And on the back of such certificate of registry there shall be an account of the parts or shares held by each of the owners mentioned and described in such certificate, in the form and manner following:

§19. Form of Declaration.-And be it enacted, that the following declaration shall be substituted for the declaration by the said act directed to be made by the owner or owners of any vessel previous to the registry thereof :

I A. B. of [place of residence and occupation] do truly declare, that the ship or vessel [name] of [port or place], whereof [master's name] is at present master, being [kind of build, burthen, et cætera, as described in the certificate of the surveying officer], was [when and where built, or, if prize or forfeited, capture and condemnation as such, or (if the vessel be foreign built, and the owner does not know when and where she was built,) that the said vessel is foreign built, and that I do not know the time and place of her building], and that I the said A. B. [and the other owners' names and occupations, if any, and where they respectively reside,] am [or are] sole owner [or owners] of the said, vessel, and that no other person or persons whatever hath or have any right, title, interest, share, or property therein or thereto; and that I the said A. B. [and the said other owners, if any,] am [or are] truly and bonâ fide a subject [or subjects] of Great Britain, and that I the said A. B. have not [nor have any of the other owners, if any, to the best of my knowledge and belief,] taken the oath of allegiance to any Foreign state whatever [except under the terms of some capitulation, describing the particulars thereof], or that since my taking [or his or their taking] the oath of allegiance to [naming the foreign states respectively to which he or any of the said owners shall have taken the same] I have [or he or they hath or have] become a denizen [or denizens, or naturalized subject or subjects, as the case may be,] of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, by Her Majesty's letters patent [or by an act of parliament or by or under or by virtue of an act or ordinance of the legislature of

been authorized by an act or ordinance of the legislature of

or have

to hold shares in British shipping within the said Colony, and since the passing of such act or ordinance I have [or he or they hath

or have] taken the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Victoria] [naming the times when such letters of denization have been granted respectively, or the year or years in which such act or acts of naturalization, or such colonial acts or ordinances, have passed respectively], and that no foreigner, directly or indirectly, hath any share or part interest in the said ship or vessel :

Provided always, that if it shall become necessary to register any ship or vessel belonging to any corporate body in the United Kingdom, the following declaration, in lieu of the declaration herein-before directed, shall be made and subscribed by the secretary or other proper officer of such corporate body; (that is to say,)

I A. B., secretary [or officer] of [name of company or corporation], do truly declare, that the ship or vessel [name] of [port] whereof [master's name] is at present master, being [kind of build, burthen, &c., as described in the certificate of the surveying officer], was [when and where built, or, if prize or forfeited, capture and comdemnation as such], or [if the vessel be foreign built, and that such secretary or officer does not know when and where built,] that the said vessel is foreign built, and that I do not know the time and place of the building, and that the same doth wholly and truly belong to [name of the company or corporation.]

§ 20. Proviso for Vessels under Fifteen Tons Burthen in Inland Naviga. tion and for Vessels under Thirty Tons Burthen for the Newfoundland Fishery. — And be it enacted, that notwithstanding that by the said recited act for the registering of British vessels it is enacted, that in case any ship, not being duly registered, shall exercise any of the privileges of a British vessel, the same shall be forfeited, nevertheless all boats or vessels under fifteen tons burthen, wholly owned and navigated by British subjects, although not registered as British ships, shall be admitted to be British vessels in all navigation in the rivers and upon the coasts of the United Kingdom or of the British possessions abroad, and not proceeding over sea, except within the limits of the respective colonial governments within which the managing owners of such vessels respectively reside; and that all boats or vessels wholly owned and navigated by British subjects, not exceeding the burthen of thirty tons, and not having a whole or fixed deck, and being employed solely in fishing on the banks and shores of Newfoundland and of the parts adjacent, or on the banks and shores of the provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick adjacent to the Gulph of Saint Lawrence, or on the North of Cape Canso, or of the islands within the same, or in trading coastwise within the said limits, shall be admitted to be British boats or vessels, although not registered, so long as such boats or vessels shall be solely so employed.

§ 21. Act to take effect on 1st January, 1850. And be it enacted, that this act shall come into operation on the 1st day of January 1850.

§ 22. Act may be amended, &c..

And be it enacted, that this act may be amended or repealed by any act to be passed in the present session of Parliament.

No. II.

An Act for improving the Condition of Master, Mates, and Seamen, and maintaining Discipline in the Merchant Service. CAP. XCIII. 14th August 1850.

WHEREAS it is expedient to make provision for improving the condition of masters, mates, and seamen, and for maintaining discipline, in the British Merchant Service: Be it enacted by the Queen'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,

§ 1. Short Title.—That this act may be cited as "The Mercantile Marine Act, 1850."

§ 2. Interpretation.—And be it enacted, that in the construction of this act the following words and expressions shall have the meanings hereby assigned to them, if not inconsistent with the context or subject-matter; (that is to say,)

Words of one number or gender shall import all numbers and genders: The expression " Her Majesty ” shall include Her Majesty, her heirs and

successors:

The expression "Her Majesty's dominions" shall include Her Majesty's dominions strictly so called, and all territories under the government of the East India Company, and all other territories (if any) governed by virtue of any charter or licence from the Crown or Parliament of Great Britain :

The expression "United Kingdom" shall include Great Britain and Ireland:

The expression "Board of Trade" shall mean the Committee of Her Majesty's Privy Council appointed for the consideration of matters relating to trade and foreign plantations:

The word "Consular Officer" shall include Consul-General, Consul, and Vice-Consul:

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The word "Ship" shall include every description of sea-going vessel : The expression "Home Trade Ship" shall include every ship" to which this act applies employed in trading or going within the following limits; (that is to say,) the coasts of the United Kingdom, the islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Sark, Alderney, and Man, and the continent of Europe between the river Elbe and Brest inclusive: The expression "Foreign-going Ship" shall include every "ship" to which this act applies employed in trading or going beyond the limits aforesaid:

The word "Seaman" shall include every person (except masters and apprentices duly indentured and registered) employed or engaged to serve in any capacity on board any "ship:"

The expression "General Merchant Seamen's Act" shall mean an act passed in the session holden in the seventh and eighth years of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, intituled "An Act to amend and consolidate the Laws relating to Merchant Seamen, and for keeping a Register of Seamen:"

The expression "Seamen's Protection Act" shall mean an act passed in the session holden in the eighth and ninth years of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, intituled "An Act for the Protection of Seamen entering on board Merchant Ships."

§ 3. Explanation and Alteration of Terms in 8 & 9 Vict. c.116.—And be it declared and enacted, that the words "seaman and " seamen " in the said "Seamen's Protection Act" are meant to include any person or persons about to serve as seamen, notwithstanding that they have not previously been at sea, and are also meant to include apprentices in the sea service and persons about to become such apprentices; and that the said "Seamen's Protection Act" shall, after the 31st day of December, 1850, be read and construed as if the expression "the ship's husband" were replaced by the expression "a mate of the ship," and the expression "ship's husband" were replaced by the expression "mate of the ship."

§4. Extent of Operation. And be it enacted, that the several parts of this act which relate to any "ships," or to the owners, masters, mates, “seamen," or apprentices of any “ships,” shall, so far as the context and subject-matter admit, have the following applications; (that is to say,)

So much of this act as repeals, alters, or explains any existing enactment shall apply to the same "ships" and to the same matters and persons to which such enactment applies:

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The remainder of this act shall, so far as the context and subject admit, apply to all "ships" registered or licensed in the " United Kingdom," (except such as are exclusively employed in fishing on the coasts of the "United Kingdom," and such as belong to the corporation of the Trinity House of Deptford Strond, the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses, or the corporation for preserving and improving the harbour of Dublin, and also except pleasure yachts,) and also to all ships" registered or licensed in any other part of "Her Majesty's Dominions," and employed in trading or going between any place in the "United Kingdom" and any place or places not situate in the territory or colony in which such "ship" is registered, and to the owners, masters, mates, and crews of such "ships" respectively. §5. Time of Operation. And be it enacted, that the several parts of this act shall come into operation at the several times following; (that is to say,) So much of this act as relates to the appointment of new officers of the "Board of Trade," and to the powers hereby given to that board, and to the constitution and powers of local marine boards, and to the register office for "seamen," and to the establishment of shipping offices, and of examinations for masters and mates, shall come into operation immediately on the passing hereof:

So much of this act as relates to the compulsory production of certificates of masters and mates, agreements with " seamen," advances and allotments of wages, health on board ship, desertion, discipline, log books, payment of wages, and discharge of "seamen," shall, with respect to such "ships" as are in the "United Kingdom" on the 1st day of January 1851, and to the owners, masters, mates, and crews thereof, come into operation on that day; and with respect to such 'ships" as are not within the "United Kingdom" on that day, and to the owners, masters, mates, and crews thereof, as soon after the first subsequent arrival of such " ship" in the "United Kingdom," as preparations are commenced for a further voyage or departure from any place therein:

And the remainder of this act shall come into operation on the 1st day of January 1851.

§ 6. Board of Trade and Local Boards.— And be it enacted, that the "Board of Trade" shall undertake the general superintendence of matters relating to the British mercantile marine, and shall be authorized to carry this act into execution, and to enforce by legal proceedings or by such other lawful means as may seem to it expedient the provisions of this act and of all other acts and laws relating to the British merchant service, and may also open an account or accounts with the bank of England in the manner and for the purposes herein-after mentioned.

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§ 7. Constitution and Functions of Local Marine Boards. And be it enacted, that at such of the seaports of the "United Kingdom" as have in 'ships" ordinarily employed as "foreign-going ships" a registered tonnage of 30,000 tons or upwards, and at such other places as the "Board of Trade" may appoint for this purpose, local marine boards shall be established for carrying into effect the provisions of this act, under the superintendence of the "Board of Trade;" and each of such local marine boards shall be constituted as follows; that is to say, the mayor or provost and the stipendiary magistrate, or such of the mayors or provosts and stipendiary magistrates of the place (if more than one) as the "Board of Trade" may appoint, shall be a member or members ex officio, the "Board of Trade" shall appoint four members from residents in the place or within seven miles thereof, and the owners of such foreign-going shipping as aforesaid registered at the port shall elect six members, to be qualified as herein-after mentioned; and such appointments and elections shall, in the first instance, take place on the 25th day of October 1850, and shall afterwards take place on the 25th day of October in every third succeeding year, except in the case of occasional vacancies by death, resignation, disqualification, or otherwise, which shall be filled up within one calendar month after they occur; and every person elected on an occasional vacancy shall continue a member until the next ordinary triennial election; and the mayor or provost shall fix the place and mode of conducting such elections, and also on occasional vacancies the day of election, and shall give at least ten days' notice thereof; and the "Board of Trade" shall have