VII. If rules of society direct reference in case of dispute to arbitration, and society refuse to grant arbitrators, dc., justices may determine the dispute.-And whereas in and by the said recited Act provision is directed to be made by the rules of every society whether reference of any matter in dispute shall be made to justices or to arbitrators: and whereas it is expedient that further provision should be made in case the reference is to arbitrators; be it therefore enacted, that when the rules of any society provide for a reference to arbitrators of any matter in dispute, and it shall appear to any justice of the peace, on the complaint on oath of a member of any such society, or of any person claiming on account of such member, that application has been made to such society, or the steward or other officer thereof, for the purpose of having any dispute so settled by arbitration, and that such application has not within forty days been complied with, or that the arbitrators have neglected or refused to make any award, it shall and may be lawful for such justice to summon the trustee, treasurer, steward or other officer of the society, or any one of them against whom the complaint is made, and for any two justices to hear and determine the matter in dispute, in the same manner as if the rules of the said society had directed that any matter in dispute as aforesaid should be decided by justices of the peace, anything in the said recited Act contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

[Further provision for settlement of disputes is made by ss. 34-36 of 37 & 38 Vict. c. 42.]

VIII. Provision in case member of society is expelled.] And be it further enacted, that in case any member of a friendly society established under the said recited Act or this Act shall have been expelled from such society, and the arbitrators or justices, as the case may be, shall award or order that he or she shall be reinstated, it shall and may be lawful for such arbitrators or justices to award or order, in default of such reinstatement, to the member so expelled, such a sum of money as to

such arbitrators or justices may seem just and reasonable; which said sum of money, if not paid, shall be recoverable from the said society, or the treasurer, trustee, or other officer, in the same way as any money awarded by arbitrators is recoverable under the said recited Act.

Sect. 9 provides that the funds of friendly societies, may be deposited in savings' bank, under 9 Geo. 4, c. 92, and does not apply to benefit building societies.

Sect. 10 provides that members of friendly societies may be witnesses, and is not applicable to the present law.

Sect. 11 provided that no fee shall be charged for oaths before magistrates in obtaining payment of sick pay, and does not apply to benefit building societies.

* *

or other persons

XII.-Executors, &c., of officers of friendly society to pay money due to society before any other debt.-And be it further enacted, that if any person already appointed or who may hereafter be appointed to any office in a society established under the said recited Act or this Act, and being entrusted with the keeping of the accounts, or having in his hands or possession, by virtue of his said office or employment, any moneys or effects belonging to such society, or any deeds or securities relating to the same, shall die * * * his heirs, executors, administrators * having legal right * * shall within forty days after demand made in writing by the order of any such society or committee thereof, or the major part of them assembled at any meeting thereof, deliver and pay over all moneys and other things belonging to such society to such person as such society or committee shall appoint, and shall pay, out of the estates, assets, or effects, heritable or movable, of such person, all sums of money remaining due which such person received by virtue of his said office or employment, before any

*

other of his debts are paid or satisfied *

all such assets, lands, goods, chattels, property, estates, and effects shall be bound to the payment and discharge thereof accordingly.

[This section also provided for priority in case of bankruptcy, &c.: but that is repealed by the Bankruptcy Acts.]

Sect. 13 provided letters to and from barristers and advocate were to be free of postage, and is not now in force.

Sect. 14 provided for the provisions of former statutes to continue in force as to societies established under them until they shall conform to the provisions of 10 Geo. 4, c. 56, as hereby amended, and is now expired, and ss. 15, 16, and 17 are merely formal.

Other provisions with regard to societies under the Act are contained in ss. 10, 11, 15, 22, 28, 30, 33, 37, 39, 43 and 44 of the Act of 1874.

PART III.

INDUSTRIAL AND PROVIDENT LAND SOCIETIES.

25 & 26 VICT. CAP. 87.

An Act to consolidate and amend the Laws relating to Industrial and Provident Societies.

[7th August, 1862.]

WHEREAS by the Industrial and Provident Societies Act, 1852 [15 & 16 Vict. c. 31], it is enacted, that it shall be lawful for any number of persons to establish a society under the provisions thereof and of the therein recited Act, for the purpose of raising by voluntary subscriptions of the members thereof a fund for attaining any purpose or object for the time being authorized by the laws in force with respect to friendly societies or by the said recited Act, by carrying on or exercising in common any labour, trade, or handicraft, or several labours, trades, or handicrafts, except the working of mines, minerals, or quarries beyond the limits of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and also except the business of banking whether in the said United Kingdom or elsewhere; and that the said Act shall apply to all societies already established for any the purposes herein mentioned, so soon as they shall conform to the provisions hereof and whereas by an Act passed in the seventeenth and eighteenth years of Her present Majesty, chapter twenty-five, various provisions were made for the better enabling legal proceedings to be carried on in any matter concerning the

of

societies formed under the said Act of 1852: and whereas the last mentioned Act was amended by an Act passed in the first session of the nineteenth and twentieth years of Her present Majesty, chapter forty: and whereas various societies have been formed and are now carrying on business under the provisions of the said recited Acts, and it is desirable to consolidate and amend the laws relating to such societies: be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

I. Recited Acts repealed.—The Industrial and Provident Societies Act, 1852, and the said recited Acts for the amendment thereof, are hereby repealed from the passing of this Act.

II. As to societies registered under recited Acts.-All societies registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act, 1852, shall be entitled to obtain a certificate of registration on application to the registrar of friendly societies, and for which certificate no fee shall be payable to the registrar.

III. Constitution of societies under this Act.-Any number of persons not being less than seven, may establish a society under this Act for the purpose of carrying on any labour, trade (a), or handicraft, whether wholesale or retail [(b) except the working of mines and quarries, and] except the business of banking, and of applying the profits for any purposes allowed by the Friendly Societies Acts, or otherwise permitted by law.

(a) By 34 & 35 Vict. c. 80, the buying and selling of land is defined to be a trade within the meaning of this section.

(b) This exception is repealed by 30 & 31 Vict. c. 117, s. 1.