1802 Thomas Jefferson - "Pretend Sales of their Vessels"

On November 1, 1802, George W. Erving, U.S. Consul in London wrote a letter to Secretary of State James Madison.  In this letter he shared his disgust of a situation where "American captains discharge American seamen abroad in order to hire foreigners for lower wages."   Literally, American sailors were being left stranded in London with no job and no way to return home.  Erving described the situation in London as "a general rendezvous  for sailors of all nations who are discharged".    The city had become full of seamen from all nations and wages were falling.  In order to evade current laws, the captains had found unusual ways to get rid of the American sailors.  The most common of those being the "pretend Sales of their Vessels".  These "sales" allowed them to discharge the entire crew.   Because of this continued abuse, the U.S. Consulate had to step in and help provide for the welfare of the sailors and find ways to get them home to America.  It was very difficult to find these men work, because preference was given to Englishmen.   As a result, many of the men were without shelter or proper clothing.  Sickness and disease was becoming rampant.   The cost of providing for these stranded men was increasing, and Erving wrote to Madison, that "Until the legislature sees fit to change the laws, the expense of providing for seamen in London must be always very large." 

George Erving then laid out the legislation he'd like to see.

1. Every Master of an American vessel upon arrival at a foreign port should be required to register his ship with the Consulate office or face stiff penalty.  
2. The penalty for discharging men without their consent should be made very considerable and payable immediately on demand of the Consul.
3. All discharges must be done in the presence of the Consul.
4. Masters should have a power of discharging any men whom he may discover to be Aliens and replace them with American Citizens.
5. If a ship is sold, the men should be maintained at the Ship’s expense until safe passage back to American can be found.
6. There should be a penalty for refusing to receive men as passengers at the request of the Consul.Provision should be made for the sick; if any Seaman is unable to return in the Vessel to which he belongs, the Master should reimburse the Consul for all health costs and burial costs if necessary.

Although mail traveled very slowly in those days, it seems that President Thomas Jefferson did have a chance to meet with his Secretary of State and review the letter from his consulate in London. In December of 1802, Jefferson addressed a joint session of congress to deliver his second state of the union address.   In this address, he brought to the attention of Congress the "defect or the evasion of the law providing for the return of sea men, and particularly of those belonging to vessels sold abroad".   Jefferson explained to congress, that many of these men had "been thrown on the hands of our consuls' and the consuls found it necessary to return these men home to American at public expense.

"Another circumstances which claims attention as directly affecting the very source of our navigation is the defect or the evasion of the law providing for the return of sea men, and particularly of those belonging to vessels sold abroad. Numbers of them, discharged in foreign ports, have been thrown on the hands of our consuls, who, to rescue them from the dangers into which their distresses might plunge them and save them to their country, have found it necessary in some cases to return them at the public charge."

On February 28, 1803 Congress did pass an act which required "when a seamen is discharged from an American vessel in a foreign port, it is necessary for the master to obtain the consent of the American Consul in writing, signed and authenticated with his official seal".   Additional provisions required three month's pay for each seamen discharged abroad, and the requirement that all U.S. vessels bound home were required to take seamen on board at the request of the consul. Terms were not to exceed $10 per person, and the secretary of state was authorized to reimburse the consul. 

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29444
http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/02-04-02-0077
The Shipmasters Assistant an Commercial Digest by Joseph Blunt 1837 pg. 174
https://www.dartmouth.edu/~library/digital/publishing/books/gerzina1995/html/img/136_1.jpg


For those of you interested in law, you can read Thomas Jefferson's a review of the law in a letter from Attorney General Levi Lincoln written to James Madison on December 31, 1804.
 
http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/02-08-02-0445