaborately placed upon the stage at very heavy expense to proprietors and managers, and their representation has given employment in various ways to thousands of people.

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The existing law relative to copyrights has been found to be inadequate to properly protect authors and producers of American plays and operas in the enjoyment of their rights of property in these duly copyrighted productions.

Persons in various sections of the country have, without the shadow of right or authority, pirated these works, and, confining their operations chiefly to the smaller and more remote towns, have given representations of these stolen productions for their own individual profit, and without making any compensation whatever to authors or owners. Under existing conditions no adequate remedy exists for this unlawful usurpation of property rights.

"The offenders are almost uniformly men with out attachable means, and defy all the ordinary processes by which they might be mulcted in damages. The representation of these pirated produc

tions is generally given for a night or two only at a given place, and the offenders flit from section to section and from State to State and bid defiance to the processes of the courts seeking to restrain their unlawful acts.

"Serious embarrassments have arisen in the efforts to enforce these judicial orders and to punish offenders for disobedience of them.

"While it is true that an injunction order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction is operative upon the conscience of the party restrained everywhere in the United States, it appears that an attachment for contempt of such order can not be executed except in the circuit of the court which issued the original order, and this bill seeks to overcome this difficulty.

"The bill further provides that the piracy, the unlawful production of any duly copyrighted play or opera, if it be determined that such unlawful representation was willful and for profit, shall be a misdemeanor, and shall subject the offender, upon conviction, to the liability of imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year.

"The reason for the enactment of this provision has already been outlined.

"The unauthorized publication of a copyrighted book may ordinarily be adequately punished through civil proceedings and under the provisions of exist ing law. The offender in such case is a person of fixed domicile, and has a press and the implements of his business, so that the ordinary processes of the court may readily be served upon him, and he may be compelled to respond in damages for his wrongdoing.

These conditions do not exist, as a rule, in the case of the professional play pirate.

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'It is difficult to serve him with injunction and court orders because of his migratory habits, and as he is frequently without attachable means it is impossible to satisfy a money judgment against him.

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Testimony has been adduced before the committee showing that the losses accruing to authors and owners of copyrighted productions by these piracies amount to large sums each year. So little protection is in fact afforded under existing conditions that many prominent American dramatic authors no longer go to the trouble and expense of taking out copyrights for their works.

"Conceding that for light causes nothing should be added to the jurisdiction or powers of the Federal courts, it would seem that the circumstances in connection with the wholesale piracy of these productions of native authors demand that something more nearly akin to drastic measures should be invoked to remedy the evil."

Selling Liquor to Indians.-Jan. 18, 1897, the House took up and passed the following measure, to prohibit the sale of intoxicating drinks to Indians, providing penalties therefor, and for other purposes:

"Be it enacted, etc., That any person who shall sell, give away, dispose of, exchange, or barter any malt, spirituous, or vinous liquor, including beer, ale, and wine, or any ardent or other intoxicating liquor of any kind whatsoever, or any essence, extract, bitters, preparation, compound, composition, or any article whatsoever, under any name, label, or brand, which produces intoxication, to any Indian to whom allotment of land has been made while the title to the same shall be held in trust by the Government, or to any Indian a ward of the Government under charge of any Indian superintendent or agent, or any Indian, including mixed bloods, over whom the Government, through its departments, exercises guardianship, and any person who shall introduce, or attempt to introduce, any malt, spirituous, or vinous liquor, including beer,

ale, and wine, or any ardent or intoxicating liquor of any kind whatsoever into the Indian country, which term shall include any Indian allotment while the title to the same shall be held in trust by the Government, or while the same shall remain inalienable by the allottee without the consent of the United States, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than sixty days, and by a fine of not less than $100 for the first offense and not less than $200 for each offense thereafter: Provided, however, That the person convicted shall be committed until fine and costs are paid. But it shall be a sufficient defense to any charge of introducing, or attempting to introduce, ardent spirits, ale, beer, wine, or intoxicating liquors into the Indian country that the acts charged were done under authority, in writing, from the War Department or any officer duly authorized thereunto by the War Department. "SEC. 2. That so much of the act of the 23d day of July, 1892, as is inconsistent with the provisions of this act is hereby repealed."

The necessity for such legislation was set forth in the report of the Committee on Indian Affairs, which said:

"This proposed legislation amends the existing statutes in three particulars: First, it makes it unlawful to sell, give away, dispose of, exchange, or barter any essence, extract, bitters, preparation, compound, composition, or any article whatsoever under any name, label, or brand which produces intoxication'; second, the punishment by imprisonment for not more than two years, or by a fine of not more than $300 for each offense' is changed to 'imprisonment for not less than sixty days and by a fine of not less than $100 for the the first offense, and not less than $200 for each offense thereafter'; third, the term Indian is defined to embrace an Indian 'to whom allotment of land has been made, while the title to the same shall be held in trust by the Government'; an Indian 'a ward of the Government under charge of any Indian superintendent or agent'; or an Indian, including mixed bloods, over whom the Government, through its departments, exercises guardianship.'

"The vendors of intoxicating liquors on Indian reservations have used every possible device and scheme to evade the Indian Bureau, the authorities, and law, until they have gone to the extreme of having intoxicating liquors, under labels or brands of essences, extracts, bitters, preparations, compounds, or compositions containing pickles, fruits, and other articles of diet, specially prepared for this traffic with the Indians.

"The violators under the present law, which provides they shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than two years, or by a fine of not more than $300 dollars for each offense,' are pleased to pay the small fine imposed by the courts, gain their liberty, and return to the reservation to continue the occupation of their nefarious traffic. The minimum punishment in this bill is sixty days' imprisonment and a fine of $100 for the first offense, and a fine of $200 for each offense thereafter.

"The district courts of the United States have held that a sale of intoxicating liquors to an Indian to whom an allotment of land has been made does not, under the existing statutes, constitute an offense."

The measure was strongly urged by the Secretary of the Interior, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the United States district attorney, and the Indian Rights Association. The Senate passed it Jan. 23, and it was approved by the President Feb. 5. Commerce and Navigation. The House passed a bill to amend the laws relating to navigation; and the Senate adopted a substitute measure, in which the House refused to concur. A conference

committee was appointed, and reported the bill in the following form, which was accepted by House and Senate on the last day of the session and approved by the President:

"Be it enacted, etc., That section 4507 of the Revised Statutes be, and is hereby, amended to read as follows:

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SEC. 4507. The Secretary of the Treasury shall assign in public buildings or otherwise procure suitable offices and rooms for the shipment and discharge of seamen, to be known as shipping commissioners' offices, and shall procure furniture, stationery, printing, and other requisites for the transaction of the business of such offices.'

"SEC. 2. That on and after June 30, 1898, every place appropriated to the crew of a seagoing vessel of the United States, except a fishing vessel, yacht, or pilot boat, and all vessels under 200 tons register, shall have a space of not less than 72 cubic feet and not less than 12 square feet measured on the deck or floor of that place for each seamen or apprentice lodged therein: Provided, That any such seagoing sailing vessel built or rebuilt after June 30, 1898, shall have a space of not less than 100 cubic feet and not less than 16 square feet measured on the deck or floor of that space for each seaman or apprentice lodged therein. Such place shall be securely constructed, properly lighted, drained, heated, and ventilated, properly protected from weather and sea, and, as far as practicable, properly shut off and protected from the effluvium of cargo or bilge water.

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Fishing vessels, yachts, and pilot boats are hereby exempted from the provisions of section 1 of chapter 173 of the laws of 1895, entitled 'An Act to amend section 1 of chapter 398 of the laws of 1882, entitled 'An Act to provide for deductions from the gross tonnage of vessels of the United States," so far as said section prescribes the amount of space which shall be appropriated to the crew and provides that said space shall be kept free from goods or stores not being the personal property of the crew in use during the voyage.

"And on and after June 30, 1898, every steamboat of the United States plying upon the Mississippi river or its tributaries shall furnish an appropriate place for the crew, which shall conform to the requirements of this section so far as they shall be applicable thereto by providing sleeping room in the engine room of the steamboats, properly protected from the cold, winds, and rain by means of suitable awnings or screens on either side of the guards or sides and forward, reaching from the boiler deck to the lower or main deck, under the direction and approval of the Supervising Inspector General of Steam Vessels, and shall be properly heated. Any failure to comply with this section shall subject the owner or owners to a penalty of $500.

"SEC. 3. That section 4576 of the Revised Stattutes be, and is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 4576. The master of every vessel bound on a foreign voyage or engaged in the whale fishery shall exhibit the certified copy of the list of the crew to the first boarding officer at the first port in the United States at which he shall arrive on his return, and also produce the persons named therein to the boarding officer, whose duty it shall be to examine the men with such list and to report the same to the collector; and it shall be the duty of the collector at the port of arrival, where the same is different from the port from which the vessel originally sailed, to transmit a copy of the list so reported to him to the collector of the port from which such vessel originally sailed. For each failure to produce any person on the certified copy of the list