son assigned why dogs are not the subject of larceny is, that they are of so base and abject a nature that a man ought not to die for them-1 Hale, P.C. 512, and 1 Hawk. P.C. c. 19. s. 36. This reason does not apply to obtaining a chattel by false pretences, which never was a capital offence. The enactments respecting false pretences are based on the common-law provisions against cheating.

Littler was not heard in reply.

LORD CAMPBELL, C.J.-It is quite clear that stealing a dog is not larceny. There is in the act containing the provision against false pretences a clause imposing on dog stealers a milder punishment than that applicable to larceny. It is monstrous to say that obtaining a dog by false pretences should come within the enactment against false pretences, which would subject the prisoner to seven years' penal servitude, when the actual stealing a dog would make the offender liable to only some months' imprisonment. What my Brother Coleridge threw out formerly on this subject is quite correct law, that it is no offence under this statute to obtain by false pretences anything that is not the subject of larceny.

MARTIN, B.-The statute against false pretences was, in my opinion, meant to apply only to those chattels which were the subject of larceny at common law.

WILLES, J.-It has been laid down in the Year Books, and held ever since, that no indictment for larceny can be maintained for stealing dogs. Though we may now think the reasons assigned for this strange, it would be too much to hold that we should be justified in making an enact

Name of occupier. Name of owners.

Great Western Railway.

By a local act for the parish of P. all hereditaments whatever were made rateable to all the parish rates; but certain classes of property, such as unoccupied or unfinished buildings, were to be rated to certain rates (the poor-rate not being one) on a different scale from other property :-Held, that by the 161st section of the Metropolis Local Management Act, all property must be rated to the general rate under that act on the same scale as to the poor-rate in the parish, without any reference to these distinctions.

A rate or assessment was made on the 7th of October 1856, by the vestry of Paddington, in which the Great Western Railway Company were assessed as follows:

On an appeal against this rate the following case was stated, by consent, for the opinion of the Court of Queen's Bench.

CASE.

The Great Western Railway Company are the owners and occupiers of land and property in the parish of Paddington, parts of which constitute their principal terminus in London, and other parts of which are used as and for a railway, having lines of rails thereon. The property consists of the railway, and also of erections and buildings embracing the general offices of the company, booking offices, platforms, and the usual accompaniments of a railway station for conducting a large traffic in passengers and goods. There are also unfinished buildings, intended for warehouses for goods, and some buildings which, though finished, have not yet been occupied or used. Some portion of the land and railway, and some of the buildings and erections are not situated in any street, square, lane or place which is paved, repaired, cleansed or lighted by virtue of the local act hereafter mentioned, and have no ground paved, or to be paved, belonging to or lying before their fronts or sides; other portions of the land and railway, and other buildings and erections are situated in places paved, repaired, cleansed and lighted under the act, but have no ground paved, or to be paved, belonging to or lying before their fronts or sides; and other buildings are situated in places paved, repaired, cleansed and lighted under the said act, having ground belonging to them lying before the fronts or sides of such buildings, and between such buildings and such places paved, &c. as aforesaid. Of each of these classes of buildings, some are covered in, and some not covered in ; other buildings of the company are entirely finished, and ready for occupation, but are empty, untenanted and unoccupied. The whole land, railway buildings and erections form one continuous set of premises, used as the railway terminus; but some of the buildings are separate and distinct from one another.

In the said assessment the various rates are placed in different columns; but there has not been kept a distinct rate for lighting and watching, the expenses of watching

having been carried into the rate for general purposes.

The whole of the land and railway and the buildings, whether finished or unfinished, and occupied or unoccupied, are included in the said assessment, and are rated at the same sum in the pound in all the said rates, and no distinction is made between any class; nor in the watching and lighting rate is any distinction or difference made with reference to such of the unfinished buildings as are covered in or not covered in.

The parish of Paddington is regulated by a local act, 5 Geo. 4. c. cxxvi. By the 112th and 113th sections of the local act the vestry are empowered to make certain rates. By section 114. "the rates and assessments so to be made under the authority of this act shall be distinguished according to the objects and purposes thereof, and separate and distinct accounts kept thereof; provided, nevertheless, that separate and distinct rates and assessments may be made for the repairs of the highways within the said parish, or for any purposes relating to such highways, and for paving and keeping in repair the pavements of the paved streets, squares and ways within the said parish, or one entire rate may be made to include all the said objects, as the said vestrymen in their discretion shall think best; provided also, that the rates for watching and lighting the roads, streets, ways and places within the said parish shall always be kept distinct from any other rate or rates."

Section 118. "That all and every such rates and assessments as are herein before directed to be made, except any such rate or rates for watching and lighting, shall be made to comprise and charge all chapels, meeting-houses, markets, warehouses and all other public buildings whatsoever, charged or not charged to the land-tax, and all houses, shops, warehouses, coach-houses, stables, cellars, vaults, buildings, workshops, manufactories, garden - grounds, wharfs, landing-places, lands, tenements and hereditaments whatsoever, and also all parts and portions of any houses, buildings, lands, tenements or hereditaments, being separate tenements, situated, lying and being within the said parish, and such rate or rates for watching and lighting shall

comprise and charge all chapels, meeting houses, markets, warehouses and all other public buildings whatsoever, charged or not charged to the land-tax, and all houses, shops, warehouses, coach-houses, stables, cellars, vaults, buildings, workshops, manufactories, garden grounds, wharfs, landing-places, tenements and hereditaments whatsoever, and all parts and portions of any houses or buildings, being separate tenements, but shall not comprise or include any arable or pasture land; and all monies arising by such rates or assessments as aforesaid shall be and are hereby vested in the said vestry, and such monies, together with all arrears due upon any former rates or assessments within the said parish, shall be applied and disposed of, first, in payment of all the costs, charges and expenses of collecting, levying, recovering and managing the said rates, assessments and monies respectively (each separate rate bearing its own expenses); and, secondly, as to such of the said rates as shall be in the nature of poor-rates, church-rates, composition for statute duty, or rates in lieu thereof, the same shall be applied for such purposes and in such manner as poor-rates, church-rates and composition for statute duty are, and shall be respectively applicable by this act or by any other law or laws now in force or hereafter to be enacted; and as to such other rates and assessments as aforesaid, for such purposes as the same shall be intended and imposed to answer, or to which the same are hereby made applicable. Provided always, that in case any person or persons shall think himself, herself or themselves aggrieved by any such rate or assessment so to be made as aforesaid, he, she or they shall appeal therefrom in the manner hereinafter directed. Provided also, that every rate which shall be so made or assessed for the purposes originally provided for by the said acts of the 28th, 33rd and 50th years of the reign of King George the Third, or any of them, shall, in the first place, be applicable (after payment of the necessary expenses of collection and management) to or for the payment of such principal monies and interest and annuities as have been heretofore borrowed and secured and granted under the authority of the said three former acts, or any of

them (according to the tenour and effect of the securities which have been given to the persons of whom such monies were borrowed, and to whom such annuities were granted), in such course and order as such persons respectively were heretofore entitled to have the rates and assessments under the said former acts applied."

Section 123. "That where any of the houses, shops, warehouses, coach-houses, stables, cellars, vaults, buildings, tenements or hereditaments, shall, at the time of the making any of the said rates or assessments be empty and untenanted or unoccupied, then and in every such case it shall and may be lawful for the said vestry to rate and assess such premises respectively at one-half of such rates or assessments (save and except any rate or rates for the relief and maintenance of the poor, and any rate or rates in the nature of church-rates), during the time only that such premises shall be empty, untenanted or unoccupied ; and also in case any such premises, after the making of such rate or rates, assessment or assessments, shall become empty, untenanted, or unoccupied, one-half only of such rates and assessments, except as before excepted, shall be charged on such premises respectively for and during so long a time as the same shall continue empty, untenanted and unoccupied; and then and in any of the said cases, the said rate or rates, assessment or assessments, and all arrears due thereof, shall be paid by the owner or owners, proprietor or proprietors, lessee or lessees or by the first or any other tenant or occupier thereof, and in which last case such tenant or tenants, occupier or occupiers, shall and may, and is and are hereby authorized to deduct and retain the same out of his, her or their rent or rents respectively, and the landlord or landlords, owner or owners of such premises, is and are hereby required to allow such deduction and payment upon receipt of the residue of his, her, or their respective rents, and the said tenant or tenants, occupier or occupiers shall be and is and are hereby acquitted and discharged of and from so much of his, her or their rent as the rate or rates, assessment or assessments, and all arrears due thereon,

and so paid by him, her or them shall amount to."

Section 132. "That whereas it has happened, and may happen, that houses and other buildings within the said parish have been, or may be begun to be built, but not finished nor let, and it is reasonable that such houses and buildings should be rated and assessed for the purposes of paving, watching and lighting, let it be therefore further enacted, that until such houses or other buildings which now are or hereafter may be built or in building shall be finished and tenanted (if the street, square, lane or other place wherein such house or other building is or shall be situated shall be paved, repaired, cleansed and lighted by virtue and in pursuance of this act), it shall and may be lawful to and for the said vestry to rate and assess all such houses and other buildings situate within the said parish, as are or shall be erected and covered in, but not finished nor let, either by one or more distinct assessment or assessments, or by including therein in any other assessment or assessments, at a rate not exceeding 6d. for every square yard of ground paved or to be paved, belonging to or lying before the fronts or sides of such houses or other buildings, and in like manner and for the like purpose to rate and assess all such houses and other buildings as last mentioned, which are or shall be erected but not covered in, at a rate not exceeding 4d. for every square yard of ground paved or to be paved by virtue of this act, and belonging to or lying before the fronts or sides of such houses or other buildings, until the same shall be covered in as aforesaid, and then at a rate not exceed ing 4d. for every square yard, until the same shall be let or occupied, which lastmentioned rates or assessments shall be paid by and recoverable from the proprietor or proprietors, lessee or lessees, owner or owners of such house or houses, building or buildings respectively, and shall be charged and chargeable on the said premises; and if the said owner or owners, proprietor or proprietors, lessee or lessees, shall refuse or neglect to pay the same upon demand, then and in every such case such rate or rates, assessment or assessments, and all arrears due thereon, shall

and may be levied on the goods and chattels of the person or persons so required to pay the same in manner herein directed. And in case the owner or owners, proprietor or proprietors, lessee or lessees of such house or houses, building or buildings, shall not be known or cannot be found, then the said rate or rates, assessment or assessments made thereon shall be and remain charged and chargeable on the said premises until the said owner or owners, proprietor or proprietors, lessee or lessees can be found, and the same may at any time be levied and recovered upon the said premises in like matter as other rates made by virtue of this act are made recoverable."-[The case then set out the 92nd, 96th, 158th, 161st and 247th sections of the Metropolis Local Management Act, 1855 (18 & 19 Vict. c. 120).]

The appellants contend that in the said assessment the rates for watching and lighting the roads, streets, ways and places within the said parish should have been kept distinct from the other rates.

They also contend that there should be a separate assessment on different parts of their property, and that the unfinished buildings should be separately assessed from the finished buildings.

They further contend that they are not assessable to the paving, lighting and watching rate upon the land and railway, or such unfinished buildings as are situated in places paved and repaired, cleansed and lighted under the said local act, but have no ground paved or to be paved belonging to or lying before their fronts or sides, and that with reference to the unfinished buildings which are situated in places paved, repaired, cleansed and lighted under the said act, but have ground belonging to and lying before their fronts or sides, they are only liable according as they are covered in, or not covered in, to the extent mentioned, and according to the provisions of the 132nd section of the said local act. They further contend that, under the provisions of the Metropolis Local Management Act, parts of their property are wholly or partially exempt from sewers-rates, watching and lighting, and general rates.

The respondents contend that the mode of rating is now governed by the Metro

polis Local Management Act, 1855, 18 & 19 Vict. c. 120; and that under the 161st section of that act it is sufficient if the sewers-rate and the lighting-rate be kept distinct from other rates. And, further, that under that act the company are assessable to the paving, lighting and watching rate upon their land, railway and unfinished buildings situated in places paved, repaired, cleansed and lighted under the said local act, whether they have or have not ground paved, or to be paved, belonging to or lying before their fronts or sides. And that the provisions of the 132nd section of the local act as to buildings covered in, and not covered in, are no longer in force.

The parish further contend that, under the 118th and 123rd sections of the local act, and the 161st section of the Metropolis Local Management Act, 1855, unoccupied houses are assessable to the full amount of the rates which are imposed under the authority of the last-mentioned

act.

If the Court should be of opinion that any one or more of the rates, except the lighting and sewers rates, should be kept distinct from the other rates, and that the property of the company, or any part or parts thereof, should be separately assessed, as contended for by the company, or that the same or any part or parts should be exempt wholly or partially from any of the rates, the assessment was to be amended accordingly, and the rating upon the unfinished buildings and upon the buildings not covered in, and upon finished but unoccupied buildings, in respect of the paving, lighting and watching rate, or either of them, was to be altered according to the decision of the Court.

Dowdeswell (Phipson with him) (June5), for the respondents.-No doubt the lighting and sewers rates must be kept distinct from the other rates. In the lighting-rate the exemption of arable and pasture lands from that rate, given by the 118th section of the local act, is still preserved by the 165th section of the Metropolitan Act. But, with that exception, the respondents contend that the assessment is unimpeachable. The appellants' property forming one connected whole, separate assessments

But

on different parts are not necessary. even if they were distinct, the rate would be correct, for under the 161st section of the Metropolitan Act the basis of all rates is the poor-rate, as it is enforced in each particular parish. Under the local acts. in this parish, all buildings, whether finished. or not and whether occupied or not, are rateable to the poor-rate, and therefore they must be rated under the Metropolitan Act without any reference to the different amounts or exceptions as to particular rates in the various sections of the local act, which are virtually repealed by the sweeping clauses of the 161st section of the general act. It is true that by the 43 Eliz. c. 2. inhabitants or occupiers are alone rateable to the poor-rate, and the person being charged, this might possibly create a difficulty in the rating of unfurnished or unoccupied buildings in other parishes; but the 118th section of the Paddington Act charges the property itself, in the same way as the land-tax. The King v. the Hull Dock Company (1) shews that the local act ought to be interpreted independently of the act of Elizabeth; and that property may be rated without regard to occupation or inhabitancy. The 159th section of the general act empowers the board to exempt any parish or parts of any parish from any rate when they think proper; and certain exemptions as to lighting and sewers rate are continued, which is strong to shew that all other exemptions not thus preserved have been and were intended to be removed; and finally by the 247th section all provisions of local acts inconsistent with the general act are repealed.

Huddleston (Digby with him), for the appellants. The local act must govern the mode of rating; it can never be the effect of the 161st section of the general act to take the poor-rate under the local act, and thus make the rating extend to all classes of property, and yet disregard the exemptions and different mode of rating applicable under the local act to different classes of property. The 118th, 123rd and 132nd sections must be read together with the new act, for they are not inconsistent in any way with it;

(1) 3 B. & C. 516.