Harbour Master, whose duty it shall be, if the abutment or wharf 30 Vic. c. 20. designated is unoccupied, to place or cause such vessel to be placed as speedily as possible thereat, or if the abutment or wharf moored to designed is occupied, then if the master or consignee of such wharf. vessel shall deem it necessary, to place such vessel at the outside of the vessel or vessels occupying the front of the abutment or wharf; and all vessels shall be placed in the front of any such abutment or wharf as soon as the same shall become vacant in rotation according to the date of their respective applications to the Harbour Master.

main at a

IV. That when a vessel is placed at an abutment or wharf for Gives the the purpose of discharging cargo, and the master or consignee is right to reready to ship cargo as soon as the inward cargo is discharged, wharf for both such vessel shall have the right of remaining in her original posi-unlading and tion at such abutment or wharf until her outward cargo is laden; and shipping but no vessel from which cargo is not actually discharging, or cargo. which is not in actual preparation to receive cargo, shall be allowed

to remain at any abutment or wharf to the exclusion of any other vessel.

V. That the rates of wharfage in the schedule to this Act Rates of annexed shall be paid in respect of vessels having or occupying wharfage to berths at any abutment or wharf for each and every day or part of be paid. day during which any such vessel shall be thereat; and half of such rates shall be paid in respect of vessels occupying outside berths for each and every day that an outside berth shall be occupied by any such vessel.

VI. That in every case where a vessel shall occupy portions of Proportion to abutments or of an abutment and extended slip, the rates of be paid for wharfage aforesaid shall be payable to the owners of each abut- occupying ment or extended slip against any part of which the vessel shall be lying, in proportions to be regulated by the respective spaces which may be occupied.

more than one wharf.

VII. That all rates of wharfage payable in respect of the use Receiveror occupation of any public abutment or extended slip shall be General to colcollected and received by the Receiver-General and Treasurer, and lect wharfage. shall be applied by him in aid of the general revenue of the Colony, and on neglect of payment the same may be sued for and recovered in the name of the Receiver-General and Treasurer for the time being.

covered.

VIII. That the rates by this Act imposed shall and may be reco- How wharfage vered from the owner or master of the vessel in respect of which may be rethey are payable; and in the absence of such owner, and the absence or inability of the master to pay the same, the consignee of the vessel shall be liable therefor.

IX. That this Act shall commence and take effect on the 1st Commenceday of June next after the passing thereof.

ment of Act.

Proviso.

On every additional ton, 1d.

per ton.

5 0

Provided, however, that nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to prevent agreements being entered into whereby lower rates of wharfage than the foregoing may be charged, taken and recovered for the use of any abutment, wharf, or extended slip, as aforesaid.

PREAMBLE.

Parts of Acts repealed.

PART VI.

CLASS VI.

CONTRACTS OF SERVICE.

24 Vic. c. 8. An Act for regulating the relative Duties of of Masters and Servants, for providing for the Apprenticing of Children, and for other Purposes. (19th April, 1861.)

W

HEREAS the laws now in force for regulating the relative Duties of Masters and Servants, and for the Apprenticing of Children, require alteration; May it, &c.:

I. That all that Act, passed in the third year of her Majesty's reign, entitled "An Act for regulating the relative Duties of Masters and Servants, for providing for the Apprenticing of Children, and for other Purposes," except so much thereof as declares the Act of Parliament of the sixth year of the reign of King George the Fourth, chapter 129, to be in force in this Colony, and the Act of the said third year of her Majesty's reign, chapter 36,

to amend the first-mentioned Act, except so far as the same, or 24 Vic. c. 8. either of them, relating to any contract or agreement of service, entered into under the first-mentioned Act, shall be and the same

are hereby repealed.

II. That no contract of service shall be in force within the Contracts of

Bahama Islands for any greater or longer space of time than one service.
calendar month from the date thereof, unless the same shall be
reducing into writing, with all the formalities hereinafter men-
tioned and particularly designated.

contracts.

III. That no written contract of service shall be valid or binding Formalities to upon the parties thereto, or be of any force or effect whatsoever, be observed in unless it shall be signed with the name, or in case of illiterate persons with the mark, of each of the contracting parties, in the presence of a Justice of the Peace; nor unless such Justice shall subscribe such written contract in attestation of the fact that it was entered into by the parties voluntarily, and with a clear understanding of its meaning and effect.

IV. That such written contracts, as aforesaid, shall not be bind- Duration of ing or valid for any greater or longer period than one year from contracts. their respective dates, and that every such written contract shall expire at the close of the time of service therein stipulated for,

without any notice on either side being given.

V. That every such written contract, as aforesaid, shall specify, Particulars to as accurately as may be, the general nature of the employment in be specified in which the servant is to be engaged; and when any such contract contracts. is for work to be performed not by the piece, but by time, it shall also in like manner specify the number of hours of daily labour, and the hours of the day at which such labour is to commence, to be suspended, to recommence, and to terminate; and in cases in which the remuneration, or any part of it, is to be made, not in money, but in kind, every such contract, as aforesaid, shall specify, with all practicable precision, the nature, amount, and quality of the articles to be supplied to the servant; and the time when, and the place or places at which, such articles are to be delivered.

ment.

VI. That it shall not be lawful to pay the wages of any servant Mode of payin kind when the same has been contracted to be paid in money, nor to pay such wages in money when contracted to be paid in kind, nor to pay the same in any other than the stipulated kind, except by and with the express consent of the servants.

VII. That it shall and may be lawful for the father, or, in case Apprenticeof a fatherless child, the mother, or in case of total orphanage, the ship of fatherless, motherguardian of any child above the age of ten years, and under the less, or orphan age of sixteen years, to apprentice out such child to any trade, in children to the practice of which any peculiar art or skill is required, for any trades. term not exceeding five years.

VIII. That it shall be lawful for the father, or, in the case of a The same to fatherless child, for the mother, or, in case of total orphanage, for domestic serthe guardian of any child above the age of ten years, and under vice. the age of sixteen, to apprentice out such child as a domestic servant, or in any other description of service save and except as a labourer in the manufacture of salt, for any term not exceeding three years.

IX. That whenever any child, between the ages aforesaid, is or Signing of becomes chargeable on any public funds for support, or, if not Indentures in actually chargeable, is an orphan destitute of the means of support, children, case of orphan

24 Vic. c. 8. it shall be lawful for the Governor to authorize the apprenticing out of such child, as hereinbefore provided for with respect to other children, and for that purpose to appoint some person to execute the deed of apprenticeship as the guardian of such child.

without guardians.

At what age persons may apprentice themselves.

Assigment

of Indentures regulated.

Assignment to

be attested by Justice.

Apprentice
not to be taken
out of Colony
without con-
sent.

Penalty on unlawfully attempting to remove apprentice from Colony.

X. That it shall and may be lawful for any person, of the full age of sixteen years, or upwards, to apprentice himself or herself out, for any term not exceeding five years, to any trade, in the practice of which any peculiar art or skill is required.

XI. That any indenture of apprenticeship entered into under this Act may, with the full consent of all parties thereto, be lawfully assigned: Provided, however, that, in the case of a destitute child, no such assignment shall be valid, unless made with the consent, and approved of by two Justices of the Peace for the district in which the child shall be living, such consent and approval to be certified in writing by the Justices on the deed of memorandum of assignment.

XII. That no indenture of apprenticeship, or assignment thereof, shall be valid under this Act, unless it shall be executed in the presence of and attested by a Justice of the Peace.

XIII. That no person apprenticed under this Act shall be taken out of the Colony against his will, nor without the consent of two Justices of the Peace, testified in writing, and given, after previous communication on the part of the Justices with the apprentice, and full explanation made by them to him of his right to refuse to quit the Colony.

XIV. That every person attempting to remove from the Colony an apprentice, in contravention of the provisions of this Act, and every person aiding and assisting in such removal shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable, on conviction, to fine and imprisonment, or both, at the discretion of the Court before which the conviction may take place.

Punishment of XV. That if any person apprenticed under this Act shall absent Apprentices himself without leave from the service of his master, or shall for misconduct. neglect to perform all proper work required to be performed by him, or shall perform his work negligently, or otherwise improperly, or shall in any other manner misconduct himself as an apprentice, he shall, on conviction before a Justice of the Peace, be liable, in the discretion of such Justice, to be imprisoned with or without hard labour in any lawful prison of the Colony for any term not exceeding twenty days.

Punishment for decoying Apprentices.

Punishment

of servants for breach of con

tract.

XVI. That any person who shall decoy or entice any apprentice from the service of the person to whom he or she may be apprenticed, or who shall receive or harbour any apprentice who may improperly quit the service to which he is apprenticed, shall for every offence forfeit and pay a sum not less than two pounds or exceeding ten pounds, to be recovered before any one of her Majesty's Justices of the Peace of the Colony; one moiety of which sum shall be paid into the Public Treasury of these Islands, in aid of the expenses of the Government; the other moiety shall be paid to the party entitled to the service of the apprentice so enticed away, received or harboured, as the case may be.

XVII. That on complaint preferred and proof made, before any Justice, that any servant who has entered into a contract of service under this Act, has neglected to perform his stipulated work, or that he has performed such work negligently or improperly, or

that by negligence or other improper conduct he has injured the 24 Vic. c. 8. property of his master entrusted to his care, it shall and may be lawful for such Justice, in his discretion, to adjudge the servant so offending to any one or more of the following penalties, that is to say to pay to his master any sum of money not exceeding the amount or value of one month's wages, to be paid in such time and manner as the said Justice shall direct; or to commit such servant to some lawful prison, there to remain with or without hard labour, for any term not exceeding thirty days; or to cancel and dissolve the contract of service.

tract.

XVIII. That on complaint preferred and proof made by a Punishment servant, who has entered into a contract of service under this Act, of masters for before any Justice of the Peace, that his master has not paid such breach of conservant's wages, or delivered to him the articles stipulated for, or that the articles so delivered were not of the prescribed amount and quality, or that, by negligence or other improper conduct of the master, the contract of service has not been faithfully performed, or that the master has ill-used such servant, it shall and may be lawful for such Justice to make an order for the payment of the wages in arrear, or for the delivery of the stipulated articles, or for compensation to be made to the servant for any injury by him sustained from such negligence or improper conduct of the master, or by his non-fulfilment of the contract, or by ill-usage of such

servant.

XIX. That if any such order as last aforesaid be not complied Power of with, according to the exigency and tenor thereof, it shall and Justice on order being may be lawful for the Justice making the same, to issue a warrant disobeyed. for the seizure and sale of the goods and chattels of the offender, to the amount necessary for making the compensation awarded by such order; and if no goods and chattels, or not sufficient goods and chattels can be found, it shall and may be lawful for such Justice, on such fact being made to appear to his satisfaction, to issue his further or other warrant for the arrest of such master, and for his committal to prison for any term not exceeding thirty days, unless full compensation be sooner made.

XX. That in addition to or substitution of any of the punishments next herein before mentioned, it shall and may be lawful, in any of the cases aforesaid, for the Justice before whom any such master shall be convicted as aforesaid, to order the contract of service to be cancelled, and such contract shall, from the making of such order as last aforesaid, be utterly null and void.

Power of Justice to

dissolve con

tracts.

cases.

XXI. That if any question shall arise between a master and Arbitration servant respecting the meaning of any contract entered into in certain between them under this Act, or the rights of either party under the same, or the obligation or obligations imposed on either party thereby, it shall and may be lawful for any Justice of the Peace, on the application of either party, to arbitrate between them; and his award on all such questions so brought before him shall be conclusive without appeal.

XXII. That nothing herein contained shall prevent, or be con- This Act not strued to prevent, any proceedings before the ordinary tribunals to prevent proof the Colony, against any master for ill-usage of a servant, or ceedings at against any servant for ill-usage of a master, if the Justice of the Peace before whom the complaint shall be lodged shall decline to

law.