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Article 21. —Provisions shall be in force in each Part of the Commonwealth, similar, so far as possible, to those contained in Part VI of the Merchant Shipping Act. 1894, relating to the special inquiry thai may lie held when there is reason to believe thai any master, mate, or certificated engineer is from incompetency or misconduct unfit to discharge his duties. Provided that the power of a Court holding such inquiry to cancel or suspend a certificate of competency or service granted by a Part of the Commonwealth other than thai in which the inquiry is held shall be similar to the power of a Court of formal investigation under the lasi preceding Article. Part VIII. — Reliei and Repatriation oi Seamen; Wages and Effects of deceased Seamkn. Article 22. —A scheme shall be drawn up to which each Pari of the Commonwealth shall give legislative effect, under which provision shall be made — (a) For the relief and repatriation of seamen belonging to any Part of the Commonwealth who may be found in distress or left behind in any other Part or in places abroad, and for defraying the expenses : (b) For payment of the expenses of medical attendance, maintenance, burial, and repatriation in case of injury or illness of seamen ; (c) For dealing with the effects and wages of seamen who are left behind or die in a port outside the Part of the Commonwealth to which they belong : (d) For the recovery from the owner of the ship in proper i ases of any expenses incurred by the administration of any Part of the Commonwealth in the matters referred to in paragraphs {a) and (b). Part IX. — Offences on Board Ship. Article 2-i. —Reciprocal arrangements shall be made for conferring jurisdiction on the lines ol section 686 of the Merchant Shipping Act. 1894, with respect to offences committed on board ships registered in any Part of the Commonwealth. Part X. — General. Article 24. —The present agreement shall come into operation on the day of , and shall continue in full force for a period of live years ami thereafter until the Government of any Part of the Commonwealth gives notice of intention to withdraw therefrom or from any Article thereof. A notice of withdrawal, if seni to the Governments of every other Part of the Commonwealth, shall take effect as regards the Part giving the notice to the extent therein specified at the expiration of twelve months from the date of its despatch, but shall not otherwise affect the continuance in full force of the present agreement. Article 23. —The present agreement may be varied at any time during the continuance thereof l> v common accord. Proposals for variation shall be sent by the Government of the Part proposing the variation, to the Government of the United Kingdom, to be circulated to the Governments of the other Parts of the Commonwealth, who will consider the proposals and endeavour to agree upon the acceptance of the variation with or without amendment. If a common accord is reached with respect to any proposed variation, the present agreement shall be varied accordingly. Article 26. —A conference to consider any matter the subject of the present agreement or any other matter relating to merchant shipping which the Government of any Part of the Commonwealth considers to be of common interest may be called at any time at the instance of the Governments of any three Parts of the Commonwealth. Article 27. —This agreement shall apply to all territories administered under the authority of the Government of any Part of the Commonwealth, and to ships registered there, or in any foreign port of registry, and fulfilling the requirements as to ownership set out in Article 2 (1). VII. ARBITRATION AND DISARMAMENT. In the sphere of foreign affairs, apart from the review of certain special questions of foreign policy, the main task before the Conference was the discussion of the means by which the members of the British Commonwealth could best co-operate in promoting the policy of disarmament and world peace. These questions were considered by a committee under the chairmanship of the Hon. Maurice Dupre. K.C.. .A!.!'.. Solicitor-General, Canada. These discussions naturally covered two main fields— (1) Formal measures for the preservation of peace, including the improvement of the machinery for the peaceful settlement of international disputes ; and (2) Measures for the reduction and limitation of armaments. (1) Formal Measures for the Preservation of Peace. The Conference noted with pleasure the progress which had been made since the last Imperial Conference in this field, and in particular the important steps taken in the conclusion of the Pact of Paris and the acceptance by all members of the

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