Honolulu Republican, Volume IV, Number 496, 14 January 1902 — U.S.DISTRICT ATTORNEY RENDERS AN OPINION ON SEWALL CASE [ARTICLE]

U.S.DISTRICT ATTORNEY RENDERS AN OPINION ON SEWALL CASE

Captain Halstead May Now Sail in Peace Fmliiio to Produce Original to List None nl His Fault-Collector ol Customs Ms for Mrice-Trilatieas ol tSe Si Beniamin Sewell.

Th<* folic*in? letter, given in part.! from District Attorney J J. ■ Dunn« was received by the Collector I of Customs yesterday afternoon: Honolulu. H. T.. Jan 13. 1902 11, , n K K. Stackable. Colb-ctor of, Customs, Port of Jlonolulu Hawaii. jvr: I am in re< - ipt of the follow- 1 in* communication from you: • i ha\e tn<- honor to transmit here- 1 with th<- report of H .1 Halsted. mas 1 t‘-r of th«* American bark Benjamin S-wall, of Boston. Mass , which ves j v .| entered at this port in distress from Vancouver. B. C. en route to Freemantle, Australia in this connection 1 d‘-em it prop- j ir to state that the master failed to! . vhiblt to the boarding officer the, • re* list from the last American port.j 1 vk.itild r«*spe< tfully ask if the pen altii - as prescribed by Art. 131 C R. iv*:«, and the sections then-in cited, should lie imposed upon the master of this vessel for failure to exhibit th<* crew list from the last American In replying thereto. I beg to ob- ■ Me that the history of this ship’s wanderings during the last four years i- not Irrelevant. She cleared from Baltimore, about Jan. 4. 1898. for j San Francisco, but was c ompelled to j put in at Monte* Video because on fire-. Here she discharged her c argo, and then proceeded to Mauritius with mules Having discharged this c argo she proceeded to Singapore, in ballast, and upon arrival there loaded with lumber for Mauritius. At this port she disc harged her lumber and proceeded to Freemantle. At this port siie loaded lumber for South Africa, discharged the same*, and returned to Freemantle in ballast Here she- loaded sandalwood for Hongkong and proceeded to that port. l T P to this point of time the ship had been under the command of Captain \rthur H Sewail. and the papers

| before me show that, on December I*9. 1900. in the City of Victoria. Col- ■ ony of Hongkong. H. J. Halstead, j having taken the oath required by i law, sue* c-eded Captain Sewail After discharging her cargo at Hongkong, the ship proceeded to Singapore, and there loaded for Shanghai. Here she discharged cargo and proceeded in ; ballast to Vancouver. At this port i the ship loaded lumber, now on tKjard. for Freemantle. and made sail for the latter port While en route from Vancouver to Freemantle. the * ship put into Port Townsend for provisions and for additional seamen. No entry was made at the Port Townsend Custom-house, as the voyage- was continued within twenty-four , hours after reporting, but while the ship was in Port Townsend, her former master. Captain Sewail. came aboard and removed all of the papers and effects which he had left aboard at Hongkong at the time of his supersession by Captain Halsted. After i leaving Port Townsend, the ship proi ceeded on her way to Freemantle: but between Port Townsend and this port she encountered very heavyweather, which caused her to spring : a leak, compelling her to put into this port in distress. She entered this j port on December 28lh. 1901. and the 1 master duly reported his arrival to you. filing at the same time such papers as he- had, excepting the original crew list issued out of the district of Baltimore, four years ago. On December 28th. 1901. Captain Halsted made out and filed his -'Marine Notes of Protest." as required by law (U. S. R. S. 2891); and on December 31st. 1901. filed with you, verified by his oath, a statement explanatory of his failure to produce the original crew list of four years ago. He explained that he failed to produce this list because he "could not find such list aboard said vessel." Captain Halsted submits all the papers of the

ship, pertinent to this subject matter. which came into his possession since he joined the ship as master at Hongkong; and it must. I think, be conceded that Captain Halsted has done all in his power to comply witu his legal obligations. Independently of this, however, I have the honor to advise you that, in my opinion, the Acts of Congress requiring a master to produce his crew list, whether that issued at the port of Baltimore, or at "the port from which the vessel originally sailed." have no application to a case similar to the present. The above letter was the result of an inquiry from the Collector of Customs to the U. S. District Attorney, on the advisability of permitting the ship to clear and resume her voyage in view of the fact that Captain Halsted was unable to produce the original crew list of the vessel, as required by law. The U. S. ftws require that the original crew list of the vessel shall be filed with the ship's papers when the vessel enters an American port. Honolulu is the first American port visited by the Sewail since she left Baltimore nearly four years ago. Since that time the vessel has been engaged in trade between foreign ports and has had about fifteen different crews. When she arrived here in distress on her way from Vancouver to Freemantle, Australia. Captain Halsted was unable to furnish the Collector of Customs with the original list of the crew of the vessel. Captain Halsted has been master of the Sewail for only about a year, and did not find the list aboard the vessel when he took command. The Benjamin Sewail may go to sea today.