Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

distinctly stated in the agreement for dissolution prior to such consent being given; and the agreement for such dissolution, duly signed as aforesaid, accompanied with a statutory declaration by one of the trustees, or by three members and the secretary, taken before a justice of the peace, that the provisions of this act have been complied with, shall be forthwith transmitted to the registrar, to be by him deposited with the rules of the society, and such agreement shall thereupon be an effectual discharge at law and in equity to the trustees, treasurers, and other officers of such society, and shall operate as a release from all the members of the society to such trustees, treasurers, and other officers; and it shall not be lawful in any society to direct a division or appropriation of any part of the stock thereof, except for the purpose of carrying into effect the general interests and objects declared in the rules as originally certified, unless the claim of every member is first duly satisfied, or adequate provision be made for satisfying such claims; and in case any member of such society shall be dissatisfied with such provision, it shall be lawful for him or her to apply to the judge of the county court of the district within which the usual place of business of the society is situated for relief or other order; and the said judge shall have the same powers to entertain such application, and to make such order or direction in relation thereto as he may think the justice of the case may require, as hereinafter is enacted in regard to the settlement of disputes; and in the event of the dissolution or determination of any society, or the division or appro. priation of the funds thereof, except in the way herein before provided, any trustee or other officer or person aiding or abetting therein shall, on conviction thereof by two justices, be committed to the common gaol or house of correction, there to be kept to hard labour for any term not exceeding three calendar months, as to such justices shall seem meet.

14. It shall be lawful for any two or more societies established under this or any of the acts hereby repealed to unite and become incorporated in one society, with or without any dissolution or division of the funds of such societies or either of them; or a society formed and established under this act or any of the said repealed acts may be allowed to transfer its engagements to any other friendly society, if any other such society shall undertake to fulfil the engagements of such society, upon such terms as shall be agreed upon by the major part of the trustees and also of the committee of management of both societies, or the majority of the members of each of such societies at a general meeting convened for the purpose. 15. A person under the age of twenty-one may be elected or admitted as a member of any society established under this act or any of the acts hereby repealed, the rules of which do not prohibit such election, and may and he is hereby empowered to execute all necessary instruments and to give all necessary acquittances: provided always, that during his age he shall not be competent to hold any office of director, trustee, treasurer, or manager of such society.

therein, without any conveyance or assignment whatever : provided nevertheless, that all money spent in purchasing, building, hiring, or taking upon lease any building for the purpose of holding such meetings, and in adapting and furnishing the same, be raised according to the rules of the society on such behalf inserted; and this section shall apply to any society registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act, 1852, and to any building or land to be purchased, built, hired, or taken on lease for the purposes of the labour, trade, or handicraft of such society, in all respects as hereby enacted with regard to any building or land for the holding the meetings of any friendly society.

17. Every friendly society established under this act shall, at some meeting of its members, and by a resolution of a majority of the members then present, nominate and appoint one or more person or persons to be trustee or trustees for the said society, and the like in the case of any vacancy in the said office; and a copy of the resolution so appointing such person or persons to the office of trustee, and signed by such trustee or trustees and by the secretary of the said society, shall be sent to the registrar, to be by him deposited with the rules of the said society in his custody: provided always, that where no trustee shall have been appointed in any society established under any one of the acts hereby repealed, the treasurer thereof, or other person who has custody of the monies of such society, shall be taken to be a trustee within the meaning of this act.

18. All real and personal estate whatsoever belonging to any such society established under this act, or any of the acts hereby repealed, shall be vested in such trustee or trustees for the time being, for the use and benefit of such society and the members thereof, and the real or personal estate of any branch of a society shall be vested in the trustees of such branch, and be under the control of such trustee or trustees, their respective executors or administrators, according to their respective claims and interest, and upon the death or removal of any such trustee or trustees the same shall vest in the succeeding trustee or trustees for the same estate and interest as the former trustee or trustees had therein, and subject to the same trusts, without any conveyance or assignment whatsoever, save and except in the case of stocks and securities in the public funds of Great Britain and Ireland, which shall be transferred into the name or names of such new trustee or trustees; and in all actions or suits or indictments, or summary proceedings before magistrates, touching or concerning any such property, the same shall be stated to be the property of the person or persons for the time being holding the said office of trustee, in his or their proper name or names, as trustees of such society without any further description.

19. The trustee or trustees of any such society are hereby non-authorised to bring or defend, or cause to be brought or defended, any action, suit, or prosecution in any court of law or equity, touching or concerning the property, right, or claim to property of the society for which he or they are such trustee or trustees as aforesaid; and such trustee or trustees shall and may, in all cases concerning the real or personal property of such society, sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, in any court of law or equity, in his or their proper name or names, as trustee or trustees of such society, without other description; and no such action, suit, or prosecution shall be discontinued or shall abate by the death of such person, or his removal from the office of trustee, but the same shall and may be proceeded in by or against the succeeding trustee or trustees as if such death or removal had not taken place; and such succeeding trustee or trustees shall pay or receive the like costs as if the action or suit or prosecution had been commenced in his or their name or names, for the benefit of, or to be reimbursed from the funds of, such society.

16. It shall be lawful for the trustee or trustees for the time being of any friendly society formed and established under this act or under any of the acts hereby repealed, with the consent of a majority of the members thereof present at a special or general meeting of the society, to purchase, build, hire, or take upon lease any building for the purpose of holding such meetings, and to adapt and furnish the same, and to purchase or hold upon lease any land not exceeding one acre for the said purpose of erecting thereon a building for holding the meetings of the society, and such trustee or trustees shall thereupon hold the same in trust for the use of such society; and, with the like consent as aforesaid, such trustee or trustees may mortgage, sell, exchange, or let such building, or any part thereof; and the receipt in writing of such trustee or one of such trustees for the time being shall be a legal discharge for the money arising from such mortgage, sale, exchange, or letting; and no mortgagee, purchaser, tenant, or assignee shall be bound to inquire into or ascertain or prove the consent aforesaid, to verify his title: provided always, that any building purchased or appropriated for the purpose aforesaid already belonging to or in the possession of any friendly society heretofore formed and established under the said repealed acts, or any of them, may be holden and dealt with as if it had been acquired under this act; and the land or buildings which may be vested in the treasurer, trustee, or other officer thereof for the time being shall thereupon vest in the trustee or trustees for the time being of such society, for the same estate and interest as the said treasurer, trustee, or other officer may have

20. Provided nevertheless, that no trustee or trustees of any such society shall be liable to make good any deficiency which may arise or happen in the funds of such society, but shall be liable only for the monies which shall be actually received by him on account of such society.

21. The treasurer of every such society, and every treasurer hereafter appointed in any society established under any of the repealed acts, or any other officer who is required by the rules to give security, shall, before he take upon himself the execation of his office, become bound, with one sufficient surety, in a bond according to the form set forth in the third schedule to this act, or give the security of a guarantee society established in London, in such penal sum as the society or the committee

of management shall direct and appoint, conditioned for his just and faithful execution of his said office of treasurer, and for rendering a just and true account of all monies received or paid by him on account of the said society at such times as the rules of the said society shall direct and appoint, and at such times as he shall be required so to do by the trustee or trustees of the said society, or by a majority of the said committee of management, or by a majority of the members present at any meeting of such society; and every such bond shall be given to the trustee or trustees of the said society for the time being; and if the same shall at any time become forfeited, it shall be lawful for such trustee or trustees for the time being to sue upon such bond for the use of such society; and in Scotland such bond shall have the same force and effect as a bond there in use duly attested and completed, and containing a clause of registration for execution as well as for preservation in the books of council and session and other judges' books competent, and shall be registered in such books accordingly, with a view to diligence.

22. Every such treasurer or other officer, whether appointed before or after the passing of this act, at such times as by the rules of such society he should render such account as aforesaid, or upon being required so to do by the trustee or trustees of such society, or by a majority of the said committee of management, or by a majority of the members present at a meeting of the said society as aforesaid, within seven days after such requisition shall render to the trustee or trustees of the society, or to the said committee of management, or to the members of such society at a meeting of the society, a just and true account of all monies received and paid by him since he last rendered the like account, and of the balance then remaining in his hands, and of all bonds or securities of such society, which account the said trustee or trustees or committee of manage. ment shall cause to be audited by some fit and proper person or persons by them to be appointed; and such treasurer, if thereunto required, upon the said account being audited, shall forthwith hand over to the said trustee or trustees the balance which on such audit shall appear to be due from him, and shall also, if required, hand over to such trustee or trustees ail securities and effects, books, papers, and property of the said society in his hands or custody; and if he fail to do so, the trustee or trustees of the said society may sue upon the bond aforesaid, or may sue such treasurer in the county court of the district, or in any of the superior courts of common law, or in any other court having jurisdiction, for the balance appearing to have been due from him upon the account last rendered by him, and for all the monies since received by him on account of the said society, and for the securities and effects, books, papers, and property in his hands or custody, leaving him to set off in such action the sums, if any, which he may have since paid on account of the said society; and in such action the said trustee or trustees shall be entitled to recover their full costs of suit, to be taxed as between attorney and client.

23. If any person already appointed or employed, or hereafter to be appointed or employed, to or in any office in any friendly society established under this act, or any of the acts hereby repealed, whether such appointment or employment was before or after the legal establishment of such society, and having in his hands or possession, by virtue of his office, any monies or property whatsoever of such society, or any deeds or securities belonging to such society, shall die, or become bank. rupt or insolvent, or have any execution or attachment or other process issued against him or any part of his property, or shall have any action or diligence raised against his lands, goods, chattels, or effects, or property or other estate, heritable or moveable, or shall make any assignment, disposition, assignation, or other conveyance for the benefit of his creditors, the heirs, executors, administrators, or assignees of every such officer, and every other person having or claiming right to the property of such officer, and the sheriff or other person executing such process, and the party using such action or diligence respectively, shall, upon demand in writing made by the treasurer or by the trustee or any two of the trustees of such society, or any person appointed at some meeting of the society to make such demand, deliver and pay over all such monies, property, deeds, and securities belonging to such society to such person as such treasurer or trustees shall appoint, and shall pay, out of the estate, assets, or effects, heritable or moveable, of such officer, all sums of money due which such officer shall have received, before any other of his debts are paid, and before any other claims upon him shall be satisfied,

D

and before the money directed to be levied by such process as aforesaid, or which may be recovered or recoverable under such diligence, is paid over to the party issuing such process or using such diligence; and all such assets, lands, goods, chattels, property, estates, and effects shall be bound to the payment, discharge, and satisfaction of such claims.

24. If any officer, member, or other person, being or representing himself to be a member of such society, or the nominee, executor, administrator, or assignee of a member thereof, or any person whatsoever, by false representation or imposition, shall obtain possession of any monies, securities, books, papers, or other effects of such society, or having the same in his possession shall withhold or misapply the same, or shall wilfully apply any part of the same to purposes other than those expressed or directed in the rules of such society, or any part thereof, it shall be lawful in England for any justice of the peace acting in the county or borough in which the place of business of such society shall be situated, upon complaint made by any person on behalf of such society, to summon the person against whom such complaint is made to appear at a time and place to be named in such summons; and any two justices present at the time and place mentioned in such summons shall proceed to hear and determine the said complaint, in manner directed by the act passed in the 11 & 12 Vict. c. 43; and in Scotland every such offence may be prosecuted by summary complaint at the instance of the procurator fiscal of the county, or of the society with his concurrence, before the sheriff; and if the said justices or sheriffs respectively shall determine the said complaint to be proved against such person, they shall adjudge and order him to deliver up all such monies, securities, books, papers, or other effects to the society, or to repay the amount of money applied improperly, and to pay, if they think fit, a further sum of money not exceeding 201., together with costs not exceeding 208., and in default of such delivery of effects, or repayment of such amount of money, or payment of such penalty and costs aforesaid, the said justices or sheriff's may order the said person so convicted to be imprisoned in the common gaol or house of correction, with or without hard labour, for any time not exceeding three months: provided that nothing herein contained shall prevent the said society, or in Scotland her Majesty's advocate, from proceeding by indictment against the said party; provided also, that no person shall be proceeded against by indictment if a conviction shall have been previously obtained for the same offence under the provisions of this act.

1

25. Before any friendly society shall be established under this act, the persons intending to establish the same shall agree upon and frame a set of rules for the regulation, government, and management of such society; and in such rules they may, amongst other things, make provision for appointing a general committee of management of such society, and delegating to such committee all or any of the powers given by this act to the members of friendly societies formed or established under or by virtue of the same; and such rules shall set forth, 1. The name of the society and place of meeting for the business of the society:

[ocr errors]

2. The whole of the objects for which the society is to be established, the purposes for which the funds thereof

by shall be applicable, and the conditions under which any member may become entitled to any benefit assured thereby, and the fines and forfeitures to be imposed on any member of such society:

[ocr errors]

3. The manner of making, altering, amending, and rescinding rules: ..

4. A provision for the appointment and removal of a general committee of management, of a trustee or trustees, treasurer, and other officers:

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

I;་*

5. A provision for the investment of the funds, and for an · annual or periodical audit of accounts, 6. The manner in which disputes between the society and any of its members, or any person claiming by or through any member, or under the rules, shall be settled: set mi

[ocr errors]

And the rules of every such society shall provide that all monies received or paid on account of each and every particular fund or benefit assured to the members thereof, their husbands, wives, children, fathers, mothers, brothers or sisters, nephews or nieces, for which a separate table of contributions payable shall have been adopted, shall be entered in a separate account, distinct from the monies received and paid on account of any other benefit or fund, and also that a contribution shall be

made to defray the necessary expenses of management, and a separate account shall be kept of such contributions and expenses.

26. Two printed or written copies of such rules, signed by three of the intended members and the secretary or other officer, shall be transmitted to the registrar aforesaid, and the said registrar shall advise with the secretary or other officer, if required, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the said rules are calculated to carry into effect the intentions and object of the persons who desire to form such society; and if the registrar shall find that such rules are in conformity with law and with the provisions of this act, he shall give a certificate in the form set forth in the second schedule to this act, and shall return one of the said copies to the said society, and shall keep the other in such manner as shall from time to time be directed by one of her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, and for which certificate no fee shall be payable to the said registrar; and all rules, when so certified as aforesaid, shall be binding on the several members of the said society: provided always, that it shall not be lawful for the said registrar to grant any such certificate to a society assuring to any member thereof a certain annuity or certain superannuation, deferred or imme. diate, unless the tables of contributions payable for such kind of assurance shall have been certified under the hand of the actuary to the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, or by an actuary of some life assurance company esta. blished in London, Edinburgh, or Dublin, who shall have exercised the profession of actuary for at least five years, and such certificate be transmitted to the registrar, together with the copies of the rules aforesaid.

27. After the rules of a friendly society shall have been so certified by the registrar as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for such society, by resolution at a meeting specially called for that purpose, to alter, amend, or rescind the same or any of them, or to make new rules; and it shall be lawful for any friendly society, formed and established under any of the acts hereby repealed, to alter, amend, or rescind the rules by which their society is governed, regulated, or managed, or to make new rules provided always, that two copies of the proposed alte rations or amendments, and of such new rules, signed by three members of such society and the secretary or other officer, shall be transmitted to the said registrar, to one of which shall be attached a declaration by the secretary or one of the officers of such society, that in making the same the rules of such society respecting the making, altering, amending, and rescinding rules, or the directions of the act under which such society was established, have been duly complied with; and if the said registrar shall find that such alterations, amendments, or new rules are in conformity with law, he shall give to the society a certificate in the form set forth in the schedule to this act, and return one of the copies to the society, and shall keep the other, with the rules of such society, in his custody, and for which certificate no fee shall be payable to the said registrar, and as against such member or person such certificate shall be conclusive of the validity thereof; and all rules, alterations, and amendments, when so certified as aforesaid, shall be binding on the several members of the said society, and all persons claiming on account of a member or under the said rules; but unless and until the same shall be so certified as aforesaid, such rules, alterations, and amendments shall have no force or validity whatsoever.

[ocr errors]

28. Whenever any friendly society established under this act, or under any of the acts hereby repealed, shall change its place of business, notice of such change, under the hands of two of the trustees, or three members and secretary or other officer, shall, within fourteen days thereafter, be sent to the said registrar.

29. If any person shall give to any member of a friendly society established under this act, or under any of the said repealed acts, or to any person intending or applying to become a member of such society, a copy of any rules, or of any alterations or amendments of the same, other than those respectively which have been inrolled with any clerk of the peace or certified by the registrar, with a copy of his certificate appended thereto, under colour that the same are binding upon the members of such society, or shall make any alterations in or addition to any of the rules or tables of such society after they shall have been respectively inrolled or certified by the registrar, and shall circulate the same, purporting that they have been duly inrolled or certified under this or any of the said repealed acts, when they have not been so duly inrolled or cer

[merged small][ocr errors]

30. All rules and tables of any society established under this act, or any of the said repealed acts, and all alterations and amendments thereof, and all copies thereof or extracts therefrom, and all writings and documents relating to a friendly society, and purporting to be signed by the registrar, shall, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, be received in all courts of law and equity, and elsewhere, without proof of the signature thereto. 4.

31. When, on the death of any member of a society established under this act or any of the said repealed acts, a sum of money not exceeding 501. shall become payable, the same shall be paid by the trustees of such society to the person directed by the rules thereof, or nominated by the deceased in writing deposited with the secretary, (such person being the husband, wife, father, mother, child, brother or sister, nephew or niece of such member); and in case there shall be no such direction or nomination, or the person so nominated shall have died before the deceased member, or in case the member shall have revoked such nomination, then such sum shall be paid to the person who shall appear to the said trustees to be entitled, under the Statute of Distributions, to receive the same, without taking out letters of administration in England or Ireland, and without confirmation in Scotland: provided, that wherever the trustee or trustees of any such society, after the decease of any member thereof, shall have paid and divided any such sum of money to or amongst any person or persons who shall at the time of such payment appear to such trustee or trustees to be entitled to the effects of any deceased member who has died intestate, without having appointed any nominee as aforesaid, the payment of any such sum shall be valid and effectual with respect to any demand from any other person or persons as next of kin of such deceased member, or as the lawful representative or representatives of such member, against the funds of such society or against the trustees thereof; but nevertheless such next of kin or representative shall have his or her lawful remedy for such money so paid as aforesaid against the person or persons who shall have received the same.

32. The trustee or trustees of every friendly society established under this act or any of the said repealed acts shall from time to time, with the consent of the committee of management of such society, or of a majority of the members of such society present at a general or special meeting thereof, or in accordance with the rules of such society, invest the funds of such society, or any part thereof, to any amount, in any savings bank, or in the public funds, or with the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, as hereinafter mentioned, or in such other security as the rule of such society may direct, not being the purchase of house or land, (save and except the purchase of buildings wherein to hold the meetings or transact the business of such society, as hereinbefore mentioned), and not being the purchase of shares in any joint-stock company or other company with or without charter of incorporation, and not being personal security, except in the case of a member of one full year's standing at least, and in respect of a sum not exceeding one-half the amount of his assurance on life, such member providing the written security of himself and two satisfactory sureties for repayment, and in case of such member's death before repayment, the amount of such advance, with interest, may be deducted from the sum so assured, without prejudice in the meantime to the operation of such security.

33. Every friendly society established under this act which does not assure the payment in any event of a sum exceeding 2007., or an annuity exceeding 301. per annum, may pay any sum of money not less than 50%. into the Bank of England or Ireland, to the account of the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, upon the declaration of the trustee or of the trustees, or any two or more of them, that such monies belong exclusively to the said society; and the cashier of the Bank of England is hereby required to receive all such monies, and to place the same to the account raised in the name of the said commissioners in the book of the Bank, named "The Fund for Friendly Societies;" and if such declaration shall not be true, then and in every such case the sum of money so paid in on such declaration shall be forfeited to the said commissioners, and shall be applied by them in the manner directed by any act or acts for the time being in force relating to savings banks with respect to the account of such banks; and the regulation of receipts, certificates, or orders concerning savings banks shall be deemed applicable to monies paid in

[ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors]

as aforesaid under the authority of this act, as if the same had been herein repeated; and every such society, on paying money directly into the Bank as aforesaid, shall be entitled to receive receipts bearing interest at the rate of 2d. per centum per diem: provided, that every society which shall deposit any part of its funds in any savings bank, or with the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, shall furnish to the said commissioners from time to time such accounts as they may require in reference to the funds so deposited.

surer or any officer thereof, nor any draft or order, nor any form of policy, nor any appointment of any agent, nor any certificate or other instrument for the revocation of any such appointment, nor any other document whatever required or authorised by or in pursuance of this act or the rules of any society, shall be liable to stamp duty: provided, that no exemption from any of the duties granted by any act or acts relating to stamp duties shall be deemed to extend to any society which shall assure the payment of money exceeding 2001., or which shall assure the payment of any money on the death of a member to any person except the executors, administrators, or assigns of such member, or the husband, wife, father, mother, child, brother, sister, nephew, or niece of such member. 38. If any person shall become a member of more than one society, whereby certain benefits shall accrue on account of the same kind of assurance from more than one society, it shall not be lawful for him, or for any person entitled through or under him, or by reason of his membership, or for any number of such persons in the aggregate, to receive more than 2001., or, in the case of annuities, 301. a year, from such societies collectively; and in any case where a person shall so as aforesaid be a member of more than one society, and he, or any other person or persons, shall be entitled to any benefit in gross or by way of annuity from any such society, he, or (as the circumstances may require) every such other person, shall, before he shall receive any such benefit from any of such societies, make and sign a declaration that the total value of all benefits accruor which shall have accrued in respect of any one kind of assurance does not exceed the value of 2007., or, in the case of annuities, 307. a year; and it shall be lawful for any society to require any member or any other person who shall be entitled to any such benefit, before he shall receive the same, to make and sign a declaration to the same effect, or that such member was not when the benefit accrued a member of any other association; and if any person shall knowingly make any false or fraudulent declaration in any such case he shall be guilty of misdemeanour.

34. Every society already established under any of the acts hereby repealed, which shall have heretofore invested any part of its funds with the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, shall be entitled to pay into the Bank of England or Ireland, in sums of not less than 507., money received from members on account of assurances made before the passing of this act, and to receive receipts for the same bearing interest at such rate or rates as such society has hitherto been entitled to receive on account of such assurances; that is to say, for money invested with the commissioners by any society legally established before the 28th July, 1828, on account of any assurance made before the 15th August, 1850, 3d. per centum per diem; and on account of any assurance effected after that day, 2d. per centum per diem; and for money invested with the commissioners by any society established between the 28th July, 1828, and the 15th August, 1850, on account of assurances made before the 15th August, 1850, 24d. per centum per diem; and on account of any assurance effected after that day, 2d. per centum per diem; and for money investeding with the commissioners by any society established since the 15th July, 1850, the sum of 2d. per centum per diem: provided, that the trustees of every society which shall have invested or shall invest any part of its funds with the said commissioners shall furnish from time to time such accounts and returns as the said commissioners shall require, and shall satisfy the said commissioners that they are legally entitled to receive such interest as aforesaid, and to make such further investment.

35. Where any friendly society shall withdraw money invested by them with the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, such society shall not be entitled to make any further deposit with the said commissioners without the consent of the said commissioners, or of the comptrollergeneral or assistant comptroller under them.

36. Whenever it shall happen that any person, being or having been a trustee of any society established under this act, or any act hereby repealed, and whether he shall have been appointed before or after the legal establishment thereof, in whose name any part of the several stocks, annuities, and funds belonging to any such society, transferable at the Bank of England or Ireland, or in the books of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England or Ireland, or in any savings bank, is or shall be standing, shall be out of England or Ireland or Scotland respectively, or shall have been removed from his office of trustee, or shall be a bankrupt, insolvent, or lunatic, or it shall be unknown whether such trustee is living or dead, it shall be lawful for the registrar, after receiving an application in writing from the secretary of the society and three members thereof, and upon proof satisfactory to such registrar, to direct the Accountant-General or other proper officer for the time being of the said Governor and Company of the Bank of England or Ireland, or of any savings bank, to transfer in the books of the said company or of the said savings bank such stocks, annuities, or funds, standing as aforesaid, into the name of the trustee who shall be newly appointed, and to pay to him from time to time the dividends thereof; and if one of two or more such trustees shall die, or be removed from his office of trustee, or become bankrupt or insolvent, it shall be lawful for the registrar, on the like application, to direct that the other or others of the trustees shall transfer such stock, annuities, or funds into the name of such person as may have been appointed in his stead, jointly with the continuing trustee or trustees.

39. The trustees of any friendly society may, out of the funds thereof, subscribe to any hospital, infirmary, charitable or other provident institution, such annual or other sum as may be agreed upon by the committee of management, or by a majority of the members at a meeting called for that purpose, in consideration of any member of such society, his wife, child, or other person nominated, being eligible to receive the benefits of such hospital or other institution, according to the rules thereof.

40. Every dispute between any member or members of any society established under this act or any of the acts hereby repealed, or any person claiming through or under a member, or under the rules of such society, and the trustee, treasurer, or other officer, or the committee thereof, shall be decided in manner directed by the rules of such society, and the decision. so made shall be binding and conclusive on all parties, without appeal: provided, that where the rules of any society established under any of the acts hereby repealed shall have directed disputes to be referred to justices, such disputes shall, from and after the 1st August, 1855, be referred to and decided by the county court, as hereinafter mentioned.

41. In all friendly societies established under this act or any of the said repealed acts, all applications for the removal of any trustee, or for any other relief, order, or direction, or for the settlement of disputes that may arise or may have arisen in any society the rules of which do not prescribe any other mode of settling such disputes, or to enforce the decision of any arbitrators, or to hear or determine any dispute if no arbitrator shall have been appointed, or if no decision shall be made by the said arbitrators within forty days after application has been made by the member or person claiming through or under a member, or under the rules of the society, shall be made to the county court of the district within which the usual or principal place of business of the society shall be situate; and such court shall, upon the application of any person inattor-terested in the matter, entertain such application, and give such relief, and make such orders and directions in relation to the matter of such application, as hereinafter mentioned, or as may now be given or made by the Court of Chancery in respect either of its ordinary or its special or statutory jurisdiction; and the decision of such county court upon and in relation to such application as aforesaid shall not be subject to any appeal: provided always, that in Scotland the sheriff within his county, and in Ireland the assistant barrister within his dis

37. No copy of rules, nor power, warrant, or letter of ney granted by any person as trustee of any society established under this act, or any of the acts hereby repealed, for the transfer of any share in the public funds standing in the name of such trustee, nor any order or receipt for money contributed to or received from the funds of any such society by any person liable or entitled to pay or receive the same by virtue of the rules thereof or of this act, nor any bond to be given to or on account of any such society, or by the trea

trict, shall have the same jurisdiction as is hereby given to the judge of a county court.

42. In all cases where the order of such county court shall be for the payment of money, the same may be enforced in the same manner as the ordinary judgments of such court are enforced; but where the order of the said court shall be for the doing of some act, not being for the payment of money, it shall be lawful for the judge of such county court in his said order to order the party to do such act, or that in default of his doing it he shall pay a certain sum of money; and in case he refuse or neglect to do the act required, upon demand in that behalf, the sum of money or penalty in the said order may then be recovered in the same manner as a judgment for debt or damages in such court; and it shall not be lawful to remove the same by certiorari or other writ or process to any superior court of record.

43. Provided, however, that the Lord Chancellor may make such orders for regulating the proceedings by and before the judges of county courts under this act as he may think fit; and in Scotland the Court of Session shall have the like power by act of sederunt as regards proceedings before sheriffs under this act; and, subject to such orders and acts of sederunt respectively, such judges and sheriffs may regulate the proceedings before them respectively so as to render them as summary and inexpensive as conveniently may be.

44. In the case of any friendly society established for any of the purposes mentioned in sect. 9 of this act, or for any purpose which is not illegal, having written or printed rules, whose rules have not been certified by the registrar, provided a copy of such rules shall have been deposited with the registrar, every dispute between any member or members of such society, and the trustees, treasurer, or other officer, or the committee of such society, shall be decided in manner hereinbefore provided with respect to disputes, and the decision thereof, in the case of societies to be established under this act, and the sections in this act provided for such decision, and also the section in this act which enacts a punishment in case of fraud or imposition by an officer, member, or person, shall be applicable to such uncertified societies: provided always, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to confer on any such society whose rules shall not have been certified by the registrar, or any of the members or officers of such society, any of the powers, exemptions, or facilities of this act, save and except as in and by this section is expressly provided.

45. The trustees of friendly societies established under this act or under any of the repealed acts, or the officer thereof appointed to prepare returns, shall once in every year, in the months of January, February, or March, transmit to the registrar a general statement of the funds and effects of such society during the past twelve months, or a copy of the last annual report of such society, and shall also within three months after the expiration of the month of December, 1855, and so again within three months after the expiration of every five years succeeding, transmit to the said registrar a return of the rate or amount of sickness and mortality experienced by such society within the preceding five years, in such form as shall be prepared by the said registrar, and an abstract of the same shall be laid before Parliament; and the registrar shall also lay before Parliament every year a report of his proceed. ings in his office of registrar, and of the principal matters transacted by friendly societies which have come under his cognisance during the past year.

46. And whereas under the provisions of the acts hereby repealed, or some of them, certain associations or societies have been formed in England and Ireland for the provident and charitable purpose of securing annual payments to the nominees of the members thereof, contingent upon the death of such members, and have invested their funds in the manner provided by such acts, and doubts may arise whether such associations or societies will be entitled to the exemptions and privileges by this act conferred in the event of such annual payments amounting in the aggregate to more than 301.; and it is expedient to remove such doubts, and to give protection to such associations or societies, and to the funds thereof: be it therefore enacted, that notwithstanding anything in this act contained to the contrary, all such associations or societies as were founded and subsisting under the provisions of the said acts previously to the 15th August, 1850, shall enjoy the exemptions and privileges by this act conferred on societies to be established under the provisions of this act as fully as if they had been registered and certified under this act, and notwith

standing that the contingent annual payments to which the nominees of the present or future members of such associations or societies may become entitled shall exceed in the aggregate the sum of 301.

47. In any case where the rules of any society already inrolled or certified have provided that a member shall be deprived of any benefit by reason of his inrolment or service in the militia, it shall be lawful for the trustees of such society to require of any member a contribution exceeding the rate of contribution hitherto payable by such member, to an amount not exceeding one-tenth of such rate, during the time such member shall be serving out of the United Kingdom, or to suspend all claim of such member to any benefits of such society, and all claim of the society to any contributions payable by such member, during the time he may be serving in the militia out of the United Kingdom, provided that such suspension shall cease so soon as the said member shall return to the United Kingdom, and he shall thereupon be replaced on the same footing as before he went abroad with the regiment to which he belongs.

48. All the provisions of this act shall apply to all societies constituted under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act, 1852, in the same manner as the laws in force relating to friendly societies at the date of the passing of the said Industrial and Provident Societies Act, 1852, are by the said lastmentioned act directed to apply to societies constituted thereunder ; and the limitation hereinbefore contained of the amount of annuities and sums payable on the death of any person, or on any other contingency, in the case of societies established under this act, shall apply to all societies constituted under the said Industrial and Provident Societies Act, 1852.

49. The word "society" shall extend to and include every branch of a society, by whatever name it may be designated. 50. This act shall extend to Great Britain and Ireland, and the Channel Isles, and the Isle of Man.

51. This act shall commence and take effect from the 1st August, 1855.

SCHEDULES REFERRED TO BY THE FOREGOING

ACT.

FIRST SCHEDule.

Acts and Parts of Acts to be repealed.

33 Geo. 3, c. 54.-An Act for the Encouragement and Relief of Friendly Societies.-The whole act.

35 Geo. 3, c. 111.-An Act for more effectually carrying into Execution an Act made in the Thirty-third Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, intituled "An Act for the Encouragement and Relief of Friendly Societies," and for extending so much of the Powers thereof as relates to the framing Rules and Regulations for the better Management of the Funds of such Societies, and the Appointment of Treasurers to other Institutions of a charitable Nature.-The whole act.

36 Geo. 3, c. 68, (Irish).-An Act for the Encouragement and Relief of Friendly Societies.-The whole act.

43 Geo. 3, c. 111.-An Act for enabling Friendly Societies intended to be established under an Act passed in the Thirtythird Year of the Reign of his present Majesty to rectify Mistakes made in the Registry of their Rules.-The whole act.

49 Geo. 3, c. 58.-An Act to explain and render more effectual an Act passed in the Parliament of Ireland in the Thirty-sixth Year of his present Majesty's Reign, for the Encouragement and Relief of Friendly Societies.-The whole act. 49 Geo. 3, c. 125.-An Act to amend an Act made in the Thirty-third Year of his present Majesty for the Encouragement and Relief of Friendly Societies.-The whole act.

59 Geo. 3, c. 128.-An Act for the further Protection and Encouragement of Friendly Societies, and for preventing Frauds and Abuses therein.-The whole act.

6 Geo. 4, c. 74.-An Act for consolidating and amending the Laws relating to Conveyances and Transfers of Estates and Funds vested in Trustees who are Infants, Idiots, Lunatics, or Trustees of unsound Mind, or who cannot be compelled or refuse to act; and also the Laws relating to Stocks and Securities belonging to Infants, Idiots, Lunatics, and Persons of unsound Mind.-So much of sect. 11 as relates to friendly societies.

10 Geo. 4, c. 56.-An Act to consolidate and amend the Laws relating to Friendly Societies.-The whole act. 2 Will. 4, c. 37.-An Act to amend an Act of the Tenth

« AnteriorContinuar »