of Law, Injunction or Order of Restraint, or any more than One Imparlance, shall be granted or allowed. XXIV. And be it enacted, That if any Person or Persons shall be sued, molested, or prosecuted, for any thing done by virtue or in pursuance of this Act, such Person or Persons shall and may plead the General Issue, and give this Act and the special Matter in Evidence, in his, her, or their Defence or Defences; and if afterwards a Verdict shall pass for the Defendant or Defendants, or the Plaintiff or Plaintiff's shall discontinue his, her, or their Action or Prosecution, or be nonsuited, or Judgment shall be given against him, her, or them, upon Demurrer or otherwise, then such Defendant or Defendants shall have his, her, or their Costs awarded to him, her, or them against any such Plaintiff or Plaintiffs. CAP. X. An Act to render valid certain Proceedings for the Relief of Distress in Ireland, by Employment of the Labouring Poor, and to indemnify those who have acted in such Proceedings. [18th March 1847.] WHEREAS an Act was passed in the last Session of Parliament, intituled An Act to facilitate the Employment of the Labouring Poor, for a limited Period, in the dis'tressed Districts in Ireland, authorizing Presentments for the Execution of Public Works in Ireland: And whereas by " reason of the Increase of Distress in Ireland it became necessary to provide further Means of employing the Labouring Poor, and thereupon the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, on the Fifth Day of October last, by a certain Letter, a Copy of which is contained in the Schedule annexed to this Act, written and signed by his Direction by the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, and addressed to the Chairman of the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, announced that he would sanction Presentments that should be made at any Sessions held under the said Act, for Works of a reproductive Character and permanent Utility, subject to the Regulations specified in the said Letter, in the same Manner as if they had been strictly Public Works, and presented as such in the Manner required by the said Act: And whereas Extraordinary Presentment Sessions have been called and held under the Provisions of the said Act, and the Justices and Cess-payers constituting such Sessions have made Presentments for various Works of a public Nature, and also for various Works of a re-productive Character and permanent Utility: And whereas in certain Cases the Justices and Cesspayers, by reason of such Announcement, apportioned on the several Electoral Divisions or Parts of Electoral Divisions of Poor Law Unions in the Barony, Half Barony, County of a 6 6 City, or County of a Town for which such Sessions were held, the Sum to be assessed on such Barony, Half Barony, County of a City, or County of a Town respectively, and presented for Works to be executed in such respective Elec⚫ toral Divisions, or Parts thereof: And whereas, for the immediate Employment of the Labouring Poor, it became necessary that the Execution of the Works so presented as aforesaid should be commenced forthwith after the making of such Presentments, the same having been approved by the Lord Lieutenant, although in certain Cases such Presentments, or the Proceedings taken before or after the making thereof, were not in strict Conformity with the Provisions of the said Act or the said Announcement: And whereas it is necessary and expedient that all Presentments made at any such Sessions before the passing of this Act, which have been approved of, or shall be approved of as herein-after mentioned, and the Advances which have been made or shall be made thereon, and the several Proceedings had and taken or which shall be had and taken thereunder, should be ratified and confirmed, and made as valid and effectual as if the same had been made, done, and carried on pursuant to the Provisions of the said recited Act, and that the Sums of Money therein presented for should be raised, levied, and paid in manner herein-after mentioned, and that all Persons who have acted in any Manner, by reason of such Announcement, in making such Presentments or in taking such Proceedings as aforesaid, should be indemnified and saved harmless from all Penalties ⚫ and legal Proceedings in consequence thereof:' 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 all Presentments which have been made All Presentat any Presentment Sessions in Ireland, called and held under ments made at the Provisions of the said recited Act, at any Time before the Sessions held passing of this Act, and which have been or shall be approved under recited by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and by the Commissioners Act, and approved by Lord of Her Majesty's Treasury, and all Works consequent upon Lieutenant and such Presentments, the Execution of which has been or shall the Treasury be commenced or carried on by or under the Direction of the declared valid. Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, and all Advances of Public Money for the Execution of the said Works which shall have been or shall be made, and all things done or to be done in execution of such Presentments, shall be ratified and confirmed, and be as valid and effectual as if the same had been presented and approved and such Advances had been made strictly in accordance with the Provisions of the said recited Act; and the said Commissioners of Public Works shall be authorized to begin, execute, and complete the Works so presented for and approved, in the same Manner as if the Execution thereof had been or were duly authorized by the said recited Act. Presentment All Persons who have acted in making Presentments, &c. indemnified. Where Persons have under 5 & 6 Vict. c.89., obtained Presentments for Works of Drainage, &c., and have given Undertakings that the Monies shall be expended upon the Lands specified, the same shall be ratified, &c. Money mentioned in such Undertaking shall be a Charge on the Lands. II. And be it enacted, That all Persons who shall have acted in any Manner in making any Presentment under the said Act, or by reason of the said Announcement, or in any Proceeding for giving Effect to any such Presentment, or in making any Advance of Money by reason thereof, shall be freed, acquitted, and indemnified from and against all Penalties and legal Proceedings in consequence thereof. 6 III. And whereas divers Persons, representing themselves to be Proprietors of Land within the Terms of an Act passed in the Sixth Year of the Reign of Her Majesty, intituled An 'Act to promote the Drainage of Lands, and Improvement of Navigation and Water Power in connexion with such Drainage in Ireland, and divers other Persons, representing themselves 'to be the Agents of and acting for and on behalf of such Proprietors, have at such Sessions applied for and obtained Presentments for Works of Drainage or Sub-soiling of Lands, ⚫ and have given Undertakings agreeing that so much of the • Monies for which such Presentments were made as should by an Award to be made by the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, or any Two of them, appear to have been expended upon the Lands specified in the said Undertakings respectively, with Interest thereon at the Rate of Three Pounds Ten Shillings per Centum per Annum, should be a Charge on the said Lands exclusively, and should and might be levied out of the same exclusively, which Undertakings have in many Cases been accepted and acted upon by the said Commisioners of Public Works;' be it therefore enacted, That all Undertakings which have been or shall be so accepted and acted upon, and all Presentments for Works mentioned and referred to in such Undertakings respectively, made at any Sessions called and held before the passing of this Act, under the Provisions of the said recited Act, in whatever Form or at whatever Time or Times such Undertakings respectively may have been or shall be so given or accepted and acted upon, and in whatever Form or at whatever Time or Times such Presentments respectively may have been made, shall be ratified and confirmed to all Intents and Purposes; and such Undertakings respectively shall be valid and binding upon the Person or Persons respectively giving the same, and upon the Lands therein respectively specified; and the Money mentioned in any such Undertaking, or so much thereof as by an Award to be made by the said Commissioners of Public Works, or any Two of them, and which said Award the said last-mentioned Commissioners, or any Two of them, shall be authorized and required to make, shall appear to have been expended upon any of the Lands specified in any such Undertaking, shall be a Charge on the Lands specified in such Undertaking and Award; and the Money mentioned in any such Award, with Interest thereon at the Rate of Three Pounds Ten Shillings per Centum per Annum, shall be charged upon, raised, and levied from and out of the Lands so specified in such Award, and shall be payable, at the Time or Times appointed in such Award, by the Person or Persons who, under the Provisions of the said Act passed in the Sixth Year of the Reign of Her Majesty, and of the several Acts for the Amendment thereof, would be liable for the Repayment of the same, provided the same had been expended and charged on the said Lands for Works of Drainage executed under the Provisions of the said last-mentioned Acts, and shall be raised, levied, and recovered, by such Persons as the Commissioners of the Treasury shall from Time to Time appoint, in the same Manner, and by the like Remedies, and with the like Powers and Authorities, and subject to the like Provisions, as by the said last-mentioned Acts is provided for the Recovery of Money for Works of Drainage, in so far as the same may be applicable to the Purposes of this Act. on Demand of IV. And be it enacted, That every Occupier of Land who, Occupiers not being a Proprietor thereof within the Terms of the said Act paying Money passed in the Sixth Year of the Reign of Her Majesty, shall pay Landlord may any Sum of Money for the Land in his Occupation, charged deduct the same thereupon under and by virtue of such Award under this Act, out of his Rent. shall and is hereby authorized to deduct from and out of his Rent the Amount of the Sum of Money which he shall so pay as aforesaid; and the next immediate Landlord of such Occupier, if not himself such Proprietor of such Land, shall and he is hereby authorized to make the like Deduction from the Rent payable by him, and so on, each Sub-Lessee and Sub-Lessor of such Land, not being such Proprietor, being entitled to deduct the Sum so charged upon such Land under or by virtue of such Award from and out of the Rent payable to his next immediate Landlord, until such Deduction shall be made from the Rent payable to a Person being the Proprietor, within the Terms of the said Act passed in the Sixth Year of the Reign of Her Majesty, who shall not be entitled to make any such Deduction from the Rent (if any) payable by him; and every such Occupier, Sub-Lessee, or Sub-Lessor, as the Case may be, paying any such Sum of Money, shall be acquitted and discharged of the Sum so paid by him, as fully and effectually as if the same had been actually paid to his Landlord, except where there shall be any Lease or Agreement to the contrary, made after the passing of this Act; but nothing herein contained shall extend or be construed to enable any such Occupier, SubLessee, or Sub-Lessor to deduct from his Rent any Costs or Expences incurred by the Nonpayment of the Monies charged and to be levied under and by virtue of this Act. Proprietors of V. And be it enacted, That in case any Land which shall be In case Land so drained or sub-soiled as aforesaid shall at the Time of making drained being in the Occupation any Award under this Act be in the Occupation of any Person of Persons not who shall not be the Proprietor thereof within the Terms of the said Act passed in the Sixth Year of the Reign of Her Majesty, then and in every such Case the said Commissioners of Public Works shall determine the Amount of increased Rent, if any, which the Occupier of such Lands ought to pay by reason of the draining the same, Com missioners of Public Works shall fix the Amount of in creased Rent the Occupier ought to pay. Increased Rent payable at the same Time as original Rent, Presentments made after 5th Oct. 1846, and before the passing of this Act, may be assessed either on the Barony at large or on the Electoral Divisions, as shall be determined by the Commissioners of Public Works. 10 VICT. draining and sub-soiling thereof, and shall signify their Determination by Endorsement in Writing on the Lease or other Instrument by which such Lands may be held, or by a separate Instrument under their Hands and Seals, or under the Hands and Seals of any Two of them, (in which Determination the said Commissioners shall be bound to have regard, and as far as possible to give Effect, to any Agreement which shall be shown to their Satisfaction to have been entered into by the Proprietor and any Person or Persons having an immediate or derivative Title from him in the said Lands respecting the said draining and sub-soiling thereof); and the Occupier of such Lands shall pay to his next immediate Landlord the said increased Rent, and the immediate Landlord of such Occupier, if not himself such Proprietor as last aforesaid, shall pay the said increased Rent to his immediate Landlord, and so successively each SubLessor and Sub-Lessee of such Land, not being such Proprietor as last aforesaid, shall pay the same to his immediate Landlord, until such Payment shall be made to the Proprietor of such Lands within the Terms of the said Act passed in the Sixth Year of the Reign of Her Majesty; and the said increased Rent shall be due and payable at the same Times as the Rent originally reserved would be due and payable between the respective Parties and the Landlord of such Occupier; and every intermediate Landlord shall have the same Remedies for the Recovery of such increased Rent as he or they might have or were entitled to have for the Rent originally reserved. VI. And whereas at certain of such Sessions held after the said Fifth Day of October Presentments were, by reason of the said Announcement, made for Works other than those of Drainage and sub-soiling, but the Proceedings at such Sessions were in many Cases not taken in strict Conformity with the Provisions of the said first-recited Act, nor with the Regulations contained in the said Announcement, and it is necessary to define whether the Cost of Works executed or to be executed in pursuance thereof should be charged upon the Barony, Half Barony, County of the City, or County of the Town for which such Sessions were held, or upon any and 'what Electoral Divisions or Parts thereof contained within the Limits of such Barony, Half Barony, County of a City, or County of a Town respectively;' be it therefore enacted, That any Sum of Money mentioned in any Presentment made at any such Sessions held after the said Fifth Day of October last, and before the passing of this Act, or so much thereof as has been or shall be expended in or about the Works executed or to be executed under such Presentments, shall be charged upon the Barony, Half Barony, County of a City, or County of a Town for which such Sessions were held, or upon the Electoral Division or Part thereof situate within such Barony, Half Barony, County of a City, or County of a Town respectively within which such Work shall have been or shall be executed, 6 as |