label so that the packet cannot be opened without destroying the label, nor any of the contents abstracted; that before any such Cavendish or Negrohead be thus made into packets, they must be entered for home consumption and the duty paid, whether imported or manufactured in the warehouse; if any tobacco so manufactured shall not be made into packets it shall be re-warehoused either for exportation or for future packing; all stalks or other refuse remaining from such manufacture shall be destroyed in the presence of the proper officer, or re-warehoused for exportation, at the option of the manufacturer; every licensed manufacturer to enter in a book the weights, quantities, and particulars of all unmanufactured tobacco and other materials received by him into the warehouse for the purpose of being manufactured; the weights and quantities consumed in the manufacture, of that remaining as refuse after such manufacture, of that produced, of that made up into packets and labelled with the number of packets of each size and weight; and the quantity re-warehoused, or returned to be destroyed; this book to be at all times open to the inspection of the customs officers, no part to be cancelled or obliterated, nor any alteration made in any entry except for the correction of an error with the sanction and in the presence of an officer of the customs: neglect of these provisions subjects the offender to a penalty of 201. Accounts ($5) are to be taken at least once a-year of the tobacco and other materials remaining in warehouses and balances to be struck; and any deficiency which may appear, after reasonable allowance for evaporation, &c., is to establish a case of fraudulent removal, subjecting the manufacturer to a penalty of 100l. Cavendish or Negrohead (§ 6) sold without being inclosed with the authorized label, or containing any prohibited ingredients, subjects the offender to a penalty of 201. and the forfeiture of the tobacco. Persons in possession of foreign Cavendish or Negrohead are to bring the same to any customs warehouse to have the same packed and labelled, within twenty-eight days from the passing of this Act under a like penalty. Labels are to be provided (87) by the Commissioners of Customs, and the forgery of them is punishable by imprisonment with hard labour for a period of not more than six months, nor less than three months. Retail dealers (§ 8) are required before delivery to obliterate the label, under a penalty of 207. for neglect. Cavendish or Negrohead (§ 9) containing the leaves of trees or plants other than tobacco is not to be imported into Great Britain or Ireland, nor is any to be imported except to be warehoused; and any imported which shall not be entered and warehoused, is declared to be forfeited, and the importer subjected to a penalty of 100%., or treble the value of the tobacco, at the option of the Commissioners; and all Cavendish or Negrohead (§ 10) containing prohibited ingredients is subject to the like forfeiture and penalties. By § 11 the Commissioners of Customs are empowered to make rules and regulations for carrying this Act into effect; and the officers (§ 12) may carry out its provisions. Proceedings for penalties and forfeitures (§ 13) are to be taken under the Customs, Excise, and Inland Revenue Acts; and the estimate of value (§ 14) is to be the London marketprice of the best sort of tobacco of the like sort or denomination. This Act is not to repeal those of 3 and 4 Vict., cap. 18, and 5 and 6 Vict., cap. 93, and came into operation from the date of its passing..

SALMON EXPORTATION.

[26 Victoriæ, cap. 10.- April 20, 1863.]

An Act for prohibiting the Exportation of Salmon at certain Times. It having been found that salmon which by previous Acts were prohibited during certain periods from being sold in the United Kingdom, were exported for sale in foreign markets, the present statute enacts that" no unclean or unseasonable salmon, and no salmon caught during the time at which the sale of salmon is prohibited in the district where it is caught, shall be exported or entered for exportation from any part of the United Kingdom to parts beyond seas;" and a fine not exceeding 51. for each salmon is imposed on every person exporting or entering them for exportation; the penalties to be recovered as in the previous Acts relating to the salmon fisheries.

BIRTHS AND DEATHS REGISTRATION, IRELAND.
[26 Victoriæ, cap. 11.-April 20, 1863.]

An Act for the Registration of Births and Deaths in Ireland. This Act provides for the establishment of a General Register Office, a Registrar-General, with superintendent registrars and other subordinate officers, to carry out a system of registration of births and burials throughout Ireland in a like manner to that in use in England and Scotland. Penalties are imposed for not giving notice to the registrars of births and deaths within certain times, and returns are to be made quarterly by the district registrars to the Registrar-General; and the Act is to come into operation on the 1st day of January, 1864. Marriages are not included in this Registration Act, as there was an objection on the part of the Roman Catholic clergy, by whom the majority of marriages are solemnized in Ireland, to which this Act is confined.

OFFICE OF SECRETARY AT WAR ABOLITION.

[26 Victoriæ, cap. 12.-May 4, 1863.]

An Act to abolish the Office of Secretary at War, and to transfer the Duties of that Office to one of her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State.

The title of this Act expresses its purpose of regulating the appointment of a Secretary for War, and constituting him one of the Principal Secretaries of State. All the powers and funds are transferred, and the acts referring to the old office are rendered applicable to the new

one.

GARDENS IN TOWNS PROTECTION.

[26 Victoriæ, cap. 13.-May 4, 1863.]

An Act for the Protection of certain Gardens or Ornamental Grounds in Cities and Boroughs.

Where an inclosed square, garden, or ornamental ground (§ 1) in any city or borough has been set apart for the use or enjoyment of the

inhabitants in any square, circus, street, or other public place, and where the trustees or other persons appointed for its care have neglected it, the Metropolitan Board of Works where it is within their jurisdiction, or the corporation of London, or the corporate authorities in any other city or borough, shall take charge of the same, putting up a notice to that effect, and if after due inquiry the person entitled to any estate of freehold cannot be found, or if it shall be vested in any person by whom it is held subject to any condition for keeping the same as and for a pleasure-ground, or that the same shall not be built upon, they shall cause any buildings or other encroachments made thereon within twenty years before the passing of this Act to be removed; and (if requested by two-thirds of the owners and occupiers of the houses surrounding the same) shall vest the same in a committee of not more than nine nor fewer than three of the rated inhabitants to be chosen by them annually; and the vestry or board of the district may impose a rate, by an addition to the general rate on the occupiers of the houses for the support of the same: or if the owners and occupiers decline the charge, the Metropolitan Board of Works, or the corporate authority, within six months after the notice has been put up, shall vest the same in the vestries or boards, who shall maintain the same in the way that may appear to them most advantageous for the public, subject to the approval of the Metropolitan Board of Works or corporate authority; but reserving private rights, &c. By § 2 where a right exists by tenure that any garden, ornamental ground, or open space shall be maintained as such and shall not be built upon, any person possessed of such right may address the authorities before mentioned requesting them to maintain such right, and if on due inquiry they shall think fit to accede, the right shall thenceforth rest in such authorities, who may take such legal proceedings for asserting, defending, and protecting the right as such person might have taken; and (§ 3) the expenses are to be deemed charges necessarily incurred, to be defrayed according to the provisions of "The Act to provide for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in England and Wales." By § 4 power is given to the Committee formed for the management of such grounds to make and alter bye-laws, which however are not to come into operation until allowed by some judge of the superior courts or by the justices in quarter sessions; by these they may impose penalties not exceeding 51. on any one wilfully damaging the trees, flowers, seats, and fences, after conviction before a magistrate. Any police constable (§ 5) who shall see any person throwing rubbish into any such garden, or trespassing thereon, or getting over the railings or fence, or stealing or damaging the flowers or plants, may apprehend such person, who on conviction may be punished by a fine not exceeding 40s., or imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen days. Certain provisions of former Acts for the recovery of penalties, &c., are incorporated into this by § 6; but nothing in this Act (§ 7) is to extend to property of the Crown or to property under the management of the Commissioners of Works; and (§ 8) it does not extend to Scotland or Ireland.

POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANKS.

[26 Victoriæ, cap. 14.—May 4, 1863.]

An Act to amend the Law relating to Post Office Savings Banks. By § 1 money standing in the name of a minor in any Savings Bank,

or in a Post Office Savings Bank, may, on the application of the parent or friend of a minor under seven years of age, or on his own if above that age, be transferred to any other Savings Bank, but may not be withdrawn without the consent of the Postmaster-General or two of the trustees or managers of the Savings Bank, until the minor shall have attained the age at which it might have been withdrawn under the rules of the Savings Bank from which it had been transferred. Upon the final closing of any Savings Bank, or where any Savings Bank has been already closed, notice is to be given to the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, and the trustees are to convert into money any property held by them, and after paying the expenses of the conversion and all claims thereon shall pay the residue to the said Commissioners, to be by them carried to the separate surplus fund to be liable to any claim subsequently substantiated against it by any depositor in the Savings Bank so closed: the receipt of the trustee for the money received on the sale of any such property is to be a discharge to the purchaser, who is not to be accountable for any misapplication of the same: the trustees with the consent of the Commissioners have power to compensate their officers on closing the bank, out of any separate surplus fund that may belong to the bank. When trustees have determined upon closing a bank, (§ 3) public notice is to be given by advertisement in a newspaper, by letter through the post to each depositor, and by notice fixed on the outer door of the bank; when they shall have paid off three-fourths of the depositors, they may, if they think fit, transmit to the Commissioners a list of the remaining depositors with the money due to them respectively, and if such money, with the proceeds of the sale of other property, be sufficient to cover the whole of the liabilities of the trustees, the Commissioners may give them a certificate of discharge, and such moneys shall be held by the Commissioners for the depositors as investments in a Post Office Savings Bank; and such depositors, on presenting their deposit books at any Post Office Savings Bank, shall be entitled to claim payment of the sums due to them together with the interest, to be repaid by the Commissioners out of the moneys before transferred. Annuities (§4) payable out of any stock at or exceeding 3 per cent. per annum are to be cancelled, and an amount equivalent to the same to be inscribed as payable out of the 2 per cent. stock. The trustees of any Savings Bank (§ 5) may appoint, at a meeting called for that purpose, any number of managers to sign transfer certificates, and the signatures of two or more of such managers shall be sufficient to authorise the Commissioners to make the transfer, provided they are furnished with a list of the managers, with their signatures, signed by two trustees; such appointments are revocable, of which notice must be given. The warrants for the conversion of annuities (§ 6) must be laid annually before both Houses of Parliament.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT (1858) AMENDMENT.
[26 Victoria, cap. 17.-May 11, 1863.]

An Act for amending the Local Government Act (1858).

The preamble states that it is "expedient to place some restriction upon the adoption of the Act by places containing a small population only." After stating in § 1 that the Act is to be cited as "The Local Government Act Amendment Act, 1863," § 2 enacts that where the Act is not in force on March 1, 1863, and where the population is less

than 3,000 by the last census, the adoption of the previous Act is not to be valid unless approved by the Secretary of State; who before signifying his approval or disapproval may cause an inquiry to be made as to its expediency, and his decision is to be published in the Gazette. Petitions appealing against the adoption of the Act, and appeals from owners and ratepayers who dispute the validity of the vote for its adoption, may (§ 3) be presented at any time within six weeks from the date of the resolution for adopting the Act. When a resolution has been passed (§ 4) in a place of which the population is less than 3,000 it may be rescinded by a subsequent resolution, but such rescinding will require the approval of the Secretary of State, and the power of appeal against such rescinding to be the same as in the case of the resolution; the public notice of the rescission is not to be published until the time allowed for appeals has expired; but when the notice is published the Local Government Act is to cease to be in force, except as regards contracts that may have been entered into, and the place will revert to its old position. Where the Local Board is required to be elected by the ratepayers, and where the population is less than 3,000, (§ 5) if no election takes place within three months from the date of the constitution of the district; or if the Local Board make default in appointing the necessary officers for two months after its election, the adoption is to be deemed wholly void, except as to the enforcement of contracts. Any district (§ 6) under the Local Government Act, 1858, or the Public Health Act, 1848, surrounded by or adjoining a Highway District, is to be deemed as within such district. The power of adopting parts of the Local Government Act (§ 7), is not to be exhausted by one adoption, but may be exercised from time to time. By § 8 the Public Health Act, 1848, the Acts amending the same, and the Acts amending the Local Government Act, 1858, are declared to be one Act with the present Act.

INCLOSURE.

[26 Victoriæ, cap. 18.-May 11, 1863.]

An Act to authorise the Inclosure of certain Lands in pursuance of a Report of the Inclosure Commissioners of England and Wales. Fourteen inclosures have been authorised by this Act:-viz., in Caernarvonshire Llysfaen. Flintshire Meliden. Hampshire Bishops Waltham; Sandhill Heath. Lincolnshire - Ewerby Waith. Norfolk-Corpustye; Swaffham. Pembrokeshire-St. David's. Shropshire-Chelmarsh Common. Surrey-East Clandon; Ockham. Westmoreland - Grayrigg; Lambrigg and Docker. Wiltshire-Steeple Langford.

HARES, IRELAND.

[26 Victoriæ, cap. 19.-June 8, 1863.]

An Act to amend the Law relative to the Sale of Hares in Ireland.

This Act merely repeals a part of the Act of 27 Geo. III., cap. 35, by which a penalty of 51. was imposed on the sale of any hare between the first Monday in every November and the first Monday in the following July.