Odger's English Common Law

72 HOW TO ASCERTAIN THE LAW.
one penny per bon on " coals exported from the port." The question raised
in the case of Muller v. Baldwin 1 was whether these words rendered coals
taken out of the port of Newcastle by a foreign steamer for consumption
during the voyage liable to this due of one penny per ton. Under the
former Act the usage had been not to levy this due upon such bunker coal,
but only upon coal which was exported for the purpose of being sold in
foreign countries. It was held that, in the absence of anything in the Act
to the contrary, the phrase "exported from the port" must be taken to be
used in its ordinary meaning of " carried out of the port," and that, there-
fore, the due must be paid for every ton of coal " carried out of the port
on board the steamer.
So, by the County Courts Admiralty .Jurisdiction Acts, 1868 and 1869,"
jurisdiction in Admiralty matters was conferred on such county courts as
might be appointed by the Lord Chancellor. The latter Act enacted that
any courts so appointed "shall have jurisdiction, and all powers and
authorities relating thereto, to try and determine any claim arising out of
any agreement made in relation to the use or hire of any ship, or in relation
to the carriage of any goods in any ship, provided the amount claimed does
not exceed £300." And it has been held 3 that this section gives such county
courts jurisdiction in cases of claims arising out of charter-parties or other
agreements for the use or hire of ships ;
and this although
(a) the Court of Admiralty has no original jurisdiction in such case ;
(b) the county courts had at that time no jurisdiction to try claims arising
out of contracts which exceeded £50 ;
(c) the appeal from the decision of the court so appointed would lie to
the Court of Admiralty, which had no jurisdiction over contracts ;
and
(d) the Admiralty procedure in rem was thus for the first time rendered
available in an ordinary mercantile action of contract.
(iv.) A statute comes into operation at the date when it
receives the royal assent, unless some other date is expressly-
mentioned therein ;
it must be construed as prospective, and
not as retrospective, in its operation unless a contrary intention
be clearly expressed, 4 or unless the Act relates to procedure
only. A man's rights depend upon the state of the law at
the time when his cause of action vested in him, his remedies
on the state of the law when he seeks to enforce his rights.
"No suitor has a vested interest in the course of pro-
cedure." 5
1 (1874), L,. E. 9 Q. B. 457.
2 31 & 32 Vict. c. 71 ; 32 & 33 Vict. c. 51.
» Cargo ex " Argos " (1873), li. H. 5 P. C. 134 ;
of London Court, [1892] 1 Q. B. 273.
and see B. v. Judge of the Citti
4
603.
Gardner v. Lucas (1878), 3 App. Cas. 582 ; see the judgments at pp. 597 601
6 Per Mellish, L. J., in Bepithlic of Costa Rica v. Erlanger (1876), 3 Cb. D.atp. 69.
"