CAP. XC.-IRELAND.

AN ACT to provide for the Execution of the Laws for Relief of the Poor in Ireland.

(22nd July 1847.)

ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENTS.

1. Appointment of Commissioners for the administration of the laws for relief of the poor in Ireland.

2. When Commissioners shall enter on their office.

3. Seal of the Commissioners.

4. Appointment of secretary, clerks, &c.

5. Inspectors to be appointed.

6. One of the inspectors to be appointed assistant Commissioner.

7. Inspectors may attend local boards.

12. General rules to be approved by the Lord Lieutenant in council.

13. Repeal of part of 1 & 2 Vict. c. 56. as to general rules.

14. Disallowance of general rules by Lord Lieutenant in council.

15. Rules affecting more than one union to be deemed general rules.

16. Rules made before appointment of Commissioners under this Act to continue in force.

17. Sanction of Commissioners substituted for that of the Poor Law Commissioners in a prescribed form. 18. Signature to Acts under seal.

19. Power to summon witnesses.

20. Penalties for giving false evidence or refusing to give evidence.

21. Commissioners to report yearly to Lord Lieutenant, and report to be laid before Parliament.

22. Confirmation of proceedings under recited Acts.

23. Appointment of Commissioners, &c. limited to five years, &c.

24. Interpretation of Act.

25. Act may be amended, &c.

By this ACT,

After reciting the passing of 4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 76, 1 & 2 Vict. c. 56, 2 & 3 Vict. c. 1, 4 & 5 Vict. c. 41, and 6 & 7 Vict. c. 92: And that under the provisions of the said Acts the administration of relief to the poor throughout Ireland is subject to the direction and controul of the Poor Law Commissioners, whose commission will expire at the end of the session of Parliament next after the 31st of July in this year: And that it is expedient that the controul of the administration of the laws for the relief of the poor in Ireland should be wholly separated from the controul of the administration of the laws for the relief of the poor in England:

It is Enacted,

1. That it shall be lawful for Her Majesty from time to time, by warrant under the royal sign manual, to appoint a fit person who with the chief secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and the under secretary to the said Lord Lieutenant, shall have the controul of the administration of the laws for relief of the poor in Ireland; and the person so appointed shall hold his office during the pleasure of Her Majesty; and the said chief secretary and under secretary, and the person so appointed, shall be styled Commissioners for administering the Laws for the Relief of the Poor in Ireland ;" and the person so appointed by Her Majesty shall be styled the Chief Commissioner; and whenever the expression "the Commissioners" shall be used in this Act, without addition, it shall be taken to mean "the said Commissioners for administering the Laws for Relief of the Poor in Ireland."

II. That notice of the appointment of every Chief Commissioner shall be published in the Dublin Gazette; and the Commissioners first constituted under this Act shall enter on their office, and all the powers by this Act vested in them shall take effect, on the day after the first publication of such notice in the Dublin Gazette.

III. That the Commissioners shall cause a seal to be made for their use, and such seal shall have the same force and effect in Ireland as the seal of the Poor Law Commissioners, and documents sealed or stamped therewith shall be received in evidence in like manner as documents sealed or stamped with the seal of the Poor Law Commissioners are now received in evidence.

IV. That the Commissioners shall from time to time, subject to the approval of the Lord Lieutenant, appoint a secretary, and may, with the like approval, remove any secretary so appointed, and shall also from time to time appoint so many clerks, messengers, and servants as shall be allowed by the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury; and all the persons so appointed, except the secretary, shall hold their several offices during the pleasure of the Commissioners.

v. That the Commissioners shall from time to time, subject to the approval of the Lord Lieutenant, appoint so many fit persons as shall be allowed by the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to be inspectors, to assist in the execution of this Act and of

the other Acts now in force or which shall hereafter be in force, for the relief of the poor in Ireland, and may from time to time assign to the inspectors so appointed, or any of them, such duties and delegate to them such of the powers of the Commissioners as they may think necessary, and, subject to the like approval of the Lord Lieutenant, may remove all or any of the said inspectors, and appoint others in their stead.

VI. That the Commissioners shall from time to time appoint one of the said inspectors, by the title of assistant Commissioner, to assist in the business of their office and in the execution of this Act in such manner as they shall direct, and may delegate to such assistant Commissioner all the functions, powers, and duties of the chief Commissioner, or such of them as they shall think fit, in the absence of the chief Commissioner from Dublin, or whenever it shall appear to them necessary that such delegation of authority should be made; and thereupon the said assistant Commissioner shall have full authority to act, within the limits of the powers so delegated to him, as if he were the chief Commissioner.

VII. That the said inspectors and each of them shall be entitled to attend every board of guardians and every parochial and other local meeting held for the relief of the poor, and to take part in the proceedings, but not to vote at such board or meeting. VIII. That the chief Commissioner and secretary, clerks, messengers, and servants, and the assistant Commissioner and inspectors, shall receive such salaries as shall be from time to time appointed by the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury. IX. That on the day on which the Commissioners shall enter on their office all the powers and duties of the Poor Law Commissioners, or any of them, with respect to the direction or controul of the administration of relief to the poor throughout Ireland, shall be transferred to and vested in the Commissioners, and shall be thenceforth exercised by them, or any two of them, or, except as is hereinafter provided, by the chief Commissioner alone, or in his absence by the assistant Commissioner, and all provisions of the several Acts in any way relating to the administration of relief to the poor in Ireland shall be construed as if therein the Commissioners had been named instead of the Poor Law Commissioners, subject nevertheless to any amendments made by this Act; and during any vacancy among the Commissioners the surviving or continuing Commissioners or Commissioner may continue to act with the same powers and in the same manner respectively as before such vacancy: Provided always, that so much of the said Act, 1 & 2 Vict. c. 56, as would enable the Commissioners to sit in England or Wales for exercising any powers under any of the said Acts, or as would require them to assemble in London once at least in every year, shall be repealed.

x. That the Commissioners and their successors shall be deemed a body corporate, and shall have perpetual succession and a common seal, and for all purposes connected with the administration of the laws for the relief of the poor throughout Ireland shall be deemed the successors of the said Poor Law Commissioners, and all lands, tenements, and hereditaments, and real and personal property, vested in the said Poor Law Commissioners on the day on which the Commissioners shall enter on their office, shall vest in the Commissioners and their successors without any conveyance or transfer thereof other than by the operation of this Act.

XI. And it is declared and enacted, That from and after the day on which the Commissioners shall enter on their office the power vested in the Poor Law Commissioners to make rules, orders, and regulations, and to vary or rescind the same, shall and may be exercised by the Commissioners, who shall make all such rules, orders, and regulations under their seal, except such as are intended only for their own guidance and procedure, or for the guidance or procedure of the said inspectors or any of them, the conduct of the business in their office.

XII. That no general rule made by the Commissioners relating to the administration of the laws for the relief of the poor in Ireland shall have any force unless the same shall be made under the seal of the Commissioners, nor unless the same, before the issue thereof, shall be approved by the Lord Lieutenant; and no rule to vary or rescind a general rule shall be made by the Commissioners unless the same shall be made and approved in like manner.

XIII. That from and after the day on which the Commissioners first appointed under this Act shall enter on their office so much of the said Act, 1 & 2 Vict. c. 56, as relates to the time or manner when or how any such general rule shall operate or take effect or to the disallowance of any such general rule or any part thereof, shall be repealed.

XIV. That if the Lord Lieutenant in council shall at any time disallow any such general rule or any part thereof, the same, so far as it shall have been so disallowed, shall cease to be of any force or validity, subject, however, and without prejudice to all things lawfully done under the same before such disallowance.

xv. That every rule, order, or regulation of the Commissioners which shall be at the time of issuing the same directed to and affect more than one union shall be deemed a general rule; and every rule, order, and regulation made to vary or rescind a general rule, whether or not directed to or affecting more than one union, shall also be deemed a general rule.

XVI. Provided, and it is declared and enacted, That all lawful rules, orders, and regulations of the Poor Law Commissioners, made before the day on which the Commissioners first appointed under this Act shall enter on their office, shall continue in full force and effect until rescinded or varied under the authority of this Act.

XVII. That in every case when the assent or sanction of the Poor Law Commissioners, or any one or more of them, is now required for any matter arising in Ireland, to be given under their hands and seals, or the hand and seal of any one or more of them, the assent or sanction of the Commissioners, from and after the day on which they shall enter on their office, shall be requisite instead thereof, and in every case in which it shall be given shall be given under the seal of the Commissioners, and shall have the like force and effect in Ireland as the assent or sanction of the Poor Law Commissioners before the passing of this Act.

XVIII. That no Act of the Commissioners which is required to be under their seal shall be of any validity unless it shall purport to be signed by at least two of the Commissioners, or by the chief Commissioner, or in his absence by the assistant Commissioner, and in either of the two last cases countersigned by the secretary to the Commissioners.

XIX. And it is declared and enacted, That the Commissioners, or any one of them, and also any such inspector, acting in execution of the Acts now or hereafter to be in force for the relief of the poor in Ireland, by summons under the seal of the Commissioners, or under the separate hand and seal of any Commissioner or inspector respectively, as the case may be, may require the attendance of all such persons as they or he shall think fit to call before them or any of them respectively, upon any matter connected with the execution of this Act, or the administration of the laws for the relief of the poor in Ireland, at such time and place as shall be set forth in the summons, and may make inquiry and require returns, and may administer oaths, and examine all such persons upon oath, and may require and enforce the production upon oath of books, contracts, agreements, accounts, maps, plans, surveys, valuations, and writings, or copies thereof respectively, in any wise relating to any such matter, or when the Commissioners or any one of the Commissioners, or any inspector, shall think fit, instead of requiring such oath as aforesaid, may require any such person to make and subscribe a declaration of the truth of the matters respecting which he shall have been or shall be so examined: Provided always, that no person shall be required, in obedience to any such summons, to go more than twenty statute miles from the place of his abode; provided also, that nothing herein contained shall empower the Commissioners, or any Commissioner or inspector, to require the production of the title, or of any papers or deeds relating to the title of any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, not being property vested in the Commissioners by this Act. xx. And it is declared and enacted, That every person who upon any examination under the authority of this Act shall wilfully give false evidence, or wilfully make or subscribe a false declaration, shall on being convicted thereof suffer the pains and penalties of perjury; and every person who shall refuse or wilfully neglect to attend in obedience to any summons of the Commissioners, or of any one of the Commissioners or any inspector, or to give evidence, or who shall wilfully alter, suppress, conceal, destroy, or refuse to produce any books, contracts, agreements, accounts, maps, plans, surveys, valuations, or writings, or copies of the same, which may be required to be produced for the purposes of this Act, to any person authorized by this Act to require the production thereof, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour.

XXI. That the Commissioners shall once in each year submit to the Lord Lieutenant a general report of their proceedings; and every such general report shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within six weeks after the date thereof if Parliament be then sitting, or if Parliament be not then meeting within six weeks after the next meeting of Parliament; and that every such report shall contain a distinct statement of every order and direction issued by such Poor Law Commissioners in respect to out-door relief.

XXII. That, save when varied or repealed by this Act, and subject to the provisions herein contained, all the powers and provisions of the recited Acts, and of all other Acts relating to the relief of the poor in Ireland, and every of them, and everything lawfully done under the same or in pursuance thereof, and all lawful acts and proceedings of the Poor Law Commissioners, and their assistant Commissioners, and any officers acting under them, or in virtue of the said Acts or any of them, or under their authority, or by any other person acting in the administration of the laws for the relief of the poor in Ireland, on or before the day when the Commissioners shall enter on their office, shall be as valid as if this Act had not been passed; and every suit or other proceeding, civil or criminal, begun before the last-mentioned day in the name and under the authority of the Poor Law Commissioners, shall have the same force and effect, if continued in their name, under the sanction of the Commissioners, as if the Poor Law Commissioners had continued to act in execution of the said Acts of Parliament; and nothing herein contained shall in any way take away or interfere with any right of action or of defence to the same, or any liability to be sued or prosecuted for any penalty for or against any person, under the said Acts or any of them, according to the respective provisions thereof, which shall have accrued wholly or in part before the last-mentioned day.

XXIII. Provided and enacted, That no Commissioner constituted under this Act, nor any inspector, secretary, or other officer or person to be appointed and employed by the Commissioners in the business of their office under this Act, shall continue to hold his respective office under this Act, or exercise any of the powers given by this Act, for a longer period than five years next after the day of the passing of this Act, and thenceforth until the end of the then next session of Parliament; and from and after the expiration of the said period of five years and of the then next session of Parliament so much of this Act as enables Her Majesty to appoint any Commissioners shall cease to operate or to have any effect whatever.

XXIV. That this Act shall be construed in the same manner as the said Acts, 2 & 3 Vict. c. 1. and 6 & 7 Vict. c. 92, and as one Act with the same and with the acts and provisions thereby directed to be construed as one Act, unless where otherwise directed by this Act; and that the words "Lord Lieutenant" shall be construed to include Lord Justices or other chief governor or governors of Ireland.

XXV. That this Act may be amended or repealed by any Act to be passed in this session of Parliament.

CAP. XCI.

AN ACT to increase the Number of Trustees for the Herring Fishery, and to direct the Application of the Funds granted for the Promotion of Manufactures and Improvements in Scotland.

(22nd July 1847.)

ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENTS.

1. Her Majesty may appoint additional Commissioners for the herring fishery along with those acting under recited Acts of 48 Geo. 3. and 55 Geo. 3.

2. Power to Treasury to direct the appropriation of the funds by the trustees.

3. Her Majesty may by Order in Council establish rules, &c. for the application by the trustees of the monies so to be appropriated by the Treasury, &c.

4. Recited Acts and letters patent to remain in force.

5. Act may be amended, &c.

By this ACT,

After reciting the passing of 5 Anne, c. 8, 5 Geo. 1. c. 20, 12 Geo. 1. c. 4, and 13 Geo. 1. c. 26, whereby His Majesty was enabled to nominate any number of persons resident in Scotland, not exceeding the number of twenty-one, to be trustees for overseeing, directing, and better improving the linen and hempen manufactures in Scotland; and 13 Geo. 1. c. 30, by which Acts, or one or other of them, certain sums of money were granted and appropriated to the encouraging and promoting the fisheries and such other manufactures and improvements in Scotland as might most conduce to the general good of the United Kingdom: And that by letters patent, dated the 18th of July, 1727, under the Great Seal appointed by the treaty of Union, to be kept and used in Scotland instead of the Great Seal thereof, issued in pursuance of the powers granted to that effect by the said two lastrecited Acts, certain persons were thereby appointed Commissioners and trustees for managing the fisheries and other manufactures and improvements in Scotland, with various powers and authorities; and various rules and regulations were thereby established for the discharge of the office of the said Commissioners and trustees, and for the carrying into execution the purposes of the said Acts: and that another Act, 48 Geo. 3. c. 110, was passed, whereby it was enacted, that it should be lawful to His Majesty and his successors, by letters patent, to nominate and appoint any number of such trustees and Commissioners, not exceeding seven, to be Commissioners specially for overseeing, directing, and better improving the white herring fishery, with power to execute the provisions of the said Act under recital; in pursuance of which Act letters patent, of date the 15th of August, 1808, were issued accordingly: and that another Act, 55 Geo. 3. c. 94, was passed whereby His Majesty was enabled to appoint the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General for Scotland, or either of them, for the time being, to be Commissioners in addition to the number authorized by the said last-recited Act for the herring fishery; and it is expedient that the number of Commissioners for the herring fishery should be farther increased: And that letters patent were thereafter issued by His Majesty King George the Fourth, of date the 16th of January, 1828, whereby the application of the monies granted by the said recited Acts was altered and extended: and that under and in virtue of the said Acts and the said letters patent the sums and funds applicable to improvements in manufacture have been applied towards that purpose, and farther and as conducive to the general good of the United Kingdom to the purposes of education in the fine arts and in decorative and ornamental art, and in improvement of taste and design in manufacture, and otherwise, as has been from time to time set forth in reports made to the Sovereign; and it is expedient that the authority to make such application of such sums and funds should be recognized and extended, and that such application, and also the rules and regulations therefor, and for the conduct and good government of the said trustees, and their official duties and management, should be made by orders of Her Majesty, with the advice of Her Privy Council, instead of letters patent as heretofore ;

It is Enacted,

1. That it shall be lawful for Her Majesty and her heirs and successors, by letters patent under the seal appointed to be kept and used in Scotland instead of the Great Seal thereof, to nominate and appoint any number of persons, not exceeding six, who may not be Commissioners and trustees for manufactures under the said recited Acts and letters patent, and of whom four shall be resident in the City of Edinburgh or the vicinity thereof, to be additional Commissioners for the herring fishery, along with the Commissioners presently acting under the said recited Acts, 48 Geo. 3. c. 110. and 55 Geo. 3. c. 94., and for all and sundry the purposes of and with all the powers and authorities granted by the said last-recited Act, as if such Commissioners to be named and appointed had been named and appointed under the letters patent issued in virtue of the said last-recited Act.

II. That it shall be lawful for the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, or any three of them, from time to time by orders under their hands, to direct the appropriation by the said trustees for the encouragement of manufactures of such portion of the said sums and funds applicable to improvements in manufactures, as the said Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury shall think fit, towards the purpose of education in the fine arts generally, and in decorative and ornamental art and in taste and design in manufacture, as well as towards the other purposes to which sums and funds have been hitherto applied.

III. That it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by and with the advice of her Privy Council, by any Order or Orders in Council to be issued from time to time, to establish rules and regulations for the application by the said trustees to the purposes of education aforesaid, of the sums and funds so to be appropriated by the said Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, and also for the conduct and good government of the said trustees, and the regulation of their official duties and management in that matter, and also from time to time to revoke, alter and amend such rules and regulations; and all such Orders in Council shall, within fourteen days after the same shall be issued, be published in the Edinburgh Gazette; and all such orders of the said Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, and also all such Orders in Council, shall, within the like period of fourteen days, be laid upon the table of both Houses of Parliament, if Parliament be then sitting, or if otherwise, within fourteen days of the meeting of the then next session of Parliament.

IV. That the said recited Acts and the said letters patent shall remain in full force and effect, excepting in so far as altered of affected by this Act, and shall be operative and efficient for carrying all the purposes of this Act into execution according to the true intent and meaning thereof.

v. That this Act may be amended or repealed by any Act to be passed in the present session of Parliament.

CAP. XCN.

AN ACT for the Protection of Mussel Fisheries in Scotland.

(22nd July 1847.)

ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENTS.

1. Persons unlawfully taking mussels from mussel beds deemed guilty of theft.

2. Persons unlawfully fishing or trespassing in any mussel fishery deemed guilty of an attempt to commit theft.

3. Nothing to prevent persons, lawfully entitled, from fishing for floating fish.

4. Nothing to prevent persons from exercising legal rights.

5. Act may be amended, &c.

By this ACT,

After reciting that mussel fisheries in Scotland have been the subject of royal grant and of private right; and that it is expedient that certain of the provisions of an Act, 3 & 4 Vict. c. 74, for the better protection of oyster fisheries in Scotland, should be extended and apply to the mussel fisheries of Scotland;—

It is Enacted,

1. That if any person in that part of the United Kingdom called Scotland shall wilfully, knowingly, and wrongfully take and carry away any mussels or mussel-brood from anymussel bed, scalp laying, or fishery, being the property and in the lawful occupation of any other person or persons or body corporate or politic, and sufficiently marked out or known as such, every such offender shall be deemed guilty of theft, and being guilty thereof shall be liable to be sentenced to imprisonment not exceeding the term of one year.

II. That if any person shall unlawfully use any dredge, or any net or instrument or engine whatsoever, or shall trespass within the limits of any mussel bed, scalp laying, or fishery in Scotland, being the property and in the lawful occupation of any other person or persons or body corporate or politic, and sufficiently marked out or known as such, for the purpose of taking mussels or mussel-brood, though none shall be actually taken, or shall, with any net, instrument, or engine, or with the hand or otherwise, drag or fish upon the ground or soil of any such mussel-bed, scalp laying, or fishery, every such person shall be deemed guilty of an attempt to commit theft, and being convicted thereof before the sheriff of the county shall be liable to be punished by fine or imprisonment, or both, as the Court shall award, such fine not to exceed 107. and such imprisonment not to exceed three calendar months.

III. Provided and enacted, That nothing in this Act contained shall prevent any person, lawfully entitled there to fish, from fishing for or catching any floating fish within the limits of any mussel fishery, with any net, instrument, or engine adapted for taking floating fish only.

IV. Provided and enacted, That nothing in this Act contained shall prevent or be construed to prevent any person from exercising any right possessed by such person of taking bait, or any other right which may now be lawfully exercised by such person within the limits of any such fishery.

v. That this Act may be amended or repealed by any Act to be passed during this present session of Parliament.

CAP. XCIII.

AN ACT to continue until the First Day of October One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, and to the End of the then next Session of Parliament, an Act for authorizing the Application of Highway Rates to Turnpike Roads.

(22nd July 1847.)

By this ACT, 4 & 5 Vict. c. 59. is continued until the 1st of October 1848, and to the end of the then next session of Parliament.

VOL. XXV.-STAT.

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