of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same, and issued under the seal of the said Colony, at the Government House, at Wellington, this twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.

E. W. STAFFORD.

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!

G. F. BOWEN, Governor.

A PROCLAMATION.

WHEREAS by “The Resident Magistrate’s Act, 1867,” it is enacted that in all cases not therein specially provided for, the Governor may, from time to time, frame and establish general rules and orders regulating the practice in Courts under the said Act, and that such rules and orders shall be published in the New Zealand Gazette, and when so published shall have the force of law:

Now therefore, I, Sir George Ferguson Bowen, Governor of New Zealand, in exercise and pursuance of the powers and authorities enabling me in this behalf, do hereby frame and establish the following general rules and orders regulating the practice in Courts under “The Resident Magistrates Act, 1867,” that is to say—

1. In any case where the plaintiff, or where there are more plaintiffs than one, all the plaintiffs, are absent from the Colony, and there be within the Colony an agent authorised to transact his or their affairs generally and to prosecute and defend actions in his or their behalf, such agent shall be entitled to appear and act in any Court under the said Act for the plaintiff or plaintiffs as fully as such plaintiff or plaintiffs themselves could.

2. In any case where the plaintiff or plaintiffs shall be absent from the Colony at the time when it is desired that a summons should be issued under the thirty-fourth section of the said Act, such summons may be issued on proof by oath viva voce, or by affidavit by any person who can depose to the facts required by such section to be proved.

Given under the hand of His Excellency Sir George Ferguson Bowen, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty’s Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same, at the Government House, at Wellington, this twenty-fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.

E. W. STAFFORD.

G. F. BOWEN, Governor.

ORDER IN COUNCIL.

At the Government House, at Wellington, the twenty-fifth day of June, 1868.

Present:

HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR IN COUNCIL.

WHEREAS by the tenth section of “The Marine Act 1867,” it is enacted that the Governor in Council may, from time to time, make, vary, and repeal bye-laws and regulations for the prevention of overloading of either steam or sailing vessels, and of overcrowding of sailing vessels with passengers, and for defining and regulating the conduct and duties of port officers and harbor masters, and for regulating all other matters relating to the protection of life and property of passengers and others, as the case may be, and by such bye-laws or regulations to impose any penalty not exceeding five hundred pounds in respect of any one voyage or attempted voyage of any vessel, for the breach of any bye-law or regulation framed for the purpose of preventing the overloading of either steam or sailing vessels and of the overcrowding of sailing vessels with passengers, and any penalty not exceeding fifty pounds for the breach of any such bye-laws or regulations framed for any other of the purposes in the said section mentioned;

Now therefore, His Excellency the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of the Colony, in pursuance and exercise of the above recited power and authority, doth hereby make the following bye-laws for the purposes aforesaid, and doth order that the same shall come into operation from the date of publication thereof.

BYE-LAWS.

1. No vessel whether a steamer or sailing vessel, shall be so laden as to show less of her side above water amidships, as measured from the covering boards, than three inches for every foot of her draft of water; but paddle-steamers, plying in rough water or at sea, shall in no case be laden so that their sponsons shall be less than one-fourth of the diameter of the paddles above the surface of the water.

2. No sailing vessel trading on the coast of the Colony, shall be permitted to carry passengers unless she be, in the judgment of the Collector of Customs, or a surveyor appointed by him for the purpose, in good order, properly laden or ballasted, and fit for the intended voyage, commanded by a sober and experienced master, manned by an efficient crew, and properly equipped, and fitted all round with sufficient bulwarks, rails, or stanchions with rope or chain, and carries at least one life-buoy and one efficient boat in such a manner that both shall be immediately available in any emergency.

3. It shall be the duty of the harbor master or other port officer of any port to survey any sailing vessel, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the regulations contained in these bye-laws have been complied with, when called upon to do so, and to notify to the Collector of Customs, in writing, the result of such survey.

4. No sailing vessel, the duration of whose voyage does not exceed one day, reckoned as per schedule hereto, shall be permitted to carry a greater number of passengers than one to each ton register, or one to every five feet of clear deck space, free from all encumbrances; and all such vessels shall be provided with at least two gallons of water for each adult on board.

5. No decked sailing vessel, the duration of whose voyage exceeds one day, reckoned as per schedule hereto, shall be permitted to carry passengers, unless in addition to the equipments and fittings specified in the second by-law, she be fitted with substantial and firmly secured booby-hatches over the passenger hatchway, so fixed as to be capable of being kept open in all weathers, and of affording the greatest possible amount of light, air, and protection from wet, or unless she has on board sufficient water for the intended voyage, to the satisfaction of the Collector of Customs, or the surveyor, and not less than two gallons for each adult passenger for each day of the average duration of the voyage; and no such vessel shall be permitted to carry more passengers than at the rate of one adult to every seventy-two cubic feet of clear space allotted to passenger accommodation below hatches, or a greater number of passengers than one for every registered ton of her burden, or a greater number than one for every seven superficial feet of deck space, clear for exercise, and properly protected by bulwark or rails as aforesaid. The number of passengers allowed to be carried shall in no case exceed the smallest number ascertained by any one of the three alternative methods of measuring mentioned herein.

6. No vessel carrying passengers shall be permitted to carry deck cargo unless it be efficiently secured to the satisfaction of the surveyor.

7. The following penalties for breaches of these bye-laws as hereinafter specified are hereby imposed, and may be recovered according to the provisions of the said Act:—