he shall blow the first danger signal, which shall be promptly answered by a danger signal by the ascending vessel; but whether answered or not, the pilot of the descending vessel shall indicate the side on which he desires to pass, and both vessels shall be governed accordingly. "RULE NUMBERED 19. (a) When two steam vessels are crossing so as to involve risk of collision, other than when one vessel is overtaking another, the vessel which has the other to starboard shall keep out of the way of the other. Either vessel shall give, as a signal of intention to comply with this rule, one distinct blast of her whistle, which the other vessel shall answer with a similar blast: Provided, however, That a steam vessel descending a river and towing another vessel or vessels shall be deemed to have the right-of-way over any steam vessel crossing the river, and shall give as a signal of her intention to hold on across the bow of the other vessel, three distinct blasts of the whistle. The crossing vessel shall immediately reply with a similar signal, and shall keep clear by stopping or going under the stern of the descending vessel. "(b) If from any cause the conditions covered by these situations are such as to prevent immediate compliance with each other's signals, the misunderstanding or objection shall be at once made apparent by blowing four or more short and rapid blasts, the danger signal, and both steam vessels shall be stopped and backed if necessary until signals for passing with safety in accordance with these rules are given, answered, and understood. "RULE NUMBERED 20. When a steam vessel and a sailing vessel are proceeding in such directions as to involve risk of collision, except when the sailing vessel is overtaking the steam vessel, the steam vessel shall keep out of the way of the sailing vessel. "RULE NUMBERED 21. Every steam vessel, when approaching another vessel so as to involve risk of collision, shall slacken her speed, or, if necessary, stop and reverse. "RULE NUMBERED 22. (a) Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules, every vessel, overtaking any other, shall keep out of the way of the overtaken vessel. "Every vessel coming up with another vessel from any direction more than two points abaft her beam shall be deemed to be an overtaking vessel; and no subsequent alteration of the bearing between the two vessels shall make the overtaking vessel a crossing vessel within the meaning of these rules, or relieve her of the duty of keeping clear of the overtaken vessel until she is finally past and clear. "As the overtaking vessel cannot always know with certainty whether she is forward of or abaft this direction from the other vessel, she should, if in doubt, assume that she is an overtaking vessel and keep out of the way. "(b) When one steam vessel is overtaking another steam vessel, so as to involve risk of collision, and the overtaking vessel shall desire to pass on the right or starboard side of the other vessel, she shall give, as a signal of such desire, one distinct blast of her whistle, and if the overtaken vessel answers with one blast, shall direct her course to starboard; or if the overtaking vessel shall desire to pass on the left or port side of the other vessel, she shall give as a signal of such desire, two distinct blasts of her whistle and if the overtaken vessel answers with two blasts, shall direct her course to port. However, if the overtaken vessel does not think it is safe for the overtaking vessel to attempt to pass at that time, she shall immediately so signify by giving several short and rapid blasts of her whistle, not less than four, and under no circumstances shall the overtaking vessel attempt to pass until such time as they have reached a point where it can be safely done, and the overtaken vessel shall have signified her willingness by blowing the proper signal, two blasts for the overtaking vessel to pass on the port side, one blast to pass on the starboard side, which signal shall be answered with a similar signal by the overtaking vessel before passing. After an agreement has been reached, the overtaken vessel shall in no case attempt to cross the bow or crowd upon the course of the overtaking vessel. "RULE NUMBERED 23. Where by rules 17, 19, 20, and 22 one of two vessels shall keep out of the way, the other shall keep her course, subject to the qualifications of rule 25. "RULE NUMBERED 24. (a) If, when steam vessels are approaching each other, either vessel for any reason fails to understand, or regards as unsafe, the course or intention of the other, the vessel in doubt shall immediately so signify by giving several short and rapid blasts of her whistle, at least four, the danger signal. "(b) Whenever a steam vessel, whether ascending or descending, is nearing a bend in a channel where, from the height of the banks or other cause, a steam vessel approaching from the other direction cannot be seen for a distance of six hundred yards, such steam vessel, when within six hundred yards of such bend-or if she have a tow projecting ahead, then when the head of such tow is within six hundred yards of the bend-shall give a signal by three distinct blasts of her whistle, which signal shall be answered by a similar signal given by any approaching steam vessel that may be within hearing around the bend. Should such signal be so answered by a steam vessel upon the farther side of such bend, then, immediately upon sighting each other, the usual signals for meeting and passing shall be given and answered. Regardless of whether an approaching vessel on the farther side of the bend is heard, such bend shall be rounded with alertness and caution. "(c) When a steam vessel is moved from her dock, or anchorage, she shall give the same signal as in the case of a steam vessel nearing a bend, but she and any approaching vessel shall be governed by rules 25 and 26 until her course is apparent, and then both vessels shall be governed by the other steering and sailing rules. "(For additional whistle signals and other regulations established by the Commandant, United States Coast Guard, see Pilot Rules for Western Rivers as prescribed under section 4233A.) "RULE NUMBERED 25. In obeying and construing these rules due regard shall be had to all dangers of navigation and collision and to any special circumstances which may render a departure from the above rules necessary in order to avoid immediate danger. When such departure becomes necessary neither vessel shall have the right-of-way and both shall navigate with caution until danger of collision is over. "RULE NUMBERED 26. Nothing in these rules shall exonerate any vessel, or the owner or master or crew thereof, from the consequences of any neglect to carry lights or signals, or of any neglect to keep a proper look-out, or of the neglect of any precaution which may be required by the ordinary practice of seamen, or by the special circumstances of the case. "RULE NUMBERED 27. All orders to helmsmen shall be given as follows: "SEC. 4233A. (a) The Commandant of the United States Coast Guard shall establish such rules to be observed on the waters mentioned in the preceding section by steam vessels in passing each other and as to the lights to be carried on such waters by ferryboats and by vessels and craft of all type when in tow of steam vessels, or operating by hand power or horsepower or drifting with the current, and any other vessels not otherwise provided for, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as he from time to time may deem necessary for safety, which rules are hereby declared special rules duly made by local authority, as provided for in article thirty of chapter eight hundred and two of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety. Two printed copies of such rules shall be furnished to all vessels and craft mentioned in this subsection, which rules shall, where practicable, be kept posted up in conspicuous places thereon. "(b) Except in an emergency, before any rules or any alteration, amendment, or repeal thereof, are established by the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard under the provisions of this section, the said Commandant shall publish such rules, alterations, amendments, and repeals and public hearings shall be held with respect thereto before the Coast Guard Merchant Marine Council on such notice as the Commandant deems reasonable under the circumstances. "SEC. 4233B. Every licensed or unlicensed pilot, engineer, mate, or master of any steam vessel, and every master or mate of any barge, canal boat, scow, or other nondescript craft, who neglects or refuses to observe the provisions of section 4233, or the regulations established in pursuance of section 4233A, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding $500, and for all damages sustained by any passenger in his person or baggage by such neglect or refusal: Provided, That nothing herein shall relieve any vessel, owner, or corporation from any liability incurred by reason of such neglect or refusal. "SEC. 4233C. Every vessel that shall be navigated without complying with the provisions of section 4233, or the regulations established in pursuance of section 4233A, shall be liable to a penalty of $500, one-half to go to the informer, for which sum the vessel so navigated shall be liable and may be seized and proceeded against by action in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction of the offense." SEC. 5. Where any Navy or Coast Guard vessel of special construction, as certified to by the Secretary of the Navy, or the Secretary of the Treasury in the case of Coast Guard vessels operating under the Treasury Department, or such official or officials as either may designate, is now or may hereafter by virtue of statute, convention, or treaty, be exempt from compliance with any requirements of the International Rules of the Road, such type of vessel shall similarly be exempt from compliance with any corresponding requirement under the rules specified in this Act. SEC. 6. This Act shall become effective on January 1, 1949. JOHN ANDREWS, Clerk. Senator REED. I will insert in the record at this point reports from in War Department, Justice Department, Commerce Department, Navy Department, United States Maritime Commission, and the Interstate Commerce Commission: WAR DEPARTMENT, August 27, 1947. Respectfully returned to the Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, United States Senate. So far as the interests committed to this Department are concerned, know of no objection to the favorable consideration of the accompanying bill, H. R. 3350, Eightieth Confiress, first session, relating to the rules for the prevention of collisions on certain inland waters of the United States and on the western rivers, and for other purposes. The Bureau of the Budget advises that there is no objection to the submission of this report. KENNETH C. ROYALL, Hon. WALLACE H. WHITE, Jr. OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR SENATOR: This is in response to your request for my views concerning the bill (S. 290) to amend the Interstate Commerce Act. This bill proposes a number of far-reaching amendments to the Interstate Commerce Act which would effect marked changes in the existing law relating to (1) suburban electric railways, (2) extension of credit for express shipments, (3) rental of cars, (4) sleeping-car companies, (5) service of notices in tariffsuspension proceedings, (6) furnishing of information by associations of carriers, (7) freight forwarders, and (8) elimination of hearings in railway cases. I shall discuss these various topics separately in detail. Sections 2, 4, 6, and 14 of the bill relate to suburban electric railways. Section 2 would provide that the spur-track exception to the authority of the Interstate Commerce Commission over the extension or abandonment of railways shall be enlarged to cover also the "acquisition" and "operation" of such spur tracks. Under existing law, the Commission in the exercise of its jurisdiction over extensions and abandonment applies the standard of “public convenience and necessity" (sec. 1 (18) of the act). On the other hand, in an acquisition or unification proceeding under section 5 the test is consistency with "public interest." Section 4 of the bill would amend section 5 (2) (a) (ii) so as to provide that that section shall not apply to the acquisition or the operation of spur tracks or the operation of spur tracks or suburban electric railways, with certain exceptions, unless such acquisition or operation is by a standard steam railroad. Section 6 of the bill would amend the definition of "carrier" as used in section 5 of the statute so as to provide that "the provisions thereof" shall not extend to the acquisition or operation of suburban electric railways, with certain exceptions. It should be noted that section 6 of the bill does not contain the proviso found in sections 2 and 4, which would include within the Commission's jurisdiction acquisition "by standard steam railroads." There is thus an apparent conflict between the provisions of section 4 and those of section 6. It should also be noted that the exceptions in sections 2, 4, and 6 of the bill would change the existing test with respect to the Commission's jurisdiction over suburban electric railways, which is whether they are "operated as a part or parts of a general steam railroad system of transporta tion." Yonkers v. United States (320 U. S. 685). The bill would make engaging "in the general transportation of freight" or the interchanging of "standard steam railroad freight equipment with steam railroads," activities which would give rise to Commission jurisdiction. Under existing law these activities are merely evidence or indicia of the fact that the suburban electric railway is operated "as a part of a general steam railroad system of transportation." Under the provisions of this section each of these activities, independently, would provide a basis for the exercise of the Commission's jurisdiction. While the interchange of equipment would probably furnish a more specific and suitable test it may be doubtful as to whether either of those activities alone should constitute a test of Commission jurisdiction. It may also be added that there is an apparent conflict between the last proviso in section 4 and section 6. Section 3 of the bill would make express companies subject to the rule applicable to railway carriers with respect to the extension of credit to shippers. There appears to be no reason why express companies should not be subject to the same rules in this connection as railway carriers. Sections 10 and 11 of the bill would give the Commission access to the records of entities "which directly or indirectly through rental agreements with shippers or otherwise" furnish cars "to or for use by" any railroad or express company or which furnish protective service against heat or cold to any such carriers. Existing law grants to the Commission such authority with respect to entities which "furnish cars or protective service against heat or cold to or on behalf of any carrier." This amendment would apparently extend the Commission's jurisdiction to those who furnish cars to shippers instead of directly to the railroads. Such extension of authority would probably be beneficial and might serve to prevent evasion or abuses in the matter of car service. Section 14 of the bill would amend the provisions of existing law dealing with issuance of securities by carriers so as to include "sleeping-car companies" and "any corporation organized for the purpose of engaging in the sleeping-car business." Sections 7, 18, and 23 of the bill would provide that in proceedings before the Commission involving the lawfulness of rates, notice of suspension of a tariff or schedule may be made upon the carriers' attorney in fact who has filed the tariff or schedule in such proceedings, and sections 18 and 23 would permit the service of such notices by ordinary mail instead of by registered mail as required by existing law. Sections 8, 9, 13, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, and 27 would amend various portions of the present statute so as to add associations or organizations maintained by or in the interest of any group of carriers to those entities from which the Commission may require information and data. Section 19 would provide a penalty for failure to comply with information requirements. Authority over the control of freight forwarders would be granted to the Commission by section 24 of the bill. It would permit directors, officers, employees, or agents of carriers to own stock in freight forwarders upon a showing to the Commission that "neither public nor private interests will be adversely affected thereby." Existing law permits carriers to own freight forwarders and no reason appears why officers and employees of carriers should be prohibited from owning stock in freight forwarders. This section also contains a provision dealing with the acquisition of control of freight forwarders. In this connection it should be noted that this section would carry with it immunity from the antitrust laws, and consideration might be given to the question as to whether this new provision might not better be made in the form of an amendment to section 5 of the Interstate Commerce Act. Section 5 of the bill would eliminate the mandatory requirement of a hearing in cases involving acquisition of control of motor carriers by railroads and to that extent would weaken the law directed against railroad control of competitive forms of transportation. In final analysis, whether this bill should be enacted involves a question of legislative policy concerning which I prefer not to make any suggestions. I have been advised by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget that there is no objection to the submission of this report. Sincerely yours, TOM C. CLARK, Mr. EDWARD JARRETT, THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE, Washington 25, September 15, 1947. Clerk, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. DEAR MR. JARRETT: This letter is in further answer to your communication of July 9, 1947, in which the committee asks the Secretary for such comments as he may care to offer concerning H. R. 3350, an act relating to the rules for the prevention of collisions on certain inland waters of the United States and on the western rivers, and for other purposes. The Department is in accord with the purposes of the bill, to adopt uniform rules governing navigation along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and to modernize the western river rules originally written in 1864. It is the opinion of the Department that the proposed territorial adjustments of coverage of the western river rules and the inland rules will accomplish the purpose of desired uniformity. The attention of the committee is invited to the possibility of an ambiguity in the proposed legislation, and a suggested solution to the ambiguity is offered. Section 3 defines the classes of persons subject to penalties for failure to conform to the act and regulations thereunder. Included as a class are "every pilot, engineer, mate, or master of any steam vessel." Subsequently, in section 4, rule No. 1, a "steam vessel" is defined in broad terms as including any vessel propelled by machinery, or every vessel under power, whether under sail or not. The definition is expressly limited to use "in the rules." To accomplish the purposes of H. R. 3350, it seems necessary that pilots of motor vessels should be subject to penalties for violations of pilot rules just as much as pilots of steam vessels. Because the penalty provisions precede the definition of steam vessel, which is very broad, and because the definition is limited to use in the rules whereas the penalty provision is for violation of provisions of this act or regulations established thereunder, there may well be a basis for construction of the act which would avoid subjecting pilots of motor vessels to the penalties of the act for violation of the rules contained in the statute, or of regulations other than these rules. The principle of statutory construction requiring strict construction of penal laws will govern the construction of the penal provisions of this bill, and for this reason the description of classes subject to penalties should be exceedingly explicit. Addition of the words "as defined in rule numbered 1" after the words "steam vessel," line 13, page 4, is suggested as a method of obviating this ambiguity. The elimination, by the proposed bill, of references in existing law to supervising inspectors of steam vessels, the Director of the Bureau of the Marine Inspection and Navigation, or the Secretary of Commerce is in accord with our construction of the effect of Executive Order 9083, February 28, 1942 (7 F. R. 1609), issued by the authority of title I of the First War Powers Act of 1941. Among other functions, this Executive order transferred to the Bureau of Customs and the United States Coast Guard all functions of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation, the Office of the Director thereof, the offices of supervising inspectors, and those functions of the Secretary of Commerce which pertain thereto. In view of the fact that technical details concerning navigation operations are outside the purview of the Department's responsibilites, we are unable to comment on this phase of the proposed legislation. I have been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there is no objection to the submission of this report to the committee. Sincerely yours, DAVID BRUCE, Acting Secretary of Commerce. THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, Hon. WALLACE H. WHITE, Jr., Chairman of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, United States Senate. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The bill H. R. 3350, relating to the rules for the prevention of collisions on certain inland waters of the United States and on western rivers, and for other purposes, was referred by your committee to the Navy Department with request for a report thereon. |