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Pt. II.

owner or master shall not be compensated more than once in 227–228. respect of the same damage.

(a) I.e., ss. 221-224.

M. S. A. 1883, s. 54 (1894, ss. 226, 377, sub-s. (1)), appears to have been enacted in consequence of the decision in The Great Northern S.S. Fishing Co. v. Edgehill (1883), 11 Q. B. D. 225, that s. 243 of M. S. A. 1854 (1894, ss. 221, 225), impliedly excluded other remedies. The Act of 1883 did not apply to Scotland, but the absence of that limitation in the present section (as to which see note to s. 214) does not appear to alter the law in that country, it having been held in Sharp v. Rettie (1884) (Sc.) 11 Crt. of Sess. Cas. (4th Ser.) 745; 21 Sc. L. R. 537, that other remedies were not excluded.

ment as to

227.-(1.) If a seaman on or before being engaged wilfully (a) Penalty for and fraudulently makes a false statement of the name of his last false stateship or alleged last ship, or wilfully and fraudulently makes a last ship or false statement of his own name, he shall for each offence be name. liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

(2.) The fine may be deducted from any wages the seaman may earn by virtue of his engagement as aforesaid, and shall, subject to reimbursement of the loss and expenses (if any) occasioned by any desertion previous to the engagement, be paid and applied in the same manner as other fines under this Act (b).

(a) See note to s. 4, as to meaning of "wilful"; and as to false statements as to ratings, see M. S. A. 1906, s. 58 (2).

(b) See s. 699, as to application of penalties.

[1854, s. 255.]

228. If any offence, within the meaning of this Act (a), of Entry of desertion or absence without leave or against discipline is com- offences in mitted, or if any act of misconduct is committed for which the official log. [1854, 88. 244, offender's agreement imposes a fine (b) and it is intended to enforce the fine,

(a.) an entry of the offence or act shall be made in the official
log book (c), and signed by the master and also by the
mate or one of the crew; and

(b.) the offender, if still in the ship, shall before the next sub-
sequent arrival of the ship at any port, or if she is at
the time in port before her departure therefrom, either
be furnished with a copy of the entry or have the same
read over distinctly and audibly to him, and may there-
upon make such reply thereto as he thinks fit; and
(c.) a statement of a copy of the entry having been so fur-
nished, or of the entry having been so read over, and,
in either case, the reply (if any) made by the offender,
shall likewise be entered and signed in manner afore-
said; and

(d.) in any subsequent legal proceeding the entries by this
section required shall, if practicable, be produced or
proved (d), and in default of that production or proof
the court hearing the case may, in their discretion,

256.]

Pt. II. 229-231.

Entries and certificates

of desertion

refuse to receive evidence of the offence or act of misconduct.

a) See ss. 221, 225, as to these offences.

(b) See s. 114, sub-s. (2) (g), and M. S. A. 1906, s. 44, as to regulations for fines in agreements and deductions thereof from wages.

(c) As to official logs and entries therein, see ss. 239 et seq.

(d) See s. 694, as to proof of attestation of log.

229.—(1.) In every case of desertion from a ship in any port abroad the master shall produce the entry of the desertion in the official log book to the person by this Act authorised to grant [1854, s. 249.] certificates for leaving seamen behind abroad (a); and that person shall thereupon make and certify a copy of the entry.

abroad.

Register of deserters.

c. 46, s. 3.]

(2.) The copy shall be forthwith transmitted to the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen in England by the person by whom the copy is made and certified, if he is a public functionary, and if he is not, by the master, and shall be admissible in evidence in manner provided by this Act (b).

(a) See M. S. A. 1906, ss. 36, 49, as to person so authorised.

(b) See ss. 239, 695 (admissibility), 694 (proof of attestation), and M. S. A. 1906, s. 36 (certificate of desertion).

230. A superintendent (a) shall keep at his office a list (b) of the seamen who, to the best of his knowledge and belief, have [52 & 53 Vict. deserted or failed to join their ships after signing an agreement to proceed to sea in them, and shall on request show the list to a master of a ship, and shall not be liable in respect of any entry made in good faith in the list.

Facilities for proving desertion in proceedings

for forfeiture

of wages.
[1854, s. 250.]

(a) See s. 247, as to business of superintendent.

(b) As to his duty to report to Board of Trade cases of failure to join ship, see M. S. A. 1906, s. 65 (2).

231.-(1.) Whenever a question arises whether the wages of any seaman or apprentice are forfeited for desertion from a ship it shall be sufficient for the person insisting on the forfeiture to show that the seaman or apprentice was duly engaged in or belonged to the ship, and either that he left the ship before the completion of the voyage or engagement, or, if the voyage was to terminate in the United Kingdom and the ship has not returned, that he is absent from her, and that an entry of his desertion has been duly made (a) in the official log book.

(2.) The desertion shall thereupon, so far as relates to any forfeiture of wages under this Part of this Act, be deemed to be proved, unless the seaman or apprentice can produce a proper certificate of discharge (b), or can otherwise show to the satisfaction of the court that he had sufficient reasons for leaving his ship (c).

(a) See ss. 228, 239, as to entry of offences and obligation to keep official logs. (b) See s. 128, as to certificates of discharge.

(c) See note (d) to s. 221, as to what amounts to desertion.

A consul's certificate is not conclusive evidence as to the fact of desertion. See Lewis v. Dewhurst (1866), 15 L. T. 275.

Pt. II.

232.-(1.) Where any wages (a) or effects are under this Act 232-235. forfeited for desertion from a ship, those effects may be converted Application into money (b), and those wages and effects, or the money arising of forfeitures. from the conversion of the effects, shall be applied towards [1854, s. 253.] reimbursing the expenses caused by the desertion to the master or owner of the ship, and subject to that reimbursement shall be paid into the Exchequer, and carried to the Consolidated Fund.

(2.) For the purpose of such reimbursement, the master or the owner, or his agent may, if the wages are earned subsequently to the desertion, recover them in the same manner as the deserter could have recovered them if not forfeited (c); and the court in any legal proceeding relating to such wages may order them to be paid accordingly.

(3.) Where wages are forfeited under the foregoing provisions of this Act in any case other than for desertion, the forfeiture shall, in the absence of any specific provision to the contrary, be for the benefit of the master or owner by whom the wages are payable.

(a) "Wages" here means wages due after all proper deductions have been made. Such deductions may include the price of clothes supplied by the master to the crew by way of advances of wages, with the knowledge of the owners. The Parkdale, 66 L. J. P. 10; [1897] P. 53.

(b) See s. 221, as to desertion causing forfeiture of wages and effects. (c) See ss. 164 et seq., as to mode of recovering wages.

forfeiture and

233. Any question concerning the forfeiture of or deductions Decision of from the wages of a seaman or apprentice may be determined in questions of any proceeding lawfully instituted with respect to those wages, deductions in notwithstanding that the offence in respect of which the question suits for arises, though by this Act made punishable by imprisonment as wages. well as forfeiture, has not been made the subject of any criminal [1854, 8. 251.] proceeding.

Cf. s. 377, sub-s. (2), as to seamen and apprentices in sea-fishing service.

amount of

234. If a seaman contracts for wages by the voyage or by Ascertainthe run or by the share, and not by the month or other stated ment of period of time, the amount of forfeiture to be incurred under forfeiture out this Act shall be an amount bearing the same proportion to the of wages. whole wages or share, as a month or any other period herein- [1854, s. 252.] before mentioned in fixing the amount of such forfeiture (as the case may be) bears to the whole time spent in the voyage or run; and if the whole time spent in the voyage or run does not exceed the period for which the pay is to be forfeited, the forfeiture shall extend to the whole wages or share.

235.-(1.) Every fine imposed on a seaman for any act of misconduct for which his agreement imposes a fine shall be deducted and paid as follows; that is to say,

(a.) if the offender is discharged in the United Kingdom, and the offence, and the entry in the log book required by this Act

Deduction
from wages
and payments
to superin-
tendents, &c.
of fines.
[1854, s. 256.]

Pt. II. 235.

in respect thereof, are proved to the satisfaction, in the case of a foreign-going ship, of the superintendent before whom the offender is discharged, and in the case of a home-trade ship of the superintendent at or nearest the port at which the crew are discharged, the master or owner shall deduct the fine from the wages of the offender, and pay it to the superintendent ;

(b.) if the offender enters Her Majesty's naval service or is discharged abroad before the final discharge of the crew in the United Kingdom, and the offence and the entry as aforesaid are proved to the satisfaction of the officer in command of the ship he so enters, or of the consular officer or other person by whose sanction he is discharged, as the case may be, the fine shall be deducted as aforesaid and an entry made in the official log book of the ship and signed by the officer or other person to whose satisfaction the offence is proved; and

(c.) on the return of the ship to the United Kingdom the master or owner shall pay the fine to the superintendent before whom the crew is discharged, or in the case of a hometrade ship to the superintendent at or nearest the port at which the crew are discharged.

(2.) If a master or owner fails without reasonable cause so to pay the fine, he shall for each offence be liable to a fine not exceeding six times the amount of the fine not so paid.

(3.) An act of misconduct for which any fine has been inflicted and paid by, or deducted from the wages of, the seaman shall not be otherwise punished under this Act.

Sect. 235 is repealed by the M. S. A. 1906, s. 85, Sched. II., and the subject of the repealed section is now dealt with by the following s. 44, M. S. A. 1906.

44.-(1.) Every fine imposed on a seaman for any act of misconduct for which his agreement imposes a fine shall be deducted as follows (that is to say):

(a.) if the offender is discharged in the United Kingdom,
and the offence, and the entry in the log book required
by the Merchant Shipping Acts in respect thereof, are
proved to the satisfaction, in the case of a foreign-
going ship, of the superintendent before whom the
offender is discharged, and in the case of a home-trade
ship of the superintendent at or nearest the port at
which the crew are discharged, the master or owner
shall deduct the fine from the wages of the offender;
(b.) if the offender enters His Majesty's naval service or is
discharged abroad, and the offence and the entry as
aforesaid are proved to the satisfaction of the officer in
command of the ship he so enters, or of the proper
authority by whose sanction he is discharged, as the
case may be, the fine shall be deducted as aforesaid

and an entry made in the official log book of the ship
and signed by the officer or authority to whose satis-
faction the offence is proved.

(2.) Every fine so deducted shall be paid

(a.) if the offender is discharged in the United Kingdom, to the superintendent;

(b.) if the offender enters His Majesty's naval service, on the return of the ship to its port of destination, if that port is in the United Kingdom, to the superintendent before whom the crew is discharged, or in the case of a home-trade ship, to the superintendent at or nearest to the port at which the crew is discharged, and, if the port of destination is not in the United Kingdom, to the proper authority as defined for the purpose of this Part of this Act;

(c.) if the offender is discharged at any place out of the United Kingdom, to the proper authority.

(3.) A proper authority shall remit any amounts received by them under this section at such times and in such manner, and render such accounts in respect thereof, as the Board of Trade require.

(4.) If a master or owner fails without reasonable cause to pay any fine as required by this section, he shall for each offence be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding six times the amount of the fine not so paid.

(5.) An act of misconduct for which any fine has been inflicted and paid by, or deducted from the wages of, the seaman, shall not be otherwise punished under the Merchant Shipping Acts.

For notes on this section, see post, p. 497.

Pt. II.

236.

desert and

236.—(1.) If a person by any means whatever persuades Penalty for or attempts to persuade a seaman (a) or apprentice to neglect or enticing to refuse to join or proceed to sea in or to desert from his ship (b), harbouring or otherwise to absent himself from his duty, he shall for each deserters. offence in respect of each seaman or apprentice be liable to a [1854, s. 257.] fine not exceeding ten pounds.

(2.) If a person wilfully harbours or secretes a seaman (a) or apprentice who has wilfully neglected or refused to join, or has deserted, from his ship (b), knowing or having reason to believe the seaman or apprentice to have so done, he shall for every seaman or apprentice so harboured or secreted be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

(a) The offence mentioned in sub-s. (1) (and apparently that in sub-s. (2)) may be committed although the formalities required by the Act in the engagement of the scaman have not been complied with. Austin v. Olsen (1868), 37 L. J. M. C. 34; L. R. 3 Q. B. 208.

"It might be that if the seaman himself chose to take the objection, he might be free from his agreement, but as against the person who solicits him to break

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