Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 3).djvu/630

 passengers on board, and for their being landed at the proper port. An abstract of the Act was to be hung up on board.

In 1823 the preceding Acts were repealed, and their principal provisions embodied in the 4 Geo. 4, cap. 84, which enacted that vessels should not carry to any place out of Europe more than one person,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                         3/4 lb.    } Flour                          2 lbs. } Oatmeal, peas, or pearl barley 3 lbs. } Weekly. Butter                       1/2 lb.    }

And a penalty of 500l. was imposed for re-landing provisions, &c. Rules for cleanliness and fumigation were established; ships car lying 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 This law having been repealed in 1825 by an Act to repeal the several laws relating to the customs, was re-enacted the same year with some slight modifications by the 6 Geo. 4, cap. 116.