congregational purposes shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be held by the Commissioners in trust for the maintenance or advancement or other purposes of the said Church, and shall be duly entered in the said Register of properties, and shall not be sold, exchanged, mortgaged or leased except as the General Assembly may direct, such direction to be evidenced by a resolution to be passed as aforesaid. A certificate signed or purporting to be signed by the clerk for the time being of the General Assembly shall be conclusive proof of the due passing of any Resolution of the said Assembly. 9. All lands, tenements, and hereditaments, and personal Property given property which shall be given, devised, or bequeathed to the subject to any trust to be held by said Church, or to any particular congregation or mission or Commissioners institution thereof, or to the Commissioners for or upon any subject thereto. special purpose or trust, shall vest in and be held and applied by the Commissioners, subject to the carrying out of such purpose or the performance of such trust. 10. No lands which shall have been acquired or may hereafter Property acquired by gift from be acquired by the said Church or by the Commissioners by gift Crown. from the Crown without pecuniary consideration therefor shall be sold, demised, mortgaged or otherwise disposed of, charged or dealt with except with the consent in writing of the Governor for the time being endorsed as hereinafter provided for. 11. The Commissioners shall, whenever directed or requested Dealing with proso to do by a resolution passed by a two-thirds majority of the perty held for congregational members and adherents of any congregation present at a Special purposes. Meeting called for the purpose by intimation from the pulpit during Divine Service on two successive Sabbaths immediately preceding the day of meeting, and subject to obtaining when necessary the consent of the Governor as aforesaid, and also the consent of the Presbytery within whose bounds the lands, tenements, hereditaments, or personal property affected are situate, sell, exchange, or mortgage all or any part of the lands. tenements, and hereditaments. or personal property held in trust for such congregation, for such price, sum, and upon such terms as the said majority of such congregation may direct; and the Commissioners shall, whenever directed or requested so to do by a resolution passed by a majority of the members of the Committee of Management of any congregation present at a Special Meeting called for that purpose (subject to the approval of the Presbytery within whose bounds such lands, tenements, and hereditaments are situate), let or lease all or any part of the lands, tenements and hereditaments held in trust for such congregation for such period, at such rent, and upon such terms as the said majority of the members of such Committee of Management may direct. Provided always that no such sale, exchange, mortgage, letting Application of trust moneys for benefit of congregation. Application of trust moneys for general purposes. Authorised investments. letting, or lease shall be made by the Commissioners until the said respective resolutions have been passed, and the consent, where required, of the Governor and Presbytery has been obtained. A certificate signed by the Chairman presiding at any such meeting of a congregation, or of the Committee of Management, and a certificate signed by the Clerk of the Presbytery, shall be conclusive proof of the passing of the said respective resolutions and of the approval of the Presbytery. 12. All moneys arising from the sale or mortgage, calling in or conversion of any lands, tenements, and hereditaments, and personal property held by the Commissioners in trust for any congregation, and the net rents, profits, and income of such lands, tenements, hereditaments, and personal property, and all other moneys coming to the hands of the Commissioners for the benefit of, or in trust for any congregation, shall from time to time be paid or applied in accordance with the directions of the Committee of Management of the congregation for which such lands, tenements, and hereditaments, personal property, and moneys are held in trust, and the receipt of the Treasurer for the time being of such Committee of Management for any such moneys, rents, profits, and income shall effectually discharge the Commissioners therefrom, and from being bound to see to the application or being answerable for the loss or misapplication thereof. 13. All moneys arising from the sale or mortgage, calling in, or conversion of lands, tenements, and hereditaments, and personal property held by the Commissioners other than in trust for any congregation, mission, or institution, and the income thereof and the net rents, profits, and income of such lands, tenements, and hereditaments, and personal property, and all other moneys coming to the hands of the Commissioners for the general purposes of the said Church shall be devoted to whatever purpose the General Assembly may determine, and the receipt of the Treasurer for the time being of such Fund for any such moneys, rents, profits, and income shall effectually discharge the Commissioners therefrom, and from being bound to see to the application or being answerable for the non-application thereof. 14. The Commissioners may, from time to time, invest all moneys that shall come to their hands in any of the Public Stocks or Government securities of the United Kingdom, or of the Commonwealth of Australia, or of this State, or of any other Australian State, or upon purchase or mortgage of any real or personal property, or on deposit with any Bank carrying on business in this State, and no Commissioner shall be liable for any loss occasioned by the depreciation or failure of any such investment or otherwise, save by his own wilful default; and the Commissioners, from time to to time, at their discretion may vary or transfer such stocks, funds, and securities into or for others of the same or a like nature. 15. It shall be lawful for the Commissioners, from time to time, Treasurer. to appoint a Treasurer, who shall hold his office on such terms as they may determine; and the receipt in writing of the Treasurer, or of any of the Commissioners duly authorised in that behalf for any moneys paid, and for any stocks, funds, shares, or securities transferred, shall effectually discharge the person paying or transferring the same therefrom, and from being bound to see to the application, or being answerable for the loss or misapplication thereof. gifts, etc. 16. No order, resolution, or proceeding of the Commissioners, Vacancies not nor any power by this Act conferred, nor any gift, devise, or be- to invalidate quest to them, or to any Minister, or person, for the benefit of the said Church, or any congregation, mission, institution, or charity connected therewith, shall be invalidated by reason only of there being a vacancy in the office of Moderator or Minister, or any vacancy in the number of Commissioners. etc. 17. The corporate seal of the Commissioners, which shall be Corporate seal to and remain in the custody of the Treasurer for the time being, be affixed to deeds, shall be affixed to every deed or instrument executed in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act at a General Meeting of the Commissioners, by the chairman of such meeting, and every such deed or instrument shall also be signed by two of the Commissioners. 18. For a General Meeting of the Commissioners not less than General meetings — seven days' notice shall be given, and for the transaction of busi- quorum. ness thereat a quorum of three Commissioners, one of whom shall be a Minister, shall be necessary. The decision on any matter of a majority of the Commissioners present at any General Meeting shall be deemed to be the decision of the whole body of the Commissioners, and shall be binding on all absent or dissenting Commissioners, who shall, if required, execute and do all such instruments and acts as may be requisite for giving effect to such decision. 19. It shall not be necessary for any purchaser, transferee, Purchasers, etc., lessee, or mortgagee to inquire whether the Commissioners, or any protected. of them signing any deed or instrument, or affixing the said seal as aforesaid, were or was duly or regularly appointed or whether the approval of the majority of the congregation or of the Committee of Management present at a Special Meeting or of the Presbytery as aforesaid has been duly or properly obtained to the sale, exchange, transfer, conveyance, mortgage, or lease of the lands, tenements, and hereditaments purporting to be sold, exchanged Properties to be held subject to scheme of Union. changed, transferred, conveyed, mortgaged, or leased by such deed or instrument, or whether the said power of sale, exchange, mortgage, or leasing was duly or regularly exercised, or in any wise to see to the application of any moneys raised under authority of this Act, or to inquire into the necessity, regularity, or propriety of any such conveyance, transfer, mortgage or lease; nor shall any purchaser, transferee, mortgagee, or lessee be affected by notice that the Commissioners, or any of them, have not been regularly appointed, or that such approval as aforesaid has not been obtained. or that any such conveyance, transfer, mortgage, or lease, is in anywise irregular, unnecessary, or improper; and any such conveyance, transfer, mortgage, or lease duly executed in manner aforesaid (and endorsed with the Governor's consent, in writing, in the case of the sale or mortgage of lands acquired by gift from the Crown without pecuniary consideration therefor), shall be valid and effectual to all intents and purposes whatsoever. 20. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, or in any deed, declaration, or statement of trust, all lands, tenements, hereditaments, personal property, estates, and temporal privileges, and all equitable rights belonging to the said Church and the congregations thereof, or held in trust for or on behalf of, or in connection with the said Church and congregations, missions or institutions connected therewith (in this section called "properties of the said Church,'') shall be held subject to the provisions of the Scheme of Union set forth in the Schedule to the Presbyterian Church of Australia Act, 1901, and all decisions of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Australia or the Judicial Commission thereof, given or come to in accordance with the said Scheme of Union shall be binding on all properties of the said Church. By Authority: FRED. WM. SIMPSON, Government Printer, Perth. AN ACT to validate certain Rates made by ᏴᎬ 1908. [Assented to 12th August, 1908. E it enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: 1908, validated. 1. The general rate and loan rate made and levied or purporting Rates for the year to have been made and levied by the Council of the Municipality ending 31st October, of Claremont, and the health rate made and levied or purporting to have been made and levied by the Claremont Local Board of Health for the year ending the thirty-first day of October, one thousand nine hundred and eight, shall be deemed to have been lawfully made and levied, and all things necessary to be done in and towards the making and levying of such rates respectively shall be deemed to have been duly performed notwithstanding any failure to comply with any of the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1906, or the Health Act, 1898, relating thereto, and the said rates may be recovered by the said Municipal Council and Local Board of Health accordingly as if the provisions of the said Acts were in all respects duly complied with. By Authority: FRED. WM. SIMPSON, Government Printer, Perth. |