Tonnage Legislation

Abstract

WHEN it was announced, towards the close of the year 1880, that a Royal Commission had been appointed to consider the operation of the Tonnage Law, the action taken by the Government occasioned no surprise amongst persons interested in shipping. Disputes and differences of opinion, between the officials of the Board of Trade on the one side, and shipbuilders or shipowners on the other, had been growing more and more frequent in recent years; the rapid development of shipbuilding and the introduction of new types of ships or new systems of construction making difficult the application of the Law of 1854. When that Law was passed its language was clear and unmistakable, strictly applying to the ships then built. Wood still held the first place as the material for construction, and the technical terms used by Moorsom bore special reference to wood ships, although they were not inapplicable to the existing iron ships. Ships were then of moderate size and simple construction; ocean steam-navigation was comparatively in its infancy; and the marvellous growth in dimensions, speeds, and diversity of type which has taken place in the last quarter of a century could not have been foreseen—much less provided for in framing the Tonnage Law. It will readily be seen, therefore, that controversies of opinion were unavoidable when the Act of 1854 had to be extended to modern steamships, every clause being subiected to the closest scrutiny, and a strict legal interpretation being given to phrases which were originally clear enough, but of which the modern readings were doubtful or obscure. Shipowners naturally desired to secure the minimum nominal tonnage for their ships, since dues and taxes were assessed thereon; the Board of Trade surveyors, on the other hand, while acting with perfect fairness, might be expected to adopt an interpretation of the law which tended towards a tonnage exceeding that admitted by the owner. In some notable instances of recent occurrence the Board of Trade has either had to yield to these claims for reduced tonnage-measurement, or has been be aten in an appeal to the Law Courts; and it was natural, under these circumstances, that an attempt should be made to secure such an amendment of the Act of 1854 as was needed to prevent further controversy.