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Lands vested in
Trustees
transferred to
Commissioners

Short title

The Presbyterian Church Act, 1884

is in anywise irregular, unnecessary, or improper; and any such conveyance, transfer, or mortgage, duly executed in manner aforesaid (and endorsed with the Governor's consent, in writing, in the case of the sale, mortgage, or other disposition of lands acquired from the Crown), shall be valid and effectual to all intents and purposes whatsoever.

9. All lands now vested in the Reverend David Shearer, Francis Arnold Moseley, and Edward Fox Angelo, as trustees for the said Church, shall be, and the same are hereby vested in the Commissioners of the Presbyterian Church in Western Australia, their successors and assigns for ever, for an estate in fee simple upon and for the trusts aforesaid.

10. This Act may be cited as 'The Presbyterian Church Act, 1884.' F. NAPIER BROOME,

GOVERNOR.

Short title

Interpretation

Power to

Governor to execute contract,

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

ANNO QUADRAGESIMO OCTAVO

VICTORIÆ REGINE

No. 21

An Act to authorise the Construction of a Railway from
Beverley to Albany, on the Land Grant System.

[Assented to 13th September, 1884.

WHEELAM Australia by Anthony Hordern, Esquire, hereinafter

HEREAS proposals have been made to the Government of

called the Contractor, for the construction, management, and working, by the Contractor, of a Railway from Beverley to Albany upon the Land Grant System; And whereas the terms and conditions of the construction, management, and working of the Railway as aforesaid have been agreed to by the Legislative Council of the Colony, with the approval of the Governor thereof, and by the Contractor, and it is expedient that powers should be given to the Governor to enter into and execute a contract embodying the said terms and conditions, and to the Governor and Contractor to do all things which are necessary and proper to be done in respect of the premises: Be it therefore enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Western Australia and its Dependencies, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, as follows:

1. This Act may be cited for all purposes as 'The Beverley-Albany Railway Act, 1884."

2. The term 'Contractor' shall mean and include the Contractor and his heirs and assigns, as expressed in the contract.

3. It shall be lawful for the Governor, acting on behalf of the Colony of Western Australia, to enter into and execute a contract for

The Beverley-Albany Railway Act, 1884

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and do all things necessary in that

behalf

Power to Contractor to enter

do all other necessary things

the construction, management, and working, by the Contractor, of a Railway from Beverley to Albany; and to grant to the Contractor the lands mentioned in the said contract; and to do all the things necessary and proper to be done by the Governor as aforesaid for the carrying into effect of the terms and conditions of the said contract. 4. It shall be lawful for the Contractor to exercise all the powers, rights, and privileges which by The Railways Act, 1878,' or by any upon lands and Act amending or incorporated with the said Railways Act, are or may be vested in the Commissioner of Railways in respect of the survey, the entry upon, and the taking of lands for the construction of the Railway, and to do all things necessary and proper to be done by the Contractor for the carrying into effect of the contract as aforesaid; but subject, always, to the duties, liabilities, and restrictions imposed upon the Commissioner by the said Act or Acts, and subject always, also, to the duties, liabilities, and restrictions imposed upon the Contractor by the terms or conditions of the said contract.

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WH

ANNO QUADRAGESIMO OCTAVO

VICTORIÆ REGINÆ

No. 25

An Act to provide for the Registration of certain Persons who shall be imported into Western Australia or employed in any manner within the Territorial Dominion thereof, and for certain other matters in connection therewith. [Reserved 13th September, 1884. [Royal Assent proclaimed 20th May, 1885. THEREAS it is expedient that a Register should be kept of all See 53 Vic., No. 3, persons, natives of India, China, Africa, and of the islands in No. 32, s. 3 the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and the Malayan Archipelago, who shall be imported into Western Australia or employed in any manner within its Territorial Dominion; And whereas it is also expedient to prevent the importation of old and sickly persons, and to make due provision for the welfare and comfort of all such persons as shall be imported: Be it therefore enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Western Australia and its Dependencies, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, as follows:

s. 5, and 57 Vic.,

46 Vic., No. 21

1. 'The Imported Labor Registry Act, 1882,' is hereby repealed. Repeal of Provided that this repeal shall not affect the validity or invalidity of any contract made, or of any act done or suffered, or of any proceeding commenced, nor any penalty, forfeiture, or punishment incurred in

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Short title

Interpretation

of terms

See 50 Vic.,
No. 13, s. 12

No laborer to
be imported
unless a contract
has been
previously made

Place where such

The Imported Labor Registry Act, 1884

respect of any offence committed against the said repealed Act before the commencement of this Act.

2. This Act may be cited for all purposes as 'The Imported Labor Registry Act, 1884.'

3. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,

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'Laborer' means any person apparently a native of India, China, Africa, or of the islands of the Indian or Pacific Oceans, or of the Malayan Archipelago, and brought into the Colony as a laborer or servant, or for any other similar employment.

'Employer' includes every person at whose request or on whose behalf a laborer is brought into the Colony, and every person employing a laborer within the Colony, and the agent of any such person.

'Vessel' includes any ship or boat.

'Master' includes any person for the time being in command or
charge of a vessel.

Magistrate' means a Government Resident, or a Resident
Magistrate, or a Police Magistrate, or any person law-
fully acting as such, but it does not include any other
Justice of the Peace.

4. No laborer shall be imported or brought into the Colony of Western Australia unless a contract, as hereinafter provided for, shall have been previously entered into with such laborer, and every person who shall bring or import a laborer into the Colony contrary to this provision of the Act shall be liable to a penalty of not less than Ten pounds and not exceeding Twenty pounds for every laborer so brought or imported.

5. Every such contract shall be entered into with the laborer, by contract shall be the employer or his agent, previously to the shipment of the laborer, at the port or place of his shipment.

made

Requisites and form of such

contract

6. The said contract shall be in writing signed or marked by the employer or his agent and by the laborer, and it shall specify the nature of the employment, the period of the service (which shall not exceed three years), the amount of wages, the times of payment thereof, and that rations be supplied, substantial, sufficient, and suitable for the laborer. The contract shall also contain stipulations by the employer that the laborer shall be provided with fit and proper lodging during the period of his engagement, and that he shall be returned to the port or place of his shipment, at the expense of the employer, at the end of the period of service; and that medical attendance shall be provided by the employer, at his expense, for the laborer when practicable and necessary, unless the illness of the laborer shall have been caused by his own improper act or fault. Provided, however, that the absence of the stipulation as to the return of the laborer to the place of his shipment as aforesaid shall not invalidate any contract bearing the written approval of any British authority, or of any authority of an European Government of the country where the contract has been made, if such European Government shall have been designated by

The Imported Labor Registry Act, 1884

the Governor in a notice published in the 'Government Gazette.' The said contract may be in the Form A in the Schedule hereto.

7. The master of every vessel which shall arrive at any port or place of landing within the Colony, having on board any laborer or laborers as aforesaid, shall, as soon as possible after arrival, give to the principal officer of Customs or of Police, or other officer authorised by the Governor in that behalf at or nearest to the said port or place of landing, a complete list of all such laborers, containing the particulars hereinafter provided for.

List of imported given before landing

laborers to be

form of such list

8. Such list shall contain the name, sex, apparent age, place of Requisites and birth, place of last residence, place and date of shipment, calling or occupation, and intended place of residence and employment of each laborer, and the name, residence, and description of his employer. The said list may be in the Form B in the Schedule hereto.

9. The master of any vessel who shall knowingly give to the said officer a list which shall be false in any of the particulars aforesaid shall be liable to a penalty of not less than Two pounds and not exceeding Twenty pounds for every laborer in respect of whom there shall be any false particular in such list.

Penalty for giving a false list

Medical certificate to be also

given

10. The master of every vessel arriving with laborers on board as aforesaid shall also, as soon as possible after arrival, give to the officer aforesaid a medical certificate in respect of each of such laborers certifying as to his apparent age and that he is free from disease and of a sound constitution. 11. The said medical certificate may be signed at the port or place Requisites and of shipment of such laborer by a person authorised to practise as a physician or surgeon by any law in force in any of Her Majesty's Dominions or by any licensed or recognised school of medicine, or it may be signed at the port or place of landing of such laborer by a Government medical officer. Such certificate may be in the Form C in the Schedule hereto.

12. No laborer shall be landed from any vessel or employed within the Colony until the master of the vessel shall have given to the Officer of Customs or Police, or other officer as aforesaid, a list containing all the particulars of such laborer, and a medical certificate in respect of such laborer, as hereinbefore provided for; and every master or other person who shall knowingly land any laborer within the Colony, contrary to the provisions of this section, shall be liable to a penalty not less than Two pounds and not exceeding Twenty pounds for every laborer so landed. No laborer shall be landed, in the first instance, except at a port which is a regularly appointed seat of magistracy, or which has been notified by the Governor in the 'Government Gazette' to be a place where laborers may be landed within the Colony under

form of medical certificate

Penalty for landin a laborer such list and certificate

before giving

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medical

magistrate

13. Within fourteen days after the landing of any laborer within Verification of the Colony, or within such extended time as to the Magistrate in his contract before a discretion may seem necessary and proper, the employer or his agent and the laborer shall go before the Magistrate of the port of landing, and the employer or his agent shall produce the contract entered into between the parties as aforesaid, and the employer shall prove to the

I

Counter-signa

tion of contract

The Imported Labor Registry Act, 1884

satisfaction of the Magistrate that the contract has been explained to, and freely and voluntarily entered into by the laborer, and that it is understood by him; provided that the fact of any contract having been entered into before and signed by a British or Dutch authority, or any authority of an European Government designated as aforesaid, of the country where the contract has been made, shall be primâ facie evidence that such contract has been explained to and freely and voluntarily entered into and understood by the laborer.

14. If the Magistrate shall be satisfied as aforesaid, he shall in the ture and registra case of a contract entered into before and bearing the written approval of a British or Dutch authority, or of any authority of an European Government designated as aforesaid, countersign such contract and deliver it to the employer or his agent, and it shall thenceforth be deemed to be a valid contract under this Act between the employer and the laborer, and a duplicate copy of such contract, signed or marked and countersigned as aforesaid, shall be given by the employer or his agent to the Magistrate, and shall be filed by him in the office of his Court, and the Magistrate shall cause the particulars of every such contract to be entered in a book to be kept in his office and to be called 'The Imported Labor Registry Book.' In the case of any such contract not entered into before and bearing the written approval of a British or Dutch authority, or of any authority of an European Government designated as aforesaid, if the Magistrate shall not be satisfied that the contract has been explained to and freely and voluntarily entered into by the laborer, and that it was fully understood by him, or if any of the provisions of the contract shall appear to the Magistrate to be harsh or unfair to the laborer, it shall be competent to the said Magistrate, at his discretion, to amend the contract, or to annul it, and to further order that the laborer be returned to the place of his shipment by the Government at reasonable expense, which the employer shall defray. Provided that if any employer or his agent shall be proved to the satisfaction of the Magistrate to have brought laborers to the Colony by the use of force or fraud he shall be subject, in addition to any penalty otherwise provided, to a penalty of Fifty pounds in respect of each laborer so brought.

Rescission of

contract by

mutual consent

Requisites and form of subsequent contracts

15. Any contract made under this Act may, at any time after the counter-signature thereof as aforesaid, be rescinded or amended by mutual consent of the parties thereto, in the presence of a Magistrate, provided that the employer shall produce the copy of the contract retained by him, and the Magistrate, upon being satisfied that the parties to the contract both wish to rescind or amend the same, and that such rescission or amendment is not to the prejudice of the laborer, shall destroy or amend the copy so produced to him as aforesaid, and shall make and sign a memorandum of such rescission or amendment, and of the date thereof, on the duplicate copy of the contract, which shall remain filed in the office of his Court, and he shall also cause a note of such rescission or amendment, with the date thereof, to be entered against the particulars of the contract in the aforesaid book.

16. After the termination of any contract under this Act whether by rescission, by effluxion of time, or otherwise, a new or subsequent contract may be entered into by any employer with a laborer, provided

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