THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 1st AUGUST, 1874.
been considered not to be subject to the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Acts, and have consequently been permitted to go to sea without certificated masters, mate, or engineers. Such a state of law is obviously unsatisfactory, and it is, therefore, pro- posed by paragraph 11 to place all such ships (junks of course excepted) upon the same footing as vessels holding Imperial registers within the Colony. This step is demanded as a measure of safety.
The contents of chapter II are mainly founded upon part IV of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854. The fact that many steamers run upon the China Coast which at present do not come, (or if at all, only at very distant periods) within the operation of that part of the statute, affords sufficient reason for its enactment here. Section VII goes somewhat beyond the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act on the same subject. The very large and important business which has now grown up connected with the conveyance of Chinese passengers by steamers to and from this Colony to ports not within the purview of the Chinese Passengers Act, 1855, seems to call for some special legislation. At present this business is altogether unregulated in the points to which section VII refers, a state of things which seem unde- sirable for all parties concerned, whether ship-owners or passengers. Paragraph 3 of this section will, if passed, place in the hands of the Governor in Council, for the first time, the power of prohibiting the conveyance of deck passengers by any ship sailing from the Colony. During the more inclement season of the year, such a power may, no doubt, be usefully exercised.
The provisions of paragraph 4 of section VII are new. Their object seems sufficiently expressed not to call for any detailed explanation.
Section VIII has been already enacted in the Colony as Ordinance No. 1 of 1874. In paragraph 2, the words "out of the Colonial revenue," have been substituted by direction of the Secretary of State, for the words "out of moneys to be "provided by the Imperial Parliament." Section IX has not hitherto been brought into force here. Section X is intended to be in substitution of Ordinance No. 9 of 1872, which applies to foreign ships paragraph 329 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854. The last mentioned section has now been repealed by the Merchant Shipping Act of 1873, and the clauses now introduced have been substituted for it in the United Kingdom.
Chapter III purposes to effect certain changes in the constitution and powers of Marine Courts. As provided by Ordinance No. 11 of 1860, such Court must at present consist of no less than five persons, one of whom must be a Police Magistrate, one the Harbour Master, one an un-official Justice of the Peace, and the remaining two of whom shall be other persons who shall be both or either of them Government Marine Surveyors or Master Mariners. The utility of this constitution may well he doubted, and for the purposes of the enquiries for which Marine Courts are constituted, the three persons mentioned in paragraph 1, would seem to be sufficient. It should also be men- tioned, that under instructions from the Secretary of State, one Commissioned Officer in the Royal Navy at least is required to sit on Marine Courts. The powers proposed to be conferred on the Court by paragraph 4, are such as it has not hitherto exercised. They are the same as are now possessed by Naval Courts sitting in distant parts of the world by the Act of 1854, paragraph 263. The want of such powers here has, on more than one occasion, caused practical inconvenience. Chapter IV extends the powers conferred upon the Board of Examiners by Ordi- nance No. 17 of 1860, to the examination and certifying of engi neers. At the time this Ordinance came into operation, ships were not required, as now, to carry certificated engineers. Chapters V, VI, and VII demand no comment or explanation. Chapter VIII is not at present in operation within the Colony, although its provisions, which are founded on certain sections in the Merchant Shipping Act of 1867, are such as ought no doubt to be extended here.
Paragraph 5 of chapter IX purposes to extend certain provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, relating to the offences of British seamen, to seamen employed on board of foreign ships while in these waters. Under the law as it at present stands, the Government aas been unable to assist Masters of foreign ships who have had trouble with their seamen, except in cases where actual mutiny has broken ont. This state of things has not infrequently given rise to complaints on the part of foreign Consuls and others who have been placed in great difficulties from their inability to deal with insubordinate crews who have stopped short of actual mutiny. It will be seen, however, that by paragraph 7, the operation of the whole section may be suspended in regard to the ships of any foreign nation at the request of its Consul.
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