Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 3).djvu/328

 in the examination of persons intending to become masters or mates of foreign-going ships, who are now required to give satisfactory evidence of their sobriety, experience, ability, and general good conduct, before they are entitled to receive a certificate of their competency.

Those persons who had previously been in command of ships, or who had served as mates, were not required to undergo an examination, but received a certificate of service, enabling them to accept appointments similar to those they had held previously to the Act coming into operation; so that, in this respect, the law was not retrospective, but only required such persons to undergo examination who had not before acted in the above capacities; power was, at the same time, given to the board to cancel their certificates of service, or of competency, provided those who held them were guilty of misconduct, or otherwise found to be unfit for their duties. Penalties were inflicted for false representations, for forging, or altering, or fraudulently using their certificates. The local marine boards were required to establish shipping offices, where all seamen are engaged; and to appoint, subject to the approval of the Board of Trade, shipping-masters, whose duties were to ascertain that engagements were made in proper form, to issue the advance notes of the seamen, and to see that they joined the ships for which they had engaged at the time fixed for departure. Their duties, likewise, extended to the settlement of the seamen's wages at the termination of the voyage, and to the seeing that while the men were justly dealt with, they received, also, a proper discharge. They were, moreover,