Provisions respecting anglers. The tackle of fishers may be seized. Angler, on seizure of his tackle, exempt from penalty. Stealing oysters or oyster brood from oysterbeds. oysters within the limits of any oyster fishery. being convicted thereof before a justice of the peace, shall forfeit and pay, over and above the value of the fish taken or destroyed, (if any,) such sum of money, not exceeding five pounds, as to the justice shall seem meet: provided always, that nothing hereinbefore contained shall extend to any person angling in the day-time; but if any person shall by angling in the day-time unlawfully and wilfully take or destroy, or attempt to take or destroy, any fish in any such water as first mentioned, he shall, on conviction before a justice of the peace, forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding five pounds; and if in any such water as last mentioned, he shall, on the like conviction, forfeit and pay any sum, not exceeding two pounds, as to the justice shall seem meet; and if the boundary of any parish, township, or vill, shall happen to be in or by the side of any such water as is hereinbefore mentioned, it shall be sufficient to prove that the offence was committed either in the parish, township, or vill, named in the indictment or information, or in any parish, township, or vill, adjoining thereto." By sec. 35, "if any person shall at any time be found fishing against the provisions of this act, it shall be lawful for the owner of the ground, water, or fishery, where such offender shall be so found, his servants, or any person authorized by him, to demand from such offender any rods, lines, hooks, nets, or other implements for taking or destroying fish, which shall then be in his possession, and in case such offender shall not immediately deliver up the same, to seize and take the same from him for the use of such owner: provided always, that any person angling in the day-time against the provisions of this act, from whom any implements used by anglers shall be taken, or by whom the same shall be delivered up as aforesaid, shall by the taking or delivering thereof be exempted from the payment of any damages or penalty for such angling." By sec. 36, "if any person shall steal any oysters or oyster brood from any oyster-bed, laying, or fishery, being the property of any other person, and sufficiently marked out or known as such, every such offender shall be deemed guilty of larceny, and, being convicted thereof, shall be punished accordingly; (f) and if any person shall unDredging for lawfully and wilfully use any dredge, or any net, instrument, or engine whatsoever, within the limits of any such oyster fishery, for the purpose of taking oysters or oyster brood, although none shall be actually taken; or shall, with any net, instrument, or engine drag upon the ground or soil of any such fishery, every such person shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, being convicted thereof, shall be punished by fine or imprisonment, or both, as the court shall award; such fine not to exceed twenty pounds, and such imprisonment not to exceed three calendar months; and it shall be sufficient in any indictment or information to describe, either by name or otherwise, the bed, laying, or fishery in which any of the said offences shall have been committed, without stating the same to be in any particular parish, township, or vill: provided always, that nothing herein contained shall prevent any person from catching or fishing for any floating fish within the limits of any oyster fishery with any net, instrument, or engine adapted for taking floating fish only." The 63rd section contains a general provision for the apprehension Proviso. Apprehension (f) For the punishment of larceny see ante, p. 1. of offenders punishable under the act, except only as to the offence of offenders. of angling in the day-time: and the 64th and following sections re- Summary gulate the proceedings in respect of summary convictions. convictions. accessories. The 61st section as to cases of felony, makes principals in the se- Principals in cond degree and accessories before the fact punishable in the same the second manner as principals in the first degree; and accessories after the degree and fact (except receivers) are on conviction liable to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years; and abettors in misdemeanors are liable to be indicted and punished as principal offenders. By section 62, abettors in offences punishable on summary conviction are made punishable as principal offenders. (g) Where an indictment charged the prisoner with unlawfully enter- Indictment. ing a garden adjoining a dwelling-house, and with a certain net stealing out of a pond in the said garden a certain quantity of live gold and silver fish of the goods and chattels of S. T.; the Judges held the indictment good, the case being brought within the 5 Geo. 3, c. 14 (now repealed), without the allegation that the fish were the goods and chattels of any person, and therefore that part of the indictment was surplusage. (h) An indictment on the same repealed statute was good, although it did not state the means by which the fish were taken or stolen, and although it alleged them to have been feloniously stolen. An indictment stated that the prisoner unlawfully did enter into a certain park, through which there ran a river, and "feloniously did steal, take, kill, and carry away certain fish," specifying them: it was objected that the ways and means by which the fish were taken ought to have been specified, and that the fact was alleged to be done feloniously, and the offence was not a felony; but, on a case reserved, the Judges thought there was nothing in these objections. (i) (g) See ante, p. 2, as to hard labour and solitary confinement. (h) Hundson's case, 2 East, P. C., c. 16, s. 43, p. 611. (i) Rex v. Carradice, Russ. & Ry. 205. The Judges held the conviction wrong on the ground that the fish were not “ bred, CHAPTER THE FIFTEENTH. Stealing goods from a vessel in a port, river, canal, &c. Plundering vessels in distress. OF STEALING IN ANY VESSEL IN PORT, OR UPON ANY NAVIGABLE RIVER, &c. OR IN ANY CREEK, &C. AND OF PLUNDERING SHIPWRECKED VESSELS. The 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 29, s. 17, enacts, "that if any person shall steal any goods or merchandise in any vessel, barge, or boat of any description whatsoever, in any port of entry or discharge, or upon any navigable river or canal, or in any creek belonging to or communicating with any such port, river, or canal, or shall steal any goods or merchandise from any dock, wharf, or quay adjacent to any such port, river, canal, or creek, every such offender, being convicted thereof, shall be liable to any of the punishments which the court may award as hereinbefore last mentioned." The 1 Vict. c. 90, s. 2, after reciting the preceding section repeals so much of it " as relates to the punishment of persons convicted of any of the offences" therein contained, and enacts, that "every person convicted after the commencement of this act (1st October 1837) of any such offences respectively, shall be liable to be transported beyond the seas for any term not exceeding fifteen years, nor less than ten years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding three years:" and by sec. 3, the court may "direct such imprisonment to be with or without hard labour, in the common gaol or house of correction, and also direct that the offender shall be kept in solitary confinement for any portion or portions of such imprisonment, or of such imprisonment with hard labour, not exceeding one month at any one time, and not exceeding three months in any one year.' The 1 Vict. c. 87, after by sec. 1 repealing sec. 18 of the 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 29, as to principals in the first and second degree, and accessories before and after the fact respectively, by sec. 8 enacts, "that whosoever shall plunder or steal any part of any ship or vessel which shall be in distress, or wrecked, stranded, or cast on shore, or any goods, merchandise, or articles of any kind belonging to such ship or vessel, (b) and be convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be transported beyond the seas for any term not exceeding fifteen years nor less than ten years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding three years.' " By sec. 9, principals in the second degree and accessories before the fact are punishable in the same manner as principals in the first (b) The 18th section of the 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 29, was similar to sec. 8 of 1 Vict. c. 87, but contained a proviso that where things of small value were cast on shore, and stolen without circumstances of violence, the offender might be prosecuted for simple larceny. degree, and accessories after the fact (except receivers) are liable to be imprisoned for not exceeding two years; and by sec. 10, the court may sentence offenders to be imprisoned, or to be imprisoned with hard labour, in the common gaol or house of correction, and also to be kept in solitary confinement for any portion or portions of such imprisonment, or imprisonment with hard labour, not exceeding one month at any one time, and not exceeding three months in any one year. (c) possession of shipwrecked goods not giving a satis count. The 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 29, s. 19, enacts "that if any goods, mer- Persons in chandise, or articles of any kind, belonging to any ship, or vessel in distress, or wrecked, stranded, or cast on shore as aforesaid, shall, by virtue of a search-warrant, to be granted as hereinafter mentioned, be found in the possession of any person, or on the premises of any factory acperson with his knowledge, and such person, being carried before a justice of the peace, shall not satisfy the justice that he came lawfully by the same, then the same shall, by order of the justice, be forthwith delivered over to or for the use of the rightful owner thereof; and the offender, on conviction of such offence before the justice, shall forfeit and pay, over and above the value of the goods, merchandise, or articles, such sum of money, not exceeding twenty pounds, as to the justice shall seem meet.” By sec. 20, "if any person shall offer or expose for sale any goods, merchandise, or articles whatsoever, which shall have been unlawfully taken, or reasonably suspected so to have been, from any ship or vessel in distress, or wrecked, stranded, or cast on shore as aforesaid, in every such case any person to whom the same shall be offered for sale, or any officer of the customs or excise, or peace officer, may lawfully seize the same, and shall with all convenient speed carry the same, or give notice of such seizure, to some justice of the peace; and if the person who shall have offered or exposed the same for sale, being duly summoned by such justice, shall not appear and satisfy the justice that he came lawfully by such goods, merchandise, or articles, then the same shall, by order of the justice, be forthwith delivered over to or for the use of the rightful owner thereof, upon payment of a reasonable reward (to be ascertained by the justice) to the person who seized the same; and the offender, on conviction of such offence by the justice, shall forfeit and pay, over and above the value of the goods, merchandise, or articles, such sum of money, not exceeding twenty pounds, as to the justice shall seem meet." If any person offers shipwrecked goods for sale, the goods may be seized, &c. The 63rd section contains a general provision for the apprehension Apprehension and discovery of offenders punishable under the act: and the 64th of offenders. Summary conand following sections regulate the proceedings in respect of sum- victions. mary convictions. By the 61st section, in cases of felony, principals in the second Principals and degree and accessories before the fact are punishable in the same accessories. manner as principals in the first degree; and accessories after the fact (except receivers) are on conviction liable to be imprisoned for misdemeanors any term not exceeding two years; and abettors in misdemeanors Abettors in are liable to be indicted and punished as principal offenders. By misdemeanor section 62, abettors in offences punishable on summary conviction, offences. are made punishable as principal offenders. (c) See the sections, ante, vol. 1, p. 868. As to the meaning of goods, &c. Luggage of passengers. It may be observed that in a case upon the repealed statute 24 Geo. 2, c. 45, the words "goods, wares, and merchandise" were considered as restrained to such goods, &c. as were usually lodged in vessels, or on wharfs or quays. (d) So that where the prisoner was indicted upon that statute for stealing a considerable sum of money out of a ship in port, the case was holden not to be within the statute, though great part of the money consisted of Portugal money not made current by proclamation, but commonly current. (e) The luggage of a passenger going by a steamer is within the words "goods or merchandise " in sec. 17. The prisoners were indicted for stealing a portmanteau, two coats, and various other articles, in a vessel upon the navigable river Thames. The property in question was the luggage of a passenger going on board the Columbian steamer from London to Hamburgh; and it was held that the object of the statute was to protect things on board a ship, and that the luggage of a passenger came within the general description of goods. (f) We have seen that where the master and owner of a ship took some of the goods delivered to him to carry, it was held not to be larceny, as he did not take the goods out of their package: and it was also held that even if under the circumstances it had amounted to larceny, it would not have been an offence within the repealed statute of the 24 Geo. 2. (g) Where the prisoner was indicted for stealing a quantity of deals "in a certain barge on the navigable river Thames," and it appeared that the barge had been brought into Limehouse dock, and there moored; and by the efflux of the tide it was left aground, and in the night the deals were stolen; it was held that the offence laid was not proved within the meaning of the 24 Geo. 2, c. 45, as the evidence. proved that the offence was not committed on the navigable river Thames, but upon the banks of one of its creeks. (gg) By the 1 Vict. c. 87, s. 13, any felony punishable under that act committed within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England or Ireland "shall be dealt with, inquired of, tried and determined in the same manner as any other felony committed within that jurisdiction." (h) (d) 2 East, P. C. c. 16, s. 85, p. 647. (g) Rex v. Madox, Mich. T. 1805. Russ. & Ry. 92. Ante, p. 60. (gg) Pike's case, 2 East, P. C., c. 16, s. 85, p. 647. (h) By sec. 14, the act does not extend to Scotland. |