The first of these reform Acts, entitled, “An Act for Improving the Condition of Masters, Mates, and Seamen, and Maintaining Discipline in the Merchant Service,” received the Royal assent on the 14th August, 1850, and came into operation on the 1st January of the following year. This Act contains 124 clauses, and places under the Board of Trade the general superintendence of matters relating to the British mercantile marine, with power to carry the Act into execution in all its details. This valuable measure provides for the establishment of local marine boards at the principal seaports in the kingdom. These boards consist of from six to twelve members, comprised of the Mayor or the stipendiary magistrate resident in the district, of two to four members nominated by the Board of Trade, the remainder being elected by the shipowners resident in the place. Two superior officers with various subordinates were appointed to carry out the duties of the marine board under the direction of its members. The first and most important of these duties consisted in the examination of persons intending to become masters or mates of foreign-going ships, who are now required to give satisfactory evidence of their sobriety, experience, ability, and general good conduct, before they are entitled to receive a certificate of their competency. [Sidenote: Appointment of local marine boards,] [Sidenote: and their duties.] Those persons who had previously been in command of ships, or who had served as mates, were not required to undergo an examination, but received a certificate of service, enabling them to accept appointments similar to those they had held previously to the Act coming into operation; so that, in this respect, the law was not retrospective, but only required such persons to undergo examination who had not before acted in the above capacities; power was, at the same time, given to the board to cancel their certificates of service, or of competency, provided those who held them were guilty of misconduct, or otherwise found to be unfit for their duties. Penalties were inflicted for false representations, for forging, or altering, or fraudulently using their certificates. The local marine boards were required to establish shipping offices, where all seamen are engaged; and to appoint, subject to the approval of the Board of Trade, shipping-masters, whose duties were to ascertain that engagements were made in proper form, to issue the advance notes of the seamen, and to see that they joined the ships for which they had engaged at the time fixed for departure. Their duties, likewise, extended to the settlement of the seamen’s wages at the termination of the voyage, and to the seeing that while the men were justly dealt with, they received, also, a proper discharge. They were, moreover, bound to keep a register of the names and character of the seamen and apprentices, and to perform such duties, in relation to