No. 104/1937:

MERCHANT SHIPPING (SPANISH CIVIL WAR) (No. 2) ORDER, 1937.

MERCHANT SHIPPING (SPANISH CIVIL WAR) (No. 2) ORDER, 1937.

WHEREAS by virtue of the Merchant Shipping (Spanish Civil War) Act, 1937 (Commencement) Order, 1937 (Statutory Rules and Orders, No. 51 of 1937), the Merchant Shipping (Spanish Civil War) Act, 1937 (No. 9 of 1937), came into operation on the 20th day of March, 1937:

AND WHEREAS it is enacted by sub-section (1) of Section 4 of the said Act that in order to fulfil the international obligations of the Government of Saorstát Eireann as one of the Governments represented on the International Committee for the Application of the Agreement regarding Non-Intervention in Spain and consisting of representatives of the respective Governments of Saorstát Éireann and several other countries, the Minister for Industry and Commerce may from time to time by order take all such steps and do all such things as shall appear to him to be necessary or proper to be done by the Government of Saorstát Eireann in respect of merchant shipping for the purpose of giving practical effect to the resolutions in relation to the observation of the frontiers of Spain from time to time passed by the said International Committee, and for that purpose and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision the said Minister may, among other things, by order regulate, restrict, and control the movements of ships registered under the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1933, whose ports of registry are situate in Saorstát Éireann in waters adjacent to Spain or proceeding to or coming from a port in Spain and provide for any matter ancillary or incidental to any provision inserted in such Order:

AND WHEREAS by sub-section (2) of the said Section 4 it is enacted that an order made under the said Section may declare an infringement of the provisions or any particular provision thereof to be an offence punishable by law:

NOW, therefore, the Minister for Industry and Commerce, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by Section 4 of the Merchant Shipping (Spanish Civil War) Act, 1937 (No. 9 of 1937), and of every and any other power him in this behalf enabling, hereby orders as follows, that is to say:

1. This Order may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Spanish Civil War) (No. 2) Order, 1937.

2. The Interpretation Act, 1923 (No. 46 of 1923), applies to the interpretation of this Order in like manner as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of the Oireachtas.

3. This Order shall come into operation on Wednesday, the 19th day of May, 1937.

4. Every expression to which a particular meaning is given by Article 4 of the Merchant Shipping (Spanish Civil War) Order, 1937 (Statutory Rules and Orders, No. 76 of 1937), for the purposes of that Order has in this Order the meaning so given to it.

5. The master of every Saorstát Éireann merchant ship proceeding to a port on the south-east coast of Spain between Cape de Gata and Cape Oropesa shall cause such ship to pass through one of the following points or within a distance of not more than one and a half sea miles therefrom, that is to say:

(a) Cartagena Focal Point, that is to say, 180 degrees, 10 sea miles, from Escombrera Island light,

(b) Alicante Focal Point, that is to say, 090 degrees, 10 sea miles, from the group occulting light at the southern end of the breakwater,

(c) Valencia Focal Point, that is to say, 090 degrees, 10 sea miles, from the group flashing light at the end of the Dique Del Norte.

6. Any act which is an infringement of the provisions of this Order shall be an offence punishable by law.

7. Where the evidence of any person who is an administrator, deputy administrator, observing officer or officer commanding a vessel of the naval forces of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, France, Germany or Italy is required for the purposes of any prosecution in respect of an infringement of the provisions of this Order, such evidence may be taken on commission in the country where such person for the time being resides and as so taken shall be admissible for the purposes of such prosecution in any Court in Saorstát Eireann.

Given under my Seal of Office, this 18th day of May, 1937.

(Signed) SEAN F. LEMASS,

Minister for Industry and Commerce.

NOTES.

1. German warships will carry out the procedure of observation prescribed in Article 16 of the Merchant Shipping (Spanish Civil War) Order, 1937, at the points specified in the foregoing Order.

2. The Master of a Saorstát Eireann merchant ship bound for a port on the south-east coast of Spain between Cape de Gata and Cape Oropesa is recommended—

(a) in case he is taking a course along the coast of Spain and within ten sea miles therefrom, to fulfil the requirements of the foregoing Order at, as the case may be, the northernmost or the southernmost focal point,

(b) in case he is coming in towards the Spanish coast from the open sea (i.e., from a greater distance than ten sea miles) to fulfil the requirements of the foregoing Order at the focal point lying nearest to his route to the port to which he is bound.