DESPATCHES, REPORTS, CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 



393 



ery of the Vessel seized, "to the 

 officer of the Colonial Revenue 

 next to the place where seized," 

 prosecute under this Act. 



C. When prosecuting as above 

 directed, avail yourself of the 

 procedure authorised by the 103rd 

 Clause of the Merchant Shipping 

 Act, 



An extract of a letter from the 

 Under Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies descriptive of the mode 

 in which the combination of these 

 two Acts is rendered effective for 

 the purposes of prosecution is 

 given herewith. See Extract 

 from Colonial Office letter of 

 23rd June, 1866. 



D. This will enable you to send 

 the vessel for adjudication to any 

 Admiralty Court, and conse- 

 quently to that situated in the 

 Port most convenient to you, i. e. 

 a Vessel seized in Nova Scotian 

 waters could be sent to Charlotte 

 Town, Prince Edward Island for 

 condemnation, and so of all the 

 other Provinces respectively. 



E. Yoti may prosecute under 

 the Colonial Acts when it will not 

 be inconvenient to you, to adhere 

 strictly to the Clause directing 

 the delivery of the Vessel seized 

 to the Revenue Officer next to the 

 place where seized, but in no 

 other case. 



fishing, or having fished, or pre- 

 paring to fish, within the pro- 

 hibited limits, and authorizes the 

 enforcement of this forfeiture by 

 the like means and in the same 

 Courts as may be resorted to un- 

 der any Act of Parliament in the 

 case of any offence against the 

 laws relating to Customs, or the 

 laws of trade and navigation. 



The statutory mode of enforc- 

 ing the law against Customs' 

 offences committed in the Col- 

 onies will be found in the Act 16 

 and 17 Viet., cap. 107, and par- 

 ticularly in the 2nd, 183rd, 186th, 

 and 223rd clauses. But as it 

 would probably be held under 

 this Act that a vessel could only 

 be seized safely by a naval officer 

 " duly employed for the preven- 

 tion of smuggling" (section 233), 

 it will be probably more conven- 

 ient for naval officers to take ad- 

 vantage of the procedure author- 

 ized by the 103rd clause of the 

 Merchant Shipping Act, which is 

 a law relating to "trade and 

 navigation." 



Under that clause" (of which 

 a copy is annexed) any commis- 

 sioned officer on full pay in the 

 military or naval service of Her 

 Majesty may seize any ship sub- 

 ject to forfeiture, and bring her 

 for adjudication before any 

 Court having Admiralty juris- 

 diction in Her Majesty's domin- 

 ions. 



It will probably be advisable, 

 as a general rule, that officers of 

 the navy should proceed against 

 vessels engaged in unlawful fish- 

 ing under the Act of Geo. Ill 

 and the Merchant Shipping Act, 

 which extends to all the closed 

 waters of British North America, 

 and do not require the officer's 

 authority to be fortified by any 

 Colonial commission or appoint- 

 ment. But more extended powers 

 are conferred by the above-men- 

 tioned local Acts of Nova Scotia, 



17 and IS Viet., c. 104. s. 103. 



