THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 133. 1855. 625 all the circumstances, and after being satisfied that they are such as will, in their judgment, secure the United States from all liability to expense on account of such mariuer; and a copy of all such entries and certificates Cqpy ¤f ¤¤<=h Shall be annually transmitted to the Treasury Department by the proper SE‘:¤3;,f°' officers of the customs in the several ports of the United States. P y` Sec. 18. And be it further enacted, That if any consul or commercial Cgngul 1;,,;,10 agent of the United States, upon discharging a mariner without requiring f<¤ •a¤=¤‘¤· PW if the payment of the one m0nth’s wages to which the United States is h°fmM°°°mfy‘ entitled, shall neglect to certify in the manner required in such case by the preceding section of this act, he shall be accountable to the Treasury Department for the sum so remitted. And in any action brought by a ,Di$°h¤'H°dm°· mariner to recover the extra wages to which he is`entitled under the act ;l"°{Q;°§lQ°‘§$;f of February twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and three, the defence that ges, if certificate the payment of such wages was duly remitted shall not be sustained *5 ?‘°“ P”°d“°°d . . . . , , or itsnonproducwithout the production of the certificate in such case required by this mm accounted act, or, when its non-production is accounted for, by the production of a M- eertiiied copy thereof; and the truth of the facts certified to, and the pro- 1803* °h’ °' priety of the remission, shall be still open to investigation. Sec. 19. And be it further enacted, That if, upon the application of any mariner, it shall appear to the consul or commercial agent that he is APPll°°·*i°¤ by entitled to his discharge under any act of Congress, or according to the f§§§,;$gg°ra€];1r general principles of the maritime law as recognized in the United States, provision for he shall discharge such mariner, and shall require of the master the S“°h °“°°· payment of three months’ wages, as provided in the act of February twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and three, and shall not remit the same, or any part thereof, except in the cases mentioned in the proviso of the 1803* °h‘ 9' ninth clause of the nrst section of the act of July twentieth, eighteen 1840, ch. 48. hundred and forty, to the following effect: “If the consul or other commercial agent shall be satisfied the contract has expired, or the voyage been protracted by circumstances beyond the control of the master, and without any design on his part to violate the articles of shipment, then he may, if he deems it just, discharge the mariner without exacting the three months’ additional pay.” Sec. 20. And be it further enacted, That every consul and commercial Comms and agent, for any neglect to perform the duties enjoined upon him. by this agents Mable in act, shall be liable to any injured person for all damages occasioned there- gQ;‘"‘£a,§x°Se:¥;{lu°g° by; and, for any violation of the provisions of the fifteenth and nineteenth P ° sections of this act, shall also be liable to indictment, and to a penalty in the manner provided by the eighteenth clause of the first. section of the act of July twentieth, eighteen hundred and forty. Sec. 21. And be dtfurtker enacted, That the act of April fourteenth, Provisions um seventeen hundred and ninety-two, concerning consuls, &c., is hereby so duties of eonsuls amended that if any American citizen dying abroad shall, by will or any $;&n“§§§;;h8 other writing, leave special directions for the management and settlement die ,;,,0,,,1, by the consul of the personal or other property which he may die pos- 1792, ch, M, sesscd of in the country where he may die, it shall be the duty of the consul, where the laws of the country permit, strictly to observe the directions so given by the deceased. Or, if such citizen so dying shall, by will or any other writing, have appointed any other person than the consul to take charge of and settle his aifairs, in that case it shall be the duty of the consul, when, and so often as required by the so-appointed agent or trustee of the deceased, to give his official aid in whatever way may be necessary to facilitate the operations of such trustee or agent, and, where the laws of the country permit, to protect the property of the deceased from any interference of the local authorities of the country in which he may have died; and to this end it shall also be the duty of the consul to place his official seal on all or any portions of the property of the deceased as may be required by the said agent or trustee, and to break and remove the same seal when required by the agent or trustee, and vox,. x, 1’Uu.—-— 79
