A BILL FOR The better Preservation and Regulation of the [Note. - The Words printed in Italics are proposed to be inserted in Committee.] W HEREAS it is necessary that further Provision should be Preamble. the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and 5 Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows; that is to say, may con certain Cases. I. That from Time to Time after the passing of this Act, upon Admiralty the Presentation of a Memorial to the Lords of the Admiralty by stitute Na10 not less than in Number of the Persons rated to the vigation Relief of the Poor (in the Rate made next before the Time of the Districts in Presentation of such Memorial) of any City, Town, Borough, Parish, or Place adjacent to or interested in the Preservation or Improvement of any Port, District, Harbour, Haven, tidal Waters 15 or navigable River in the United Kingdom, for which there is no local Board constituted by Act of Parliament nor Royal Charter for the Management or Conservancy thereof, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, if She or they think fit, by Order 655. A Order in Council to order that a Board, to be called the "Navigation Committee," shall be constituted for the Conservancy of such Port, Harbour, Haven, tidal Waters or navigable River within such District as shall be assigned by such Order, and thereupon such Board shall be constituted accordingly, in the Manner directed by 5 this Act, and shall have and be subject to the Powers and Duties vested in and imposed upon such Committee by this Act; and the District so assigned shall be a Navigation District for the Purposes of this Act. Constitution II. That in every such Navigation District such Number of 10 of local Persons, qualified, as shall be fixed by any Order in Council, shall be Navigation Committees. elected by the Persons rated to the Relief of the Poor (in the Rate made next before the Time of such Election) in respect of Property situated within the District for which the Election is held, and by the Owners of such Property, to be, and when so elected shall be, within 15 and for such District, the Navigation Committee under this Act; and One Third in Number of such Committee shall go out of Office in each Year subsequently to the Year in which the Election takes place; and the Day for holding the First Election, and on which such One Third shall go out of Office, and the Place of holding 20 the First and every subsequent Election, shall be appointed by any Order in Council; and the necessary Expenses attendant upon any such Election shall be paid out of the Tonnage Duties levied under this Act in the District for which the Election is held. Qualification of Members of Navigation Committee. Commissioners Clauses Act to be in force within Navi gation Dis. tricts. III. That every Person elected to be Member of any Navigation 25 Committee under this Act shall at the Time of his Election, and so long as he shall continue in Office by virtue thereof, be resident within the District for which he is elected, or within Seven Milesthereof, and be seised or possessed of Real or Personal Estate, or both, to such Value or Amount as shall be fixed by any Order in 30 Council, or be a Person so resident and rated to the Relief of the Poor of some Parish or Place of which some Part is within such District upon such annual Value as shall be fixed by any Order in Council: Provided always, that it shall not be lawful to require that any Person be so seised or possessed to a Value or Amount 35 exceeding One thousand Pounds, or to require that any Person be so rated upon an annual Value exceeding Thirty Pounds. IV. That the Commissioners Clauses Act, 1847, except the Clauses with respect to the Recovery of Damages not specially provided for, and of Penalties, and to the Determination of any other Matter 40 referred to the Justices and to the Sheriff, and with respect to the Access to the special Act, and except in so far as the said Commis sioners sioners Clauses Act is repugnant to or inconsistent with any of the Provisions or Purposes of this Act, shall be and the same is hereby incorporated with this Act, and shall be in force in every Navigation District under this Act; and for the Purposes of this Act the 5 following Expressions used in that Act shall for the Purposes of this Act be construed as follows; that is to say, the Expression "the special Act" shall mean this Act; the Expression "the Undertaking" shall mean any Works which any Navigation Committee under this Act is or may be authorized to execute; and the Expression 10 "the Commissioners" shall mean any Navigation Committee elected under this Act. Committee Master. V. That each Navigation Committee elected under this Act shall Navigation from Time to Time appoint a fit and proper Person to be the Harbour to appoint a Master to regulate and superintend the Port, Harbour, Haven, Harbour 15 tidal Waters or navigable River within the District for which the Committee is elected, and the mooring, anchoring, and placing of Vessels therein; and every such Harbour Master shall be removable by the Committee by whom he is appointed, and shall be paid such Remuneration as shall be assigned by such Committee. Committee Vessels; 20 VI. That any such Navigation Committee may from Time to Navigation Time build, purchase, hire, employ, and use such Vessels for dredging, may hire scouring, cleansing, and deepening the Bed of the Port, Harbour, or Dredging Haven, or improving the tidal Waters or navigable River, within their District, so far as they lawfully can or may, and such other 25 Vessels to be used for any other Purposes of this Act as they shall think fit; and any such Committee may, with the Consent of the and contract Lords of the Admiralty, contract for the Purchase, Removal, or moval of Abatement of any Milldam, Pound, Weir, Lock, or Work tending to Milldams, the Obstruction or Injury of Navigation, or whereby the Flow of the &c. 30 Tide is or may be interrupted or impeded. for the Re may make VII. That any such Navigation Committee may from Time to Time Navigation make such Byelaws as they think fit for regulating the Deposit, Committee Removal, and Disposal of Ballast brought by Vessels entering the Byelaws Port, Harbour, Haven, Waters, or River within their District, and for respecting Deposit of 35 regulating the Supply of all such Stone, Gravel, or other Materials as Ballast. may be necessary or useful for supplying Ballast to such Vessels; and such Byelaws or any of them may from Time to Time be altered or repealed by the Navigation Committee by whom the same are made; and the Provisions of the Harbours, Docks, and Piers 40 Clauses Act, 1847, with respect to Byelaws shall, so far as the same are incorporated with this Act, apply to all Byelaws made by any Navigation Committee under this Act. 655. VIII. That Navigation may demand a Tonnage Duty of One Penny per Ton upon the Tonnage of tering their Navigation VIII. That any such Navigation Committee, with the Consent in Writing of the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for the Consideration of all Matters of Trade and Plantations, but not otherwise, may demand, collect, and receive, for and in respect of every Vessel from Time to Time mooring or anchoring within the District 5 for which such Committee is elected, Tonnage Duties not exceeding One Penny per Ton upon the Tonnage of such Vessel; and the Proceeds of such Duties shall be applied in the first instance in paying any Expenses incurred in the Election of such Committee under this Act, the Remuneration to the Harbour Masters appointed by such 10 Committee, and in laying, driving, and fixing Buoys and Beacons ; and in case the annual Amount of such Rates shall exceed Pounds, the Surplus shall be applied in maintaining or improving the Port, Harbour, Haven, tidal Waters or navigable River in or for which the Duties shall have been levied, in such Manner as the 15 Lords of the Admiralty shall from Time to Time order or approve : Provided always, that if and whenever any Vessel shall return either once or oftener to the same Port, Harbour, Haven, Waters, or River, in or in respect of which such Duties shall have been paid, within One Calendar Month after the last Payment of such Duties, no 20 further Demand of such Duties shall be made in respect of such Vessel until after the Expiration of One Calendar Month from such Payment. IX. That every such Navigation Committec shall keep Books of Account in which shall be entered the several Sums received by or 25 payable to them under this Act, the Tonnage of each Vessel in respect of which Duties are received or payable under this Act, the Name of the Master and the registered Tonnage thereof, and, if loaded, the Nature of its Cargo, the Port or Place to which such Vessel belongs, the Port or Place from which on each Occasion such 30 Vessel arrived, and the Place to which on each Occasion such Vessel is bound; and an Abstract of such Books, showing the several Particulars aforesaid, shall be forwarded yearly to the Lords of the Admiralty on the First Day of February; and every such Committee shall every Year cause an annual Account in abstract to 35 be prepared showing the Receipt and Expenditure of all Monies levied by virtue of this Act for the Year ending on the Thirtyfirst Day of December or on some other convenient Day in each Year, under the several distinct Heads of Receipt and Expenditure, with a Statement of the Balance of such Account, duly audited and 40 certified by the Clerk for the Time being of the Committee, and shall send a Copy of such last-mentioned Account, free of Charge, to the Clerk of the Peace in England and Ireland, and the Sheriff Clerk in Scotland, for the County or for the Counties respectively, if more than than One, in which the District is situated, on or before the Expiration of One Month from the Day on which such Account shall end, and the last-mentioned Accounts shall be open to the Inspection of the Public at all seasonable Hours, on Payment of the Sum of 5 One Shilling for every such Inspection. Committee Security of X. That any such Navigation Committee may from Time to Time, Navigation with the Consent of the Lords of the Admiralty, borrow and take up may borrow at Interest, on the Credit of the Tonnage Duties to be collected under Money on this Act, such Sums of Money, not exceeding 10 in any One Year, as they from Time to Time think necessary, and may, for the Purpose of securing the Repayment of the Monies so borrowed, with Interest for the same, mortgage such Duties to the Persons making the Advances or their respective Trustees. Clauses Act tricts. XI. That the Harbours, Docks, and Piers Clauses Act, 1847, except Harbours 15 the Clauses with respect to the Construction of the Harbour, Dock, to be in force or Pier, and with respect to the Construction of Works for the within NaviAccommodation of the Officers of Customs, and with respect to Life gation DisBoats, and with respect to keeping a Tide and Weather Gauge, and with respect to Access to the special Act, and with respect to the 20 Recovery of Damages not specially provided for and of Penalties, and to the Determination of any other Matter referred to the Justices or the Sheriff, and except in so far as the said Harbours, Docks, and Piers Clauses Act is repugnant to or inconsistent with this Act, shall be and the same is hereby incorporated with this Act, and shall 25 be in force within every Navigation District assigned under this Act; and for the Purposes of this Act the following Words and Expressions in the said Harbours, Docks, and Piers Clauses Act shall be construed as follows; that is to say, the Word" Harbour" shall mean the Port, Harbour, Haven, tidal Waters, or navigable River within 30 any Navigation District under this Act; and the Expression "the Harbour Master" shall mean any Harbour Master appointed under this Act; and the Expression "the Limits of the Harbour, Dock, or Pier," and the Expression "the prescribed Limits," shall mean the Limits of any such Navigation District; and the Expression 35 "the Undertakers" shall mean any Navigation Committee elected under this Act; and the Expression "the special Act" shall mean this Act: Provided always, that no Byelaws to be made under the Authority of this Act, or the said Harbours, Docks, and Piers Clauses Act, shall come into operation or be of any Force or Effect 40 until the same shall have been confirmed by the Lords of the Admiralty; provided also, that the Authority of any such Navigation Committee to demand, collect, and receive Tonnage Duties under this Act, or to carry into execution this Act, or any Part of the said 655. Harbours, B |