poor of certain districts in Ireland, and therefore authorizes the Poor Law Commissioners in Ireland, with the approval of the Lord Lieutenant, to fix the amount they may deem necessary for such relief, and to "assess the same upon the several unions in Ireland in proportion to the annual value of the property in each union rateable to the relief of the poor according to the valuation thereof for poor rates in force for the time being; provided that the sum so to be levied in any union shall not exceed sixpence in the pound on such annual value," in one year. On receipt of the order for the levy of such rate, (§ 2), the amount is to be forthwith collected, and to be paid by the treasurer of each union into the Bank of Ireland to the credit of 'The General Rate in Aid Account.' The Commissioners of the Treasury (§3) are to direct the disposal of such money, either for the purpose of affording relief to poor persons in any union, or of assisting emigration, or of repaying advances made out of the Consolidated Fund; from which (84) the Treasury are empowered to advance as loans such sums as they think fit, not exceeding 100,000Z. in the whole. Accounts of the sums received and expended under this Act are, by § 5, to be made up in a prescribed form for the years ending Dec. 31st, 1849, and 1850, and laid before parliament.

NAVIGATION LAWS.

[12 and 13 Victoria, c. 29.-June 26th, 1849.]

An Act to amend the Laws in force for the Encouragement of British Shipping and Navigation.

By the first clause the whole or parts of the following Acts are repealed from Jan. 1, 1850:-the 8 and 9 Vict. c. 88; 8 and 9 Vict. c. 89, ss. 3, 5, 7, and 9; 8 and 9 Vict. c. 93, ss. 2, 4, and 44; 8 and 9 Vict. c. 86, s. 63; 7 and 8 Vict. c. 112, s. 37; 37 Geo. III. c. 117; 4 Geo. IV. c. 80, s. 20; 4 Geo. IV. c. 77; 5 Geo. IV. c. 1; 8 and 9 Vict. c. 90, s.8; and 5 and 6 Vict. c. 14, s. 8. Sections 2 and 3 then enact that no goods or passengers shall be carried coastwise betwixt the Isle of Man, or the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, and Sark, and the United Kingdom, nor betwixt each other; nor (§4) from one part to another of any British possession in Asia, Africa, or America, except in British vessels; but § 5 empowers the Queen in Council to regulate the coasting trade of any colony, or of any two or more colonies with each other, on the address of the legislatures of such colony or colonies. In like manner, by § 6, the coasting trade of India may be regulated by the Governor-General; such regulations to be transmitted to England, and laid before parliament.

No ship ($7) to be deemed a British ship unless duly registered as such, and navigated in any part of the world by a British master, and a crew of which at least three-fourths are British seamen; and if employed in the coasting trade or home fishery, the whole of the crew to be British: but if in any foreign port, or in British India, a due proportion of British seamen cannot be procured, a certificate to that effect from the collector or comptroller of Customs will exempt from penalty, and if there is one British seaman for every twenty tons of the ship's burthen, it is to be deemed sufficient, though the number of other seamen should exceed one-fourth. British seamen (§8) are to be deemed such as are natural-born subjects of her Majesty, or have been naturalized by Act of parliament, or the legis

lature of any British possession, or have received letters of denization, or have become British subjects by conquest or cession of country, or natives of places within the limits of the Charter of the East India Company, or who may have served in her Majesty's ships of war, in time of war, for a space of three years. The relative proportion of British seamen may be altered (§ 9) by royal proclamation.

In cases where British vessels are subjected in any foreign countries to restrictions as to their voyages, or the articles they may import or export, the Queen is empowered (§ 10) to place such country by order in council on as nearly as possible the same footing in British ports as that on which British ships are placed in ports of such country; and where duties are placed on British ships or goods greater than those on native ships, or on goods imported by them, additional duties may be imposed (§11) on the ships and goods of such country as her Majesty in council may deem sufficient to countervail such differential duties. Such orders in council (§ 12) to specify what ships are to be considered ships of the country to which the order applies; and the order (§ 13) may be revoked at her Majesty's pleasure. The orders, when made (§ 14), are to be published twice in the Gazette within fourteen days, and copies are to be laid before parliament.

If goods are imported or exported, or carried coastwise, contrary to the provisions of this Act ($15), they are liable to forfeiture, and the master to a penalty of 1007.

All penalties and forfeitures (§ 16) incurred under this Act are to be sued for and recovered under the provisions of the 8 and 9 Vict. c. 87, and the costs of all proceedings are to be defrayed out of the consolidated duties of Customs.

§ 17 defines who may be owners of British vessels; § 18 gives the form of registration certificate; and § 19 the form of declaration to be made by the owner or owners before such certificate is granted. Vessels under fifteen tons (§ 20), if wholly owned and navigated by British subjects, need not be registered, if confined to the navigation of the British coasts and rivers; nor if engaged in the Newfoundland fishery, or trading coastwise within its limits, when not having a fixed deck, nor exceeding thirty tons burthen.

This Act (§21) is to come into operation on Jan. 1st, 1850.

PASSENGERS' ACT, 1849.

[12 & 13 Victoriæ, c. 33.-July 13, 1849.]

An Act for regulating the Carriage of Passengers in Merchant Vessels. This Act embodies and amends all the previous regulations, and § 1 repeals, from and after Oct. 1, 1849, the 5 & 6 Vict. c. 107, 8 & 9 Vic. c. 14, 10 & 11 Vic. c. 103, and 11 & 12 Vic. c. 6, except as to existing liabilities and orders in council issued under them, which are to remain in force until altered or revoked by order in council. § 2 defines the short title of the Act to be Passengers' Act, 1849; and §3 is the interpretation clause.

The Act ($ 4) is declared to extend to every passenger ship leaving the United Kingdom for any place out of Europe, or within the Mediterranean Sea, but not to ships of war or transports, nor to steam-vessels carrying mails.

The Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners are appointed (§ 5) to carry this Act into execution; and they are to nominate (§ 6) the necessary emigration officers and assistant emigration officers, but existing appointments to continue until revoked. The duties of the

Emigration Officer (§ 7) may be performed by the assistant in the absence of the chief, or by the chief custom house officer, in any port where there may be no emigration officer or assistant. Every facility is to be given (§8) by the master of every ship carrying passengers to the emigration officers for inspecting such ship, and for ascertaining that the provisions of this Act have been duly complied with.

No passenger ship (§ 9) shall be allowed to clear out without a certificate under the hand of the emigration officer; nor (§ 10) with a greater number of persons on board than in the proportion, including the crew and the master, of one person to every two tons of the registered tonnage, nor with a less superficial space for each passenger than twelve superficial feet on the main deck and on the deck immediately below the same, or in any compartment of either appropriated to passengers not being bonâ fide cabin passengers; the space to be fifteen feet if the ship has to pass within the tropics, or if the duration of the voyage is computed to exceed twelve weeks; and no passenger is to be carried on an orlop deck: the penalty on the master for an infringement of these provisions is for a sum not less than 21. nor more than 57. for each passenger so taken in excess. Children under a year old (§ 11) are not to be computed; between that age and fourteen two are to be computed as one, all others to be reckoned as persons or passengers; and two lists of passengers are required to be made out in a certain form (§ 12 and schedule A), each signed by the master and the custom house officer, one to be retained by the custom house officer, and one by the master, to be exhibited by him to the custom house officer or consul at any port where passengers may land, and to be delivered to the custom house officer at the port of final discharge; if additional passengers are taken at any port after the clearance certificate has been given, the names are to be added (§ 13) to the master's list, and a separate list left with the custom house officer of such port, who shall also countersign the master's list.

No passenger ship (§ 14) is to be allowed to clear out unless she has been surveyed by a competent surveyor, and her fitness certified, whether the ship be foreign or British. The decks in such ships (§ 15) are to be not less than an inch and a half in thickness; the height between decks to be not less than six feet: there are to be not more than two tiers of berths on any one deck, of which the lowest is to be not less than six inches from the floor of the deck beneath it, and of which the dimensions of each are to be not less than six feet in length, and eighteen inches in width, for each passenger: persons above the age of fourteen of different sexes, except husband and wife, not to be placed in the same berth, and no berth occupied by passengers during the voyage to be taken down within forty-eight hours of the arrival of such ship at her port of final discharge, unless all the passengers shall have voluntarily quitted her within that time. Passengers during the voyage (weather permitting) are to have free access to and from the between decks by the whole of each hatchway situated over the space appropriated to their use, and these hatchways are to be kept clear; but if the main hatchway be not one of them, the emigration officer at the port of clearance may direct such other provision for insuring air and light to the between decks as he may consider requisite; and in case of non-compliance with his directions, the owner, charterer, or master, incurs a penalty not exceeding 501.: any passenger ship carrying as many as 100 passengers must also have a proper ventilating apparatus before she can clear out. Every passenger ship (§ 17) must carry two boats if between

one hundred and two hundred tons, three boats if between two hundred and five hundred tons, and carrying more than fifty passengers, and four boats if above five hundred tons, and carrying more than two hundred passengers; in every case one boat to be a long boat, and one to be properly fitted as a life boat, and each ship to have two properly fitted life buoys kept constantly ready for use. No passenger ship (§ 18) to clear out unless manned with a proper complement of seamen; nor may she receive on board as cargo (§ 19) gunpowder, vitriol, guano, green hides, or anything likely to endanger the safety of the ship or the health of the passengers.

§ 20 defines how the length of voyages is to be computed, namely,—— To North America, except the West Coast thereof, ten weeks: To the West Indies, ten weeks:

To any part of the East Coast of the Continent of Central or South America northward of 25° S. lat., except British Guiana, twelve weeks: To the West Coast of Africa, twelve weeks:

To the Cape of Good Hope or the Falkland Islands, or to any part of the East Coast of South America south of 25° S. lat., fifteen weeks: To the Mauritius and to the Western Coast of America south of the Equator, eighteen weeks:

To Ceylon, twenty weeks:

To Western Australia, twenty weeks:

To any other of the Australian Colonies, twenty-two weeks:

To New Zealand and to the Western Coast of America North of the Equator, twenty-four weeks:

The Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, by notice in the London Gazette, may alter the above, or fix the time for other places. No passenger ship to clear out (§ 21) until provisions and water are supplied at the expense of the owner or charterer, and properly stowed away, of such quality as shall be approved by the emigration officer, and in such quantities as to afford the allowance for each passenger as hereafter prescribed; a conviction for a fraudulent clearance in this matter involves a penalty not exceeding 100%, nor less than 50%. The water (§ 22) must be in tanks or casks, properly charred inside, not made of fir or soft wood, not containing more than 300 gallons in each, and to be approved of by the emigration officer; the provisions and water ($ 23) are to be surveyed by the emigration officer before clearing out, but if the ship be destined to call at any intermediate port or place, the supply of water may be limited to the quantity requisite for the supply to such place, subject to certain conditions. The dietary scale (§ 24) during the voyage is to be, for each adult passenger, "of water at least three quarts daily, and of provisions after the rate per week of 23lbs. of bread or biscuit, not inferior in quality to what is usually called navy biscuit, llb. of wheaten flour, 5lbs. of oatmeal, 2lbs. of rice, 2oz. of tea, lb. of sugar, and lb. of molasses: such issues of provisions to be made in advance, and not less often than twice a week, the first of such issues to be made on the day of embarkation: potatoes, when good and sound, may be substituted for either the oatmeal or rice, in the proportion of 5lbs. of potatoes to 1lb. of oatmeal or rice; and in ships clearing out from Liverpool, or from Irish or Scotch ports, oatmeal may be substituted in equal quantities for the whole or any part of the issues of rice;" but the Emigration Commissioners (§ 25), by notice in the London Gazette, may modify the above scale. Every passenger ship (§ 26) must have a place for cooking and proper apparatus, and if carrying more than 100 passengers must have a sea-faring person rated as ship's cook, for the purpose of cooking for the passengers,

No passenger ship having as many as fifty passengers (§ 27), if the length of the intended voyage shall exceed six weeks, nor in any case if the number of passengers exceed one hundred, shall clear out unless a properly qualified medical practitioner be on board duly rated, and not objected to by the emigration officer; except in ships bound to North America, when, if fourteen clear superficial feet instead of twelve be allowed to each passenger, a medical practitioner may be dispensed with. Every passenger ship (§ 28) must be furnished by the owner or charterer with a medicine chest, to be approved of as sufficient by the emigration officer; and before clearing out (§ 29) the medicine chest must be inspected by some medical practitioner appointed by the emigration officer, who shall certify to the sufficiency thereof: he is also to examine the passengers to ascertain that they are free from infectious diseases; if any such are found (§30) they may be relanded, with their clothes and effects, and their passage money (§ 31) is to be returned to them by the owner or charterer; which is also to be done (§ 32) in case of proceeding without them, or if for want of room they cannot be taken, together with such sum not exceeding 107. as the magistrate may adjudicate, unless within forty-eight hours another equally eligible ship is provided, and in the meantime subsistence money is to be paid them.

In case of detention beyond the day appointed for sailing (§ 33), the owner or charterer shall pay one shilling per day as subsistence money for every person so delayed, either to themselves or to the emigration officer of the port, unless they are received on board and there provided for: and in case of any passenger ship being wrecked (§ 34), or from any other cause prevented from landing her passengers at the destined port, a passage shall be found within six weeks either by the same vessel when efficiently prepared, or by some other, or in default passengers may recover compensation by summary process. No passenger to be landed (§ 35), without his consent, at any other port than the one contracted for; and each passenger (§ 36) is to be maintained, and be allowed to sleep, on board the ship for forty-eight hours after its arrival at the port of destination; nor is anything in this Act (§ 37) to take away or abridge the right of action of any passenger for any breach of the contract. Ships detained after clearing for more than seven days, or putting back into any port or place of the United Kingdom (§ 38), must obtain a fresh certificate of having the requisite quantities of provisions and stores from the emigration officer under a penalty not exceeding 100l., nor less than 50%., and must produce the master's list of passengers to the emigration officer under a penalty not exceeding 107. nor less than 21.

Her Majesty in council is empowered (39) to issue, alter, or revoke, from time to time, rules and orders for preserving cleanliness and ventilation on board passenger ships; and the surgeon or master (§40) is empowered to enforce obedience to such regulations, and any one guilty of disobedience to such regulations incurs a penalty not exceeding 21., and if brought before two justices of the peace may also be committed to prison for any period not exceeding one month. The Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners (§ 41) are to prepare an abstract of this Act, and of the orders in council, of which six copies are to be given to every master, together with two copies of this Act, the Act to be shown to any passenger on his demand for perusal, and copies of the abstract to be posted in at least two conspicuous places on board the ship: the master to be liable to a penalty not exceeding 40s. per day for each day he neglects; and any one defacing or destroying the same also incurs a penalty not exceeding 40s.