lodged. Owners and occupiers, Estimates, and copies of the sub- Plans, &c. to be scription Contracts, required by the Standing Orders of the House, be lodged in the Private Bill Office, and that the receipt thereof be acknowedged accordingly by one And receipt inof the Clerks in the said office, upon the said Documents, and the Petition. and upon the Petition, before it is presented. dorsed on them That all notices required to be given in the Private Time for deliverBill Office, be delivered in the said Office before six o'clock ing Notices. in the evening. Bul. That every Private Bill, after it has been read the first Custody of the time, its Title copied and examined for the votes, be in the custody of the clerks of the Private Bill Office, until laid upon the table for the second reading, and when committed, be taken by the proper Committee clerk into his charge, until reported. Examination That after each Private Bill has been read the first time, Exami its name (or short title), shall be copied by the Clerks of the Private Bill Office, from the Clerk's Minute Book of the day, into a separate book, to be called the EXAMINATION Book, wherein shall be noted the number of such bill according to the priority of its being read, and the date of such first reading. Bill and Breviate. That between the first and second readings, every such Examination of bill shall, according to its priority, be examined, with all practicable dispatch, by the clerks of the Private Bill Office, as to its conformity with the Rules and Standing Orders of the House, and the breviate thereof be compared with such bill; and the Examining Clerk shall, at the foot of such breviate, state, "that the bill is [or, is not] prepared in due form;"-and if not in due form, he shall specify the folio in which any irregularity occurs; and shall, moreover, in all cases, sign and date the breviate of such bill, with the date of such Examination, and shall also enter the like date, together with his own name, in the Examination Book. Duties of Exam That the points to which the duty of the Examination ining Clerk with Clerk shall extend, be the following, viz : —That the title the Bill. With the Breviate. Notice of meeting. Notice of second reading. Committee on the Bill. Filled up bill to be deposited in Private Bill Office. Postponement of Committee on the Bill. and provisions of the bill are comprehended within the allegations of the petition, and within the order of leave; and that bills for confirming Letters Patent have a copy of the Letters Patent annexed. That the Examining Clerk do, moreover, compare the breviate with the bill, and see that the subject matter of each clause or set of clauses is sufficiently pointed out. The form of the breviate to be such as the Speaker shall from time to time direct. That ten clear days' notice be given to the clerks in the Private Bill Office of the meeting of any sub-committee on a petition for a Private Bill. That notice in writing of the day proposed for the second reading of every Private Bill be given, by the agent soliciting the bill, to the clerks in the Private Bill Office, three clear days before the day for such second reading. That notice of the day and hour on which the committee on the bill is appointed to sit, be given in writing three clear days beforehand, by the agent soliciting the bill to the clerks in the Private Bill Office, and that all committees' proceedings of which such notice shall not have been given, be void. That a filled up bill, signed by the agent for the bill, as proposed to be submitted to the committee, be deposited in the Private Bill Office, at the time of giving notice. of the meeting of the committee on the bill; and that all parties shall be entitled to a copy thereof, upon payment of the charges for making out amendments of such bill. That no postponement of the first meeting of any comfirst meeting of mittee on a Private Bill, or petition for a Private Bill, shall take place, unless notice be given in the Private Bill Office one clear day before the time fixed for such meeting. That a note in writing of the day and hour to which each Note of adjourn Committee is adjourned, be given by the Committee Clerk to the Clerks in the Private Bill Office. ment. tees sitting. That the Clerks in the Private Bill Office do prepare List of Commitdaily, lists of all Private Bills, and Petitions for Private Bills, upon which any Committee is appointed to sit, specifying the hour of meeting, and the room where the Committee shall sit; and that the same be hung up in the Lobby of the House. in Committee, to That the Committee Clerk, after the Report is made Bill, as amended out, do deliver into the Private Bill Office, a printed copy be delivered in. of the bill, with the written amendments made in the Committee, in which bill all the clauses added by the Committee shall be regularly marked in those parts of the Bill wherein they are to be inserted. and of considera That notice in writing of the day on which the Bill is to Notice of Report be reported be given by the Agent soliciting the Bill to tion. the Clerks in the Private Bill Office, at least one clear day before the day of the report: reports on Bills are ordered to lie And in all cases where on the table, notice in writing of the day on which such report is intended to be taken into consideration be given to the Clerks in the Private Bill Office, at least one clear day beforehand. Report and That the amendments (if any) which are made upon Amendments on the report, and upon the third reading, be entered by one Third Reading. of the Clerks in the Private Bill Office upon the printed copy of the Bill as amended by the Committee, which Clerk shall sign the said copy so amended, in order to its being deposited and preserved in the said Office. Ingrossments. That to insure the accuracy of the Ingrossments of all Examination of Private Bills, the Clerk of the House be required to provide a sufficient number of Clerks, to be called Examin ers of Ingrossments. That notice in writing of the day proposed for the third Notice of Third reading of every Private Bill, be given by the Agent soli Reading. Certificate of citing the bill, to the Clerks in the Private Bill Office, one clear day before such third reading. That no bill be read a third time, until a certificate is indorsed upon the paper bill and signed by one or more of the said Examiners of Ingrossments, declaring that the Ingrossment thereof has been examined, and agrees with the bill as amended by the Committee, and on the report. FEES. It has been before mentioned, that no private Bill will be read a second time in either House, until the fees payable upon the same have been liquidated. The fees upon a Private Bill, in the House of Lords, although the rate of fees in some respects is higher, are much less in their total amount than those payable upon the same bill in the House of Commons*. The fees in the House of Lords, were first established by a table in the year 1725, which was revised and amended in the year 1824, and is now as follows: On a Petition for leave to bring in a Private Bill. For every Order made previous or subsequent to such leave being given :- To the Clerk of the Parliaments, 0 10 0 To the Gentleman Usher for To the reading Clerk on To the Clerk Assistant for swearing every person in order to be naturalized £ s d 0 4 020 6 every person so sworn 0 13 4 To the Clerk of the Journals,... 0 3 10 On a Private Bill. *See a valuable report of a Select Committee of the Lords, on the subject of Fees, on the 12th July, 1827. Every Bill for the particular interest or benefit of any persons, whether the same be brought in upon Petition, Motion, Report, or from a Committee, or from the Commons, ought to pay fees as a Private Bill. Every such Bill which concerns a County or Counties, Corporation or Corporations, or Body or Bodies of People, ought to pay fees as a DOUBLE BILL. Every enacting clause for a particular Interest or Benefit, shall be deemed a PRIVATE ENACTING CLAUSE, and shall pay fees as for a Private Bill, whether the Bill in which such clause is inserted be Public or Private. Every such Enacting Clause which concerns a County or Counties, Corporation. or Corporations, or Body or Bodies of People, shall pay fees as a DOUBLE BILL. Fees shall be paid for EVERY DISTINCT PROVISION, made in any Bill, for the particular interest of any Person or Persons, County or Counties, Corporation or Corporations, or Body or Bodies of People, or relating to a distinct interest. Estate or Matters, PROVIDED that in Bills containing distinct provisions for more than three bodies of people, no more than a single fee shall be paid for each body. £ s d To the Clerk Assistant for en- ed. To the Assistant Clerk to the Clerk of Committees: For the Ingrossing a Private Bill (between the Clerk of the Parliaments and the Clerk Assistant): For the first skin,... ........ For every other skin... (Every skin to contain at least forty lines.) 0 13 4 0 10 0 To the Clerk of the Parliaments for certifying a Private Bill upon a Writ of Certiorari out of the Chancery, or any other matter of Record, concerning a private person, into that Court: Besides the above there are fees paid in the House of Lords for Appeals, Writs of Error, and other matters of Judicature, for which see Standing Orders. The Fees in the House of Commons upon Private Bills and other matters are regulated by two tables-one adop |