they may be said to constitute the present statute law on the subject:

42. Whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously set fire to, cast away, or in anywise destroy any ship or vessel, whether the same be complete or in an unfinished state, shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be kept in penal servitude for life or for any term not less than three years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour, and with or without solitary confinement, and, if a male under the age of sixteen years, with or without whipping.

'43. Whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously set fire to, or cast away, or in anywise destroy any ship or vessel, with intent thereby to prejudice any owner or part-owner of such ship or vessel, or of any goods on board the same, or any person that has underwritten or shall underwrite any policy of insurance upon such ship or vessel or on the freight thereof, or upon any goods on board the same, shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be kept in penal servitude for life, or for any term not less than three years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour, and with or without solitary confinement, and, if a male under the age of sixteen years, with or without whipping.

44. Whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously, by any overt act, attempt to set fire to, cast away, or destroy any ship or vessel, under such circumstances, that if the ship or vessel were thereby set fire to, cast away, or destroyed, the offender would be guilty of felony, shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof, shall

be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be kept in penal servitude for any term not exceeding fourteen, and not less than three years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour, and with or without solitary confinement, and, if a male under the age of sixteen years, with or without whipping.

'45. Whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously place or throw in, into, upon, against, or near any ship or vessel any gunpowder, or other explosive substance, with intent to destroy or damage any ship or vessel, or any machinery, working-tools, goods or chattels, shall, whether or not any explosion take place, and whether or not any injury be effected, be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be kept in penal servitude for any term not exceeding fourteen, and not less than three years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour, and with or without solitary confinement, and, if a male under the age of sixteen years, with or without whipping.

'46. Whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously damage, otherwise than by fire, gunpowder, or other explosive substance, any ship or vessel, whether complete or in an unfinished state, with intent to destroy the same or render the same useless, shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be kept in penal servitude for any term not exceeding seven years, and not less than three years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour, and with or without solitary confinement, and, if a male under the age of sixteen years, with or without whipping.

47. Whosoever shall unlawfully mask, alter, or remove any light or signal, or unlawfully exhibit any false light or signal, with intent to bring any ship, vessel, or boat into danger, or shall unlawfully and maliciously do anything tending to the immediate loss or destruction of any ship, vessel, or boat, and for which no punishment is hereinbefore provided, shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be kept in penal servitude for life, or for any term not less than three years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour, and with or without soli. tary confinement, and, if a male under the age of sixteen years, with or without whipping.

49. Whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously destroy any part of any ship or vessel which shall be in distress or wrecked, stranded, or cast ashore, or any goods, merchandise, or articles of any kind belonging to such ship or vessel, shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be kept in penal servitude for any term not exceeding fourteen and not less than three years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour, and with or without solitary confinement.

72. All indictable offences mentioned in this Act which shall be committed within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England or Ireland, shall be deemed to be offences of the same nature and liable to the same punishments as if they had been committed upon the land in England or Ireland, and may be dealt with, inquired of, tried, and determined in any county or place in England or Ireland in which the offender shall be apprehended or be in custody, in the same manner

in all respects as if they had been actually committed in that county or place; and in any indictment for any such offence, or for being an accessory to such an offence, the venue in the margin shall be the same as if the offence had been committed in such county or place, and the offence shall be averred to have been committed "on the high seas;" provided that nothing herein contained shall alter or affect any of the laws relating to the government of Her Majesty's land or naval forces.'

Under the rapid extension of maritime commerce and the more liberal navigation laws of modern times, whereby vessels of all nationalities may not only frequent without restriction the ports of their own country but can trade freely from and to almost any foreign place, the laws now generally in force are insufficient for the suppression of the above described malicious destruction of property.

For instance, if a crime against property upon which insurance has been made in England be committed upon the high seas on board a foreign ship, no steps can be taken against the offender in England, even if he afterwards make his appearance in England, because neither the law of nations nor the statute law of England confers upon English tribunals any jurisdiction over the crime.

A similar state of things exists as regards other nations, and the facilities of locomotion and intercourse with foreign countries make it an easy thing for guilty persons to keep out of reach of the tribunals of the

country to which the ship belongs, where alone he can be made amenable to justice. Cases of this description, far from being of rare occurrence, have of late years increased, and are becoming a cause of serious loss to persons concerned in maritime enterprise, more especially to Underwriters.

In order to show more clearly the state at which we have arrived, I subjoin abstracts of different cases, distinguished alphabetically, the details of which have come during the last few years under my own personal knowledge and observation, viz. :

A.

The

This vessel was lost in 1861, in the English Channel, while on a voyage from France to the Black Sea, with a cargo worth about 1,2007., but insured for 14,000l. Great suspicions were at the time entertained, but no effectual steps could be taken in this country, and the Underwriters therefore were advised to compromise the claim, which they did by payment of 10,000l. matter, coming to the knowledge of the French authorities, was taken in hand by the Public Prosecutor, and the result was that the master of the vessel and five others were brought to trial, when they confessed that they had formed a conspiracy to buy and over-insure vessels and their cargoes, and that the same were then to be fraudulently destroyed; and they stated that the prime mover in the affair was a man living in London, by whom the above cargo had been bought, and who had received the insurance. Subsequent proceedings taken criminally against this person in France were unsuccessful, but he was condemned to repay the 10,000l., which, however, have never been recovered.