ices had they knowledge that such facilities were in existence. With the constant shifting of directing personnel that takes place in the administrative branch of the national government, the existence of means by which incoming officials may thus readily secure information regarding their own and other services is a matter of great importance. To members of Congress the monographs should prove of no less value. At present these officials are called upon to legislate and appropriate money for services concerning whose needs and real problems they can secure but imperfect information. That the possession by each member of a set of monographs, such as is here projected, prepared according to a uniform plan, will be a great aid to intelligent legislation and appropriation of funds can hardly be questioned. To the public, finally, these monographs will give that knowledge of the organization and operations of their government which must be had if an enlightened public opinion is to be brought to bear upon the conduct of governmental affairs. These studies are wholly descriptive in character. No attempt is made in them to subject the conditions described to criticism, nor to indicate features in respect to which changes might with advantage be made. Upon administrators themselves falls responsibility for making or proposing changes which will result in the improvement of methods of administration. The primary aim of outside agencies should be to emphasize this responsibility and facilitate its fulfillment. While the monographs thus make no direct recommendations for improvement, they cannot fail greatly to stimulate efforts in that direction. Prepared as they are according to a uniform plan, and setting forth as they do the activities, plant, organization, personnel and laws governing the several services of the government, they will automatically, as it were, reveal, for example, the extent to which work in the same field is being performed by different services, and thus furnish the information that is essential to a consideration of the great question of the better distribution and coördination of activities among the several departments, establishments, and bureaus, and the elimination of duplications of plant, organization and work. Through them it will also be possible to subject any particular feature of the administrative work of the government to exhaustive study, to determine, for example, what facilities, in the way of laboratories and other plant and equipment, exist for the prosecution of any line of work and where those facilities are located; or what work is being done in any field of administration or research, such as the promotion, protection and regulation of the maritime interests of the country, the planning and execution of works of an engineering character, or the collection, compilation and publication of statistical data, or what differences of practice prevail in respect to organization, classification, appointment, and promotion of personnel. To recapitulate, the monographs will serve the double purpose of furnishing an essential tool for efficient legislation, administration and popular control, and of laying the basis for critical and constructive work on the part of those upon whom responsibility for such work primarily rests. Whenever possible the language of official statements or reports has been employed, and it has not been practicable in all cases to make specific indication of the language so quoted. CONTENTS CHAPTER FOREWORD I. HISTORY Establishment and Early Growth of the Service: 1838- Establishment of a Central Office: 1871-1903 II. ACTIVITIES PAGE I Examination and Certification of Seamen and Life-Boat Determination of Ship's Complement and Accommoda- Investigations of Marine Casualties and Violations of Establishment of Regulations to Prevent Collisions Inspection of Passenger Accommodations Regulation of the Transportation of Dangerous Articles 75 129 83 84 96 43 46 48 STANFOR STEAMBOAT-INSPECTION SERVICE: ITS HISTORY, ACTIVITIES AND ORGANIZATION CHAPTER I HISTORY The United States Steamboat-Inspection Service, a bureau of the Department of Commerce, has, as its primary duty or function, the administration of the laws of the United States enacted for the purpose of safeguarding the lives of passengers on steamboats and other vessels engaged in marine transportation. In the performance of this important function, the service is chiefly engaged in three general types of work: (1) The inspection of the hulls, machinery, and equipment of vessels of the merchant marine of the United States made subject to such inspection by acts of Congress; (2) the licensing of the officers and the certification of the crews of such vessels; (3) the conduct of trials and investigations to ascertain violations of the steamboat-inspection laws and of the rules and regulations established for their proper administration. The activities of the service bring it into close contact with several large business interests of the nation as well as with millions of men, women, and children annually carried by vessels subject to its jurisdiction. Shipbuilders, manufacturers of marine equipment, iron and steel mills rolling material for the construction of boilers, and the manufacturers of marine boilers, all are vitally interested in and affected by the work of this service. 1 |