"chase money, the surplus shall be paid to such person or "persons respectively, as would have been entitled to re“ceive the rents and profits." The reader will have observed that in the beginning of That the values may be fully made out, all changing Es sehedules of their of the above order, it was an instruction to the Committee B for. to take care that on all the occasions to which it applied, tates to have "the values were fully made out' With the same object, it is directed by another Standing Order (o), "that in any "private bill for exchanging an estate in settlement, and "substituting another estate in lieu thereof, there shall be "annexed a schedule or schedules of such respective es"tates, showing the annual rent and value thereof, and the "value of the timber growing thereupon"; and in all pri- Also, if the Bill vate bills for selling a settled estate and purchasing another be for selling an to be settled to the same uses, there shall be annexed" a "schedule or schedules of such estates, specifying the an"nual rent thereof; and every such schedule shall be sign"ed and proved upon oath, by a surveyor or other competent person, before the committee on the bill." Estate, and pur chasing another in lieu, such schedules to be proved before Committee. be made for the Trustees on It is also required (p), when any of the parties interest- Provision must ed in any private bill have power by such bill to name appointment of a trustee in the room of any trustee dying, or resigning, or vacancies, &c. refusing to exercise his trust, that provision be made in the bill, that such new trustee shall be appointed by or with the approbation of the Court of Chancery. Committee must state whether these orders have And it is ordered (q) that the Chairman of the Commit- Chairman of tee on any such private bill, shall state to the House, on reporting, how far the orders of the House in relation been complied thereto have or have not been complied with. with. required if the ated in Scotland, There are similar Standing Orders respecting the selling Like provisions and settling lands in Scotland (r); and the same of lands Estates are situin Ireland (s). The former directs the moneys to be pla- &c. Consent. proved before Committee. ced "in the Bank of Scotland, or the Royal Bank of Scot land, or the Bank of the British Linen Company in Scot"land." The latter requires it to be laid out "in the pur"chase of Irish government debentures, or Irish treasury "bills, and that the said bills be deposited in the Bank of “Ireland"; for these provisions reference can be made to the orders themselves. After alluding to the consents of persons as taken in Ireland and Scotland (before stated), another Standing Order of the Lords (t) directs that it shall be sufficient to have the consent of persons concerned in Estate bills,; in certain proportions therein furnished and prescribed. Must chiefly be But the subject of consents, which in bills of this nature is exceedingly material, will come with more propriety under the head of "committee," it being there that this impor tant requisite is watched with the closest attention. On the second reading the bill is committed, usually for that day fortnight. The allegations of the bill must be proved Allegations again with the greatest exactness before the committee, and it nesses re-sworn. will be necessary for the witnesses who have given evidence thereon before the Judges, to be re-sworn at the Bar of the House of Lords. Bill committed. proved and wit petition, and propriety of the measure, to be proved. Allegations of the The allegations of the Bill having been satisfactorily proved, the next thing to be shown is, that the alteration is for the benefit of the parties concerned; or that they are desirous it should be effected, receiving an equivalent or compensation. And that there are no other parties entitled to, or who can at all prefer a claim for compen And that it is for the interest of the parties concerned. sation. The most solicitous attention is given by Parliament to the rights and interests of parties concerned, as may be seen by the notice before mentioned, required to be given to mortgagees on the estate in question. But there are certain rights, of which, being remote or defeasible, the (t) S. O. H. of L. cxcvii.-5 May, 1818. t consent is not House will not take cognizance, it being a Standing Order Parties whose of the House of Lords of 1799, that where one petitioner required. for a private bill is a tenant for life in possession, and another petitioner is tenant in tail for the remainder, and of age, and when the two together can, by deed, fine, and common recovery, bar the rights and interests of all persons in remainder after the estate in tail of the petitioner-the committee shall not, in such case, be required to take the consent of any of the parties in remainder after the estate of such tenant in tail. But, in general, the object of an estate bill is to leave the title exactly as it stood under the ownership of the testator or settler, liberating it (v) from certain uses which he has declared, and paving the way for a new or more convenient settlement, by selling part of the land with a view to the purchase of others more convenient; or to authorize partitions, exchanges or the like. be personal. Or by affidavits which must be proved. It is the same Standing Order of the Lords (w), which Consents must prohibits the committee on the bill sitting until ten days after the second reading, and makes the provisions before mentioned, that consents to private bills in general must be personal, or by affidavit made by two credible persons (not interested in the bill) of the inability of the consenting party to attend, but stating that the absent party signed a printed copy of the bill in their presence, and gave his consent to its passing into a law. This copy of the bill must be annexed to the affidavit, and it will then be merely necessary to prove the hand writing of the Master in Chancery before whom it was sworn-without the above it is a general instruction to all committees (a) to take no notice of such consent. So Trustees appointed by a bill must personally appear and accept the Trust. In the Trustees must order (y) requiring the personal attendance of Trustees pear and accept (v) Preston on Abstracts, v. 1, p. 164. (w) S. O. H. of L. xciv. (x) S. O. H. of L. xciv. L. J. 20 April, 1798.-Emendat. per ord. 5 June, 1828. (y) lb. ci. personally ap the trust. there is no exception for illness or inability, or indeed any qualification whatever, so that in case of a Trustee being prevented from appearing before the committee, there must be a special report to the House, and a clause added in the House, to enable such Trustee to accept the Trust after the bill has passed*. As to consent of It was before noticed, that the consent of parties having est. persons entionly a life inter- tled to remainders or reversions, subsequent to the estate of a tenant in tail, was not required (z). But in certain cases, very great caution is most properly exercised. Thus, it is provided (a) that when any married or unmarried woman, or any widow, desirous to consent to the sale or exchange of any estate in which she may have an interest, or upon which she may be entitled to a jointure or rent charge of any sort, or if she shall desire to sell, or otherwise dispose of all, or any part of such jointure, rent charge or interest, the committee shall require not only her own consent in person, but that of her trustees. Or if Children's fortune be secur So when any estate is proposed to be sold or exchanged on the Estate. ed, on which the whole or any part of the fortune of any child or children is secured (b),or in which any such child hath an interest, the committee shall take the consent of any such child or children, if under age, by their parents or guardians, and if of age, then by their personal consent, with that also of their trustees. How far consent of Trustees is required. And again, the consent of all trustees shall be required in person before the committee, where any money is to pass through their hands, whether for jointure, pin-money, the fortunes of younger children, or any other interest whatsoever (c), but the consent of trustees to preserve contingent remainders only, shall not be necessary. (z) S. O. H. of L. cxlv.see ante p. 243. (a) S. H. O. of L. cxlvi. (c) ib. cxlviii. * As in the case of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Estate Bill in 1807; and the Holland Chapel Bill, in 1809. sent to the Com The Chairman will then report the bill, with any Report. amendments, to the House. The ingrossed bill will afterwards be read a third time, and sent to the House of Com-Bill passed and mons for their concurrence, where it will be read a first mons. time the day it is received. Printed copies must be deposited with the doorkeepers, previous to the second reading. mons. There is nothing requiring particular mention in the House of Com manner in which estate bills are passed through the House of Commons. The signatures of all parties interested should be procured to a copy of the bill, and proved before the Committee. The Clerk of the Journals of the House of Lords attends on the day when the Committee sits, with the books of evidence taken in the other House. The Committee satisfy themselves that the allegations in in the preamble are proved. The bill is then reported, read a third time, passed, and returned to the Lords. 4. NATURALIZATION BILLS. Naturalization is that power by which an Alien or Den izen* can, with certain exceptions, be put on a level with those born within the King's Ligeance. It cannot be effected but by the interposition of Parliament, for which purpose a bill is introduced, which may have its commencement in either House. NATURALIZATION BILLS. tition. Being a private bill, it must originate on petition, but Originate on Pebefore the petition is presented the performance of certain duties is required of the petitioner. If he be of the age of eighteen or upwards, he must *A Denizen is an Alien born; but who has obtained, ex donatione Regis, Letters Patent to make him a British subject. He may take Lands by purchase or devise, but not by Inheritance, for his parent, through whom he must claim, being an Alien, had no inheritable blood, and therefore could convey none to his son; and, from a like defect of hereditary blood, the issue of a Denizen, born before denization, cannot inherit to him, but his issue born after may. The children of an Alien Naturalized, born before the Act of Naturalization passed, may inherit his Estates. (Ellis on Private Bills, 200.) |