Qualification required.] By the said consolidated order,— Art. 162. No person shall hold the office of clerk, treasurer, master, or relieving officer under this order who has not reached the age of twenty-one years.

Art. 163. No person shall hold the office of master of a workhouse, or matron of a workhouse having no master, unless he or she be able to keep accounts.

Art. 164. No person shall hold the office of relieving officer, unless he be able to keep accounts, and unless he reside in the district for which he may be appointed to act, devote his whole time to the performance of the duties of his office, and abstain from following any trade or profession, and from entering into any other service.

Art. 165. No person shall hold the office of nurse, who is not able to read written directions on medicines.

Art. 166. Provided always, that the guardians may, with the consent of the commissioners previously obtained, but not otherwise, dispense with any of the conditions specified in Arts. 162, 163, 164, and 165.

Art. 167. No person shall be appointed to the office of master, matron, schoolmaster, schoolmistress, porter, or relieving officer, under this order, who does not agree to give one month's notice previous to resigning the office, or to forfeit one month's amount of salary, to be deducted as liquidated damages from the amount of salary due at the time of such resignation.

As to the qualification of the surgeon, see post, p. 85; of the chaplain, post, p. 91.

Remuneration of officers.] By the said consolidated order,Art. 172. The guardians shall pay to the several officers and assistants appointed to or holding any office or employment under this order, such salaries or remuneration as the commissioners may from time to time direct or approve.

Provided that the guardians, with the approval of the commissioners, may pay to any officer or person employed by such guardians a reasonable compensation on account of extraordinary services, or other unforeseen circumstances connected with the duties of such officer or person, or the necessities of the union.

Art. 173. The salary of every officer or assistant appointed to, or holding, any office or employment under this order, shall be payable up to the day on which he ceases to hold such office or employment, and no longer.

Art. 174. If no remuneration or salary be expressly assigned to the treasurer, the profit arising from the use of money from time to time left in his hands shall be deemed to be the payment of his services.

Art. 175. An officer who may be suspended, and who may,

without the previous removal of such suspension, be dismissed by the commissioners, shall not be entitled to any salary from the date of such suspension.

Art. 176. The guardians shall not pay to any officer bound to account, to be hereafter appointed, who may have been removed, or who may be under suspension from his office, any salary claimed by such officer, until his accounts shall have been audited by the auditor.

But by order, 17th March, 1847, Art. 31, the guardians may, if they think fit, pay to each officer who has not been removed or suspended from his or her office, and who is entitled to receive from them payment of any salary, whether by way of annual stipend, poundage, or other emolument, on account of such salary, the amount of which may be due at the expiration of every quarter, provided the accounts of such officer shall have been presented by him or her to the board of guardians duly made up. The guardians may, however, if they think fit, defer the payment of the salary of any officer until his or her accounts shall have been allowed by the auditor.

Security, in what cases to be required.] By the consolidated order of the commissioners, 24th July, 1847, already mentioned,

Art. 184. Every treasurer, master of a workhouse (or matron where there is no master), collector, or relieving officer, every person hereafter appointed as clerk, and every other officer whom the guardians shall require so to do, shall respectively give a bond conditioned for the due and faithful performance of the duties of the office, with two sufficient sureties, not (in the case of any security to be hereafter entered into) being officers of the same union; and every officer who shall have entered into any such security, shall give immediate notice to the guardians of the death, insolvency, or bankruptcy of either of such sureties, and shall, when required by the guardians, produce a certificate, signed by two householders, that his sureties are alive, and believed by them to be solvent; and such officer shall supply a fresh surety, in the place of any such surety who may die, or become bankrupt or insolvent.

Art. 185. Provided that the guardians may, if they think fit, take the security of any society or company expressly authorized by statute to guarantee or secure the faithful discharge of the duties of such officers. [And by a subsequent order (k), it is expressly declared that guardians may accept the security of the Guarantee Association; and a form of policy is there given.]

Art. 186. Provided also, that the guardians may, with the

(k) Ord. 6th Dec. 1847.

consent of the commissioners, dispense with such security in the case of any banking firm acting as treasurer, or in the case of a treasurer being a banker or partner of such firm (1).

Also by the same order, Art. 86, the guardians shall provide for the safe custody of all bonds given in pursuance of the regulations of the commissioners, so always that no bond given by any person shall remain in the custody of such person himself. And by Art. 87, the guardians shall, at the audit next after the twenty-fifth day of March in every year, cause every person having the custody of bonds given by any officer of the union to produce such bonds to the auditor for his inspection.

Their continuance in office.] Authority is given to the poor law board "to determine the continuance in office or dismissal" of these paid officers (m). And when by their order they removed a relieving officer from his office, merely stating as a reason that they deemed him unfit for it, without stating any particular grounds for dismissing him, or giving him any notice of their intention to do so,-Erle, J., on an application for a mandamus to restore him, held that it could not be granted; the authority given to the commissioners by the statute was discretionary, and the officer held durante bene placito merely, so that the commissioners might dismiss him at any moment, without notice, and without assigning any grounds, or even without grounds for it (n).

And by the consolidated order, 24th July, 1847, already mentioned,

Art. 187. Every officer appointed to or holding any office under this order, other than a medical officer, shall continue to hold the same until he die, or resign, or be removed by the commissioners, or be proved to be insane, to the satisfaction of the commissioners.

Art. 188. Provided always, that every porter, nurse, assistant, or servant may be dismissed by the guardians without the consent of the commissioners; but every such dismissal, and the grounds thereof, shall be reported to the commissioners.

Art. 189. If any master and matron hereafter appointed be husband and wife, and one of them should be dismissed by order of the commissioners, or should otherwise vacate his or her office, or should die, the other or survivor shall, at the expiration of the then current quarter, cease to hold his or her office of master or matron, as the case may be.

Art. 190. No officer of a workhouse, who may have been dismissed by any order of the commissioners, shall after such dismissal remain upon the workhouse premises, or enter

(1) See Bamford v. Iles, ante, p. 61.

(m) 4 & 5 W. 4, c. 76, s. 46, ante, pp. 64, 65.

(n) Re Teather and The Poor Law Commissioners, 19 Law J. 70.

therein for the purpose of interfering in the management of such workhouse, unless the commissioners have consented to his subsequent appointment to an office in such workhouse, under the provisions of the said first-recited Act, or to his temporary employment therein.

Art. 191. Every medical officer duly appointed shall, unless the period for which he is appointed be entered on the minutes of the guardians at the time of making such appointment, or be acknowledged in writing by such medical officer, continue in office until he may die or resign, or become legally disqualified to hold such office, or be removed therefrom by the commissioners.

Art. 192. The guardians may at their discretion suspend from the discharge of his or her duties any master, matron, schoolmaster, schoolmistress, medical officer, relieving officer, or superintendent of out-door labour; and the guardians shall, in case of every such suspension, forthwith report the same, together with the cause thereof, to the commissioners; and if the commissioners remove the suspension of such officer by the guardians, he or she shall forthwith resume the performance of his or her duties.

Art. 193. If any officer, or assistant, appointed to or holding any office or employment under this order, be at any time prevented by sickness or accident, or other sufficient reason, from the performance of his duties, the guardians may appoint a fit person to act as his temporary substitute, and may pay him a reasonable compensation for his services; and every such appointment shall be reported to the commissioners as soon as the same shall have been made.

Art. 194. The vice-chairman, or some guardian to be appointed by the guardians, may perform any of the duties assigned to the clerk, until any vacancy in the office shall have been filled, or until a substitute be appointed in the case of the sickness, accident, or absence of the clerk.

Art. 195. When any officer may die, resign, or become legally disqualified to perform the duties of his office, the guardians shall, as soon as conveniently may be after such death, resignation, or disqualification, give notice thereof to the commissioners, and proceed to make a new appointment to the office so vacant in the manner prescribed by the above regulations.

Art. 196. If any officer give notice of an intended resignation, to take effect on a future day, the guardians may elect a successor to such officer, in conformity with the above regulations, at any time subsequent to such notice.

Art. 197. In the case of any medical officer who holds his office for a specified term, the guardians may provide for the continuance of such officer, or appoint his successor, within the three calendar months next before the expiration of such term.

Personal discharge of their duties.] By the same consolidated order,

Art. 198. In every case not otherwise provided for by this order, every officer shall perform his duties in person, and shall not entrust the same to a deputy, except with the special permission of the commissioners on the application of the guardians.

In what cases to account.] Every treasurer or other person having the collection, receipt or distribution of the money assessed for the relief of the poor in any parish or union, or holding or accountable for any balance or sum of money, or any books, deeds, papers, goods or chattels relating to the relief of the poor, or the collection or distribution of the poor rate, shall account, in such manner as is mentioned in the next chapter (0).

And by the said consolidated order, 24th July, 1847, Art. 221, every officer of the union who may receive money on behalf of the guardians thereof, shall forthwith pay the same into the hands of the treasurer of the union, to the credit of the guardians, notwithstanding that any salary or balance may be due from the union to such officer.

Art. 222. No relieving officer, or other officer of any guardians, nor any assistant overseer, or collector, shall receive money for the relief of any non-settled pauper on behalf of any officer, or of the guardians of any other parish or union, or shall constitute himself in any way the agent of any officer or guardians of such other parish or union, except as is provided in this order.

Art. 223. If any money be transmitted to any officer, contrary to the provisions of this order, such officer shall forthwith pay such money into the hands of the treasurer of the union whose officer he is, and shall report to the guardians at their next meeting the fact that such money has been so received and paid, and shall make a true entry accordingly in his accounts.

Disobeying justices or guardians.] If any master of a workhouse, or other officer of any parish or union, shall wilfully disobey the legal and reasonable orders of justices and guardians in carrying the rules, orders, and regulations of the commissioners or assistant commissioners, or the provisions of this Act, into execution,-every such offender, upon conviction before any two justices, shall forfeit and pay not more than 51. (p).

Furnishing goods, &c. to the poor, for their own profit.] It shall not be lawful for any person, filling an office concerned

(0) 4 & 5 W. 4, c. 76, s. 47. See post, tit. "Auditing of Accounts,"

(p) 4 & 5 W. 4, c. 76, s. 94. As to the form of conviction, see ante,