feature of the actual Custom House clearance of a steamer worth stressing is strict obedience to Custom House regulations.

Signing on Crew.

An appointment should be made with the Mercantile Marine to sign on either in their office or on board ship.

When the crew is mustered a Board of Trade official reads over the conditions on the articles to them.

When the conditions are understood and agreed by the crew, the crew take an oath to abide by the conditions, and sign the crew list.

A time is then arranged when they have to report on board the vessel.

Fortnightly or monthly allotment and/or advance rates are issued if required. The amount payable is at the discretion of the captain, and usually does not exceed half month's pay, and in the case of fortnightly allotments, quarter month's pay.

A.A. certificate granted when full crew is signed on. (A.A. certificate is required to get clearance from Custom House.)

Insurance cards, procurable at any post office, should be filled in for each member of the crew.

Paying Off Crew.

An appointment is made with the Mercantile Marine to pay off either in their office, or on board ship.

The men are mustered at time arranged.

When paying off, the amount claimed is checked with the wages book, and the employee's contribution to National Health Insurance is deducted from his wages.

Noting Protest.

There are, in every town, certain officials before whom protest can be made. Protest is the declaration made before a notary public, justice of the peace or consul, by the master of a vessel on arrival, giving particulars of the voyage he has just completed and a description of any accident or incident during the voyage which he may have reason to imagine has caused damage to the ship or cargo, and he accordingly "protests" against any such

loss or damage. It is also customary when executing this protest for the master to note formally any irregularities on the part of his charterers or shippers of the cargo. To provide against his position being prejudiced through subsequent legal action, the master has the right to extend or amplify his protest later (within six months) if necessary. The importance of noting of protest in the United Kingdom is chiefly in connection with the subsequent adjustment of any claims which may be made and their ultimate recovery from the underwriters.

Although the voyage has been quite uneventful, the master, as a rule, protests as a purely precautionary measure in "Common Form" against "wind and weather."

Noting of protest does not apply, of course, to a vessel which arrives in ballast or to an outgoing steamer, but is eminently desirable in cases of arrival with cargo.

The practice in regard to noting protest in foreign countries does not concern us here, but it may be remarked that in certain countries noting protest is made compulsory by law.

The form on which note of protest is made is simple, and an example will be found in the Appendix.

Exercising Liens on Cargo.

This is an operation requiring considerable care and necessitates legal assistance being called in, as it will be readily understood that exercising lien on a cargo is an exceedingly serious matter.

The causes which, as a rule, lead up to the exercising of a lien on owners' behalf are either the inability, through financial difficulties or otherwise, or the simple unwillingness of a receiver of cargo, to meet what the owner or his broker considers his just claims in respect of freight or other charges.

Before lien is definitely exercised, prolonged negotiations may take place, but should the receiver prove obdurate and decline to pay freight up to the extent which the broker considers safe and reasonable, the broker has no course open to him but to take possession, temporarily, of such cargo as may be still in the steamer, or discharged but not delivered. In the majority of cases the simple expedient of stopping the discharge is taken until a definite decision in favour of either the owners or the receivers is reached.

When it has been definitely decided to exercise the lien, the facts of the case are placed before the broker's legal adviser, who, in turn, advises the parties concerned of "the contemplated action of his client," and should, in the interim, no circumstances intervene to deflect the progress of the law, the lien is exercised and the goods in question impounded.

Should the attempt to reach a settlement prove abortive, the goods are offered for sale in the best market, and from the proceeds the owner recoups himself for the amount which is due to him.

The foregoing is a brief description of the circumstances surrounding the exercising of a lien on cargo, but the issue is in many cases of a highly involved nature, and third party interests, etc., are frequently concerned, so that the exercising of lien may prove a matter of delicacy and difficulty.

In the bulk of cases in the United Kingdom, the principal reason for the exercising of a lien on cargo is the receivers of the cargo defaulting in the payment of freight due.

Time Charter: Delivery.

When a steamer is about to enter on a time charter, the owner's broker is actively engaged in preparing the way.

When fully au fait with the terms of the projected time charter, it falls to the owners' broker to hand over the steamer either to the charterers themselves or to their representatives, should they be taking delivery of the steamer on time charter at a port other than that in which they are resident. In this work the Baltime charter is fully dealt with, and by reference therto will be seen the main features which concern a broker who has the handling of a steamer about to go on time charter.

The charterers, as a rule, agree to take over whatever bunker coal is on board at the current price at the port of handing over, and the broker has, therefore, to fix the quantity of bunker coal remaining on board at time of delivery, issue the necessary certificate and agree the price with which his owners are to be credited. Speaking generally, the owners' broker clears up affairs, so that the steamer's time charter starts clear, and, of course, the work is done in conjunction with the broker who happens to be representing the time charterers of the steamer. A broker

may represent not only the owner of the steamer but the time charterer, but, as a rule, and preferably, a separate agent is appointed.

For bunker coal on board, and actual time of delivery, the owners' broker receives signed certificates, and particular regard must be paid to the time at which the steamer actually went on time charter.

After all the necessary certificates have been arranged, the owner is entitled to immediate payment from the charterer for the first half month or month's hire due in advance under the time charter.

As in the case of an ordinary notice of readiness, the steamer can only be handed over within the hours stipulated in the charter party, with the terms of which document the broker is, of course, fully conversant. The operation of handing over a steamer on time charter is comparatively simple, and calls for no special comment beyond what has been said.

Re-delivery.

When a steamer is handed back to an owner on the expiry of a time charter at a port where the steamer's owner is not resident, a broker is employed to accept the steamer and adjust, as far as possible, outstanding matters between the time charterer and the

owner.

It is needless to recapitulate the duties here, as they are simply the reverse process of handing over a steamer on time charter.

Inasmuch as the charterer is obliged to take over whatever coal is remaining on board when the steamer goes on time charter, so the owner is obliged to take over from the charterer whatever coal is on board at port of re-delivery on completion of the charter, at current price.

The actual time of taking over and the other adjustments are simple, and, unless any trouble in the interpretation of the charter party has arisen, the taking over of a steamer on re-delivery requires no special mention.

Broker's Authority.

In this chapter we have dealt with the practical side only of agency work; elsewhere in this book the legal aspect of agency is dealt

with so far as it concerns the broker's authority and his liability, not only in the matter of representing the owner in purely an agency capacity, but in cases of signing charters and chartering negotiations generally.

Bills of Lading.

This subject is dealt with elsewhere, and we have only to consider at this juncture how these documents are handled by by a broker acting as agent for a steamer.

The importance of the bill of lading cannot be too strongly emphasized, as in the case of a dispute it is the document, in many cases, on which the steamer bases her claim. In the event of a steamer arriving with cargo, the broker secures from the master his copies of the bills of lading, and it is only on ascertaining that these tally in every detail with those presented by the receivers of the cargo, that the cargo is released. The cancellation of a receiver's bill of lading is important, and, after cancellation, it is retained by the broker and passed on to the owners in due course along with the other documents.

Assuming that the bills of lading are all in order and the necessary payment to account of freight due, if any, is made, the broker issues the necessary delivery order on the stevedores or wharfingers handling the cargo, and this in turn is presented by the receivers as their authority to lift the cargo. In addition to payment of freight, the broker secures at the same time any other charges for which the receivers may be liable.

Average.

A general average case calls for careful handling on the broker's part, and he requires to render the master and owners considerable assistance. If general average has arisen, it is the broker's duty to have the average bond signed by the various parties concerned, in order to protect the ship and the freight to the fullest extent possible. This average bond must be signed before the discharge commences, otherwise the interests of the steamer may be prejudiced. A form of average bond will be found in the Appendix, and its terms and provisions are so simple as to call for no remarks.