(c.) The launching of the boats attached to davits.

(d.) The general preparation of the other boats and the pontoon rafts..

(e.) The muster of the passengers.

(f.) The extinction of fire.

The muster list shall assign to the members of the stewards' department their several duties in relation to the passengers at a time of emergency. These duties shall include

(a.) Warning the passengers.

(b.) Seeing that they are dressed and have put on their life jackets in a proper manner.

(c.) Assembling the passengers.

(d.) Keeping order in the passages and on the stairways, and generally, controlling the movements of the passengers.

The muster list shall specify definite alarm signals for calling all the crew to the boat and fire stations, and shall give full particulars of these signals.

MUSTERS AND DRILLS.

Musters of the crews at their boat and fire stations, followed by boat and fire drills, respectively, shall be held at least once a week, either in port or at sea. An entry shall be made in the official log book of these drills, or of the reason why they could not be held.

Different groups of boats shall be used in turn at successive boat drills. The drills and inspections shall be so arranged that the crew thoroughly understand and are practised in the duties they have to perform, and that all the boats and pontoon rafts on the ship with the gear appertaining to them are always ready for immediate use.

LIFE JACKETS AND LIFE BUOYS.

A life jacket of an approved type, or other appliance of equal buoyancy and capable of being fitted on the body, shall be carried for every person on board, and, in addition, a sufficient number of life jackets, or other equivalent appliances, suitable for children.

First. A life jacket shall satisfy the following conditions: (a.) It shall be of approved material and construction.

(b.) It shall be capable of supporting in fresh water for twentyfour hours fifteen pounds avoirdupois of iron.

Life jackets the buoyancy of which depends on air compartments are prohibited.

Second: A life buoy shall satisfy the following conditions:

(a.) It shall be of solid cork or any other equivalent material. (b.) It shall be capable of supporting in fresh water for twentyfour hours at least thirty-one pounds avoirdupois of iron.

Life buoys filled with rushes, cork shavings, or granulated cork, or any other loose granulated material, or whose buoyancy depends upon air compartments which require to be inflated, are prohibited. Third. The minimum number of life buoys with which vessels are to be provided is fixed as follows:

Length of the vessel under four hundred feet, minimum number of buoys, twe ve; length of the vessel, four hundred and under SIX hundred feet, minimum number of buoys, eighteen; length of the vessel, six hundred and under eight hundred feet, minimum number of buoys, twenty-four; length of the vessel, eight hundred feet and over, minimum number of buoys, thirty.

Fourth. All the buoys shall be fitted with beckets securely seized. At least one buoy on each side shall be fitted with a life line of at least fifteen fathoms in length. The number of luminous buoys shall not be less than one-half of the total number of life buoys, and in no case less than six. The lights shall be efficient self-igniting lights

which cannot be extinguished in water, and they shall be kept near the buoys to which they belong, with the necessary means of attachment.

Fifth. All the life buoys and life jackets shall be so placed as to be readily accessible to the persons on board; their position shall be plainly indicated so as to be known to the persons concerned.

The life buoys shall always be capable of being rapidly cast loose, and shall not be permanently secured in any way. The owner of any vessel who neglects or refuses to provide and equip his vessel with such lifeboats, floats, rafts, life preservers, line-carrying projectiles, and the means of propelling them, drags, pumps, or other appliances, as are required under the provisions of this section, or under the regulations of the Board of Supervising Inspectors, approved by the Secretary of Commerce, authorized by and made pursuant hereto, shall be fined not less than $500, nor more than $5,000, and every master of a vessel who shall fail to comply with the requirements of this section, and the regulations of the Board of Supervising Inspectors, approved by the Secretary of Commerce, authorized by and made pursuant hereto, shall upon conviction be fined not less than $50, nor more than $500. Section 4,489 of the Revised Statutes is

hereby repealed.

15. That the owner, agent, or master of every barge which, while in tow through the open sea, has sustained or caused any accident, shall be subject in all respects to the provisions of sections ten, eleven, twelve, and thirteen of chapter 344 of the Statutes at Large, approved the 20th June, 1874, and the reports therein prescribed shall be transmitted by collectors of customs to the Secretary of Commerce, who shall transmit annually to Congress a summary of such reports during the previous fiscal year, together with a brief statement of the action of the department in respect to such accidents.

16. That in the judgment of Congress articles in Treaties and Conventions of the United States, in so far as they provide for the arrest and imprisonment of officers and seamen deserting or charged with desertion from merchant vessels of the United States in foreign countries, and for the arrest and imprisonment of officers and seamen deserting or charged with desertion from merchant vessels of foreign nations in the United States and the territories and possessions thereof, and for the co-operation, aid, and protection of competent legal authorities in effecting such arrest or imprisonment and any other treaty provision in conflict with the provisions of this Act, ought to be terminated, and to this end the President be, and he is hereby, requested and directed, within ninety days after the passage of this Act, to give notice to the several Governments, respectively, that so much as hereinbefore described of all such Treaties and Conventions between the United States and foreign Governments will terminate on the expiration of such periods after notices have been given as may be required in such treaties and Conventions.

17. That upon the expiration after notice of the periods required, respectively, by said Treaties and Conventions and of [1916. cx.] 3 R

one year in the case of the independent State of the Congo, so much as hereinbefore described in each and every one of said articles shall be deemed and held to have expired and to be of no force and effect, and thereupon section 5,280 and so much of section 4,081 of the Revised Statutes as relates to the arrest or imprisonment of officers and seamen deserting or charged with desertion from merchant vessels of foreign nations in the United States and territories and possessions thereof, and for the co-operation, aid, and protection of competent legal authorities in effecting such arrest or imprisonment, shall be, and is hereby, repealed.

18. That this Act shall take effect, as to all vessels of the United States, eight months after its passage, and as to foreign vessels twelve months after its passage, except that such parts hereof as are in conflict with articles of any Treaty or Convention with any foreign nation shall take effect as regards the vessels of such foreign nation on the expiration of the period fixed in the notice of abrogation of the said articles as provided in section 16 of this Act.

19. That section 16 of the Act approved the 21st December, 1898, entitled "An Act to amend the laws relating to American seamen, for the protection of such seamen, and to promote commerce," be amended by adding at the end of the section the following:

“Provided, That at the discretion of the Secretary of Commerce, and under such regulations as he may prescribe, if any seaman incapacitated from service by injury or illness is on board a vessel so situated that a prompt discharge requiring the personal appearance of the master of the vessel before an American consul or consular agent is impracticable, such seaman may be sent to a consul or consular agent, who shall care for him and defray the cost of his maintenance and transportation, as provided in this paragraph."

20. That in any suit to recover damages for any injury sustained on board vessel or in its service seamen having command shall not be held to be fellow-servants with those under their authority.

Approved, the 4th March, 1915.

CORRESPONDENCE between the United States Secretary of State and the Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations concerning Questions relating to Neutrality. Washington, January 8/20, 1915.*

(No. 1.)-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs to the Secretary of State.

DEAR MR. SECRETARY:

Washington, January 8, 1915.

As you are aware, frequent complaints or charges are made in one form or another through the press that this Government has shown partiality to Great Britain, France, and Russia as against Germany and Austria during the present war between those powers; in addition to which I have received numerous letters to the same effect from sympathizers with Germany and Austria. The various grounds of these complaints may be summarised and stated in the following form:

1. Freedom of communication by submarine cables, but censorship of wireless messages.

2. Submission to censorship of mails and in some cases to the repeated destruction of American letters found on neutral vessels.

3. The search of American vessels for German and Austrian subjects

(a.) On the high seas.

(b.) In territorial waters of a belligerent.

4. Submission without protest to English violations of the rules regarding absolute and conditional contraband, as laid down

(a.) In the Hague Conventions.

(b.) In international law.

(c.) In the Declaration of London.

5. Submission without protest to inclusion of copper in the list of absolute contraband.

6. Submission without protest to interference with American trade to neutral countries

(a.) In conditional contraband.

(b.) In absolute contraband.

7. Submission without protest to interruption of trade in conditional contraband consigned to private persons in Germany

* From Diplomatic Correspondence published by the United States Department of State-" European War, No. 2."

and Austria, thereby supporting the policy of Great Britain to cut off all supplies from Germany and Austria.

8. Submission to British interruption of trade in petroleum, rubber, leather, wool, etc.

9. No interference with the sale to Great Britain and her allies of arms, ammunition, horses, uniforms, and other munitions of war, although such sales prolong the war.

10. No suppression of sale of dumdum bullets to Great Britain.

11. British warships are permitted to lie off American ports and intercept neutral vessels.

12. Submission without protest to disregard by Great Britain and her allies of

(a.) American naturalization certificates.

(b.) American passports.

13. Change of policy in regard to loans to belligerents: (a.) General loans.

(b.) Credit loans.

14. Submission to arrest of native-born Americans on neutral vessels and in British ports, and their imprisonment.

15. Indifference to confinement of non-combatants in detention camps in England and France.

16. Failure to prevent transhipment of British troops and war material across the territory of the United States.

17. Treatment and final internment of German steamship Geier and the collier Locksun at Honolulu.

18. Unfairness to Germany in rules relative to coaling of warships in Panama Canal Zone.

19. Failure to protest against the modifications of the Declaration of London by the British Government.

20. General unfriendly attitude of Government toward Germany and Austria.

If you deem it not incompatible with the public interest I would be obliged if you would furnish me with whatever information your department may have touching these various points of complaint, or request the counsellor of the State Department to send me the information, with any suggestions you or he may deem advisable to make with respect to either the legal or political aspects of the subject. So far as informed I see no reason why all the matter I am requesting to be furnished should not be made public, to the end that the true situation may be known and misapprehensions quieted..

I have, &c.,

WM. J. STONE.