Government Marine Surveyor at this Port, and on the 5th instant I received another letter from the same firm objecting to my reasons for not furnishing the Endorsements which they required on the Jchang's register. Section 26 of Merchant Shipping Act 1854 states = "Whenever the tonnage of any ship has been ascertained and registered in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the same shall henceforth be deemed to be the tonnage of such ship, and be repeated in every subsequent registry thereof unless any alteration is made in the form or capacity of such ship, or unless it is discovered that the tonnage of such ship has been erroneously computed ?"
W.R. H. Cairns the Government Marine Surveyor informs me that no alterations or additions have been made in the capacity for tonnage of the Jchang since that vessel left England. This report disposes of the first contingency under which the ship's register can be altered for tonnage changes.
As the Jchang's capacity for tonnage was computed in England by Surveyors under the control of the Board of Trade and no discovery was then made by the Owners that the tonnage had been erroneously computed,