Clause, as amended, agreed to, and added to the Bill.

SIR CHARLES ADDERLEY, in moving the next clause, said, the object of sub-section 7 was to enable the shipowner when his ship started from a foreign port to alter the load line. The season, the cargo, and the circumstances of the voyage were very often entirely different when the ship left a foreign port on her homeward voyage. The right hon. Gentleman then moved the following clause :

(Statement of load line.)

"B. With respect to the marking of a load line on British ships, the following provisions

shall have effect:

"(1.) The owner of every British ship shall, before entering his ship outwards upon any voyage for which he is required so to enter her, mark upon each of her sides amidships, or as near thereto as is practicable, in white or yellow on a dark ground, or in black on a light ground, a circular disc, twelve inches in diameter, with a horizontal line eighteen inches in length, drawn through its centre;

"(2.) The centre of this disc shall indicate

the maximum load line in salt water to which the owner intends to load the ship for that voyage;

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(3.) He shall also, upon so entering her, insert in the form of entry delivered to the collector or other principal officer of customs, a statement in writing of the distance in feet and inches between the centre of this disc and the upper edge of each of the lines indicating the position of the ship's decks which is above that centre;

"(4.) If default is made in delivering this statement in the case of any ship, any officer of customs may refuse to enter the ship outwards; "(5.) The master of the ship shall enter a copy of this statement in the agreement with the crew, before it is signed by any member of the crew, and no superintendent of any mercantile marine office shall proceed with the engagement of the crew until this entry is made; "(6.) The master of the ship shall also enter a copy of this statement in the official log-book;

(7.) When a ship has been marked as by this section required, she shall, unless the marks are altered as hereinafter provided, be kept so marked until her next return to a port of discharge in the United Kingdom. If the owner of a ship or his agent wishes to alter the maximum load line to which he intends to load the

ship at any port out of the United Kingdom, he may do so at any time before any cargo is taken on board at that port by causing similar marks to those by this section required to be made at a higher or lower level on the ship's sides. In the event of any such alteration being made the master of the ship shall forthwith enter in the official log-book a statement with respect to the new marks corresponding to the statement by this section required with respect to the original marks, and deliver a copy of this statement, if the port is in a British possession, to the principal officer of customs at

the port, and if the port is a foreign port, to the British consular officer at the port, and if he makes default in such delivery, shall incur a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds: of any ship until she has been marked, as by (8.) This section shall not apply in the case this Act required, with the lines indicating the position of her decks."

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MR. SHAW LEFEVRE thought the Amendment was a very practical one.

MR. D. JENKINS objected entirely to the load line being altered during the voyage, because this would destroy the value of the load line altogether. Great pressure would often be put upon a captain abroad to alter the load line. A captain ought not to be exposed to this pressure.

MR. BATES recommended that the

power to the owner's agent abroad to alter the load line should be altogether omitted from the clause, because he did not think that a captain when abroad should be allowed to alter the load line.

The provision as to the owner or his agent altering the load line abroad was negatived.

Clause, as amended, agreed to, and added to the Bill.

SIR CHARLES ADDERLEY moved the following clause :—

(Penalty for offences in relation to marks

on ships.)

"C. Any owner or master of a British ship who neglects to cause his ship to be marked as by this Act required, or to keep her so marked, and any person who conceals, removes, alters, defaces, or obliterates, or suffers any person under his control to conceal, remove, alter, deface, or obliterate any of the said marks, except in the event of the particulars thereby denoted being lawfully altered, or except for the purpose of escaping capture by an enemy, shall for each offence incur a penalty not exceeding one hundred pounds.

"If any of the marks required by this Act is in any respects inaccurate, so as to be likely to mislead, the owner of the ship shall incur a penalty not exceeding one hundred pounds."

Clause agreed to, and added to the Bill.

MR. GOURLEY moved to leave out Clause 3, and insert the following clause :

"When laden with less than two-thirds of the aforesaid descriptions of cargo, then the

same shall be secured in the same manner as if

laden with a full cargo, unless the vessel have her cargo completed with wool, hemp, cotton, wood, or other cargo.

"The master of any British ship who shall knowingly allow any cargo or part of a cargo to be shipped therein for carriage contrary to the provisions of this section, shall for every such offence incur a penalty not exceeding two hundred pounds."

SIR CHARLES ADDERLEY suggested certain verbal alterations which

would then render the Amendment unnecessary.

LORD ESLINGTON was afraid the

House would be much disappointed with the effect of Clause 3 in preventing the loss of life at sea in grain-laden British ships. From information he had obtained to-day, he found that of 48 grain-laden ships in British ports of call yesterday morning only 14 were British. No other European States regulated the loading of its ships by law, neither did America, and he was afraid that by this legislation we should be giving a tremendous impetus to foreign trade without in any way securing the lives of the seamen.

MR. EVELYN ASHLEY observed, that the very important and interesting figures laid before the House by the noble Lord would be treasured up for use in another Session in the event of the House being then told that this legislation had driven British ships out of the grain-carrying trade.

Clause negatived.

MR. SHAW LEFEVRE moved the insertion of the following clause :—

(Liability of shipowner to crew.) "In every contract of service, express or implied, between the owner of a ship and the master or any seaman thereof, and in every instrument of apprenticeship whereby any person is bound to serve as an apprentice on board any ship, there shall be implied, notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary, an obligation on the part of the owner of the ship to the master, scaman, or apprentice, that the owner of the ship, his agents and servants, shall use all reasonable efforts to insure the seaworthiness of the ship for the voyage at the commencement thereof, and to keep her in a seaworthy condition during the voyage.

"Provided that nothing in this section shall make the owner of a ship liable for the death of or any injury to a master, seaman, or apprentice belonging to any ship when caused by the wrongful act, neglect, or default of a seaman or apprentice belonging to the same ship, in any case where he would not otherwise be so liable."

Mr. Gourley

The hon. Member said, the clause was substantially the same as one in the original Bill of the Government.

MR. RATHBONE thought the seamen ought to have the same right of action in respect of unseaworthiness as the owner of the merchandize.

MR. NORWOOD was of opinion that the relations between the shipowner and the seaman ought not to be dealt with in this piecemeal manner.

vernment would not embark on this SIR ANDREW LUSK hoped the Gosubject at present.

MR. E. J. REED believed the insertion of the clause would add very much to the satisfaction with which the Bill was received by the seafaring community.

ŠIR CHARLES ADDERLEY thought the feeling of the House generally was in favour of the clause, and, as it was copied from his own original Bill, the Government, of course, regarded it as a fit and proper provision. The effect of it would simply be to bring seamen within Lord Campbell's Act. In a recent case it had been decided that the shipowner was not bound, in relation to the though he was under a statutory obligaseaman, to keep the ship seaworthy, tion to provide him with medicine. This He thanked the hon. Member for movwas an unsatisfactory state of things. ing the clause, and hoped it would be

agreed to.

MR. GOURLEY was understood to remark that it might be impossible at sea to keep the vessel quite seaworthy.

SIR HENRY HOLLAND pointed out that all the clause required in that case was reasonable efforts.

Clause agreed to and added to the Bill.

MR. MAC IVER moved an Amendment on Clause 1, with the view of limiting the number of additional surveyors to be appointed by the Board of Trade to three. He wanted to see the general working of the Act placed in competent hands, and objected to an indefinite number of new surveyors of unknown qualifications with absolute powers. He thought additional powers were less necessary than that the Board of Trade should be enabled judiciously to exercise the powers they had; and that this could best be done by strengthening the Department in London. A few

MR. RATHBONE considered the Amendment a very reasonable one. In small ships the grain would be divided into small bulks.

SIR ANDREW LUSK thought that small river vessels under 100 tons should be exempt.

first-class surveyors could readily be obtained who might efficiently relieve the Permanent Secretaries of the Board of Trade from some of their present duties in regard to the detention of ships under the Act of 1873; but he did not believe that the right class of person to be entrusted with absolute powers was obtainable for every principal seaport in the Kingdom at a moment's notice, and upon a mere yearly engagement. There would, in any case, be many applications for the new Surveyorships, but this-if any large number of appointments were contemplated-would but increase the difficulty of selection.

MR. SHAW LEFEVRE hoped that the Government would be extremely careful as to the persons whom they appointed to exercise those large and arbitrary powers, and suggested that from six to eight first-class men would probably be sufficient for that purpose.

Amendment proposed,

a

In page 1, line 6, to leave out the words " sufficient number of," and insert the words "not more than three."-(Mr. Mac Iver.)

Question proposed, "That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the Bill."

COLONEL EGERTON LEIGH recommended that the matter should be left to the responsibility of the Government.

SIR JOHN HAY thought three was obviously too small a number, and hoped the Amendment would not be pressed.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

SIR CHARLES ADDERLEY proposed to amend Clause 3 by adding the words "such grain, corn, rice, paddy, pulse, seeds, and nuts."

Amendment agreed to.

MR. RATHBONE moved to add the words, "This clause shall not apply to any grain ship previous to the 1st of October, 1875."

Amendment agreed to.

MR. GOURLEY moved that the section should not apply to vessels of less than 200 tons register.

MR. HAYTER opposed the Amendment. He felt certain that if it were carried a greal deal of grain would be carried in very small vessels.

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER thought it would not be desirable, without consideration, to introduce any limitation in the clause. At the same time, the matter might be considered between the present time and the third reading.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Bill re-committed in respect of Clause 4; considered in Committee, and reported. Bill, as amended, considered.

Amendment proposed,

to insert the words "the one-third under this In page 2, line 26, after the word “pounds,” section shall be one-third of the tonnage measurement of the cargo."—(Sir John Hay.)

Question proposed, "That those words be there inserted."

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

MR. RATHBONE (for Mr. HERSCHELL) moved, in Clause 4, page 3, at end, to add

"8. Every person who is guilty of any offence which is by this section declared to be a misdemeanor shall be liable either to punishment on indictment or to a penalty of one thousand pounds, to be recovered by the Board of Trade

by action in any court of competent jurisdiction, which court may mitigate the same at their discretion; and where a penalty is adjudged under the provisions of this section to be paid by any managing owner of a ship, as defined by sub-section five, the owners of the ship shall become jointly and severally liable for the same as sureties for such managing owner, but in such case the owners shall not be liable to any other proceedings under this section in respect

of the same matter."

for a misdemeanour. But the Amendment sought to turn a prosecution for misdemeanour into a simple matter of suing for a fine, for which all the co-owners of

MR. RATHBONE maintained that the Amendment would render the law far more effectual by enabling the Judges to apportion the punishment to the offence.

THE SOLICITOR GENERAL said, it appeared to him that there was very great force in the objection of the hon. Member for Hull to the Amendment. It was undesirable to make the owners sureties for the managing owner when, in truth, they might not be in the least to blame. He suggested the omission of the latter part of the proposed clause.

MR. RATHBONE was willing to accept the suggestion of the Solicitor General.

MR. BATES confessed that he saw no great objection to the Amendment. He had been a managing shipowner for many years, and he had always understood that if he did anything wrong, his co-owners were liable as well as himself. MR. MAC IVER strongly objected to Clause 4, and said that it would be of no earthly use, and without any result other than annoyance to shipowners, by compelling the registration of so-called managing owners. The clause, he maintained, would fail precisely as Clause 11 of the Act of 1871 had failed, and from precisely similar reasons. He deprecated this concession to the hon. and learned Member for Durham (Mr. Herschell) and the hon. Member for Liverpool (Mr. Rathbone), and held that the clause was mere wastepaper legislation. It read stringently, but meant nothing; nor could it, he (Mr. Mac Iver) thought, be made to mean anything unless additions were made to it such as would cause it to mean a great deal more than was reasonable. Nothing would ever be proved under the clause as it stood. There was nothing to compel the so-called managing owner to actually manage the ship, nor was there any endeavour to reach those persons who owned vessels under the provisions of the Limited Liability Act. If the directors of limited liability companies were compelled to register some of their number as managing owners, and if it were assumed that the registered managing owner must in every case possess personal knowledge in regard to questions of seaworthiness, the clause might then come to mean something.

Mr. Norwood

If a

MR. FORSYTH said, that the latter part of the proposed Amendment introduced a totally new principle into the law of England-namely, that of making a man criminally liable for an offence committed by his partner with which he had nothing whatever to do. A penalty implied an offence, and no man ought to be punished for an offence of which he was not himself guilty. He hoped the Committee would reject a proposal embodying a principle which was unknown to the English law and he believed to any other law.

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER observed, that though there was a great deal to be said in favour of the present proposal, yet, considering the many questions of importance which it involved, he thought it should not be introduced into a Bill of a temporary character at the period of the Session at which they had arrived. The matter must come up for consideration when the permanent measure to which they looked forward was dealt with.

Amendment negatived.

at end of Clause 4, to add— SIR CHARLES ADDERLEY moved,

section shall not affect any punishment incurred "Provided, That the repeal enacted by this or to be incurred in respect of any offence against the enactment hereby repealed, or any legal proceeding in respect of any such punishment, and any such legal proceeding may be carried on as if this Act had not passed."

Proviso agreed to.

Clause, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Bill to be read the third time Tomorrow.

manure left on the holding at the determination

(Mr. Disraeli.)

CONSIDERATION.

Bill, as amended, considered.

After Clause 18, insert the following Clauses:

(Requisition for appointment of umpire by Inclosure Commissioners, &c.)

"D. Provided that, where two referees are

:

(Deduction in first class for want of repair, &c.)

"A. In the ascertainment of the amount of the tenant's compensation in respect of an improvement of the first class, there shall be taken into account, in reduction thereof, any sum reasonably necessary to be expended for the purpose of putting the same into tenantable repair or good condition."

Clause agreed to, and added to the Bill. MR. HUNT also moved, after Clause 10, to insert the following Clause:

(Exclusion of compensation in third class after exhausting crop.)

"B. The tenant shall not be entitled to compensation in respect of an improvement of the third class, where, after the execution thereof, there has been taken from the portion of the holding on which the same was executed, a crop of corn, potatoes, hay, or seed, or any other exhausting crop.'

SIR THOMAS ACLAND said, that the object of the Bill seemed to be to enable limited owners to charge their estates and to put them under stringent regulations for doing so. He thought the Amendments should have been placed

on the Paper earlier.

MR. T. CAVE thought that the hon. Baronet had misconceived the object of

the Bill.

MR. HUNT expressed his regret that the Amendments had not been placed on the Paper sooner. The fault was his, and he was exceedingly sorry for it, but the delay arose from his being deeply engaged with other public business. This provision was for the protection of the incoming tenant, but it was also partially for the benefit of the outgoing tenant. Clause agreed to, and added to the Bill.

MR. HUNT moved the following Clauses: :

(Exclusion of compensation for consumption of cake, &c. in certain cases)

"C. The tenant shall not be entitled to compensation in respect of an improvement of the third class, consisting in the consumption of cake or other feeding stuff, where under the custom of the country or an agreement he is entitled to and claims payment from the landlord or incoming tenant in respect of the additional value given by that consumption to the

lows:

"(1.) If either party, on appointing a referee, requires, by notice in writing to the other, that the umpire shall be appointed by the Inclosure Commissioners for England and Wales, then the umpire, and any successor to him, shall be appointed, on the application of either party, by those Commissioners:

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(2.) In every other case, if either party, on appointing a referee, requires, by notice in writing to the other, that the umpire shall be appointed by the County Court, then unless the from, the umpire, and any successor to him, other party dissents, by notice in writing, thereshall, on the application of either party, be so appointed, and, in case of such dissent, the umpire, and any successor to him, shall be appointed, on the application of either party, by the Inclosure Commissioners for England and

Wales."

(Exercise of powers of county court.)

"E. The powers of the county court under this Act, relative to the appointment of a referee or umpire, shall be exerciseable by the judge of the court having jurisdiction, whether he is without or within his district, and may, by consent of the parties, be exercised by the registrar of the court."

Clauses agreed to, and added to the Bill.
MR. NEWDEGATE moved the fol-

lowing clause :

(Manure made on the holdings.)

"The manure made in the stables, sheds, and foldyards from the last year's produce of the holding shall be the property of the tenant, but shall not, after notice to quit has been given, be removed from the holding or sold without the consent of the landlord or his agent in writing. The value of any portion of such manure, which may not at the determination of the tenancy have been applied to the land in the due course of husbandry, shall be estimated by the referees or the umpire, and shall form part of the com

pensation to be awarded to the tenant."

Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Clause be read a second time."

COLONEL EGERTON LEIGH thought this was a very valuable clause.

MR. ASSHETON thought the effect of the clause would be to put a premium upon bad farming.

MR. GOLDSMID considered that no bad results would follow from the adoption of the clause. It merely carried out what was already the custom in Kent, and answered well there; but he thought they were trying to do by this Bill that