"No seaman shall, by reason of any agreement, forfeit his lien upon the ship, or be deprived of any remedy for the recovery of his wages, to which he would otherwise have been entitled; and every stipulation which is inconsistent with any provision of this Act, or of any other Act relating to merchant seamen, and every stipulation by which any seaman consents _to abandon his right to wages in the case of the loss of the ship_, or to abandon any right which he may have or obtain in the nature of salvage, _shall be wholly inoperative_." The bill which I now introduce is grounded on the provisions quoted from the two Acts of the British Parliament, and contains two principles: _first_, that seamen shall be paid their wages down to the time of the loss of the ship, in case they serve faithfully to the last; and, _secondly_, that they shall not be permitted to lose their wages through any agreement in the shipping articles. In some details I have departed from the British Act. It does not seem advisable to make the wages dependent on "a certificate from the master or chief surviving officer of the ship," but to leave the question of services open to proof in any way, according to received rules of evidence. Therefore I have said that the wages shall be paid, "_provided_ the seaman shall have exerted himself to the utmost to save the ship, cargo, and stores." The reasons for this course are clear. Masters are often part owners of American ships, and thus have a personal interest adverse to the sailor. In a mood of selfishness or recklessness, they might refuse the certificate, even though well earned. Now, in constructing a protection to the sailor, it does not seem prudent to make his wages dependent upon any such quarter. Indeed, it is hardly just to take from him the right to establish his claim before the Admiralty Court, merely because an interested master refuses a certificate, when, perhaps, plenary proof might be furnished _aliunde_. Moreover, if the question were put in control of the master, he might obtain an improper influence over the minds of the crew, inducing them even to sacrifice truth in the event of litigation between owners and underwriters. There can be no harm in leaving the question of fact to be proved by competent witnesses, like every other question of fact: and the seamen should be competent witnesses for each other. A sagacious court will know how to weigh their testimony, should it come in conflict with that of the officers. It seems proper that the master, too, though a party to the suit,--as in the case of a libel against him _in personam_, or in a suit at Common Law,--should be competent to testify to the conduct of the libellant or plaintiff,--in other words, whether he has "exerted himself to the utmost"; and I have introduced into the bill a provision accordingly.