Journey to the Jones ACT: U.S. Merchant Marine Policy 1776-1920 - Hardcoverby Charlie Papavizas (Author) The "Jones Act" is the most newsworthy U. S. maritime policy law. Most of the attention is focused on the preservation of U. S. domestic maritime trade. Some is focused on the law as a means for mariners to recover for injuries. But this attention is too narrow. The "Jones Act" was originally understood to mean the whole of the 1920 Merchant Marine Act, which deals with far more than domestic maritime trade and mariner