82 REPORT—1857,. 
such as corn and cotton, depends considerably on the cost of transport, it 
must be admitted that the registration of tonnage and engine power, though 
required only for the exclusive purpose of rendering science available for 
improving the dynamic performances of steam-ships, is, of itself, a considera- 
tion which demands the interference of the legislature as the guardian of 
public interests in all public affairs. 
In conclusion, therefore, it is submitted that the defective condition of our 
shipping registration under the Act of “1854,” is such as demands the con- 
sideration of parliament with a view to the extension of the Act to meet the 
following requirements :— 
1. That a statute gauge-mark shall be affixed on each side, amidships of 
every ship, for indicating the statute freeboard, the exact position of said 
mark to be determined by a rule based on the length, breadth and depth of 
the ship taken in such proportions as the legislature shall determine, and 
corresponding marks shall be fixed on the stem and stern at such position in 
line with the midship mark as the approved water-line trim of the vessel 
shall indicate, and the dimensions of length, breadth and depth by which 
the position of the midship mark is determined shall be registered. 
2. That in addition to the present registration of tonnage, based on inter- 
nal measurement, the registration shall include the displacement of the vessel 
when light ready to receive cargo equipped in all respects ready for sea, but 
not including coals and other consumable stores, also the displacement when 
immersed down to the statute gauge-marks before referred to, and the total 
displacement measuring up to the deck; these displacements taken iu cubic 
feet, to be rated at 353 cubic feet to the ton weight, and the difference 
between the light displacement, and the statute gauge-mark displacement, 
to constitute the registered weight-tonnage of the ship. 
3. That the draught at which ships actually put to sea shall be inspected 
and recorded with reference to the statute gauge-mark on the stem and 
stern of the ship. 
4. That a standard measure of power be determined and legalised as the 
statute unit, to which the registration of the engine power of steam-ships shall 
have reference; the registered power shall be that which engines and boilers 
shall, for the time being, be capable of continuously exerting, the same being 
ascertained by means of the indicator, as usual in the trial of steamers, and 
caleulated by the statute unit. 
CHARLES ATHERTON. 
Woolwich Dockyard, 3rd March, 1857. 
No. 6.—Mr. Anprew Henperson (Member of the Committee). 
General Summary of his Report. 
The British Association having appointed a Committee “ to inquire into 
the defects of the present methods, and to frame more perfect rules for the 
measurement and registration of ships and marine engine power, in order 
that a correct and uniform principle may be adopted in their future regis- 
tration,” the following review of the opinions and information is submitted, 
premising that the members of the Committee, being unanimous in opinion 
that the removal of all fiscal dues levied on tonnage would be the best solu- 
tion of all the difficulties connected with the tonnage question. Although 
not included in the above, it was considered so important, that the writer was 
deputed by the Committee to seek information on the subject. t 
The result of this inquiry shows that, although the original object of 
register tonnage may have been the taxation of the cargoes of ships, it bas 
