APPENDIX No. 7.

Summary of the Acts passed for the Regulation of Passenger Ships.

The first separate Act for regulating passenger ships was the 43 Geo. 3, cap. 56. By this Act the number of passengers to be carried in any British vessel was limited to one person, including the crew, for every two tons of the unladen part of the ship, and in foreign ships two persons for every five tons. Vessels to North America were required to be victualled for twelve weeks, so as to afford a daily allowance for each person of ½ lb. of meat, 1½ lb. of biscuit or oatmeal, with ½ pint of molasses, and 1 gallon of water. Regulations were prescribed for mustering the passengers and for promoting cleanliness on the voyage, and a surgeon was to be carried. The master and surgeon were obliged to give bond in the sum of 100l. severally to keep a true journal, which journal was, on the return of the vessel, to be delivered to the officer of Customs and verified on oath. Bond was likewise to be given by the owners or master for the seaworthiness of the ship and the delivery of the passengers at their destined ports. An abstract of the Act was to be hung up on board.

Some slight amendments of detail were made in this law in 1813 by the 53 Geo. 3, cap. 36; and in the year 1816 it was further amended by the Act 56 Geo. 3, caps. 83, 114. By the first of these Acts, which is confined in its operation to Newfoundland and the coast of Labrador, the tonnage check was omitted, and the limitation was changed to the check by space, viz. 6 feet in length by 2 feet in breadth for each passenger, with the full perpendicular height between the two decks in vessels having two decks, and 5 feet perpendicular between the cargo and deck when there was no second deck.

The dietary scale was increased to

1 lb. of bread or biscuit,	}	per day,
1 lb. of beef, or ¾ lb. of pork	}	per passenger;
2 lbs. of flour,	}
3 lbs. of oatmeal,	}	weekly;
½ lb. of butter,	}

but the allowance of water was reduced from 8 to 5 pints.

57 Geo. 3. c. 10; 1817.

In 1817 the original Act (43 Geo. 3, cap. 56), which had been previously repealed in respect of Newfoundland and Labrador, was repealed in respect of the rest of British North America by the 57 Geo. 3, cap. 10. By this Act the number of passengers was limited to one passenger for every 2½ tons burthen—and in ships partly laden with goods, in the same proportion for the unladen portion only. A distinction in computation was, for the first time, made between children and adults; three children under fourteen being reckoned, for space purposes, as one adult. The dietary was the same as in the repealed Act of 56 Geo. 3, cap. 83. The Shipowner was to give bond for the number of passengers on board, and for their being landed at the proper port. An abstract of the Act was to be hung up on board.

4 Geo. 4, c. 84; 1823.

6 Geo. 4, c. 116; 1825.

In 1823 the preceding Acts were repealed, and their principal provisions embodied in the 4 Geo. 4, cap. 84, which enacted that vessels should not carry to any place out of Europe more than one person, including master and crew, for every 5 tons, without special permission or licence from the Commissioners of Customs. The licence would only be granted, in the case of British ships, to vessels having two decks, with 5 feet 6 inches in height between them. Vessels carrying goods were permitted to take passengers in the proportion of one adult to every 2 tons of unladen space, provided that to each passenger there should be allotted an “integral” space of 6 feet in length by 2 feet 6 inches in breadth, and 5 feet 6 inches in height between the decks, or from cargo to deck, when there was no second deck. Two children under fourteen, or three under seven, were to be computed as one adult. Bond was to be given in the sum of 20l. for each passenger, that the vessel was seaworthy and properly stored with water and provisions, and provided with a surgeon, in case there were fifty persons, including the crew, on board. Passengers could only be embarked at a Custom-house port. A penalty of 50l. was imposed for each passenger in excess of the licence. The allowance of provisions, &c., was—

Water	5 pints	}
Bread or biscuit	1 lb.	}
Beef (or)	1 lb.	}	Daily.
Pork	¾ lb.	}
Flour	2 lbs.	}
Oatmeal, peas, or pearl barley	3 lbs.	}	Weekly.
Butter	½ lb.	}

And a penalty of 500l. was imposed for re-landing provisions, &c. Rules for cleanliness and fumigation were established; ships carrying passengers were to be marked with a “P.” if there were more than one person, including the crew, to every 5 tons on board. The Act did not apply to vessels engaged in the Newfoundland fishery. The Commissioners of Customs at home, the local authorities in the colonies, and the officers of the navy and consuls abroad were to execute the Act. This law having been repealed in 1825 by an Act to repeal the several laws relating to the customs, was re-enacted the same year with some slight modifications by the 6 Geo. 4, cap. 116.

7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 19; 28 May, 1827.

By the 7 & 8 Geo. 4, cap. 12, this, and all other Acts affecting the carriage of passengers, was repealed, and the trade left unrestricted by law.

9 Geo. 4, c. 21; 23 May, 1828.

The total absence of any legislative regulations having led to great abuse, the 9 Geo. 4, cap. 21, was passed, to reimpose the necessary limitations in the passenger trade. This Act was restricted in its operation to the continent and islands of North America. The limit upon the numbers to be carried was three persons for every 4 tons burthen. Ships carrying passengers were to have a height of 5½ feet between the decks or between the platform and the deck. Two children under fourteen, or three between one and seven, were to be computed as one adult. Fifty gallons of water and 50 lbs. of bread, biscuit, or oatmeal, were to be put on board for each passenger. Provisions, water, or stores were not to be carried on that part of the ’tween decks appropriated to the emigrants. Passengers were not to be landed at the places not contracted for, and the masters were to enter into bond for the due performance of the regulations prescribed by the Act.

5 & 6 Will. 4, c. 53; 31 Aug. 1835.

By the 5 & 6 Will. 4, cap. 53, the Act of 1828 was repealed, and further provisions made for the regulation of the carriage of passengers. No ship was allowed to sail with more than three persons for every 5 tons of burthen, and was required to have a height of 5½ feet between decks, and for every passenger carried 10 clear superficial feet of space on the lower deck or platform. Ships having two tiers of berths were to have 6 inches between the bottom of the lower berths and the deck. The quantity of water and provisions to be put on board was 5 gallons of water, 7 lbs. of bread, biscuit, or oatmeal, or bread-stuffs, for each passenger per week, the length of the voyage being computed as follows, viz.:—

	Weeks.
To North America	10
To South America on the Atlantic, or to the West Coast of Africa	12
To Cape of Good Hope	15
To Mauritius	18
Any other voyage	24

The officers of Customs were to examine the provisions and water. A table was to be made out and hung up of the prices at which provisions were to be sold on board to the passengers. The seaworthiness of the ship was to be ascertained by survey. Copies or abstracts of the Act were to be kept on board. Ships carrying 100 passengers were to carry a medical man, duly authorised by law to practise in this country as a physician, surgeon, or apothecary, and a proper supply of instruments, medicines, &c.; and ships carrying less than 100 passengers were to have a proper supply of medicines and other things adequate to the probable exigencies of the voyage. Passenger ships were prohibited from carrying spirits as stores in larger quantities than 10 per cent. more than the quantity allowed by the Customs for the use of the crew. Lists of passengers, with their names, ages, and occupations, were to be made out and delivered to the chief officer of Customs. Passengers were not to be landed at ports not contracted for without their consent. Two children under fourteen, or three between one and seven, were to be reckoned as an adult. Infants under twelve months were not to be counted. The passengers were to be victualled, or receive each a shilling a day in lieu thereof, for every day they were detained before the sailing of the ship, provided the detention did not arise from stress of weather, or other unavoidable cause; they were also entitled to remain on board forty-eight hours after the arrival of the ship, except where the ship proceeded to another port, in prosecution of her voyage. Masters were to give bond for the due performance of the regulations prescribed by the Act.

3 & 4 Vict. c. 21; 4 July, 1840.

By the 3 & 4 Vict. cap. 21, the provisions of the preceding Act were made applicable to intercolonial voyage in the British colonies in the West Indies, South America, the Bahamas, and Bermuda.

5 & 6 Vict. c. 107; Aug. 1842.

The two preceding Acts were repealed by the 5 & 6 Vict. cap. 107, which enacted that no vessel should carry more than three persons (master and crew included) to every 5 tons burthen, nor, whatever be the tonnage, more than one passenger to every 10 superficial feet of the space appointed for the use of the passengers, under a penalty not exceeding 5l. for every passenger in excess. The lower deck was not to be less than 1½ inch in thickness, and secured to the hold beams. The height between decks was to be 6 feet at least; there were not to be more than two tiers of berths; the bottom of the lower tier to be 6 inches above the deck; the berths were not to be less than 6 feet in length and 18 inches in width, for each passenger, and to be securely constructed. At least 3 quarts of water per diem was to be issued to each passenger, and a supply of provisions, not less often than twice a week, at the rate of 7 lbs. of bread-stuffs per week, half at least to be bread or biscuit, the other half might be potatoes, of which 5 lbs. were to be reckoned equal to one pound of bread-stuffs. The length of the voyage to be computed as follows:—

	Weeks.
For a voyage to North America, except the west coast thereof	10
For a voyage to the West Indies, including under that term the Bahama Islands and British Guiana	10
For a voyage to any part of the continent of Central or South America, except the west coast thereof, and except British Guiana	12
For a voyage to the West Coast of Africa	12
For a voyage to the Cape of Good Hope or the Falkland Islands	15
For a voyage to the Mauritius	18
For a voyage to Western Australia	20
For a voyage to any other of the Australian colonies	22
For a voyage to New Zealand	24

Two children under 14 were to be computed as one passenger; children under one year were not to count.

The provisions and water were to be inspected and surveyed by the Government emigration agents, or in their absence by the officer of Customs. Seaworthiness of vessels was to be ascertained by those officers, who might order a survey if necessary. Boats were to be taken in the following numbers, viz.:—

Ships between 150 and 250 tons, two boats.

Ships between 250 and 500 tons, three boats.

Ships of 500 tons and upwards, four boats; one of them to be a long-boat, of the proper size.

Copies of the Act were to be kept on board, to be produced to the passengers on demand. A proper supply of medicines, &c., with directions for their use, was to be provided for the voyage to North America; and on other voyages, ships carrying 100 passengers, or fifty, if the voyage were longer than twelve weeks, were also required to have on board a duly-qualified medical practitioner. The sale of spirits to the passengers was prohibited. Parties contracting to find passages to North America were to give written receipts for moneys received in a prescribed form. No person, except owner or master of the ship, was allowed to act as a passage-broker, unless licensed by the magistrates at the petty or quarter sessions. In case the contract for a passage were not performed, the aggrieved parties, unless maintained at the contractor’s expense, and provided within a reasonable time with a passage to the same place, might recover any passage-money they had paid, with a sum not exceeding 10l. as compensation. Passengers were to be victualled during detention of ships; but if detention (except caused by wind or weather) exceeded two clear working days, they were to receive instead 1s. per diem, unless suitably lodged and maintained with their own consent by the contractor. Passengers were not to be landed against their consent at any place other than the one contracted for, and were to be maintained on board for forty-eight hours after arrival, unless the ship, in the prosecution of her voyage, quitted the port sooner. The Act extended to foreign as well as to British ships, but not to vessels carrying fewer than thirty passengers, nor to cabin passengers. The enforcement of the law rested with the Government emigration agents and officers of Customs.

10 & 11 Vict. c. 103, and 11 Vict. c. 6; July 1847 and 1848.

28 March, 1848.

The 5 & 6 Vict. cap. 107, was amended by the 10 & 11 Vict. cap. 103, and 11 Vict. cap. 6. The first of these Acts brought within the full operation of the law such ships as carried more than one passenger for every twenty-five tons of registered burthen. It gave power to the Commissioners to vary the diet. It prohibited the carriage of gunpowder, vitriol, or green hides as cargo. It gave power to ensure ventilation between decks, a survey of the ship, and a proper crew. Ships putting back were to replenish their provisions. In case of wreck, or other accident, the passengers were to be provided with a passage in some other vessel. The second amending Act, which was confined to North America, required that a ship carrying more than 100 passengers, should have a cook and proper cooking apparatus; and if she did not carry a medical practitioner, that the superficial space for each passenger should be 14 instead of 12 feet. Passengers were to be examined by a medical practitioner, and persons affected with contagious or other disease likely to affect the health of the other passengers were not allowed to proceed. The passage-money of persons re-landed was made recoverable from the ship. The Queen in Council was empowered to issue rules and regulations for the preservation of order on board. Ships carrying fewer passengers than one to twenty five tons were exempted from the Act.

12 & 13 Vict. c. 33; 13 July, 1849.

The three last-mentioned Acts were repealed, and their provisions consolidated and amended by the 12 & 13 Vict. cap. 33. The principal additions were—that an adequate ventilating apparatus should be put on board all ships carrying 100 or more passengers; and that adult persons of different sexes, unless husband or wife, should not be placed in the same berth. A lifeboat and two properly fitted life-buoys were to be provided; and the following increased dietary scale was prescribed:—

3 quarts of water daily.
2½ lbs. of bread or biscuit (not inferior to navy biscuit),	}	per week. To be issued in advance, and not less often than twice a week.
1 lb. wheaten flour,	}
5 lbs. oatmeal,	}
2 lbs. rice,	}
2 oz. tea,	}
½ lb. sugar,	}
½ lb. molasses,	}

Passage broker’s bond, 200l.

5 lbs. of potatoes may be substituted for 1 lb. of oatmeal or rice; and in ships sailing from Liverpool, or from Irish or Scotch ports, oatmeal may be substituted in equal quantities for the whole or any part of the issues of rice. The Emigration Commissioners, with the authority of the Secretary of State, may substitute other articles of food. The regulations for preserving order, cleanliness, and ventilation were made applicable to all British ships proceeding to any of the British possessions abroad, and not confined, as formerly, to those proceeding to North America. Parties acting as passage-brokers in respect of passages to North America were required, for the first time, to give bond to the Crown in the sum of 200l., for the due observance of such requirements of the Act as relate to their proceedings. And the right of emigrant runners to recover from any emigrant, broker, or other person, any reward for services in the way of information or assistance, was taken away, unless such runner was acting under the written authority, as the agent or servant of the licensed passage-broker.

14 Vict. c. 1; 1851.

Bond from masters of foreign ships.

By an Act, 14 Vict. cap. 1, the Consolidated Act of 1849 was amended, so as to enable the Emigration Commissioners to fix a different length of voyage for steam-and sailing-vessels, and to allow the use of an alternative diet scale in all passenger ships. Vessels putting back into any port in a damaged state were prohibited from putting to sea again until effectually repaired. And bond is required to be given by masters of foreign ships carrying passengers to the British possessions abroad, that they will submit themselves to the jurisdiction of the colonial courts in the same manner as if they were British subjects.

15 & 16 Vict. c. 44; 30 June, 1852.

Shipwrecked passengers may be forwarded by public officers at the expense of the shipowner, &c.

Emigrant runners.

By an Act passed in June, 1852, the two previous Acts of 1849 and 1851 were repealed, but their provisions were re-enacted in a consolidated and amended form, with some alterations and additions. The following are the main differences introduced by the Act of 1852: It empowered the Emigration Commissioners to sue and be sued, by their secretary or one of themselves, and exempted them from personal liability in respect of all acts done in their official capacity. It forfeited “passenger ships” putting to sea without obtaining a clearing certificate from an emigration officer; it required ships taking additional passengers at outports to obtain a fresh clearance from the emigration officer; it punished, by fine or imprisonment, stowaways and their abettors; it required the survey of ships to be undertaken by two (instead of one, as in the previous Act) or more surveyors, and provided for an appeal against their decision; it required that single men should be berthed in a separate compartment in the fore-part of the ship; it provided for hospital accommodation and privies; it extended the boat scale, and required night-signals and fire-engines to be carried; it added to the articles expressly prohibited as cargo—horses, cattle, and lucifer-matches—and prohibited the carriage of cargo on passenger decks, unless stowed so as not to interfere with light and ventilation or the comfort of the emigrants. It fixed different lengths of voyage for steam- and sailing-vessels, and increased, from seventy to eighty days, the length of voyage to North America for ships sailing between the middle of October and the middle of January; in other respects, the prescribed length of voyage remained substantially the same as in the Act of 1852. It required that the provisions of the crew should not be inferior to those of the passengers, and empowered the emigration officers to reject bad provisions. The dietary scale (with the exception of substituting a small allowance of salt for molasses) was the same as in the Act of 1849, but a greater variety of articles was allowed to be substituted for oatmeal, rice, and potatoes. It required the provisions to be issued in a cooked state, and daily instead of twice a-week, as in the Act of 1849. It provided for the appointment of passengers’ stewards, and interpreters when required, and for the medical inspection of the crew as well as of the passengers. It extended, from forty-eight hours to ten days, the time within which a Shipowner may forward passengers who had not obtained passages in the ships for which they contracted. It required masters of ships putting back for the purpose of repairing damages, to maintain the passengers, or pay them subsistence money, until the ship is ready for sea or they are provided with passages in some other eligible ship. It further empowered the Secretary of State, Governor of a Colony, or British Consul, to defray the expenses of rescuing, and—if the master fails to do so—forwarding shipwrecked passengers, and constitutes such expenses a debt to the Crown, to be recovered from the owner, charterer, or master of the ship. The prohibition against acting as a passage-broker without a licence, which was formerly restricted to passages to North America, was now extended to passages to any place out of Europe, not being in the Mediterranean; and the amount of the passage-broker’s annual bond was increased from 200l. to 500l. It empowered trustees of docks to pass bye-laws for regulating the landing and embarking of emigrants, and for licensing emigrant runners—who were for the first time brought under legal control by being compelled to take out an annual licence, and to wear a badge.

18 & 19 Vict. c. 119; 14 Aug. 1855.

The Act of 1852 was repealed and amended by the Act of 1855, which is the chief Act now in force. It is in the main similar to the previous Act, but contains several additions, which are fully shown in the preceding memorandum. The principal of them relate—

1. To the reduction of the number of passengers required to bring a ship within the operation of the Act.

2. To the reduction of the age of a “statute adult” from 14 to 12 years.

3. To the distinction between the upper and lower passenger deck.

4. To the increase of space allowed to passengers.

5. To certificates of exemption for mail steamers.

6. To appeals from the decision of an emigration officer who may decline to grant a clearing certificate.

7. To the stowage of cargo.

8. To the dietary scale for Australian voyages.

9. To the increase in the amount of detention money.

10. To the rights of passengers in case of the wreck or destruction of a passenger ship before the commencement of the voyage.

11. To contract tickets for cabin passengers in “passenger ships,” and a summary remedy before magistrates for enforcing the contract.

12. To emigrant runners.

13. To agents of licensed passage brokers.

26 & 27 Vict. c. 51; 1863.

The material alterations introduced into the Act of 1855 by the amending Act of 1863 may be classed under the seven following heads:—

1. The number of passengers necessary to bring a ship within the operation of the law is increased from two to three statute adults for every 100 tons, and from 30 to 50 passengers in all.

2. The exemption heretofore enjoyed by certain mail steamers is withdrawn.

3. The tonnage check on the number of passengers to be carried is abolished, leaving the space check only to operate.

4. Cabin passengers are to be included in the lists to be furnished to the officers of Customs, and such passengers are now entitled to a return of half their passage money in case they are prevented by an emigration officer from undertaking their voyage on account of the state of their health.

5. Under certain restrictions the carriage of a limited number of horses, cattle, and dogs in passenger ships is allowed.

6. In case of wreck or damage to the ship the same regulations are extended to passengers whose passages have been provided for them by others, as were applicable under the Act of 1855 to passengers who had contracted for their own passages.

7. The bond to be given by the master and another surety to the Crown is increased from 200l. to 500l. in the case of ships of which neither the owner nor charterers reside in the United Kingdom, and the obligors are made liable for expenses incurred in rescuing and forwarding shipwrecked passengers.