court having admiralty jurisdiction, and which shall be holden for the district into which such captured vessel shall be brought; and the same court shall thereupon order a sale and distribution thereof accordingly, and at its discretion.

Any vessel built, purchased, fitted out in whole or in R. S., 4297. part, or held for the purpose of being employed in the commission of any piratical aggression, search, restraint, depredation, or seizure, or in the commission of any other act of piracy, as defined by the law of nations, shall be liable to be captured and brought into any port of the United States if found upon the high seas, or to be seized if found in port or place within the United States, whether the same shall have actually sailed upon any piratical expedition or not, and whether any act of piracy shall have been committed or attempted upon or from such vessel or not; and any such vessel may be adjudged and condemned, if captured by a vessel authorized as hereinafter mentioned, to the use of the United States and to that of the captors, and if seized by a collector, surveyor, or marshal, then to the use of the United States. The President is authorized to instruct the commanders R. S., 4298. of the public armed vessels of the United States, and to authorize the commanders of any other armed vessels sailing under the authority of any letters of marque and reprisal granted by Congress, or the commanders of any other suitable vessels, to subdue, seize, take, and, if on the high seas, to send into any port of the United States, any vessel or boat built, purchased, fitted out, or held as mentioned in the preceding section.

The collectors of the several ports of entry, the survey- R. S., 4299. ors of the several ports of delivery, and the marshals of the several judicial districts within the United States, shall seize any vessel or boat built, purchased, fitted out, or held as mentioned in section forty-two hundred and ninety-seven, which may be found within their respective ports or districts, and to cause the same to be proceeded against and disposed of as provided by that section.

459. Crimes deemed piracy.

Whoever, on the high seas, commits the crime of piracy Mar. 4, 1909. as defined by the law of nations, and is afterwards Sec. 290. brought into or found in the United States, shall be im- 5368. prisoned for life.

Repeals R. S.,

Whoever, being a seaman, lays violent hands upon his Sec. 294. commander, thereby to hinder and prevent his fighting in 5368. defense of his vessel or the goods intrusted to him, is a pirate, and shall be imprisoned for life.

5371.

Whoever, being engaged in any piratical cruise, or en- Sec. 302. terprise, or being of the crew of any piratical vessel, Repeals R. S., lands from such vessel, and on shore commits robbery, is a pirate, and shall be imprisoned for life.

Sec. 304.

Repeals R. S., 5373.

Sec. 305.

5374.

Whoever, being a citizen of the United States, commits any murder or robbery, or any act or hostility against the United States, or against any citizen thereof, on the high seas, under color of any commission from any foreign prince, or state, or on pretense of authority from any person, is, notwithstanding the pretense of such authority, a pirate, and shall be imprisoned for life.

Whoever, being a citizen or subject of any foreign state, Repeals R. S., is found and taken on the sea making war upon the United States, or cruising against the vessels and property thereof, or of the citizens of the same, contrary to the provisions of any treaty existing between the United States and the state of which the offender is a citizen or subject, when by such treaty such acts are declared to be piracy, is guilty of piracy, and shall be imprisoned for life.

Sec. 306.

5383.

Whoever, being a captain or other officer or mariner of Repeals R. S., a vessel upon the high seas or on any other waters within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States, piratically or feloniously runs away with such vessel, or with any goods or merchandise thereof, to the value of fifty dollars, or who yields up such vessel voluntarily to any pirate, shall be fined not more than ten thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

Sec. 307.

5384.

Whoever attempts or endeavors to corrupt any comRepeals R. S., mander, master, officer, or mariner to yield up or to run away with any vessel, or with any goods, wares, or merchandise, or to turn pirate, or to go over to or confederate with pirates, or in any wise to trade with any pirate, knowing him to be such, or furnishes such pirate with any ammunition, stores, or provisions of any kind, or fits out any vessel knowingly and, with a design to trade with, supply, or correspond with any pirate or robber upon the seas; or whoever consults, combines, confederates, or corresponds with any pirate or robber upon the seas, knowing him to be guilty of any piracy or robbery; or whoever, being a seaman, confines the master of any vessel, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars and imprisoned not more than three years.

Sec. 310.

The words "vessel of the United States," wherever they occur in this chapter, shall be construed to mean a vessel belonging in whole or in part to the United States, or any citizen thereof, or any corporation created by or under the laws of the United States, or of any State, Territory, or District thereof.

PART XLV.-PROTECTION OF SUBMARINE CABLES.

460. Protection of submarine cables

Any person who shall willfully and wrongfully break Feb. 29, 1888. or injure, or attempt to break or injure, or who shall in any manner procure, counsel, aid, abet, or be accessory to such breaking or injury, or attempt to break or injure, a submarine cable, in such manner as to interrupt or embarrass, in whole or in part, telegraphic_communication, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or to both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.

Any person who by culpable negligence shall break or Sec. 2. injure a submarine cable in such manner as to interrupt or embarrass, in whole or in part, telegraphic communication, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or to both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.

The provisions of the foregoing sections shall not ap- Sec. 3. ply to a person who breaks or injures a cable in an effort to save the life or limb of himself or of any other person, or to save his own or any other vessel: Provided, That he takes reasonable precautions to avoid such breaking or injury.

The master of any vessel which, while engaged in lay- Sec. 4. ing or repairing submarine cables, shall fail to observe the rules concerning signals that have been or shall hereafter be adopted by the parties to the convention with a view to preventing collisions at sea; or the master of any vessel that, perceiving, or being able to perceive the said signals displayed upon a telegraph ship engaged in repairing a cable, shall not withdraw to or keep at a distance of at least one nautical mile; or the master of any vessel that seeing or being able to see buoys intended to mark the position of a cable when being laid or when out of order or broken, shall not keep at a distance of at least a quarter of a nautical mile, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month, or to a fine of not exceeding five hundred dollars.

92075°-15-31

479

Sec. 5.

Sec. 6.

Sec. 7.

Sec. 8.

Sec. 9.

Sec. 10.

The master of any fishing vessel who shall not keep his implements or nets at a distance of at least one nautical mile from a vessel engaged in laying or repairing a cable; or the master of any fishing vessel who shall not keep his implements or nets at a distance of at least a quarter of a nautical mile from a buoy or buoys intended to mark the position of a cable when being laid or when out of order or broken, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten days, or to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars, or to both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court:

Provided, however, That fishing vessels, on perceiving or being able to perceive the said signals displayed on a telegraph ship, shall be allowed such time as may be necessary to obey the notice thus given, not exceeding twenty-fours hours, during which period no obstacles shall be placed in the way of their operations.

For the purpose of carrying into effect the convention, a person commanding a ship of war of the United States or of any foreign state for the time being bound by the convention, or a ship specially commissioned by the Government of the United States or by the Government of such foreign state, may exercise and perform the duties vested in and imposed on such officer by the convention.

Any person having the custody of the papers necessary for the preparation of the statements provided for in article ten of the convention who shall refuse to exhibit them or shall violently resist persons having authority according to article ten of said convention to draw up statements of facts in the exercise of their functions, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding two years, or to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or to both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.

The penalties provided in this act for the breaking or injury of a submarine cable shall not be a bar to a suit for damages on account of such breaking or injury.

When an offense against this act shall have been committed by means of a vessel, or of any boat belonging to a vessel, the master of such vessel shall, unless some other person is shown to have been in charge of and navigating such vessel or boat, be deemed to have been in charge of and navigating the same, and be liable to be punished accordingly.

Unless the context of this act otherwise requires, the term "vessel" shall be taken to mean every description of vessel used in navigation, in whatever way it is propelled; the term "master" shall be taken to include every person having command or charge of a vessel; and the term person" to include a body of persons, corporate or incorporate. The term "convention" shall be taken to

66

mean the International Convention for the Protection of Submarine Cables, made at Paris on the fourteenth day of May, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, and proclaimed by the President of the United States on the twentysecond day of May, eighteen hundred and eighty-five.

The provisions of the Revised Statutes, from section Sec. 11. forty-three hundred to section forty-three hundred and five, inclusive, for the summary trial of offenses against the navigation laws of the United States, shall extend to the trial of offenses against the provisions of sections four and five of this act.

The provisions of this act shall be held to apply only to cables to which the convention for the time being applies. The district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction over all offenses against this act and of all suits of a civil nature arising thereunder, whether the infraction complained of shall have been committed within the territorial waters of the United States or outside of the said waters:

Provided, That in case such infraction is committed outside of the territorial waters of the United States the vessel on board of which it has been committed is a vessel of the United States. From the decrees and judgments of the district courts in actions and suits arising under this act appeals and writs of error shall be allowed as now provided by law in other cases.

Criminal actions and proceedings for a violation of the provisions of this act shall be commenced and prosecuted in the district court for the district within which the offense was committed, and when not committed within any judicial district, then in the district court for the district within which the offender may be found; and suits of a civil nature may be commenced in the district court for any district within which the defendant may be found and shall be served with process.

Sec. 12.

Sec. 13.