Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 15.djvu/476

Rh 452 MAN Irish elk ; and the red deer, as is proved by tho references to it in old laws, and the representations of it on Runic monuments, was at one time common, although the species had almost disappeared about the beginning of the 18th century. Hares are less plentiful than formerly, and rabbits are not numerous except on the Calf Islet. Snipe are abundant. There are a few partridges, grouse, and quail, but neither pheasants nor black game. Various species of water fowl visit the island, including wild geese, wild ducks, plover, widgeon, and teal. The Manx puffin (Procellaria anglorum) is becoming scarce, but still frequents the Calf Islet. The peregrine falcon breeds in the precipitous rocks in the neighbourhood of the Calf Islet, and at Maughold Head. The red-legged crow is common, the kingfisher scarce. The cuckoo is a yearly visitant, as is also the lapwing. Wild pigeons and seabirds of great variety frequent the rocks. A variety of the domestic cat, remarkable for the absence or stunted condition of the tail, is common in the island. Manufactures and Trade. Partly perhaps on account of the absence of coal, the manufactures of the island have not attained any importance, the principal being Manx cloth, canvas, nets, ropes, and twine. There is, however, a large export of all kinds of agricultural produce, horses, cattle, and sheep, as well as of lead, lime, and black marble. Much of the trade is still carried on by means of small coasting vessels, but these are being gradually super seded by steamers which ply between Douglas and Liverpool, Barrow, Fleetwood, Silloth, Dublin, Belfast, Whitehaven, and Glasgow. The imports consist principally of provisions from England, timber from Norway, and lean cattle from Ireland. In 1881 the number of vessels engaged in the foreign and colonial trade that entered the ports of the island was 26 of 4885 tons, while 14 of 2916 tons cleared. The number engaged in the coasting trade was entered, 2288 of 440,158 tons ; cleared, 2328 of 436,107 tons. There is daily communication between Douglas and Liverpool. There are very valuable fishing grounds, especially for herring and cod, round the southern half of the island from Peel to Douglas, and mackerel fishing is also largely prosecuted by the islanders off the coast of Ireland. The Manx fishing boats, decked and undecked, number upwards of seven hundred, employing more than four thousand men. Peel and Port St Mary alone have about three hundred and fifty-seven boats, manned by two thousand five hundred men, the capital invested in boats and nets being for these ports alone about 100,000. The prosperity of the island, apart from its fishing and agriculture, is mainly dependent on its yearly influx of summer visitors, the annual number being now about 120,000. The season lasts from the middle of May to the middle of September. Internal Communication. The roads, which of late years have been greatly improved and extended, are excellent. They are main tained by a system of licences on innkeepers, grocers, and hawkers, and by an impost on carriages, carts, and dogs, and a rate on real property. The highways are under the management of a board appointed by the Tynwald court, a surveyor-general, and parochial surveyors. The first railway in the Isle of Man was that between Douglas and Peel, opened in 1873. There is now communication by rail between the various towns of the island, and a proposal has also been made for a direct line between Douglas and Ramsey via Laxey. The insular government has assisted one of the railway companies by a guarantee. The railways are single narrow-gauge lines, and are worked on the baton system. Government and Administration. The government of the island is vested in a governor appointed by the crown, a council which acts as an upper chamber of the legislature, and the House of Keys. The governor and council and the House of Keys together constitute the court of Tynwald ; but the approval of the queen of Great Britain in council is essential to every legislative enactment. Acts of the British legislature do not affect the island except it be specially named in them. For the purposes of civil jurisdiction the island is divided into a northern and a southern district, and each of these is again subdivided into three &quot;sheadings,&quot; which are analogous to counties. The governor, who is the representative of the sovereign, is captain -general of the military forces. He presides in the council and in all courts of Tynwald, and is ex officio sole judge of the chancery and exchequer courts. The council consists of the lord bishop of the diocese, the attorney-general, the two deemsters, the clerk of the rolls, the water-bailiff, the receiver-general, the arch deacon, and the vicar-general, all of whom are appointed by the crown, except the vicar-general, who is appointed by the bishop. No act of the governor and council is valid unless it is the act of the governor and at least two members of the council. The House of Keys, the representative branch of the legislature of the island, is one of the most ancient legislative assemblies in the world. It consists of twenty-four members elected by male owners or occupiers, and female owners of property. Each of the six sheadings elects three members, the towns of Castletown, Peel, and Ramsey one each, and Douglas, the chief town, three. There is a property quali fication required of the members, and the house sits for seven years unless previously dissolved. The Keys were at one time self-elected, but in 1866 they consented to popular election in exchange for the privilege of controlling the expenditure of the surplus revenue of the island, agreeing, however, to pay into the imperial exchequer a fixed sum of 10,000 annually as the island s contribution to wards the expenses of the army and navy of the United Kingdom. In matters of property the court of chancery has the most exten sive jurisdiction of any in the island, and is a court both of law and of equity. The governor presides, and is assisted by the clerk of the rolls and the deemsters. The exchequer court takes cogniz ance of all matters connected with the revenue, and also determines the right of tithe. The common law courts for the southern division are held at Douglas and Castletown alternately, and those for the northern division at Ramsey, once in three months. They are presided over by the deemsters, and take cognizance of all actions, real, personal, and mixed, and of civil matters that require to be determined by a jury. Courts of general jail delivery are held at Castletown, for the trial of prisoners indicted for criminal offences ; the governor presides, attended by the deemsters, the clerk of the rolls, and the water-bailiff. The deemsters or judges of the island (supposed by some to be the successors of the Druidical priests) until the 15th century acted according to unwritten laws, called &quot; breast laws,&quot; of which they were the depositaries. They have concurrent jurisdiction over the whole island. Their advice is taken by the governor on all difficult points of law. Each has now a salary of 1000 per annum. Deemster courts are held weekly, alternately at Douglas and Castletown by the deemster for the southern division, and at Ramsey and Peel or Kirk Michael by the deemster of the northern division. They take cognizance in a summary manner of matters of debt, and have jurisdiction in criminal cases. The herring fishery, and the boats employed in it, are placed under the charge of the water-bailiff, who holds courts to redress grievances and enforce the regulations of the fishery. He appoints with a small salary two fishermen, called admirals, to preserve order. The water-bailiff has also civil jurisdiction in questions of salvage, and takes cognizance of suits in maritime matters. The high bailiff s courts are held weekly in Douglas, Castletown, Ramsey, and Peel for the recovery of debts under 40s., and daily for the punishment of drunkenness and offences against public order. The magistrates hold regular courts in each of the towns for the summary trial of breaches of the peace and minor offences. They are appointed by commission under the great seal of England, but their powers are regulated by insular acts of Tynwald. The members of the council and the four high bailiffs are also ex officio magistrates. The coroner of the sheading, who is appointed annually by the governor, is a kind of sheriff. Inquests of death are held by the high bailiff and jury. There are about thirty legal practitioners, called advocates, who combine the functions of barrister and solicitor. The laws of the island still retain much of their ancient peculi arity of character, though modified by acts of Tynwald, and rendered in some respects more in unison with those of England. The criminal law was consolidated and amended by the criminal code of 1872. The general tenure is a customary freehold devolving from each possessor to his next heir-at-law. The descent of land follows the same rules as the descent of the crown of England. The right of primogeniture extends to females in default of males in the direct line. The interest of a widow or widower, being the first wife or husband of a person deceased, in a life estate is one-half of the lands which have descended hereditarily, and is forfeited by a second marriage ; a second husband or second wife is only entitled to a life interest in one-fourth, if there be issue of the first marriage. Of the land purchased by the husband the wife surviving him is entitled to a life interest in one moiety. By a statute of the year 1777 proprietors of land are empowered to grant leases for any term not exceeding twenty-one years in possession without the consent of the wife. Previous to the Act of Revestment in 1765, the commerce of the island consisted principally in the importing and exporting of contraband goods, the average return of which exceeded half a million sterling per annum, the loss to the British revenue being estimated at 300,000. After this period the customs of the island were regulated by the imperial parliament. The various loans to the insular government were consolidated in 1882, and the funded debt now amounts to 230,000. For the year ending March 31, 1882, the net revenue of the customs of the island was 70,906, and the expenditure 50,558, leaving a balance of 20,348, which is disposed of thus : One-ninth part of the quarter s revenue to 31st March 1882 1,091 Due exchequer 10,000 Less abatement on account of loss on importation of goods 2,000 8,000 Expended by War Department, 1881-82 278 Do. Board of Works, 1881-82 846 Unappropriated surplus due Isle of. Man 10,133