SERVE. The provisions of the recent statutes under which a reserve NAVAL REvolunteer force to serve in Queen's ships has been established, and regulations enacted for their remuneration and government, may be usefully noticed here. By the 16 & 17 Vict. c. 73, power was given to the Admiralty to establish and train a body of Royal Naval Coast Volunteers, not exceeding ten thousand men, to be raised from among seafaring men and others; and by the 8th section of the act it was provided that volunteers under the act should, save as therein expressly provided, be protected from service in the royal navy. The 22 & 23 Vict. c. 40, provides that it shall be lawful for the Admiralty to raise, and from time to time to keep up, a number of men, not exceeding thirty thousand, such men to be raised by voluntary entry from among seafaring men and others who may be deemed suitable for the service in which such volunteers may be employed, and to be so raised and entered at such times and in such places in the United Kingdom and the islands of Man, Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney and Sark, or any of them, by such persons and in such manner as the Admiralty shall from time to time direct. This last-mentioned act contains provisions too numerous to be set out here at length; but it may be stated that it provides that every volunteer raised under the act shall be entered for the term of five years (k), and shall be trained and exercised for twenty-eight days in each year on shore or on board ship (1). Such volunteers are liable to be called into actual service on such occasions as to her Majesty may seem fit, and when so called into actual service, they are liable to serve in the navy for three years, and the time of service may be extended two years by proclamation (m). A volunteer not attending training at the time appointed, and not labouring under any infirmity incapacitating him, is liable to a penalty of 207. (n); and a volunteer when called into actual service, not attending at the time and place appointed, may be apprehended and punished as a deserter from the navy (o). The 17th section of this act requires that every mercantile Powers of marine superintendent acting under the Merchant Shipping Act, marine super mercantile intendent as to the Naval Reserve. Officers of STATUTORY PROVISIONS TECTION OF 1854, shall give all the assistance in his power towards carrying into effect the objects of the act in such manner as the Board of Trade, at the instance of the Admiralty, may direct; and every such mercantile marine superintendent shall for this purpose have the power to call for such answers or information concerning naval reserve men from the masters of and other persons belonging to British merchant ships as may be necessary or desirable in order to enable him to render such assistance as aforesaid, or to make any returns which the Board of Trade or the Admiralty may require; and every master of or other person belonging to a British merchant ship who, when duly called upon by the mercantile marine superintendent, omits or refuses to give any such answer or information as aforesaid which it is in his power to give, shall be liable to a penalty of 51. The Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve Act, 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. 69), provides for her Majesty accepting the services of masters, mates and engineers of merchant ships to serve as officers of the Royal Naval Reserve, and continuing the services of all persons who had before the passing of that act been enrolled as officers of that force (p). Provisions have been made by the legislature on numerous FOR THE PRO- Occasions for the encouragement and protection of merchant seamen. Some were introduced by early statutes (q), but the greater part of those in force are of modern date. The laws relating to merchant seamen were amended and consolidated, and provisions were made for the establishment of a general register of all the men engaged in the merchant service, by the 5 & 6 Will. 4, c. 19. At later periods, several acts were passed for the protection of merchant seamen and the regulation of the merchant navy. The more important of these were the general Merchant Seamen's Act (7 & 8 Vict. c. 112); the Seamen's Protection Act (8 & 9 Vict. c. 116); and the Mercantile Marine Act, 1850 (13 & 14 Vict. c. 93). All these acts are now repealed (), and the law relating to this subject is now principally to be found in the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, as amended by the Merchant (P) The 24 & 25 Vict. c. 129, now repealed, contained provisions on this subject. See also the M. S. Act, 1872, s. 17, and Orders in Council of the 1st of March, 1864, and the 15th October, 1872. (1) See 2 Geo. 2, c. 36, and 31 Geo. 3, c. 39. () See the M. S. Repeal Act, 1851 (17 & 18 Vict. c. 120). Shipping Acts of 1862, 1867, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1876, and the The recent statutes have greatly simplified the law with re- Registration spect to the registration of seamen; and have abolished the of Seamen. system of register tickets which was established by the earlier acts, and which was not found to work well in practice (s). The provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, as amended by the Amendment Act of 1862, as to the registration of seamen, are as follows: A general register and record office of seamen is established by the act, in the port of London, and is placed under the control of the Board of Trade, which has power to direct the business at any of the outports to be transacted at the mercantile marine office, or with the consent of the custom house authorities, at the custom house of the port, and may appoint the superintendent of the mercantile marine office (t), or some officer of the customs, to conduct the same (u). The Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen is bound to keep a register of all persons who serve in ships subject to the provisions of the statute (r). We have already seen (y) that the masters of all foreign going Lists of the ships, the crews of which are discharged in the United King- crew. dom, and the masters of all home trade ships, are bound to make (s) The regulations of the earlier acts, with respect to register tickets, were numerous and intricate. A form of ticket issued by the Board of Trade, and containing a description of the bearer, and stating his age and place of birth, was in use. Each ticket was marked with a number, and no two tickets were ever allowed to be outstanding at the same time, bearing the same number. Lists of cancelled tickets were from time to time published, and these lists had, before this system was abolished, already extended to a considerable length. Special provisions were also made to prevent fraud, and the personation of one seaman by another. See the 7 & 8 Vict. c. 112. It is obvious that elaborate machinery of this description was very ill adapted to the habits and needs of the class of men to which it was applied. (t) Under the M. S. Act, 1854, these offices and officers were called " shipping officers" and "shipping masters." It is provided by sect. 15 of the M. S. Act, 1862, that they shall for the future be designated as is mentioned above. See post, p. 175, note (d). () The M. S. Act, 1854, s. 271. (x) Ib. s. 272. The agreements, M. S. Act, 1872, s. 4, the Registrar- (y) Ante, p. 150. And see Appen- Overcharges in lodging houses, &c. out lists of the crew, containing particulars as to any members of it that have been hurt during the voyage, and as to the wages and property of deceased seamen, and to deliver them to the superintendents of the mercantile marine offices, in the case of foreign going ships, within forty-eight hours after the ship's arrival at her final port of destination in the United Kingdom, or upon the discharge of the crew, and in the case of home trade ships, within fixed half-yearly periods (≈). The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, contains several regulations for the protection of seamen, both when they are in lodgings on shore and when they are about to engage for any voyage. By sect. 235 of this act, any person who demands or receives from any seaman or apprentice payment in respect of his board or lodging in the house of such person for a longer period than the actual residing or boarding in it, is liable to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds; and, by sect. 236, if any one receives or takes possession of the money, documents or effects of any seaman or apprentice, and does not return them, or pay their value, when required by the seaman or apprentice, subject to the deduction of any debt justly due, or absconds with them, he is liable to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds; and two justices may direct the amount or value of what is detained, subject to such deduction, to be paid to the seaman. Penalty for With the view of preventing improper interference with seaprevention of men on the termination of a voyage, it is provided by sect. 237 crimping. of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, that any one, not being in the Queen's service, or duly authorized by law for the purpose, who goes on board a ship about to arrive at her place of destination before her actual arrival in dock, or at the place of her discharge, without the permission of the master, may be taken into custody by the master or person in charge of the ship, and sent before a magistrate, and is liable also to a penalty not () The M. S. Act, 1854, ss. 109, 273-275. Where any ship is lost or abandoned, or loses the character of a foreign going or home trade ship, by reason of transfer of ownership or change of employment, the lists are to be sent home to the superintendent, at the port to which the ship belonged; ib. s. 276. The documents delivered or transmitted to the superintendents, or officers of customs, under the act, are forwarded ultimately to the Regis trar-General of Shipping and Seamen, and are open to public inspection; ib. s. 277. The provisions of the M. S. Act, 1854, as to the transmission of lists of the crew, extend to fishing vessels, even if employed exclusively on the coasts of the United Kingdom, and to pleasure yachts, and ships belonging to the Trinity House, the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses, and to the Commissioners of Irish Lights; see scct. 109. exceeding twenty pounds (a). A penalty not exceeding five pounds is also imposed by sect. 238, on any one who, on board a ship within twenty-four hours after her arrival in a port of the United Kingdom, solicits any seaman to become a lodger at the house of any person letting lodgings for hire, or who takes out of the ship any effects of any seaman except under his personal direction and with the master's permission (). MARINE Under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, and the Merchant LOCAL Shipping Act, 1862, provision is made for the establishing and BOARDS. regulation of local marine boards (c), which are to carry into execution the provisions of these statutes and of mercantile marine offices, for the regulation of the hiring of seamen. It is provided by sect. 110 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, that local marine boards are to exist at those sea ports of the United Kingdom at which they had been established under the acts formerly in force, and at such other places as the Board of Trade shall appoint (d). (a) See as to what is a ship's "place of destination" and place of discharge, Attwood v. Case, L. R., 1 Q. B. D. 134. (b) Provisions, in some respects similar, were contained in the 8 & 9 Vict. c. 116. (c) These were first established by the 13 & 14 Vict. c. 93, which is repealed by the M. S. Repeal Act, 1854. (d) Boards have been established at London, Liverpool, Bristol, Hull, Shields, Leith, Glasgow, Dublin, Cork, and other ports, under the 13 & 14 Vict. c. 93. For the list of the boards existing at the present time, see ante, p. 113, n. (g). As to the duties of marine boards with respect to masters and mates, see ante, p. 113. The The constitution of these boards is as follows:-The mayor or provost and the stipendiary magistrate, or such of the mayors or provosts and stipendiary magistrates of the place (if more than one) as the Board of Trade may appoint, are members ex officio. Board of Trade is empowered to appoint four members from persons residing or having places of business at the port or within seven miles of it; and the owners of foreign going ships and of home trade passenger ships registered at the port may elect six members. The elections take place on the twenty-fifth day of January in every |