Seamen Act 1852 (SA)

No. 24.

An Act fur the more convenient engng-,.rm,ell t and discl~urge of

Senmen, a t Port Addaide.

[Assented to 2nd December, 1852.1

REAS it; is expedient to make provision for the more

convenient engageiilont aud discharge of seamen, a.t Port

W""

A delaide:

Be it ttiercfore Enacted, i ~ y the IJicutellt\ut-Governor of South Trinity I3aard to be s

hustralii~, with the advice n d conseut of tllo Legislative Council Local Marinc Board.

thereof, T l ~ a t the Trinity Bosrd for the time being estd.dislied at

Port Addnide sllall he	Loenl Marine Board for the purposes of
this Act.

2. And bc it hnc ted, That the llocal hfnrine Board shall Local bfarine Board to appoint shipping

establish a shipping offiea at Port Adelaide, a d may procure the ofice and sl,ipyiug

Xn

requisite premises, mc1 ap1mirkt, and from time to time remove and mhsters, &c.

. " - U

fkes receivcd by tlle ~ h i ~ ~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ o f f i c e, nud regtilate tlle mode of con- ducting business at such office, allcl have coulplete control over the same; aud every shipping lunster s l d l obey the directions of the Tlocnl Marine Ronrd; and all shippillg masters, deputies, clerks, and servants sllilll b&xe e ~ l t c r i n ~ upou their duties give such security, if any, for the clue performance thereof, as the Loctd Marine Board shall require; and every act done by or before rmy deputy duly appointed din11 have thc same effbct as if done by or before the silippirg roaster.

3, And be it Enacted, That it shall be the general business of Basinesa o fau~h

&e offices generally.

the shipping master appointed as aforesaid to afford facilities for en-

gaging seamen, by keeping registers of their names and character.,

to superintend and facilitate their en5agement and diseba~gr, in

manner hereinafter mentioned, to provide means for secu~ 111g the

presence on board at the proper times of men who are so ei~g~~~agd,

a d to perform such other duties in respect of seamen as arc

hereby or may hereafter be committed to them.

Fecs pnpnl)1c Qn cn- 4. And be it Enacted, That fees shall be payable upon engage- ment and discharges which, in pursuance of this Act, arc to he effected before the sl~ipping master, and upon the other matters in which the assistance of the shipping master shall be required as hereinafter mentioned; and the Local Marine Board shall fix, and may alter the amount of such fees, and shnll came scales thereof to be prepared and to be conspicuously placed in the sliipping office ; and the shipping master, his deputies, clerks, and servanta nlny refuse to proceed with any engagement or discharge unless the fees payable thereon are first paid.

g 1~,'~!1nwt a11d dis-

chargo of scilmen.

Mn*tcrtmxy pay feet,

rind ecdyet p u t from	5. And be it Enacted, That every owner or mnster of a ship betbre the shipping master, shnll pay to the shipping rnaater'the whole
'1w1g;s.	cng'aging or discharging any crew or seaman in the shippirq office or
of the fees hereby made payable in respect of such engagetnent o r
discharge, and may, notwiti~standin~ auytlliug in any Act contained, for the purpose of re-imbursing himself, deduct i,n respect of
each such enbqenlent and dischG- from'tlie wages of all berso~ls
(except apprentrces) so engagecl, or discharged, and retain, any sums
not exceeding thc sums to be specified by the Local Marine Board.

Shippin; mnster to 6. And be it Enacted, That the shipping master shall once is

R V C L ~ U I ~ ~ to LCICBI

&f.tu-l~w B U U ~	every week render to the T J o c ~ Marine Board an account of the fkes received bv him in virtue of his ofice, and at the same time m y L .I over the akount to t h said Board.
7. And be it Enacted, That any shipping master, deputy shipping master, clerk, or servant, who dcmands dr receives any remuuwa- tion whatever, either directly or indirectlv, for hiring, supplying,, or providing any seainan for ally merchant slip, except the lawful fees
paRy.%ble under this Act, shuil for every such offence bc liable to a penalty not exceeding Twenty Pounds, and that any perso11 acting
a s shipping nlaster or asent, not having bee11 appointed by t!;o
Local Manne Board, sllall for every such offence be liable to a penalty not exceeding Fifty Pounds.

hgretmcnt to 1m 8. And be it Enacted, That every master of a shlp, shall, on

si~11; I with seaman carrying any seaman from Port Adelaide to sea as one of his crew,

C I I ~ ~ I Z C ( I at 'ort

& M u l e.	urlless there shall be s legal agreement dreltdy Su'asistiug between them, enter into any agreement with him in the mallner hereinafter mentioned, and every such agreement shall he h the fbrm, and contain the particulars now required by law, and shall be dated at the time of the first signature thereof, and shall be signed by tho
master before any seeaman signs the same. $4 Aid

9. And be it Enacted, That every apeement shall. be signed in agreement to be signed in presence of

dnplicnte by tlie tliaster, and by each seaman, in the presence of a B,ppini; ms9ter,

master, and such shipping master sEiall cause the agree- *lent to be rend over and explained to such seaman, or otherwise a.scertain that each seaman understands tlie same before he signs it, and sllall attest each signature, and ouc part of every such ngrec- merit shall hc retained by the shipping master, and the other part shall be delivered to the master.

10. And he it Enacted, That all scamcn clischqed nt Port Scamcn c~~arged i n to preseuco he dis-

Adelaide, s l d l be discharged aud receive tlleir w q p s in the presence	of a,.,ippi,lg martcr.
of' the shipping uaster appointed under the prowlolls of this Act.

11. And be it Eilacted, That upon the completion before the ship- U ~ o n d i s c h a r ~ ~ ~ seixrnen, rnutultl re-

master of any dis~lii~rge nud settlenrerrt, the nlaster or owner, le&e8 to be given.

aud each se:tmau, shdl respectively in the presence of the shipping

master, sign a mntual release of a11 ~ l a i i i ~ s ill respect of the past voyage or cngxgeme~~t, in ,z forin to be sarrctioncti by the Locd Marine Hoard, :tnct the shipping imster slid1 also s i p and attest it, and shall trmsrnit i t to the Locnl Marine Hoard, and such releasc so signed and attested, shall operate as a mutual ciisch:irg and settlenlerlt of all demands between the parties t'l~ereto in respect of the past voyage or e i g e p i m i t, and a copy of sucli release, cer- tified wider the hand of such shipping inaster to be a t r ~ u copy, sh:dl be given by him to any person wlio may be a party thereto, and niny require the same; and such copy shall be receivable in evidence upon any future qucstion touching such rlnilus as afore- said, iuid s l d l have all tlre effect of the origrnal of wllich it purports to be a copy, and in cases in which discl~alge and settfernerit before a shippins master is rcquired, no payment, receipt, scttleinent, or disclmgc otherwise iuadu, shall operate or be admitted ams evidence ot' tl-ie release or satisfaction of arty claim; and upon any payment being inade by a master before a shipping master, the shipping master shall, if rcquired, sign mid give to sucli master n stiitelnerit of tlle wtiole amount so paid, and such statement sEiall as bctween

made the payments therein mentioned. the master a i d his employer, be received as evidence that he has 12. Aid be it Eiiactecl, That every master s l ~ d, upon any ilk- Master to s i p report ot c o ~ ~ d ~ r c t of seamen

cllarge being eficted before the shipping master, make and sign, m diaoha,.ge.ed.

duplicate, in a form sanctioned by tbe Local Marine Board, a

report of the conduct, charnctcr, and qmlifications of the persons

discliargerl, or niay state, in colunln to be left for that purpose

in the said form, that he declines to give any opinion thercnpon,

and the shipping master shall retain one copy, and shall transmit

the other to the Local Maririe Ronrd, and $l&, if desired so to do by any seaman, give to him, or endorse on his certificate of din- charge, a copy of so much of sucb report as coilcerns him.

13. And be it Enacted, That every master slmllt, not less than charg~ng before seamsrl, di3- to

twenty-four hours before paying off, or discharging, any seaman, p r o statement of

deliver wztges, &C., to ship- ping master,

deliver to the shipping master a full account, in a form sanctioned by the Local Marine Board, of his wages, and of a11 deductions to be made therefrom, or on any account whatever., and no such deduction, except in respect of any matter happening after such delivery, shall be allowed unless a statement thereof is so made aud delivered.

Penalties. 14. And be it Enacted, That any master or owner who, in any

case in which discharge and settlement for wages are herebv

directed to be made before a shipping master, discharges any seaman, or settles with him for his wages otlmwise than as herein- before directed, s ld l, for each ofGence, be liable to a penalty not exceeding Ten Pounds; and any master who fails to deliver su& account as hereinbefore required, at the time, and in the manrier hereinbefore directed, shall, for each offence, be liable to a penalty not exceeding Five Pounds; and every person who makes, or pro- cures to be made, or assists in making any false certificate, or report of the service, qualifications, conduct, or character of any seaman, knowing the same to be false, or who fraudulently forges or alters, or procures to be forged or altered, or assists in fbrging or alteriiig any such certificate or report, or who f r~~dulent~ly makes

use of' any certificate or report which is forged, or altered, or does

not belong to him, for each off'ence shall either be deemed guilty of

a misdemeanor. or shall be liable summarilv to a ~ena l tv not

exceeding ~ i f t i Pomids, or to imprisonment not cxc&ding three months, with or without hard labor, as the court or a Justice hearing the case may think fit.

Seaman making falae

report to forfeit a sum	15. And be it Enacted, That if any seaman, on or before being engaged, wilfully and fraudulently makes a false statement of the name of his last ship, or last alleged ship, or wilfully and frmldu- lently makes a false statement of his own nanle, he shall forfeit, out of the wages he may earn by virtue of such eng'-~gerncl~t, n sum not exceeding Five Pouuds, and such sum shall be paid to the Local Marine Board, to be by them disposed of as herein directed in
not exceeding f 5.
respect of penalties.

No vessel to be 16. And be it Enacted, That it shall not be lawful for the

cleared if crew en- Collector of Customs to clear any vessel until he slmll have

gaged otherwise than

through shipping

office.	received from the shipping master, a certificate to the eEect that
the agreements of this Act have been d ~ d y complied with.
Provision for prose-

cution of misde- 17. And be it Enacted, That all misdememors mentioned or

meanora.

created by this Act, may be prosecuted by such legal proceeding as is applicable in the like cases in any court of appropriate criminal jurisdiction in the Province of South Australia, and sliaU be punish- able with fine and imprisonment, with or without hard labor, or both fine and imprisonment, as such court may think fit, and the court may, if it shall tllink fit, order payment of the costs and

expenses of the prosecution, and all per~alties and other sums of money, hereby made payable or recoverable, may be recovered with

costs,

costs, and all offences hereby made punishable otherwise t h n solely as misdemeanors, may be prosecuted and punished, and the costs of such prosecution recovered by some appropriate suniri~ary

~roceeding before one or more Justice or Justices in any part of the

brovince of South Australia.

18. Alld be it Enacted, That, fur the purpose of giving jjurisdic- 0Ri.nc.w where to be dcetncd to have been

tion imdm this het,, every oifiince s l d l be de~med to l k c hcen comIui,,cd

committed, and every cause of cori~pluitlt to Imve arisen, either in the place in which the same arose, or in any place in wllicli the

offender or pcrsoii complaiiied against may he.

19. Ancl be it Enacted, That sewice of any sumn~ons or otl~er Service of summona

matter, in any l g a l proceeding undcr this Act, shdl 11: yood scr- vice if made personally on the person t,o be served, or ~f made by leaving such surmnons for him on hoard any vessel to w l k h he may belong, wit11 tllc person being, or appearing to be, in commmd of

such vessel*

20. A lld he it Enacted, That any Justice or Justices, or other Application of penal- tics,

court, inlposing ally penalty utlder this -Act, may, if 11e or thcy

think fit', direct that a part, not exceedillg one moiety thereof, dldl

be applied to colnpeiisntc any person or persons for any wroilg or

damage wllich he rimy have snstained by thc Act, or default in

rwpect of w;l.'llicll such penalty is imposed, and suhjwt to such

directions or specific application as aforesaid, all p la l t i es recovcrd

h l l be paid over to IIer Majesty lwr heirs allcl successors, for the

p-ddic uses of the said ~ro;ince in aid of the General Trc\wnw

thereof:

Commencement,

24. And be it Enacted, That this Act shall commence and take

effect from the first day of January next ensuing, and may 'be

extended to any port in this Province, by notification to that effect,

by His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, published in the South

Australian Government Gazette.

JOHN MORPIIETT, Speaker.

Passed the Legislative Council this $rst day

of December, one thousand eight hundred

and$fty-two.

F. C. SINGLETON,

Clerk of the Legislative Council.

In the nnmo md on the behalf of Her Majesty I assent to th is Act.

H. E. F. YOUNG,

Lieutenant-Governor.

Government House, Adelaide,

December 2, 1852.