LIEN.
3. Seamen are employed either in mer chant-vessels for private service, or in public vessels for the service of the United States.
Seamen in the merchant-vessels are re quired to enter into a contract in writing, commonly called shipping articles, which see. This contract being entered into, they are bound, under severe penalties, to render themselves on board the vessel according to the agreement : they are not at liberty to leave the ship without the consent of the captain or commanding officer; and for such absence, when less than forty-eight hours, they forfeit three days' wages for every day of absence; and when tl3e absence is more than forty-eight hours at one time, they for-, feit all the wages due to them, and all their goods and chattels which were on board the vessel, or in any store where they may have been lodged at the time of their desertion, to the use of th.e owners of the vessel; and they are liable for damages for hiring other hands. They may be imprisoned for desertion until tbe ship is ready to sail.
4. On board, a seaman is bound to do his duty to the utniost of his ability ; and when laie wrvices are required for extraordinary exertions, either in consequence of the death of other seamen or on account of unforeseen perils, he is not entitled to an increase of wages, although it may have been promised to him. 2 Campb. 317 ; Peake, 72; 1 Term 73. For disobedience of orders he may be imprisoned or punished with stripes; but the correction must be reasonable, 4 Mas. C. C. 508; Bee, Adm. 161; 2 Day, Conn. 294; 1 Wash. C. C. 316; and, for just cause, may be put ashore in a foreign country. 1 Pet. Adm. 186; 2 id. 268; 2 East, 145. By act of congress, September 28, 1850, 9 U. S. Stat. at Large, 515, it 'ie provided that flog ging in the navy and on board vessels of commerce be, and the same is hereby, abo lished from and after the passage of this act.
And this prohibits corporal punishment by stripes inflicted with a cat, and any punish ment which in substance and effect amounts thereto. 1 Curt. C. C. 501.
5. Seamen are entitled to their wages, of which one-third is due at every port at which the vessel shall unlade and deliver her cargo before the voyage be ended; and at the end of the voyage an easy and speedy remedy is given them to recover all unpaid wages. When taken sick, a seaman is entitled to medical advice and aid at the expense of the ship, such expense being considered in the nature of additional wages and as constituting a just remuneration for his labor and ser vices. Gilp. Dist. Ct. 435, 447; 2 Mau. C. C. 541.
The right of seamen to wages is founded not in the shipping articles, but in the ser vices performed, Bee, Adm. 395 ; and to re cover such wages the seaman has a triple remedy,—against the vessel, the owner, and the master. Gilp. Dist. Ct. 592 ; Bee, Adm. 254.
6. When destitute in foreign ports, Ame rican consuls and commercial agents are re quired to provide for them, and for their passage to some port of the United States, in a reasonable manner, at the expense of the United States ; and American vessele are bound to take such seamen on board at the request of the consul, but not exceeding two men for every hundred tons of the ship, and transport them t,o the United States, on such terms, not exceeding ten dollars for each person, as may be agreed on. See, gene rally, Brightly, Dig. U. S. Laws ; 3 Kent, Comm. 136-156; Marshall, Ins. 90; Pothier, Mar. Contr., translated by Cushing, Index ; 2 Brown, Civ. & Adm. Law, 155 ; Parsons, Marit. Law; Conkling, Adm.; Abbott, Ship ping ; LIEN ; CAPTAIN.
Seamen in the public service are governed by particular laws. See NAVY ; NAVAL CODE.