Gift to executors, one of whom never acted.
Made under a power-Subsequent coverture-Revoca-
tion-Husband's rights.........

Parol evidence admissible to explain mistake in date. 705
Parol evidence inadmissible to cure ambiguity in
reference to papers.........
Dependent relative revocation

823

832

859

800
Power of appointment-Assignment for creditors by
legatee-Exercise of power in his favour....... 815
Specific devise-Words of description-Parcels
Whether an estate for life or in fee........
Bequest of colonial estates-Heir-at-law-Election... 853
Execution--Blank space preceding signature.........
Execution in blank-Residue uncertain-Grant of
administration to widow
859
Residuary devise-Pecuniary legatees--Specific devise
-Marshalling assets....
........ 882
Reference to an unexecuted document-Incorporation
of subsequent codicil
Deed of gift to operate after death is a will..... .... 894
Ejectment against devisees no ground of invalidity of

893

will-Notice and counter-notice to produce próbate 899
(See Administration-Executor-Probate Court.)
WINDING-UP.

I. PRACTICE.

11. CONTRIBUTORY.

I. Practice.

.........

Shareholders in a building society having given notice
to withdraw entitled to compound interest
Where persou improperly attached in a winding-up
petition they are entitled to full costs
Order does not prevent judgment-creditors who had
previously used due diligence
Amalgamated companies-Voluntary winding-up-
Sect. 161 of Act of 1862-Powers of meeting-
Special resolution
Petition for voluntary winding-up-Costs of a peti-
tion by a creditor for a compulsory winding-up..... 216
In action for calls under, discretion of judge to order
inspection by deft. of register of shareholders and
allotment book

Petition in two branches of the court-Order as of
right......

.........

page 656

Sect. 124 does not apply to appeals from orders to
wind-up
Order made for, after a call which was asserted to be
sufficient to meet claims

691

726

13

121

135

IN PARLIAMENT.]

In Parliament.

Reported by A. P. STONE and W. GRAHAM, Esqrs., Barristersat-Law.

THE COURT OF REFEREES ON PRIVATE BILLS.

Monday, Feb. 26.

(Before Mr. DODSON, Chairman; Sir E. COLEBROOKE and Mr. RICKARDS, Referees.)

THE STOCKTON GAS BILL.

Objection to the locus standi of the SOUTH STOCKTON LOCAL BOARD and others.

Locus standi-Money Bill by gas company-Unequal appropriation of profits of gasworks.

A Bill was promoted by a gas company for the purpose of raising money beyond what they were authorised to raise by their borrowing powers. The company had some years previously been transferred by Act of Parliament to the corporation of the borough of S. By this Act the revenue from the gasworks was directed to be carried to the account of the borough fund, and money borrowed upon mortgage of the gasworks and borough fund was made payable, in the first instance, from the gas rents and profits of the gasworks. The local board of a district beyond the limits of the borough petitioned against the Bill, alleging that the district and its ratepayers derived no benefit from the borough fund to which they were compelled to contribute, and ought to have a share in the profits from the gasworks. They also prayed to be heard against the existing gas rents and quality of the gas. The petitioners had made no opposition to the previous Act, which was passed before they were constituted as a local board:

Held, that they were not entitled to a locus standi.

This was a Bill to amend "The Stockton Gas Act 1857," and to authorise the Stockton municipal corporation to raise more money for the purposes of their gas supply.

VOL XIV., N.S., No. 330.

[IN PARLIAMENT.

con

By the Stockton Gas Act 1857, and a veyance made under the authority of that Act, the undertaking, gasworks, property, effects, and powers of the Stockton United Gas Company are vested in the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of the borough of Stockton, and the corporation are authorised to supply gas within the limits of that Act, and by sect. 84 of that Act, they were authorised to borrow 25,000l. on the credit of the gasworks and borough fund of the borough. The preamble of the new Bill stated that, for the purposes of increasing and extending their supply of gas within the limits of the Stockton Gas Act 1857, and for the other purposes of that Act, it was expedient that the corporation be authorised to raise more money on the credit of the gasworks and borough fund; and that the provisions of the Stockton Gas Act 1857, with respect to the recovery of gas rents, damages, costs, and expenses, be amended.

By clause 3 of the Bill the corporation took powers to borrow at interest, on the credit of the gasworks, gas rents, and borough fund of the borough, a sum (in addition to that which they were already authorised to borrow) not exceeding 25,000l., for the purpose of extending and increasing their supply of gas within the limits of the Act of 1857, with power to reborrow the amount if it were paid off. And it was provided that, for securing the repayment with interest of the moneys so to be borrowed, the corporation might mortgage the gasworks and gas rents of the corporation and borough fund to the lenders former Act, by which gas rents were to be primarily or trustees for them. By clause 5, sect. 90 of the liable to sums borrowed, was incorporated.

Against this Bill a petition was presented by the local Board for the district of South Stockton, in the North Riding of York, under their common seal, and by ratepayers and gas consumers of the district of South Stockton. The petition stated

That the corporation were supplying gas within the limits

of the Act of 1857, which limits were by sect. 3 of the Act declared to include the existing borough of Stockton and the several parishes, townships, and places of Stockton-uponTees and Norton, in the county of Durham, and South Stock

ton, Thornaby, and Stainton, in the North Riding of York; and, by sect. 77 of the Act, the maximum price at which gas should be sold by the corporation to all persons who should burn the same by meter should not exceed for gas supplied within the borough 5s. per thousand cubic feet, and for gas supplied without the borough 6s. per thousand cubic feet; and, by sect. 78 of the Act, the quality of the gas was to be equal to ten sperm candles of six to the pound, burning 120 grains per hour; and, by sect. 83 of the Act, all gas rates and rents to be received by the corporation, and all other revenue arising and accruing to the corporation from the gasworks vested in them, were directed to be paid to the borough to the account of the borough fund; and, if the corporation should borrow any sum of money on the credit of the gasworks distinct from the borough fund, then separte accounts were to be kept by the treasurer of all sums received or paid in respect of the gasworks; and by sect 84 the corporation were empowered to borrow 25,000. on the credit of the gasworks and borough fund; and, by sect. 88, they were required out of the gas rents and borough fund from time to time, after the 1st Jan. 1860, to set apart yearly as a sinking fund' such a sum as would, with the interest to accrue thereon, be sufficient, within forty years from that day, to pay off the whole of the sums for the time being so borrowed by the corporation, or which might be due on the credit of the gasworks and borough fund, or either of them.

The petition then alleged,

That the town of South Stockton, and other places in the

[IN PARLIAMENT,

The grounds of objection (amongst others) to the locus standi of the petitioners were:

(1) That the Bill would not in any way vary the position of the petitioners;

(2) That the Bill was merely a Bill to enable the municipal corporation of Stockton to borrow more money on the credit of their gasworks, &c., and the petitioners were not within the borough, and the Bill did not in any way vary the gas rates or rents, or their application, or affect any of the matters mentioned in subdivision 3 of Standing Order 93.

(3) That the petition does allege that the petitioners are prejudicially affected by the Stockton Gas Act 1857, and that they will be further preju dicially affected by the powers contained in the Bill; but it does not state how or why they will be prejudicially affected by the Bill, and the petition also alleges that the power to raise additional capital proposed to be conferred by clause 3 of the Bill is objectionable and injurious to the petitioners, but it does not state how or why it is objectionable or injurious.

North Riding of York, were, in 1863, constituted a non-corporate district under the powers of the Local Government Act 1858, and a local board thereunder was established for the management of the district, subject to the powers and provisions of that Act, and of the Public Health Act 1848, and the petitioners, both members of the board and ratepayers of the district, were inhabitants and consumers of gas residing therein.

That the petitioners were prejudicially affected by the powers contained in the Act of 1857, and submitted that before any further privileges were conferred upon the corporation in respect of their gasworks, the provisions in the Act of 1857 should be altered, in conformity with the altered condition and rights and interests of the ratepayers and inhabitants within the district of South Stockton.

That the town of South Stockton and other places within

the district of the petitioners, the local board, were not within the borough of Stockton, and the inhabitants of the district did not derive any benefit from the surplus of the gas profits of the corporation paid into the borough fund of the borough, now by law applicable for the benefit of the borough.

That the petitioners, from being without the borough, paid a higher price for gas than persons residing within the borough, and a considerable portion of the profits made by the corporation in respect of their gasworks arose from the sale of gas within the district of the petitioners, the whole of

which was paid into the borough fund.

That by the published accounts of the treasurer of the borough in relation to the gasworks of the corporation, it appeared that after paying out the profits arising from the manufacture and sale of gas by the corporation, the interest of the money borrowed under the Act of 1857, there was still a large surplus exclusively applicable for the benefit of the inhabitants of the borough, either in providing a sinking fund for paying off the principal money borrowed under the Act of 1857, or otherwise, in the manner prescribed by the Acts of Parliament for regulating municipal corporations in England

and Wales.

That the price now demanded by the corporation for gas, under the powers of the Act, ought to be reduced, and the corporation restrained from demanding or taking for the sale of gas to all persons without the borough and within the dis

trict of South Stockton, any greater sum for gas consumed by meter than was taken by the corporation for the sale of gas to persons within the borough.

show that the petitioners have, and in fact the petitioners have not, any interest in the objects or provisions of the Bill to enable them to be heard against it.

Davison, Q. C. for the petitioners.-The petitioners are entitled to a locus standi. It will be objected that this is an ordinary money Bill, and that there is nothing in it to prejudice anybody. But the petition suggests reasonable grounds for believing that the Act of 1857 caused injury to the petitioners, who are not within the borough of Stockton. It further shows that in 1857 the local board was not in existence, and unable to afford any opposition. [Mr. DODSON.-Would the petitioners have had a right to be heard against the legislation of 1857?] Yes. In every amalgamation Bill a petition will be entertained to vary the tolls, rates, and charges. The Bill of 1857 was in the nature of an amalgamation Bill, and it introduced new law by charging the amount due in respect of mortgages of gasworks and borough fund, on the gas rents and profits of the gasworks. The petitioners derive no benefit from the boroughfund, but if the money borrowed is ever called in, it may have to be supplied entirely from the pockets of the ratepayers, including the petitioners. It is important that there should be an opportunity for reducing the gas rents, now that the value of property is enormously increased.

trict.

That the power to raise additional capital was objectionable and injurious to the petitioners, and, unless they were allowed to participate in the profits made by the corporation from their gasworks, they submitted that any sums to be borrowed by the corporation for the purpose of the gasworks should be charged exclusively on the gas rates and rents payable to the corporation within their district (but exclusively of the district of South Stockton), and that the interest of such money, and the yearly sum to be set aside as a sinking fund for paying off the principal thereof, should be paid exclusively out of the rates and rents arising within the same portion of the borough.

The petition concluded with the general prayer for a locus standi against the preamble nd clauses of the Bill.

By the REFEREES.-We are of opinion that the locus standi must be disallowed.

Locus standi disallowed.

CHAN.]

Equity Courts.

COURT OF APPEAL IN CHANCERY. Reported by THOMAS BROOKSBANK and E. STEWART ROCHE, Esqrs., Barristers-at-Law.

Wednesday, Jan. 24.

(Before the LORD CHANCELLOR (Cranworth.) Ex parte TOWNSEND, re PENTON. Bankruptcy-Unliquidated damages--Trust-deedB. A. 1861, sects. 153, 192, 197.

A creditor having a claim against a debtor in the nature of unliquidated damages in a pending action, upon the debtor's executing a trust-deed under the 192nd section, refused to assent to the deed, but elected to go on with his action, and recovered judgment. He then, instead of issuing execution, sought to be allowed to go in and prove for the ascertained amount of debt and costs

under the trust-deed :

[CHAN.

recovered in his action. Not finding his judgment productive, he afterwards came to the Court of Bankruptcy, and applied to be allowed to come in under the trust-estate, and have his damages assessed. But the commissioner very properly refused his application. Townsend, by the course which he had taken, was precluded from any benefit arising out of the trust-deed, and the 153rd section of the Act of 1861, which said, "if a bankrupt shall at any time after adjudication be liable," was specially directed to the case of bankruptcy, and did not apply to trust-deeds at all. If, however, the court should hold that this section did apply to trust-deeds, it was submitted that the application made to the commissioner to direct damages to be assessed was a fallacy, because at the time of the application there were no damages to assess.

Little, in reply, said the case of Ex parte Mendel, re Moor, went to show that the 153rd section did apply to trust-deeds, although, in that case, the party was not entitled to the benefit of it. He denied they had pursued the body of the debtor; they had only proceeded up to the point of judgment, and there stopped, and thus preserved their right.

A Mr. Townsend having contracted to sell certain real estate to the bankrupt Penton, the latter abandoned the contract. Thereupon Mr. Townsend brought an action for damages on the 18th Jan. last. On the 11th March following Penton executed a trust-deed, but Townsend was not assenting; and the deed contained no general release of claims. On the 8th April Townsend, after trial, recovered judgment in the action for 4221. and costs, and then, instead of levying execution, he carried in a claim before the commissioner to be admitted as a creditor under the trust-deed.

The learned Commissioner refused the application, and from this decision Townsend now appealed. There had recently been an adjudication in bankruptcy in Re Penton.

Little, for the app., contended that the prosecution of an action against a debtor after an adjudication of bankruptcy had no effect on the right to participate in the assets under such bankruptcy. In Eyre v. Archer, 16 C. B., N. S. 638, it had been decided that a deed, in the form of schedule D., in no respect barred a creditor's right of action. Sect. 153 of the B. A. 1861 enables a creditor to prove for unliquidated damages:

Ex parte Mendel, re Moor, 1 De G. J. & S. 330; 9 L. T. Rep. N. S. 793;

Ex parte Halliday, re Hall, 2 De G. J. & S. 312; 12 L. T. Rep. N. S. 624;

Archbold's Treatise on Bankruptcy, 8th edit. 112. Sect. 197 of the B. A. 1861 provides that from and after registration of a trust-deed creditors, who have assented to the deed, "or are bound thereby," are to have the benefit of all the provisions of the Act, as if they had proved in bankruptcy. Hence Townsend was clearly entitled to be allowed to prove under the trust-deed for unliquidated damages.

Reed, on behalf of the resp., admitted that on the 31st March-the day when the deed was registered -Townsend had a claim, in the nature of unliquidated damages, against Penton, and had a right to ask to be allowed to prove under the trust-deed. Instead of exercising that right he elected to proceed against the person of the debtor, and

The LORD CHANCELLOR.-The question is as to the right of Townsend to come in at the present moment under a trust-deed registered on the 11th March, in respect of damages recovered in an action tried on the 8th April. The first point is,

ditors having demands in the nature of unliquidated damages only, to come in, applies to trust-deeds. Upon that question I have no doubt whatever. I am quite clear that cases of trust-deeds come within the provisions of that clause. But what induces me principally to think the commissioner came to a correct conclusion in this instance is, that on the 11th March it was perfectly competent for Townsend to have said: "I will not go on with my action. I have a claim for unliquidated damages. I shall abandon my aetion and go in under the 153rd section." Instead of doing this he elected to proceed against the bankrupt himself, and by his conduct put the matter beyond all doubt; for his claim lost the character of unliquidated damages, and could not be claimed, for under sect. 153 he turned his unliquidated debt into an ascertained debt of nearly 500l. Having thus elected to proceed against the bankrupt, he must be considered to have foregone all claim under the trust-deed, and must be left to his remedy under the second bankruptcy. It appears to me the commissioner gave a correct decision; consequently this appeal must be dismissed with costs. Solicitor for the app., Turnbull.

Feb. 8, 9, and 10.

(Before the LORDS JUSTICES.) STEELE V. THE MIDLAND RAILWAY COMPANY. Railway company Compulsory purchase - Part of land-"House"-Lands Clauses Act-Sect. 92. The 92nd section of the Lands Clauses Act provides that no person shall be obliged to sell to railway companies, &c., a part only of a house, manufactory, or other building," if such person be able and willing to sell and convey the whole.

The plt. had for many years possessed and occupied a house and ground on the west side of a high road, and had bought six acres on the east side of the road, upon which was a house, wherein some of his servants lived, the remainder being land which he himself retained as pasture for his cows, &c. He represented this six acres to be indispensable for his occupation of his house. The defts. requiring to carry their line through