The Sun.
London, England, 1834-06-10 00:00:00

POOR LAWS' AMENDMENT BILL.

CLAUSES 1 TO 20, AS CONSIDERED IN THE

COMMITTEE.

Whereas it is expedient to alter and amend the laws
relating to the relief of poor persons in England and
Wales ; be it therefore enacted by the King's Most
Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of
the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in the
present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of
the same, that it shall be lawful fOr his Majesty, his
heirs and successors, by warrant under the royal sign
manual, to appoint three fit persons to be commissioners
to carry this act, and the powers and authorities here-
inafter contained, into execution ; and also from time
to time, at pleasure, to remove any of the commis-
sioners for the time being, and upon every or any va-
cancy in the said number of commissioners,, either by
removal, or by death, or otherwise, to appoint some
otker fit person to the said office; and, until such ap-
pointment, it shall be lawful for the surviving or con-
tinuing commissioners or commissioner to act as if no
such vacancy had occurred.
2. And be it further enacted, that the said com-
missioners shall be styled " the Poor Law Commis-
sioners for England and Wales," and the said com-
missioners, or any two of them, may sit, from time to
time as they deem expedient, as a board of commis-
sioners for carrying this act into execution ; and the
said commissioners acting as such board shall be, and
are hereby empowered, by summons under their hands
and seal, to require the attendance of all such persons
as they may think fit to call before them upon any
question matter connected with or relating to the
admnistration of the laws for the relief of the poor,
.7,nd also to make any inquiries and require any answer
or returns as to any such question or matter, and also
to administer oaths, and examine all such persons
upon oath, and to require and enforce the production
upon oath of books, contracts, agreements, accounts,
and writings, or copies thereof respectively, in any-
wise relating to any such question or matter; or in
lieu of requiring such oath as aforesaid, the said
commissioners may, if they think fit, require any
such person to make' and subscribe a declara-
tion of the truth of, the Matters respecting which
he shall have been or shall be so examined : Provided
always, that no such person shall be required, in obe-
dience to any such summons, to go or travel more
than ten miles from the place of his abode ; provided
also, that nothing herein contained shall extend, or be
deemed to extend, to authorise or empower the said
commissioners to act as a Court of Record, or to re-
quire the production of the title, or of any papers or
writings relating to the title of lands, tenements, or
heredit-aments not being the property of any parish or
union.

3. And be it further enacted, that the taid com-
missioners shall cause to be made a seal of the said
board, and shall cause to be sealed or stamped there-
with all rules, orders, and regulations made by the
said commissioners, in pursuance of this act : and all
such rules, orders, and regulations, or copies thereof,
purporting to be sealed or stamped with the seal of the
said board, shall be received as evidence of the same
resp ectivel', without any proof thereof ; and no such
rule, order, or regulation, or copy thereof, shall be
valid, or have any force or effect, unless the same shall
I?: so sealed or stamped as aforesaid.
4. And be it further enacted, that the said commis-
sioners shall once in every year, at such time as any
one of his Majesty's principal Secretaries of State
shall direct, submit to the principal Secretary of State
requiring the same a general report-of their proceed-
ings ; and every such report shall be laid before both
I-louses of Parliament within six weeks after the re-
teipt of the same by such principal Secretary of
State, if Parliament be then sitting, or if Parliament
bo not sitting, then within six weeks after the next
rneetirs thereof. _ _

5. And be it further enacted, that the said commis-
sioners shall from time to time, at such times and in
such form as any one of his Majesty's principal Secre-
taries of State shall direct, give to the principal
Secretary of State requiring the same, such informa-
tion respecting their proceedings, or any part thereof,
sts the said principal Secretary of State shall require.
'6. And be it further enacted, that the said commis-
sioners shall and they are hereby empowered from
time to time to appoint such persons as they may think
fit to be assistant commissioners for carrying this act
into execution, at such places and in such manner as
the said commissioners may direct, and to re-
move such assistant commissioners, or any of
them, at their discretion ; and on every or any
vacancy in the said office of assistant commis-
iioner, by removal, or by death or otherwise, to ap-
point, if they see fit, some other person to the said
office : Provided always, that it shall not be lawful
for the said commissioners to appoint more than nine
such assistant commissioners to act at any one time,
unless the Lord High Treasurer, or the Commis-
sioners of his Majesty's Treasury for the time being,
or any three or more of them, shall consent to the
appointment of a greater number.
7. And be it further enacted, that the said commis-
tioners may, and they are hereby empowered, from
time to time, to appoint a secretary, assistant secre-
tary, and all such clerks, messengers, and officers, as
they shall deem necessary, and from time to time, at
the discretion of the said _commissioners, to remove
such secretary, assistant secretary, clerks, messengers,
and officers, or any of them, and to appoint others in
their stead : Provided always, that the amount of the
salaries of such secretary, assistant secretary, clerks,
messengers, and officers, shall from time to time be
regulated by the Lord High Treasurer, the Commis-
sioners of his Majesty's Treasury, or any three or
more of them.

8. And be it further enacted, that every commis-
sioner and assistant commissioner to be appointed from
time to time as aforesaid shall, before he shall enter
ii?on the execution of his office, take the following
oath before one of the judges of his Majesty's Courts
of King's Bench ,or Common Pleas, or one of the
Barons of the Court of Exchequer—that is to say—
" I, A, B, do swear that I will faithfully, impar-
tially, and honestly, according to the best of my skill
and judgment, execute and fulfil all the powers and
duties of a commissioner (or assistant commissioner,
as the case may be), under an act passed in the fourth
year of the reign of King William IV., entitled [here
set forth the title of this Act]."
And the appointment of every such commissioner
and assistant commissioner, together with the time
when and the judge or baron before whom he shall
have taken the oath as aforesaid, shall be forthwith
published in the London Gazette, and a notification
of such appointment, and of the taking of such oath,
shall from time to time be sent, under the hands and
seal of the said commissioners, to the clerk of the
peace of every county in England and Wales, who
shall and is hereby required, as soon as conveniently
may be, to cause the same to be r dvertised once in
some newspaper published and circulated in such
county ; and such notification as aforesaid shall be
kept and preserved by such clerk of the peace with
the records of such county.

9. And be it further enacted, that it shall be lawful
for the commissioners to delegate to their assistant com-
missioners, or to any of them, such of the powers and
authorities _hereby given to the said commissioners
(except the powers to make general rules) as the said
commissioners shall think fit ; and the powers and au-
thorities so delegated, and the delegation thereof,
shall be notified in such manner, and such powers and
authorities shall be exercised in such places, for such
periods, and under such circumstances, and subject to
such regulations as the said commissioners shall direct;
and the said commissioners may at any time revoke,
recall, alter, or vary all or any of the powers and au-
thorities which shall be so delegated as aforesaid, and,
notwithstanding the delegation thereof, may act as if
no such delegation had been made ; and the said as-
sistants may and are hereby empowered to summon
before them such persons as they may think necessary
for the purpose of being examined upon oath (which
oath such assistant-commissioners are hereby em-
powered to administer) upon any question or matter
relating to the poor or their relief, or for the pur-
pose of producing and verifying upon oath any
books, contracts of agreements, accounts and writings,
or copies of the same, in anywise relating to such
question or matter, and not relating to or involving
any question of title to any lands, tenements, or
hereditaments, not being the property of any parish or
union, as such assistant-commissioners may think fit ;
but no such persons shall be required, in obedience to
any such summons, to go or travel more than ten miles
from the place of his abode : Provided, nevertheless,
that in lieu of requiring such oath as aforesaid, the said
assistant-commissioners may, if they think fit; require
such person to make and subscribe a declaration of the
truth of the matters respecting which he shall have
been or shall be so examined ; and all summonses and
orders made by any such assistant-commissioner, in
pursuance or exercise of such delegated powers and
authorities, shall be obeyed, performed, and cai ried
into effect by all persons, as if such summons or order
had been the summons or order of the said commis-