All licenses issued to such officers shall be for a term of five years, but the holder of a license may have the same renewed for another five years in the manner prescribed in the rules and regulations of the Board of Supervising Inspectors: _Provided, however_, That any officer holding a license, and who is engaged in a service which necessitates his continuous absence from the United States, may make application in writing for renewal and transmit the same to the board of local inspectors, with his certificate of citizenship, if naturalized, and a statement of the applicant, verified before a consul or other officer of the United States authorized to administer an oath, setting forth the reasons for not appearing in person; and upon receiving the same the board of local inspectors that originally issued such license shall renew the same and shall notify the applicant of such renewal: _Provided further_, That no license as master, mate, or pilot of any class of vessel shall be renewed without furnishing a satisfactory certificate of examination as to color blindness. And in all cases where the issue is the suspension or revocation of such licenses, whether before the local boards of inspectors (of steam vessels), as provided for in section forty-four hundred and fifty of the Revised Statutes, or before the supervising inspectors, as provided for in section forty-four hundred and fifty-two of the Revised Statutes, the accused shall be allowed to appear by counsel and to testify in his own behalf. (May 28, 1896; sec. 2; Oct. 22, 1914.) Service during war. No master, mate, pilot, or engineer of steam vessels licensed under title fifty-two [R. S., 4399-4500] of the Revised Statutes shall be liable to draft in time of war, except for the performance of duties such as required by his license; and, while performing such duties in the service of the United States, every such master, mate, pilot, or engineer shall be entitled to the highest rate of wages paid in the merchant marine of the United States for similar services; and, if killed or wounded while performing such duties under the United States, they, or their heirs, or their legal representatives shall be entitled to all the privileges accorded to soldiers and sailors serving in the Army and Navy, under the pension laws of the United States. (May 28, 1896; sec. 2.) Officer's license.