in the British Islands, the registrar to whom the name is intimated may proceed with the registry of the ship if he satisfies himself that the name does not appear in the current Mercantile Navy List; but if the name does so appear, the registrar shall transmit the application to the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen, and the case shall be treated in the manner laid down for registry in the British Islands.

MERCHANT SHIPPING (TONNAGE DEDUCTION FOR
PROPELLING POWER) ACT, 1907.

An Act to amend Section 78 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, with respect to the deduction of the space occupied by propelling power in ascertaining the tonnage of a ship.

I. The deduction under Section 78 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (referred to as the "principal Act") for space occupied by the propelling power of a ship shall not in any case exceed 55 per cent. of that portion of the tonnage of the ship which remains after deducting from the gross tonnage any deductions allowed under Section 79 of the principal Act. Provided that:

(a) This shall not apply to steamships constructed for the purpose
of towing vessels, so long as exclusively employed as tugs;
but if, and when, employed for carriage of passengers, cargoes,
or stores, or using graving docks or dry docks, or places pro-
vided for the repairing of vessels, the register tonnage, on
which dues based on register tonnage may be levied by any
harbour or dock authority, shall be ascertained in manner
provided by the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1904 to 1906, as
amended by this Act, and
(b) This section shall not come into operation until January 1,
1914, in the case of the following ships (in this Act referred to
as existing ships), namely, ships constructed, or the con-
struction of which has been commenced before May 1, 1907,
and ships, a contract for the construction of which has been
made before May 1, 1907, though the construction has not
actually commenced before that date.

II.-Nothing in this Act to affect any power which any dock or harbour authority have under any Act or Order confirmed by Parliament to charge tonnage rates, dues or charges otherwise than on register tonnage.

III.-(1) Where, in ascertaining tonnage of an existing ship a deduction has been made for the space occupied by propelling power greater than the maximum allowed under this Act, the tonnage shall before the date on which the Act comes into operation, be recalculated on the basis of allowing the maximum deduction under this Act, instead of that previously allowed, and the necessary alteration of the particulars and certificate of registry of ship shall be made and take effect on that date.

(2) Registrar of ship's port of registry to record alteration in particulars of registry, and send notice of alteration to the managing owner. (3) Managing owner on receipt of notice of any alteration shall forthwith transmit same to the master of the ship, who is to produce it to the registrar of the port at which the ship is when notice is received, or to the registrar of the first port at which the ship next arrives, that registrar may make necessary alterations in the certificate of registry.

SHIPPING WORLD

(4) Failure of managing owner or master to comply with the foregoing requirement, makes either liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £50.

(5) Expression "Managing Owner" includes any person registered under Section 59 of the principal Act in cases where there is no managing

owner.

IV.-Act may be cited as the Merchant Shipping Act, 1907, and be construed as one with the principal Act, and the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1906, and this Act may be cited together as the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1907.

BOARD OF TRADE INSTRUCTIONS TO SURVEYORS UNDER MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT, 1907.

The Act does not come into operation uutil January 1, 1914, in the case of existing ships, that is, (a) ships constructed, (b) ships under construction but not completed, or (c) ships for which building contracts were made before May 1, 1907. In the cases of (b) and (c) the surveyor's formula of tonnage measurement should be accompanied by a report and a letter from the builders of the vessel, showing the date when the building was commenced, or the date when the contract was signed, as the case may be.

Whenever a tonnage formula is forwarded for a new steamship intended to be employed as a tug, the surveyor should also furnish a report stating whether or not the vessel is to have a passenger certificate, or is to be used for the carriage of cargoes, as it is only in tugs constructed and used exclusively for towing that the 55 per cent. limit or propelling space deduction is not to be applied.

Surveyors should note that the foregoing instruction does not supersede any of the provisions of the Second Schedule, Rule III., Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, or of par. 8 of the Instructions relating to the Measurement of Ships.

MARINE INSURANCE (GAMBLING POLICIES) ACT, 1909. I.-(1) If (a) any person effects a contract of marine insurance without having any bona-fide interest, direct or indirect, either in the safe arrival of the ship in relation to which the contract is made or in the safety or preservation of the subject-matter, insured, or a bona-fide expectation of acquiring such an interest; or (b) any person in the employment of the owner of a ship, not being a part owner of the ship, effects a contract of marine insurance in relation to the ship, and the contract is made "interest or no interest," or "without further proof of interest than the policy itself," or " without benefit of salvage to the insurer," or subject to any other like term, the contract shall be deemed to be a contract by way of gambling on loss by maritime perils, and the person effecting it shall be liable, on summary conviction, to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding £100, and in either case to forfeit to the Crown any money he may receive under the contract.

(2) Any broker or other person through whom, and any insurer with whom, any such contract is effected shall be liable on summary conviction to the like penalties if he acted knowing that the contract was

by way of gambling on loss by maritime perils within the meaning of this Act.

(3) Proceedings under this Act shall not be instituted without the consent in England of the Attorney-General, in Scotland of the Lord Advocate, and in Ireland of the Attorney-General for Ireland.

(4) Proceedings shall not be instituted under this Act against a person (other than a person in the employment of the owner of the ship in relation to which the contract was made) alleged to have effected a contract by way of gambling on loss by maritime perils until an opportunity has been afforded him of showing that the contract was not such a contract as aforesaid, and any information given by that person for that purpose shall not be admissible in evidence against him in any prosecution under this Act.

(5) If proceedings under this Act are taken against any person (other than a person in the employment of the owner of the ship in relation to which the contract was made) for effecting such a contract, and the contract was made "interest or no interest," or "without further proof of interest than the policy itself," or "without benefit of salvage to the insurer," or subject to any other like term, the contract shall be deemed to be a contract by way of gambling on loss by maritime perils unless the contrary is proved.

(6) For the purpose of giving jurisdiction under this Act, every offence shall be deemed to have been committed either in the place in which the same actually was committed or in any place in which the offender may be.

(7) Any person aggrieved by an order or decision of a court of summary jurisdiction under this Act, may appeal to quarter sessions. This sub-section shall not apply to Scotland.

"

(8) For the purposes of this Act the expression owner includes charterer.

II. This Act may be cited as the Marine Insurance (Gambling Policies) Act, 1909, and the Marine Insurance Act, 1906, and this Act may be cited together as the Marine Insurance Acts, 1906 and 1909.

MERCHANT SHIPPING (SEAMEN'S ALLOTMENT) ACT, 1911. This Act removes doubts that have arisen as to the true interpretation of Section 141 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and Section 62 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1906, in respect of the payment of Seamen's Allotment Notes. It enacts:

I. By agreement with the master an allotment note may be granted to a seaman providing for-(a) payment of a greater sum than one half of the wages; (b) payment at a period earlier than one month from the date of the agreement with the crew and at intervals more frequent than one month.

II. This Act may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Seamen's Allotment) Act, 1911.

MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT, 1911.

An Act to give jurisdiction under Section 76 and Part VIII. of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, to certain British Courts in foreign countries.

I.-(1) Among the courts before which a ship may be brought for adjudication under Section 76 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (which relates to proceedings on forfeiture of a ship), there shall be included any British Court in a foreign country, being a court having Admiralty jurisdiction, as if such a court were included among the courts specified in that section, and that section shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

(2) Any such British Court shall also have jurisdiction to entertain any proceedings under Part VIII. of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and accordingly Section 504 of that Act (which relates to the power of courts to consolidate claims against owners) shall be construed and have effect as if such a court were included among the courts to which an application under that section may be made.

(3) In this Act the expression "British Court in a foreign country means any British Court having jurisdiction out of His Majesty's Dominions in pursuance of an Order in Council whether made under any Act or otherwise.

II. This Act may be cited as the Merchant Shipping Act, 1911, and shall be construed as one with the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1907, and this Act may be cited together as the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1911.

MERCHANT SHIPPING (STEVEDORES AND TRIMMERS) ACT, 1911.

An Act to enlarge the remedies of persons having claims for work done in connection with the stowing or discharging of ships' cargoes or the trimming of coal on board ships.

I.-(1) If it is claimed that any sum is due to any person from the owners of a ship for work done at any place in the United Kingdom by that person in connection with the stowing or discharging of cargoes on board or from that ship, or the trimming of coal on board that ship, and that ship is at any time found in any place in England or Ireland or within three miles of the coast thereof, a judge of any court of record in England or Ireland may, upon its being shown to him by any person applying in accordance with rules of court that prima facie the claim against the owners is a good claim and that none of the owners reside in the United Kingdom, issue an order for the arrest of the ship.

(2) An order under this Act shall be directed to some officer of customs and excise, or some other officer named in the order, and shall require him to detain the ship until such time as satisfaction has been made by the owners, agent, master, or consignee thereof in respect of the claim or until security, to be approved by the judge, has been given by them or him, to abide the event of any action, suit, or other legal proceeding that may be instituted in respect of the claim, and to pay all costs and damages that may be awarded thereon, and where any such order is made, the officer to whom the order is directed shall detain the ship accordingly.

(3) In any legal proceedings in relation to any such claim as afoaesaid, the person giving security shall be made defendant, and shall be stated to be the owner of the ship in respect of which the work giving rise to

the claim was done, and the production of the order of the judge, made in relation to the security, shall be conclusive evidence of the liability of the defendant to the proceedings.

(4) Where a complaint is made to the Board of Trade that, before an application can be made under this section, the ship in respect of which the application is to be made will have departed from the limits of England or Ireland or three miles from the coast thereof, the ship shall, if the Board so direct, be detained for such time as will allow the application to be made and the result thereof to be communicated to the officer detaining the ship, and that officer shall not be liable for any costs or damages in respect of the detention if made in accordance with the directions of the Board.

(5) Section 692 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, shall apply to the detention of a ship under this Act as it applies to the detention of a ship under that Act.

(6) If the owner of a ship is a corporation, the owner shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to reside in the United Kingdom if the corporation has an office in the United Kingdom at which service of writs can be effected.

II.-Where a ship has been demised to charterers, the provisions of this Act shall apply to claims against the charterers of the ship as they apply to claims against the owners of a ship, with the substitution of charterers for owners: Provided that no ship shall be detained on a claim against the charterers of the ship after the expiration of the term for which the ship was demised to them.

III.-Any person having a claim to which this Act applies may, if he so desires, instead of proceeding under the foregoing provisions of this Act institute proceedings in Admiralty for enforcing the claim, and all courts having jurisdiction in Admiralty shall, if proceedings are so instituted, have the same jurisdiction for the purpose of enforcing the claim as if the claim were a claim for necessaries supplied to the ship. IV. Nothing in this Act shall affect the power of any person to enforce any claim to which this Act applies otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

V.-This Act may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Stevedores and Trimmers) Act, 1911.

MARITIME CONVENTIONS ACT, 1911.

An Act to amend the Law relating to Merchant Shipping with a view to enabling effect to be given to two Conventions, dealing respectively with collisions between vessels and with salvage, which were signed on behalf of His Majesty at the Conference held at Brussels in 1910.

Provisions as to Collisions, &c.

I.—(1) Where, by the fault of two or more vessels, damage or loss is caused to one or more of those vessels, to their cargoes or freight, or to any property on board, the liability to make good the damage or loss shall be in proportion to the degree in which each vessel was in fault: Provided that—(a) if, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, it is not possible to establish different degrees of fault, the liability shall be apportioned equally; (b) nothing in this section shall operate so as to render any vessel liable for any loss or damage to which her fault has not contributed; and (c) nothing in this section shall affect the liability of any person under a contract of carriage or any contract or shall be construed as imposing any liability upon any person from