Part IX. relates to the liability of ship-owners; and the provisions of the principal act •have here been materially altered by the act of 1862. Under the act of 1862, the owners ,of any ship, whether British or foreign, are not answerable in damages for any loss of ;life or personal injury to persons carried in the ship; for any damage or loss caused to :any goods on board the ship; for any loss of life or personal injury by reason of the ; irnproper navigation of the ship caused to any person carried in any other ship; or for :any loss or damage similarly caused to any other ship, or the woods on board of it, when such loss, or injury, or damage happens without their actualbfault or privity, except as follows: Where loss of life or personal injury has occurred either alone or together with loss or damage to ships and merchandise, they are liable to the extent of £15 for each ton of the ship's tonnawe; where there is loss or damage only of ships or merchandise, they are liable to the eftent of £8 per ton. The tonnage, on account of which the lia bility in these cases is to be calculated, is, in the' case of sailing-ships, the registered t tonnage, and, in the case of steamships, the gross tonnage, without deduction on account ,.of the engine-room; and the tonnage of foreign ships is to be estimated according to the .rules of measurement laid down for British ships. The act of 1854, however, provided that the owners of sea:going ships should be liable in respect of every loss of life, personal injury, loss of or damage to goods which may arise on distinct occasions, to the same .exten-t as if no other loss, injury, or damage had arisen ; and this provision is still in force. In eases of loss of life or personal injury, the act of 1854 empowers the board of trade to institute an inquiry, and provides in detail for the recovery of damages before the sheriff and a jury. The damages are to be assessed at not more than £30 for each ease of death
.or personal injury. These are to be paid to her majesty's Oaymaster-general, and to be ,distributed by him as the board of trade directs; the board having power to direct pay ment of such compensation, not exCeeding the statutory amount, as may be thought fit. A. person dissatisfied with the amount of dainages awarded to him may bring his action in theordinary courts, but he is liable in the costs of the action unless he recover a sum • exceeding double the statutory amount.
Part X. of the act of 1854 lays down the legal procedure to be taken in cases arising under the act; and part XI. deals with several miscellaneous matters of no general iinportanee. The act of 1862 provided that foreig,n ships within British jurisdiction shall be subject to the rules for preventing collisions applicable to 13ritish ships.. The final issue of Mr. Plimsoll's indefatigable labors was the passing of the act to amend the mer -chant shipping acts, which became law in Aug., 1876. Here provision is made for the ,detection of unseaworthy ships, to prevent overloading, to secure that all deck cargoes shall be included in the tonnage, and that grain cargoes shall not be carried loose in bulk, but shall be kept from shifting either by boards or bulkheads or by being carried in sacks. The act of 1873 provides for the application, by order in council, of all the provisions of the merchant shipping acts to foreign vessels, the states to which they belong assenting. The act of 1862 contains the law on the subject of delivery of goods and lien for freight (for which see LIEN).