The Alaska daily empire., 1918-09-07
NEW LAW NOW IS EFFECTIVE
 FOR MOTOR BOATS
All Boats Must Be Regis tered with Customs Officer and Secure
 Permit There.

The new ldW governing Lue IT. censing and operation of motor boats is now in full force in the District of Alaska, according to M. S. Whittier, who is Acting Special Deputy Collector at the local Gus tom House.
 It was published in The Empire several weeks ago that an entirely new set of regulations. had been promulgated concerning the licens- ing of boats, doing away with the navy control and war numbers ex isting since the country first went to war, and placing the control oi the boats with the customs service All the necessary blanks have ar rived, and the Custom House is now receiving applications for the new harbor licenses. These must be ac companied by photographs of the masters of the boats, one being at tached to the application and the other being placed on an identi- fication card, which is given to the master, so he can prove his identi- ty if overhauled and examined.
 Under the new regulations, which form part of the espionage act, all boats propelled by sail or motor power in while or in part, and all other craft over 20 feet in length, must be especially licensed by the Custom House
 Boats cannot run at night un- less their licenses are endorsed on the face by the customs official, the master of the craft being required to establish to the satisfaction of the official the need for such op- eration.
 Undocumented yachts, motor boats and craft used exclusively for pleasure purposes, operating un- der a special harbor license may pro- ceed from one port to another with out being required to report at the Custom House at the port of des- tination, on a special permit, to be issued by the customs officer, show ing the names of all passengers, whose loyalty Is vouched for by the master of the boat. Such yes sells owned by persons residing at place not port of entry may cruise in the immediate vicinity of the residence of the owner under license, or may proceed from the home port or residence of the own CT to port of entry, conditioned upon report to the Custom House on arrival. Term permits may be issued in special cases to undocu mented vessels used exclusively for pleasure purposes for a period of thirty days without reporting indi vidual trips, and subject to further renewals by endorsement for like periods. Such special permit will be valid only when the boat is in charge of the owner or master named in the permit.
 All applications for licenses should be made in person by the master and owner of a boat, and not by mail In the case of a change of masters, a new application must be made and the name of the new master endorsed on the license. If the ownership is changed a new li- cense must be obtained.
 Licenses will be issued only to residents of the United States and citizens of allied or friendly coun tries. Any vessel operating without the license by the new legislation will be deemed guilty of a breach of the espionage act.
 While the requirements of the new regulations may look unneces- sarily harsh or ridiculous in the case of port like Juneau, and the ownership matter of common knowledge, it must be remembered that the law was drawn to cover all ports of the United States. In the cities of the east coast, partic- ularly, there are many thousands of boats, whose owners are unknown to the officials and who might at any time permit the use of their craft for purposes inimical to the best interests of the country. The law was made to cover these boats, and owners in this part of the , country, far removed from the main seat of war, will cheerfully com ply with the rather complex regu- lations.