tion at the Consulate of the Consular district wherein the property mortgaged is situate.

23. Registration is made as follows:-The original and a copy of the deed or other instrument of mortgage, and an affidavit verifying the execution and place of execution thereof, and verifying the copy, are brought into the Consulate; and the copy and affidavit are left there.

24. If a deed or other instrument of mortgage is not registered at the Consulate aforesaid within the respective time following (namely) :

:

(i.) Within 14 days after its execution, where it is executed in the Consular district wherein the property mortgaged is situate: (ii) Within two months after its execution, where it is executed in China or Japan, elsewhere than in that Consular district, or in Hong Kong:

(iii.) Within six months after its execution, where it is executed elsewhere than in China, Japan, or Hong Kong:

then, and in every such case, the mortgage debt secured by the deed or other instrument and the interest thereon shall not have priority over judgment or simple contract debts contracted before the registration of that deed or other instrument.

25. Registered deeds or other instruments of mortgage, legal or equitable, of the same lands or houses have, as among themselves, priority in order of registration.

26.-(a.) The provisions of this Order do not apply to a deed or other instrument of mortgage executed before the commencement of this Order.

(b.) As regards a deed or other instrument of mortgage executed before the commencement of this Order, the Regulations repealed by this Order shall, notwithstanding that repeal, be in force, and shall be deemed to have always been of the like validity and effect as if they had originally been made by Order in Council.

27. The power conferred on the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for China and Japan by Article 127 of "The China and Japan Order in Council, 1865," of framing Rules from time to time, is hereby extended to the framing of Rules for prescribing and regulating the making and keeping of indexes, and of a general index, to the register of mortgages, and searches in those indexes, and other particulars connected with the making, keeping, and using of those registers and indexes, and for authorizing and regulating the unregistering of any deed or other instrument of mortgage, or the registering of any release or satisfaction in respect thereof.

Bills of Sale.

28. The provisions of this Order relating to bills of sale—

(i.) Apply only to such bills of sale executed by British subjects as are intended to affect chattels in China or in Japan:

(ii.) Do not apply to bills of sale given by sheriffs or others under or in execution of process authorizing seizure of chattels. 29.-(a.) Every bill of sale must conform with the following rules (namely):

:

(1.) It must state truly the name, description, and address of the grantor.

(2.) It must state truly the consideration for which it is granted.

(3.) It must have annexed thereto or written thereunder an inventory of the chattels intended to be comprised therein.

(4.) Any defeasance, condition, or declaration of trust affecting the bill not contained in the body of the bill must be written on the same paper as the bill.

(5.) The execution of the bill must be attested by a credible witness, with his address and description.

(b.) Otherwise, the bill is void in China and in Japan to the extent following, but no further (that is to say) :

(i.) In the case of failure to conform with the rule respecting an inventory, as far as regards chattels omitted from the inventory; and

(ii.) In any other case, wholly.

(c.) The inventory, and any defeasance, condition, or declaration as aforesaid, respectively, is for all purposes deemed part of the bill.

30. A bill of sale conforming, or appearing to conform, with the foregoing rules, may be registered, if it is intended to affect chattels in China, at the Supreme Court; and if it is intended to affect chattels in Japan, at the Court for Japan; or in either case at the Consulate of the Consular district wherein the chattels are; within the respective time following and not afterwards (namely) :—

(i.) Within 14 days after its execution, where it is executed in the Consular district wherein the chattels are:

(ii.) Within two months after its execution, where it is executed in China or in Japan, elsewhere than in that Consular district, or in Hong Kong:

(iii) Within six months after its execution, where it is executed elsewhere than in China, Japan, or Hong Kong.

31. Registration is made as follows:-The original and a copy of the bill of sale, and an affidavit verifying the execution, and the time and place of execution, and the attestation thereof, and verifying the copy, are brought into the proper office of the Court or the Consulate; and the copy and affidavit are left there.

32. If a bill of sale is not registered at a place and within

the time by this Order appointed and allowed for registration thereof, it is, from and after the expiration of that time, void in China or in Japan, according as that place is in China or in Japan, to the extent following, but not further (that is to say):

(i) Against trustees or assignees of the estate of the grantor, in or under bankruptcy, liquidation, or assignment for benefit of creditors; and

(ii) As against all sheriffs and others seizing chattels under process of any Court, and any person on whose behalf the seizure is made; but only

(iii.) As regards the property in, or right to, the possession of such chattels comprised in the bill as, at or after the filing of the petition for bankruptcy or liquidation, or the execution of the assignment, or the seizure, are in the grantor's possession, or apparent possession.

33. Registered bills of sale affecting the same chattels have as among themselves priority in order of registration.

34. Chattels comprised in a registered bill of sale are not in the possession, order, or disposition of the grantor within the law of bankruptcy.

35. If in any case there is an unregistered bill of sale, and within or on the expiration of the time by this Order allowed for registration thereof, a subsequent bill of sale is granted affecting the same or some of the same chattels, for the same or part of the same debt, then the subsequent bill is, to the extent to which it comprises the same chattels and is for the same debt, absolutely void, unless the Supreme Court for China and Japan, or the Court for Japan, as the case may require, is satisfied that the subsequent bill is granted in good faith for the purpose of correcting some material error in the prior bill, and not for the purpose of unlawfully evading the operation of this Order.

36. The registration of a bill of sale must be renewed once at least every five years.

37. Renewal of registration is made as follows:-An affidavit stating the date of and parties to the bill of sale, and the date. of the original registration and of the last renewal, and that the bill is still a subsisting security, is brought in to the proper office of the Court or the Consulate of original registration, and is left there.

38. If the registration of a bill of sale is not so renewed in any period of five years, then on and from the expiration of that period the bill is deemed to be unregistered.

39. The provisions of this Order relating to renewal apply to bills of sale registered under the Regulations repealed by this Order.

40. A transfer or assignment of a registered bill of sale need

not be registered; and renewal of registration is not necessary by reason only of such a transfer or assignment.

41. Where the time for registration or renewal of registration. of a bill of sale expires on a Sunday, or other day on which the office for registration is closed, the registration or renewal is valid if made on the first subsequent day on which the office is

open.

42. If in any case the Supreme Court for China and Japan, or the Court for Japan, as the case may require, is satisfied that failure to register or to renew the registration of a bill of sale in due time, or any omission or misstatement connected with registration or renewal, was accidental or inadvertent, the Court may, if it thinks fit, order the failure, omission, or misstatement to be rectified in such manner and on such terms, if any, respecting security, notice by advertisement or otherwise, or any other matter, as the Court thinks fit.

43.-(a.) The provisions of this Order, except as regards renewal of registration, do not apply to a bill of sale executed before the commencement of this Order.

(b.) As regards a bill of sale executed before the commencement of this Order, the Regulations repealed by this Order shall, notwithstanding that repeal, be in force, and shall be deemed to have always been of the like validity and effect as if they had originally been made by Order in Council,

44. The power conferred on the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for China and Japan by Article 127 of "The China and Japan Order in Council, 1865," of framing Rules from time to time, is hereby extended to the framing of Rules for prescribing and regulating the making and keeping of indexes, and of a general index, to the registers of bills of sale, and searches in those indexes, and other particulars connected with the making, keeping, and using of those registers and indexes, and for authorizing and regulating the unregistering of any bills of sale, or the registering of any release or satisfaction in respect thereof.

Suits by or against Partners.

45.-(a.) The following are Rules of Procedure of Her Majesty's Courts in China and in Japan, under "The China and Japan Order in Council, 1865 :”–

(1.) Persons claiming or being liable as partners may sue or be sued in the firm name, if any.

(2.) Where partners sue in the firm name, they must, on demand in writing on behalf of any defendant, forthwith declare the names and addresses of the partners.

(3.) Otherwise, all proceedings in the suit may, on application, be stayed on such terms as the Court thinks fit.

(4.) When the names of the partners are so declared, the

suit proceeds in the same manner, and the same consequences in all respects follow, as if they had been named as the plaintiffs in the petition.

(5.) All subsequent proceedings nevertheless continue in the firm name.

(6.) Where partners are sued in the firm name, the petition must be served either on one or more of the partners within the jurisdiction, or at the principal place of the partnership business within the jurisdiction on some person having then and there control or management of the partnership business.

(7.) Where one person, carrying on business in the name of a firm apparently representing more persons than one, is sued in the firm name, the petition may be served at the principal place of the business within the jurisdiction on some person having then and there control or management of the business.

(S.) Where partners are sued in the firm name, they must appear individually in their own names.

(9.) All subsequent proceedings nevertheless continue in the firm name.

(10.) Where a person, carrying on business in the name of a firm apparently representing more persons than one, is sued in the firm name, he must appear in his own name.

(11.) All subsequent proceedings nevertheless continue in the firm name.

(12.) In any case not hereinbefore provided for, where persons claiming or being liable as partners sue or are sued in the firm name, any party to the suit may, on application to the Court, obtain a statement of the names of the persons who are partners in the firm, to be furnished and verified on oath or otherwise, as the Court thinks fit.

(13.) Where a judgment is against partners in the firm name, execution may issue

(i.) Against any property of the partners as such; and

(ii) Against any person who has admitted in the suit that he is a partner, or who has been adjudged to be a partner;

and

(iii) Against any person who has been served in the suit as a partner, and has failed to appear.

(14.) If the party who has obtained judgment claims to be entitled to issue execution against any other person, as being a partner, he may apply to the Court for leave so to do; and the Court, if the liability is not disputed, may give such leave, or if it is disputed may order that the question of the liability be tried and determined as a question in the suit, in such manner as the Court thinks fit.

(b.) The foregoing Rules may be from time to time varied by Rules of Procedure made under "The China and Japan Order in Council, 1865."