Name of ship and ship must not be described by any other than her registered name, and no change of the name pan be made without the written permission of the Board of Trade. Application for that permission must be in writing, and if the Board entertain it they may require such notice thereof to be published as they think fit. The name should not be so similar to that of another ship as to be likely to deceive. When permis sion has been granted the ship's name must be forthwith altered in the register book, in the ship's certificate of registry, and on her bows and stern. Where the name has been changed without the consent of the Board they will direct that the name be altered into that which the ship bore before the change. Where a ship having once been registered has ceased to be so registered no person, unless ignorant of the previous registry, must apply to register, and no registrar must register the ship except by the name by which she was previously registered without the written permission of the Board of Trade.
When a foreign ship becomes a British ship no person can apply to register, and no registrar will register the ship except by the name which she bore as a foreign ship, unless with the written permission of the Board of Trade. Any person acting or suffering any person under his control to act in contravention of the above requirements is liable for each offence to a fine of £100, and in most cases the ship may be detained until they are complied with. Registry qf alterations, registry anew, and traneer of a registered ship is materially altered, the alteration must be registered, or the ship must be registered anew, otherwise the ship will be deemed not duly registered and will not be recognised as a British ship. Registration of an alteration is made either by the grant of a new certificate or by indorse ment of the alteration on the existing certificate. The particulars and facts must be entered in the register book of the ship's port of registry. The Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 and 190G, contain provisions as to the manner in which this must be done; and as to granting provisional certifi cates and indorsements when a ship is to be registered anew; as to registry anew on change of ownership, and the procedure in that case ; as to the transfer of the registry of any ship ; and with respect to restrictions on registration of abandoned ships.
Incapacitated persons and by reason of infancy, lunacy, or any other cause a person interested in a ship, or a share therein, is incapable, his guardian or committee, or other person lawfully appointed may make the necessary declaration, and otherwise act on behalf of the incapable person. Trusts and equitable rights.—No notice of any trust can be entered in the register book, and, subject to any rights and powers appearing by the register book to be vested in any other person, the registered owner of a ship or share therein can absolutely dispose of the same and give effectual receipts for the consideration money. ,Interests arising under contract and other equitable interests may be enforced by or against owners and mortgagees of ships in respect of their interest therein in the same manner as in respect of any other personal property, but without prejudice to the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Acts. Liability of beneficial owner.—W here any person is beneficially interested, except by way of mortgage, in any ship or share in a ship registered in the name of some other person as owner, the person so interested is, as well as the registered owner, subject to all the pecuniary penalties imposed by law on such owners, and proceedings may be taken for their enforcement against both or either of the said parties with or without joining the other of them. Managing name and address of the managing Oiler of every ship registered at a port in the United Kingdom must be registered at the custom house of that port, and where there is no managing owner the name of the ship's husband or other person entrusted with the management must be so registered, and the person so registered is under the same obligations as if he were the managing owner. In default of complying with these provisions each owner is liable in proportion to his interest in the ship to a fine of £100 each time the ship leaves any port of the United Kingdom. The registrar is given power to dispense in certain cases with declarations and other evidence, and the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, provides for the mode of making declarations, the application of fees, the returns to be made by the registrars, the inspection by any person of the register book, the admissibility of certain documents in evidence, and for the forms of certain documents specified in the Act. Forger?) and false declarations.—Persons forging, or fraudulently altering, or assisting in forging or fraudulently altering or procuring to be forged or fraudulently altered any of certain documents specified in the said Act, or any entry or indorsement in or on the same, are in respect of each offence guilty of felony. In the case of a declaration made before or produced to a registrar, or any document or other evidence produced to him, any person wilfully making, or assisting in making, or procuring to be made any false statement concerning interests in any ship or any share therein, or uttering, producing, or making use of any declaration or document containing any such false statement. knowing the same to be false, is guilty of a misdemeanour. Persons making false declarations as to the qualifications of themselves or of any other person, or of any corporation, to own a British ship or any share therein, are for each offence guilty of a misdemeanour, and thereby render the ship or share liable to forfeiture to the extent of the interest therein of the declarant; and, unless it is proved that the declaration was made without authority, of any person or corporation on behalf of whom the declaration was made. National character and flag.—An officer of customs must not grant a clear ance or transire for any ship until the master has declared the name of the nation to which he claims that she belongs, which name is inscribed on the clearance or transire ; and if the ship attempts to proceed to sea without such clearance or transire, she may be detained until the declaration is made. If a person uses the British flag and assumes the British national character on board a ship owned in whole or in part by any persons not qualified to own a British ship, for the purpose of making the ship appear to be a British ship, the ship is subject to forfeiture, unless the assumption has been made for the purpose of escaping capture by an enemy or by a foreign ship of war in the exercise of' some belligerent right. In
any proceedings for enforcing such forfeiture the burden of proving a title to use a British flag and assume the British character lies upon the person using and assuming the same. If the master or owner of a British ship does anything, or permits anything to be done, or carries or permits to be carried any documents, with intent to conceal the British character of the ship from any person entitled by British law to inquire into the same, or with intent to assume a foreign character, or with intent to deceive any person so entitled, the ship is subject to forfeiture, and the master is, for each offence, if guilty of the same or privy thereto, guilty of a misdemeanour. And if an unqualified person acquires as owner otherwise than by transmission any interest in a ship using a British flag and assuming the British character, that interest is subject to forfeiture. Where by law a British ship is not recognised as such, that ship is not entitled to any privileges usually enjoyed by British ships, nor to use the British flag or assume the British national character ; but as regards dues, fines, and forfeitures she is dealt with as if she were a recognised British ship. The red ensign usually worn by merchant ships without any defacement or modification, is the proper national colours for all ships and boats belonging to any British subject, except in the case of his Majesty's ships or boats, or in the case of any other ship or boat for the time being allowed to wear any other national colours in pursuance of a warrant. If any distinctive national colours, except such red ensign or except the Union Jack with a white border, or if any colours usually wom by his Majesty's ships or resembling those of his Majesty, or if the pennant usually carried by his Majesty's ships or any pennant resembling it, are or is hoisted on board any ship or boat belonging to any British subject without warrant, the master or the owner, if on board, and every person hoisting the colours or pennant, for each offence are liable to a fine of 13500. Any commissioned officer on full pay in the military or naval service, or any officer of customs in his Majesty's dominions, or any British consular officer, may board any ship or boat on which any colours or pennant are hoisted contrary to these provisions, and seize them, and they will be forfeited. Any such fine may be recovered with costs in the High Court of England or Ireland, or in the Court of Session in Scotland, or in any colonial court of Admiralty or Vice-admiralty court within his Majesty's dominions. And any such offence may also be prosecuted summarily, provided that :—(a) When any such offence is prosecuted summarily the court imposing the fine shall not impose a higher fine than ,E100 ; and (b) only one fine can be imposed for the same offence. A ship belonging to a British subject must hoist the proper national colours—(a) on a signal being made by one of his Majesty's ships (including any vessel under the command of an officer of his Majesty's navy on full pay); (b) on entering or leaving any foreign port ; and (c) if of fifty tons gross tonnage or upwards, on entering or leaving any British port. Non-compliance with these regulations will render the master liable to a fine of oe100 ; but the obligation does not apply to a fishing boat duly entered in the fishing boat register and lettered and numbered as registered by law. These provisions do not affect any other power of the Admiralty with respect to colours worn by merchant ships. The Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 and 1906, also contain provisions relating to proceedings on the forfeiture of ships; rules for ascertaining register tonnage, and as to allowance for engine room in steamships, and as to deductions for ascertaining tonnage; rules for the measurement of ships with double bottoms for water ballast, the ascertain ing of the tonnage, and the fees for measurement ; also provisions as to ships of foreign countries adopting these tonnage regulations, the space occupied by deck cargo being liable to dues, the duties of surveyors of ships, the levying of tonnage rates under local acts on the registered tonnage, the declaration of a foreign port a port of registry, the power of colonial governors to approve ports for the registry of ships, and as to terminable certificates of registry in colonies. All these provisions of the law apply to the whole of his Majesty's dominions anti to all places where his Majesty has jurisdiction.
are several statutes which have particular application to shops and shopkeepers. The various Shop Acts, 1892 to 1905 (see HOURS OF WORK and Appendix), the Seats for Shop Assistants Act, 1899, the statutes relating to WEIGHTS AND MEASURES, ADULTERATION, POISONS, FERTILISERS, and GAME DEALERS, are instances. Even the TRUCK ACT, and now the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906, have an application to assistants in a shop. And the provisions of the Public Health Acts, the Town Police Clauses Act, 1847, and the local bye laws are generally in some particular of considerable importance to shop keepers. This article will only notice the Act relating to seats for shop assistants. It is a very short one, the first section requiring that " in all rooms of a shop, or other premises where goods are actually retailed to the public, and where female assistants are employed for the retailing of goods to the public, the employer carrying on business in such premises shall provide seats behind the counter, or in such other position as may be suitable for the purpose, and such seats shall be in the proportion of not less than one seat to every three female assistants employed in each room." From this it would appear that the Act does not apply to a shop where only two assistants are employed. Any person who fails to comply with this provision is liable on summary conviction for a first offence to a fine not exceeding £3, and for a second or subsequent offence to a fine not less than and not exceeding £5. It may here be noted that the Shop Hours Act, 1895, adds to the provisions of the like Act of 1892 by prescribing a fine of „E2 to be paid by any employer who fails to keep duly exhibited the notice required by the latter Act.