362 THE IOURNAL OF LAW AND ECONOMICS and Ireland,the Fund is also used to pay for the maintenance of some colonial lighthouses and to meet the cost of marking and clearing wrecks (to the extent that these are not reimbursed by a salvaging firm),although these very small proportion of total expenditures. There are also expenditures on lighthouses which are not met out of the Fund.The expenses of building and maintaining"local lights,"those which are only of benefit to ships using particular ports,are not paid for out of the Fund,which is restricted to the finance of lighthouses which are useful for "general navi. gation."The expenditures for "local lights"are normally made by harbour authorities,and are recovered out of port dues. III.THE EVOLUTION OF THE BRITISH LIGHTHOUSE SYSTEM Mill,writing in 1848,and Sidgwick,in 1883,to the extent that they had in mind the actual British lighthouse system,would obviously be thinking of earlier arrangements.To understand Mill and Sidgwick,we need to know something of the lighthouse system in the 19th century and of the way in which it had ev olved.But a stud of the history of the British lighthou system is not only useful because it helps us to understand Mill and Sidgwick but also because it serves to enlarge our vision of the range of alternative insti- tutional arrangements available for operating a lighthouse service.In dis- cussing the history of the British lighthouse service,I will confine myself to England and Wales,which is,presumably,the part of the system with which Mill and Sidgwick would have been most familiar. The cipal lighthouse authority in England and Wales is Trinity House.It is also the principal pilotage authority for the United Kingdom. It maintains Homes and administers charitable trusts for mariners,their wives,widows,and orphans.It has also many miscellaneous responsibilities, example the inspect and regulation of "ocal lights"and the provision of Nautical Assessors or Trinity Masters at the hearing of marine cases in the Law Courts.It is represented on a number of harbour boards,including the Port of London Authority,and members of Trinity House serve on many committees ding government c mittees)dealing with maritime e matter Trinity House is an ancient institution.It seems to have evolved out of a medieval seamen's guild.A petition asking for incorporation was presented to Henry VIII in 1513 and letters patent were granted in 1514.The charter gave Trinity House the right to regulate pilotage,and this,together with its rinoue of Deptord 1913-1060. ns Markes and Siges for the Sea and ch.&An Vncertaine Light. This wnloaded from 137073 144 138 on Ser tember27201610-27-46A All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions(http://www.jo urnals uchicago edu/t-and-c).This content downloaded from 137.073.144.138 on September 27, 2016 10:27:46 AM All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c)