purposes of the ship, as occasion shall require, or to the person having the actual command, possession, and management of such ship as ostensible and reputed master or owner, such last mentioned person may complain on oath of such detainer and refusal, to any justice of the peace residing near to the place where such detainer and refusal shall be in Great Britain or Ireland, or to any member of the supreme court of justice, or any justice of the peace in the islands of Jersey, Guernsey, or Man, or in any colony, plantation, island, or territory to his majesty belonging, in Asia, Africa, or America, or in Malta, Gibraltar, or Heligoland, where such detainer and refusal shall be in any of the places last mentioned; and on such complaint the justice or other magistrate is required, by warrant under his hand and seal, to cause the person so complained against to be brought before him to be examined, touching such detainer and refusal; and if it shall appear, on examination of such person, or otherwise, that the certificate of registry is not lost or mislaid, but is wilfully detained by the said person, such person shall be thereof convicted, and shall forfeit and pay the sum of £100; and, on failure of payment, he shall be committed to the common gaol, there to remain, without bail or mainprize, for such time as the said justice or other magistrate shall in his discretion deem proper, not being less than three months, nor more than twelve months; and the justice or other magistrate is required to certify the detainer, refusal, and conviction, to the person who granted such certificate of registry, who shall on the terms and conditions of law being complied with, make registry de novo, and grant a certificate, notifying on the back of such certificate, the ground upon which the ship was so registered de novo; and if the person who shall have detained and refused to deliver up such certificate of registry as aforesaid, or shall be verily believed to have detained the same, shall have absconded, so that the said warrant of the justice or other magistrate cannot be executed upon him, and proof thereof shall be made to the satisfaction of the commissioners of his majesty's customs, they may permit such ship to be registered de novo, or otherwise, in their discretion, grant a license for the present use of such ship in like manner as is hereinbefore provided in the case wherein the certificate of registry is lost or mislaid. A conviction under the foregoing section must state for what purpose the certificate was required. q Per Denman, C. J. and Williams, J. in R. v. Walsh, 1 Ad. & Ell. 481. 3 Nev. & M. 632. X. Evidence-what shall be sufficient evidence of Affidavits and Books of Registry. GREAT inconvenience having arisen from registering officers being served with subpoenas requiring them to produce the oaths, or declarations and books of registry, the legislature has deemed it expedient to dispense with their attendance, and for that purpose has enacted', that the collector and comptroller of his majesty's customs, at any port or place, and persons acting for them respectively, shall, upon every reasonable request by any persons, produce and exhibit for inspection and examination, any oath or declaration sworn or made by any owner or proprietor, and also any register or entry in any book of registry required by this act to be made or kept relative to any ship, and shall, upon every reasonable request by any persons, permit them to take a copy or an extract thereof respectively, aud that the copy of such oath or declaration, register or entry, shall, upon being proved to be a true copy, be received as evidence, upon every trial at law, without the production of the original, and without the testimony or attendance of any collector or comptroller, or other persons acting for them respectively, in all cases, as fully and to all intents and purposes as such original if produced by any collector and comptroller, or other persons acting for them. For regulations as to the carriage of passengers from the United Kingdom, see stat. 5 and 6 W. 4. c. 53. See also stat. 7 W. 4. and 1 Vict. c. 89, intituled, An Act to amend the laws relating to burning or destroying buildings and ships. II. Of Seamen's Wages, and the Statutes relating thereto, viz. 5 & 6 W. 4. c. 19. 8 G. 1. c. 24. THE legislature, in its wisdom, has thought fit to make several provisions relating to seamen employed in merchant ships, for the better securing the wages of the seamen, and to guard against desertion. Seamen employed in merchant ships r S. 40. are usually hired at a certain sum, either by the month or for the voyages. By stat. 5 & 6 W. 4. c. 19. intituled, An Act to amend and consolidate the laws relating to the merchant seamen of the United Kingdom, and for forming and maintaining a register of all the men engaged in that service, masters of ships, bound to parts beyond the seas, or of any British registered ship of the burden of 80 tons or upwards, employed in any of the fisheries of the united kingdom, or in trading coastwise or otherwise, are prohibitedt from carrying any seaman or other person as one of his crew (except their apprentices) to sea upon any voyage without first agreeing with them for their wages; and this agreement must, 1st, be in writing (5); 2dly, it must declare the monthly or other wages which each seaman is to have; 3dly, the capacity in which the seaman is to act; 4thly, the nature of the voyage in which the ship is intended to be employed; 5thly, the day and month of the year in which the agreement shall be made; 6thly, it must be signed by the master in the first instance, and by the seamen respectively at the port or place where such seamen shall be respectively shipped; 7thly, the agreement must be (5) The statutes relating to seamen's wages do not declare that a verbal agreement shall be void, but impose a penalty on the master, if there be not a written agreement. When a written agreement is made, it becomes the only evidence of the contract between the parties, and a mariner connot recover any money agreed to be given in reward for his service, which is not specified in the articles. Abbott, 440. A sailor brought an action against the master of a ship, and declared on an agreement, whereby it was stipulated, that the sailor should have a certain sum per month during a voyage from London to Africa, and thence to the West Indies, and also so much money as should be the average price of a negro slave in the West Indies. In the ship's articles no mention was made of the money to be paid to the plaintiff as the average price of the negro slave. It was holden, that the additional perquisites of the average price of a negro slave could only be considered as wages, and therefore ought to have been inserted in the written agreement. White v. Wilson, 2 Bos. & Pul. 116. In like manner it has been holden, that a sail-maker, serving in a ship belonging to the East India Company, cannot recover upon a promise to pay him a monthly sum beyond the wages mentioned in the ship's articles, which had been signed by him as a sail-maker. Elsworth and Wife v. Woolmore, London Sittings, December, 1803, before Lord Alvanley, C. J. C. B. Abbott, 440. See a note of this case, 5 Esp. N. P. Č. 84. read over in the presence of the attesting witness before the seaman is required to sign the same. Masters offending against these provisions, are made liable" to a penalty of £10 for every seaman carried out, without having entered into the requisite agreement, the penalty to be recoverable by information before J. P. and to be paid, one moiety to the informer, and the residue divided between Greenwich Hospital and the Merchant Seaman's Hospital, at the port to which the ship belongs. The 11th section of the act regulates the periods within which the wages are to be paid. The penalty imposed on masters for disobedience to this regulation, is recoverable by the same method as the wages. Seamen, by entering into or signing the agreement, are not to be deprived of using any lawful means for the recovery of wages against the ship, master, or owners. The 15th section gives the seaman a summary remedy by complaint upon oath to a J. P. for wages not exceeding £20; and the 16th section deprives the seaman of costs in cases where he proceeds for wages recoverable before a J. P. in any court of admiralty or court of record. In all cases where it may be necessary to produce the written agreement in court, no obligation shall lie on the mariner to produce the same, but on the master or owner; and no mariner shall fail in any action, &c. for the recovery of wages, for want of such agreement being produced. It is not necessary for the seaman to give the captain notice to produce this agreement. The penalties imposed on seamen for refusing to join the ship, or absenting themselves without leave, or desertion, are as follow: 1. A seaman refusing to join the ship or absenting himself therefrom, may be committed to gaol by a J. P.; provided, that in case such seaman shall consent to join the ship he may at the master's request be conveyed on board the ship. 2. Any marinerd absenting himself from his ship, without leave from the master, &c. shall, for every such day's absence, forfeit two days' pay. 3. Any seamand who leaves the ship without a discharge in writing, from the master, forfeits one month's pay. 4. Any seaman absolutely u S 4. y S. 11. z S. 5. deserting after having signed b Bowman v. Manzelman, 2 Campb. 315. c S. 6. d S. 7. e S. 9. the agreement, forfeits to the owner or master, the clothes left on board and all wages due at the time of his deserting (6). By s. 10, no debt exceeding 5s. incurred by any seaman after he has signed the agreement, shall be recoverable until the voyage shall have been concluded; and the effects of seamen are not to be detained by keepers of lodging houses for any pretended debt. By s. 13, masters are liable to a penalty of £5 for not giving seamen their certificates of service on their discharge; and in certain cases, where seamen are desirous of proceeding on another voyage, they may obtain immediate payment of their wages by application to a J. P. When a ship is sold at a foreign port, the crew are to be sent home at the expense of the master or owners. S. 19, enacts that there shall be a general register office of merchant seamen. S. 25, contains regulations for the disposal of the effects of seamen dying abroad. By the 31st section, the master of every ship belonging to any subject of the united kingdom, and of the burden of 80 tons and upwards, is obliged under a penalty to have on board his ship a number of apprentices according to her tonnage. By the 41st and 42d sections, no master shall discharge or leave any of his crew at any port or place abroad, without the sanction of one of the functionaries mentioned in the act; and if any seamen shall be so left on shore at any place abroad, they shall be paid their wages. d S. 14. e S. 17. f S. 44. (6) "Entering or being entered into the service of his majesty, on board any of his majesty's ships, will not occasion a forfeiture of clothes or wages, nor is it to be deemed a desertion." S. 45. Being compelled to quit the ship through the inhuman treatment of the master*, or being dismissed without any lawful cause, will not be deemed desertiont. So where the seaman is impressed into the royal service, he will be entitled to receive a proportion of his wages up to the time of impressing. Wiggins v. Ingleton, 2 Ld. Raym. 1211. per Holt, C. J. but nothing further. Clements v. Mayborn, B. R. T. must be completed. 2 Campb. 24 G. 3. Abbott, 444, and the voyage 320. n. * Limland v. Stephens, 3 Esp. N. P. C. 269. Kenyon, C. J. + Sigard v. Roberts, 3 Esp. N. P. C. 72. Eldon, C. J. See Sherman v、 Bennett, M. and Malk. 489. |