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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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Reference :-
TC.O. 885
23 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
MEMORANDUM.
This draft is intended to be a model Bill to carry out Distressed the recommendations of the Committee on Colonial and Indian subjects with regard to seamen from the Crown Colonies.
The recommendations of the Committee are summarised in paragraph 111 of their report. (See on 11133/10.) Those recommendations, so far as they are relevant for the present purpose, are as follows:-
(1) That masters of vessels (British or foreign) engaging native seamen belonging to the Crown Colonies and Protectorates should give an undertaking to repatriate them if the voyage terminates elsewhere than in the Colony or Protectorate concerned. The Committee re- commended that, in the case of West Indian seamen, this should only take place when the voyage terminates elsewhere than in the West Indies. (See 111 (i) (b).)
(2) That seamen from the Eastern Colonies should be given certificates to prove their origin, for the purposes of section 12 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1906. (111 (i) (f).),
(3) That native seamen signing on in the West Indies should be given a special certificate, showing the place to which they belong. (111 (i) (g).)
(4) That any expense incurred in accordance with these recommendations which is not recovered from the shipowners should be paid by the Government of the Colony or Protectorate concerned. (111 (i) (i).)
The draft submitted somewhat elaborates these re- commendations. In particular, the West African Colonies and Protectorates are formed into a group in the manner recommended by the Committee in respect of the West Indies.
The provisions with regard to certificates are also elaborated and made to apply generally.
and
The object of the Bill is to form a reciprocal scheme, according to which any Colony or Protectorate which
other Colonies offers the same advantages to Protectorates will be able to return any seaman belonging to another Colony or Protectorate to his place of origin and recover the expense of so doing from the Government of that place, which is in turn enabled to recover the money so paid from the master concerned, if it can be established that there has been any breach of a repatriation agreement. If the United Kingdom is to become a party to the scheme Imperial legislation will be necessary.
To take the draft section by section. Section 2 contains definitions. Attention may be called to the words "usually resident in the Colony" in the It seems safest to leave it to be definition of "Native."
determined as a question of fact in each case whether n person is so resident, as it would be difficult to find a really comprehensive definition. It will be seen from the definition of "Proper Authority" that the draft allows for Protectorates and protected States becoming parties to the scheme, and also the United Kingdom and other
[Cd. 5192] June 1910.
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foreign States. It will probably ultimately prove desirable to omit paragraphs (b) and (e). Attention is specially invited to the definitions of "British West Africa" and "British West Indies."
Section 3 (2) provides for the execution of repatriation agreements. The master agrees to repatriate on applica- tion being made by the seaman within three months after if the termination of the voyage or prior discharge, or,
he remains in the service of the owner after such termina- tion, within three months of discharge.
It will be observed that the master is not expressly exempted from liability in the case of a seaman discharged for misconduct, though this might be held to be reason able cause for not complying with an agreement under Section 7. This section may require some limitation.
Sub-Section (4) provides that the seaman shall be furnished with a certificate of identification endorsed with the particulars of the repatriation agreement. The period of three months has been substituted for that of six months in the report-paragraph 53-in deference to the wishes of the Board of Trade.
Section 4 enables the Government of the legislating Colony to repatriate any person who, within four months of his landing in the Colony, produces a certificate of identification properly endorsed in accordance with the law of another Colony party to the scheme, and claims to be the person named in such certificate. The period of four months is intended to allow the seaman a month in which to make his application to the Government if the master fails to carry out his obligation under the repatria- tion agreement,
Section 5 enables the Government of the legislating Colony to repay to any other Colony party to the scheme any expenses incurred in the repatriation of any seaman to the legislating Colony, in accordance with the scheme. In both these cases (viz., under s. 4 and s. 5) the repatriating authority has only to see that the applicant has a certificate of identification duly endorsed and that he landed in the Colony not more than four months previously. allows great latitude, but some such arrangement seems necessary in order to secure that the repatriating Govern- ment shall not be compelled in every case to prove the bonâ fide nature of the applicant's case before recovering payment, to prove which must in most cases be very difficult.
This
Section 7 enables the Treasurer of the legislating Colony to recover from any master or owner who fails without reasonable cause to comply with the terms of the repatriation agreement any sums repaid by the Treasurer to the repatriating Government, and sub-section (ii.) provides that if the Treasurer produces a repatriation agreement and a statement of the expenses incurred by the repatriating Government the onus of disproving his liability shall lie upon the master or owner.
Section 8 is intended to enable any claim of the Government of any Colony party to the scheme against any master or owner to be recovered before the Court of the legislating Colony, and thus to make all claims under the scheme recoverable in any Colony party to the scheme. The other sections are merely subsidiary and call for no
detailed comment.
COLONIAL OFFICE,
September, 1913.
(31010-2.) Wt 13893. G 302, 250. 9/18. D & S
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