3

A.—2

competent hand at the wheel, a look-out man, and an additional hand on deck available for any purpose. In case of any such vessel opening or lodging articles of agreement and failing to have six deck-hands, in addition to the master and two mates, the Superintendent or Deputy-Superintendent should draw the master's attention to the fact, and immediately report the case in writing to the Eesident Detaining Officer or Surveyor of the Board of Trade. The Eesident Detaining Officer or Surveyor should at once, on receiving such notice from the Superintendent, visit the vessel and point out to the master the necessity of providing the requisite number of deck-hands, so that there may always be three on deck in addition to the officer of the watch. Should the master refuse to comply with this, the Detaining Officer should, if satisfied that the undermanning is such as to cause serious danger to life, have the ship provisionally detained. In any case in which the Detaining Officer or Surveyor does not feel justified in detaining a ship so reported to him, he should immediately report the case to the Board of Trade, giving the reasons which have induced him to allow the vessel to proceed to sea. Steamships Coasting or Steamships Oversea less than 700 tons or 200 ft. long. —When a steamvessel of less than 200 ft. in length, or less than 700 tons gross, or any steam-vessel proceeding on a home trade or on a coasting voyage, appears to be unsafe through undermanning, the Detaining Officer should at once inspect the vessel, obtain all necessary particulars, and report fully to the Board of Trade. Sailing-ships. —When articles of agreement are being signed or deposited in the case of sailingvessels the Superintendent should, if it appears to him that the number or efficiency of the crew is such as to fall materially below the general practice in similar vessels, as evidenced by the office records, bring the matter to the master's notice in careful and guarded terms, reporting it at the same time to the Detaining Officer of the Board of Trade. The Detaining Officer should at once have the vessel inspected and reported upon fully in the matter of rig, equipment, labour-saving appliances, intended voyage, together with details, if procurable, of sail area and number of cloths in head of main course, or any other particulars likely to affect the question. These particulars should be sent at once to the Board of Trade, with a report from the Surveyor or principal officer as to whether he considers the vessel so undermanned as to be likely to lead to serious danger to life. In carrying out the above instructions due regard must be had to the nature of the service for which the vessel is intended. In the case of foreign vessels dealt with by section 462 of the Merchant Shipping Act of 1894, as amended by section 1 (2) of the Act of 1897, as they do not require to go through shipping-office formalities when in our ports, trustworthy information as to their manning will chiefly come to hand through formal complaint of the crew, or particulars supplied by Customs or consular officers. If such information be received, the vessel should be visited, and the same course adopted as in the case of a British vessel, the officers being careful to use tact in pointing out to the master his requirements and the result of non-compliance -with the same, communicating at the same time with the Consul of the nation to which the vessel belongs. Where there is reason to believe that the law in force in any foreign country is such as to secure as efficient manning as is required in British ships no attempt should be made to interfere with a vessel unless there be trustworthy evidence that such law has not been complied with. Couetenay Boyle, Secretary. Ingeam B. Walkee, Assistant Secretary.

No. 4. (Circular.) Sib, — Downing Street, Bth March, 1898. I have the honour to transmit to you a copy of a letter addressed to the Board of Trade by the Director of the Bureau at Berne of the International Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, asking to be supplied with copies of all laws and regulations, &c, in operation in the British colonies regarding the protection of copyright. I shall be obliged if you will furnish me, at your early convenience, with two copies of such documents, so far as the colony under your government is concerned, for transmission to the Bureau. I shall also be glad to be furnished with a third set of these documents for the use of this department. It will not, of course, be necessary to forward copies of the Imperial Copyright Acts which are in force in the colony, but a reference to any such Acts or sections thereof should be given in all cases, for the information of the International Bureau. I have, &c, J. CHAMBEBLAIN. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.