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Pt. II.

145-148. expiration of one month from the date of the agreement with the crew, and shall be paid at the expiration of every subsequent month after the first month, and shall be paid only in respect of wages earned before the date of payment.

Remittance of seamen's

Month means calendar month. Interpretation Act, 1889, s. 3.

Seamen's Money Orders and Savings Banks.

145.-(1.) Facilities (a) shall be given for remitting the wages and other money of seamen and apprentices to the sea service to their relatives or other persons by means of seamen's money money orders. orders (), issued by superintendents in accordance with this [1854, s. 177.] Act.

wages, &c. by seamen's

Power to pay
when order
is lost.

[1854, s. 178.]

Penalty for

(2.) The Board of Trade may make regulations (c) concerning seamen's money orders, and in particular may specify in those regulations the time and mode of payment, and the persons by or to whom the same are to be paid; and all such regulations, while in force, shall be binding upon all persons interested or claiming to be interested in the orders as well as upon the officers employed in issuing or paying the same.

(a) As to duty of master to give facilities, see M. S. A. 1906, s. 63.
(b) The term "seamen's money orders" was new in 1894.

(c) These regulations and those mentioned in s. 142 are contained in "Instructions to Superintendents of Mercantile Marine Offices," issued by the Board from time to time. The regulations in force on Jan. 1, 1895, were saved by 8. 745.

As to exemption of officers from legal proceedings, see s. 153.

146. The Board of Trade may, if they think fit, cause the amount of any seaman's money order to be paid to the person to whom or in whose favour the same has been granted, or to the personal representative, or any legatee, or next-of-kin of such person, notwithstanding that the order may not be in his possession; and, from and after the payment, the Board of Trade, and every superintendent and officer of the Board of Trade shall be freed from all liability in respect of the money

order.

147. If any superintendent or officer grants or issues a seaissuing money man's money order with a fraudulent intent he shall be guilty of felony, and shall for each offence be liable to penal servitude for a term not exceeding five and not less than three years.

orders with fraudulent intent.

[1851, s. 179.]

Power for

Board of
Trade to

The maximum term of penal servitude, which was four years under M. S. A. 1854, s. 179, and under 19 & 20 Vict. c. 41, s. 6 (1894, s. 154), was raised to five years by the Penal Servitude Act, 1891, s. 1, sub-s. (1).

As to the power of the court to sentence to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any term not exceeding two years, see ibid. sub-s. (2).

148.-(1.) The Board of Trade may maintain a central seamen's savings bank in London, and may establish and maintain

Pt. II. 149-152.

establish

branch seamen's savings banks at such ports and places in the United Kingdom as they think expedient, and may receive at those banks deposits from or on account of seamen (whether of savings banks. the Royal Navy, merchant service or other sea service) or the [18 & 19 Vict. wives, widows, and children of such seamen, so that the aggre- c. 91, s. 17; gate amount of deposits standing at any one time in the name c. 41, ss. 1, 2, of any one depositor do not exceed two hundred pounds.

19 & 20 Vict.

4; and see

(2.) The Board of Trade may constitute any mercantile 1854, s. 180.] marine office a branch savings bank for seamen, and, if so required, any superintendent of that office shall act as agent of the Board of Trade in executing the provisions of this Act relative to savings banks.

(3.) The Board of Trade may make regulations with respect to the persons entitled to become depositors in seamen's savings banks, the making and withdrawal of deposits, the amount of deposits, the rate and payment of interest, the rights, claims, and obligations of depositors, and all other matters incidental to carrying into execution the provisions of this Act with respect to seamen's savings banks, and those regulations while in force shall have effect as if enacted in this Act.

As to the saving of existing regulations, see s. 745.

sioners to

149.-(1.) The National Debt Commissioners, on the request National Debt of the Board of Trade, may receive from and repay to the Commisaccount of the Board the money paid as deposits in seamen's receive savings banks.

deposits, &c.

(2.) The Commissioners shall invest money so received in the [19 & 20 Vict. like manner as money received from trustee savings banks, and c. 41, s. 3.] shall pay to the account of the Board of Trade interest on the money while in their hands, at the same rate as on the money received from trustee savings banks.

150. All sums due from the Board of Trade to the estate of Application any deceased person on account of any deposit in a seamen's of deposits of deceased savings bank shall be paid and applied by the Board of Trade depositor. as if they were the property of a deceased seaman received by [19 & 20 Vict. the Board under this Act, and the provisions of this Act c. 41, s. 5.] respecting that property shall apply accordingly.

See ss. 176 et seq. and M. S. A. 1906, s. 29, as to dealings with property of deceased seamen.

151. The Board of Trade may, out of the interest received by Expenses of them from the National Debt Commissioners under this Act, savings banks. pay any expenses incurred by them in relation to seamen's [19 & 20 Vict. c. 41, s. 7.] savings banks.

152. An annual account of all deposits received and repaid Accounts on account of seamen's savings banks by the Board of Trade and copy of

Ꭲ .

G

regulations

Pt. 11.

153-156. under this Act, and of the interest thereon, and a copy of all regulations made by the Board of Trade with respect to seamen's savings banks shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament.

to be laid

before Parlia

ment.

[19 & 20 Vict. c. 41, s. 8.] Public officers to be exempt

from legal

proceedings,

except in

case of wilful default.

[1854, s. 177; 19 & 20 Vict. c. 41, 8. 4.]

Forgery of documents, &c. for purpose of obtaining money in seamen's savings bank.

[19 & 20 Vict. c. 41, s. 6.]

Right to wages, &c. when to

153. Legal proceedings shall not be instituted against the Board of Trade, or against any superintendent or officer employed in or about any seamen's savings bank or about any seamen's money order, on account of any regulations made by the Board of Trade with reference to those banks or orders, or on account of any act done or left undone in pursuance thereof, or on account of any refusal, neglect, or omission to pay any order or any deposit or interest thereon, unless that refusal, neglect, or omission arises from fraud or wilful misconduct on the part of the person against whom proceedings are instituted.

154. If any person, for the purpose of obtaining, either for himself or for any other person, any money deposited in a seamen's savings bank or any interest thereon

(a.) forges or fraudulently alters, assists in forging or fraudu-
lently altering, or procures to be forged or fraudulently
altered, any document purporting to show or assist in
showing any right to any such money or interest; or
(b.) makes use of any document which has been so forged or
fraudulently altered as aforesaid; or

(c.) gives, assists in giving, or procures to be given, any false
evidence, knowing the same to be false; or

(d.) makes, assists in making, or procures to be made, any false representation, knowing the same to be false; or (e.) assists in procuring any false evidence or representation to be given or made, knowing the same to be false; that person shall for each offence be liable to penal servitude for a term not exceeding five years, or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years with or without hard labour, or on summary conviction to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any period not exceeding six months.

Rights of Seamen in respect of Wages.

155. A seaman's right to wages and provisions shall be taken to begin either at the time at which he commences work or at begin. the time specified in the agreement for his commencement of [1854, s. 181.] work or presence on board (a), whichever first happens.

Right to recover wages, and salvage not to be forfeited.

(a) See s. 114, sub-s. (2) (c), as to these particulars in agreements with crews.

156.-(1.) A seaman (a) shall not by any agreement forfeit his lien on the ship (), or be deprived of any remedy for the recovery of his wages, to which in the absence of the agreement he would be entitled, and shall not by any agreement abandon his right to wages in case of the loss of the ship, or abandon

any right that he may have or obtain in the nature of salvage (c); and every stipulation in any agreement inconsistent with any provision of this Act shall be void (c).

Pt. II. 156.

[1854, s. 182;

1862, s. 18;

c.

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46 & 47 Vict.

(2.) Nothing in this section shall apply to a stipulation made 36 & 37 Vict. by the seamen belonging to any ship, which according to the terms of the agreement is to be employed on salvage service (d), with respect to the remuneration to be paid to them for salvage services to be rendered by that ship to any other ship (e).

(a) It seems that this section applies only to seamen, and not to masters. The Wilhelm Tell, 61 L. J. P. 337; [1892] P. 337.

As to who are included in the term "seaman,

"" see s. 742.

(b) Seamen's lien for wages.-This lien extends to ship and freight, even though the freight be due from sub-charterers. The Andalina (1886), 12 P. D. 1; 56 L. T. 171. As the seaman's lien is independent of statute, the subject generally is beyond the scope of these notes. See, however, cases relating thereto cited in notes on the master's similar (though statutory) lien for wages and disbursements, s. 167; and see Abbott on Merchant Shipping, &c., 14th ed., and Maclachlan on Merchant Shipping.

(c) Salvage" abandon."-The section extends to an assignment of a right to salvage for valuable consideration, whether such assignment be made before or after the salvage service has been rendered. The Rosario (1876), 46 L. J. Adm. 52; 2 P. D. 41.

See also s. 212, whereby an assignment or sale of salvage payable to a seaman or apprentice made before the accruing thereof does not bind the person making the same.

But s. 156 does not render void an agreement as to the apportionment of salvage, whether made before or after services rendered. The Afrika (1880), 49 L. J. Adm. 63; 5 P. D. 192; The Wilhelm Tell, supra.

And such an agreement will be upheld or not by the Court according as it is equitable or inequitable. The Enchantress (1860), 30 L. J. Adm. 15; Lush. 93; The Afrika, supra; The Wilhelm Tell, supra. See also note (d), infra. For the Court has jurisdiction in this respect apart from statute, and thus, before the Act of 1854, would overrule an inequitable agreement between the owners and crew, and make a fresh apportionment of the salvage. See The Beulah (1842), 2 N. of Cas. 61; The Louisa (1843), 2 Wm. Rob. 22; The Pride of Canada (1864), 9 L. T. 546. Cf. s. 168.

But an agreement for an apportionment of the amount awarded after making certain deductions is inoperative by virtue of this section. The Saltburn (1894), 6 R. 702; 7 Asp. M. L. C. 474.

For provisions as to jurisdiction with regard to apportionment, see s. 556.

(d) "To be employed on salvage service."-By the agreement with the crew of a trawler, under which she was to be employed in fishing in the North Sea, it was provided that the crew and apprentices should participate in any salvage earnings in the proportion set forth in the agreement. Held, that she was not a ship which according to the agreement was to be employed on salvage service," within the meaning of M. S. A. 1862, s. 18 (1894, s. 156, sub-s. (2)). The Wilhelm Tell, supra.

This agreement was, however, upheld as being an equitable agreement for apportionment, and therefore not within 1854, s. 182 (1894, s. 156, sub-s. (1)). See note (c), supra.

(e) The section does not fetter the discretion of the Court as to the agreements mentioned in sub-s. (2), but simply renders them not illegal, and places them on the same footing on which they stood before any legislation on the subject. The Ganges (1869), 38 L. J. Adm. 61; L. R. 2 A. & E. 370.

The Court, therefore, will uphold such an agreement only if it be equitable. Sex ibid.; The Pride of Canada, supra; and cases cited in note (c), supra.

And neither the agreement for the vessel to be employed in salvage services, nor the stipulation that the seaman shall waive his claim for salvage, need be in writing, but both must be clearly proved by those who dispute his right. Pride of Canada (1863), B. & L. 208.

The

As to agreements for remuneration by a share in the profit of a fishing adventure made in Scotland, see s. 389.

c. 41, s. 55.]

Pt. II. 157-158.

Wages not

to depend on freight.

157.-(1.) The right to wages shall not depend on the earning of freight; and every seaman and apprentice who would be entitled to demand and recover any wages, if the ship in which he has served had earned freight, shall, subject to all [1854, ss. 183, other rules of law and conditions applicable to the case, be 184.] entitled to demand and recover the same, notwithstanding that freight has not been earned (a); but in all cases of wreck or loss of the ship, proof that the seaman has not exerted himself to the utmost to save the ship, cargo, and stores, shall bar his claim to wages (b).

Wages on termination

of service by wreck or

illness.

(2.) Where a seaman or apprentice who would, but for death, be entitled by virtue of this section to demand and recover any wages, dies before the wages are paid, they shall be paid and applied in manner provided by this Act with respect to the wages of a seaman who dies during a voyage (c).

(a) Sub-8. (1) was in substance a re-enactment of M. S. A. 1854, s. 183, whereby the rule of maritime law that "freight is the mother of wages" ceased to be the law of this country. Sect. 134 assumes that agreements with seamen of a foreigngoing ship, for compensation wholly by a share in the profits of the adventure, are, at any rate in some cases, legal; and s. 389 expressly makes such agreements valid in Scotland in the case of fishing vessels. As to the lien on freight, see s. 156, note (b).

(b) Cf. s. 220 (b), whereby certain improper conduct on such occasions is made a misdemeanor.

(c) See ss. 169 et seq. and M. S. A. 1906, s. 29, as to property of deceased

seamen.

158. Where the service of a seaman terminates before the date contemplated in the agreement, by reason of the wreck (a) or loss of the ship (b), or of his being left on shore at any place abroad under a certificate granted as provided by this Act (c) [1854, s. 185.] of his unfitness or inability to proceed on the voyage, he shall be entitled to wages up to the time of such termination, but not for any longer period (d).

(a) In case of wreck the contract of service may be terminated either by final abandonment of the ship or by a discharge by the master. The Warrior (1862), Lush. 476; 6 L. T. 133.

A mere stranding does not amount to a "wreck," where there is no evidence that the ship became in fact a wreck, or that the crew then on board had to leave her, even though the ship be abandoned to underwriters. Lloyd v. Sheen, infra.

Where a ship was scuttled in port in order to extinguish fire, and the crew were put on shore, the ship being subsequently raised and abandoned to underwriters as a constructive total loss, it was held that there was a "wreck or loss" within the section. The Woodhorn (1891), 92 L. T. Jo. 113. Held, also, that the crew were not entitled to wages up to date of final settlement, as M. S. A. 1880, s. 4 (1894, s. 134 (c)), had no application to the case. Ibid.

(b) "Loss of the ship."-Destruction of a captured ship by a belligerent is a "loss" within the meaning of this section. Sievewright v. Allen, 75 L. J. K. 476; [1906] 2 K. B. 81. But capture and confiscation do not constitute such a "loss," and where the owners had before the capture and confiscation broken their agreement with the crew by carrying contraband cargo, it was held that the crew were entitled to their wages up to the date of their arrival in London and to damages for breach of their agreement. Austin Friars Steam Shipping Co. v. Strack, 74 L. J. K. B. 683; [1905] 2 K. B. 315.

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