N. B. The above average comes above £3 per cent.; had it been below, the underwriters would not have been liable to pay it.

8. SALVAGE.

Salvage is an allowance made for saving a ship, or goods, or both, from the dangers of the seas, fire, pirates, or enemies. What that allowance is, may be collected from a review of the following acts of parliament.

It appears, from the act of 12 Anne, stat. 2, c. 18.* that, if a ship was in danger of being stranded, or run ashore, the sheriffs, justices, mayors, constables, or officers of the customs, nearest the place of danger, should, upon application made to them, summon and call together as many men as should be thought necessary to the assistance, and for the preservation of such ship in distress and her cargo; and that, if any ship, man of war, or merchantman, should be riding at anchor near the place of danger, the constables and officers of the customs might demand, of the superior officer of such ship, the assistance of his boats, and such hands as could be spared; and that, if the superior officer should refuse to grant such assistance, he should forfeit £100.

It then proceeds: "And, for the encouragement of such persons as shall give their assistance to such ships or vessels so in distress as aforesaid, be it enacted, that the said collectors of the customs and the master and commanding officer of any ship or vessel, and all others who shall act or be employed in the preserving of any such ship or vessel in distress, or their cargoes, shall, within thirty days after the service is performed, be paid reasonable reward for the same, by the commander, master, or other superior officer, mariners, or owners, of the ship or vessel so in distress, as aforesaid, by any merchant whose vessel or goods shall be so saved; and, in default thereof, the said ship or vessel, so saved, shall remain in the custody of the officers of the customs, until all charges are paid, and until the officers of the customs, and the master or other officers of the ship or vessel, and all others employed in the preservation of the ship, shall be reasonably gratified for their assistance and trouble, or good security given for that purpose, to the satisfaction of the parties that are to receive the same: and, if any disagreement shall take place between the persons, whose ships or goods have been saved, and the officer of the customs, touching the monies deserved by any of the persons so employed, it shall be lawful for the commander of the ship or vessel so saved, or the owner of the goods, or the merchant interested therein, and also for the officer of the customs, or his deputy, to nominate three of the neighbouring justices of the peace, who shall thereupon adjust the quantum of the monies or gratuities to be paid to the several persons acting or being employed in the salvage of the said ship, vessel, or goods; and such adjustment shall be binding upon all parties, and shall be recoverable in an action at law; and, in case it shall so happen, that no person shall appear to make his claim to all or any of the goods that may be saved, that then the chief officer of the customs, of the nearest port to the place where the said ship or vessel was so in distress, shall apply to three of the nearest justices of the

By the 6 Geo. IV. c. 105, so much of this act, and of the following act of 26 Geo. II. c. 19, as relates to the revenue of customs, is repealed.

peace, who shall put him or some other responsible person in pos session of the said goods, such justices taking an account in writing of the said goods, to be signed by the said officer of the customs: and, if the said goods shall not be legally claimed, within the space of twelve months next ensuing, by the rightful owner thereof, then public sale shall be made thereof; and, if perishable goods, forthwith to be sold, and, after all charges deducted, the residue of the monies arising from such sale, with a fair and just account of the whole, shall be transmitted to her Majesty's exchequer, there to remain for the benefit of the rightful owner, when appearing; who, upon affidavit, or other proof made of his or their right or property thereto, to the satisfaction of one of the barons of the coif of the exchequer, shall, upon his order, receive the same out of the exa chequer."

In case of wreck, therefore, the rate of salvage is not fixed, but must be reasonable; and this to be ascertained by three justices of the peace.

By the 26 Geo. II. c. 19. § 5, it is further enacted," that, in case any person or persons, not employed by the master, mariners, or owners, or other person or persons lawfully authorized, in the salvage of any ship or vessel, or the cargo or provision thereof, shall, in the absence of the persons so employed and authorized, save any such ship, vessel, goods, or effects, and cause the same to be carried, for the benefit of the owners or proprietors, into port, or to any near adjoining custom-house, or other place of safe custody, immediately giving notice thereof to some justice of the peace, magistrate, or custom-house or excise officer; or shall discover to such magistrate or officer, where any such goods or effects are wrongfully bought, sold, or concealed; then such person or persons shall be entitled to reasonable reward for such services, to be paid by the masters of owners of such vessels or goods, and to be adjusted, in case of dis agreement about the quantum, in like manner as the salvage is to be adjusted and paid, by virtue of a statute made in the 12th of Queen Anne."*

§ 6. "And be it further enacted, that, for the better ascertaining the salvage to be paid in pursuance of the present act, and the act before mentioned, and for the more effectually putting the said act in execution, the justice of the peace, mayor, bailiff, collector of the customs, or chief constable, who shall be nearest to the place where any ship, goods, or effects, shall be stranded or cast away, shall forthwith give public notice for a meeting to be held as soon as pos sible of the sheriff or his deputy, the justices of the peace, mayors or other chief magistrates of towns corporate, coroners, or commis sioners of the land-tax, or any five or more of them, who are hereby empowered and required to give aid in the execution of this and the said former act, and to employ proper persons for the saving of ships in distress, and such ships, vessels, and effects, as shall be stranded or cast away; and also to examine persons upon oath, touching or concerning the same, or the salvage thereof, and to adjust the quan tum of such salvage, and distribute the same among the persons concerned in such salvage, in case of disagreement among the parties or said persons; and that every such magistrate, &c. attending and acting

The act before mentioned, which has been amended, and certain deficiencies therein supplied by 1 & 2 Geo. IV. c. 75, after cited; see p. 867.

at such meeting shall be paid four shillings a day for his expenses in such attendance out of the goods and effects saved by their care or direction."

§ 7. Provided always, that, if the charges and rewards for salvage directed to be paid by the former statute, and by this act, shall not be fully paid, or sufficient security given for the same, within forty days next after the said services performed, then it shall be lawful for the officer of the customs, concerned in such salvage, to borrow or raise so much money as shall be sufficient to satisfy and pay such charges and rewards, or any part thereof, then remaining unpaid, or not secured as aforesaid, by or upon one or more bill or bills of sale under his hand and seal, of the ship or vessel, or cargo, saved, or such part thereof as shall be sufficient, redeemable upon payment of the principal sum borrowed, and interest upon the same, at the rate of £4 per cent. per annum.

By § 9. The commissioners of the land-tax, the deputy sheriff, the coroner, and the officers of excise, in each county, are declared to be proper officers for putting the acts into execution, together with those persons respectively named in the act of Queen Anne.

By § 10. In the cinque ports the execution of these acts is intrusted to the lord-warden of the cinque ports, the lieutenant of Dover-castle, &c. &c.

§ 11 and 12. Persons convicted of assaulting any magistrate or officer, when in the exercise of his duty respecting the preservation of any ship, vessel, goods, or effects, shall be transported for seven years.

§ 15. The officer of the customs who shall act in preserving any ship or vessel in distress, or the cargo thereof, shall cause all persons belonging to the said ship, or vessel, and others who can give any account thereof, or of the cargo thereof, to be examined upon oath, before some justice of the peace, as to the name or description of the said ship or vessel, and the names of the master, commander, or chief officer, and owners thereof, and of the owners of the said cargo, and of the ports or places from or to which the said ship or vessel was bound, and the occasion of the said ship's distress; which examination the justices are to take down in writing, and they shall deliver a true copy thereof, together with a copy of the account of the goods, to the officer of the customs, who shall transmit the same to the secretary of the admiralty for the time being, that he may publish the same, or so much thereof, in the London Gazette, as shall be necessary for the information of persons interested therein. This act is not to extend to Scotland. These are the regulations for salvage in case of wreck.

The salvage payable upon recapture has, from time to time, been anxiously regulated by acts of parliament. By 45 Geo. III. c. 72. § 7. it is enacted, that, "if any ship, vessel, or boat, taken as prize, or any goods therein, shall appear and be proved in the court of admiralty to have belonged to any of his Majesty's subjects of Great Britain or Ireland, or any of the dominions and territories continuing under his Majesty's protection and obedience, which were before taken by any of his Majesty's enemies, and, at any time afterwards, retaken by any of his Majesty's ships of war, or any private man of war, or other ship, vessel, or boat, under his Majesty's protection or obedience, that then such ships, vessels, boats, and goods, and every such part and parts thereof as aforesaid, belonging to such his Majesty's subjects,

shall be adjudged to be restored, and shall be, by decree of the said court of admiralty, accordingly restored to such former owner or proprietor or proprietors, he or they paying, for and in lieu of salvage, if retaken by any of his Majesty's ships of war, an eighth part of the true value of the ships, vessels, boats, and goods, respectively so to be restored; which salvage shall be answered and paid to the captains, officers, and seamen, in the said men of war, to be divided as before in this act is directed; and, if retaken by any privateer, or other ship, vessel, or boat, one-sixth part of the true value of the said ships, vessels, boats, and goods; all which payments, to be made to any privateer, or other ship, vessel, or boat, shall be without any deductions. And, in case of recapture, by the joint operations of any of his Majesty's ships, and any private ship of war, then the judge of the court of admiralty shall order such salvage to be paid to the recaptors as he shall deem fit and reasonable, which salvage shall be paid to the agents of the recaptors, in such proportions as the said court shall adjudge. But if such ship, so retaken, shall appear to have been, after the taking by the enemy, by them set forth as a vessel of war, the same shall not be restored to the former owners, but shall be adjudged lawful prize for the benefit of the captors."

The wearing apparel of the master and seamen is always excepted from the allowance of salvage.-Lex Mercatoria, 147. fo.

The valuation of a ship, in order to ascertain the rate of salvage, may be determined by the policy of assurance, if there is no reason to suspect she is undervalued; and the same rule may be observed as to goods, where there are policies upon them: if that, however, should not be the case, the salvors may insist upon proof of the real value, which may be done by the merchant's invoices, and they must be paid for accordingly.-Ler Mercatoria, 147. fo.

The assured may recover from the assurer the expenses of salvage; yet he cannot receive a double satisfaction for the same loss. Thus, if the assurer should have paid to the assured the expenses arising from salvage, and afterwards, on account of some particular circumstance, the loss should be repaired by some unexpected means, the assurer shall stand in the place of the assured, and receive the sum thus paid, to atone for the loss.-Randall v. Cochran, 1 Vez.

198.

Cases frequently arise, in which the salvage is so high, the other expenses so great, and the object of the voyage so far defeated, that the assured is allowed to abandon his interest in the property saved to the assurer, and to call upon him to contribute, as if a total loss had actually happened. This will be treated of under the succeeding head or division.

The FOLLOWING ORDER in COUNCIL, relative to Compensation for Salvage, was issued in 1813.

are

"Whereas it has been represented to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, that, on the recapture of ships and goods belonging to his Majesty's subjects, whereof the owners and proprietors entitled to the restitution on salvage as by the law established, losses have been occasioned by the sale of ships and cargoes, on the unlivery thereof by authority of the courts of vice-admiralty, for the purpose of settling the salvage due thereon, in cases wherein the

owners and proprietors, or their agents specially authorized, are not present to claim:.

"His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, in the name, and on the behalf of his Majesty, is pleased, by and with the advice of his Majesty's privy council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, that, in the cases aforesaid, on a claim being given for the ship by the master, or in his absence by the mate; and for the cargo, by the supercargo or master, or by the mate in the absence of the master, the court shall direct a valuation of the ship and cargo to be made by appraisement without sale or unlivery, as far as the same shall be practicable; and on such valuation, to be approved and confirmed by the court, shall direct the ship and cargo to be restored to the person or persons aforesaid claiming the same, on payment of the proportion decreed to be paid to the captors, in lieu of salvage, and of such costs and expenses as shall be directed by the court; and in default of such payment, the court shall order and direct so much of the cargo to be sold as shall be sufficient for the payment of the salvage and expenses due thereon: and further, so much of the said cargo as shall be sufficient to pay the salvage and expenses due on the ship, if the person or persons to whom the cargo shall be restored, by decree of the court, shall consent thereto.

"And it is farther ordered, that, in no case shall the court proceed to order the ship or goods to be sold or unlivered, save as aforesaid, unless such sale or unlivery shall, owing to special circumstances, become necessary; in which case the reasons on which the judge shall proceed to make such order, shall be noted summarily in the minutes of court: and the right honourable the lords commissioners of the admiralty, the judge of the high court of admiralty, and the judges of the courts of vice-admiralty, are to take the necessary measures herein as to them may respectively appertain.

(Signed)

"JAMES BULLER.”

The 48 h and 49th of Geo. III. being only passed for seven years, were enlarged and continued for seven years longer by 53 Geo. III. c. 87; and the latter act is further continued and enlarged by the 1 & 2 Geo. IV. c. 75. and c. 76.

By the 1 & 2 Geo. IV. c. 75, intituled "An act to continue and amend certain acts for preventing frauds and depredations committed on merchants, ship-owners, and underwriters, by boatmen and others; and for remedying certain defects relative to the adjustment of salvage, in England, under an act made in the 12th year of Queen Anne,” it is enacted, that pilots, or other persons, who shall take up anchors, or materials, or goods which may have been parted with by any ship, shall send a report in writing of the articles so found to a deputy viceadmiral, or his agent, within forty-eight hours after his arrival; and shall also, within such period, deliver such articles into a warehouse, or such other place as the vice-admiral shall appoint; and every such pilot, or other person, who shall fraudulently keep possession of anchors, or materials, and shall not report and deliver the same, shall forfeit all claim to salvage, and shall, on conviction, be adjudged guilty of receiving stolen goods. § 1.

Every deputy vice-admiral or his agent, to whom any such report shall be sent, shall within two days forward the same to the secretary of the Trinity-house: provided that no report shall be forwarded until the articles deposited amount to £20. § 2.