Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 2).djvu/265

 is more nearly upon a level, and the rate of the port to and from which the greatest number sail, that is the port of London, regulates that of all the rest."

"In the time of peace, and in the merchant service, the London price is from one guinea to about seven and twenty shillings the calendar month." It must, however, be remembered that this estimate was made when the common labourer in London received nine or ten shillings per week, making in the month forty to forty-five shillings. The difference, of course, is accounted for by the sailor being supplied with provisions and shelter, such as it is, in addition to his pay. Taking the difference of the value of money and of the ordinary rate of wages paid three quarters of a century ago, we may presume that at the present rate of fifty to sixty shillings per month, the pay of a common sailor is considerably higher than it was at the period in question, and certainly he is much better fed. Indeed the position and condition of the common sailor have undoubtedly kept pace with the general improvement and progress of the nation.

About this period the new Registry Act came into operation, requiring the owner of every decked vessel of fifteen tons and upwards to have her measurement accurately ascertained according to a prescribed scale, and providing that every vessel registered in the customs, and thus securing the advantages of a British ship, must have been built in the British dominions,