The Tonnage of Ships. 1 59 



that was not enough ; it was also thought necessary to make 

 a further allowance for the spaces in which coal should be 

 carried. For this two alternative plans were provided. 



First, if the space occupied by machinery in a paddle steamer 

 is between 20 per cent, and 30 per cent, of the gross register 

 tonnage, the allowance shall be 37 per cent, of such gross ton- 

 nage. In the case of screw steamers, if the space occupied by 

 machinery is between 13 per cent, and 20 per cent, of the gross 

 tonnage, the allowance shall be 32 per cent, of such gross ton- 

 nage. Or secondly, at the option of the owner, the allowance 

 shall be in paddle steamers one and a half times, and in screw 

 steamers one and three-quarter times the actual space occupied 

 by the machinery. 



There was a curious flaw in the Act of 1854, by which it was 

 possible to include in the allowance for machinery space certain 

 spaces above deck not included in the gross tonnage, and by 

 this means a great number of vessels were reduced to an 

 absurdly low nett register tonnage. This defect was remedied 

 by the Act of 1889, so that it is not necessary to discuss it now. 



Since the passing of the Act of 1854, several Royal Commis- 

 sions have sat, and Acts of Parliament have been passed making 

 sundry changes. It would be interesting and instructive to 

 trace the history of these changes and assign causes for them, 

 but time would not permit. 



In the case of steamers, we may look upon the law as it at 

 present stands, that is to say as amended by the Act of 1889, as 

 the result of over 50 years' experience of the principle of taking 

 internal cubic capacity as a basis for nett register tonnage ; and 

 yet vessels measured under its provisions present so many 

 startling anomalies as to make out a prima facie case for a 

 complete change in the present system of measurement. It is 

 needless to prove this, as a reference to Lloyd's Register will 

 show innumerable cases where vessels contribute dues not in 

 proportion to their size and presumable earning power, and 

 certainly out of all proportion to the services rendered. The 

 reason for this disparity between services rendered and taxes 



