consent as heretofore, to lease municipal land for such periods and on such conditions as they may deem fit. III. Memorials on Public Squares. By Ordinance II of 1920 (amending section 87 of the principal law) Town Councils are prevented from erecting or allowing the erection of any memorials or monuments on any square or open space except with the consent of the Executive Committee of the Province ratified by resolution of the Provincial Council. (Assent of Governor-General in Council hereto not yet announced.) Taxation.-By Ordinances 7 and 8 of 1920 respectively the Increment Value Duty Ordinance (5 of 1919) and the Dwelling-house and Bachelortax Ordinance (16 of 1918) are repealed. By Ordinance 5 of 1920 a minor amendment is made with regard to the time when returns under s. 5 (1) of the Provincial Gold Profits Tax Ordinance (14 of 1918) are to be rendered. BRITISH EMPIRE. V. BRITISH INDIA. [Contributed by the HON. A. P. MUDDIMAN, C.S.I., C.I.E.] 1. ACTS OF THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL IN COUNCIL. Acts passed-49. Steamships. The Indian Steamships (Amendment) Act, 1920 (1 of 1920), fills a lacuna in the Indian Steamships Act, 1884, and imposes a penalty on the master and owner of a ship which comes within the scope of the Act in a case where passengers are carried in excess of the number specified in the certificate of survey. Army.—The Indian Army (Amendment) Act, 1920 (2 of 1920), enables the moveable property of persons subject to the Act who have been reported "missing" to be dealt with on the lines of s. 116 of the principal Act, after the expiry of one year from the date of the report. United Provinces Town Improvement.-The United Provinces Town Improvement (Appeals) Act, 1920 (3 of 1920), supplements an Act of the local Legislature on this subject. It was desired to confer a limited appeal from the Tribunal established by the local Act to the High Court, but as this was ultra vires of the local Legislature it was conferred by this Act of the Indian Legislature. A very large number of Acts were passed by the Indian Legislative Council in the year 1920. This was partly due to the arrears of legislation which were an inheritance from the war and partly to the fact that it was necessary to supplement the Government of India Act, 1920, and the rules thereunder by legislation in the Indian Legislature in order to complete the details of the scheme of constitutional reform which parliamentary legislation had established. By a notification under s. 47 (2) of the Government of India Act, 1919, the statutory provisions relating to the new double-chambered Legislature provided by that Act were brought into operation and ipso facto the Indian Legislative Council which owed its origin to the Government of India Act of 1861 passed out of existence. During its last year that Legislature passed the greatest number of Acts passed in any single year of its long career. Census. The Indian Census Act, 1920 (4 of 1920), provides for the taking of the census in 1921. It is on the same lines as previous Census Acts, but provides for the collection of statistics in regard to industrial and commercial concerns employing 10 or more persons instead of the previous limit of 20 persons. It also penalizes disclosure by census officials of information obtained by a census return save under due authority. Insolvency. The Provincial Insolvency Act, 1920 (5 of 1920), consolidates and amends the law relating to insolvency outside the presi dency towns and the town of Rangoon. The Bill as introduced was a Bill to amend the Provincial Insolvency Act, 1907, which latter Act was the first attempt to give a regular insolvency procedure to the greater part of India. Experience had shown that the Act of 1907 subjected an undischarged insolvent to little or no practical inconvenience and that its provisions for the punishment of fraudulent debtors were ineffective. The rescission of the Act was a natural corollary to the Usurious Loans Act (10 of 1920), which had sought to protect honest debtors against dishonest creditors. The main amendments in the law contained in the Bill as introduced were: (1) Provisions compelling the debtor to apply to the Court for his discharge within a prescribed period under penalty of loss of the protection of the insolvency proceedings; absence of these provisions had enabled a debtor to evade the scrutiny of the Court by failing to apply for his discharge; (2) Provisions requiring the debtor to show that he is in fact unable to pay his debts and that he has not concealed his property. The object of the amendment is to enable the Court to exercise its discretion as to the amount of protection to be afforded to a petitioning debtor; (3) Provisions empowering the Court to decide all questions of law and fact arising in insolvency proceedings. There had been a conflict in the decisions of the Indian High Courts on the powers of insolvency courts in this respect; (4) Provisions giving precision to and extending the law as to criminal proceedings against fraudulent debtors. These provisions are based on SS. 103, 104, and 105 of the Presidency Towns Insolvency Act. (5) Provisions disqualifying from certain public offices persons adjudicated insolvent. The Bill was referred to a Select Committee which revised it in details while maintaining the general lines indicated above. The Committee recommended the recommitment of the Bill for incorporation in a consolidating Bill. This was done, and the Act as passed contains the whole of the law on the subject which has been rearranged and amended on numerous small points, especially with reference to procedure in petty insolvencies and to meet difficulties disclosed by case law. Steam-vessels.-The Indian Steam-vessels (Amendment) Act, 1920 (6 of 1920), relaxes the provisions of the principal Act of 1917 in respect of the nominal horse-power restrictions imposed by that Act. It followed on the adoption of a new formula by the Board of Trade for determining nominal horse-power of marine engines which, though more accurate, had the effect of raising the nominal horse-power of existing vessels. Tariff. The Indian Tariff (Amendment) Act, 1920 (7 of 1920), subjects to a general ad valorem duty of 20 per cent. (with minimum rates in the case of certain specified articles) firearms and parts of firearms imported into British India, thus simplifying the previous provisions of the law which involved a complicated system of refunds. Dourine. The Dourine (Amendment) Act, 1920 (8 of 1920), strengthens the preventive provisions of the Dourine Act (5 of 1910). It was necessitated by the increased prevalence of the disease dourine, more particularly in the horse-breeding districts of Northern India. Glanders and Farcy. The Glanders and Farcy (Amendment) Act, 1920 (9 of 1920), includes camels among the animals to whom the principal Act, 12 of 1899, applies. The amendment was due to the ravages of the disease" surra" to which camels are peculiarly susceptible and of which they are the most dangerous carriers. " Government Securities.-The Indian Securities Act, 1920 (10 of 1920), consolidates and amends the law relating to Government securities which was previously contained in Act 13 of 1886 and its amendments. The changes made in the law are mainly in the interests of small holders or to remove questions of doubt or difficulty which had arisen in practice. Insolvency. The Presidency Towns Insolvency (Amendment) Act, 1920 (II of 1920), extended to persons adjudged insolvent under the Presidency Towns Insolvency Act, 1909, 3 of 1909, the disabilities in regard to the holding of office imposed in similar circumstances by s. 73 of the Provincial Insolvency Act, 1920. Breach of Contract.—The Workmen's Breach of Contract (Amendment Act, 1920 (12 of 1920), is an amendment of the Workmen's Breach of Contract Act, 1859. That Act, which originally applied to presidency towns only, penalized fraudulent breaches of contract by artificers and other workmen. Under a power contained in the Act it had been extended to other parts of India outside presidency towns. The amending Act relaxes the severity of the principal Act. It requires a complaint to be brought within three months of the neglect or refusal to perform the contract, limits the application of the principal Act to advances not exceeding Rs. 300, and further confines the operation of the Act where the time for the performance of the contract does not exceed one year. The magistrate is given discretion to dismiss the complaint if he is of opinion that there is no ground for proceeding, and to award compensation in the event of a false or frivolous complaint. Where a breach of contract has been established, the magistrate may refuse to put the Act into operation if he considers that the terms of the contract are substantially unfair to the workman. Further, discretion is given to the magistrate to order either repayment of the advance or performance of the contract. He is no longer, as he was by the previous law, bound by the option of the complainant. Furthermore, an employer is not allowed to use the Act a second time against a particular workman after he has once obtained an order under the Act against that workman. Import and Export of Goods. The Import and Export of Goods (Amendment) Act, 1920 (13 of 1920), extends the continuance of the Import and Export of Goods Act, 1916, up to the 31st day of March, 1921. Religious Endowments.-The Charitable and Religious Trusts Act, 1920 (14 of 1920), has as its object the simplification and cheapening of the legal processes by which persons interested can obtain information regarding the working of both religious and charitable trusts and the exercise of more efficient control over the action of trustees of such trusts. Complaints of the inefficiency of the existing law to prevent the squandering or misappropriation of the funds of such endowments have been made ever since the year 1897, in which an unofficial member promoted a Bill with the object of terminating that unsatisfactory condition of affairs. After long discussion the Government of India endeavoured in the Act now under reference to furnish further facilities to persons desiring to terminate such maladministration. Under the Act any person inter ested in a trust to which the Act applies may apply by petition to the District Judge for an order directing the trustee to furnish him with information as to the nature and objects of the trust, of the value, condition, management, and application of the subject matter of the trust, |