Executive Order 1988

To Require Ocean-Going Vessels to be Fitted With Wireless Apparatus.

By virtue of the authority vested In me, I hereby establish the following order for the Canal Zone:

Section 1. From and after the first day of July, 1915, it shall be unlawful for any ocean-going steamer of the United States, or of any foreign country, carrying fifty or more persons, including passengers and crew, to leave or attempt to leave any port of the Canal Zone unless such steamer shall be equipped with an efficient apparatus for radio communication in good working order in charge of a person skilled in the use of such apparatus, which apparatus shall be capable of transmitting and receiving messages for a distance of at least one hunderd miles, night or day; provided that the provisions of this order shall not apply to steamers plying only between the Canal Zone and ports less than two hundred miles therefrom.

Section 2. The master or other person being in charge of such vessel which leaves or attempts to leave any port of the Canal Zone in violation of any of the provisions of this order shall, upon conviction, be fined in a sum not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), and any such fine shall be a lien upon such vessel, and the vessel may be liable therefor in the District Court of the Canal Zone, and the leaving or attempting to leave by any vessel from each and every port of the Canal Zone shall constitute a separate offense.

Section 3. This order shall take effect from and after this date.

Woodrow Wilson.

The White House, 9 July, 1914.