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1° & 2° Victoriae, cap. XLVII
An Act for the better and more effectually carrying into effect the Treaties and Conventions made with Foreign Powers for suppressing the Slave Trade.
[27th July 1838.]
| 'WHEREAS by additional Articles to various Treaties entered into between His late Majesty and Her present Majesty and certain Foreign Powers and States, for the Prevention of the Traffic in Slaves, it has been stipulated, that all Vessels which shall be seized and condemned, under any of the Provisions of the said Treaties or Conventions, and which under the said Treaties were directed to be sold by public Sale, shall, by virtue of such additional Articles, be entirely demolished and broken up, and the Materials thereof publicly sold in separate Parts, as well as the Cargo, for the Profit of the Governments engaged in such Treaties or Conventions: And whereas Treaties or Conventions have been entered into by His late Majesty and by Her present Majesty with various Powers and States, under the Authority of which the Ships or Vessels of the Subjects of those States, and also the Ships and Vessels of Subjects of the Crown of the United Kingdom, may be seized and condemned, when equipped in the Manner described in the said Treaties and Conventions, although they shall have no Slaves on board: And whereas by various Acts of Parliament certain Bounties are payable to the Captors of Ships having Slaves on board for every Slave captured under Treaties made with Foreign Powers authorizing such Capture: And whereas it is expedient that Her Majesty should be empowered to grant certain Bounties to the Commanders, Officers, and Crews of Her Majesty's Ships seizing such Ships or Vessels:' | |
| Queen's Moiety of Proceeds to be paid to the Captors. | Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That where any Ship or Vessel employed or engaged in illicit Traffic in Slaves, in violation of any of the said Treaties or Conventions, shall have been or may be seized by any Ship or Vessel belonging to Her Majesty, duly authorized to make such Seizure, and making the same, and shall have been or shall be afterwards condemned by any of the Commissioners appointed in virtue of the said Treaties or Conventions, there shall be paid to the Captors the Moiety to which Her Majesty is entitled of the net Proceeds of the said Ship and Cargo. |
| Bounty on Tonnage of Slave Ships captured and demolished. | II. And be it enacted, That where any Ship or Vessel which shall have been or may be seized and condemned under the Provisions of any Treaty or Convention made or to be made with any Foreign Power, or additional Article to any such Treaty or Convention, shall have been or shall be entirely demolished, and the Materials thereof publicly sold in separate Parts, as well as her Cargo, there shall be paid to the Commanders, Officers, and Crews of Her Majesty's Ships authorized to make and making such Seizures, in addition to the Amount which may be payable in respect of the Moiety of the Proceeds of such Sale as herein-before mentioned, a further Bounty on the Tonnage of such Ship or Vessel at the Rate of One Pound Ten Shillings for every Ton of such Tonnage. |
| Where no Slaves are on board a Ship seized an additional Bounty to be paid. | III. And be it enacted, That where any Ship or Vessel having no Slaves on board shall have been or may be seized and condemned under the Provisions of any Treaty or Convention or any additional Articles made or to be made with any Foreign Power for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, there shall be paid to the Commanders, Officers, and Crews of Her Majesty's Ships authorized to make and making such Seizure an additional Bounty upon the Tonnage of such Ship or Vessel at the Rate of Four Pounds for every Ton, and the Tonnage of all such Vessels shall be estimated or ascertained according to the Mode of ascertaining the Admeasurement of British Vessels, either by the principal Officer of the Customs at the Port where the Vessel may be at the Time of Condemnation, or, in default thereof, by the best Evidence which can be obtained, to be certified by the Commissioners by whom such Condemnation shall be pronounced: Provided always, that in every Case in which any Ship or Vessel shall be seized with Slaves on board in which the Bounty calculated upon the Number of Slaves shall be less than the Bounty calculated upon the Tonnage, the Commanders of Her Majesty's Ships making the Seizure may elect to take the Bounty calculated according to Tonnage, in lieu and instead of the Bounty which would be payable upon the Number of Slaves on board. |
| Bounties to be paid out of the Consolidated Fund. | IV. And be it enacted, That all such Bounties on Tonnage shall be paid out of the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to the Commanders, Officers, and Crews of Her Majesty's Ships authorized to make such Seizures under the Provisions of any such Treaties or Conventions, and such Bounties shall be issued and paid by Order from the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury. |
| Proof of Tonnage. | V. Provided always, and be it enacted, That in order to entitle the Captors to receive the said Bounty Money the Tonnage of the Ship or Vessel so seized, delivered over, and condemned shall be proved to the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury by producing a Copy duly certified of the Sentence or Decree of Condemnation, or by such documentary or other Evidence as they may deem satisfactory. |
| Distribution of Bounty and Prize Money. | VI. And be it enacted, That the Bounties payable under this or any other Act of Parliament for the Seizure of Slaves and Vessels fitted out for or engaged in the Traffic of Slaves shall be paid to and distributed amongst the Commanders, Officers, and Crews of Her Majesty's Ships engaged in the Seizure thereof in such Manner and Proportion and to and amongst such Persons as by any Order in Council or Proclamation of His late Majesty King William the Fourth at present in force hath been, or by any Order in Council or Proclamation of Her present Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, shall be for that Purpose ordered and directed; and that all the Provisions in regard to Prize Money, and other Money in the Nature thereof, including all Rules and Regulations relating to the Delivery by Agents of Accounts of Prize and other Money as aforesaid, and to the Examination of such Accounts, and to the Distribution of Prize or other Money, and to the accounting for and paying over the unclaimed and forfeited Shares, and to the Percentage payable in aid of the Greenwich Out-Pension Fund for the Benefit of the old and invalid Seamen who have served in the Royal Navy, which under any Act or Acts of Parliament are now in force, and all Penalties and Forfeitures to which Agents and others are made subject by any such Acts, shall be and the same are hereby extended to all Bounties and Proceeds payable and distributable under the Provisions of this Act to the Commanders, Officers, and Crews of any of Her Majesty's Ships or Vessels. |
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