Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session of the Fortieth Congress, Part I
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I am directed by the Hon. Anson Burlingame, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States to China, to give notice that the following régulations for pilotage in Chinese ports have been communicated to him by the Chinese government and agreed to; and that they will come into operation at each port when notified by the Chinese authorities.
By order:
Chinese general pilotage regulations.
1. Number of pilots.—The number of pilots to be licensed at each port shall be determined by the harbor-master in consultation with the consuls and chambers of commerce, and may be increased or diminished, as required by circumstances.
2. Individuals eligible as pilots, —The subjects, citizens, or protégés of treaty powers shall, [Page 480] equally with natives of China and without distinction of nationality, be eligible for appointment, when vacancies occur, by the board of appointment, subject to the general regulations now issued and the by-laws to be under them enforced at the several ports respectively.
3. Constitution of board of appointment.—The board of appointment shall consist of the harbor-master as president, the senior pilot, and two persons whose names shall be chosen by lot, by the harbor-master, from a list prepared as follows :
In the month of June each year the agents of insurance offices and of ocean mail steamship lines shall each choose one person (being, or having been, a pilot or shipmaster) for the duty, and shall forward his name to the harbor-master, by whom the list will then be arranged and published.
4. How vacancies are to be filled.—Whenever there is a vacancy among the pilots, it shall, be duly notified in the local prints, and eight days afterwards the board of appointment shall proceed to fill it up by a competitive examination. The board may refuse to admit to the examination any one who, having been a licensed pilot, has had his license withdrawn, and also any candidate who is unable to produce consular certificates as to character, &c.
5. Examinations to be competitive.—The examinations shall be public and gratuitous, and the vacancies shall be given to the most competent among the candidates without distinction of nationality, provided always that the competency of the first on the list be not relative but absolute.
6. Pilots licenses, by whom to be issued.—Pilots’ licenses shall be issued by the commissioner of customs, in the name and in behalf of the Chinese government. Licenses issued to pilots not being natives of China shall subsequently be vised and registered at the consulate concerned.
7. Apprentice pilots.—It shall be allowable for each licensed pilot to take an apprentice, for whom he shall be responsible. On the application of pilots, the harbor-master will supply apprentices with certificates; but such apprentices shall not be competent to act for the master pilots in piloting ships.
8. Licensed pilots, to whom subordinated.—Licensed pilots may carry on their business either singly or in companies. They must pay due respect to the wishes and instructions of the harbor-master under whose orders and control they are placed, and who is invested with disciplinary powers in view of infractions of established rules. The penalties to be enforced by the harbor-master are fines, temporary suspension from duty, and (subject to the confirmation of the inspector general of customs) withdrawal of license.
9. Local rules and by-laws to be drawn up.—By-laws and rules necessary for the better ordering of pilotage matters at the ports are to be drawn up by the harbor-master, with whom also it rests to define the limits of the pilotage ground, and fix the tariff of charges. Such by-laws are to be communicated to the consuls, but shall not be enforced locally until approved by the authorities at Peking. They may subsequently be added to, altered, or annulled in the same manner.
10. Punishment for unlicensed piloting and lending licenses.—Any one piloting without a license, or making use of another’s license, shall be subject to prosecution before his own authorities, who will deal with the offender in accordance with the laws of his country.
Any pilot lending his license to another will be proceeded against and dealt with in the same way, in addition to forfeiting his license.
11. Vessels damaged, with pilots on board.—The board of appointment shall make due inquiry into all accidents occurring to ships having pilots on board. Whenever the result of the inquiry proves unfavorable to the pilot, the board may withdraw his license, and hand him to the authorities to whom he is amenable, to be dealt with as prescribed by law.
12. Regulations for pilot-boats.—Pilot-boats shall be registered with their crews at the harbor-master’s office, where each boat will receive a certificate and a number. The words “ licensed pilot-boat” shall, with the number, be legibly painted at the stern and on the head Of the mainsail; and a flag, of which the upper horizontal half shall be yellow and the lower green, shall be flown. Such registered pilot-boats shall deposit their national papers with their consul or the customs; they shall be at liberty to move freely within the limits of the port and pilotage ground, and shall be exempt from tonnage dues. On the requisition of the harbor-master or his deputies, it will be obligatory on registered pilot-boats to convey from place to place, within the limits, employés belonging either to the customs or harbormaster’s departments, with such stores as may be wanted for light-houses or light-ships.
13. Compensation to pilots for losses.—Any pilot carried off from the pilot ground, the fault not being his own, shall be entitled to compensation at the rate of five taels per diem. Any damage sustained by a pilot-boat while alongside the ship piloted shall be made good by such ship; the damage to be assessed by two competent persons, one to be chosen by the pilot, and the other by the master of the ship concerned.
14. Liability for pilotage charges. - Consignees are liable for all pilotage fees and charges.
Disputes relative to draught of water shall be referred to the harbor-master, whose decision shall be final.
15. Payment for pilot charges obligatory.—It shall be obligatory on all ships and steamers arriving at or departing from ports at which there are pilots to employ pilots coming in and going out. The harbor-master, on behalf of the body of pilots, is empowered to recover from the consignees of any ship arriving or departing without a pilot, the highest amount chargeable under the pilotage tariff according to the draught of water.