or comptroller shall be entitled to demand and receive from the person so No. XXII. delivering the same the fee of two shillings and six pence, and no more; c. 73. and it shall and may be lawful to and for all and every master and 37 Geo. III. masters of any ship or ships or other person or persons to inspect such list and lists from time to time as he or they may think proper; for which inspection the said collector or comptroller shall be entitled to demand and receive from the person making the same the sum of one shilling, and no more. VI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no sea- No Seamen enman mariner or other person who shall at any port or place within his tering on board Majesty's colonies or plantations in the West Indies hire or engage him- any Vessel in self to serve, or who shall in the said colonies or plantations enter on the West Inboard any merchant ship or vessel which shall sail from Great Britain dies, which sailafter the first day of July one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven land after July ed from Engshall be entitled to nor shall he sue for recover or receive any greater or 1, 1797, to be more wages or hire or other gratuity or advantage whatsoever, on account entitled to of or for such his service than such wages or hire as herein-before au- greater Wages thorised or directed to be paid or received. than herein authorised. and double the VII. And be it further enacted, That all and every sum and sums of Wages of dead money which shall be due for wages to any seaman mariner or other Men to be paid person hired or engaged on board any British merchant ship for any to the Receiver voyage from any port or ports in Great Britain to any port or ports in of the 6d. duty the said colonies or plantations, and who has or have died on board du- for Greenwich ring the voyage, shall within three calendar months after the arrival of Hospital, on such merchant ship in any port or ports in Great Britain be paid to the Penalty of 50%. receiver of the sixpenny duty for Greenwich Hospital for the time being to the use of the executor or executors administrator or administrators of Wages. the seaman mariner or other person so dying; (2.) and if any master of any such merchant ship shall neglect or refuse to pay over or tender to the said receiver all and every such sum and sums of money within the time herein-before limited, he shall forfeit and pay for every such offence the sum of fifty pounds and also double the amount of the sum or sums of money so due to any seaman mariner or other person for wages as aforesaid. VIII. Provided always and be it further enacted, That all and every Disposition of such sum and sums of money which shall not be lawfully demanded of such Wages if the said receiver within the term of three years after payment thereof to not demanded him in manner aforesaid shall be forfeited, and shall go and be paid to of the Receiver the use of the seamen's hospital of the port to which such ship belongs; in Three Years. but in case there shall be no seamen's hospital at the port to which such ship belongs, then to and for the use and benefit of the old and disabled seamen of the same port and their families, to be distributed at the discretion of the magistrates for the county where such port shall be situate or any two or more of them. IX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Disposition of penalties and forfeitures given by this Act shall be paid and applied in Penalties. manner following; that is to say, one third part thereof for and towards the support of Greenwich Hospital; one other third part thereof for and towards the support of the seamen's hospital at the port to which the ship or vessel in respect of which the forfeiture shall arise belongs; but in case there shall be no seaman's hospital at the port to which such ship or vessel belongs, then to and for the use and benefit of the old and disabled seamen of the same port and their families, to be distributed at the discretion of the persons having the direction of the merchants' seamen's fund at such port, or in case there shall be no such establishments there, by the magistrates or overseer of the poor of such port; and the other third part thereof to and for the person or persons who shall inform and sue for the same; and that such penalty shall be recovered by bill plaint Recovery of or information in any of his Majesty's courts of record at Westminister; Penalties or such of them as do not exceed the sum of twenty pounds upon in (2.) The Executor may sue the Captain for any Wages due beyond the sum paid—Armstrong v. Smith, 1 N. R. 299. 37 Geo. III. C. C. 73. No. XXII. formation on the oath of one or more witnesses before any one or more of his Majesty's justice or justices of the peace in any part of the kingdom of Great Britain who shall not reside more than ten miles from the place of abode of the person or persons complained of, which justice and justices is and are hereby authorised and required to issue out his or their warrant or warrants to bring before him or them every person charged with any offence under this Act; and in case he or they shall refuse or neglect to pay such penalties or forfeitures as aforesaid, to issue his or their warrant or warrants to levy the same by distress and sale of the offenders goods, and in case no distress can be found, to commit the offender or offenders to the common gaol of the city town or place within the jurisdiction of such respective justice or justices, there to remain for the space of three calendar months, or until he or they shall pay the Act not to extend to Seamen producing Certificates of Discharge. Masters to grant such Cer tificates on Penalty of 201. Act not to ex tend to Seamen hired through Necessity, &c. After July 1, 1797, Articles to be entered into agreeably to annexed Schedule. Publick Act. Ship. same. X. Provided nevertheless and be it enacted, That nothing in this Act shall extend or be construed to extend to any contract or agreement which shall or may be made with any seaman mariner or other person hired or engaged to serve on board any merchant ship or vessel at any port or place within his Majesty's colonies or plantations in the West Indies who shall at the time of such hiring or engagement produce and deliver to the master and commander of such merchant ship or vessel a certificate under the hand of the master or commander of the ship or vessel on board of which such seaman mariner or other person had then last served, signed in the presence of one or more witness or witnesses stating their usual place or places of abode, thereby declaring or certifying that such seaman mariner or other person had been duly discharged from the ship or vessel on board of which he had so last served; and which certificate the said master or commander shall grant within three. days next after application made to him by such seaman mariner or other person before a witness, or in default thereof shall forfeit and pay the sum of twenty pounds, to be levied recovered and applied in manner hereinbefore directed; nor to any contract or agreement to be made with any seaman mariner or other person hired or engaged to serve on board any merchant ship or vessel which through necessity or on account of very hazardous service or extraordinary duty require such contract or agreement to be made and more wages or hire given, and of which necessity service or extraordinary duty proof shall be made on oath before the chief magistrate or principal officer of any port or place, or before any justice or justices of the peace of the said colonies or plantations; and provided also that such seaman mariner or other person so hired or engaged to serve on board any ship or vessel so requiring such service shall not. have deserted from the ship or vessel on board of which he had then last served; and provided also that no greater or higher wages or hire shall be given by any master or commander, or taken or received by any seaman mariner or other person as aforesaid except in cases of such necessity very hazardous service or extraordinary duty as aforesaid, than after the rate of double the monthly wages or the wages to be settled or directed by any governor chief magistrate collector or comptroller as herein-before directed to be paid or received as aforesaid. XI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the first day of July one thousand seven hundred and ninetyseven the articles to be entered into by and between the masters seamen and mariners of such merchant ship or ships shall be agreeably and to the purport and effect as mentioned in the schedule hereto annexed, marked with the letter A. XII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That this Act shall be deemed and taken to be a public Act; and all judges and justices are hereby required to take notice of it as such without specially pleading the same. The SCHEDULE to which this Act refers. A. IT is hereby agreed between the master seamen and mariners of the now bound for the port of and ship 37 Geo. III. c. 73. the master or commander of the said ship, That in No. XXII. consideration of the monthly or other wages against each respective seaman or mariner's name hereunto set they severally shall and will perform the above-mentioned voyage; and the said master doth hereby agree with and hire the said seamen and mariners for the said voyage at such monthly wages to be paid pursuant to the laws of Great Britain; and they the said seamen and mariners do hereby promise and oblige themselves to do their duty and obey the lawful commands of their officers on board the said ship or boats thereunto belonging as become good and faithful seamen and mariners; and at all places where the said ship shall put in or anchor during the said ship's voyage to do their best endeavours for the preservation of the said ship and cargo and not to neglect or refuse doing their duty by day or night; nor shall go out of the said ship on board any other vessel or he on shore under any pretence whatsoever till the voyage is ended and the ship discharged of her cargo without leave first obtained of the master captain or commanding officer on board; and in default thereof they freely agree to be liable to the penalties mentioned in the Act of Parliament made in the second year of the reign of King George the Second, intituled An Art for the better Regulation and Government of Seamen in the Merchants Service; and the Act made in the thirty-seventh year of his present Majesty's reign, intituled An Act for preventing the Desertion of Seamen from British Merchant Ships trading to his Majesty's Colonies and Plantations in the West Indies: And it is further agreed by the parties to these presents, That twenty-four hours absence without leave shall be deemed a total desertion and render such seamen and mariners liable to the forfeitures and penalties contained in the Acts above recited; that each and every lawful command which the said master shall think necessary to issue for the effectual government of the said vessel suppressing immorality and vice of all kinds be strictly complied with under the penalty of the person or persons disobeying forfeiting his or their whole wages or hire together with every thing belonging to him or them on board the said vessel: And it is further agreed, That no officer or seaman or person belonging to the said ship shall demand or be entitled to his wages or any part thereof until the arrival of the said ship at the above-mentioned port of discharge and her cargo delivered, nor less than twenty days in case the seamen is not employed in the delivery: And it is hereby further agreed between the master and officers of the said ship, That whatever apparel furniture and stores each of them may receive into their charge belonging to the said ship shall be accounted for on their return; and in case any thing shall be lost or damaged through their carelessness or insufficiency it shall be made good by such officer or seaman by whose means it may happen to the master and owner of the said ship: And whereas it is customary for the officers and seamen on the ship's return home in the river and during the time their cargoes are delivering to go on shore each night to sleep, greatly to the prejudice of such ship and freighters; Be it further agreed by the said parties, That neither officer nor seaman shall on any pretence whatsoever be entitled to such indulgence, but shall do their duty by day in discharge of the cargo and keep such watch by night as the master or commander of the said ship shall think necessary in order for the preservation of the above: And whereas it often happens that part of the cargo is embezzled after being delivered into lighters, and as such losses are made good by the owners of the ships; Be it therefore agreed by these presents, That whatever officer or seaman the master shall think proper to appoint shall take charge of the cargo in the lighters and go with the same to the lawful quay and there deliver his charge to the ship's husband or his representative or see the same safely weighed at the King's beam, and in consequence of their true fidelity such officer or seaman shall be entitled to two shillings and six pence each lighter, exclusive of their monthly pay; and should it so happen that lighters are detained a considerable time at the quay before they can be unloaded such officer and seaman so appointed shall in that case be entitled to two shillings and six pence for every twenty-four hours, exclusive of their No. XXII. said monthly pay; that each seaman and mariner who shall well and 37 Geo. III. truly perform the above-mentioned voyage (provided always that there c. 73. be no plunderage embezzlement or other unlawful acts committed on the said vessel's cargo or stores) shall be entitled to their wages or hire that may become due to him pursuant to this agreement; that for the due performance of each and every the above-mentioned articles and agreements and acknowledgment of their being voluntary and without compulsion or any other clandestine means being used, the said parties have hereto subscribed their names the day and month set opposite to their respective names. 45 Geo. III. c. 81. 31 Geo. 3. c. 39. [ No. XXIII. ] 43 George III. c. 56.—An Act for regulating the Vessels carrying Passengers from the United Kingdom to his Majesty's Plantations and Settlements abroad, or to Foreign Parts, with respect to the Number of such Passengers.-[24th June 1803.] [ No. XXIV. ] 45 Geo. III. c. 81.-An Act to amend an Act in the Thirty-first Year of his present Majesty, for the better Regulation and Government of Seamen employed in the Coasting Trade.-[2d July 1805.] FOR better enforcing the provisions respecting the agreements of seamen and mariners made in an Act passed in the thirty-first year of his present Majesty's reign, intituled An Act for the better Regulation and Government of Seamen employed in the Coasting Trade of this Kingdom;" Be it enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, Punishment for That in case of any seaman or mariner, after he shall have entered into Seamen refus- any agreement as mentioned in the said Act, shall neglect or refuse to ing to fulfil the proceed on the intended voyage or voyages for which he shall have enAgreement en- tered or upon which any ship or vessel trading coastwise as therein mentioned shall be destined to proceed, it shall and may be lawful upon complaint made thereof to any of his Majesty's justices of the peace within their respective jurisdictions, by the master or commander owner Imprisonment. or owners or any other person having charge or command of the ship or vessel to which such seaman or mariner so belongs, for such justice and he is hereby required to issue his warrant to apprehend such seaman or: tered into in pursuance of recited Act. Class II.] Trade, Navigation, Ship-Owners, Mariners and Fisheries. 123 [No. XXV. ] 48 George III. c. 130.-An Act for preventing the various Frauds and Depredations committed on Merchants, Ship-Owners, and Underwriters, by Boatmen and others, within the Jurisdiction of the Cinque Ports; and also for remedying certain Defects relative to the Adjustment of Salvage, under a Statute made in the Twelfth Year of the Reign of her late Majesty Queen Anne.-[30th June 1808.] XXI. 45 Geo. III. c. 81. 39. 48 Geo. III. c. 130. AND whereas it is expedient that the like means of concluclusively adjusting and recovering the quantum of the monies or gratuities to be paid to the several persons acting or being employed in the salvage of any ship vessel or goods should subsist and be by law ap'plicable in cases where the salvors shall have acted under and by the mere employment and authority of the commander or other superior officer mariners or owners of any ship or vessel in distress, as are now by law 'provided for adjusting the quantum of such monies or gratuities which 'shall have become due in cases where application shall have been first 'made to officers of the customs or other the officer or officers in that behalf named and appointed in and by a certain statute made in the 'twelfth year of the reign of our late Sovereign Lady Queen Anne, intituled An Act for preserving of all such Ships and Goods thereof which 'shall happen to be forced on Shore or stranded upon the Coasts of this King'clom, or any other of her Majesty's Dominions, and where assistance shall have been thereupon rendered in pursuance of the provisions of that 'statute;' Be it therefore enacted and declared by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the passing of this Act all and every the means Regulations of which in virtue of the statute last mentioned subsist and may now be by 12 Anne st. 2. law applied for the conclusively adjusting and for the recovering of the c. 18. as to adquantum of the monies or gratuities to be paid to the several persons act- justing and reing or being employed in the salvage of any ship vessel or goods in cases covering Quanwhere application shall have been first made pursuant to that statute to tum of Salvage officers of the customs or other the officer or officers therein in that be- extended to half mentioned, and assistance shall have been thereupon rendered and Cases of Salhad in pursuance of the provisions of that statute shall be by law appli- vage without cable and available in like manner to all intents and purposes in cases Officers of the where the salvors shall have acted under and by the mere employment Customs. and authority of the commander or other superior officers mariners or owners of any ship or vessel in distress although no such application shall have been made to nor any authority or assistance derived from any officers of the customs or other the officer or officers in the said statute in that behalf mentioned; and that upon payment or tender and refusal of the quantum of monies or gratuities to be paid to the several persons who shall have acted or been employed in such salvage, or in case such payment or tender cannot be made, on security being given for the due payment thereof to the satisfaction of the justices who shall have adjusted such quantum of gratuities, it shall not be lawful for any officer of the customs or other person or persons having the possession or custody of such ship vessel or goods any longer to retain the possession or custody of the same or any part thereof by reason or pretence of any claim or right to a compensation or gratuity for such salvage as aforesaid or for having acted or been employed therein. interference of XXII. Provided always, That in cases where the salvors shall have Quantum of acted without application made to and without any authority or assistance Money of Gras tuity to Salvage may be ascertained by Justices of Peace. |