PART II. Seamen. Masters and each case, as to allotment of wages, and may contain any other stipulations that are not contrary to law: Provided that if the master of any ship belonging to any British possession has an agreement with his crew made in due form according to the law of the possession to which such ship belongs, or in which her crew 5 were engaged, and engages single seamen in the United Kingdom, such seamen may sign the agreement so made, and it shall not be necessary for them to sign an agreement in the form approved by the Board of Trade. Agreements for foreign 150. The following provisions shall have effect with respect to 10 going ships. agreements entered into in pursuance of this Act, in whatever part 1854. s. 150. of Her Majesty's dominions the ship with reference to which the agreement is made is registered : In presence of superintendent. Superintendent to attest. To be in duplicate. Provisions for substitutes. Running agreements on foreign (1.) Every agreement made in the United Kingdom (except in cases of agreements with substitutes in this section specially 15 (3.) When the crew is first engaged the agreement shall be signed the presence of a witness, who shall attest their signatures. 35 151. Running agreements extending over a period not exceeding twelve months twelve months may be made subject to the regulations contained in the eighth schedule to this Act, but those regulations may be from time to time varied by the Board of Trade, and all regula1854, s. 151. tions made by the Board of Trade under this provision shall have 40 going ships for short voyages. the like effect as if they were enacted in this Act. PART II. Seamen. 152. In the case of coasting ships crews or single seamen may, if Masters and the master thinks fit, be engaged in manner by this Act directed with respect to foreign-going ships. 153. Where two or more ships belong to the same owner the Agreement 5 agreement with the seamen may, notwithstanding anything in this for home trade ships. part of this Act contained, be made by the owner instead of by the 1854, s. 155. master; and the seamen with whom the agreement is made may Special be engaged to serve in any two or more of such ships, if the names agreements for ships of the ships and the nature of the service be specified in the agree belonging to 10 ment; but, with the foregoing exception, all provisions contained in same owners. this part of this Act relating to ordinary agreements for service 1854, s. 156. shall be applicable to agreements made in pursuance of this section. in the 154. It shall be lawful for a master of any British ship, or for Agreements 15 any shipowner or his agent, to enter into an agreement in the may be made United Kingdom with seamen binding them to proceed to any United port or ports within Her Majesty's dominions out of the United Kingdom Kingdom, either as seamen or as passengers, and there to engage themselves as seamen in any ship belonging to such owner. Such agreements shall, subject to such regulations in that behalf as the Board of Trade may make from time to time, be as nearly as may be in the form of and contain the same terms as ordinary agreements for service. 20 seamen to binding join ship abroad. 1854, s. 163. 1854, 6. 158. 155. The master of every foreign-going ship shall, before Changes in 25 finally leaving the United Kingdom, sign and send to the nearest crew to be superintendent of a mercantile marine office a full and accurate reported. statement, in a form sanctioned by the Board of Trade, of every change which takes place in his crew before finally leaving the United Kingdom, and in default shall for each offence incur a 30 penalty not exceeding five pounds; and such statement shall be admissible in evidence, subject to all just exceptions. 35 40 156. Where the master of any ship, the voyage of which com- Seamen engaged in the colonies to be shipped before some superinten Where the master of any ship, the voyage of which commences Where the master of any ship, the voyage of which commences the master shall, if there be at the place where such seaman is officer of customs, 1854, s. 159. PART II. Masters and such seaman before him, and if there be no superintendent of a mercantile marine office then before some officer of customs. Seamen. Engagement of seamen at foreign port. 1854, s. 160. Engagement of seamen in British and before Upon every such engagement the superintendent or officer before whom the same was made shall indorse upon the agreement an attestation to the effect that such agreement has been signed in his 5 presence and otherwise made as by this Act is required; and if in any case such attestation be not made the burden of proving that the seaman was duly engaged, as by this Act is required, shall lie upon the master. 157. Every master of a ship registered in any part of Her 10 Majesty's dominions who engages any seaman at any port out of Her Majesty's dominions where there is a British consular officer shall, before carrying such seaman to sea, procure the sanction of such officer, and shall engage the seaman before him or before some person authorized by him in writing for that purpose; and on every 15 such engagement the person before whom the same is made shall indorse on the agreement his sanction thereof, and an attestation to the effect that the same has been signed in his presence and otherwise made as by this Act required; and if in any case such indorsement or attestation are not made the burden of proving the 20 engagement to have been made as required by this Act shall lie on the master; but nothing in this section shall invalidate an agreement as between the master and the seaman, or deprive either party thereto of any right or remedy in respect thereof which he would have had if this section had not been inserted 25 in this Act. 158. The same rules as are in this Act contained with respect to the possessions, engagement of seamen before superintendents of mercantile marine offices in the United Kingdom shall apply to the engagement of seamen in pursuance of this Act before superintendents of mercantile 30 1854, ss. 159, marine offices and officers of customs in British possessions, and before consular officers in places out of Her Majesty's dominions. consular officers. 160. Penalty for shipping seamen with 159. If in any case where an agreement is required in pursuance of this Act a master carries any seaman to sea without entering into an agreement with him in the form and manner and at the place 35 and time by this Act prescribed, the master shall for each such 1854, s. 157. offence incur a penalty not exceeding five pounds. out agreement duly executed. Alterations to be void unless 160. Every erasure, interlineation, or alteration in any such agreement with seamen as is required by this part of this Act (except additions made for shipping substitutes or persons engaged 40 subsequently to the first departure of the ship) shall be wholly of all parties. inoperative, unless proved to have been made with the consent attested to have been made with the consent 1854, s. 163. PART II. Seamen. of all the persons interested in such erasure, interlineation, or Masters and alteration by the written attestation (if made in Her Majesty's dominions of some superintendent of a mercantile marine office, justice, officer of customs, or other public functionary, or (if made 5 out of Her Majesty's dominions) of a British consular officer, or, where there is no such officer, of two respectable British merchants. 161. Every person who fraudulently alters, assists in fraudulently Penalty for falsifying altering, or procures to be fraudulently altered, or makes, or assists agreement. 10 in making, or procures to be made, any false entry in, or delivers, 1854, s. 164. assists in delivering, or procures to be delivered, a false copy of any agreement, shall for each such offence be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Seamen not to be bound to produce 162. Any seaman may bring forward evidence to prove the con15 tents of any agreement or otherwise to support his case, without producing or giving notice to produce the agreement or any copy agreement. thereof. 1854, s. 165. agreement to to crew. 163. The master of every foreign-going ship shall at the com- Copy of mencement of every voyage or engagement cause a legible be made 20 copy of any agreement with his crew, or any of them, made in the accessible United Kingdom (omitting the signatures) to be placed or posted 1854, s. 166. up in such part of the ship as to be accessible to the crew; and in default shall for each offence incur a penalty not exceeding five pounds. 25 30 Masters and owners of discharge 164. It shall be lawful for the master or owner of any ship not registered as a British ship to engage or discharge seamen in the presence of a superintendent of a mercantile marine office, in manner by this Act directed with regard to British foreign-going superintenships. dents of mercantile Contracts may be India under 165. It shall be lawful for any master or owner of a ship, or his marine office. agent, to enter into agreements with Lascars or natives of the territories of Her Majesty in India, binding them to proceed to any made with port or ports in the United Kingdom, or to any port or ports in natives in the Australian Colonies, either as seamen or as passengers, and certain 35 there to enter into a further agreement to serve as seamen in conditions binding any ship which may happen to be there and to be bound to any them to go port in Her Majesty's dominions; provided that the original agreement in every such case shall be made in such form, and contain such provisions, and shall be executed in such manner, and serve in other ships 40 under such conditions for securing the return of such Lascars or back to natives to their own country, and for other purposes as the Governor India or General of India in Council, or the governors of the respective [267.] G 2 shall to the United Kingdom, and then to elsewhere. 1855, s. 23. 1854, s. 445. PART II. Seamen. Masters and presidencies in which the original agreement is made, in council, may direct; and if any Lascar or other person who has bound himself by any such original agreement is, on arriving in the United Kingdom, or in any of the said colonies, required to enter into a further agreement to serve as a seaman in any ship bound to any 5 port in Her Majesty's dominions, and if it is certified by some officer appointed for that purpose by the Secretary of State for India, or by the governor of the colony, that such further agreement is a proper agreement in all respects for such Lascar or other person to enter into and is in accordance with the original agreement, 10 and that the ship to which such further agreement relates is in all respects a proper ship for such Lascar or other person to serve in, and that there is not, in the opinion of such officer, any objection to the full performance of the said original agreement, such Lascar or other person shall be deemed to be engaged 15 under such further agreement, and to serve as a seaman in the ship to which it relates, and shall thereupon be deemed to be for all purposes one of the crew of the ship; and for every Lascar or other person in respect of whom such certificate is applied for, the person applying for the same shall pay to such officer as aforesaid 20 such fee as the Secretary of State for India or the governor of the colony, as the case may be, may appoint, not exceeding ten shillings. Saving of former enactments. 4 G. 4. c. 80. ss. 25 to 31 and 34. 17 & 18 Vict. c. 120. s. 16. 25 & 26 Vict. c. 63. s. 24. Rules as to production of agreements, certificates of masters and mates or engineers, lists of crews, and official logs for foreigngoing ships. 1854, s. 161. 166. Nothing in this part of this Act contained shall be deemed to repeal or affect any provisions contained in the twenty-fifth, 25 twenty-sixth, twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, thirtieth, thirty-first, or thirty-fourth sections of the Act of the fourth year of the reign of King George the Fourth, chapter eighty. Production of Agreements, Certificates, and Official Logs. 167. The following rules shall be observed with respect to the 30 agreement with his crew, produce to the superintendent of 35 |