apprentice has been convicted by any competent tribunal of any offence, and rightfully punished, the Court hearing the case may direct that any part of the wages due, not exceeding 31., be applied in reimbursing the costs incurred by the master in procuring the conviction and punishment. By sect. 252, where the contract for wages is by the voyage or run, or by the share, the forfeiture of wages is to be calculated by ascertaining the proportion which the month or other period of time in respect of which it is incurred bears to the whole time spent in the voyage, and a sum bearing the same proportion to the whole wages or share is to be deducted. By sect. 253, all clothes, effects, wages and emoluments which are, under the provisions of the statute, forfeited for desertion are applicable, in the first instance, towards the reimbursement of the expenses occasioned thereby to the master or owner. Wages and emoluments earned subsequently to the desertion may be recovered by the master, owner or his agent, in the same way as the deserter might have recovered them, if not forfeited. Subject to this reimbursement, the wages and emoluments must be paid into the Consolidated Fund (k). We have already seen that entering into the navy does not lead to a forfeiture of wages (1), since it is expressly provided by the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, that any seaman may leave his ship for the purpose of forthwith entering into the Queen's naval service, and that such a leaving shall not amount to a desertion, or lead to any punishment or forfeiture whatever (m). All stipulations, moreover, in any agreement whereby any seaman is declared to incur any forfeiture or loss, in case he enters the navy, are void, and the insertion of any such stipulation by any master or owner renders him liable to a penalty not exceeding 201. (n). The following regulations are also contained in this statute with respect to the volunteering of seamen into the navy. () In all other cases of forfeiture of wages under this statute, the forfeiture (where it is not otherwise directed) is for the benefit of the master or owner by whom the wages are payable. M. S. Act, 1854, s. 253. All questions relating to the forfeiture or deduction of wages may be determined in any proceeding for wages, even although the offence in respect of which the question arises, has not been made the subject of a criminal (m) M. S. Act, 1854, s. 214. This section is now extended (by sect. 13 of the M. S. A. Amendment Act, 1862) to the crews of sea-going yachts, fishing coasting vessels, and ships belonging to the General Lighthouse Boards. (n) M. S. Act, 1854, s. 214. By sect. 215, whenever any seaman who has not previously committed any act amounting to and treated as a desertion leaves his ship to enter into the navy, and is received into the service, his clothes and effects must be delivered up to him, and a proportionate part of his wages down to the time of his entry must, subject to all just deductions, be paid to him. The mode of payment is prescribed by the act, and is as follows:-The master must pay the wages to the officer authorized to receive the seaman into the navy, either in money or by bill upon the owner payable at sight to the order of the Accountant-General of the Navy. If the wages are paid in money the amount is to be credited to the seaman in the ship's muster book; if the payment is by bill, it must be noted in the muster book and sent to the Accountant-General, who must present the same for payment and credit the seaman with the amount. The money or the produce of the bill is not to be paid to the seaman until the time when he would have been entitled to receive it if he had not quitted his ship; and if the bill is not duly paid on presentment, the amount due may be recovered, as wages, either by the Accountant-General or by the seaman (o). In these cases, it is provided by sect. 216 of the statute, that if the owner or master shows, to the satisfaction of the Admiralty, that he has paid, or properly rendered himself liable to pay any advance of wages to the seaman, and that, in cases of payment, such advance has not before the quitting of the ship been duly earned, or that, in cases of liability, the liability has been actually satisfied, the Admiralty may repay the amount to the owner or master, deducting it from the wages earned or to be earned by the seaman in the navy. It is provided by sect. 217 of the act, that if, in consequence of seamen leaving the ship to enter the navy without the consent of the master or owner, it becomes necessary for the safety and proper navigation of the ship to engage any substitutes, and the remuneration paid to them exceeds the amount which would have been payable to the seaman under his agreement for similar service, the excess may be repaid to the master or owner upon a certificate from the registrar of the Court of Admiralty (p). (0) M. S. Act, 1854, s. 215. No officer who receives any such bill is subject to any liability in respect of it, except in respect of its safe custody, until transmitted to the Accountant-General. Ib. (p) The registrar is empowered to examine into and finally decide on claims of this description, subject to an appeal to the Judge of the Court, s. 218, The act provides for the payment Effect of false statements on hiring. Effect of other misconduct. When a seaman is impressed he is usually entitled to his wages for the time during which he has served (g). It was held, however, before the alteration by statute of the rule of law which made wages to depend on the earning of freight, that the right to wages in cases of impressment depended upon the completion of the voyage by the ship, and that if she was lost the wages could not be claimed (r). The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, also provides, 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 of his own name, he shall forfeit out of the which he may earn by the engagement a sum not exceeding 51. (s). wages We have already mentioned the contingencies on which, by the agreement now in use, wages are expressly forfeited by misconduct (t). We have also seen in what cases deductions are allowed from the wages of seamen, in respect of illness or the cost of their burial (u), and in cases of refusal to join the ship not amounting to desertion, and refusals to work and imprisonments (x). The rules which are in force respecting the forfeiture of wages by reason of unfounded complaints to official persons in respect of the quality and quantity of the provisions on board (y), and with reference to the power of Naval Courts to discharge seamen on the high seas or abroad, and to order a forfeiture of of the sums ascertained in this manner (9) Wiggins v. Ingleton, 2 Ld. Raym. judgments of Sir W. Scott in The Jack Park, 4 Rob. 311, and The Malta, 2 Hagg. 158. (r) Dunkley v. Bulwer, 6 Esp. 86. (s) M. S. Act, 1854, s. 255. It is provided by sect. 223 of this act, that the additional wages which are to be paid to the seamen under that section when the allowance of provisions which has been agreed upon is reduced during the voyage, shall not be claimable in cases in which the reduction is made by way of punishment in accordance with any regulation in the agreement, or during any time when the seamen wilfully and without sufficient cause refuse or neglect to perform their duty, or are lawfully under confinement for misconduct on board or on shore. (t) Ante, p. 129. the wages, have also been already mentioned (z). The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, also provides, that whenever any act of misconduct is committed, which by the agreement is punishable by a fine, the appropriate fine is to be deducted from the wages and paid over to a mercantile marine office superintendent (a). These are the principal statutory provisions which relate to the forfeiture of wages. It must, however, be recollected that, independently of any statute, the wages of seamen are forfeited by habitual, but not by occasional drunkenness, by insolent expressions, and acts of a mutinous character not apologised for, and by habitual disobedience, or by disobedience of a heinous and aggravated nature (b). It has been said by Molloy (c), that if the goods are embezzled or damaged by the mariners, the owners must deduct the same out of their freight to the merchants, and the master out of the wages of the mariners; and we have already seen that the form of agreement now in use expressly provides that this may be done (d). WAGES. The legislature has also protected the seamen against any un- PAYMENT OF necessary delay in the payment of their wages. Thus, by sect. Statutory pro187 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, it is provided, that visions as to. (z) Ante, p. 163. This (a) M. S. Act, 1854, s. 256. section contains full directions as to the mode of paying over these fines to the superintendents. Any master or owner who neglects to obey these regulations is liable, for each offence, to a penalty not exceeding six times the amount of the fine which is retained. Ib. (b) Robinett v. Ship Exeter, 2 Rob. 261; The New Phoenix, 1 Hagg. 198; The Malta, 2 ib. 158; The Lady Campbell, ib. 5; The Ealing Grove, ib. 15: The Susan, ib. 229, n.; The Gondolier, 3 Hagg. 190; The Lima, ib. 356; The Duchess of Kent, 1 W. Rob. 283; Renno v. Bennett, 3 Q. B. 768; The Atlantic, 11 W. R. 188; see also the judgment of Mr. Justice Story, in the Ship Mentor, 4 Mason (American) Rep. 90. The older decisions as to the effect of disobedience continue to be of some importance, for the rules of the ancient maritime law still regulate these questions, except where the statute law has intervened. See the judgment of Dr. Lushington in The Westmoreland, 1 W. Rob. 221. It was said in one case by Lord Stowell, that any cause which M.P. would justify a master in discharging a (c) Molloy, B. 2, c. 3, s. 9. Where N Certificates of discharge. the master or owner of every home trade ship shall pay to every seaman his wages within two days after the termination of the agreement, or at the time when the seaman is discharged, whichever first happens. In the case of other ships (except those employed in the southern whale fishery, or other voyage for which the compensation consists wholly of a share in the profits), the wages must be paid within three days after the delivery of the cargo, or five days after the discharge, whichever first happens, and in all cases the seamen are entitled to be paid at the time of discharge one fourth of the balance due to them (e). This statute also provides, by sect. 170, that in the case of all British foreign going ships, wherever registered, all seamen discharged in the United Kingdom must be discharged and receive their wages before a superintendent of a mercantile marine office. In the case of home trade ships this may also be done, if the master or owner so desires (ƒ). By sect. 171, the master is, moreover, bound to deliver to every seaman (or in cases of discharge before a superintendent, to the latter), within twenty-four hours before he is paid off, a full and true account of his wages, in a form sanctioned by the Board of Trade. This account must show all the deductions from the wages, and no deduction not mentioned in it is allowable, unless in respect of a matter happening subsequently to the delivery of the account (g). By sect. 172 of this statute, every seaman is entitled upon his discharge, or upon payment of his wages, to receive from the master a signed certificate, in a form sanctioned by the Board of Trade (h), specifying the period of his service, and the time and place of his discharge. By sect. 173, the superintendents have power to decide any (e) Masters and owners, who neglect to observe these rules without sufficient cause, are liable to pay to the seamen, as wages, a sum not exceeding two days' pay for every day of delay not exceeding ten days. M. S. Act, 1854, s. 187. This section of the M. S. Act, 1854, is now extended by sect. 13 of the M. S. A. Amendment Act, 1862, to sea-going coasting fishing vessels, yachts and ships belonging to the General Lighthouse Boards. See, as to the provisions made by the American law for the speedy payment of wages, 3 Kent, Comm. 178. (f) This section excepts cases in which directions to the contrary have been given by any competent Court. (g) The master is bound to enter, during the voyage, the deductions in a book, and to produce this book, if required, at the time of the payment of the wages. Ib. Sects. 170 and 171 of the M. S. Act, 1854, are not applicable to yachts, coasting fishing vessels, or lighthouse ships belonging to the three General Boards. See the M. S. A. Amendment Act, 1862, s. 13. (h) See the form, post, Appendix, p. cclxxxi. |