446 INTERNATIONAL LAWS FOR THE 



Trade directs that, in case of deaths occurring on board, 

 "On arrival at the port of destination in the United 

 Kingdom the official log book must be deposited with the 

 Superintendent of Mercantile Marine, to be forwarded in 

 due course to the Registrar General of Seamen." In the 

 first place the Act of 1854 was not framed to meet the 

 cases of " lost overboard," or " drowned from capsizing of 

 boat," so common amongst fishermen ; it was evidently 

 framed to meet the more frequent occurrence on board 

 foreign-going ships of death from diseases such as scurvy, 

 smallpox, fevers, &c. Cases of drowning being the excep- 

 tion in this class of ships. To meet the case of fishermen 

 this Act should be amended on this point, for at present, 

 strictly speaking, the law does not order the entry in the 

 log book of the death of a man which does not occur 

 on board, as in the case of a man being drowned, or cap- 

 sized from a small boat. In the second place, if the log 

 book retains its present form (and this applies in case of the 

 drowning of a man) the log book and agreement would have 

 to be given up on the next arrival of the vessel in port, though 

 her voyage was not finished. This again was intended to 

 apply to foreign-going ships, which, when they arrive in port, 

 have terminated their voyage, and done with their crews, 

 whereas a fishing vessel, as before explained, makes a 

 number of trips to port before her voyage is completed. It 

 is useless on the part of the Board of Trade officials to keep 

 attempting to incorporate all these clauses of the Act of 

 1854 (which were not intended to apply to fishing vessels, 

 but principally to large ships), with new legislation, espe- 

 cially adapted to fishing vessels. It proves either in- 

 capacity or carelessness. If the former, it is high time 

 that practical men should be selected to advise on the ques- 

 tion ; if the latter, then the sooner the fishery legislation is 



