is in conformity with law and with the provisions of the statute; if so, to return one copy to the society with a certificate to that effect, and to send the other copy to the clerk of the peace.

XI. None of the other duties and powers which the new Act gives to the Registrar have been hitherto exercised by the Barrister with regard to Benefit Building Societies; though most of them have been exercised by the Registrar with respect to Friendly Societies, Industrial and Provident (Co-operative) Societies, and Trade Unions. The tendency of the legislation of 1874 is, therefore, towards rendering more nearly uniform the provisions of the law relating to the various classes of societies with which the Registrar will have henceforth to deal (a).

XII. While the Act of 1874 applies to all societies established under the Act of 1836, it provides, as already stated, that that Act is not to be deemed to be repealed with regard to any societies which do not obtain a certificate of incorporation. It has been thought desirable, therefore, to give in Part II of the present work a statement of the provisions of the Act of 1836, and those of

(a) The reader who is interested in tracing the anomalies of past legislation on the matter, is referred to an abstract and tabular statement of the duties of the registrar and barrister, with respect to the various classes of societies, prepared by the assistant registrar, and published at pages 116 to 124 of the Fourth Report of Her Majesty's Friendly Societies Commissioners, 1874.

1829 and 1834, which are embodied in it, so far as it would seem they continue to apply to unincorporated societies. It is to be expected, however, that few societies will care to remain without a certificate of incorporation, the more so as some nice questions of construction will be likely to arise from the necessity of reading these statutes together with that of 1874 (a). think all societies would do well to become incorporated, and thus by the operation of the vesting clause in the Act of 1874 (s. 27), dispose finally of the many troublesome questions which arise from trusteeship.

The statement of the law affecting unincorporated societies may be of importance however to some, in which the application for incorporation may, for some reason or other, be delayed.

(a) It may be worth mentioning, as one of the curious accidents, that occur in the progress of legislation, that an inversion of the words of section 8 happened (it is believed unintentionally) during the progress of the bill in the House of Lords. According to the amendment, as prepared by the draftsman (who is one of the authors of the present work), the clause would have read "Every society, the rules of which have been certified under the said repealed Act, may obtain a certificate of incorporation under this Act, and thereupon shall be deemed to be a society under this Act, and its rules shall, &c." As actually passed by their lordships, the clause reads as follows: "Every society, the rules of which have been certified under the said repealed Act shall be deemed to be a society under this Act, and may obtain a certificate of incorporation under this Act, and thereupon its rules shall, &c." The transposition of words, it will be seen, makes a considerable alteration in the sense of the section, and introduces the confusion which is referred to above; but it is not thought that any important practical difficulty need arise from it.

XIII. The Building Societies' Acts, 1836 and 1874, give no power to the societies to hold or traffic in land, except so far as may be necessary for the purpose for which the society is established. By an Act passed in 1871 (34 & 35 Vict. c. 80), however, societies may be established under the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts, 1862, 1867 (25 & 26 Vict. c. 87 ; 30 & 31 Vict. c. 117):

:

1. For the purpose of buying and selling land, both wholesale and retail;

2. And the members of the society become a body corporate, having a perpetual succession and

a common seal;

3. With power to purchase, erect, and sell and convey, or to hold lands and buildings;

4. With limited liability;

5. Further the society may, by its rules, provide, from time to time for the erection of any houses, cottages, or other buildings on any lands, from time to time, held by the society; 6. And for the altering and pulling down, and again rebuilding of any buildings, whether erected by the society or otherwise vested in it;

7. And for the management, laying out, leasing, and sub-leasing (whether at rack-rent, on building, mining, quarrying, or improving leases or otherwise howsoever, and whether to members of the society or other persons) of any lands or buildings for the time being held by the society;

8. And for the disposal and sale, from time to time, of any

whether to members or other persons,

such lands or buildings;

9. And for the appropriation of the purchase moneys, rents, and other moneys to be received in respect of any land or buildings;

10. And for the advancing of any moneys by the society to members on the security of real or personal property;

11. And the rules may prescribe the forms of conveyance, mortgage, transfer, agreement, bond, or other instrument necessary for carrying the purpose of the society into execution; 12. And, lastly, one of the society's objects may be the working of mines, minerals, or quarries.

XIV. Under this Act as under the Building Societies Act, 1874;

1. The society being a body corporate, with perpetual succession and a common seal, performs all

acts in its corporate name, without the intervention of trustees.

2. It has a registered office which it may change from time to time, without restriction as to county.

3. All documents relating to it are in the charge of the Registrar of Friendly Societies, who grants a certificate of incorporation, records the place of meeting, directs the form of annual return, authorizes changes of name,

&c, and is empowered to enforce obedience

to the law.

4. A society may, subject to the approval of the

Registrar, change its name, and the Regis

trar is not to register any society by the same name as that of an existing society.

XV. To enable the framers and legal advisers of Building Societies to form a judgment as to the relative advantages of registration under either Act, we have given in Part III., the provisions of the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts. It has not been, however, within the scope of this work to enter in any detail into the specialities of legislation with respect to Industrial and Provident Societies. For them the reader is referred to other works by the same authors.

XVI. Notwithstanding the advantages offered by either of the alternative courses of enrolment as a Benefit Building Society, under the Act of 1836, or registration as an Industrial and Provident Society under the Act of 1871, it is the fact that many societies exist for the purposes of a Building Society without any legal status whatever. The restrictions on the shares and interests of individual members are not a sufficient explanation of this state of things; nor is it easy to fathom the reasons which have induced so many provident people to put their savings in peril. It is within our knowledge that some of these unenrolled clubs have made advances of several thousands of pounds upon single properties, and their