810

LAWS OF MARYLAND.

was made to inform the other commissioner, by
letter, of such discharge ; and it shall be the duty
of any commissioner thus appointed to hear and
determine all complaints of the non-performance
of said contracts, and his certificate, under his
hand and seal, to be furnished on demand shall
be prima-facie proof of the violation of the con-
tract, and of the amount of damages suffered
thereby, in any court or before any justice of the
peace of this state.
Fourth. Every contract or agreement entered,
into before a shipping commissioner shall be Ac-

Contract or
agreement.

knowledged by the persons executing the same,
and certified under the hand and official seal of
such commissioner. The certificate of acknowl-
edgment shall be endorsed on or annexed to the
contract, and shall be in the following form :
State of Maryland, .................district.................
On this................ day of.................. A. D..........
personally appeared before me, a state shipping;
commissioner in and for said district.................
severally known to me to be the same persons
who executed the foregoing instrument, who
each for himself acknowledged to me that he
had read or had heard read the same ; that he
was by me made acquainted with the conditions
hereof, and understood the same ; and that
while sober, and not in a state of intoxication, he
signed it freely and voluntarily for the uses and
purposes therein mentioned.

Keep seal.

Fifth. And the said shipping commissioners
shall procure and keep official seals, with the
name of their office and the name or number of
their respective districts, and shall perform such
other duties as are now or may hereafter be re-
quired by law.
SEC. 6. And be it enacted. That the commis-
sioner drawing and superintending the said con-

Fees.

tracts shall, upon the execution of the same, be
entitled to receive and collect from the master
or owner of the vessel a fee of fifty cents for
each person engaged under the contract as above
provided, one-half of which fee shall be deducted
by said master or owner from the wages of each
man ; and upon the discharge of the crew, or any
member thereof as before provided, the commis-
sioner before whom the discharge is made shall