The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-26 00:00:00

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VIE METROFOLIS ACT.
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The following letter bas been addresaocl pOir
B. to Mr. G:•.o:lwin, who desired an cgtirsi4W.)4-1
upcin the C;atstru3tion of the Gtho
act :
"Great Stanhope-street:,-0t; 2 '
"Dear Sit;' just receive,. your-letter of yes-x .
terdne, in- whieh you state that difficulties have arisen- in •
con' eilience of a variety of opiniong entertained rs'sPect
ing the qualification of a vestryman Under thn llstett.,opOis
Aut. 1 cannot give you any opinion upon tM' bUt.;
I will state to you the %`acts in relation to- themiptliciea ;
—I.
tonna
anofxivoeu,s sliiiynrupeasi
n;nl,g iy lx,-, ;sting
to 'adopt as close as as, regar4oue'poirt, I
pos-
sible the provisions of 1 and 2 William IV., c. 60, com-
monly
called Hobhouse's Act.' Inorder to show you
haw closely the sixth section of my bill corresponds with
the 26th section of Hobhouse's Act, I place them side
by aide :
Ist ;Ind 2d William IV., e. 18th and 19th 'Victoria, o.
60, s. 26. 120, s. 6.
" And be it further " The vestry elected
enacted, that the vestry under this act in any parish
elected under this act in any shall cope*, of, persons
parish not within the metro- rated or assented to. the re-
politan police district or the lief of the, poor upon a ren-
city of London, shall con- tal of not less than 401. per
gist of resident householders annum, and no person shall
rated or assessed to the re- be capable of acting or being
lief of the poor upon a rental elected as one of such vestry
of not less than 101., and no for any parish unless he be
sod
as
nap-
person shall be capable of the occupier of a house,
acting as one of the said lands, tenements, or heredi-
svececs
nit r
tpysi,,e unless nr oal ef
rated
s ad hoheroosruh
Ba
bf, shall
alanssessed
ta- ss banaef
iMod ratedr ee n: upon
itaS
d oi
wnr
j ast sshlicecnhh:parish,retre and
as
uch parish.'
tenements,rn
upon the aforementioned
amount of rental, within
the pariah for which be
is to serve :. provided
always that if the parish adopting this act should be within
the metropolitan police district or the city of London, or
if the resident householders therein should amount to
more than 3,000, then, and in that case, the vestry se-
lected under this act shall consist of resident house-
holders rated or assessed to the relief of the poor of such
parish upon a rental of net less than 40/. per annum.'
" The manifest point of difference is this :—Under the
former act a person to be qualified must he a resident
householder under the recent act he need not be real.
,dent. •The object was to meet the oases of those persons
who occupied but did not reside. Take, for instance,
the case of a large tradesman, merchant, solicitor,
wharfinger, &c. Such persons may pay heavy rates in
a parish and reside in the suburbs, instead of the more
crowded parts of the town,. where their business calls
them daily. Under the former act they were ericliided
from election ; they are now eligible for election. In
other respects, the clause in the new act corresponds with
the clause in the old. Such being the case, if these
is any difference of opinipn as to the construction
to be put upon the clause, the cause of such difference
has existed since the year 1831, when Hohhouse's Act
was passed. You reside in St. Pancras • Hobhouse's
Act has been in force in that parish since the year 1831
or 1832, and you were a vestryman elected under that
act ; you must he therefore aware of the decision of the
judges of the Queen's Bench in Easter Term, 1834, upon
the very case which you set forth in your letter. (Vide
Adolphus and Ellis, vol. 1., p. 80, 'the King against
the Churchwardens of St. Pancras.')
" The point submitted in 1834 was, that the parish
is within the metropolitan police district. Some of the
persons elected as vestrymen were not in the actual
occupation of houses, lands, tenements, or beredita-
ments' for which they were rated to the poor of the
parish on a rental of so much as 401. per annum ; but
they were rated to the poor on that amount in the
whole, a part of the rate laid upon them arising from
tenements not in their actual occcupation. Other persons
elected as vestrymen were in the actual occupation of
tenements for which they were rated in the whole on
the rental required by the act, but the tenements were
separately occupied, and did not constitute one entire
tenement. It was objected that under the 26th section
of the statute 1 and 2 William IV., chap. 60, no person
was qualified to ant as a vestryman who was not rated
on a rental of 401. per annum for one single tenement in
his actual occupation.'
"It was argued on the other side that the 26th sec-
tion specifies only two qualifications for the vestrymen
of a parish within the reetropolitan police Zistrict--first,
they must be resident householders ; secondly, they
must be rated or assessed upon a rental of net less than
401. The vestrymen whose titles are impeached by the
third objection possess both qualifications. The proviso
does not say that the rental shall be taken upon the house
in which they reside, nor that it shall not be made up of
sums assessed upon separate tenements. No stress can
be laid on the use of the words a rental,' a rental may
consist of separate sums constituting one whole. The
provision made in the same section with respect to
parishes not within the metropolitan police district is
very differently worded.'

[PRICE 4D. STAMPED 5D-

TEE .FAMiLIES OF DECEASED
OFFICER=.

The following Royal warrant, which is about to
be issued by the War Department, to meet the case
of officers' families, so well put by Mr. Ifeadlam in
his motion on the subject last session, will be read
with great interest both by the relatives of officers
serving in the Crithea and the public at large :
" Wheraaa wo have deemed 'it advisable to allow to
the widows and families, nr to certain of the relatives
hereinafter specified, of officers of our army who, since
the declaration of war with Russia, have been or may
be killed in action, , or. who have died, or may die of
wounds received in face of the enemy within six months
after being wounded, the alternatiiie of receiving a fixed
sum of money, in lieu of such rates of pension, and com-
passionate and other allowances as are prescribed by our
Royal warrant of the 15th of Juno, 1855 ; our will and
pleasure is, that this our Royal warrant, to be adminis-
tered and interpreted by our Secretary at War, shall be
the sole and standing authority upon the matters herein
contained.

" Rules and regulatioasfor granting a fixed sum of money
in lieu of pensions, compassionate allowances, and gra-
tuities to the widows, families, and relatives of officers
killed inaction, or dying, of wounds in face of the
enemy, within six months after being wounded
1. The amount of money to be paid to a widow,
widow and children, or other relatives of an officer killed
in action, or dying of wounds received in face of the
enemy, within six months after being wounded, shall,
whatever branch of the .service he may have belonged to,
be the regulation price Axed for commissions in cavalry
and inflintry of the line, as set forth in the following
scale, viz. :

Widow and

Children, Children, Ira--
ther, Mother, Sister or

Sisters of Lient.-C01... £6,175 £4,500
Ditto
Ditto Captain 3,225 1,800
Ditto ....,, Lieutenant.. 1,190 700
Ditto Ensign B4O 450

but it shall in no case exceed the regulated price actually
paid by the officer for the purchase of his commission or
conirnissions.

" 2. When an officer so killed, or so dying of his
wounds within six months, shall leave a widow only,
the price thus fixed shall be paid to her for her sole and
absolute benefit, provided she be not left in such wealthy
circumstances as would otherwise preclude all claim to a
pension ; and she shall be required to give, according to
such form as may be hereafter prescribed by the Secre-
tary at War, an acknowledgment as having received such
sum in lieu of, and as a full compensation for all pension
and gratuity to which she may have proved herself en-
titled in consequence of the loss of her husband.
" 3. In the event of an officer leaving a widow and
children who have established a claim to the pension and
compassionate allowance, then, and in that case, the
money awarded in lieu thereof shall be invested in Go-
vernment securities, in the names of two or more trus-
tees, to be nominated by the Secretary at War for the
time being, and shall remain so invested, and the inte-
rest shall be receivable by the widow until her death,
when the money small be divided, share and share alike,
among the children then alive of such deceased officer.
In the event, howeier, of the widow surviving her said
children, the money shall then become her sole and ab-
solute property, as laid down in Article 2.
"4. In the event of an officer leaving a child or chil-
dren, but no widow, the money shall be invested, as
stated in Article 3, and the interest thereof shall be
applied by the trustees for the benefit of such child or
children until he, she, or they shall attain the age of 21,
when the money, as in the case of the widow, shall be-
come the absolute property of such surviving child or
children, share and share alike. Should, however, such
child or children die before attaining the age of 21 years,
then and iu that case the money, after discharging all
just liabilities, shall revert to the Crown.
"5. In the event of an Offietr leaving, at his death,
neither widow, child, nor children, then the money shall
be paid to his father, and if he leave no father it may be
paid to his mother, for his or her sole and absolute bene-
fit, provided that neither be exclude‘hy wealthy cir-
cumstances. And in the event of there being neither
father nor mother, then the money shall be paid to the
sister or sisters, as the case may be, share and share
alike, and provided they shall have attained the age of
twenty-one years. Bud should any sister or sisters be
under that age, then the money shall be invested, and
the interest be applied, as stated in article 4, until
such sister or sisters shall become 21 years of age,
when it obeli become the absolute property of the sur-
vivor or survivors. Should no survivors or survivor
attain the age of 21 years, then the money, after dis-
charging all just liabilities, shall revert to the Crown.
" 6. No grant of money under the provisions of this
warrant shall be made to the widow if she were ineligible
for a pension under the provisions of the Royal Warrant
of the 15th of June, 1855 ; but the ineligibility of the
widow to any grant under this warrant shall not affect
the interests of the legitimate children of such deceased
officer, for whose benefit the money shall be invested, as
'stated in article 4, except they be left in such wealthy
'circumstances as would disqualify them for the compas-
sionate allowances under the provisions of article 2.
"7. In the event of it being represented and satisfac-
torily proved to the Secretary at War that any widow
on whose behalf money shall have been invested for the
henefit of herself and children, under the provisions of
this warrant, shall thereafter so conduct herself as to be-
come unworthy of the boanty of the Crown, or shall
neglect or ill-treat her children, then, and in that case,
the Secretary at War shall have full power to make such
arrangements for apportioning the interest of the money,
and making better provision for the children, as in his
judgment may seem most advisable.
"8. The allowances to-be granted under the authority
of this warrant are not applicable to the cases of officers
killed in action, or dying of wounds before the declara-
tion of war with Russia, but it is to take a retrospective
effect up to that date ; and, therefore, any officer's
widow to whom there may have been granted a pension,
compassionate allowances for children, or gratuity for
herself and children, or any other relative of an officer
who may have received a pension or gratuity under the
warrant of the 15th of June, 1855, who may wish to
commune such pension, allowances, or gratuities for the
sum fixed under the provisions of this warrant, shall be
permitted to do so ; but, in that case, whatever sums
may have been received by or on account of the widow
or children or other relatives will have to be deducted
from any amount paid under the terms of this warrant.
"9. A. return of all sums paid under the provisions
of this warrant shall be laid annually before Parliament
on or after the Ist of April.
"Given at our Court at St. James's, this 23d
day of October, 1855, in the 19th year of
Our reign.
"By Her Majesty's command.
" PA.NMURE."

The judges discharged the rule which had been ob-
tained. Mr. Justice Littkidale said, It is enough here
if the householder be rated to the poor on the rental re-
quired. He must be a householder, and he must be
rated ; but it is not necestlary that be should be rated
for the house which he o ccupies ; it is not enough for
him to have, for instance, .% house on which he is rated
at a rental of 201., and land on which he is rated at a
rental of 201. ; or it is enough if he be rated for part
which be occupies, and for p art which he does not occupy,
but of which be is landlord . It is no matter how he is
rated if the whole together: 'mount to the rental required.
I can see no reason for this mandamus going.'
" Mr. Justice Parke said, Now, by the words of this
section it is sufficient if the) householder be rated in
any way ; it is not necessary that be should be rated in
respect of the subject of his occupation. I knew that, in
fact, persons are rated for property which they do not
occupy, and therefore I const:rue the statute as compre-
hending a rating upon any t )roperty. I find no express
provision that the rate shall b e in respect of the property
occupied, and I cannot infer 'such an intention.'
" Mr. Justice Littledale concurred, and said, am
of opinion that this rale ouei t to be discharged,' and the
rule was discharged accordingly.
"If, therefore, such was the decision of the judges in
the case Rex v. the Church wsirdens of St. Pancras, as
given in 1834, that decisi an must hold good now,
unless it can be shown that t to) words of the new act are
different from the words of tl to former act.—l am, dear
sir, yours faithfully, " B. HALL.
" B. Goodwin, Esq."