be subject and liable to the same Securities, Restrictions, and Regulations, in all Respects, as they would have been subject and liable to if this Act had not been made, any Thing herein before contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

    "IX. And whereas by an Act, made in the twenty-fifth Year of the Reign of King Charles the Second (intituled, An Act for the Encouragement of the Greenland and Eastland Trades, and for the better securing the Plantation Trade), and by other Acts of Parliament, it is lawful for any Person or Persons to import into England Train Oil or Blubber of Greenland, and Parts adjacent, and those Seas, or of Newfoundland, or of any other his Majesty's Colonies and Plantations, made of Fish, or of any other Creature living in the Seas, and Whale Fins caught in any Ships or Vessels truly and properly belonging to England or Wales, or Town of Berwick upon Tweed, and imported in such Ships, without paying any Custom or Duty for the same, which Liberty, by a subsequent Act of Parliament, is extended to Ships belonging to Great Britain; and it is reasonable that the same Indulgence should be extended to Oil and Blubber of Fish, and other Creatures living in the Sea, and to Whale Fins caught in any Part of the Ocean by Ships belonging to Great Britain, Ireland, and the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, and Man;" be it therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the first Day of September, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, the Liberty granted by the said Act to import into this Kingdom Oil or Blubber of Fish, or other Creatures living in the Sea, or Whale Fins taken within the Limits therein mentioned, Duty-free, shall extend, and be construed to extend, to such Oil or Blubber, or Whale Fins, as shall be so taken in any Part of the Ocean by, and imported in any Ship or Vessel truly and properly belonging to, his Majesty's Subjects of Great Britain, Ireland, or the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, or Man, any Law, Custom, or Usage, to the contrary notwithstanding.

    X. And it is hereby further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the first Day of September, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, it shall and may be lawful for any Person or Persons to import into this Kingdom any raw and undressed Seal Skins taken and caught by the Crews of Vessels belonging to and fitted out either from Great Britain, Ireland, or the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, or Man respectively, and whereof the Captain or Master and Three-fourths at the least of the Mariners are his Majesty's Subjects, or by Persons employed by the Masters or Owners of such Vessels, without paying any Custom, Subsidy, or other Duty, for the same, any Law or Usage to the contrary notwithstanding.

    XI. Provided always, That nothing in this Act shall extend, or be construed to extend, to give Liberty of importing any such Seal Skins Duty-free, unless the Captain or Person having the Charge or Command of such Ship or Vessel importing the same shall make Oath before the Collector or other Principal Officer of the Customs at the Port of Importation (who is hereby

authorised and required to administer such Oath), that all the Skins imported in such Ship or Vessel were really and bona fide the Skins of Seals taken and caught by the Crews thereof, or by Persons employed by the Master or Owner of such Ship or Vessel, or of some other Ship or Vessel qualified as aforesaid; and such Seal Skins shall be also duly entered at the Customhouse for the said Port, and landed in the Presence of the proper Officer or Officers of the Customs appointed for that Purpose; and on Failure of any of these Conditions, such Skins shall be liable to pay the same Duties as they would have been subject and liable to if this Act had not been made, any Thing herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

    "XII. And whereas it has been a Practice of late Years for divers Persons to seduce the Fishermen, Sailors, Artificers, and others, employed in carrying on the Fishery, arriving at Newfoundland, on Board Fishing and other Vessels from Great Britain, and the British Dominions in Europe, to go from thence to the Continent of America, to the great Detriment of the Fishery and the Naval Force of this Kingdom;" Now, in order to remedy the said Evil, and to secure the Return of the said Fishermen, Sailors, Artificers, and others, employed as aforesaid, to the British Dominions in Europe, be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the first Day of January, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six, it shall not be lawful for the Master, or Person having the Charge or Command of any Ship or Vessel trading to or from any Place within the Government of Newfoundland, to carry or convey, as Passengers, any such Fishermen, Sailors, Artificers, and others, employed as aforesaid, from thence to any Part of the Continent of America, without the Permission under the Hand and Seal of the Governor of the said Island of Newfoundland, under the Penalty of forfeiting two hundred Pounds for every such Offence.

    "XIII. And whereas in several Acts, passed in the eleventh and twelfth Years of William the Third, the eight of George the First, and second and twelfth of George the Second, Provision has been made to prevent Seamen and Mariners in the Merchant Service being wilfully left beyond Sea, and to secure and provide for their Return home to such Part of his Majesty's Dominions whereto they belong: And whereas, for want of such Provisions being extended to Seamen and Fishermen going out as Passengers to Newfoundland, and hired and employed in the Fisheries carried on there, great Numbers of them remain in that Country at the End of every Fishing Season, who would otherwise return home, and some of them have frequently turned Robbers and Pirates;" for Remedy of which Evil, be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That no Person or Persons whatsoever shall, from and after the first Day of January, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six, employ, or cause to be employed, at Newfoundland, for the Purpose of carrying on the Fishery there, any Seaman or Fisherman going as Passengers, or any Seaman or Fisherman hired there, without first entering into an Agreement or Contract, in Writing with every such Seaman or Fisherman declaring what Wages such Seaman or Fisherman is to have, and the Time for which he shall

serve, which shall be signed by both Parties; wherein it shall be stipulated (amongst other Things) that the Person so hiring or employing shall be at Liberty to reserve, retain, and deduct, and he is hereby authorised, required, and directed, to reserve, retain, and deduct, out of the Wages of every Person so hired or employed, a Sum of Money equal to the then current Price of a Man's Passage home, not exceeding forty Shillings for each Man, which at the Expiration of the covenanted Time of Service of such Seaman or Fisherman, pay, or cause to be paid, to the Master of a Passage or other Ship, who shall undertake or agree to carry such Seaman or Fisherman home to the Country whereto he belongs, and shall also convey such Seaman or Fisherman to and on Board such Passage or other Ship, taking the Master's Receipt for the Passage Money, which Receipt he shall immediately thereupon deliver to such Seaman or Fisherman.

    XIV. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That no Hirer or Employer of any such Seaman or Fisherman shall pay or advance, or cause to be paid or advanced, to such Seaman or Fisherman, in Money, Liquor, and Goods, or either of them, during the Time he shall be in his Service, more than one Half of the Wages which shall at any Time be due to him; but such Hirer or Employer shall, and is hereby required and directed, immediately at or upon the Expiration of every such Man's covenanted Time of Service, to pay either in Money, or in good Bills of Exchange, payable either in Great Britain or Ireland, or in the Country to which such Seaman or Fisherman belongs, the full Balance of his Wages, except the money herein before directed to be retained for his Passage home; and it shall not be lawful for any such Hirer or Employer to turn away or discharge any such Seaman or Fisherman, except for wilful Neglect of Duty, or other sufficient Cause, before the Expiration of his covenanted Time of Service; and in case the Hirer of Employer of any such Seaman or Fisherman shall refuse or neglect to comply with any of the Terms herein before mentioned, or shall otherwise offend against this Act, every such Person so offending shall forfeit and pay, for every such Offence, besides the Balance that shall be due to such Seaman or Fisherman, the Money herein before directed to be retained for his Passage home, the Sum of ten Pounds, to the Use of such Person or Persons who shall inform or sue for the same.

    XV. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That in all Cases where Disputes shall arise concerning the Wages of any such Seaman or Fisherman, the Hirer of Employer shall be obliged to produce the Contract or Agreement in Writing, herein before directed to be entered into with every such Seaman or Fisherman.

    XVI. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That all the Fish and Oil which shall be taken and made by the Person or Persons who shall hire or employ such Seaman or Fisherman, shall be subject and liable, in the first place, to the Payment of the Wages of every such Seaman or Fisherman.

    XVII. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That in case any such Seaman or Fisherman shall at any Time wilfully absent himself from his Duty or Employ, without the Leave and Consent of his Hirer or Employer, or shall wilfully neglect or refuse to work according to the true Intent and Meaning of such Contract or Agreement, he shall, for every Day he shall so absent himself, or neglect or refuse to work as aforesaid, forfeit two Days Pay to such Hirer or Employer; and if any such Seaman or Fisherman shall wilfully absent himself from his said Duty or Employ for the Space of five Days, without such Leave as aforesaid, he shall be deemed a Deserter, and shall forfeit to such Hirer or Employer all such Wages as shall at the Time of such Desertion be due to him (except so much as is herein before directed to be reserved and retained for the Purpose of paying his Passage home); and it shall and may be lawful to and for the Governor of Newfoundland, or his Surrogates, or the Commissary of the Vice Admiralty Court for the Time being, or for any Justice of the Peace in Newfoundland, to issue his or their Warrant or Warrants to apprehend every such Deserter, and on the Oath of one or more credible Witness or Witnesses to commit him to Prison, there to remain until the next Court of Session which shall be holden in pursuance of the Commission of the said Governor for the Time being; and, if found guilty of the said Offence at such Session, it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Court of Session to order such Deserter to be publickly whipped as a Vagrant, and afterwards to be put on Board a Passage Ship, in order to his being conveyed back to the Country whereto he belongs.

    XVIII. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That all Disputes which shall arise concerning the Wages of every or any such Seaman or Fisherman, and all Offences which shall be committed by every Hirer or Employer of such Seaman or Fisherman, against this Act, shall and may be inquired into, heard, and determined, and the Penalties and Forfeitures thereby incurred shall and may be recovered in the Court of Session herein before mentioned, or in the Court of Vice Admiralty having Jurisdiction in the said Island of Newfoundland.

    "XIX. And whereas by an Act of Parliament, passed in the sixth Year of the Reign of her late Majesty Queen Anne, intituled, An Act for the Encouragement of the Trade to America, it is, amongst other Things, enacted, That no Mariner or other Person who shall serve on Board, or be retained to serve on Board, any Privateer, or Trading Ship or Vessel, that shall be employed in any Part of America, nor any Mariner or other Person being on Shore in any Part thereof, shall be liable to be impressed or taken away by any Officer or Officers of or belonging to any of her Majesty's Ships of War, empowered by the Lord High Admiral, or any other Person whatsoever, unless such Mariner shall have before deserted from such Ship of War: And whereas the said Privilege or Exemption so given by the said Act to Mariners serving on Board Ships or Vessels employed in any of the Seas or Ports of the Continent of America, or residing on Shore there, is prejudicial to the Fisheries carried on by his Majesty's Subjects of Great Britain and

Ireland, and others his Majesty's Dominions in Europe, and has proved an Encouragement to Mariners belonging thereto to desert in Time of War, or at the Appearance of a War, to the British Plantations on the said Continent of America;" be it therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Clause, so far as it relates to the exempting of Mariners or other Persons serving, or retained to serve, in any Ship or Vessel in the Seas or Ports of the Continent of America, or other Persons on Shore there, from being impressed, be and the same is hereby repealed.

    "XX. And whereas the immoderate Use of Rum and other Spirits, imported into Newfoundland from his Majesty's Colonies and Plantations in America, has been found to be highly detrimental to the Fisheries carried on there, and it is therefore proper to endeavour to diminish the Consumption thereof;" be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the first day of January, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six, there shall be paid in to his Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, for every Gallon of Rum, or other Spirits, which shall be brought or imported into the Island of Newfoundland from any British Colony or Plantation on the Continent of America, the Sum of one Shilling Sterling Money of Great Britain; and the same shall be collected, recovered and paid, to the Amount of the Value of; which such nominal Sum bears in Great Britain, and may be received and taken according to the Proportion and Value of five Shillings and Sixpence the Ounce in Silver; and the said Duty hereby granted shall be raised, levied, collected, paid, and recovered, in the same Manner and Form, and by such Rules, Ways, and Means, and under such Penalties and Forfeitures, except in such Cases where any Alteration is made by this Act, as any other Duties payable to his Majesty upon Goods imported into any British Colony or Plantation in America are raised, levied, collected, paid, and recovered, by any Act or Acts of Parliament, as fully and effectually, to all Intents and Purposes, as if the several Clauses, Powers, Directions, Penalties and Forfeitures relating thereto, were particularly repeated and again enacted in the Body of this present Act; and that all the Monies that shall arise by the said Duty (except the necessary Charges of raising, collecting, levying, recovering, answering, paying, and accounting for the same), shall be paid into the Receipt of his Majesty's Exchequer, and applied and appropriated to the same Uses and Purposes as the Duties arising by that Part of the Customs, commonly called The Old Subsidy, payable in Great Brtiain, are applied and appropriated.

    "XXI. And whereas the Bounties given by an Act of Parliament, made in the eleventh Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, intituled, An Act for the better Support and Establishment of the Greenland and Whale Fisheries, have been found of great Advantage to the Navigation, Trade, and Manufactures of this Kingdom; and it is just and expedient that the like Bounties which are granted by that Act to Ships fitted out from Great Britain, or any of his Majesty's Dominions in America, for those fisheries, should in like Manner be granted to Ships fitted out for that Purpose from

[1927lab]