*

Mortgages are to have priority according to the date of their record in the register book (h)..

A mortgagee shall not by reason of his mortgage be deemed to be the owner, nor the mortgagor to have ceased to be the owner of a ship or share, except so far as may be necessary for making it available as a security for his debt. And he may, unless there be a prior and not concurring mortgagee, in which case he can only act under the order of a Court of competent jurisdiction, absolutely dispose of the mortgaged interest, and give effectual receipts for the purchasemoney (i).

A registered mortgage shall not be affected by an act of bankruptcy committed by the mortgagor after the date of its record, although the ship or share was, at the time of such act, in his order and disposition as reputed owner (k).

Registered mortgages may be transferred, and the transfer is to be entered by the registrar in the register book; and a memorandum thereof, and of its date and hour, endorsed by him on the instrument of transfer (1).

Under the provisions of the 8 & 9 Vict. c. 89 (m), an endorsement of a mortgagee's interest on the certificate of registry was necessary for its protection, in the event of the bankruptcy of the mortgagor,

operation of the clause in the bankruptcy laws relating to the possession, order, and disposition by a bankrupt as reputed owner of property belonging to another. By reference to the register at the ship's home, and by insisting on an inspection of the certificate of registry elsewhere, a tradesman or lender had the means of learning what amount of beneficial property the apparent owner had in the ship. The certificate of registry under the new Act will afford no such information.

7. Certificates of Mortgage and Sale.

Under the 8 & 9 Vict. c. 89, and previous Registry Acts, the sale or mortgage of a British registered ship could only be completed at her port of registry; an entry on the certificate of registry, which always accompanied the ship, being necessary to such completion, her owner had no legal means of empowering the master or an agent to give, at the time and place of a contract for her sale abroad, a complete title to a purchaser. This inconvenience is remedied in the 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, by provisions which enable the owner of a ship to obtain from the registrar, at the ship's port of registry, certificates or powers of attorney authorizing, within such limits as to time, place, and as to maximum amount of charge, or minimum price of sale, as he may think proper, and which must be observed, the person or persons named therein to sell or mortgage his ship (n). When the power is * executed by such mortgage, a record thereof is to be endorsed thereon

(h) Sec. 69.

(i) Secs. 70, 71; and see Hay v. Fairbairn, 2 B. & A. 193; Monkhouse v. Hay, 4 B. Moore, 549; decided before the enactment of this provision.

(k) Sec. 72.
(1) Sec. 73.
(m) Secs. 45, 46.
(n) Secs. 76 to 83.

* by the registrar or British consular officer of the place at which the mortgage takes place (o); and the owner may at any time revoke the certificate, if limited as to place or places, by authorizing the registrar by whom such certificate was granted to give notice to the registrar or consular officer at such place or places that such certificate is revoked (p).

The Act contains provisions for the due record of such transactions, by the registrar granting or revoking the certificate, and by the registrar or consular officer before whom the power conferred by it is exercised, and who receives notice of its revocation (q).

No certificate can be granted for the sale of less than an entire ship (r).

No sale to a purchaser for valuable consideration, and no mortgage bona fide made, shall be impeached by reason of the death of the person by whom the power was given before its exercise, or by reason of his bankruptcy or insolvency, when the certificate contains a specification of the place or places at which, and a limit of time, not exceeding twelve months, within which the power is to be exercised, and the sale or mortgage was made without notice to the purchaser or mortgagee of such bankruptcy or insolvency (s).

Certificates of mortgage and sale cannot be granted to authorize the mortgage or sale to be made at any place within the United Kingdom, if the port of registry of the ship be situate in the United Kingdom; or at any place within the same British possession, if the port of registry is situate within a British possession; or by any person not named in the certificate (t).

If the ship is sold to a person qualified to be an owner of British ships, the transfer must be by bill of sale; and the ship shall be registered anew on presentation to the registrar required to make such register of the bill of sale, the certificate of sale, and the certificate of registry; and these certificates, after an endorsement of the fact of such sale upon them, shall be forwarded by him to the registrar of the port appearing on such certificates to be the former port of registry of the ship, who shall thereupon make a memorandum of the sale in his register book, and the registry of the ship shall be considered as closed, except so far as relates to any unsatisfied mortgages or existing certificates of mortgage entered thereon (u).

If the ship be sold to a person not qualified to be the owner of a British ship, the bill of sale, certificate of sale, and certificate of registry, are to be produced to some registrar or consular officer, who is to endorse thereon the fact of the sale to such persons, and forward the certificates to the registrar of the port appearing on the certificate of registry to be the port of registry of the ship, who shall thereupon make a memorandum of the sale in his register book; and the registry of the ship in such book shall be considered as closed, except so far as relates to any unsatisfied mortgages or existing certificates of mortgage * entered thereon (x).

(0) Sec. 80. (P) Sec. 83.

(1) Sec. 83.

(r) Sec. 81.

(s) Secs. 80, 81.
(t) Secs. 78, 79.

(u) Sec. 81. (x) Sec. 81.

*If these regulations are not complied with, such unqualified person shall be considered by British law as having acquired no title or interest in the ship; and the person on whose application the certificate is granted, and the person exercising the power, shall be liable to a penalty of 100l. (y).

If no sale is made under the certificate, it must be delivered up to the registrar to be cancelled, and power is given to the commissioners of Customs, in case of its loss or obliteration, to grant a new one, or to direct such entries to be made in the register book and such things done as might have been made or done had the loss or obliteration not taken place (*).

The form of these certificates is prescribed and set forth in a schedule to the statute (a).

8. Registry Anew, and Transfer of Registry.

Whenever any registered ship is so altered as not to correspond with her description in the register book, the registrar of the port at which such alteration takes place, or of the next port at which the ship arrives, shall, on application to him, either return the old certificate of registry, and grant a new one, or endorse and subscribe on the old certificate a memorandum of the alteration, entering in the book of registry, if he be the registrar of the ship's port, the particulars of the alteration, or the fact of a new certificate having been granted, or endorsement upon the old one made; and if he be not the registrar of the ship's port, reporting to such registrar those particulars and facts, in order to their entry by him in the register book (b). The registrar of the ship's port may, instead of registering the alteration, require the ship to be registered anew, and so may the registrar of any other port, who in such case is to grant a provisional certificate, or make a provisional endorsement of the alteration on the certificate, which, within ten days after her arrival in the United Kingdom, or other British possession in which her port of registry is situate, must be delivered to the registrar, who shall thereupon cause such ship to be registered anew, in the manner required on the first registry of any ship (c).

On failure of such registry anew, or registry of alteration of any ship so altered, it shall not be deemed duly registered or recognised as a British ship (d).

The registrar of the ship's port is empowered at the desire of the owners upon any change of ownership, and on delivery up to him of the existing certificate of registry, and compliance with such other requisites as he thinks material, to make registry of the ship anew, grant certificate thereof, although such registry may not be required by the Act (e).

and

With the object, it is presumed, of facilitating the sale of ships, a ship's register may be transferred from one port to another upon * the application, expressed by a declaration made and subscribed

(y) Sec. 81. (*) Sec. 82.

Sec. 79. (b) Sec. 84.

(c) Secs. 85, 86.
(d) Sec. 87.

(e) Sec. 88.

* by them, of all parties appearing on the register to be interested, whether as owners or mortgagees, whose names, together with all particulars relating to the ship, are to be transmitted, on such application to him, by the registrar of the ship's port to the registrar of the intended port of registry, who is to enter the same in his book, and grant a fresh certificate of registry, which done, the ship is to be considered as belonging to such last-mentioned port, the name of which is to be substituted on her stern in lieu of the name of the port previously appearing thereon (ƒ).

9. Registry-Miscellaneous.

Under this head are classed in the statute a variety of regulations respecting the inspection of registry books-the application of feesthe indemnities and duties of registrars in exceptional cases-provision for cases of infancy and incapacity-the grant of passes for unregistered ships in special circumstances-the liability to penalties of persons interested otherwise than as mortgagees in ships, though not registered as owners the offence of forging or fraudulently altering any book or document, or entries and endorsements on them-the admission in evidence of documents, and of examined or certified copies of them-and the national character of ships-most of which are now for the first time enacted (g).

Among these the more noticeable are the following:

Any declaration or thing required by the Act to be made or done by a person interested in a ship, which he is incapable, by reason of infancy, lunacy, or other inability, from making or doing, may be made or done by his guardian or committee; or, if there be no guardian or committee, by any person appointed by any Court having jurisdiction in respect of the property of incapable persons (h).

Persons beneficially interested in ships otherwise than as mortgagees, although not registered as owners, are declared liable, separately or jointly with the registered owners, to all pecuniary penalties enforced by this Act, or any other Act, on the owners of ships or shares therein (i).

No officer of Customs shall grant a clearance or transire for any ship until the master has declared to such officer the name of the nation to which he claims that she belongs, and such officer shall thereupon inscribe such name on the clearance or transire (k).

If any person uses the British flag, and assumes the British national character on board any ship, owned in whole or in part by any persons not entitled by law to own British ships, for the purpose of making such ship appear to be a British ship, unless such assumption has been made to escape capture by an enemy, or by a foreign ship of war in exercise of some belligerent right, such ship shall be forfeited to her Majesty (1).

The doing or permitting of anything, or the carrying or permitting *to be carried any papers or documents, with intent to conceal the

* British character of a ship from persons entitled by British law to inquire into the same, or the fraudulent assumption of a foreign character, with intent to deceive any such person, will subject the ship to forfeiture, and render the master, if privy to the commission of such an offence, guilty of a misdemeanor.

The like forfeiture attaches to the acquisition, by any unqualified person (except in the case of transmitted interests), of any interest, legal or beneficial, in a ship using a British flag, and assuming the British character (m).

Whenever it is declared by this Act that a ship belonging to any person or body corporate, qualified, according to this Act, to be the owner of British ships, shall not be recognised as a British ship, such ship shall not be entitled to any benefits, privileges, advantages, or protection, usually enjoyed by British ships, and shall not be entitled to use the British flag, or assume the British national character; but so far as regards the payment of dues, the liability to fines and penalties, and the punishment of offences committed on board such ship, or by any persons belonging to her, such ship shall be dealt with in all respects as if she were a recognised British ship (n).

10. Evidence of Declarations and of Books of Registry.

Every register of, or declaration made in respect of, any British ship, may be proved in any Court of Justice, or before any person having by law, or by consent of parties, authority to receive evidence, either by the production of the original, or by an examined copy thereof; or by a copy thereof, purporting to be certified under the hand of the registrar, or other person having the charge of the original, which certified copies he is required to furnish to any person applying at a reasonable time for the same; and every such register, or copy of a register, and also every certificate of registry of any British ship, purporting to be signed by the registrar, or other proper officers, shall be received in evidence as prima facie proof of all the matters contained or recited in such register, when the register or such copy is produced, and of all matters contained in or endorsed on such certificate of registry, and purporting to be authenticated by the signature of a registrar, when such certificate is produced (o).

The wording of this section, it will be observed, differs materially from that of the forty-third section of the 8 & 9 Vict. c. 89, by which copies of documents, on being proved to be such, were made evidence "as fully and to all intents and purposes as such original, if produced, * could or might legally be admitted or received in evidence" (p). Wherever the title to the ship comes strictly and properly into question, no claim can be received in opposition to the modes of conveyance required by the statutes (q). But there are many cases in

(m) Sec. 103.

Sec. 106. (0) Sec. 107.

(p) And see 14 & 15 Vict. c. 99, s. 112. Follett v. Delany, 2 De Gex & Sm.

235; and see McCalmont v. Rankin, in which Lord St. Leonards, after a ship had fraudulently, but with observance of the provisions of the Act, been transferred to the defendant, refused to displace his title to it, or to