Repayment to owner of ad vance paid and not duly earned. If new seamen are engaged payment, and shall credit the produce thereof to the account of the said 216. If upon any seaman leaving his ship for the purpose of entering the naval service of her Majesty, the owner or master of such ship shows to the satisfaction of the Admiralty that he has paid or properly rendered himself liable to pay an advance of wages to or on account of such seaman, and that such seaman has not at the time of quitting his ship duly earned such advance by service therein, and, in the case of such liability as aforesaid, if such owner or master actually satisfies the same, it shall be lawful for the Admiralty to pay to such owner or master so much of such advance as has not been duly earned, and to deduct the sum so paid from the wages of the seaman earned or to be earned in the naval service of her Majesty. 217. If, in consequence of any seaman so leaving his ship without the consent of the master or owner thereof, it becomes necessary for the safety instead of the and proper navigation of the said ship to engage a substitute or substitutes, original seaand if the wages or other remuneration paid to such substitute or substimen, the tutes for subsequent service exceed the wages or remuneration which would have been payable to the said seaman under his agreement for similar service, the master or owner of the said ship may apply to the registrar of the High Court of Admiralty in England for a certificate authorizing the repayment of such excess; and such application shall be in such form, and shall be accompanied by such documents, and by such statements, whether on oath or otherwise, as the judge of the said Court from time to time directs. owner may apply for repayment of any extra expense he has been put to. Application how to be decided on, and amount of re payment how to be ascertained. 218. The said registrar shall, upon receiving any such application as aforesaid, give notice thereof in writing, and of the sum claimed, to the secretary to the Admiralty, and shall proceed to examine the said application, and may call upon the registrar-general of seamen to produce any papers in his possession relating thereto, and may call for further evidence; and if the whole of the claim appears to him to be just, he shall give a certificate accordingly; but if he considers that such claim or any part thereof is not just, he shall give notice of such his opinion in writing under his hand to the person making the said application or his attorney or agent; and if within sixteen days from the giving of such notice such person does not leave or cause to be left at the office of the registrar of the said Court a written notice demanding that the said application shall be referred to the judge of the said Court, then the said registrar shall finally decide thereon, and certify accordingly; but if such notice be left as aforesaid, then the said application shall stand referred to the said judge in his chambers, and his decision thereon shall be final, and the said registrar shall certify the same accordingly; and the said registrar and judge respectively shall in every proceeding under this act have full power to administer oaths, and to exercise all the ordinary powers of the Court, as in any other proceeding within its jurisdiction; and the said registrar or judge (as the case may be) may, if he thinks fit, allow for the costs of any proceeding under this act any sum not exceeding five pounds for each seaman so quitting his ship as aforesaid; and such sum shall be added to the sum allowed, and shall be certified by the said registrar accordingly. ascertained. 219. Every certificate so given shall be sent by post or otherwise to the Accountantperson making the application, his attorney or agent, and a copy thereof general to pay shall be sent to the accountant-general of the navy; and such accountant- sums when general shall, upon delivery to him of the said original certificate, together with a receipt in writing purporting to be a receipt from the master or owner making the application, pay to the person delivering the same out of the monies applicable to the naval service of her Majesty, and granted by Parliament for the purpose, the amount mentioned in such certificate; and such certificate and receipt shall absolutely discharge the said accountantgeneral and her Majesty from all liability in respect of the money so paid or of the said application. tations in sup port of such applications. 220. Every person who, in making or supporting any such application Penalty for as aforesaid to the registrar of the High Court of Admiralty, forges, assists forgery and in forging, or procures to be forged, or fraudulently alters, assists in false represenfraudulently altering, or procures to be fraudulently altered, any document, and every person who in making or supporting any such application presents or makes use of any such forged or altered document, or who in making or supporting any such application makes or gives, or assists in making or giving, or procures to be made or given, any false evidence or representation, knowing the same to be false, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Provisions, Health and Accommodation. 221. Any three or more of the crew of any British ship may complain to any officer in command of any of her Majesty's ships, or any British consular officer, or any shipping master, or any chief officer of customs, that the provisions or water for the use of the crew are at any time of bad quality, unfit for use, or deficient in quantity; and such officer may thereupon examine the said provisions or water, or cause them to be examined; and if on examination such provisions or water are found to be of bad quality and unfit for use, or to be deficient in quantity, the person making such examination shall signify the same in writing to the master of the ship; and if such master does not thereupon provide other proper provisions or water in lieu of any so signified to be of a bad quality and unfit for use, or does not procure the requisite quantity of any so signified to be insufficient in quantity, or uses any provisions or water which have been so signified as aforesaid to be of a bad quality and unfit for use, he shall in every such case incur a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds; and upon every such examination as aforesaid the officers making or directing the same shall enter a statement of the result of the examination in the official log, and shall send a report thereof to the Board of Trade, and such report, if produced out of the custody of such Board or its officers, shall be received in evidence in any legal proceeding. Provisions, Health and Accommodation. Survey of prowater on complaint made. visions and 222. If the officer to whom any such complaint as last aforesaid is Forfeiture for made certifies in such statement as aforesaid that there was no reasonable frivolous comground for such complaint, each of the parties so complaining shall be plaint. liable to forfeit to the owner out of his wages a sum not exceeding one week's wages. 223. In the following cases, (that is to say,) (1.) If during a voyage the allowance of any of the provisions which Allowance for any seaman has by his agreement stipulated for is reduced (except short or bad in accordance with any regulations for reduction by way of punish- provisions. Masters to keep weights and measures on board. Board of Trade ment contained in the agreement, and also except for any time during which such seaman wilfully and without sufficient cause refuses or neglects to perform his duty, or is lawfully under confinement for misconduct, either on board or on shore); (2.) If it is shown that any of such provisions are or have during the voyage been bad in quality and unfit for use; The seaman shall receive by way of compensation for such reduction or bad quality, according to the time of its continuance, the following sums, to be paid to him in addition to and to be recoverable as wages; (that is to say,) (1.) If his allowance is reduced by any quantity not exceeding one third of the quantity specified in the agreement, a sum not exceeding fourpence a day; (2.) If his allowance is reduced by more than one third of such quantity, eightpence a day; (3.) In respect of such bad quality as aforesaid, a sum not exceeding one shilling a day: But if it is shown to the satisfaction of the Court before which the case is tried that any provisions the allowance of which has been reduced could not be procured or supplied in proper quantities, and that proper and equivalent substitutes were supplied in lieu thereof, the Court shall take such circumstances into consideration and shall modify or refuse compensation as the justice of the case may require (o). [Sect. 224 was repealed by the " Merchant Shipping Act, 1867," s. 3] (p). 225. Every master shall keep on board proper weights and measures for the purpose of determining the quantities of the several provisions and articles served out, and shall allow the same to be used at the time of serving out such provisions and articles in the presence of a witness whenever any dispute arises about such quantities, and in default shall for every offence incur a penalty not exceeding ten pounds. 226. Any local marine board may, upon being required by the Board of Trade so to do, appoint and remove a medical inspector of ships for the port, and may fix his remuneration, such remuneration to be subject to the control of the Board of Trade; and at ports where there are no local marine boards the Board of Trade may appoint and remove such inspectors, and fix their remuneration; and it shall be the duty of such inspectors to inspect the medicines, medical stores, lime or lemon juice or other articles, sugar and vinegar, required to be kept on board any such ships as aforesaid; and such inspection, if made at places where there are local marine boards, shall be made under their direction, and also in any special cases under the direction of the Board of Trade, and if made at places where there are no local marine boards, shall be made under the direction of the Board of Trade; and such medical inspectors shall for the purposes of such inspection have the same powers as the inspectors appointed by the Board of Trade under the first part of this act (q); but every such inspector, if required by timely notice in writing from the master, owner or consignee, shall make his inspection three days at least before the ship proceeds to sea, and if the result of the inspection is satisfactory shall not again make inspection before the commencement of the voyage, unless he has reason to suspect that some of the articles inspected have been subsequently removed, injured or destroyed; and whenever any such medical inspector is of opinion that in any ship hereby required to carry such articles as aforesaid the same or any of them are deficient in quantity or quality, or are placed in improper vessels, he shall signify the same in writing to the chief officer of customs of the port where such ship is lying, and also to the (0) See The Josephine, Swa. 152. force respecting medical stores. master, owner or consignee thereof, and thereupon the master of such ship, before proceeding to sea, shall produce to such chief officer of customs a certificate under the hand of such medical inspector or of some other medical inspector, to the effect that such deficiency has been supplied or remedied, or that such improper vessels have been replaced by proper vessels, as the case may require; and such chief officer of customs shall not grant a clearance for such ship without the production of such certificate, and if such ship attempts to go to sea without a clearance, may detain her until such certificate is produced; and if such ship proceeds to sea without the production of such certificate, the owner, master or consignee thereof shall incur a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds. [Section 227 was repealed by the "Merchant Shipping Act, 1867," s. 3] (r). 228. The following rules shall be observed with respect to expenses attendant on illness and death; (that is to say,) (1.) If the master or any seaman or apprentice receives any hurt or injury in the service of the ship to which he belongs, the expense of providing the necessary surgical and medical advice, with attendance and medicines, and of his subsistence until he is cured, or dies, or is brought back to some port in the United Kingdom, if shipped in the United Kingdom, or if shipped in some British possession to some port in such possession, and of his conveyance to such port, and the expense (if any) of his burial, shall be defrayed by the owner of such ship without any deduction on that account from the wages of such master, seaman or apprentice: (2.) If the master or any seaman or apprentice is on account of any illness temporarily removed from his ship for the purpose of preventing infection, or otherwise for the convenience of the ship, and subsequently returns to his duty, the expense of such removal and of providing the necessary advice with attendance and medicines and of his subsistence whilst away from the ship, shall be defrayed in like manner: (3.) The expense of all medicines and surgical or medical advice and attendance given to any master, seaman or apprentice whilst on board his ship shall be defrayed in like manner: (4.) In all other cases any reasonable expenses duly incurred by the owner for any seaman in respect of illness, and also any reasonable expenses duly incurred by the owner in respect of the burial of any seaman or apprentice who dies whilst on service, shall, if duly proved, be deducted from the wages of such seaman or apprentice (s). medical at Expense of tendance and subsistence in case of illness, and of burial' in case of death, how to be defrayed. able from owner. 229. If any such expenses in respect of the illness, injury or hurt of any Expenses, if seaman or apprentice, as are to be borne by the owner, are paid by any paid by consul, consular officer or other person on behalf of her Majesty, or if any other to be recoverexpenses in respect of the illness, injury or hurt of any seaman or apprentice whose wages are not accounted for to such officer under the provisions hereinbefore contained in that behalf are so paid, such expenses shall be repaid to such officer or other person by the master of the ship, and if not so repaid, the amount thereof, with costs, shall be a charge upon the ship, and be recoverable from the said master or from the owner of the ship for the time being as a debt due to her Majesty, and shall be recoverable either by ordinary process of law or in the manner in which seamen are hereby enabled to recover wages; and in any proceeding for the recovery thereof the production of a certificate of the facts, signed by such officer or other person, together with such vouchers (if any) as the case requires, shall be sufficient proof that the said expenses were duly paid by such consular officer or other person as aforesaid. (r) See the M. S. Act, 1867, s. 5, for the enactment substituted for the repealed section. (s) See the M. S. Act, 1867, ss. 7, 8 and 10. Protection of Sale of and No debt exceeding 58. recoverable till end of voyage. Penalty for 230. Every foreign-going ship having one hundred persons or upwards on board shall carry on board as part of her complement some person duly authorized by law to practise as physician, surgeon or apothecary; and in default the owner shall for every voyage of any such ship made without such medical practitioner incur a penalty not exceeding one hundred pounds: Provided that nothing herein contained shall in anywise affect any provision contained in the "Passengers Act, 1852," concerning the carriage of medical practitioners by the class of ships therein named passenger ships, nor shall any such passenger ship, if not thereby required to carry a medical practitioner, be hereby required to do so (t). [Section 231 was repealed by the "Merchant Shipping Act, 1867," s. 3] (u). Power of making Complaint. 232. If any seaman or apprentice whilst on board any ship states to the master that he desires to make complaint to a justice of the peace, or consular officer, or naval officer in command of any of her Majesty's ships, against the master or any of the crew, the said master shall, if the ship is then at a place where there is a justice or any such officer as aforesaid, so soon as the service of the ship will permit, and if the ship is not then at such a place, so soon after her first arrival at such a place as the service of the ship will permit, allow such seaman or apprentice to go ashore or send him ashore in proper custody so that he may be enabled to make such complaint, and shall, in default, incur a penalty not exceeding ten pounds. Protection of Seamen from Imposition. 233. No wages due or accruing to any seaman or apprentice shall be subject to attachment or arrestment from any Court; and every payment of wages to a seaman or apprentice shall be valid in law, notwithstanding any previous sale or assignment of such wages, or of any attachment, incumbrance or arrestment thereon; and no assignment or sale of such wages or of salvage made prior to the accruing thereof shall bind the party making the same; and no power of attorney or authority for the receipt of any such wages or salvage shall be irrevocable. 234. No debt exceeding in amount five shillings, incurred by any seaman after he has engaged to serve, shall be recoverable until the service agreed for is concluded. 235. If any person demands or receives from any seaman or apprentice overcharges by to the sea service payment in respect of his board or lodging in the house lodging-house of such person for a longer period than such seaman or apprentice has keepers. actually resided or boarded therein, he shall incur a penalty not exceeding ten pounds. Penalty for detaining seamen's effects. 236. If any person receives or takes into his possession or under his control any monies, documents or effects of any seaman or apprentice to the sea service, and does not return the same or pay the value thereof, when required by such seaman or apprentice, subject to such deduction as may be justly due to him from such seaman or apprentice in respect to board or lodging or otherwise, or absconds therewith, he shall incur a penalty not exceeding ten pounds, and any two justices may, besides inflicting such penalty, by summary order direct the amount or value of such monies, documents or effects, subject to such deduction as aforesaid, to be forthwith paid to such seaman or apprentice. (t) See the Passengers Act, 1855 (18 enactment substituted for the repealed section. See also the Colonial Shipping Act, 1868 (31 & 32 Vict. c. 129), s. 3. |