

384 INTERNATIONAL LAWS FOR THE 



absent himself from either his ship or his duty, he may 

 give notice of his intention either to the owner or to the 

 master of the ship not less than forty-eight hours before the 

 time at which he ought to be on board his ship, and in the 

 event of such notice being given, the Court shall not 

 exercise any of the powers conferred on it by section 

 two hundred and forty-seven of the Merchant Shipping 

 Act, 1854." In subsection 2 of section 243 of the Act of 

 1854 the words, "to imprisonment for any period not 

 exceeding ten weeks with or without hard labour, and also 

 at the discretion of the Court," were ordered to be omitted 

 by the 1880 Act. Thus imprisonment for neglecting or 

 refusing to join or to proceed to sea, or for absence within 

 twenty-four hours before sailing, and for absence without 

 leave was distinctly abolished. Section 246 of the 

 Merchant Shipping Act was repealed by this Act, which 

 gave power to owners or masters and their agents to 

 apprehend deserters without warrant. In section 247 the 

 words, "instead of committing the offender to prison," 

 were repealed, also section 248, which was a subsidiary 

 section to 246. By section n the Employers and 

 Workmen's Act was made to include seamen and ap- 

 prentices, to whom this Act did not before apply. This 

 Act permits a man to leave his employment at any time, 

 but gives the employer the power to sue the employed 

 for breach of contract and damages. 



The foregoing are the principal alterations made by the 

 Act of 1880, which bear on this question. The Act, as 

 before mentioned, came into force on the 2nd August, 

 1880, and soon began to disturb the trade, and raise the 

 question as to the use of indentures of apprenticeship, as 

 an apprentice could desert without fear of imprisonment, 

 and to sue him for damages under the Employers and 



