2. Act may be amended. 3. Public Acts hereinbefore mentioned or otherwise: Provided always, That when a Society is formed, under the provisions of the said recited Acts, or this Act, for any purpose in addition to that for providing relief in case of sickness, infancy, advanced age, widowhood, or other natural state or contingency as aforesaid, the contributions or payments shall be kept separate and distinct, or the charges defrayed by extra subscriptions of the Members. And be it Enacted, That this Act may be amended or repealed by any Act to be passed during the present Session of Parliament. 5 And be it Enacted, That this Act shall be deemed a Public Act, 10 and shall extend to Great Britain and Ireland and Berwick-uponTweed, and be judicially taken notice of as such by all Judges, Justices, and other persons whatsoever. Α BILL [AS AMENDED BY THE COMMITTEE] To amend an Act of the Fourth and Fifth Year of his late [N.B.-The Clauses marked (A.) to (N.) were added by the Committee.] [Note.-The Words printed in Italics are proposed to be inserted on Re-commitment.] 5 W HEREAS by an Act passed in the fifth year of the reign of his late Majesty, intituled, "An Act to amend an Act of the Tenth Year of his late Majesty King GEORGE the Fourth, to consolidate and amend the Laws relating to Friendly Societies," it is enacted, that it shall and may be lawful for any number of Persons in Great Britain and Ireland to form themselves into and to establish a Society, under the provisions of the said recited Acts, for the mutual relief and maintenance of all and every the members thereof, their wives, children, relations or nominees, in sickness, infancy, advanced age, 10 widowhood, or any other natural state or contingency, whereof the occurrence is susceptible of calculation by way of average, or for any other purpose which is not illegal: And whereas doubts have been entertained for what purposes a Society may be established under the provisions of the said Act, and it is expedient that such purposes be 15 better defined; 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, 119. A and 1. Purposes for which Societies may be and by the Authority of the same, THAT a Society may be established, under the provisions of the recited Acts, for any of the formed under following purposes; (that is to say) 10 G. 4, c. 56, and 4 & 5 W. 4, c. 40. 2. CLAUSE (A.) Contributions to be distinct for each purpose. 1. For the lawful insurance of money to be paid on the death of the members to their wives or children, kindred or nominees, or for defraying the expenses of the burial of the members, their wives or children: 5 2. For the relief, maintenance or endowment of the members, 3. Toward making good any loss sustained by the members by 25 5. For any other purpose which shall be certified to be legal, And be it Enacted, That when a Society is formed, under the pro- 35 of the members. And 5 And be it Enacted, That any Friendly Society established before the passing of this Act, for any purpose which is hereinbefore specified, or for any legal purpose which shall be certified and allowed, as is hereinbefore provided, and shall not have been declared not to be within the provisions of the first-recited Act, by any court of competent jurisdiction before the allowance thereof shall be deemed to have been within the provisions of the said Act from the time of the certificate or allowance of the rules thereof. CLAUSE (B.) For establishing the Le gality of cer tain Societies. 4. CLAUSE (C.) Repeal of part of 10 Geo. 4, c. 56, and c. 40. And be it Enacted, That so much of the said Acts of the tenth 10 year of the reign of King GEORGE the Fourth, and of the fifth year of the reign of his late Majesty, as specifies the objects or purposes for 4 & 5 Will. 4, which a Society may be established under the provisions of the said Acts, or either of them, or as gives to any Court of Sessions of the Peace any power of confirming and allowing the Rules of any such 15 Friendly Society rejected or disapproved by the Barrister or Advocate appointed to certify the Rules of Friendly Societies, shall be repealed: Provided always, That the repeal of so much of the said Acts as is herein repealed shall not exclude from the benefit of the said Acts any Society legally established according to the provisions of the 20 said Acts, the Rules of which were certified and enrolled before the passing of this Act. And be it Enacted, That after the passing of this Act, the Barrister or Advocate appointed to certify the Rules of Friendly Societies shall be styled the Registrar of Friendly Societies in England, Ireland and 25 Scotland respectively, and shall hold his office during the pleasure of the person or persons by whom he is appointed, and that the Registrar of Friendly Societies in England shall be paid by salary, instead of fees; and that it shall be lawful for Her Majesty to grant to the Barrister already appointed for that purpose in England a salary 30 equal to the net average amount of fees received by him during the last Three Years for certifying the Rules of Friendly Societies, after deducting the expenses incurred by him for office-rent, salaries of clerks, stationery, and other expenses incident to the execution of his office, to be ascertained by the Commissioners of Her Majesty's 35 Treasury, and to every Registrar of Friendly Societies in England hereafter to be appointed a salary not greater than Eight hundred Pounds by the year, and every such salary shall be paid by Four equal quarterly payments; and any Registrar of Friendly Societies in England who shall be apappointed, or shall die, resign or be removed 40 from his office in the interval between Two quarterly days of payment, shall be entitled to a part of his salary proportional to that part of such quarter of a year during which he shall hold his appointment. 5. CLAUSE (D.) Registrar of cieties in EngFriendly Soland to be paid by Safary. 119. A 2 And CLAUSE (E.) "Salaries and Expenses of Office, how to be paid. 7. CLAUSE (F.) One transcript of certified Rules to be kept by the Registrar. 8. CLAUSE (G.) For securing the Solvency of Friendly Societies. And be it Enacted, That the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury may allow the Registrar of Friendly Societies in England to retain out of the fees received by him for certifying the Rules of Friendly Societies, and for making awards and other proceedings as hereinafter provided, such sum as will defray the salary due to him, and also such sum as will 5 defray the expenses from time to time allowed by the said Commissioners for office-rent, salaries of clerks, stationery and other expenses incident to the execution of his office, and the balance, if any, shall be paid over to the account of the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; and the said Commissioners shall from 10 time to time regulate the manner in which such fees are to be received, kept and accounted for; and if such fees shall not in any year be sufficient to defray such salary and expenses, the balance shall be paid out of the said Consolidated Fund. And be it Enacted, That so much of the said Act of King GEORGE the 15 Fourth as requires that a transcript of the Rules of any Society established under that Act, or to which the provisions of that Act have been extended and made applicable, shall be deposited with or filed by the Clerk of the Peace of any county, riding or division of a county in England, and a certificate thereof returned to the Society, and that the 20 same shall be laid before, and allowed and confirmed by the Justices at any Session of the Peace, shall be repealed; and that all transcripts of such Rules which are now filed with the rolls of the Sessions of the Peace in any county, riding or division of a county shall be taken off the file, and returned to the said Registrar of Friendly Societies in England, 25 Ireland and Scotland respectively; and that after the passing of this Act each of the said Registrars shall keep one of the transcripts of all Rules of any such Society certified by him, and all the transcripts of Rules which shall be so returned to him, in such manner as shall be from time to time directed by One of Her Majesty's Principal Secre- 30 taries of State. And be it Enacted, That the Registrar of Friendly Societies in England shall from time to time cause Tables to be calculated for all contingencies provided for by Friendly Societies, of which the probability may be calculated by way of average according to the last 35 returns thereof available for that purpose, and the most correct calculation of which the nature of the case will admit; and in the case of any Society established for any purpose for which any such Table shall have been so calculated, the Registrar of Friendly Societies in England, Ireland or Scotland respectively, shall not certify the Rules of such 40 Society unless they shall adopt a Table for the time being recommended by the Registrar of Friendly Societies in England for that purpose, or some other Table which shall be certified to be a Table which may be safely adopted for such purpose, under the hand of an actuary to some insurance company established in London, Edinburgh or Dublin. And |