358
THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 27TH DECEMBER, 1862.
Distressed Seamen.
Naval Courts.
Section 22. Enacts that the claim of Seamen to be relieved abroad or sent home in pursuance of Sections 211 and 212 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, shall be subject to such regulations and dependent on such conditions as the Board of Trade may from time to time make or impose.
Section 23. Gives to Courts of Inquiry duly instituted in any British Possession to investigate the cause of wreck, or the conduct of Masters, Mates, and Engineers in the British Merchant Service, the power (hitherto exclusively exercised by the Board of Trade) of cancelling or suspending certificates of competency or service; and
Section 24. Gives such Courts the power, which they did not previously possess, of demanding the delivery to them of a certificate pending the trial of the offender.
My Lords desire particularly to impress upon all Officers and Functionaries in the Colonies and Possessions abroad concerned in the conduct of the inquiries above referred to the necessity of a rigid compliance with the requirements in paragraph 6 of the 23d section above referred to, and to point out that unless it is in future shown upon the face of the report of a Court of Inquiry that these requirements have been strictly observed, it will not be in the power of this Board to withhold a certificate that may have been cancelled or suspended abroad, and the inzention of the Act will be frustrated, as incom- petent Officers may escape just punishment if there be any informality in the proceed- ings of such Courts.
Referring to the proviso in Section 242 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854 (para. 5), it is important that in every case the report of a Court of Inquiry should be confirm- ed by the Governor or person administering the government of the Colony or Possession in which the Inquiry is held.
Reports and evidence should in future, if possible, be sent in original, or if copies, they must be certified.
H.R.W.
T. H. FARRER, Assistant Secretary, Marine Department.
No. 134.
GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.
The following Return of Notes in Circulation and Specie in Reserve at the Bank of the ORIENTAL BANK CORPORATION, in Hongkong, is published for general information.
By Order,
W. H. ALEXANDER,
Acting Colonial Secretary.
Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong, 24th December, 1862.
Account of the average amount of Notes in Circulation at the Bank of the Oriental Bank Corporation in Hongkong for the month ending 29th November, 1862, rendered in accordance with the terms of Her Majesty's Royal Charter of Incorporation.
NOTES ISSUED,.
SPECIE IN RESERVE,
$887,403. $400,000.
W. M. ELLES, Acting Manager.
Oriental Bank Corporation, Hongkong, 1st December, 1862.
I hereby certify that I this day inspected the Books and Treasure of the Oriental Bank Corporation, and that I found the necessary amount of Specie as required by the Royal Charter.
F. H. BIRCH, Accountant.
Victoria, Hongkong, 23rd December, 1862.
FRED. FORTH, Colonial Treasurer.
No. 135.
GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.
The following Return of Notes in Circulation and Specie in Reserve at the Bank of the CHARTERED MERCANTILE BANK OF INDIA, LONDON, AND CHINA, in Hongkong, is published for general information.
By Order,
Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong, 24th December, 1862.
W. H. ALEXANDER, Acting Colonial Secretary.