CA P. VIII. An Act for raising the Sum of Seventeen millions one hundred and eighty-three thousand Pounds by Exchequer Bills for the Service of the Year One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five. • Most Gracious Sovereign, [16th March 1855.] WE, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal Subjects, the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled, towards raising the necessary Supplies which we have cheerfully granted to Your Majesty in this Session of Parliament. have resolved to give and grant unto Your Majesty the Sum herein-after mentioned; and do therefore most humbly beseech Your Majesty that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present l'arliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows: I. It shall be lawful for the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Power to TreaTreasury of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland sury to raise 17,183,000/ by at any Time or Times, to cause any Number of Exchequer Exchequer Bills Bills to be made out at the Receipt of the Exchequer at in like anner Westminster for any Sum or Sums of Money not exceeding in as is prescribed the whole the Sum of Seventeen millions one hundred and by 48 G. 3. c. 1. eighty-three thousand Pounds, in like Manner as is prescribed in an Act passed in the Forty-eighth Year of the Reign of 4 & 5 W. 4. King George the Third, Chapter One, and in another Act c. 15. passed in the Session of Parliament holden in the Fourth and Fifth Years of the Reign of His late Majesty King 5 & 6 Vict. William the Fourth, Chapter Fifteen, and in another Act c. 66. passed in the Session of Parliament holden in the Fifth and Sixth Years of the Reign of Her present Majesty, Chapter Sixty-six. Acts extended II. All and every the Clauses, Provisocs, Powers, Privileges, The Clauses, Advantages, Penalties, Forfeitures, and Disabilities contained &c. in recited in the said Acts shall be applied and extended to the Exchequer to this Act. Bills to be made out in pursuance of this Act, as fully and effectually to all Intents and Purposes as if the said several Clauses or Provisoes had been particularly repeated and reenacted in the Body of this Act. apply the III. It shall be lawful for the said Commissioners of Her The Treasury Majesty's Treasury to issue and apply from Time to Time all to issue and such Sums of Money as shall be raised by Exchequer Bills to Money raised. be made out in pursuance of this Act to such Services as shall then have been voted by the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in this present Session of Parliament. Bills how to be charged and paid. Interest on Bills. Bills charged on Supplies to be current in Payment of after Twelve Calendar Months from their Dates. IV. The Principal Sum or Sums of Money to be contained in such Exchequer Bills shall be charged upon and shall be paid out of any Supplies to be granted in the next Session of Parliament. V. Exchequer Bills to be made out in pursuance of this Act shall bear Date on the Days on which the same shall be respectively issued, and shall bear an Interest not exceeding the Rate of Threepence Halfpenny per Centum per Diem in respect of the whole of the Monies respectively contained therein, payable out of any Aids or Supplies in the Bank of England standing to the Credit of the Exchequer. pass VI. All the Exchequer Bills to be made out by virtue of this Act, or so many of them as shall from Time to Time remain undischarged and uncancelled, shall, after Twelve Public Revenue Calendar Months from their respective Dates, be taken and shall and be current to all the Keceivers and Collectors in Great Britain of the Customs, Excise, or any Revenue, Supply, Aid, or Tax whatsoever already granted or payable, or which shall hereafter be granted or payable, to Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, and also at the Bank of England to the Account of Her Majesty's Exchequer, from the said Receivers or Collectors, or from any other Person or Persons, Bodies Politic or Corporate whatsoever, making any Payment there to Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, upon any Account whatever. Bank of England may advance 17,183.000. ou the Credit of Bills, notwith standing VII. It shall be lawful for the Governor and Company of the Bank of England to advance or lend to Her Majesty, upon the Credit of the Exchequer Bills to be made out in pursuance of this Act, any Sum or Sums of Money not exceeding in the whole the Sum of Seventeen millions one hundred and eighty 5 & 6 W. & M. three thousand Pounds; anything in an Act passed in the Fifth c. 20. In lieu of Duties and Sixth Years of the Reign of King William and Queen Mary, Chapter Twenty, or in any subsequent Act, to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding. C A P. IX. An Act to suspend the Decline of the Customs Duties on Tea from and after the Fifth Day of April One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five. [16th March 1855.] BE E it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows: I. In lieu of the several Duties of Customs made payable on Tea by the Act of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Years of the Reign of Her present Majesty, Chapter One hundred and six, there shall be raised, levied, collected, and paid unto Her Majesty, Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, the following Duties thereon; that is to say, From and after the passing of this Act until the s. d. Day of April inclusive, which shall first happen after the Date of a definitive Treaty of Peace From thence until the Expiration of the ensuing Twelve Months And thenceafter Without any Allowance for Draft. - the lb. 1 6 - the lb. 1 3 - the lb. 1 0 II. In citing this Act in other Acts or legal Instruments it Short Title. shall be sufficient to use the Expression "The Tea Duties Decline Suspension Act, 1855." CA P. X. An Act to enable a Third Principal Secretary and a WHEREAS under the Provisions of an Act of the 6 Anne, c. 7. Sixth Year of Queen Anne, Chapter Seven, and of 'an Act of the Twenty-second Year of King George the 22 G. 3. c. 82. Third, Chapter Eighty two, not more than Two of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State are capable of 'sitting as Members of the House of Commons at the same Time, and by reason of the said Act of the Twenty'second Year of King George the Third, and of an Act of the 'Fifteenth Year of King George the Second, Chapter Twenty- 15 G. 2. c. 22. 'two, Doubts are entertained whether more than Two of the Under Secretaries to the Principal Secretaries of State are 'capable of sitting as such Members: And whereas it would 'be for the Advantage of the Public Service that Three of 'such Principal Secretaries and Three of such Under Secre'taries should be capable of sitting at the same Time in the House of Commons:' Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That Power to any any Three of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State for Principal the Time being, and any Three of the Under Secretaries for Secretaries and the Time being to Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, any Three of may sit and vote as Members of the House of Commons, any- Secretaries of thing in the said Acts or in any other Act or Acts to the State to sit in contrary notwithstanding; but not more than Three such the House of Principal Secretaries and not more than Three such Under Secretaries shall sit as Members of the House of Commons at the same Time. B 4 САР. Three of the the Under Commons. Numbers. Articles of War made by Her Majesty to be judicially taken notice of, and Copies printed by the Queen's Printers to be transmitted to Judges, &c. CA P. XI. An Act for punishing Mutiny and Desertion, and for the better Payment of the Army and their Quarters. [16th March 1855.] HEREAS the raising or keeping a Standing Army within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Time of Peace, unless it be with the Consent of Parliament, is against Law: And whereas it is adjudged necessary by Her Majesty and this present Parliament that a Body of Forces should be continued for the Safety of the United Kingdom, the Defence of the Possessions of Her Majesty's Crown, and the Preservation of the Balance of Power in Europe, and that the whole Number of such Forces 'should consist of One hundred and ninety-three thousand five hundred and ninety-five Men, exclusive of the Officers and Men belonging to the Regiments employed in the Territorial Possessions of the East India Company, but including the Officers and Men of the Troops and Companies recruiting for those Regiments: And whereas no Man can be forejudged of Life or Limb, or subjected in Time of Peace to any Kind of Punishment within this Realm, by Martial Law, or in any other Manner than by Judgment of his Peers, and according to the known and established Laws of this Realm; yet nevertheless it being requisite, for the retaining all the before' mentioned Forces in their Duty, that an exact Discipline be observed, and that Soldiers who shall mutiny or stir up Sedition, or shall desert Her Majesty's Service, or be guilty of Crimes and Offences to the Prejudice of good Order and Military Discipline, be brought to a more exemplary and speedy Punishment than the usual Forms of the Law will allow Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Ex-cellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, 6 That I. It shall be lawful for Her Majesty to make Articles of War for the better Government of Her Majesty's Forces, which Articles shall be judicially taken notice of by all Judges and in all Courts whatsoever; and Copies of the same, printed by the Queen's Printer, shall, as soon as may be after the same shall have been made and established by Her Majesty, be transmitted by Her Majesty's Secretary-at-War to the Judges of Her Majesty's Superior Courts at Westminster, Dublin, and Edinburgh respectively, and also to the Governors of Her Majesty's Dominions abroad; provided that no Person within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or the British Isles, shall by such Articles of War be subject to be transported as a Felon, or to suffer any Punishment extending to Life or Limb, except for Crimes which are by this Act expressly made liable to such Transportation or to such Punishment as aforesaid, 1855. Mutiny. aforesaid, or shall be subject, with reference to any Crimes made punishable by this Act, to be punished in any Manner which shall not accord with the Provisions of this Act. II. All the Provisions of this Act shall apply to all Persons Persons subject who are or shall be commissioned or in Pay as an Officer, or to this Act. who are or shall be listed or in Pay as a Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier, and to all Persons employed on the Recruiting Service receiving Pay in respect of such Service, and to the Officers and Soldiers belonging to the Forces of the East India Company while such Officers or Soldiers shall be in any Part of the United Kingdom, and to the Officers and Persons who are or shall be serving and hired to be employed in the Royal Artillery and Field Train, and to Master Gunners, and Gunners, and Conductors of Stores, and to all Officers and Persons who are or shall be serving in the Regiment of Royal Engineers and the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners, and in the Corps of Royal Military Surveyors and Draftsmen, and to Persons in the Ordnance and Commissariat Departments, who are or shall be serving with any Part of Her Majesty's Forces at home or abroad, under the Command of any Officer having Commission from Her Majesty or from His late Majesty King William the Fourth, and to all Storekeepers and other Civil Officers who are or shall be employed by or act under the Ordnance at any of Her Majesty's Ordnance Establishments in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Surk, and Man, and the Islands thereto belonging, or at Foreign Stations; provided that nothing in this Act contained shall extend to affect any Security which has been given by such Storekeeper, Barrack Master, or other Officer, or their Sureties, for the due Performance of their respective Offices, under the Provisions of an Act passed in the Fiftieth Year of the Reign of His Majesty King George the Third, to regulate the taking of Securities in all Offices, but that such Bonds and other Securities shall be and remain in full Force and Effect. to Jersey, III. This Act shall extend to the Islands of Jersey, Guern- Act to extend sey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and the Islands thereto belonging, Guernsey, &c. as to the Provisions therein for enlisting of Recruits, whether Minors or of full Age, and swearing and attesting such Recruits, and for mustering and paying, and to the Provisions for the Trial and Punishment of Officers and Soldiers who shall be charged with Mutiny and Desertion, or any other of the Offences which are by this Act declared to be punishable by the Sentence of a Court-martial, and also to the Provisions which relate to the Punishment of Persons who shall fraudulently confess themselves to be Deserters, or who shall conceal Deserters, or shall knowingly buy, exchange, or otherwise receive any Arms, Clothes, Military Furniture, or Regimental Necessaries from any Soldier or Deserter, or who shall cause the Colour of any such Clothes to be changed, or who shall aid in the Escape of a Prisoner from a Military Prison, or who shall introduce forbidden Articles into such Prison, or shall carry out any |