companies, or between a railway company and a canal company, is, under the provisions of any general or special Act, passed either before or after the passing of this Act, required or authorised to be referred to arbitration, such difference shall at the instance of any company party to the difference and with the consent of the Commissioners be referred to the Commissioners for their decision in lieu of being referred to arbitration : Provided, that the power of compelling a reference to the Commissioners in this section contained shall not apply to any case in which any arbitrator has in any general or special Act been designated by his name or by the name of his office or in which, a standing arbitrator having been appointed under any general or special Act, the Commissioners are of opinion that the difference in question may more conveniently be referred to him.

9. POWER TO REFER DIFFERENCES TO COMMISSIONERS.-Any difference to which a railway company or canal company is a party may, on the application of the parties to the difference, and with the assent of the Commissioners, be referred to them for their decision.

10. TRANSFER TO COMMISSIONERS OF CERTAIN POWERS AND DUTIES OF the Board of TRADE. The following powers and duties of the Board of Trade shall be transferred to the Commissioners; namely,

(1.) The powers of the Board of Trade under Part III. of the Railway Clauses Act, 1863, or under any special Act, with respect to the approval of working agreements between railway companies; and,

(2.) The powers and duties of the Board of Trade under section thirty-five of the Railway Clauses Act, 1863, with respect to the exercise by railway companies of their powers in relation to steam vessels:

And the provisions of the said Acts conferring such powers or imposing such duties, or otherwise referring to such powers or duties, shall, so far as is consistent with the tenor thereof, be read as if the Commissioners were therein named instead of the Board of Trade.

Explanation and Amendment of Law.

[Ss. 11-13 rep. 51 & 52 Vict. c 25, s. 59.]

14. PUBLICATION OF RATES.-Every railway company and canal company shall keep at each of their stations and wharves a book or books showing every rate for the time being charged for the carriage of traffic, other than passengers and their luggage, from that station or wharf to any place to which they book, including any rates charged under any special contract, and stating the distance from that station or wharf of every station, wharf, siding, or place to which any such rate is charged.

Every such book shall during all reasonable hours be open to the inspection of any person without the payment of any fee.

The Commissioners may from time to time, on the application of any person interested, make orders with respect to any particular description of traffic, requiring a railway company or canal company to distinguish in such book how much of each rate is for the conveyance of the traffic on the railway or canal, including therein tolls for the use of the railway or canal, for the use of carriages or vessels, or for locomotive power, and how much is for other expenses, specifying the nature and detail of such other expenses.

Any company failing to comply with the provisions of this section shall for each offence, and in the case of a continuing offence, for every day during which the offence continues, be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds, and such penalty shall be recovered and applied in the same manner as penalties imposed by the Railways Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, and the Railways Clauses Consolidation (Scotland) Act, 1845, (as the case may require,) are for the time being recoverable and applicable.

15. POWER TO COMMISSIONERS TO FIX TERMINAL CHARGES.-The Commissioners shall have power to hear and determine any question or dispute which may arise with respect to the terminal charges of any railway company, where such charges have not been fixed by any Act of Parliament, and to decide what is a reasonable sum to be paid to any company for loading and unloading, covering collection, delivery, and other services of a like nature; any decision of the Commissioners under this section shall be binding on all courts and in all legal proceedings whatsoever.

16. ARRANGEMENTS BETWEEN RAILWAY COMPANIES AND CANAL COMPANIES.-No railway company or canal company, unless expressly authorised thereto by any Act passed before the passing of this Act, shall, without the sanction of the Commissioners, to be signified in such manner as they may by general order or otherwise direct, enter into any agreement whereby any control over or right to interfere in or concerning the traffic carried or rates or tolls levied on any part of a canal is given to the railway company, or any persons managing or connected with the management of any railway; and any such agreement made after the commencement of this Act without such sanction shall be void.

The Commissioners shall withhold their sanction from any such agreement which is in their opinion prejudicial to the interests of the public.

Not less than one month before any such agreement is so sanctioned, copies of the intended agreement certified under the hand of the secretary of the railway company or one of the railway companies party or parties thereto, shall be deposited for public inspection at the office of the Commissioners, and also at the office of the clerk of the peace of the county, riding, or division in England or Ireland, in which the head office of any canal company party to the agreement is situate, and at the office of the principal sheriff clerk of every such county in Scotland, and notice of the intended agreement setting forth the parties between whom or on whose behalf the same is intended to be made, and such further particulars with respect thereto as the Commissioners may require, shall be given by advertisement in the London, Edinburgh, or Dublin Gazette, according as the head office of any canal company party to the agreement is situate in England, Scotland, or Ireland, and shall be sent to the secretary or principal officer of every canal company any of whose canals communicates with the canal of any company party to the agreement; and shall be published in such other way, if any, as the Commissioners for the purpose of giving notice to all parties interested therein by order direct.

17. MAINTENANCE OF CANALS BY RAILWAY COMPANIES.-Every railway company owning or having the management of any canal or part of a canal shall at all times keep and maintain such canal or part, and all the reservoirs, works, and conveniences thereto belonging, thoroughly repaired and dredged and in good working condition, and shall preserve the supplies of water to the same, so that the whole of such canal or part may be at all times kept open and navigable for the use of all persons desirous to use and navigate the same without any unnecessary hindrance, interruption, or delay.

Conveyance of Mails.

18. CONVEYANCE OF MAILS.-Every railway company shall convey by any train all such mails as may be tendered for conveyance by such train, whether such mails be under the charge of a guard appointed by the Postmaster-General or not, and notwithstanding that no notice in writing requiring mails to be conveyed by such train has been given to the company by the Postmaster-General.

Every railway company shall afford all reasonable facilities for the receipt and delivery of mails at any of their stations without requiring them to be booked or interposing any other delay.

Where the mails are in charge of a guard appointed by the Postmaster-General, every railway company shall permit such guard, if he think fit, to receive and deliver them at any station by himself or his assistants, rendering him nevertheless such aid as he may require.

19. REMUNERATION FOR CONVEYANCE OF MAILS.-Every railway company shall be entitled to reasonable remuneration for any services performed by them in pursuance of this Act with respect to the conveyance of mails, and such remuneration shall be paid by the Postmaster-General.

Any difference between the Postmaster-General and any railway company as to the amount of such remuneration, or as to any other question arising under this Act, shall be decided by arbitration, in manner provided by the Railways (Conveyance of Mails) Act, 1838, or, at the option of such railway company, by the Commissioners.

20. CONVEYANCE OF MAILS ON STEAM VESSELS.-Where a railway company use, maintain, or work, or are party to any arrangement for using, maintaining, or working steam vessels for the purpose of carrying on a communication between any towns or ports,

all provisions contained in any Act with respect to the conveyance of mails by railways shall, so far as they are applicable to the conveyance of mails by steam vessels, extend to the steam vessels so used, maintained, or worked.

Regulations as to Commissioners.

[Ss. 21-25 rep. 51 & 52 Vict. c. 25, s. 59.]

26. ORDERS OF COMMISSIONERS.-Any decision or any order made by the Commissioners for the purpose of carrying into effect any of the provisions of this Act may be made a rule or order of any superior court, and shall be enforced either in the manner directed by section three of the Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1854, as to the writs and orders therein mentioned, or in like manner as any rule or order of such court.

For the purpose of carrying into effect this section, general rules and orders may be made by any superior court in the same manner as general rules and orders may be made with respect to any other proceedings in such court.

27. SITTINGS OF COMMISSIONERS.-The Commissioners shall sit at such times and in such places and conduct their proceedings in such manner as may seem to them most convenient for the speedy despatch of business; they may, subject as in this Act mentioned, sit either together or separately, and either in private or in open court, but any complaint made to them shall, on the application of any party to the complaint, be heard and determined in open court.

[Ss. 28, 29 rep. 51 & 52 Vict. c. 25, s. 59.]

30. EVIDENCE OF DOCUMENTS.-Every document purporting to be signed by the Commissioners, or any one of them, shall be received in evidence without proof of such signature, and until the contrary is proved shall be deemed to have been so signed and to have been duly executed or issued by the Commissioners.

31. COMMISSIONERS TO MAKE ANNUAL REPORTS.-The Commissioners shall, once in every year, make a report to Her Majesty of their proceedings under this Act during the past year, and such report shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within fourteen days after the making thereof if Parliament is then sitting, and, if not, then within fourteen days after the next meeting of Parliament.

Miscellaneous.

32. DETERMINATION OF FEES.-The Commissioners may, by general order, with the concurrence of the Treasury, appoint the fees to be taken in relation to proceedings before them, and may from time to time, by general order, with the like concurrence, increase, reduce, or abolish all or any of such fees, and appoint new fees to be taken in relation to such proceedings.

[S. 33 rep. 46 & 47 Vict. c. 39 (S.L.R.). S. 34 rep. 51 § 52 Vict. c. 25, s. 59.] 35. NOTICES HOW TO BE GIVEN. Any notice required or authorised to be given under this Act may be in writing or in print, or partly in writing and partly in print, and may be sent by post, and if sent by post shall be deemed to have been received at the time when the letter containing the same would have been delivered in the ordinary course of the post; and in proving such sending it shall be sufficient to prove that the letter containing the notice was prepaid and properly addressed and put into a post office. 36. APPLICATION OF ACT TO SCOTLAND.—In the application of this Act to Scotland— (1.) The term "attending on subpoena before a Court of Record" means attending on citation the Court of Justiciary:

(2.) The Queen's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer shall perform the duties of a master of one of the superior courts under this Act.

[S. 37 rep. 51 & 52 Vict. c. 25 s. 59.]

CHAPTER LIII.

THE HIGHLAND SCHOOLS ACT, 1873. (Sect. 1.)

AN ACT to make better provision respecting certain sums payable to Schoolmasters of Highland Schools under the Act of the session of the first and second years of the reign of Her present Majesty, chapter eighty-seven, intituled "An Act to facilitate the foundation and endowment of additional Schools in Scotland." [28th July 1873.]

[Preamble recites 1 & 2 Vict. c. 87; 35 & 36 Vict. c. 62.]

Preliminary.

1. SHORT TITLE.-This Act may be cited as "The Highland Schools Act, 1873."

Endowment Schools.

2. CHARGE OF SUMS IN SCHEDULE ON CONSOLIDATED FUND, AND PAYMENT THEREOF TO SCHOOL BOARD.-The annual sums mentioned in the schedule to this Act shall be charged on the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom, and the Treasury shall by equal half-yearly payments in every year pay out of the Consolidated Fund or the growing produce thereof, to the school board of every parish named in the first column of the schedule to this Act, for the purposes of the school fund, the annual sum which in the second column of that schedule is placed opposite to the name of such parish.

Temporary Provisions and Repeal.

3. PROVISION FOR EXISTING SCHOOLMASTERS.-So long as any schoolmaster to whom any of the annual sums mentioned in the schedule to this Act was at the passing of this Act payable in pursuance of the Highland Schools Act, 1838, continues to hold his office, the school board shall pay to him every half-yearly payment of that annual sum as soon as may be after they receive the same.

S. 3 in part rep. 46 & 47 Vict. c. 39 (S. L.R.).
[Ss. 4, 5 rep. 46 & 47 Vict. c. 39 (S.L.R.).]

SCHEDULE.

Sect. 2.

Annual sums payable at the passing of 35 & 36 Vict. c. 62, to the Schoolmasters of the Parishes named below under 1 & 2 Vict. c. 87.

CHAPTER LVII.

THE CONSOLIDATED FUND (PERMANENT CHARGES REDEMPTION) ACT, 1873. (Sect. 1.)

AN ACT to make provision for the Redemption of divers permanent
Charges on the Consolidated Fund and on the Votes of Parliament.
[28th July 1873.]

[Preamble recites 29 & 30 Vict. c. 62, s. 15.]

1. SHORT TITLE.-This Act may be cited as "The Consolidated Fund (Permanent Charges Redemption) Act, 1873,"

2. CONTRACT FOR REDEMPTION OF ANNUITY.-Where any annuity (as defined by this Act) is charged on and payable out of the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom, or moneys provided by Parliament, either in perpetuity or for a period not determinable with the life of the individual to whom the same is for the time being payable, the Treasury may at any time contract for the redemption of the same or any part thereof by payment out of moneys provided by Parliament of a capital sum not exceeding such sum as would, according to the average price of Government securities at the date of such contract, purchase an amount of Government securities yielding annual dividends equal to the amount of such annuity.

In entering into any such contract, the Treasury shall have regard to the contingency (if any) of the determination of the annuity, and may surrender such contingency upon such terms as they may think reasonable.

Where the person to whom such annuity is for the time being payable is a limited owner, the contract made for the redemption of the annuity shall not be valid unless it is assented to, if such limited owner is an ecclesiastical corporation in England, by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and in any other case by the Court of Chancery, but when so assented to shall be binding on the heirs, successors, executors, and administrators of such limited owner, and all other persons interested in the annuity.

3. PAYMENT OF MONEY AND CESSER OF ANNUITY.-The money for the redemption of the annuity, in case the owner is an ecclesiastical corporation in England, shall be paid to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and in other cases where the owner is a limited owner shall, and in any case where the owner is not a limited owner may be paid into the Court of Chancery to an account intituled ex parte the owner of the annuity in the matter of this Act, or to such other account as may be directed by the said Court, or by a rule under the Court of Chancery Funds Act, 1872, and shall be applied by or under the direction of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and the said Court respectively for the benefit of the person entitled thereto.

As soon as any money is paid in pursuance of any contract for the redemption of any annuity, that annuity shall cease to be charged on and payable out of the Consolidated Fund, or moneys provided by Parliament, so, however, that any proportionate part of such annuity which may be due up to the time of such payment shall be paid to the person entitled thereto.

4. PROVISO IN CASE OF ANNUITIES UNDER FIVE POUNDS, OR REDEMPTION MONEY UNDER L.100.-In the case of an annuity not payable to an ecclesiastical corporation, if the annuity does not exceed five pounds a year, or the sum payable for the redemption of the annuity does not exceed one hundred pounds, the contract need not be assented to by the Court of Chancery, and the money need not be paid to the Court of Chancery, but may be paid to the person entitled for the time being to receive the annuity, and the receipt of such person shall be a good discharge for money so paid.

5. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.-Where any doubt exists either as to whether a person to whom an annuity for the time being is payable is or is not a limited owner, or as to the title of a person to any annuity, the contract may be assented to, the money paid, and other proceedings under this Act had, as if the person to whom such annuity is payable were a limited owner.

Any power vested by this Act in the Court of Chancery may be exercised by a judge thereof sitting at chambers.

Any contract made in pursuance of this Act may, if it is so agreed, provide for the redemption of an annuity by the transfer of any Government securities instead of the