accordingly; but if they differ, the Board of Trade may act as if the requisition had not been made, and the owner and master shall have the appeal to the court of survey touching the report of the surveyor which is before provided by this Act; and

(3.) Where the owner or master of the ship appeals to the court of survey, the Consular Officer, on the request of such owner or master, may appoint any competent person who shall be assessor in such case in lieu of the assessor who, if the ship were a British ship, would be appointed otherwise than by the Board of Trade.

In this section the expression "Consular Officer" means any Consul-General, Vice-Consul, Consular Agent, or other officer recognized by a Secretary of State as a Consular Officer of a foreign State.

Appeal on Refusal of certain Certificates to Ships.

14. Whereas by section 309 of "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, "* and enactments amending the same, the owner of a passenger steamer as defined in that Act is required to cause the same to be surveyed by a shipwright surveyor and an engineer surveyor, and those surveyors are required to give declarations of certain particulars with respect to the sufficiency or conformity with the Act of the ship and equipments, and to the limits beyond which the ship is not fit to ply, and to the number of passengers which the ship is fit to carry, and of other particulars in the said section mentioned, and the Board of Trade, under section 312 of the same Act, issue a certificate upon such declarations, and the passenger steamer cannot lawfully proceed to sea without obtaining such certificate;

And whereas under sections 11 and 50 of “The Passengers Act, 1855," and the enactments amending the same, a passenger ship within the meaning of those sections (in this Act referred to as an emigrant ship) cannot lawfully proceed to sea without a certificate of clearance from an emigration officer, or other officer in those sections mentioned, showing that all the requirements of the said sections and enactments have been complied with, and that the ship is in the officer's opinion seaworthy, and that the passengers and crew are in a fit state to proceed to sea, and otherwise as therein mentioned;

And whereas by section 30 of "The Merchant Shipping Act Amendment Act, 1862,"‡ provision is made for preventing a ship from proceeding to sea in certain cases without a certificate from a surveyor or person appointed by the Board of Trade to the effect

* Vol. XLV. Page 1347.

‡ Vol. LXVI.

+18 & 19 Vict., cap. 119. Page 682.

that the ship is properly provided with lights, and with the means of making fog signals;

And whereas it is expedient to give in the said cases such appeal as hereinafter mentioned: Be it therefore enacted that—

If a shipowner feels aggrieved

(1.) By a declaration of a shipwright surveyor or an engineer surveyor respecting a passenger steamer under the above-recited enactments, or by the refusal of a surveyor to give the said declaration; or

(2.) By the refusal of a certificate of clearance for an emigrant ship under the above-recited enactments; or

(3.) By the refusal of a certificate as to lights or fog signals under the above-recited enactment,

the owner may appeal in the prescribed manner to the court of survey for the port or district where the ship for the time being is.

On such appeal the judge of the court of survey shall report to the Board of Trade on the question raised by the appeal, and the Board of Trade, when satisfied that the requirements of the report and the other provisions of the said enactments have been complied with, may

(1.) In the case of a passenger steamer give their certificate under section 312 of "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854," and

(2.) In the case of an emigrant ship give, or direct the emigra tion or other officer to give, a certificate of clearance under the above-mentioned enactments, and

(3.) In the case of a refusal of a certificate as to lights or fog signals, give or direct a surveyor or other person appointed by them to give a certificate under section 30 of "The Merchant Shipping Act Amendment Act, 1862."

Subject to any order made by the judge of the court of survey, the costs of and incidental to an appeal under this section shall follow the event.

Subject as aforesaid, the provisions of this Act with respect to the court of survey and appeals thereto, so far as consistent with the tenour thereof, shall apply to the court of survey when acting under this section, and to appeals under this section.

Where the survey of a ship is made for the purpose of a declaration or certificate under the above-recited enactments, the person appointed to make the survey shall, if so required by the owner, be accompanied on the survey by some person appointed by the owner, and in such case, if the said two persons agree, there shall be no appeal to the court of survey in pursuance of this section.

Scientific Referees.

15. If the Board of Trade are of opinion that an appeal under

this Act involves a question of construction or design or of scientific difficulty or important principle, they may refer the matter to such one or more out of a list of scientific referees from time to time approved by a Secretary of State as may appear to possess the special qualifications necessary for the particular case, and may be selected by agreement between the Board of Trade and the appellant, or in default of any such agreement by a Secretary of State, and thereupon the appeal shall be determined by the referee or referees, instead of by the court of survey.

The Board of Trade, if the appellant in any appeal so require and give security to the satisfaction of the Board to pay the costs of and incidental to the reference, shall refer that appeal to a referee or referees so selected as aforesaid.

The referee or referees shall have the same powers as a judge of the court of survey.

Passenger Steamers and Emigrant Ships.

16. Any steam-ship may carry passengers not exceeding 12 in number although she has not been surveyed by the Board of Trade as a passenger steamer, and does not carry a Board of Trade certificate as provided by "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854," with respect to passenger steamers.

17. Where the Legislature of any British Possession provides for the survey of and grant of certificates for passenger steamers, and the Board of Trade report to Her Majesty that they are satisfied that the certificates are to the like effect, and are granted after a like survey, and in such manner as to be equally efficient with the certificates granted for the same purpose in the United Kingdom under the Acts relating to Merchant Shipping, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty by Order in Council—

(1.) To declare that the said certificates shall be of the same force as if they had been granted under the said Acts; and

(2.) To declare that all or any of the provisions of the said Acts which relate to certificates granted for passenger steamers under those Acts shall, either without modification or with such modifications as to Her Majesty may seem necessary, apply to the certificates referred to in the Order; and

(3.) To impose such conditions and to make such regulations with respect to the said certificates, and to the use, delivery, and cancellation thereof, as to Her Majesty may seem fit, and to impose penalties not exceeding 507. for the breach of such conditions and regulations.

18. In every case where a passenger certificate has been granted to any steamer by the Board of Trade under the provisions of "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854," and remains still in force, it shall

not be requisite for the purposes of the employment of such steamer under the Passengers Acts that she shall be again surveyed in her hull and machinery in order to qualify her for service under “The Passengers Act, 1855," and the Acts amending the same; but for the purposes of employment under those Acts such Board of Trade certificate shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of the Passengers Acts with respect to such survey, and any further survey of the hull and machinery shall be dispensed with, and so long as a steam-ship is an emigrant ship, that is, a passenger ship within the meaning of "The Passengers Acts, 1855," and the Acts amending the same, and the provisions contained in the said Passenger Acts as to the survey of her hull, machinery, and equipments have been complied with, she shall not be subject to the pro visions of "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854," with respect to the survey of and certificate for passenger steamers, or to the enactments amending the same.

19. Where a foreign ship is a passenger steamer subject to "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854," and the Acts amending the same, or an emigrant ship subject to "The Passengers Act, 1855," and the Acts amending the same, and the Board of Trade are satisfied, by the production of a foreign certificate of survey attested by a British Consular Officer at the port of survey, that such ship has been officially surveyed at a foreign port, and are satisfied that the requirements of the said Acts, or any of them, are proved by such survey to have been substantially complied with, the Board may, if they think fit, dispense with any further survey of the ship in respect of the requirements so complied with, and give or direct one of their officers to give a certificate, which shall have the same effect as if given upon survey under the said Acts or any of them: Provided that Her Majesty may by Order in Council direct that this section shall not apply in the case of an official survey at any foreign port at which it appears to Her Majesty that corresponding provisions are not extended to British ships.

20. It shall be lawful for the Board of Trade, if satisfied that the food, space, accommodation, or any other particular or thing provided in an emigrant ship for any class of passengers is superior to the food, space, accommodation, or other particular or thing required by "The Passengers Act, 1855," and the Acts amending the same, to exempt such ship from any of the requirements of those Acts with respect to food, space, or accommodation, or other particular or thing, in such manner and upon such conditions as the Board of Trade may think fit.

21. Every sea-going passenger steamer and every emigrant ship shall be provided to the satisfaction of the Board of Trade

(1.) With means for making the signals of distress at night

specified in the First Schedule to "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1873,"* or in any rules substituted therefor, including means of making flames on the ship which are inextinguishable in water, or such other means of making signals of distress as the Board of Trade may previously approve; and

(2.) With a proper supply of lights inextinguishable in water and fitted for attachment to life-buoys.

If any such steamer or ship goes to sea from any port of the United Kingdom without being so provided as required by this section, for each default in any of the above requisites the owner shall, if he appears to be in fault, incur a penalty not exceeding 1007., and the master shall, if he appears to be in fault, incur a penalty not exceeding 501.

Grain Cargoes.

22.† No cargo of which more than one-third consists of any kind of grain, corn, rice, paddy, pulse, seeds, nuts, or nut kernels, hereinafter referred to as "grain cargo," shall be carried on board any British ship, unless such grain cargo be contained in bags, sacks, or barrels, or secured from shifting by boards, bulkheads, or otherwise.

If the managing owner or master of any British ship, or any agent of such owner who is charged with the loading of the ship or the sending her to sea, knowingly allows any grain cargo or part of a grain cargo to be shipped therein for carriage contrary to the provisions of this section, he shall for every such offence incur a penalty not exceeding 3007., to be recovered upon summary conviction.

Deck Cargoes.

23. If any ship, British or foreign, other than home trade ships as defined by "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854," carries as deck cargo, that is to say, in any uncovered space upon deck, or in any covered space not included in the cubical contents forming the ship's registered tonnage, timber, stores, or other goods, all dues payable on the ship's tonnage shall be payable as if there were added to the ship's registered tonnage the tonnage of the space occupied by such goods at the time at which such dues become payable.

The space so occupied shall be deemed to be the space limited by the area occupied by the goods and by straight lines inclosing a rectangular space sufficient to include the goods.

The tonnage of such space shall be ascertained by an officer of the Board of Trade or of Customs, in manner directed by sub* Vol. LXV. Page 594.

↑ Repealed by Act 43 & 44 Vict., cap. 43.