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thereat, and shall, in case of an equality of votes for two or more persons, have a second or casting vote.

Rotherhithe and district

united for

member of

of works.

XLVII. The parishes of Rotherhithe, Saint John, The parish of Horselydown, Saint Olave, and Saint Thomas, Southwark, shall be united for the purpose of electing from of St. Olave time to time a member of the metropolitan board of electing a works; and the vestries of such several parishes shall, the metropoat a joint meeting of such vestries to be holden on the said litan board 12th day of December, 1855, at the place of meeting of the vestry of the parish of Saint Olave, elect a person to be a member of the said metropolitan board; and when any member of the said board elected by such vestries dies, resigns, or otherwise ceases to be such member, such vestries shall, at a joint meeting of such vestries to be holden at the place aforesaid, elect some person in his stead; and such meeting shall be convened as follows; that is to say, the vestry clerk of the parish of Saint Olave shall communicate with the vestry clerks of the said other parishes, and arrange with them the time of such meeting; and when such arrangement has been made, notice of the time, place, and object of such meeting shall be given by the respective vestry clerks of all the said parishes in manner required for notices of vestry meetings; and every election to be made as aforesaid by the said vestries jointly shall be determined by the votes of the majority of the members thereof present at the meeting; and every such meeting shall, before proceeding to the election, choose a chairman, who shall preside thereat, and shall, in case of an equality of votes for two or more persons, have a second or casting vote.

office of

XLVIII. One third of the members first elected as As to the aforesaid of the metropolitan board of works shall go out term of of office on the second Wednesday in June, 1857, one members of other third of them on the second Wednesday in June, board elected metropolitan 1858, and the remaining third on the second Wednesday at first elecin June, 1859; and such first elected members shall to future determine by lot among themselves which of them shall

C

tion, and as

elections.

Elected

metropolitan

board to elect a chairman.

constitute the one third to go out of office in the years 1857 and 1858 respectively; and all members of the said board elected to supply any vacancy occasioned by any member's going out of office by the expiration of his term of office shall go out of office on the second Wednesday in June in the third year next following the year of his election; and every member of the said board elected to supply any other vacancy shall go out of office when the term of office of the member in whose place he is elected would have expired by effluxion of time.

XLIX. The members first elected of the metropolitan members of board of works shall meet at such time and place as one of Her Majesty's principal secretaries of state shall by notice in the London Gazette appoint in this behalf, and shall at such meeting, or some meeting to be holden by adjournment thereof (which it shall be competent for the members present to appoint), elect a chairman of the said board, and shall also decide upon the amount of salary to be paid to such chairman, such salary not to be less than 1,500l. and not to exceed 2,000l. per annum; and such members, before proceeding at any such meeting to such election, or to determine the amount of such salary, shall choose from among the members present a chairman of such meeting, and such election of the future chairman of the board shall be determined by the votes of the majority of the members present, and in case of an equality of votes the chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote; and any person may be elected as aforesaid, whether he be or be not a member of the said board; and such chairman shall be subject to be removed by a resolution agreed to by two-thirds of the members present at any meeting specially convened for considering the question of such removal; and in case any elected member of the said metropolitan board be appointed chairman thereof, he shall thenceforth be a member thereof by virtue only of his office of chairman, and his place as an elected member shall become vacant, and another shall be elected in his stead.

L. Upon every vacancy in the office of chairman of As to appointment of the said metropolitan board a new chairman shall be chairman on appointed, and his salary fixed, in manner hereinbefore any vacancy. mentioned, save that the appointment of such chairman may be made at any such meeting as may be provided in this behalf by the regulations for the time being of the said metropolitan board.

metropolitan

nine mem

bers being

LI. All powers and duties vested in the metropolitan Powers of board of works may be exercised and performed at any board to be meeting (a) of such board at which not less than nine exercised at meetings, members of the board are present; and at every such not less than meeting all questions shall be determined by the votes of the majority (b) of the members present; and such present. board may act notwithstanding any vacancies therein, and notwithstanding any omission to elect any member or members of such board in pursuance of this Act, but such board shall not be deemed to be constituted until the first election of a chairman of such board under this Act.

litan board.

LII. The first meeting of the said metropolitan board Meetings of shall be holden at such time and place as the chairman the metropo may appoint, of which notice in writing, signed by such chairman, shall be given to each elected member of the said board, two clear days at the least (bb) before the time of such meeting; and the said board may meet at such times and places as they may from time to time appoint; and a special meeting of the said board may be convened by the chairman of the said board, or by the clerk thereof, upon the requisition in writing of the chairman. or any five members of the board, by a notice to the several members thereof, two clear days at the least

(a) By s. 23 of 25 & 26 Vict. c. 102, post, resolutions of the metropolitan board, authorizing an expenditure amounting to or exceeding 20,000l., are not to be valid unless confirmed at a subsequent meeting.

(b) As to what constitutes a majority, see note (g) to s. 28, ante.

(bb) This means two clear days exclusive of the day on which the notice is given, and of the day on which the meeting is to be held. See Norton v. Town Clerk of Salisbury, 4 C. B. 32.

Chairman to preside at meetings.

before the time of meeting, such notice to be signed by the chairman or clerk convening the meeting, and to specify the object (c) thereof.

LIII. The chairman of the metropolitan board of works for the time being elected under this Act shall In case of preside at every meeting of such board at which he is a temporary present; and in case of a vacancy in the office of such chairman to chairman, or in his absence, some other member of such

vacancy, &c.

be chosen.

Disqualifications of

board shall be chosen to preside thereat; and in case
there be an equal number of votes upon any question,
the chairman presiding at the meeting shall have a
second or casting vote.

Proceedings concerning Constitution, Procedure, and
Officers of Metropolitan and District Boards and
Vestrics.

LIV. In case any member of the metropolitan board of members of Works, or of any district board of works, or of any vestry metropolitan for any parish mentioned in schedule (A.) or (B.) to this Act, or any auditor of the accounts of any such board or vestry, be declared bankrupt (cc), or apply to take the benefit of or become subject to any Act for the relief of insolvent and (B.), and debtors, or compound (d) with his creditors, or accept or

board, of district boards, of vestries of parishes in

schedule (A.)

of auditors.

(c) As to sufficiency of statement of special purposes for which meeting of vestry held, see Blunt v. Harwood, 8 A. & E. 610; Smith v. Deighton, 8 Moore, P. C. 179.

(cc) The introductory words in the 19th sect. of the Public Health Act, 11 & 12 Vict. c. 63, "No bankrupt, insolvent, or other person, not qualified as aforesaid, shall be capable of being elected," &c., do not occur in this section, and the enactment merely enumerates the events in which a member after election shall cease to be a member. The causes here enumerated would not, it is apprehended, have afforded valid grounds at common law for the amotion of members of corporations (see Grant on Corporations, p. 242, n. (p), and it is presumed that the incapacity created by this provision attaches to bankruptcy during office only. It was held under 5 & 6 Will. 4, c. 76, that a bankrupt who had not obtained his certificate was not disqualified from being elected as a town councillor ; R. v. Chitty, 5 A. & E. 609.

(d) The words "by deed" occurring after "compound," in the 52nd section of the Municipal Corporations Act, 5 & 6

hold any office (c) under the board or vestry of which he is a member, or of whose accounts he is auditor, other than, in the case of any such auditor, his office of auditor, or in any manner be concerned or interested in any contract or work (ƒ) made with or executed for such board or vestry, in every such case such person shall cease to be such member or auditor as aforesaid: Provided always, that no person being a shareholder of any joint stock company shall be disabled from continuing or acting as a member of any such board or vestry by reason of any contract between such company and such board or vestry, or of any work executed by such company; but no such member shall vote upon any question in which such company is interested; and any

Will. 4, c. 76, are here omitted. The words used seem to include every sort of composition, whether by deed or otherwise. A composition agreement by parol with several creditors will be an answer to an action by a single creditor, if he accepted the new agreement in satisfaction. See Boyd v. Hind, 1 H. & N. 938.

(e) This clause does not use the expression "of profit," occurring in the 28th section of the 5 & 6 Will. 4, c. 76, and in the 9th section of the Commissioners' Clauses Act, 1847.

(f) Where, in an action for penalties against a town commissioner, under a local Act, incorporating the Commissioners' Clauses Act, 1847, 10 & 11 Vict. c. 16, a bill addressed by the defendant to the commissioners for lime which he had supplied was produced, it was held to be evidence for the jury that the defendant was concerned in a contract within the 10 & 11 Vict. e. 19, s. 6; Nicholson v. Fields, 31 L. J. (N. S.) Ex. 233. This case was distinguished from Woolley v. Kay (infra), where it was apparently the opinion of the court that a mere casual dealing would not be a contract for furnishing, supplying, or selling; per Pollock, C. B. ibid. See Woolley v. Kay; 25 L. J. Ex. 351; 1 H. & N. 307. In Le Feuvre v. Lankester, 23 L. J. (N. S.) Q. B. 254; 3 Ell. & Bl. 230, it was decided that an alderman of a borough who had openly and bona fide supplied some iron railings to a person contracting with the local board, was not liable to the penalty imposed by the 5 & 6 Will. 4, c. 76, s. 28. For decisions on similar provisions in statutes relative to workhouses, &c., see Greenhow v. Parker, 31 L. J. Ex. 4; West v. Andrews, 5 B. & Ald. 328; Proctor v. Manwaring, 3 B. & A. 145; Towsey v. White, 5 B. & C. 125; Henderson v. Sherborne, 2 M. & W. 236; Barber v. Waite, 1 A. & E. 514.

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