Legislation on the slave trade

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1° & 2° Victoriae, cap. XIX

An Act to amend the Act for the Abolition of Slavery in the British Colonies.

[11th April 1838.]

3 & 4 W. 4. c. 73.	'WHEREAS an Act was passed in the Fourth Year of the Reign of His late Majesty, intituled An Act for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies; for promoting the Industry of the manumitted Slaves; and for compensating the Persons hitherto entitled to the Services of such Slaves: And whereas, in pursuance of the Powers for that Purpose in the said Act contained, divers Orders in Council, Ordinances, and Acts of Assembly have been made for giving Effect to the said Act by supplementary Enactments in the said Colonies: And whereas it hath since appeared that further Provisions are necessary for the Protection of the apprenticed Labourers in the said Colonies, and for giving full Effect to the Intent and Meaning of the said Act for the Abolition of Slavery:'
Hours of Labour to be regulated by Proclamation.	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 it shall be lawful for the Governor of each Colony in which this Act shall be in force to regulate from Time to Time, by Proclamation, by and with the Advice of the Council, the Distribution of the Hours of legal Labour of apprenticed Labourers within such Colony; and that after such Proclamation it shall not be lawful to employ any Apprentice in that Colony, unless by voluntary Contract, otherwise than according to such proclaimed Regulation; provided that no such Regulation shall lessen, save as herein-after provided, the whole Amount of weekly Labour which may be lawfully required of Apprentices within that Colony.
Time to be allowed for going to work and returning.	II. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful, by any such Proclamation as aforesaid, to make Provision for reckoning as Part of the legal Time of compulsory Labour the Time necessary to enable the Apprentices to go at any Rate not exceeding Three Miles by the Hour, to and from their Labour from and to their respective Places of Abode, and such necessary Times shall be reckoned and allowed accordingly in the whole Amount of weekly Labour which may be lawfully required of such Apprentices.
Customary Privileges and Allowances to be continued.	III. 'And whereas Provision was made by the said Act of Parliament for securing to apprenticed Labourers during the Continuance of their Apprenticeship the like Food, Clothing, Lodging, Medicine, Medical Attendance, and other Maintenance and Allowances which the Person or Persons for the Time being entitled to their Services was or were required to supply, provide, and allow to them whilst in the State of Slavery: And whereas in certain Cases Exemptions from Labour, Allowances of Food or other Articles, and other Privileges and Indulgences, were given to Slaves in the said Colonies either by Law or Custom, the Continuance of which has not been sufficiently provided for by Law, and which therefore are not in all Cases enjoyed by the said appprenticed Labourers;' be it therefore enacted, That all Exemptions from Labour, Allowances, Privileges, and Indulgences to which in his or her State of Slavery any apprenticed Labourer was or would have been entitled by Law, or by any Custom established for the Space of Three Years at least before the passing of the said Act of Parliament in any of the said Colonies, or in any District or Parish thereof, shall, after having been ascertained and declared as herein-after provided, during the Continuance of the said Apprenticeship in that Colony, be fully and of Right enjoyed by the apprenticed Labourers in such Colony, District, or Parish respectively; and every Person entitled to the Services of any apprenticed Labourer who, by himself or herself, or by his or her Agent, shall withhold from or not allow to any such Apprentice all such usual Exemptions, Allowances, Privileges, and Indulgences as aforesaid, shall be liable to the same Penalties in all respects as if he or she had not supplied to such Apprentice the Allowances which by the said Act of Parliament he or she was required to supply to such Apprentice, unless by voluntary Contract, sanctioned by the Special Justice of the District, any other Arrangement shall be made between any Employer and his or her Apprentices; and no apprenticed Labourer from whom such Allowances shall be withheld shall be liable to Punishment for Deficiency of Work during the Period for which such Allowance shall be withheld.
Governors in Council to determine usual Indulgences.	IV. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Governor of every such Colony, with the Advice of his Council, to inquire from Time to Time, and thereupon for the Governor to declare by Proclamation, what Exemptions, Allowances, Privileges, or Indulgences have been so established within that Colony or in any District or Parish thereof; and every such Proclamation shall have the Force of Law in that Colony.
Proprietors of Estates to furnish Apprentices while in Confinement or in Hospital with Food and Necessaries.	V. And be it enacted, That the Proprietor or the Representative of the Proprietor of any Estate on which any Apprentice shall be confined in any Prison, Workhouse, or Hospital by the Procurance of such Proprietor, or his or her authorized Agent, Representative, or Servant, shall, to the Satisfaction of the Special Justice of the District, furnish to every such apprenticed Labourer sufficient Food, Medicines, and other Necessaries during the Time he or she shall be so confined therein; and every Person refusing or neglecting so to do shall be liable to the Penalties provided for the Punishment of such Persons as shall not supply to Apprentices the Allowances required by Law.
Official Umpires may be appointed.	VI. And be it enacted, That in any of the said Colonies in which no Provision shall be in force at the Time of the Proclamation of this Act for the Appointment of an Umpire to act in default of the Parties whose Concurrence is necessary to the Completion of the Appraisement of the Value of the Services of any such Apprentice seeking his or her Discharge from Apprenticeship, or in the Case of an alleged excessive Valuation of the Services of any apprenticed Labourer by such Parties, it shall be lawful for the Governor, if he shall think fit, to appoint, by Warrant under his Hand and the Public Seal of the Colony, so many Persons as he shall think necessary to be official Umpires of Appraisement in that Colony; and the Names and Places of the Abode of the Persons so appointed shall be published in the Public Gazette of the Colony: Provided always, that no such official Umpire shall take on himself to act in that Capacity until he shall have been sworn before some Justice of the Peace to act fairly and impartially in the Execution of his Office.
Functions of official Umpires.	VII. And be it enacted, That in every Case in which an Appraisement of the Sum which ought to be given for the Discharge of any Apprentice cannot be completed because of the Disagreement or Default of the Persons appointed to value and appraise the same, according to the Laws in force in that Colony before the passing of this Act, or in the Case of such excessive Valuation as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the Governor in every Colony in which such official Umpires shall have been appointed under this Act, on the Application of any Person whose Concurrence in the Appraisement is necessary to the Completion thereof, or of any Person interested therein, or of any Person on his or her Behalf, to direct the Valuation to be made by One of the said official Umpires, who shall thereupon proceed to fix a Value upon such Apprentice, which Valuation shall be binding and conclusive on all Parties; and upon the Amount of such Valuation being paid as by Law directed, such Apprentice shall be absolutely discharged from the Remainder of his or her Term of Apprenticeship.
Procedure to be adapted to Umpire acting alone.	VIII. And be it enacted, That in such Cases as aforesaid the said official Umpire alone shall have Authority and shall be required to give the like Notices and to perform all Acts and observe all Forms necessary for completing the Discharge of the said Apprentice, as fully as the Persons first appointed for the Purpose of completing such Discharge had Power or were required to do, or as near thereunto as may be; and the Governor, with the Advice of his Council, shall have Power in every such Colony to make such Regulations as may be necessary for adapting the Form of Procedure in that Colony to the Case of an Umpire acting alone in making and completing such Appraisement and Discharge.
Vagrant Apprentices to be committed by Special Justices only,	IX. And be it enacted, That no Supervisor or other Person in charge of any House of Correction, Workhouse, or other Place of Confinement shall receive into his Custody as a Prisoner any Person under Charge of being a vagrant or runaway Apprentice unless under a Warrant of Committal to that particular Place of Confinement, signed by a Justice holding a Special Commission under the Provisions of the said Act of Parliament; any Law or Custom to the contrary notwithstanding.
Penalty on Supervisors neglecting to advertise Vagrants, &c.	X. And be it enacted, That every Supervisor or Person having charge of any Place of Confinement who shall neglect to advertise the Name and Description of any apprenticed Labourer committed to such Place of Confinement as a vagrant or runaway Apprentice, the Date of every such Committal, and the Name of the committing Magistrates, as by Law required, or who shall detain, except under legal Sentence, any such apprenticed Labourer beyond the Time required by Law for such Advertisement, shall be liable to a Penalty, at the Discretion of any Two Special Justices before whom he shall be convicted of such Offence, not exceeding the Rate of One Pound Sterling in each Case for each Day during which he shall have made such Default or shall have illegally detained any such apprenticed Labourer.
Justices may enter and examine all Prisons and Workhouses.	XI And be it declared and enacted, That every Justice of the Peace holding a Special Commission under the said recited Act of Parliament shall have full Power and Authority at all Times, with such Persons as he shall think necessary to take with him, to enter into and upon any Plantation or Mill, or any Lands, Building, or Place whatsoever, at or within which any apprenticed Labourer shall be then employed in any agricultural or manufacturing Labour, or into any Hospital or Place set apart or used for the Cure or Reception of the Sick of or belonging to any Plantation or Estate, or into any Gaol, Prison, Workhouse, Cell, or other Place within such District or Division used, or which such Special Justice shall have reasonable Grounds for suspecting- to be used, for the Custody of any apprenticed Labourer, and there to remain so long as to him shall seem necessary or proper for the Purpose of fully investigating any Complaints which any such apprenticed Labourer may be desirous to prefer, or of fully examining into the State of any such Hospital, Gaol, Prison, Workhouse, or Cell, or the Condition of any apprenticed Labourer confined or being therein, and to examine every Apprentice or other Person whom he shall think fit to examine, either alone, or in the Presence of such other Persons, as to the said Justice shall seem fit; and for the Purposes aforesaid or any of them it shall be lawful for any such Special Justice, and for the Persons whom he shall think fit to take with him, to pass and repass across or along any used Path or Way.
Governor may make Regulations for Treatment of apprenticed Labourers in Prison, &c.	XII. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Governor, by and with the Advice of his Council, in each of the said Colonies, if he shall deem it expedient for the better Protection of the apprenticed Labourer, to make such new or other Regulations for the Treatment of all apprenticed Labourers during the Period of their Confinement in any Prison, Workhouse, Hospital, or other Place of Confinement, as to him shall seem proper, which Regulations shall have the Force of Law.
Penalty for obstructing Justices.	XIII. And be it enacted, That every Person who shall obstruct or oppose any such Special Justice exercising or attempting to exercise any of the Rights or Powers hereby committed to him shall for any such Offence be proceeded against, and on Conviction thereof shall be punished, in the same Manner as any Person may now by Law be proceeded against and punished in the same Colony for obstructing any Special Justice appointed in pursuance of the said recited Act of Parliament in the Discharge of his Office.
Governor may order Actions against Justices to be discontinued.	XIV. And be it enacted. That if any Action whatsoever shall at any Time after the passing of this Act be brought against any such Special Justice or Justices for any thing done by him or them in the Execution of his or their Office, it shall be lawful for the Governor, if he shall think fit, to order that the Proceedings in such Action shall be stayed, and that the Action shall be discontinued; and such Proceedings shall be stayed and such Action discontinued accordingly.
Penalties may be paid oyer to Apprentices.	XV. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for any Special Justice or Justices in any of the said Colonies, in every Case in which he or they shall have convicted any Person or Persons of any Wrong or Injury done to any apprenticed Labourer or Labourers, and shall have adjudged such Person or Persons respectively to pay any Fine or Penalty which under any Law in force such Justice or Justices is or are authorized to impose, to award the Whole or any Part of such Penalty to the apprenticed Labourer or Labourers against whom the Offence in respect of such Conviction shall take place shall have been committed.
Apprentices cruelly treated may be discharged.	XVI. 'And for the more effectual Prevention of Cruelty and Injustice towards the said apprenticed Labourers,' be it enacted, That if it shall be made to appear to the Satisfaction of the Governor of any such Colony that any apprenticed Labourer hath been subjected to any Cruelty or any grievous Injustice or Wrong done to or inflicted upon him or her by the Person or Persons entitled to his or her Services, or by the authorized Agent, Representative, or Servant of any such Person or Persons, or in the Execution of any Punishment inflicted for any Offence against the said Act of Parliament, or any Act or Ordinance made in pursuance of the said Act of Parliament, or for the Breach of any Regulation made for the Discipline of any Prison, Hospital, or Workhouse, or for any other Purpose, it shall be lawful for the Governor, by any Order to be for that Purpose made by him under his Hand, and sealed with the Public Seal of the Colony, to direct the immediate Discharge of any such apprenticed Labourer for his or her remaining Term of Apprenticeship, which Order, being enrolled in the Office of the Public Secretary of the Colony, shall thenceforward be a full and sufficient Discharge to such Apprentice from his or her remaining Term of Apprenticeship: Provided always, that no such Order shall be so made unless the Circumstances of any such Case shall have been first examined into upon Oath by Two Special Justices, nor until the Report in Writing of such Examination by such Special Justices, containing the Evidence on which such Report is founded, shall have been received by him: Provided also, that, notwithstanding any such Order for the Discharge of any Apprentice, every offending Person shall be liable to the like Penalties for such Cruelty, Injustice, and Wrong as if such Order had not been made.
Any Persons other than those entitled to the Services of apprenticed Labourers, inflicting Injury on such Apprentices, to pay the Value of their Services.	XVII. And be it enacted, That in case any apprenticed Labourer shall be discharged by any such Order, in consequence of any Cruelty, Injustice, or Wrong done to or inflicted upon him or her as aforesaid by any Person or Persons, other than the Person or Persons for the Time being entitled to his or her Services, the Person or Persons by whom or by whose Procurement such Cruelty, Injustice, or Wrong shall have been done or inflicted shall be liable to pay to the Person or Persons entitled as aforesaid to the Services of such apprenticed Labourer the full Value of the Services of such apprenticed Labourer during the remaining Term of his or her Apprenticeship in case he or she had not been so discharged, which may be recovered by Action of Debt in any of the Courts of Law within the Colony.
Abolition of certain Punishments for Offences against the Abolition Act.	XVIII. And be it enacted, That from and after the Proclamation of this Act it shall not be lawful to Place any Female Apprentice on a Treadmill or in the Chain or Penal Gang of any Parish, or to punish any Female Apprentice by whipping or beating her Person, or by cutting off her Hair, for any Offence by her committed, or for the Breach of any Regulation, whether made for the Discipline of any Prison, Hospital, or Workhouse, or for any other Purpose; and that it shall not be lawful to punish any apprenticed Labourer, being a Male, by whipping or beating his Person, after the Fifteenth Day of August in the Year One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight in any of the said Colonies except the Island of Mauritius, or after the Fifteenth Day of February in the Year One thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine in the Island of Mauritius, against any Provision of the said Act of Parliament for the Abolition of Slavery, or against any Provision of any Order in Council, Ordinance, or Act of Assembly made in pursuance of the said Act of Parliament, or for any Offence for which any other Person of Free Condition within the same Colony is not liable to the like Punishment; and that from and after the Proclamation of this Act it shall not be lawful to punish any apprenticed Labourer, being a Male, by whipping or beating his Person, for any Offence by him committed against or for the Breach of any Regulation made for the Discipline of any Prison, Hospital, or Workhouse, unless with the Approbation and in the Presence of a Special Justice acting under the said recited Act of Parliament,
Classification of Apprentices may be revised.	XIX. 'And whereas there is Reason to believe that in some of the said Colonies no complete Division has been made of the apprenticed Labourers into distinct Classes, and that in the Divisions which have been made certain Apprentices have been erroneously registered as praedial apprenticed Labourers, and it is necessary that Provision should be made for the Completion of every incomplete Classification, and for the Correction of all erroneous Classifications;' be it enacted, That in each of the said Colonies in which at the Time of the Proclamation of this Act no complete Classification shall have been made, or no legal Provision shall be in force for revising the Classification of the Apprentices in such Colony, it shall be lawful for the Governor thereof, if he shall think fit, by Proclamation, by and with the Advice of the Council, to make Regulations for the complete Classification and effectual Revision of the Classification, as the Case may require, in such Colony, and for this Purpose to appoint fit and proper Persons having no Interest in any such Classification to complete such Classification and make such Revision, and that the Persons so appointed shall have full Power to correct all such Errors as shall be proved to them to exist in the said Classification, and that their Decision in each Case shall be final, except in the Case of Appeal as herein-after provided; provided that no Regulation so to be made as aforesaid for such Classification or Revision shall be repugnant to the said Act of Parliament, and that no Person who was of the Age of Twelve Years and upwards on the Twenty-eighth Day of August in the Year One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three shall be included or retained in either of the Classes of praedial apprenticed Labourers, unless such Persons shall for Twelve Calendar Months at least next before the said Twenty-eighth Day of August One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three have been habitually employed in Agriculture or in the Manufacture of Colonial Produce, any subsequent Agreement to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided always, that either of the Parties to this Classification who shall be dissatisfied with the Decision of the Revisors, or any other Person on his or her Behalf, may, within One Calendar Month after such Decision shall have been made, appeal against such Decision by Petition to the Governor of the Colony, and the Governor of the Colony to whom any such Petition may be preferred shall, with the Advice of his Council proceed in a summary Way to hear and decide the Matter of the Petition, and his Decision shall be final, subject only to an Appeal to Her Majesty in Council.
Classification in Jamaica under disallowed Regulations declared good for the Purpose of Revision.	XX. 'And whereas Doubts have arisen respecting the Validity of the Division of apprenticed Labourers into Three Classes in the Island of Jamaica, by reason that the said Division was carried into effect under Rules and Regulations established by an Act of Assembly which has been disallowed by Her Majesty by the Advice of Her Privy Council;' be it therefore declared and enacted, That the said Classification in the Island of Jamaica shall, for the Purpose of such Revision, be taken to be valid and effectual, and shall be subject to such Revision as is herein-before directed.
Report of Prison Regulations to be laid before Parliament.	XXI. And be it enacted, That whensoever any Governor shall have put in force any of the special Powers conferred upon him by this Act, for the Change or Completion of any Classification, for the Discharge of any Apprentice, or for the Regulation of any Prison or Workhouse, or for the staying of any legal Proceedings, or for the Proclamation of any Exemptions, Allowances, Privileges, or Indulgences as herein-before described, he shall, by the earliest convenient Opportunity, transmit to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies a Report of the Particulars of all Acts so done, and such Report shall be laid upon the Tables of both Houses of Parliament within Forty Days after it shall have been so received, or within Forty Days after the Commencement of the then next ensuing Session of Parliament.
Apprenticed Labourers not required to have Passes, except during their Masters Time.	XXII. And be it enacted, That it shall not be necessary for any apprenticed Labourer to be furnished with a Pass or Permission of any Kind during any Time of the Day or Night which is not Part of the legal Time of compulsory Labour, or which, in the Case of voluntary Contracts sanctioned according to Law, is not Part of the Time during which he or she shall have voluntarily contracted to work for any Employer, but that, except during such Times of compulsory or contract Labour, every apprenticed Labourer shall be as free to go from Place to Place on his or her lawful Occasions as any other Person of free Condition, and that all Laws repugnant to this Provision are hereby repealed: Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall be taken to authorize any Proceeding which would be a Trespass in any other Person of free Condition.
Providing for Cases where the Penalty is not specially mentioned.	XXIII. And be it enacted, That every Person who shall offend against any Provision of this Act for which no Penalty is specially provided, and who shall be convicted thereof before a Special Justice, shall be liable to any Penalty not exceeding the greatest Penalty which a Special Justice is empowered to inflict upon any Person entitled to the Services of an apprentice Labourer, or his or her Agent or Servant, for any Violation of the said Act of Parliament, or of any Act of Assembly or Ordinance made in pursuance of the said Act of Parliament.
Repeal of certain Clauses in the Jamaica Police Act.	XXIV. 'And whereas by an Act of the Governor, Council, and Assembly of the Island of Jamaica, passed on the Eighteenth Day of December in the Year One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, intituled An Act to organize a Police, it is amongst other things enacted, that it shall be the Duty of the Police, and they are thereby required, at all Times to take up all Vagrants or idle and disorderly Persons, and to quell all Riots, and disperse all unlawful Meetings, and to apprehend all and every Person and Persons unlawfully armed, or having in his, her, or their Possession any Arms or Ammunition without a Warrant for that Purpose from some Magistrate of the Parish in which such Persons shall reside, or having in his, her, or their Possession any Quantity of Sugar, Rum, Pimento, Coffee, or other Produce, or any Canes, Wood, or Grass, who shall not be able to produce a Permit from the Proprietor, Overseer, or other Person in charge of the Property whereon such Produce was grown or manufactured, or otherwise show that he, she, or they has or have honestly become possessed of such Property, and to carry such Person or Persons so apprehended before the nearest Justice, who shall examine into the Matter and upon Conviction adjudge the Party or Parties offending to pay a Fine not exceeding the Sum of Five Pounds, or in Failure of Payment of such Fine to commit such Offender or Offenders to labour in the House of Correction for a Space of Time not exceeding Thirty Days; and it is thereby provided, that in the event of no Application from the Owner of such Produce within Five Days the same shall be sold by Order of such Justice, and one Moiety of the Proceeds to be paid to the Police apprehending such Parties and the other Moiety to be appropriated to the Poor of the Parish in which such Condemnation shall take place; and it is thereby also provided, that if the Justice so called upon to adjudicate shall consider the Offence to be of too aggravated a Nature to be dealt with in such summary Manner, he shall commit the Offender to be tried at the Quarter Sessions of the Parish in which such Offence was committed; and it is thereby also provided and enacted, that when and so soon as it shall appear that the Produce so found in the Possession of any such Offender, being an apprenticed Labourer under the Provisions of the Act for the Abolition of Slavery in the said Island in consideration of Compensation, and for promoting the Industry of the manumitted Slaves, and to declare Chapter One hundred and fifty-five of the Fifty-second Year of King George the Third in force in the said Island, was taken from the Premises, or is the Property of the Owner, Employer, or Person entitled to the Services of such apprenticed Labourer, then the Jurisdiction of the local Justice shall immediately cease, and the Offender shall be handed over to the Police, to be carried before the Special Justice of the District to which such apprenticed Labourer belongs, to be dealt with according to Law:' Be it enacted, That so much as is herein-before recited of the said Act of the said Governor, Council, and Assembly shall be and the same is hereby repealed, and shall cease to have the Force and Effect of Law within the said Island.
Proclamation of this Act. Limiting the Application thereof.	XXV. And be it enacted, That the Governor of each of the said Colonies shall cause this Act to be proclaimed within such Colony; and this Act shall come into force within such Colony on a Day to be named in the Proclamation; and that so much of all Orders, Ordinances, and Acts of Assembly as is inconsistent with this Act shall cease to be in force in each of the said Colonies from the Time when this Act shall come into force in such Colony: Provided always, that nothing in this Act contained shall apply to any Colony to which the said Act of Parliament for the Abolition of Slavery does not apply, or in which the Apprenticeship established under the said Act of Parliament shall be already lawfully determined at the Time when the Governor shall receive Notice of the passing of this Act.
Continuance of the aforesaid Provisions.	XXVI. And be it enacted, That all the Provisions herein-before contained shall continue in force in each of the Colonies in which they shall be so proclaimed until the lawful Determination of the said Apprenticeship within that Colony, and shall then cease to be of force, except as to any thing done, or any Privilege or Immunity granted for any thing done, under the Authority of this Act, and except so far as any Provision of any Law, Ordinance, Order, or Act of Assembly is repealed or made of no force by this Act.
Her Majesty in Council may increase the Amount of Allowances to Slaves.	XXVII. 'And whereas in such of the Colonies aforesaid as are subject to the legislative Authority of Her Majesty in Council certain Laws were in force at or immediately before the Time when the said recited Act came into operation, determining the Amount of Food and other Allowances to be supplied to the Persons then held in Slavery in the said Colonies respectively: And whereas Doubts have arisen whether, consistently with the Provisions of the said Act, it is competent to Her Majesty in Council to increase the said Allowances;' be it therefore declared and enacted, That it is and shall be competent to Her Majesty in Council, by any Order or Orders in Council for that Purpose to be made from Time to Time, to increase the Amount of the said Allowances, as to Her Majesty in Council shall seem meet; any thing in the said recited Act to the contrary notwithstanding.
Termination of certain Apprenticeships.	XXVIII. 'And whereas under certain of the Provisions of the said recited Act Children bound out as apprenticed Labourers before the First Day of August One thousand eight hundred and forty, or apprenticed Labourers under the Sentences or Adjudications of the Special Magistrates, may in certain Cases be compelled to serve as apprenticed Labourers after the said First Day of August One thousand eight hundred and forty, and it is expedient that the said Act should in that respect be amended;' be it therefore enacted, That no Person shall by virtue of the said Act, or by virtue of any Indenture of Apprenticeship entered into by him or her or on his or her Behalf in pursuance thereof, be liable to serve as an apprenticed Labourer after the First Day of February One thousand eight hundred and forty-one in the Island of Mauritius, or after the First Day of August One thousand eight hundred and forty in any other of the Colonies aforesaid; any thing in the said Act or in any such Indenture contained to the contrary notwithstanding.
Construction of Terms.	XXIX. And be it enacted, That in the Construction of this Act the Word "Governor" shall be taken to mean every Person lawfully charged with the Administration of the Government of any such Colony; and the Words "Apprentice" and "apprenticed Labourer" shall be taken to mean such Persons only as, having been formerly held in Slavery, are now Apprentices subject to the Provisions of the said recited Act of Parliament, or of any Order in Council, Ordinance, or Act of Assembly made or passed in pursuance thereof; and in British Guiana the Governor and Court of Policy shall exercise all the Powers herein given to the Governor with the Advice of his Council.
Act may be repealed or amended this Session.	XXX. And be it enacted, That this Act may be repealed or amended by any Act to be passed in this Session of Parliament.

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