steam not subjected to the same duty? If it be meant by laying a comparatively heavy duty on the former to discourage the use of horses, and to make the various railway monopolies as complete as possible, the existing system is judiciously contrived, and will most likely be effectual to its object; but it is needless to say that in such matters competition cannot be carried to excess, and that it is the only security against irregularities, imposition, and insolence. And yet, by a singular contradiction, our legislation seems as if it proceeded on the assumption that competition is an evil, and that it cannot be too much discouraged. We subjoin a Statement of the Number of Railway Acts passed annually since 1801. There is a very good account of the principal British railways in the Companion to the Almanack for 1837; and a statement of the number and amount of the shares in each, of the portions thereof that are paid up, and their selling price on the 25th of January, 1839, will be found in the article SHARES in this Dictionary. American Railroads.-Rapid as has been the growth of railroads in this country, it is really insignificant, compared with their extension in America. Their progress there has been quite extraordinary. Several of those that have been completed in different parts of the Union, as well as several of those that are now in progress, are state undertakings; but the great majority have been set on foot and carried on by private associations. The first railway constructed in the United States was completed in 1825; and Mr. Pitkin states that, on the 1st of January, 1835, the railways that had either been or would very speedily be completed in different parts of the Union, amounted to about 1,600 miles in length; having cost, in the aggregate, about 30,000,000 of dollars!-(Statistical View of the United States, p. 574. ed. 1835.) During the last two years their progress has been more rapid than ever. In the course of last session (1836) the legislature of the state of New York incorporated no fewer than 42 railway companies: and in other parts of the Union their extension is hardly less wonderful. The New York and Erie railroad, commenced in 1835, is one of the greatest works of the kind that has ever been projected. It will be upwards of 500 miles in length! The Baltimore and Ohio railroad, 360 miles in length, has already been completed as far as Harper's Ferry, a distance of 86 miles; and in 1836 the legislature of Maryland voted 3,000,000 dollars to assist in its completion. Various railroads of equal importance have either been, or are about to be commenced in other states. Every where, indeed, throughout the Union, all sorts of public improvements, and especially canals and railways, are prosecuted with unparalleled alacrity and perseverance; and undertakings are every day entered upon and completed that might à priori have been concluded, even by the most sanguine projectors, as far beyond the means of so young a country.-(See American Almanack for 1837, passim.)-Sup.) [See art. ROADS.-Am. Ed.] RAISINS (Fr. Raisins secs, ou passés; Ger. Rosinen; It. Uve passe; Por. Passas; Rus. Issum; Sp. Pasas), the dried fruit of the vine. They are produced from various species of vines; deriving their names partly from the place where they grow, as Smyrnas, Valencias, &c.; and partly from the species of grape of which they are made, as muscatels, blooms, sultanas, &c. Their quality appears, however, to depend more on the method of their cure than on any thing else. The finest raisins are cured in two methods; either by cutting the stalk of the bunches half through, when the grapes are nearly ripe, and leaving them suspended on the vine till the watery part be evaporated, and the sun dries and candies them; or by gathering the grapes when they are fully ripe, and dipping them in a ley made of the ashes of the burnt tendrils; after which they are exposed to the sun to dry. Those cured in the first way are most esteemed, and are denominated raisins of the sun. The inferior sorts are very often dried in ovens.-(Thomson's Dispensatory,) Raisins are imported in casks, barrels, boxes, and jars. The finest come in jars and boxes weighing about 25 lbs. Some of the inferior sorts are brought to us in mats. Of 216,283 cwt. of raisins imported in 1831, 105,066 came from Spain, 100,458 from Turkey, and 7,036 from Italy. Malaga raisins are in the highest estimation. The muscatels from Malaga fetch fully a third more than any other description of raisins. The Smyrna black is the cheapest variety, and may average from 32s. to 35s. a cwt., duty included; muscatels vary from 80s. to 130s., duty included. But the price depends much on the season, and the period of the year.- (See MALAGA.) The duty on raisins varies, according to the species, from 20s. to 42s. 6d. a cwt.; that is, it varies from about 130 per cent. on the cheapest sorts, to from 50 to 35 per cent. on the dearest. This exorbitant duty has confined the demand for raisins within very narrow limits, the entries for home consumption being, at an average of 1831 and 1832, only 150,254 cwt. a year. The fact is, that raisins are, at present, a luxury that can be enjoyed only by the rich: but were the duty reduced, as it ought to be, to 58. a cwt. on the cheapest sorts, and 10s. or 12s. on the dearest, we are well assured that they would be very largely consumed by the middle classes; and that they would not unfrequently be used even by the lower. Nothing but the magnitude of the duties prevent them from becoming of very considerable importance as an article of food and it is really quite monstrous, that the public should be debarred from the use of a desirable article, on the stale and stupid pretence of its being necessary, in order to keep up the revenue, that it should be loaded with an oppressive duty. We admit the importance of keeping up the revenue; but so far from exorbitant duties having such an effect, they contribute more than any thing else to its reduction. They either limit the consumption of the articles on which they are laid to the very richest classes, or they cause them to be clandestinely supplied; reducing the revenue as well as the consumption far below the level to which it would attain were the duties moderate. But it is needless to reason speculatively on such a point. Have we not seen the revenue derived from spirits increased, by reducing the duty from 5s. 6d. a gallon to 2s. 6d. and the revenue derived from coffee trebled, by reducing the duty from 1s. 7d. per lb. to 6d. 1 And, as neither of these articles was more grossly overtaxed than raisins, have we not every reason to expect that a like effect would be produced by an adequate reduction of the duties by which they are burdened? Exclusive of raisins, a considerable quantity of undried grapes is annually imported from Spain and Portugal, in jars, packed in sawdust. The duty on these grapes, which is 20 per cent. ad valorem, produced, in 1832, 1,7201. Raisins, the produce of Europe, may not be imported for home consumption, except in British ships, or in ships of the country of which they are the produce, or from which they are imported, on forfeiture of the goods, and of 1001. by the captain of the ship.-(3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 54. §§2. 22.) No abatement of duty is made on account of any damage received by raisins.-(3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 52. 32.) (The duty on all raisins, without distinction of quality, brought from a foreign country, has been reduced to 158. a cwt.; and to half that sum on those brought from a British possession.-(4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 89. § 15.) This measure will, no doubt, materially increase the consumption of raisins. The tax ought, however, to have varied with the quality. A duty of 158. a cwt. is not too much on Malaga muscatels; but, to be in proportion, the duty on Smyrna blacks should not exceed 58. a cwt. For the quantities imported, exported, and cleared for consumption in 1836 and 1837, see antè, p. 33.—Sup.) [Nearly a million of dollars worth of raisins was last year imported into the United States; chiefly from Malaga, and the other Mediterranean ports of Spain.-Am. Ed.] RANGOON, a commercial port and town of the Burmese dominions, situated about 26 miles from the sea, on the left bank of the eastern branch of the river Irawaddy, in lat. 16° 42' N., lon. 96° 20′ E. The town and suburbs extend lengthwise about 1 mile along the bank of the river, being about of a mile in depth; but the houses are very unequally scattered over this area. The fort, or rather wooden stockade, which contains the town, properly so called, is a regular square about 14 feet high, composed of heavy beams of teak timber. It appears from a census, taken a short time previously to the commencement of the war in 1824, that the population was 18,000, which, probably, is not far from its present amount. Rangoon is the chief, and, indeed, almost the only, port of foreign trade in the Burmese dominions, which extend from between the 15th and 16th, up to the 26th and 27th degrees of N. lat., and from the 93d to the 98th degree of E. lon., containing an area of about 184,000 square miles, with a population of about 4,000,000. Its situation is extremely convenient for commercial purposes, being situated so near the sea, and commanding the navigation of the Irawaddy, which extends to Ava, the capital, a distance of nearly 500 miles. Rangoon is accessible to ships of even 1,200 tons burden; the navigation, although somewhat intricate, being safe and practicable with the assistance of the ordinary native pilots. The town has many advantages for ship building. At neaps the tide rises and falls about 18 feet; and at springs from 25 to 30 feet. The principal teak forests are, at the same time, at a comparatively short distance, and there is a water conveyance for the timber nearly the whole way. Ship-building has, in fact, been carried on at Rangoon since 1786, and in the 38 years which preceded our capture of it, there had been built 111 square-rigged vessels of European construction, the total burden of which amounted to above 35,000 tons. Several of these were of from 800 to 1,000 tons. Under the direction of European masters, the Burmese were found to make dexterous and laborious artisans; in this respect, greatly surpassing the natives of our Indian provinces. There are 2 considerable markets, where the ordinary necessaries of life, according to Burmese usage, are cheap and abundant: these are rice, excellent fish, and poultry. Money-The Burmese currency consists, for small payments, of lead; for larger ones, of gold and silver, but chiefly of the latter. There are no coins. At every payment, the metal must be weighed, and very generally assayed,-a rude and very inconvenient state of things. The weights used in the weighing of moy are the same as those used on ordinary occasions; the kyat or tical, and the paiktha or vis, being by far the most frequent. Silver may be considered as the standard. Gold is generally held to be about 17 times more valuable than silver. The weighing and assaying of the metals, used as currency, gives employment to a class of persons as brokeis, money changers, and assayers. Every new assay costs the owner, if the metal be silver, 2 per cent.; 1 per cent. being the established commission of the assayers, while 1 per cent. is lost, or supposed to be lost, in the operation. If it be repeated 40 times, it follows that the original amount is wholly absorbed-a fact which shows the enormous waste of metal arising out of this rude substitute for coin. Weights. The weights in use at Rangoon, and throughout the Burman dominions, are as follow:2 Small Rwés (red beans)= 1 Large Rwé. 4 Large do. 2 Bais 1 Bai. = 1 Mu. = Math. 2 Mus 4 Math's 1 Kyat, vulgo Tical. 1 Paiktha, vulgo Vis, 3-65 lbs. avoir This last measure is what is usually called by us "a basket," and ought to weigh 16 vis of clean rice, of 58 4 lbs. avoirdupois: it has commonly been reckoned at a cwt. All grains, pulses, certain fruits, natron, salt, and lime, are bought and sold by measure: other commodities by weight. Commercial Regulations.-The following commercial treaty, entered into between the government of England and the Court of Ava, in 1826, regulates the intercourse between the two countries: Art. 1.-Peace being made, &c. &c.-when merchants with an English certified pass from the counVOL. II.-2 K 49 try of the English ruler, and merchants from the kingdom of Burma pass from one country to the other, selling and buying merchandise, the sentinels at the passes and entrances, the established gatekeepers of the country, shall make inquiry as usual, but without demanding any money; and all merchants coming truly for the purpose of trade, with merchandise, shall be suffered to pass without hindrance or molestation. The governments of both countries, also, shall permit ships with cargoes to enter ports and carry on trade, giving them the utmost protection and security. And in regard to duties, there shall none be taken beside the customary duties at the landing places of trade. Art. 2.-Ships, whose breadth of beam on the inside (opening of the hold) is 8 royal Burman cubits, of 191 English inches each, and all ships of smaller size, whether merchants from the Burmese country entering an English port under the Burmese flag, or merchants from the English country, with an English stamped pass, entering a Burmese port under the English flag, shall be subject to no other demands beside the payment of duties, and 10 ticals, 25 per cent. (10 sicca rupees), for a passport on leaving. Nor shall pilotage be demanded, unless the captain voluntarily requires a pilot. However, when ships arrive, information shall be given to the officer stationed at the entrance of the sea. In regard to vessels, whose breadth of beam exceeds 8 royal cubits, they shall remain, according to the 9th article of the treaty of Yandabo, without unshipping their rudders or landing their guns, and be free from trouble and molestation as Burmese vessels in British ports. Besides the royal duties, no more duties shall be given or taken than such as are customary. Art. 3.-Merchants belonging to one country, who go to the other country and remain there, shall, when they desire to return, go to whatever country and by whatever vessel they may desire, without hindrance. Property owned by merchants they shall be allowed to sell. And property not sold, and household furniture, they shall be allowed to take away, without hindrance, or incurring any expense. Art. 4.-English and Burmese vessels meeting with contrary winds, or sustaining damage in masts, rigging, &c., or suffering shipwrecks on the shore, shall, according to the laws of charity, receive assistance from the inhabitants of the towns and villages that may be near, the master of the wrecked ship paying to those that assist suitable salvage, according to the circumstances of the case; and whatever property may remain, in case of shipwreck, shall be restored to the owner. Commerce. A considerable intercourse is carried on between the Burmese and Chinese dominions by an annual caravan, of which the merchants are ail Chinese. The imports from China consist of manufactured articles, the chief export from Burma being cotton wool. The trade with foreign countries seaward is carried on with the ports of Chittagong, Dacca, and Calcutta, in Bengai; Madras and Masulipatam, on the Coromandel coast; the Nicobar Islands, in the Bay of Bengal; Penang, in the Straits of Malacca; and occasionally with the Persian and Arabian Gulfs. The largest trade is with Calcutta, owing to the great consumption of teak timber in the latter, and the facility with which she supplies the demand of the Burmese for Indian and British cotton goods. At an average of the 3 years ending with 1522-23, being those which immediately preceded the war with the British, there entered inwards at Calcutta, from the Burmese dominions, 22 ships, of the burden of 9,404 tons; and in the 3 years ending with 1829-30, 33 ships, of the burden of 8,920 tons. No direct trade has yet been carried on between Burma and any European country. The ships and tonnage which entered inwards at Madras from Burma were, in the 3 years ending with 1822-23, 5 ships, of the burden of 683 tons; and in the 3 years ending with 1829-30, 8 ships, of the burden of 1,170 tons. The articles exported to foreign countries from Rangoon are the following:-Teak wood, terra Japonica, or catechu, stick lac, bees' wax, elephants' teeth, raw cotton, orpiment, commonly called in India hurtal, gold, silver, rubies, sapphires, and horses, or rather the small, hardy pony of the country, which is much esteemed, particularly at Madras. By far the most important of these commodities is teak timber; the quantity of this wood annually exported is said to be equal to 7,500 full-sized trees, which, for the most part, consist of what India ship-builders call shinbin, which are planks hewn out of the log with the adze at an immense waste. The teak forests of Pegu are by far the most abundant in India. The teak is nowhere to be found in the low alluvial lands to which the tide reaches, but abounds in the high lands beyond its influence. It seems to be very generally disseminated throughout the Burmese dominions. In the territory ceded to the British in Martaban, there are some fine forests, the timber of which is cut down for exportation, and where it is believed that saw-mills have very recently been established by some European settlers. The most accessible and extensive forests of teak in the Burmese dominions are in the province of Sarawadi, about 150 miles to the north of Rangoon, with which there is a water communication. The principal imports into Burma are cotton, piece goods from India and Britain, British woollens, iron, steel, quicksilver, copper, cordage, borax, sulphur, gunpowder, saltpetre, fire-arms, coarse porcelain, English glass ware, opium, tobacco, cocoa and areca nuts, sugar, and spirits. Of these, by far the most important is cotton piece goods. The Burmese have few cotton manufactures of their own, and appear from very early times to have been furnished with the principal part of their supply from the Coromandel coast. To these were afterwards added the cheaper fabrics of Bengal; and both are now, in a great measure, superseded by British manufactures, the use of which has spread very rapidly since the opening of the trade in 1814. In 1823-27, the exports and imports of the port of Rangoon were estimated each at the rate of 300,000.-(We are indebted for this valuable article to our esteemed friend, John Crawfurd, Esq., who ascertained the particulars on the spot.) RAPE, a biennial plant of the turnip kind (Brassica napus Lin.), but with a woody fusiform root scarcely fit to be eaten. It is indigenous, flowers in May, and ripens its seeds in July. It is cultivated in many parts of England, particularly in Lincoln and Cambridge; partly on account of its seed, which is crushed for oil, and partly for its leges as food for sheep. The culture of rape for seed has been much objected to by some, on account of its supposed great exhaustion of the land: but Mr. Loudon says that, where the soil and preparation are suitable, the after-culture properly attended to, and the straw and offal, instead of being burnt, as is the cominon practice, converted to the purpose of feeding and littering cattle, it may, in many instances, be the most proper and advantageous crop that can be employed by the farmer. The produce, when the plant succeeds well, and the season is favourable for securing the seed, amounts to from 40 to 50 bushels an acre. The seed is sold by the last of 10 quarters; and is crushed in mills constructed for that purpose. -(Loudon's Ency. of Agriculture.) In addition to the rape-seed raised at home, we import considerable quantities, principally from Denmark. In 1831, our imports amounted to 407,275 bushels; of which 290,368 were from Denmark, 57,916 from Germany, 41,964 from France, with smaller quantities from Prussia, the Netherlands, and Italy. At an average of 1831 and 1832, the entries of foreign rape-seed for home consumption amounted to 491,798 bushels a year, producing an annual revenue of 3,1051. The price of English rape-seed in December, 1833, varied from 281. to 291. per last; the duty on foreign rape-seed is 10s. a last. Rape-seed, the produce of Europe, may not be imported for home consumption, except in British ships, or in ships of the country of which it is the produce, or from which it is imported.-(3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 54. 2. 22.) RAPE-CAKE, is the adhering masses of the husks of rape-seed, after the oil has been expressed. They are reduced to powder by a malt mill or other machine; and are used either as a top dressing for crops of different kinds, or are drilled along with turnip seed. Rape cakes were worth, in December, 1833, from 51. to 61. a ton; and rape oil from 11. 158. to 11. 17s. a cwt. In 1830, we imported about 330,000 cwt. of rape and other oil cake. It is charged with a duty of 2d. a cwt. RATTANS, OR CANES, the long slender shoots of a prickly bush (Calamus rotang Lin.), one of the most useful plants of the Malay peninsula, and the Eastern islands. They are exported to Bengal, to Europe, and above all to China, where they are consumed in immense quantities. For cane work they should be chosen long, of a bright pale yellow colour, well glazed, and of a small size, not brittle, or subject to break. They are purchased by the bundle, which ought to contain 100 rattans, having their ends bent together, and tied in the middle. In China they are sold by the picul, which contains from 9 to 12 bundles. Such as are black or dark coloured, snap short, or from which the glazing flies off on their being bent, should be rejected. When stowed as dunnage, they are generally allowed to pass free of freight.-(Milburn's Orient. Com., &c.) The imports into this country are very considerable. In 1830, the number imported was 2,414,562; in 1831, 3,908,423; and in 1832, 3,922,955.—(Parl. Paper. No. 425. Sess. 1833.) "The rattan," says Mr. Crawfurd, "is the spontaneous product of all the forests of the Archipelago; but exists in great perfection in those of the islands of Borneo, Sumatra, and of the Malayan peninsula. The finest are produced in the country of the Bataks of Sumatra. The wood-cutter, who is inclined to deal in this article, proceeds into the forest without any other instrument than his parang or cleaver, and cuts as much as he is able to carry away. The mode of performing the operation is this;He makes a notch in the tree at the root of which the rattan is growing, and cutting the latter, strips off a small portion of the outer bark, and inserts the part that is peeled into the notch. The rattan now being pulled through as long as it continues of an equal size, is by this operation neatly and readily freed from its epidermis. When the wood-cutter has obtained by this means from 300 to 400 rattans,being as many as an individual can conveniently carry in their moist and undried state,-he sits down, and ties them up in bundles of 100, each rattan being doubled before being thus tied up. After drying, they are fit for the market without further preparation. From this account of the small labour expended in bringing them to market, they can be sold at a very cheap rate. The Chinese junks obtain them in Borneo at the low rate of 5 Spanish dollars per 100 bundles, or 5 cents for each 100 rattans, or 27 for ld. The natives always vend them by tale; but the resident European residents, and the Chinese, by weight, counting by piculs. According to their quantity, and the relative state of supply and demand, the European merchants dispose of them at from 1 to 2 dollars the picul. In China, the price is usually about 3 dollars per picul, or 75 per cent. above the average prime cost. In Bengal they are sold by tale, each bundle of about 100 rattans bringing about 201d."—(Indian Archipelago, vol. iii. p. 423.) REAL, in the Spanish monetary system, is of two sorts; viz. a real of plate and a real vellon. The former is a silver coin, varying in value from about 64d. to 5d.-(See COINS.) A real vellon is a money of account, worth about 24d. REAM, a quantity of paper. The ream of writing paper consists of 20 quires, each of 24 sheets; but the ream of printing paper, or, as it is sometimes called, the printers' ream, extends to 21 quires, or 516 sheets. Two reams of paper make a bundle. RECEIPT, is an acknowledgment in writing of having received a sum of money, or other valuable consideration. It is a voucher either of an obligation or debt discharged, or of one incurred. The 35 Geo. 3. c. 65. enacts, that every note, memorandum, or writing whatever, given to any person on the payment of money, acknowledging such payment, on whatever account it be, and whether signed or not, shall be considered a receipt, and liable to a stamp duty. And every person who shall write, or cause to be written, any receipt for money on unstamped paper, (except in certain excepted cases hereafter enumerated,) or on a lower stamp than the proper one, shall forfeit 101. if for a sum under 1001; if above, 201. Giving receipts for less than actually paid, writing off sums, or other fraudulent contrivances, penalty 50%; but receipts may be stamped if brought within fourteen days after date, on payment of a penalty of 51. over and above the duty; and if brought within one calendar month, on payment of a penalty of 101. and the duty. Any person refusing to give a receipt upon demand, or to pay the amount of the stamp, is liable to a penalty of 104 Scale of Stamp Duties per 55 Geo. 3. c. 184. Receipt or discharge, given for or upon the payment of money, amounting to 51. and under 101. 101. and under 201.. fied, and amounting to 51. or upwards, shall be expressed to have been paid, settled, balanced, or otherwise discharged or satisfied, or which shall import or signify any such acknowledgment, and whether the same shall or shall not be signed with the name of any person, shali be deemed to be a receipt for a sum of money of equal amount with the sum so expressed to have been paid, settled, balanced, or otherwise discharged or satisfied, and shall be charged with a duty accordingly. Previously to 1833 all receipts for sums of 21. and under 51. were charged with a stamp duty of 2d.; but the act 3 & 4 Will, 4. c. 23., exempts all receipts for sums under 51. from the duty. Exemptions-Receipts exempted from stamp duty by any act relating to the assessed taxes. Receipts given by the Treasurer of the Navy. Receipts on account of the pay of the army or orinance. Receipts by any officer, seaman, marine, or soldier, or their representatives. Receipts for the consideration money for the purchase of any parliamentary stocks or funds, and for any dividend paid on any L. s. d. share of the said stocks or funds. Receipts on Exchequer Bills. Receipts given for money deposited in the Bank of England, or in the hands of any banker, to be accounted for on demand; provided the same be not expressed to be received of, or by the hands of, any other than the person to whom the same is to be accounted for. Receipts written upon promissory notes, bills of exchange, drafts, or orders for the payment of money. Receipts given upon bills or notes of the Bank of England. Letters by the general post acknowledging the safe ar rival of any bills of exchange, promissory notes, or other securities. Receipts indorsed upon any bond, mortgage, or other security, or any Conveyance whatever. Releases or discharges for money by deeds duly stamped. Receipts or discharges for drawbacks or bounties. Receipts or discharges for the return of duties of customs. Receipts indorsed upon navy bills. Receipts upon victualling and transport bills. Receipts given solely for the duty on insurances against fire. In 1832, the nett produce of the receipt duty was as follows:Great Beftain, 191,5011. 108.; Ireland, 17,9951. 75. 9d. 003 -006 - 010 016 -026 - 0 4 0 -050 076 0 10 0 0 10 0 And any note, memorandum, or writing whatsoever, given to any person for or upon the payment of money, whereby any sum of money, debt, or demand, or any part of any debt or demand, therein speci REGISTRY, in commercial navigation, the registration or enrolment of ships at the Custom-house, so as to entitle them to be classed among, and to enjoy the privileges of, British built ships. The registry of ships appears to have been first introduced into this country by the Navigation Act (12 Car. 2. c. 18. anno 1660). Several provisions were made with respect to it by the 7 & 8 Will. 3. c. 22.; and the whole was reduced into a system by the 27 Geo. 3. c. 19. It may be laid down in general, that a vessel, in order to be admitted to registry, and consequently to enjoy the privileges and advantages that exclusively belong to a British ship, must be the property of his Majesty's subjects in the United Kingdom or some of its dependencies; and that it must have been built in the said United Kingdom, &c., or been a prize vessel legally condemned, or a vessel legally condemned for a breach of the slave laws. The great, and, perhaps, the only original object of the registration of ships, was to facilitate the exclusion of foreign ships from those departments in which they were prohibited from engaging by the navigation laws, by affording a ready means of distinguishing such as were really British. It has also been considered advantageous to individuals, by preventing the fraudulent assignment of property in ships; but Lord Tenterden has observed, in reference to this supposed advantage, that "the instances in which fair and honest transactions are rendered unavailable through a negligent want of compliance with the forms directed by these and other statutes requiring a public register of conveyances, make the expediency of all such regulations, considered with reference to private benefit only, a matter of question and controversy."-(Law of Shipping, part. i. c. 2.) The existing regulations as to the registry of ships are embodied in the act 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 55., which, on account of its importance, is subjoined nearly entire. ACT 3 & 4 WILL. 4. c. 55., FOR REGISTERING OF BRITISH VESSELS. Commencement of Act.-From 1st of September, 1833, except where any other commencement is herein-after particularly directed. No Vessel to enjoy Privileges until registered.-No vessel shall be entitled to any of the privileges or advantages of a British registered ship unless the person or persons claiming property therein shall have caused the same to have been registered in virtue of the act 6 Geo. 4. c. 110, or of the act 4 Geo. 4. c. 41., or until such person or persons shall have caused the same to be registered in manner hereinafter mentioned, and have obtained a certificate of such registry from the person or persons authorised to make such registry and grant such certificate as herein-after directed; the form of which certificate shall be as follows; viz. aloft is [number of feet and inches], her breadth at the broadest part [stating whether that be above or below the main wales] is [number of feet and inches], her [height between decks if more than 1 dock, or depth in the hold if only I deck] is [number of feet and inches], and that she is [how rigged] rigged with a standing or running] bowsprit, is [description of stern] sterned, [carvel or clincher] built, has [whether any or no] gallery, and [kind of head, if any) bead; and the said subscribing owners having consented and agreed to the above description, and having caused sufficient security to be given as is required by the said act, the said ship or vessel called the [name] has been duly registered at the port of [name of port]. Certified under our hands at the Custom-house in the said port of [name of port] this [date] day of [name of month] in the year [words at length]. "This is to certify, that in pursuance of an act passed in the 4th year of the reign of King Will. 4, intituled, An Act (here insert the title of this act, the names, occupation, and residence of the subscribing owners), having made and subscribed the declaration required by the said act, and having declared that [he or they] together with [names, occupations, and residence of non-subscribing owners] [is or are] sole owner or owners, in the proportions specified on the back hereof, of the ship or vessel called the (ship's name] of [place to which the vessel belongs], which is of the burden of [number of tons], and whereof [master's name] is master, and that the said ship or vessel was [when and where built, or condemned as prize, referring to builder's certificate, judge's certificate, or certificate of last registry, then delivered up to be cancelled], and [name and employ ment of surveying officer having certified to us that the said ship or vessel has [number] decks and [number] masts, that her length from the fore part of the main stem to the after part of the stern post And on the back of such certificate of registry there shall be an account of the parts or shares held by each of the owners mentioned and described in such certificate, in the form and manner following. -82. 'Names of the several owners [Signed] Number of sixty-fourth shares Thirty-two. Collector. Collector. Persons authorised to make Registry and grant Certificates.-The persons authorised and required to make such registry and grant such certificates shall be the several persons herein-after mentioned and described; (that is to say,) The collector and comptroller of customs in any port in the United Kingdom, and in the Isle of Man respectively, in respect of ships or vessels to be there registered: The principal officers of customs in the Island of Guernsey or Jersev, together with the governor, lieutenant-governor, or commander in-chief of those islands respectively, in respect of ships or vessels to be there registered: the said company's service of senior merchant, or of 6 years' standing in the said service, being respectively appointed to act in the execution of this act by any of the governments of the said company, in respect of ships or vessels to be there registered: The collector of duties at any British possession within the said limits, and not under the government of the said company, and at which a Custom-house is not established, together with the governor, lieutenant-governor, or commander-in-chief of such possession, in respect of ships or vessels to be there registered: The governor, lieutenant governor, or commander-in-chief of Malta, Gibraltar, Heligoland, and Cape of Good Hope respectively, in respect of ships or vessels to be there registered: The collector and comptroller of customs of any port in the British possessions in Asia, Africa, and America, or the collector of any such port at which no appointment of a comptroller has been made, in respect of ships or vessels to be there registered: The collector of duties at any port in the territories under the government of the East India Company, within the limits of the charter of the said company, or any other person of the rank in Provided that no ship or vessel to be registered at Heligoland, except such as is wholly of the built of that place, and that ships or vessels, after having been registered at Malta, Gibraltar, or Heligoland, shall not be registered elsewhere; and that ships or vessels registered at Malta, Gibraltar, or Heligoland, shall not be entitled to the privileges and advantages of British ships in any trade between the said United Kingdom and any of the British possessions in America: provided also, that wherever in and by this act it is directed or provided that any act, matter, or thing shall and may be done or performed by, to, or with any collector and comptroller of his Majesty's customs, the same shall or may be done or performed by, to, or with the several persons respectively herein-before authorised and required to make registry, and to grant certificates of registry as aforesaid, and according as the same act, matter, or thing is to be done or performed at the said several and respective places, and within the jurisdiction of the said several persons respectively provided also, that wherever in and by this act it is directed or provided that any act, matter, or thing shall or may be done or performed by, to, or with the commissioners of his Majesty's customs, the same shall or may be done or performed by, |