354
PUBLE RECORD OFFICE
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C.O. 885
8
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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
498
(c.) All the provisions shall apply where the ships are employed in trading or going between any port in the United Kingdom, and any port not situate in the British possession or country in which the ship is registered; and
(d.) The provisions relating to the rights of seamen in respect of wages, to the shipping and discharge of seamen in ports abroad, to leaving seamen abroad, and to the relief of seamen in distress in ports abroad, to the provisions, health, and accommodation of seamen, to the power of seamen to make com- plaints, to the protection of seamen from imposition, and to discipline, shall apply in every case except where the ship is within the jurisdiction of the Government of the British possession in which the ship is registered." There do not appear to be any great divergencies in Colonial legislation on the points mentioned in the section, though the law is not exactly the same throughout the Empire. Shipping masters in India, for instance, have somewhat wider powers as regards sanctioning the discharge of seamen, and in Hong Kong provision is made for searching for deserters on other vessels.
As regards Part III. (Passenger and Emigrant Ships) the following points may be noticed:
The provisions relating to emigrant ships cannot be altered by a Colonial legislature (see Section 735 already quoted).
The provisions of the Imperial law as regards passenger ships have not been followed by New South Wales. Thus the Navigation Act, 1871, requires a ship carrying passengers to be surveyed twice a year (instead of once) and the Navigation Act, 1899* extends the provisions to all steam ships carrying passengers (instead of those carrying more than 12 passengers), and provides that ships classed as 100 Al at Lloyd's shall be exempted. It is understood, however, that an opportunity will be taken to amend the law on these points.
Under Part IV. (Fishing Boats) no question arises.
With reference to safety (Part V.) the following points may be noticed :-
The Colonies which have made regulations on the subject of life-saving appliances appear to have framed them on the model of the Statutory Rules.
connection with the Conference of Colonial Premiers in 1897 Mr. Chamberlain proposed to press upon all the self-governing Colonies the desirability of establishing uniformity of legislation on the subject of load line, and the Board, having expressed their concurrence in their letter of the 13th October 1897, it is presumed that the proposal was carried out.
As a matter of fact, the Colonies of Viotoria, South Australia, and Straits Settlements (in addition to Indis) have adopted similar legislation and regulations to our own, and Orders in Council under section 444 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, have been issued recognising the load-line certificates issued by the Government of these Colonies.
4
Tasmania, New Zealand, and Queensland have also moved in the matter, but do not appear to have brought their regulations into complete harmony with our own.
The Colonies, Canada, New Zealand, &c., which have legislated with regard to unscaworthiness, appear to have done so on the lines of the Imperial Act.†
Under Part VI (Special Shipping Inquiries and Courts) Colonies are empowered (by, Section 478) to make laws authorising inquiries into shipping casualties and the conduct of ships officers. This is the only matter on which the Board of Trade lave, in recent years, taken the initiative in suggesting legislation by the Colonies in general.
A memorandum on the subject was prepared in 1898 by the Solicitar to the Board, and printed copies were sent by the Colonial Office to all the Colonies concerned with a request that they would so amend their Ordinances as to Shipping Inquiries as to bring them into harmony with the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894. waters lit: me merit
Replies have been received from most of these Colonies and the legislation, of a large number of them is now in general harmony with the Imperial Act, though certain
Acts are now consolidated in the Navigation Act of 1901.
an Atl, 1897, provides for the detention of ships for "und
fêrên the number: of deck hands lengiãn of of: 700. sąjhu- gross
499
amendments in details have in a few instances been suggested for adoption when convenient.
These Colonies are Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Fiji Islands' Grenada, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Gold Coast, Gibraltar, Ceylon, Mauritius, St. Helena, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, British New Guinea, Jamaica, Natal, Malta, St. Vincent, and St. Lucia.
In other Colonies the law still requires amendment. Thus an Inquiry into the stranding of a British vessel was recently held in the Bahamas, and the court found the master in default, but the local ordinance gave them no power to deal with his certificate in the usual way. The law in Cape Colony is also deficient in some respects. The Premier stated in a despatch to the Governor of the 31st May 1898, that the Government were contemplating the introduction of general legislation on merchant shipping and would then take into consideration the views of the Board of Trade, but no opportunity for legislation has apparently arisen up to the present.
Under Parts VII. (Delivery of Goods) and VIII. (Liability of Shipowners) no questions
appear to arise.
Wreck and Salvage (Part IX.), Pilotage (Part X.), and Lighthouses (Part XI.) are dealt with separately.
The remaining parts of the Act call for no particular remark.
Board of Trade
17127.
(Marine Department),
July 3, 1902.
(b.) CORRESPONDENCE.
Jamaica.
No. 1.
GOVERNOR SIR A. W. L. HEMMING to MR. CHAMBERLAIN. (Received 2nd May 1902.)
(Jamaica, No. 182.)
King's House, Jamaica, 15th April 1902.
SIB,
I HAVE the honour to transmit to you herewith, for submission to the Board of Trade, a copy of a letter from the Secretary of the Marine Board of Jamaica, asking for advice as to the course which should be pursued in this Colony in regard to Canadian vessels of under 100 tons register trading to this Colony, the masters of which are not required by the laws of the Dominion to hold certificates of competency or service.
I have, &o.
AUGUSTUS W. L. HEMMING,
SIB,
Enclosure in No. 1.
Governor.
The SECRETARY OF MARINE BOARD to THE COLONIAL SECRETARY OF JAMAICA,
7th April 1902. I AM directed to forward the attached correspondence which has taken place between the Marine Board and the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, Canada, and to recommend that His Excellency the Governor may be pleased to refer the papers for the opinion of the Board of Trade, in order that the Marine Board may be advised what course to pursue in future similar cases.
I have, &c.
W. E. M. DRUMMOND,
ast
The Honourable the Colonial Secretary,
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