utterly null and void fto all intents and purposes, un- [† 71] less the officers shall be specially authorized to make such registry and grant such certificate in any other port, by an order in writing, under the hands of the commissioners of his Majesty's customs; and at every port where registry shall be made in pursuance of the Act, a book shall be kept by the collector and comptroller, in which all the particulars contained in the form of the certificate, as by this Act directed to be used, shall be duly entered; and every registry shall be numbered in progression, beginning the enumeration at the commencement of every year; and the collector and comptroller shall forthwith, or within one month at the farthest, transmit to the commissioners of customs a true and exact copy, together with the number of every certificate which shall be by them so granted (q). Every ship shall be deemed to belong to some port at or near to which some or one of the owners, who shall take and subscribe the oath required by this Act, before registry be made, shall reside (r). Ships taken and condemned as prize or forfeiture, are to be registered either at Southampton, Weymouth, Exeter, Plymouth, Falmouth, Liverpool, or Whitehaven (s). (1) (9) 3 & 4 Wm. 4, c. 55, s. 10. (r) Sect, 11. (s) Sect. 30. (1) The place of registry by our Laws is generally in the office of the Collector of the Customs for the District, which comprehends the port, to which the ship belongs at the time of her registry, which port is deemed to be that at, or nearest to which the owner, if there be but one, or if more than one, the husband, or acting and managing owner of the ship, usually resides; and the registry must be made by the Collector of such District. Act of 1792, ch. 45, § 3. When, however, a citizen purchases a ship entitled to be registered, and the ship is in another district than that where he usually resides, such ship may be registered by the Collector of the District, where the ship is at the time of the purchase, upon the purchaser's complying with the provisions of the Law in common cases. And the usual oath or affirmation may in such case be taken by the purchaser at his option, either before such Collector, or the Collector of his own District. But upon the ship's arriving within the District to which she belongs, the certificate of registry granted to her must be delivered up to the Collector thereof, who is to grant a new certificate in lieu of the first, upon compliance with the provisions of the law in common cases, and is to transmit the certificate delivered up to the Collector, who granted it. If the certificate be not so delivered up, it becomes void, and the purchaser and master incur the penalty of 100 dollars; and the same penalties are inflicted for false swearing and affirmations, as in the other cases in the Act. Act of 1792, ch. 45, $11. If a ship entitled to be registered is purchased by an agent or attorney for or on account of a citizen, such ship being in a district more than 50 miles distant, taking the nearest usual route by land, from that comprehending the port, to which such ship, by virtue of such purchase, and by force of the Act, ought to be deemed to be 5. What Ships must be registered under the new Act, From and after the commencement of this Act (viz., 5th Jan. 1826), or from and after the first arrival and entry of any ship after such commencement, at the port to which she belongs, or at any other port in the same part of the United Kingdom, or in the same colony, plantation, island, or territory, no certificate of registry shall be in force, except such as shall be granted under the authority of this Act, or which shall have been granted under the authority of the Act of the fourth year of the reign of his present Majesty, and in which the share or shares, as in this Act described, held by each owner, shall be set forth, unless it shall be certified thereon by the collector and comptroller of the port to which such ship belongs, that farther time has been granted by the commissioners of customs for ascertaining and registering the number of such shares as cannot then be ascertained (t). No ship or vessel shall be entitled to any of the privi[72] leges or †advantages of a British registered ship, unless the person or persons claiming property therein shall have caused the same to have been registered in virtue of the said recited Act (6 Geo. 4, c. 110), or of 4 Geo. 4, c. 41, or until such person or persons shall have caused the same to be registered in manner hereinafter mentioned, and shall have obtained a certificate of such registering from the person or persons authorized to make such registry and grant such certificate as hereinafter directed (u). Upon the first registry, in compliance with the 6 Geo. 4, c. 110, of any ship previously registered, no stamp duty shall be charged upon the bond; and if the certificate of such former registry then delivered up shall have a Mediterranean pass attached thereto, no stamp duty shall be charged on account of the new Mediterranean pass (x). (t) 6 Geo. 4, c. 110 s. 35. (u) 3 & 4 Wm. 4, c. 55, s. 4. (x) 6 Geo. 4, c. 120, s. 36. long, the Collector of the District, where the ship is, is to register the ship upon the application of the agent or attorney, and his complying with the requisites of Law in common cases, except that he must state in the oath or affirmation, that he is agent or attorney for the owner, and that he hath purchased the ship bona fide for the person, whom he names as owner. If he swears or affirms falsely, there is a forfeiture of the ship, or of her value, recoverable of the agent or attorney. Upon such ship's arrival in the District to which she belongs, the certificate must be delivered up, and a new one granted in the same manner and under the same penalties, as in the last preceding case. Act of 1792, ch. 45, § 12. 6. How the Tonnage is to be ascertained. On this subject the reader is requested to refer to the 5 & 6 Wm. 4, c. 56, printed in the Appendix (y). (1) 7. What is to be specified in the Certificate. The certificate specifies the name, occupation, and residence of every owner in the proportions mentioned on the back of it, the name of the ship, the place to which she belongs, her tonnage, the name of the master, the time and place of the built or of condemnation, the name of the surveying officer, the number of decks and masts, the length, breadth, height between decks, if more than one, or depth of the hold, if only one deck, whether rigged with a standing or running bowsprit, the description of her stern, whether carvel or clinker built, and gallery, and kind of head, if there (y) In the old system, the tonnage was determined by reference only to a ship's length and breadth, which led to vessels being built of a disproportionate depth, in order that their registered tonnage and the charges depending upon it, might be diminished as much as possible. By the act now in force, the tonnage is fairly determined according to the capacity of the ship. - Macculloch, Dictionary of Commerce, Supplement, Ships. (1) The statute is omitted in the Appendix to this edition. By our Laws, before a ship is entitled to be registered, she must be measured by a surveyor, or a person appointed by him, or by the Collector, or a person appointed by him, when there is no surveyor in the port, where the ship is. The officer who measures the ship, for the information of and as a voucher to the person, who makes the reigistry, is to grant a certificate specifying the built of the ship, her number of decks and masts, her length, breadth, depth, tonnage, and such other particulars as identify a ship; and that her name, and the place to which she belongs are painted on her stern in the manner required by the Act. This certificate is to be countersigned by the owner, or by some other person, who may attend the admeasurement in behalf of the owner, in testimony of its truth; and without this the certificate is invalid. This admeasurement need not be renewed upon any subsequent registry of the ship, unless she has undergone some alteration in burthen. Act of 1792, ch. 45, § 6. The mode of ascertaining the tonnage, is as follows. The officer, who is to measure the ship, is, if the ship be double decked, to take the length thereof from the forepart of the main stem to the after part of the stern post above the upper deck, the breadth thereof at the broadest part above the main wales, half of which breadth shall be accounted the depth of such vessel, and then he is to deduct from the length threefifths of the breadth, multiply the remainder by the breadth and the product by the depth, and then divide this last product by ninety-five, the quotient whereof shall be deemed the true contents or tonnage of such vessel. If the vessel be single decked, then he is to take the length and breadth as above directed in respect to a double decked vessel, deduct from the said length three-fifths of the breadth, and taking the depth from the under side of the deck plank to the ceiling in the hold, shall multiply and divide as aforesaid, and the quotient shall be deemed the tonnage of such vessel. Act of 1799, ch. 128, § 64. be any. And on the back are indorsed the names of the several owners, with the number of sixty-fourth shares held by each (z). (1) 8. Preservation of the Ship's Name. It shall not be lawful for any owners to give any [† 73] name to a ship fother than that by which she was first registered. The owners of every registered ship shall, before the ship, after such registry, shall begin to take in any cargo, paint in white or yellow letters, of a length not less than four inches, upon a black ground, on some conspicuous part of the stern, the name by which the ship shall have been registered pursuant to this Act, and the port to which she belongs, in a distinct and legible manner, and shall so keep and preserve the same, under a penalty of 100l. for permitting the ship to begin to take in any cargo before the name has been painted, or for wilfully altering, erasing, obliterating, or in anywise hiding or concealing the name (unless in the case of square-rigged vessels in time of war), or for describing her in any written or printed paper, or other document, by any name other than that by which she was first registered, or for verbally describing the ship by any other name to any officer of his Majesty's revenue in the due execution of his duty (a). (z) 3 & 4 Wm. 4, c. 55, s. 2. (a) 3 & 4 Wm. 4, c. 55, s. 24. (1) When the requisitions of our Act have been complied with, the Collector is to make a record or registry of the ship, and grant an abstract or certificate thereof in a particular form prescribed by the Act. This certificate states, that in pursuance of the Act of Congress the person applying for the Register having taken the oath required by the Act (and it states the facts sworn to), and the surveyor having given his certificate (and it states the contents of the certificate), and the description and admeasurement having been agreed to by the owner or his agent, and sufficient security having been given agreeably to the Act, the ship has been duly registered at the port, where the registry is made. The certificate contains also the name of the ship, and of the master, and his citizenship, as well as the citizenship of the owner. Act of 1792, ch. 45, § 9. When a new certificate is granted on a transfer, the words are so varied as to refer to the former certificate of registry for her admeasurement; and where the master makes oath to his citizenship, the words are also varied accordingly. (Ibid.) The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized by the Act of 1792, ch. 5, § 10, to cause proper forms of certificates of registry to be prepared, attested under the Seal of the Treasury, and the Register thereof, and issued with proper blanks to the Custom House. When issued at the latter, the blanks are to be filled, signed and sealed by the Collector, and countersigned by the Naval officer, if one, otherwise by the Surveyor of the Port. Further provisions were made for the purpose of preventing the use of spurious and forged Registers by the Act of 2d of March, 1803, ch. 71, and the Act of 3d of March, 1813, ch. 192. 9. What is required on the part of the Owners to obtain the Registry. No registry is to be made, or certificate granted, until a declaration be made and subscribed in the form set forth in the statute. This declaration, in the case of individuals, is to be made by the owner, if only one; if two owners, and both resident within twenty miles of the place of registry, by both; if both or either resident at a greater distance, by one only; if more than two owners, by the greater part, not exceeding three, if resident within twenty miles, unless a greater number shall be desirous to join in making the declaration; or by one, if all, or all except one, are resident at a greater distance; and if the required number do not attend, a declaration must further be made by such as do attend, that the absent are not resident within twenty miles, and have not wilfully absented themselves to avoid making the declaration, or are prevented by illness from attending. The declaration to be thus made contains the name of the ship, her port, and master, the description of the ship, the name, occupation, and residence of every part-owner, with other particulars tendu.g to prove them to be subjects of his Majesty (b), and concludes with fa positive averment, that no foreigner, [† 74] directly or indirectly, hath any share or interest in the ship. If the ship belong to a corporate body, the declaration is to be made by the secretary or other proper officer of such body, and instead of the names and descriptions of the owners, he is to state the name and description of the company or corporation to which the ship belongs (c). (1) (b) Where the members of a trading partnership are interested in a ship, the names of all the partners must appear on the ship's register. A ship belonging to a partnership, having been registered as belonging to two parties, carrying on trade under a particular firm, it was held that a third partner, who formed one of the firm, but whose name was not on the register, had no interest in the ship. Slater v. Willis, 1 Beav. 355. (c) 3 & 4 Wm. 4, c. 55, ss. 13 & 14. (1) In order to the lawful Registry of a ship, the Act of 1792, ch. 45, § 4, prescribes, that an oath or affirmation must be taken and subscribed by the owner before the proper officer. This oath or affirmation, among other things, states the place of residence and citizenship of the party applying; that he is the sole owner, or if the fact be otherwise, the names of the other part-owners, and their residence and citizenship; and if such part-owners be resident in a foreign country, that they are consuls or agents, or partners in a house consisting of citizens of the U. States, and trading within the United States. It further states the name and burthen of the ship, the place where, and the year when built; if built within the U. States before the 16th of May, 1739, that she was then owned wholly or in part by citizens; if not built within the U. States, that she was on that day wholly owned by citizens, and so has contin |