Directory_and_Chronicle_1877 — Page 671

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CHINESE PASSENGERS' ACT.

be approved by the said emigration officer, have entered into a joint and several bond in the sum of one thousand pounds to Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, in the form contained in schedule C to this Act annexed, or in such other form as shall be prescribed by the said Legislature.

V.-The said penal sum of one thousand pounds shall be due and recoverable, notwithstanding any penalty or forfeiture imposed by this Act or by the aforesaid regulations, and whether such penalties or forfeitures shall have been sued for and recovered or not.

VI.-It shall be lawful for commanders of any of Her Majesty's ships of war, or for any emigration officer, Custom-house officer, or British Consul, to enter and search any Chinese passenger ship (being a British vessel or within British Jurisdiction) so long as such ship shall have any passengers on board, and forty-eight hours afterwards, and in case such ship shall be engaged on a voyage of more than seven days' duration, to require the production of the emigration papers of such ship, and to examine all persons on board of the same, in order to ascertain whether the provisions of this Act, and of the regulations aforesaid, have been complied with: and any person who refuses to allow, attempts to avoid, or obstructs any such entry, search, or examination, or who knowingly misleads or deceives any person lawfully making any such search or examination, or who, being the master of the ship or having the emigration papers in his custody, fails to produce the same when required as aforesaid, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour.

VII.-In case of any neglect or refusal to comply with any of the provisions of this Act or any of the regulations aforesaid, or to perform any stipulation in any of the contracts ma le with the passengers, the master of the ship, and any other persons who may have been guilty of, or bave aided or abetted such neglect or refusal, shall each be deemed for each offence guilty of misdemeanour.

VIII.-If any Chinese passenger ship clears out or proceeds to sea on any voyage exceeding seven days' duration without such emigration papers as aforesaid, or if the emigration papers of any Chinese passenger ship are forged or fraudulently altered, such ship shall, if she is a British ship, or if, not being a British ship, the offence is committed and the ship is seized in Her Majesty's dominions or in the territories of the East India Company, be forfeited to Her Majesty.

IX.-Every person who commits or aids or abets in committing any act or default by which any Chinese passenger ship may become liable to forfeiture shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding one hundred pounds for each offence.

X.-It shall be lawful for any commissioned officer on full pay in the military or naval service of Her Majesty, or any British officer of customs, or any British Consul, to seize and detain any ship which has become subject to forfeiture as aforesaid, and bring her for adjudication before the High Court of Admiralty in England or Ireland,. or any court having Admiralty Jurisdiction in Her Majesty's dominions, or the territories of the East India Company, and such court may thereupon make such order in the case as it thinks fit, and may award such portion of the proceeds of the sale on any forfeited ship as it thinks right to the officer bringing in the same for adjudica- tion, or to any persons damaged by the act or default which has rendered the ship liable to forfeiture.

XI.-No such officer as aforesaid shall be responsible, either civilly or criminally, to any person whomsoever in respect of the seizure or detention of any ship that has been seized or detained by him in pursuance of the provisions herein contained, notwithstanding that such ship is not brought in for adjudication, or, if so brought in, is declared not to be liable to forfeiture, if it is shown to the satisfaction of the judge or court before whom any trial relating to such ship or such seizure or detention is held, that there are reasonable grounds for such seizure or detention, but if no such grounds are shown, such judge or court may award payment of costs and damages to any party aggrieved, and make such other order in the premises as he or it thinks just.

XII.-It shall be lawful for the court before which any ship liable to forfeiture under this act is proceeded against, to impose such a pecuniary penalty as to the same court shall seem fit, in lieu of condemning the ship, and in such case to cause