3.
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(2.) The Governor may, at his discretion, grant a Certifi- Who qualified cate of Colonial Registry as hereinafter provided to any to hold ship owned wholly by persons of the following description-
Colonial Registers. (a.) Any person, or body corporate, qualifiad to be the owner of a British ship as described in section 1 of The Merchant Shipping Act, 1894: (4) Any Chinese person resident within the Colony applying for the same, provide such person be registered lessec of Crown lauds within this Colony, and that be tenders, as secuities for the due performance by him of all the requirements of this section, two other Crown lessees, and that he and such lessons be severally reported by the Rogis- trar Gauoral to be each worth five thousand dollars in this Colony, and, should such person be a mem- ber of any shop or partnership, that the seal or chop of such shop or partnership he also affixed to the sceurity to be given by him.
(9.) The British flag may be used on board of any ship British flag. lawfully possessing a Certificate of Colonial Registry under this Ordinance.
(10.) Any change of ownership in any Colonial ship Change of shall render her registry null and void, and the register simil HEY OF be at ouce delivered up to the Registrar of Shipping, and waster. any change of master shall be endorsed upon the register by the Harbour Master.
&
(13.) Every Colonial ship shall be, in every respect, Subject to subject to the provisions of this Ordinance aul (except Merchant where the same are inconsistent with the terms of this Shipping Acts, Onlinance) to the provisions of The Merchant Shipping Act," 1894, and to any Acts amending the same, in the same mauner and to the same extent as British ships registered under the said Act are subject thereto.
Section 3, which provides for the issue of Colonial Registers, has been amplified, in view of the possible requirements of the Inland Waters trade with China, and, unlike the old sub-section extends to every ship: Colonial Registry is extended to British persons (see sub-section 2 (@)). Sub-section (6) is an enlargement upon the old law, in that it incorporates provisions from section 7 of the English Act of 1894. Sub- section (11) of this section is new, and has been introduced for the purpose of making the master of the ship amenable to British law. Sub-section (12) is also new, and is considered by the Harbour Master to be necessary.
Y. Mr. Chamberlain proposes to ask the Governor for further information as to the reasons which have led to the increase from a limit of $2,000 to $5,000 of the securities required under subsection 2 (b) of section 3. It would seem to be inadvis- able to accentuate the differences between Chinese and British inhabitants in such matters, and a further safeguard is provided by subsection 11 of the same section.[which
or
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provides that the master of coms ship provided with a cerficate o Canal Registry under but sectin (2) (b) shall be Subpet.
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Faragraph 9-As the right of a Chinese person to own a British ship and fly the British flag is a very considerable concession, and an alteration of the Merchant Shipping Act, it might have been thought that the persons to whom such privileges are granted should increase their security.
Sex also temo : ovleaf. 6. In this list section 3 is of much importance. The Solicitor to the Board of Trade assumes in his criticism that "any Chinese person resident in the Colony," who is a lessee of Crown Lands includes persons not British subjects. In this case the Ordinance is really dealing with two different kinds of registry, viz., registration of ships in the Colony as British ships and the registration of Chinese vessels (or vessels owned by Chinese), which may not be registrable as British ships, but as to, and over, which it is desirable that the Government should have some record and control; and the two classes should be distinguished more clearly, the former being left to be governed by the provisions of the Imperial Merchant Shipping Act as to Colonial registry (which should not be varied by the Colonial Ordinance), while the latter can be specifically provided for in the Ordinance.