Power to correct Errors;

Provided always that it shall be lawful for the parochial board of any such parish or combination, if there shall have been found to exist any error in the sum or sums to be levied by way of assessment, or any omissions or surcharges in respect of the persons liable to pay the same, to cause such error, omission, or surcharge to be corrected at their next or any subsequent meeting after such error, omission, or surcharge shall have been discovered: Provided also, that nothing herein contained shall preclude any person who considers himself aggrieved by such assessment from his remedy by law in the like form and on the same grounds as, at the date of the passing of this Act, was competent to any party who considered himself aggrieved by assessment imposed under the Statutes then in force for relief of the poor, but to the extent and effect only of exempting himself from payment of any surcharge which may have been made upon him.

And impose additional Assessments.

41. And be it enacted, That if the assessment imposed for any year or half year shall, from any unforeseen or other circumstances, prove insufficient, it shall be lawful for the parochial board of such parish or combination to meet and impose such further and additional assessment as may be sufficient to raise the sum required.

Power to Parochial Boards to exempt on the Ground of Inability.

42. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the parochial board of any parish or combination to exempt from payment of the assessment or any part thereof, to such an extent as may seem proper and reasonable, any persons or class of persons on the ground of inability to pay.

Power to levy from Tenants the Assessment on Owners.

43. And be it enacted, that where the one half of any assessment is imposed on the owners, and the other half on the tenants or occupants, of lands and heritages, it shall be competent for the collector of such assessment to levy the whole thereof, from the tenants or occupants, who shall be entitled to recover one half thereof from the owners, or to retain the same out of their rents, on production of a receipt granted by the collector of such assessment.1

1 The provisions in this section are modified by § 31 of the Valuation Act (17 & 18 Vict., c. 91).

The words of the section are as follows:-"In all cases where any lands or heritages shall be separately let at a rent not amounting to four pounds per annum, and the names of the occupiers thereof shall not have been inserted in the valuation roll, the proprietor of such lands and heritages shall be charged with and have to pay the whole of the assessments on such lands and heritages separately let as aforesaid; but every such proprietor charged with and paying such assessment shall have relief against the tenants and occupiers of such lands and heritages for reimbursements thereof, if and in so far as such assessments may by law be properly chargeable upon such tenant or occupiers."

Long Lease Holders to be considered Owners.

44. And be it enacted, that in all landward as well as all burghal parishes and combinations where houses have been or shall be built by the tenant of any land held under a building lease upon such land, the tenant and his heirs and assignees in such lease shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed and taken to be the owners of such houses.

Canals and Railways how to be assessed.

45. And be it enacted, That in cases where any canal or railway shall pass through or be situate in more than one parish or combination, the proportion of the annual value thereof, on which such assessment shall be made for each such parish or combination shall be according to the number of miles or distance which such canal or railway passes through or is situated in each parish or combination in proportion to the whole length.

The same Property not to be assessed in Two Parishes.

46. And be it enacted, That the owners and occupiers of lands and heritages shall not be liable to be assessed in respect of such lands and heritages for the relief of the poor in more than one parish or combination.

Companies or Individuals to be assessed in certain cases.

47. And be it enacted, That if in any parish or combination in which an assessment is imposed on means and substance any company or any individual shall occupy any lands and heritages, or shall carry on any trade or business in any premises within such parish or combination, such company and the partners thereof, and such individual, shall be liable to be assessed in such parish or combination on their or his means and substance derived from or relating to such occupancy, trade, or business, although none of the partners of such company, nor such individual, should be actually resident in such parish or combination; and such company and partners, and such individual, shall not be liable to be assessed on the same means and substance in any other parish or combination:

Means and substance not to be assessed in more than One Parish.

And if any person shall be assessed in any parish or combination upon his means and substance, other than means and substance derived from or relating to the occupancy of lands and heritages within such parish or combination, or the carrying on of trade or business in premises within such parish or combination, such person shall not be assessed upon the same means and substance in any other parish or combination; and if any person shall reside in and be liable to be assessed as an inhabitant of more than one parish, it shall be optional to such person to determine in which of such parishes he shall be assessed on his means and substance, other than means and substance derived from and relating to the occupancy of lands and heritages, or the carrying on of trade or business in premises within any particular parish.

Means and Substance under £30 not to be assessed.

48. And be it enacted, That no person shall be liable to be assessed in any parish or combination on his means and substance unless the estimated annual value thereof in whole shall exceed thirty pounds.

Stipends may be assessed.

49. And be it enacted, That clergymen shall be liable to be assessed for the poor in respect of their stipends.

Certain Privileges of Exemption to cease.

50. And be it enacted and declared, That the privileges of exemption from payment of assessments in the city of Edinburgh, possessed and enjoyed by members of the College of Justice and officers of the Queen's household, shall not be applicable to assessments imposed and levied for the relief of the poor under the authority of this Act.

Assessment not to be void from Error or Misnomer.

51. And be it enacted, that where any assessment shall have been imposed by the parochial board of any parish or combination, such assessment shall be payable at the time or times and in the proportions to be appointed by the parochial board; and no assessment shall be rendered void or affected by reason of any mistake or variance in the Christian or surname or designation of any person chargeable therewith, but all assessments shall be valid and effectual against the person intended to be charged, and bona fide liable in payment of the same.

Assessments for the Poor may be recovered summarily as Land and Assessed Taxes.

88. And be it enacted, That the whole powers and right of issuing summary warrants and proceedings, and all remedies and provisions enacted for collecting, levying, and recovering the land and assessed taxes, or either of them, and other public taxes, shall be held to be applicable to assessments imposed for the relief of the poor; and the Sheriffs, Magistrates, Justices of the Peace, and other judges may grant the like warrants for the recovery of all such assessments in the same form and under the same penalties as is provided in regard to such land and assessed taxes and other public taxes: Provided always, that it shall nevertheless be competent to prosecute for and recover such assessments by action in the Sheriff's Small Debt Court; and all assessments for the relief of the poor shall, in case of bankruptcy or insolvency, be paid out of the first proceeds of the estate, and shall be preferable to all other debts of a private nature due by the parties assessed.

24 and 25 VICT. c. 37.

An Act to simplify the Mode of raising the Assessment for the Poor in Scotland.-22d July 1861.]

WHEREAS it is expedient to simplify the mode of imposing the assessment for raising the funds for the relief of the poor in Scotland: Be it 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:

So much of Sect. 34 of 8 & 9 Vict. c. 83 as to Means and Substance Mode of Asssessment abolished.

1. From and after the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two so much of section thirty-four of the act of the eighth and ninth years of her Majesty, intituled An Act for the amendment and better administration of the laws relating to the relief of the poor in Scotland, as makes it lawful for any parochial board of any parish or combination of parishes in Scotland to raise one half of the funds requisite for the relief of the poor persons entitled to relief from the parish or combination by assessment upon the owners of all lands and heritages within the parish or combination, according to the annual value of such lands and heritages, and the other half upon the whole inhabitants, according to their means and substance, other than lands and heritages situated in Great Britain and Ireland, or to raise such funds by assessment, imposed as an equal per-centage upon the annual value of all lands and heritages, within the parish or combination, and upon the estimated annual income of the whole inhabitants from means and substance, other than lands and heritages situated in Great Britain or Ireland, is hereby repealed; and every Parochial Board of any parish or combination of parishes now raising such funds in terms of the parts of the said recited Act which are hereby repealed as aforesaid shall, before ceasing to raise such funds, and within two months after the passing of this Act, resolve to adopt the first mode of assessment specified in section thirty-four of the recited Act, and to classify lands and heritages equitably in terms of the thirty-sixth section of the said recited Act, and shall forthwith report such resolution to the Board of Supervision, which is hereby authorised and required to determine whether or not the classification so resolved on is equitable, and in the event of their considering the classification thereby made is not equitable, to vary or alter the same as to them shall seem just; and until the said first mode of assessment so resolved on, with relative classification, shall have been approved of by the Board of Supervision, the assessment for relief of the poor in any parish where the classification may not be approved of shall continue to be raised according to the mode now in operation in such parish; and after the proposed classification in any parish shall have been approved of by the Board of Supervision, it shall not be altered or departed from without the sanction of the said Board: Provided always, that nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent the parochial board of any parish or combination of parishes from collecting any such assessments actually imposed prior to the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, according to the mode legally in force in the parish or combination at the date when such assessments were imposed.

25 and 26 VICT. c. 82.

An Act for the more economical Recovery of Poor Rates and other Local Rates and Taxes.-[7th August 1862.]

WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for the more economical recovery of poor rates and other local rates and taxes: 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 :

Consolidation of Proceedings for the Recovery of Rates.

1. Where any number of local rates and taxes, whether of the same or of different kinds, are due from the same person, the rates and taxes so due may be included in the same information, complaint, summons, order, warrant, or other document required by law to be laid before justices or to be issued by justices, and every such document as aforesaid shall, as respects each rate or tax comprised in it, be construed as a separate document, and its invalidity as respects any one rate or tax shall not affect its validity as respects any other rate or tax comprised in it :

No costs shall be allowed in respect of several informations, complaints, summonses, orders, warrants, or other such documents as aforesaid, in cases where, in the opinion of the justices or court having jurisdiction over the said costs, one information, complaint, summons, order, warrant, or other document as aforesaid might have sufficed, regard being had to the provisions of this Act.

III.

¡COMMISSIONERS CLAUSES. INCORPORATED SECTIONS, 10 VICT. c. 16.1

An Act for consolidating in One Act certain Provisions usually contained in Acts with respect to the Constitution and Regulation of Bodies of Commissioners appointed for carrying on Undertakings of a public Nature. [23d April 1847.]

Mortgages.

And with respect to the mortgages to be executed by the commissioners, be it enacted as follows:

1 Cf. § 45, p. xxvi, and 28 and 29, note 1.