CO129-445 - Public Offices - 1917 — Page 537

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532

No. 10 of 1899.

21

20

[6.0

contd.) Harbour Master

may require master to search for

suspected deserters, and to make declaration of soarch

Offences against discipline.

M. S. Äct, 1804, 8, 221.

ib.

ib... 225.

No. 10 of 1899.

MERCHANT SHIPPING.

(4) The Harbour Master or his deputy, before granting a port clearance to any ship, may, if he has reasonable grounds for be- lieving that any deserter is concealed on board of such ship, proceed on board thereof, and then and there require her master to institute due and diligent search for such desterter, and further, if he deems it necessary, require the master to make a statutory declaration that to the best of his knowledge and belief, after due and diligent search, no such deserter is concealed within or about his ship; and any master of a ship who refuses or unnecessarily delays to comply with such requisition shall, on summary conviction before a Stipen- diary Magistrate, be liable to a fine not exceeding 200 dollars; and any master of a ship who makes any such statutory declaration containing any false statement shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(5) If a seeman lawfully engaged, or an apprentice to the sel service, commits any of the following offences within the waters of the Colony, he shall be liable to be punished summarily as follows:-

(a) if he deserts from bis ship, he shall be guilty of the offence of desertion, and be liable to forfeit all or any part of the effects which he leaves on board and of the wages which he has then earned and also to satisfy any excess of wages properly paid by the owner or master of the ship to any substitute engaged in his place at a higher rate of wages than the rate stipulated to be paid to him; and also he shall be liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding 12 weeks;

to

(b) if he neglects, or refuses without reasonable cause,

join his ship or to proceed to sea in his ship, or is absent without leave at any time within 24 hours of the ship's sailing from the Colony, either at the commencement or during the progress of a voyage, or is absent at any time without leave and without sufficient reason from his ship or from his duty, he shall, if the offence does not amount to desertion or is not treated as such by the master, be guilty of the offence of absence without leave, and be liable to forfeit out of his wages a sum not exceeding 2 days' pay, and in addition, for every 24 hours of absence, either a sum not exceeding 6 days' pay or any expenses properly incurred in hiring a substitute; and also he shall be liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding 10 weeks;

(c) if he quits his ship without leave after her arrival and before she is placed in security, he shall be liable to forfeit out of his wages a sum not exceeding one month's pay;

MERCHANT SHIPPING.

(d) if he is guilty of wilful disobedience to any lawful command, 1.9.

contd.] he shall be liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding 4 J. S. Act. weeks, and also to forfeit out of his wages a sum not exceeding 2 1804, s. 225. days' pay;

(e) if he is guilty of continued wilful disobedience to lawful com- ib. mands or continued wilful neglect of duty, he shall be liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding 12 weeks, and also, at the discretion of the Court, to forfeit, for every 24 hours continuance of disobedience or neglect, either a sum not exceeding 6 days' pay or any expenses properly incurred in hiring a substitute;

() if he assaults the master or any nate or certificated engineer ib. of the ship, he shall be liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding 12 weeks;

(g) if he combines with any of the crew to disobey lawful com- d. mands, or to neglect duty, or to impede the navigation of the ship or the progress of the voyage, he shall be liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding 12 weeks; and

(h) if he wilfully damages the ship, or embezzles or wilfully it. damages any of her stores or cargo, he shall be liable to forfeit out of his wages a sum equal to the loss thereby sustained, and also, st the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding 12 weeks:

Provided that, in the case of a foreign ship, the Stipendiary Magistrate may only deal with cases arising out of the offences mentioned in paragraphs (d), (e), (f), and (g) of this sub-section, and provided also that, if there is a consular officer resident in the Colony of the nation to which such ship belongs, the Stipendiary Magistrate shall not deal with any case, unless he is requested to do so by such officer in writing, and unless such officer undertakes that any such seaman shall not become a charge on the Colony in consequence of being so dealt with.

expensrg.

(6) All expenses incidental to the apprehension and confinement Payment of of any seamen or apprentice under this section shall be payable by the master of the ship to which such seaman or apprentice belongs and be recoverable from him, at the suit of the Captain Super- intendent of Police, as a debt due to the Government; and the subsistence money for every such seaman or apprentice confined in gaol shall be paid in advance to the Superintendent of the Gaol, and, in default of such payment, the gaoler may release such seaman or apprentice Provided that every seaman or apprentice imprisoned