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A draught of a bill to protect United States buoyage and light-house property.

JANUARY 25, 1873.-Referred to the Committee on Commerce and ordered to be printed.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., January 21, 1873. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a communication from Professor Joseph Henry, chairman of the Light-House Board, dated the 18th instant, inclosing a draught of a bill to protect United States buoyage and light-house property from trespass, injury, &c., and stating, in explanation, that the buoys are liable to be moved by vessels which are in the habit of making fast to them to save the trouble of anchoring, and that the inclosed bill has been drawn for the purpose of protecting the buoy-service from this particular practice, and from similar trespasses; and inclosing a copy of a letter from the collector of customs at Alexandria, Virginia, in which the fact is forcibly set forth that this growing evil can only be checked by national legislation; also stating that it has been thought best to provide penalties for certain other offenses against the Light-House Establishment, specified in the draught of the bill inclosed, which are becoming too frequent, and for which the usual remedies seem inadequate.

I have respectfully to state that I concur in the recommendation of he Light-House Board for the enactment of a law, such as is referred to n the letter of its chairman, above mentioned.

I am, very respectfully,

Hon. JAMES G. BLAINE,

GEO. S. BOUTWELL,

Secretary.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,

OFFICE OF THE LIGHT-HOUSE BOARD,
Washington, January 18, 1873.

SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith a draught of a bill to protect United States buoyage and light-house property, and respectfully request that you will transmit it to Congress, with such suggestions as to its becoming a law as you may deem proper.

The buoys of the Light-House Establishment are moored in the waters of every sea-board and lake, State and Territory, and on the 1st of July last there were 2,762 of these aids to navigation in position. They are to the mariner by day what the lights are to him by night. The unan nounced removal of a buoy would be likely to perplex a pilot, but one not in its proper position would be very likely to mislead him, and might easily be a cause for shipwreck. It requires the constant services of ten steam buoy-tenders to keep these buoys in good order and in their prescribed places, they being always liable to be moved by drifting ice, or by stress of wind and wave, and, I regret to say, by vessels which are in the habit of making fast to them to save the trouble of anchoring, It is to protect the buoy-service from this particular practice, and from similar trespasses, that this bill has been drawn.

Several of the States, aware of the great danger to which mariners are exposed by such proceedings, have passed laws (copies of which are inclosed) prohibiting and punishing interference with the buoys. But as these laws operate only within the States which have passed them, vessels or individuals infringing them have only to cross the line of the State in which the offense was committed to virtually escape punishment. This fact is forcibly set forth in a letter to the board from the collector of customs at Alexandria, Virginia, a copy of which is sub mitted, and from which it appears that this growing evil can only be checked by national legislation.

In connection with this matter, it has been thought best to provide penalties for certain other offenses against the Light-House Establishment, specified in the draught of the bill inclosed, which are becoming too frequent, and for which the usual remedies seem inadequate.

Very respectfully,

Hon. GEORGE S. BOUTWELL,

JOSEPH HENRY.

Chairman.

Secretary of the Treasury.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled, That any person or persons who shall moor any vessel, vessels, or rafts of any kind whatsoever. of any name or description, to any buoy or beacon placed in any navigable waters, br authority of the United States Light-House Board, or who shall in any manner attach any such vessel to any such buoy or beacon; and that any person or persons who shall willfully remove or destroy any such buoy or beacon; and that any person or persons who shall cut down, remove, or destroy any beacon or beacons erected on laud by the authority of the aforesaid board, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof before any United States court, shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding dollars nor less than dollars, and by imprisonment not less than days nor more than days; and the cost of replacing any buoy or beacon in any navigable waters of the United States so destroyed by any vessel or vessels shall become a lien upon such vessel or vessels, and shall be so recorded, when the fact bas been duly ascertained, in any court of admiralty; and the lien shall remain in full force until satisfaction thereof is duly recorded.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the master of any vesse which shall, by collision, or in any other way, have removed, misplaced, or destroved

any such buoy or beacon, to enter the fact on his log, giving time and place, and naming as nearly as possible the buoy or beacon by the name or number by which it appears in buoy-lists published by said Light-House Board, and on arrival at the next United States port to furnish the collector of said port with an extract from said log, duly certified, containing said facts; and any failure to note said fact on said log, or to report said fact to said collector, shall be taken and held to be evidence that said displacement or destruction of said buoy or beacon was willful, and said master shall, upon conviction thereof in any United States court, be held to have committed a misdemeanor, and shall be punished in the manner provided in the foregoing section; and the vessel shall be held in any admiralty court liable for any and all damages so inflicted, and the assessed cost of such damage shall constitute a lien against such vessel, and shall so remain until such lien is satisfied in form and manner as recited in the foregoing section. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That any person or persons who shall cut down any tree or trees upon any light-house site, or shall in any way willfully mutilate, injure, or destroy any boat or boats, fence or fences, building or buildings, upon any light-house site, shall, upon conviction thereof before any United States court, be punished by a and by imprisonment of - dollars, and not less than fine of not more than days; and one-third of the fine shall days, and not less than not more than go to the informer, and the remainder to the Light-House Establishment; and the offender shall be liable for the damage so inflicted under action on the case before any United States Court.

STATE LAWS, ETC.
STATE OF MAINE.

IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIFTY-NINE.

AN ACT for the protection of buoys and beacons.

Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives in legislature assembled, as follows: Any person who shall moor any vessel, scow, or raft to any buoy or beacon placed by the United States in any of the navigable waters of this State, or who shall in any manner make fast thereto any vessel, boat, scow, or raft, shall forfeit and pay fifty dollars; and any person who shall willfully remove or destroy any such buoy or beacon, shall forfeit one hundred dollars, and be imprisoned in the common jail three months. Said forfeitures may be recovered by complaint or action of debt before any court competent to try the same; one-half to the plaintiff or informer, and the other half to the county in which the trial shall be had.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

This bill having had three several readings, passed to be enacted.

This bill having had three several readings, passed to be enacted.

Approved.

February 16, 1859.

WM. T. JOHNSON, Speaker.
IN SENATE, February 18, 1859.
C. W. GODDARD, President.
FEBRUARY 19, 1859.
LOT M. MORRILL.

SECRETARY'S OFFICE,
Augusta, February 28, 1859.

I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the original as deposited in this office.

LEWIS D. MOORE,
Deputy Secretary of State.

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAPTER 53.-1860.

AN ACT to protect the beacons, buoys, and floating guides on the coast of Massachusetts, and in the

rivers, harbors, and channels in said State.

Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives in general court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Any person or persons who shall moor any vessel, scow, boat, or raft, to any buoy or beacon, or floating guide, placed by the United States in the navigable

waters of this commonwealth, or who shall in any manner make fast thereto any vessel, boat, scow, or raft, shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding fifty dollars; and any person or persons who shall willfully destroy, injure, or remove any such beacon or guide, shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars, or be imprisoned in the common jail not exceeding three months.

SEC. 2. Said forfeitures may be recovered by an action of tort, complaint, or indictment, before any court competent to try the same; one-third accruing to the informer or complainant, and the other two-thirds to the county in which the trial shall he had. Approved March 5, 1860.

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.

[From the Public Laws of Rhode Island, as revised and published in 1844.]

AN ACT for the preservation of stakes and buoys within the waters of this State, and for other

purposes.

SECTION 1. No vessel or raft to be made fast to any
stake or buoy placed by the United States in
Narraganset Bay, north of Kinnimicut Point,
or in Providence or Warren Rivers; penalty
not more than ten dollars nor less than three doi-
lars.

SEC. 2. No vessel or raft to be made fast to the
buoy south of Kinnimicut Point, the stake on
that point, the flag-staff on Halfway Rock, stakes
at the mouth of Bristol Harbor, or to any moor-
It is enacted by the general assembly as follows:

ings of said bnoy, under penalty of not more than twenty dollars nor less than five dollars SEC. 3. Captain and owner of any vessel injuring the buoys at the north or south end of Goat Island, at the entrance of Briston Harbor, or other buoys south of Kinnimicut Point, or stakes on that point, or the chains or anchors by which they are moored, liable to a penalty of not more than thirty-six dollars nor less than twelve dol. lars.

SECTION 1. Each and every owner and each and every person having the charge of any vessel, scow, boat, or raft of any kind, which shall be hereafter made fast to any stake or buoy which hath been or shall be placed, at the expense of the United States, for the security and direction of vessels, either in Providence River or in any part of Narraganset Bay, or the waters thereof north of Kinnimicut Point, or in Warren River, and each and every person who shall in any way injure or destroy any of the said stakes and buoys as placed aforesaid, shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding ten dollars nor less than three dollars, to be recovered by an action of debt, two-thirds thereof to the use of the United States, in order to replace such stake or buoy, and the other third to the informer, who shall prosecute for the same. For any offense aforesaid committed in Providence River, or in any part of Narraganset Bay, or the waters thereof north of Kinnimicut Point, the action may be tried and determined before any justice of the peace in the county of Providence or Kent, and the part of the forfeiture belonging to the United States as aforesaid for such offense shall be paid to the collector of the district of Providence; and for any offense aforesaid committed in Warren River, the action may be tried and determined before any justice of the peace in the county of Bristol, and the part of the forfeiture belonging to the United States as aforesaid for such offense shall be paid to the collector of the district of Bristol: and all forfeitures that may accrue under this section shall be prosecuted for within the term of six months after they shall accrue.

SEC. 2. Every person who shall make fast any ship, vessel, scow, boat, or raft of any kind, to the buoy on the shoal south of Kinnimicut, or to the stakes on said point, or to the flag-staff on the Halfway Rock, or to any stake which has been or may be placed at the mouth of Bristol Harbor, or to any of the moorings of said buoys, and the master or owner of such ship, vessel, scow, boat, or raft, shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding twenty dollars nor less than five dollars, to be recovered by action of debt before any justice of the peace in the county of Kent, Bristol, or Providence; one-third thereof to and for the use of the person who shall sue aud prosecute for the same, and the other two-thirds to be paid to the collector of the customs within whose district the offense shall be committed, for the use of the United States.

SEC. 3. The captain, owner, or owners, of every ship or vessel that shall, by running against either of the buoys at the north and south end of Goat Island, or at the entrance of Bristol Harbor, near Castle Island, or shall otherwise injure the beacon on said island, or any other buoy placed, or hereafter to be placed, at the expense of the United States, in any of the waters of the Narraganset Bay, south of Kinnimient Point, or the stakes on said point, or in any way. injure, destroy, or remove the chains or anchors by which they are or shall be moored, shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding thirty-six dollars nor less than twelve dollars, to be recovered by an action of debt before any court proper to try the same in the county of Kent or Newport; to be distributed, paid, and appropriated in the manner hereinbefore pointed out.

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS, Secretary's Office, Providence, December 23, 4. D. 1854. I hereby certify that the preceding contains a true copy of the act now in force in

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