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Pt. II.

136.—(1.) Where a seaman is discharged, and the settlement of his wages completed, before a superintendent, he shall sign in 136-137. the presence of the superintendent a release, in a form approved Settlement of by the Board of Trade (a), of all claims (6) in respect of the past wages. voyage or engagement; and the release shall also be signed by [1854, s. 175.] the master or owner of the ship, and attested by the superintendent.

(2.) The release, so signed and attested, shall operate as a mutual discharge and settlement of all demands (6) between the parties thereto in respect of the past voyage or engagement (c).

(3.) The release shall be retained by the superintendent, and on production from his custody shall be admissible in evidence. in manner provided by this Act (d).

(4.) Where the settlement of a seaman's wages is by this Act required to be completed through or in the presence of a superintendent, no payment, receipt, or settlement, made otherwise than in accordance with this Act shall operate as or be admitted as evidence of the release or satisfaction of any claim (e).

(5.) Upon any payment being made by a master before a superintendent, the superintendent shall, if required, sign and give to the master a statement of the whole amount so paid; and the statement shall as between the master and his employer be admissible as evidence that the master has made the payments. therein mentioned (c).

(a) No separate form is prescribed, but in the form of agreement with crew the seaman signs his name in a column of the agreement, which is headed : "We, the undersigned members of the crew of this ship, do hereby release this ship, and the master and owner or owners thereof, and I, the master, do hereby release the said undersigned members of the crew from all claims in respect of the said voyage."

(b) A seaman may, however, now except from the release any specified claim or demand against the master or owner. See M. S. A. 1906, s. 60.

(c) Sect. 163, sub-s. (1), provides that a payment of wages to a seaman or apprentice shall be valid notwithstanding any previous sale or assignment thereof, or any attachment, incumbrance, or arrestment thereof.

(d) As to proof without calling attesting witness, see s. 694; admissibility in evidence, ss. 695, 720, sub-s. (4); exemption from stamp duty, s. 721.

(e) This sub-section does not apply to any claim or demand excepted from the release. See M. S. A. 1906, s. 60.

superinten

137.-(1.) Where in the case of a foreign-going ship a ques- Decision of tion as to wages is raised before a superintendent between the questions by master or owner of the ship and a seaman or apprentice, and the dents. amount in question does not exceed five pounds, the superin- [1854, s. 173; tendent may, on the application of either party, adjudicate, and 43 & 44 Vict. the decision of the superintendent in the matter shall be final; c. 16, s. 4 (5).] but if the superintendent is of opinion that the question is one which ought to be decided by a court of law, he may refuse to decide it.

(2.) Where any question, of whatever nature and whatever the amount in dispute (a), between a master or owner and any. of his crew is raised before a superintendent, and both parties

Pt. II.

138-140. agree in writing to submit the same to him, the superintendent shall hear and decide the question so submitted; and an award made by him upon the submission shall be conclusive as to the rights of the parties, and the submission or award shall not require a stamp; and a document purporting to be the submission or award shall be admissible as evidence thereof (b).

Power of superintendent to

require production of

(a) The words "of whatever nature and whatever the amount in dispute" have been here substituted for "whatever" in the section of 1854.

(b) See §. 695 as to admissibility of documents in evidence.

138.-(1.) In any proceeding under this Act before a superintendent relating to the wages, claims, or discharge of a seaman, the superintendent may require the owner, or his agent, or the master, or any mate or other member of the crew, to produce ship's papers. any log books (a), papers, or other documents in his possession [1854, s. 174.] or power relating to a matter in question in the proceeding, and may require the attendance of and examine any of those persons, being then at or near the place, on the matter.

Rule as to payment of British seamen in foreign money.

[52 & 53 Vict. c. 46, s. 4.]

Advance notes
restricted.
[52 & 53 Vict.
c. 46, s. 2.]

(2.) If any person so required fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with the requisition, he shall for each offence be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

(a) See ss. 239 et seq. and M. S. A. 1906, s. 28, as to keeping of official logs.

139. Where a seaman has agreed with the master of a British ship for payment of his wages in British sterling or any other money, any payment of, or on account of, his wages if made in any other currency than that stated in the agreement, shall, notwithstanding anything in the agreement, be made at the rate of exchange for the money stated in the agreement, for the time being current at the place where the payment is made.

As to the law before M. S. A. 1889, s. 4 (1894, s. 139), see The Annie Sherwood (1865), 12 L. T. 582; 13 W. R. 611, 965; The Nonpareil (1864), 33 L. J. Ad. 201; B. & L. 355.

Advance and Allotment of Wages. 140.-(1.)-(a.) Where an agreement with the crew is required to be made in a form approved by the Board of Trade (a), the agreement may contain a stipulation (b) for payment to or on behalf of the seaman, conditionally on his going to sea in pursuance of the agreement, of a sum not exceeding the amount of one month's wages payable to the seaman under the agreement(); and

(b.) Stipulations for the allotment of a seaman's wages may be made in accordance with this Act (d).

(2.) Save as aforesaid an agreement by or on behalf of the employer of a scaman for the payment of money to or on behalf of the seaman conditionally on his going to sea from any port

in the United Kingdom (e) shall be void (f), and any money paid in satisfaction or in respect of any such agreement shall not be deducted from the seaman's wages, and a person shall not have any right of action, suit, or set-off against the seaman or his assignee in respect of any money so paid or purporting to have been so paid.

(a) See ss. 113, 114, as to agreements with crew and their contents. (b) Cf. s. 114, sub-s. (3), providing for special stipulations.

(e) This section reproduces in substance sub-ss. (1), (2) and (3) of M. S. A. 1889, s. 2. Sub-s. (4) of that section repealed s. 2 of M. S. A. 1880, by which all agreements whatever for advance of wages conditional on going to sea were rendered void.

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It is to be observed that, though the Act makes valid a stipulation " for such an advance in the agreement with the crew, it does not deal directly with "advance notes," the instruments by which such stipulations are usually carried into effect. Save in the margin to this section, no reference whatever is made to advance notes eo nomine, and no form is provided for them as for allotment notes. M. S. A. 1906, s. 65, however, contains provisions as to failure to join his ship and desertion by a seaman who has received an advance note.

As to advance notes, see Cardiff Boarding Masters, &c. v. Cory (1893), 9 Times L. R. 388, where such a note payable to the seaman "or order "` was held not to be a negotiable instrument, so that where the seaman fails to sail, the assignee cannot recover against the master or owners; and M'Kune v. Joynson (1858), 28 L. J. C. P. 133; 5 C. B. (N. S.) 218; and cf. note (b) to M. S. A. 1906, s. 65. The note is, however, not void as an assignment of wages, and therefore, where the master has paid the transferee, he can deduct the amount from the seaman's wages, notwithstanding s. 163 (b). See Rowlands v. Miller, infra. As to a note payable to order of seaman five days after ship sails, provided he sails and is duly earning wages, see Bellamy v. Lunn (1897), 8 Asp. M. L. C. 348.

8 Geo. 4, c. 24, s. 7, which prohibits any advance to a seaman, while beyond the seas, of more than a moiety of the wages then due to him, is unrepealed, but does not apply to the case of a seaman engaged at a foreign port. Rowlands v. Miller, 68 L. J. Q. B. 338; [1899] 1 Q. B. 735.

(d) Sec ss. 141-143, and M. S. A. 1906, ss. 61, 62, and cf. s. 114, sub-s. (3). (e) Sub-s. (2) is not extended by s. 124 to cases of seamen engaged abroad; so where an advance note for more than a month's wages was given to such a seaman, the master was held entitled to deduct the amount of the note from the seaman's wages. Ritchie v. Larsen, 68 L. J. Q. B. 335; [1899] 1 Q. B. 727. And as 8 Geo. 4, c. 24, s. 7 (see infra), does not apply to such a seaman, the master may recover an advance of over a moiety of the wages then due. Rowlands v. Miller, supra.

(ƒ) Cf. ss. 156, 163, as to a seaman's inability to forfeit or abandon his right to wages, and as to restrictions on sales and charges thereon.

Pt. II.

141.

141.-(1.) Any stipulation made by a seaman at the com- Regulations mencement of a voyage for the allotment of any part of his as to allotwages during his absence shall be inserted in the agreement with ment notes. the crew, and shall state the amounts and times of the payments 169; 43 & 44 to be made (a). Vict. c. 16, s. 3, and

[1854, 88. 168,

(2.) Where the agreement is required to be made in a form Sched.] approved by the Board of Trade, the seaman may require that a stipulation be inserted in the agreement (b) for the allotment by means of an allotment note, of any part (not exceeding one half) of his wages in favour either of a near relative (c) or of a savings bank.

Pt. II. 142-143.

Allotments through savings banks. [43 & 44 Vict. c. 16, s. 3.]

Right of

suing on allotment notes.

[1854, s. 169.]

(3.) Allotment notes shall be in a form approved by the Board of Trade (d).

(4.) For the purposes of the provisions of this Act with respect to allotment notes

(a.) the expression "near relative" means one of the following persons, namely, the wife, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, child, grandchild, brother, or sister of the seaman.

(b.) the expression "savings bank" means a seamen's savings bank under this Act (e), or a trustee savings bank, or a post-office savings bank.

(a) The officer before whom the seaman is engaged must, when the seaman has signed the agreement, ask him if he requires a stipulation for the allotment of his wages by means of an allotment note, and if the seaman does require such a stipulation, one must be inserted in the agreement, and it is thereupon deemed to have been agreed to by the master. See M. S. A. 1906, s. 61.

(b) Cf. s. 114, sub-s. (3) as to special stipulations in agreements.

(c) As to the reimbursement of relief given by a union or parish to a seaman's family, where the owner has also paid money to them under an allotment note, see s. 182.

(d) For form of allotment note, see Appendix, p. 576.

(e) See ss. 148 et seq. as to establishment of seamen's savings banks.

142.-(1.) An allotment in favour of a savings bank shall be made in favour of such persons and carried into effect in such manner as may be prescribed by regulations of the Board of Trade (a).

(2.) The sum received by a savings bank in pursuance of an allotment, shall be paid out only on an application made, through a superintendent or the Board of Trade, by the seaman himself, or, in case of his death, by some person to whom his property, if under one hundred pounds in value, may be paid under this Act (b).

(a) See note (c) to s. 145, as to regulations for remittance of seamen's wages. (b) See s. 176, sub-s. (1) (b), and note (b) thereto, and M. S. A. 1906, s. 29, as to payment out of property of deceased seamen.

143.-(1.) The person in whose favour an allotment note under this Act is made may, unless the seaman is shown, in manner in this Act specified, to have forfeited or ceased to be entitled to the wages out of which the allotment is to be paid, recover the sums allotted, when and as the same are made payable, with costs from the owner (a) of the ship with respect to which the engagement was made, or from any agent of the owner who has authorized the allotment, in the same court and manner in which wages of seamen not exceeding fifty pounds may be recovered under this Act (b); provided that the wife of a seaman, if she deserts her children, or so misconducts herself as to be undeserving of support from her husband, shall forfeit

all right to further payments under any allotment made in her favour.

(2.) In any proceeding for such recovery it shall be sufficient for the claimant to prove that he is the person mentioned in the note (c), and that the note was given by the owner or by the master or some other authorized agent (a); and the seaman shall be presumed to be duly earning his wages, unless the contrary is shown to the satisfaction of the court, either

(a.) by the official statement of the change in the crew caused by his absence, made and signed by the master, as by this Act is required (d), or

(b.) by a certified copy of some entry in the official log book to the effect that he has left the ship, or

(c.) by a credible letter from the master of the ship to the same effect, or

(d.) by such other evidence as the court in their absolute dis-
cretion consider sufficient to show satisfactorily that

the seaman has ceased to be entitled to the wages out
of which the allotment is to be paid.

(a) "Owner" here means "such actual owner for the time being of the ship as, either himself or by his master or other authorized agent, manages and controls her, and enters into the agreement for the wages of which the allotment note is part." Hence a registered owner, who had parted under a charterparty with the possession of the ship and all control over her and the crew, was held not liable upon a note directed to the charterer, and drawn by the master, who had been appointed by the charterer and had engaged the crew. Meiklereid v. West (1876), 45 L. J. M. C. 91; 1 Q. B. D. 428; but cf. Re The Great Eastern S.S. Co. (1885), 5 Asp. M. L. C. 511. See also note (a) to s. 695.

(b) See ss. 164 et seq. as to mode of recovering wages. M. S. A. 1854, s. 169, expressly made these sums also recoverable in the county court. This provision was omitted here, perhaps on the assumption that the county court had jurisdiction by virtue of this section and s. 165. See s. 165, and note (d) thereto, as to proceedings in county courts.

(c) The following note is appended to the Board of Trade form of allotment note, viz. :-"In case of a wife the marriage certificate must be produced, if required, when payment is demanded,"-but it would seem, nevertheless, that the marriage is provable by parol evidence, although registered. See Maclachlan on Merchant Shipping, 4th ed. p. 225, note 4.

(d) See s. 117 as to the time and manner of making such official statements.

Pt. II.

144.

allotment

144. A payment under an allotment note shall begin at the Time for expiration of one month, or, if the allotment is in favour of a payment of savings bank, of three months, from the date of the agreement note. with the crew, or at such later date as may be fixed by the [43 & 44 Vict. agreement, and shall be paid at the expiration of every sub- c. 16, s. 3 (4).] sequent month, or of such other periods as may be fixed by the agreement, and shall be paid only in respect of wages earned before the date of payment.

This section is repealed by the M. S. A. 1906, s. 85, Sched. II., and the following s. 62 of that Act, though not expressly substituted for the repealed s. 141, now deals with this subject.

62. A payment under an allotment note shall begin at the

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