Apprentices.
Every shipping-commissioner appointed under this Title [R. S., 4501-4613] shall, if applied to for the purpose of apprenticing boys to the sea-service, by any master or owner of a vessel, or by any person legally qualified, give such assistance as is in his power for facilitating the making of such apprenticeships; but the shipping-commissioner shall ascertain that the boy has voluntarily consented to be bound, and that the parents or guardian of such boy have consented to such apprenticeship, and that he has attained the age of twelve years, and is of sufficient health and strength, and that the master to whom such boy is to be bound is a proper person for the purpose. Such apprenticeship shall terminate when the apprentice becomes eighteen years of age. The shipping-commissioner shall keep a register of all indentures of apprenticeship made before him. (R. S., 4509.)
The master of every foreign-going vessel shall, before carrying any apprentice to sea from any place in the United States, cause such apprentice to appear before the shipping-commissioner before whom the crew is engaged, and shall produce to him the indenture by which such apprentice is bound, and the assignment or assignments thereof, if any; and the name of the apprentice, with the date of the indenture and of the assignment or assignments thereof, if any, shall be entered on the agreement; which shall be in the form, as near as may be, given in the table marked "A" in the schedule annexed to this Title [R. S., 4501-4613]; and no such assignment shall be made without the approval of a commissioner, of the apprentice, and of his parents or his guardian. For any violation of this section, the master shall be liable to a penalty of not more than one hundred dollars. (R. S., 4510.)