CHANGES IN" THE LAW.

Otago Witness, Issue 2652, 11 January 1905, Page 16

CHANGES IN" THE LAW.

/e/tures of the legislation of

LAST- SESSION.

It is a maxim of the ..law that everyone is supposed/ to" know the law. The supposition is, "however, very- far from the truth, and we propose, therefore, to state the principal changes made by the Legislature in 1904.

Some of the statutes have already received such publicity that it is not necessary to make any further reference to them. The Licensing Act was watched in its passage through Parliament with close attention, and since the session closed eeyeral of its provisions have received magisterial interpretaton. We -may, presume, therefore, that at least .the. enterprising bona fide traveller knows "where he is .by this time. ' It would have been better if . a little more" attentions had "been be^ stowed "on the" : Shops and Offices Act while passing through Parliament ; but whatever nttention it .lacked then, it has abundantly received since. ' ~_ . . -- .. Two of the statutes are consolidations —-viz., the Local Elections Regulations /Let and the Mining Companies Act, — and three are compilations under a useful Statute passed for that purpose in 1902 — iriz., the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Acts Compilation, the Education Acts Compilation", and the Marriage Acts Compilation. The act of 1902 provides that the compilation is to be presented to Parliament and passed in the form of a schedule to an enacting statute, and that no amendment may be made therein — that Is to say, the compilation must be passed en bloc. We nave,^therefore, in the volume of Statutes for 1904 the curious spectacle of a compilation of the Education Acts, supposed to contain all the law on the subject, and another statute amending the ; law. With that exception the compilation brings the law right up to date, so much so that it lepeals ths School Attendance 'Act passed in the same session.. It is to be hoped that the dream of^a new edition of the Public General Statutes will soon be realised. It will be a great boon, but the drafting of our statutes is so bad or the itch for legislation is so great -that it will S only be a starting point for fresh legisla- j tion. Witness the Mining. Act and the Municipal- • Corporations- Act; every few years these acts are consolidated, bufc ai» Regularly followed by an annual .amendment. ~ The Law Amendment, Act, iriuch ha 3 been on° the stocks for several years and was drafted, we think, by Mr John MacGregor when a member of the • Legislative Council, has at la3t become law. It contains so many useful provisions that it is worthy of a detailed reference. I It was formerly a rule of law that if I % creditor received jjart of his debt in full '

satisfaction of the whole the liability for the - remainder of the debt, .still remained unless the release were effected by a deed. This, although a logical sequence of the rule that every promise, not by deed, reI quires some consideration to support it, has i always" been treated as absurd, and the judges have endeavoured as far as they could f 6 escape from it, so that if anything other than money, however small in value, were given, the discharge would be. complete — for instance, a cheque or a promissory note wa-5 sufficient. It is now not necessary to resort to any such deyice, and the creditor will be held to his promise. It has also hitherto been a rule of law that, in" the case of a joint debt, judgment recovered against one of the- joint debtors operated as a release against the other or others. Under this act, however, the liability -will still, remain. Where part of the asset in the estate of a deceased person consisted of a leasehold difficulty was sometimes found in administering -the estate. .-.The executor might find him.self "persomtffy' liable for payment of rent .and for breaches of the covenants even after ■Jue had assigned to a person accepted by the lessor. r " The 'Trustees Act, 1891," permits an executor or administrator after assigning the lease, satisfying all liabilities thereunder up to the date of such assignment, and setting apart a sufficient fund to answer any future claim in respect of any fixed or ascertained sum agreed to be laid out on the property, to distribute the estate, and thereupon he becomes freed from all personal liability in respect of the lease. The act of 1904 provides that an executor or administrator shall not be personally liable on any covenant entered into by his testator or intestate as a lessee of land. Actions for the revocation of probate of a will or letters of administration with will annexed on the grounds of want of testamentary capacity or "undue influence * must now be commenced within 12 years. - An administration action is one of the most profitable matters in a solicitor's office, and the costs are apt to mount up out of all proportion to the value of the estate. An attempt has now been made to" limit the costs- by providing that they shall not be allowed out of the estate unless the judge certifies that there were reasonable grounds for the action.

One of the most important and useful provisions of the act is one relating to encroachment of buildings, although at firstsight it seems a somewhat startling interference with the rights of property. Happily it is very rare that a case of encroachment- comes before the courts. One of th-o owners of two adjoining pieces of land may quite isinocently erect his building pfartly on the land of his neighbour, and to compel him to remove it might involve great hardshifj feut before the act that is what he would have to do. In a Dunedin case decided in 1883 Mr Juttice Williams said : "It occurs to me thai it would be a considerable impr<>Yem.§nt in

the law in the "case where a man, by an honest mistake, has built so as to encroach slightly on his neighbour's boundary if the

court in an action of ejectment Blight in I its discretion allo-w him to retain the land, provided be were willing to pay its full value, or something beyond its full value. . . ." ! The Legislature, -whether consciously or unconsciously, has adopted his Honor's ! suggestion. Where it is proved) that the j encroachment was not intentional or did i not arise from gross negligence the court may give the defendant the right of retain-

ing possession of the piece of land so built

on subject to the payment of such ,sum of , money and to such' other conditions as the • court thinks just. Any order made under I the section may be registered against the j land, and will operate -as a title to the land. i-_ All owners of land are interested in the subject of fencing. It is a common practice when a block of land is cut up for sale to provide in the conditions of sale that , the purchasers are not fo make any claim ■ on -the vendor for the half-cost of dividing i fences, so that if the whole of the block does not sell the is under no 1 liability in respect, of tHe fences. It was,

however, decided by the Supreme Court that where the original purchaser sold the land the sub-purchaser was not bound by the condition if he had no notic-e thereof, and there was some doubt whether he would be bound even if he had notice.

"The Fencing Act Amendment Act, 1904," now provides that an agreement modifying the rights conferred) by " The Fencing Act, 1895," shall bind assigns and shall be registerable against the land even if under the Land Transfer Act.

The Town Districts Act enables the Governor to declare that any area, wherein there are not less than 50 householders and not being part of a borough shall be . a town district. The effect is to sever the area from the road district but not from +Jie county. A Board of Commissioners are elected in whom are vested most of the powers of a municipal corporation. The Police Offences Amendment Act renders liable to a fine every person who promotes, holds, or engages in a boxing contest for admission to which any charge is made or for which the contestants have received or been promised any reward., unless a permit has been given by the Inspector of Police. It is also provided that such permit shall be granted only on the application of a registered club or association whose rules have been approved by the Governor-in-Council. and that any constable may cause to be brought before a magistrate every person fcur;d present at

a boxing contest held in breach of the

act. It will be remembered that quite recently a projected boxing contest had to be abandoned in consequence of this act.

The Maori Antiqiu'ties Act Amendment extends the meaning _of Maori antiquities by repealing the following words in th© a£ 1901— yjg. :_ " but does not include

any private collection not intended! for sale." It is now an offence punishable by fine to remove any ' Maori antiquity from the colony without permission from the Colonial Secretary, and any article entered for export in breach of the act is forfeited to the Crown/ The Colonial Secretary is also authorised to make it a condition of any permit for removal that the owner shall allow the article to be copied by photography, casting, or otherwise.

The Administration Act Amendment provides that registrars (rf the Supreme Coxirt are not to have power to grant probate of wills or letters of , administration of the estates of deceased persons, and that copies of wills hereafter admitt-ed to probate or annexed to letters of administration are to be deposited in some suitable place in Wellington and there be open to public inspection.

The Supreme Court Judges' Salaries Act raises the salary of the Chief Judge to £2000 and that "of eac> of the five puisne judges to £1800.

The fiction of an honorarium for members of Parliament is now .transformed into a cold matt er-of-f act payment of salary for services rendered. "The Payment of Members Act, 1904," fixes the salary at the rate of £200 per annum for members of the Legislative Council and £300 per for members of the House of Representatives, plus travelling expenses to and from Wellington for one journey. Absence from Parliament for more than 14' days except for unavoidable cause involves a deduction of £1 5s and £2 respectively per day.

The Weights and Measures Act Amendment repeals the second schedule of the act of 1903 containing a table of comparison of the new measures with the old, and substitutes a new table.

"The Hidwires Act, 1904," is entitled an act to provide for tha better training of midwires and to regulate the practice of midwifery. The act (which commences on the Ist of January, 1905) renders liable to a fine every woman who, not being registered under the act, practises as a, midwife after the Ist of January, 1907. Every woman is entitled to be registered as a niidwife who satisfies the Inspector-general of Hospitals that at the commencement of the act she had been for at least three years in bona fido practice as a midwife and that she bears a good character (provided that application be made on or before the Ist of January, 1906), or holds a certificate in midwifery from any recognised training school in midwifery or a certificate under the act. Provision is made for the establishment of State midwifery hospitals wh^ro instruction in r&A-Trr.-iV" rasv bo given, and for examination of pupil nurses. The Destitute P3rsons Act Amendment contains an attempt to meet the case of men who desert their wives and children as to cause them to become a burden on the charitable aid rates. It authorises a magistrate, on the complaint of the minister or of any local authority or trustee

to make an order on the employer of the husband or father as the case may be attaching <a reasonable proportion of h*s wages. The act also authorises the magistrate making an order touching the maintenance of any destitute person or child to cause the order to be registered against the land of the person against whom it is made, whereupon the order has priority over all other liabilities of that person except mortgages and other charges made prior to the date of the order. It seems strange that the opportunity was not taken to extend the section to order's" made against husbands deserting their wives, since it has been decided that the corresponding section, * of the principal act does not apply to such orders. The Public Health Act Amendment Act provides that the cost of providing and j maintaining hospitals for the sick or per- | sons who have been in contact withraffected persons shall be apportioned amongst such local authorities as the Chief Health Officer directs in such shares as the local authorities agree- on at a meeting called by tha Chief Health Officer, and failing any such agreement as a magistrate may order, and) infixing such shares regard is to be had to the distance of the district of each local authority from the hospital and the means of access thereto and to the population of each such district. It is also made incumbent on the local authority of each borough, to provide a morgue, and any 10 ratepayers may apply for a mandamus to compel it to do so, but in the case of two or more boroughs adjoining each other, or distant not morei than two miles from each other, the borough having the larger population must provide the morgue, and the otner must contribute to the cost thereof unless it provides a morgue for itself. Where there is no public morgue within a distance of | three miles from any public hospital, ih© I deadhouse of such hospital is to be deemed I a public morgue. In future no innkeeper 1 I can be compelled to receive into his premises any dead body if such premises be situated within three miles of a publics morgue. For many years past two courses were open to the promoters of a company formed for mining purposes — either to register the company m the ordinarj' way under the Companies Act or under the Mining Act; but there were so many difficulties under the latter act as to the enforcement of payment of calls and forfeiture of shares that very few companies have of late years been registered under it — at anyrate in this part of the colony. From time to time attempts have been made to bring all mining companies under the pro-vish-L's ol the Mining Coiapaaks Ai-c, b-jfi although various sections have from tune; to time been made applicable, the attempts have in the main failed. " The Mining Companies Act, 1904,'' is a consolidation, in that it repeals "Ths Mining Companies Act, 1894," and the various amendments, and embodies all that is distinctive in those acts. The position is A however, very much

Simplified- by adopting all- the machinery, sections ■of " The Companies Act, 1903." The important point, however, is the provision that all mining companies registered or deemed to be registered tinder "The Companies Act, 1903," are to be deemed to be registered under this act. In- future/ therefore} calls "cannot be recovered unless an action is commenced within 14 days after the call becomes payable. If proceedings haye 1 not been so - taken the call remains unpaid after the expiration of 21 days/ the share is-- absolutely forfeited. •Within seven days thereafter the secretary anust send to the shareholder notice of the forfeiture,, -whereupon lie may redeem the share, but first it mast be "offered, for sale by public auction not eariier than 28 nor more than 42 days after the 'forfeiture. If there is £ surplus it belongs to' the "default^ ing shareholder, and if there-is a, deficiencyhe is liable for it. ,No person is eligible for election as director of may sit as .such if he holds any office or place "of profit under the" company^ is * concerned- in ; - any contract, with the company, is indebted to. the company for caUs/,or is a shareholder" 'rand has 'within a period of -six' months dealt lin His shares. This appears' to -prevent .vendors from being, appointed directors. „; The oily section of^ th.c Enblic { "Works iAet Amendment Act calling' for remarSv is; that allowing the registration* of a transfer or conveyance of land abutting on a street or road not less-fhan 40ft- in width.if the plan- of subdivision was dieposited before the passing of "The Public Works Act Amendment Act, 1900." This was intended to permit the sale of several town- j ships in the vicinity of Dunedin which had i *>een laid out with roads 6Q' links * wide, , but as 60 links are some inches short of,, 40ft the section has failed to secure its ; object. • ... '^ '\ ,The-3?ertilisers Act requires 'every person! 'dealing in • fertilisers to register his name , and address with the Secretary of Agri- ] culture in Wellington, 'and must deposit a j iac simile of his brand and a' description j of the fertiliser in which he deals. He" \ •must affix his brandi to every package., and j an case of sales of scwt" or over- he must deliver a description of the fertiliser to the purchaser. Provision is made for the appointment of analysts whose duty vwill ■be to analyse fertilisers and for the prosecution of vendors offending against the act.- ' ', • The Legislature is gradually increasing the liability of ' employers in respect of ; accidents to their workers. The latest j turn _of jfche screw is contained in " The i Workers' Compensation for Accidents Act j Amendment kct, "1904." Previously the>l compensation was calculated'-on the period, during ; which -the worker - was at during the previous 42 s months if he was'so long in the employment of^,the same. em- j ployer, but if not then for such- less period j during which he was in the employment of the same employer. Now the reference to "the .same' employer " is deleted and the compensation is calculated by reference to the average of the weekly earnings during the- previous 12 months>C The Legislature has also provided (by "The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act Amendment Act, 1904") for the difficulty which occurred in the North ; •Island, where a person erecting a building, iby day labour was held not to be subject to the award affecting the building trade because that was not his trade.

3-unner Reeves , Captain Dodds 3-unner Keenan -orporal Montgomery 3unner Groves Bugler Montgomery 3-urmer Jas. Montgomery 3unner Love 3-umier Docherty Lieutenant "Braithwaite .. yds. .. 42 .. 45 .. 43 .. 44 .. 43 .. 42 .. 37 .. 40 .. 40 .. 34 yds. Tl. 46 — 88 42 — 87 40 — 83 37 — 81 3i — 77 33 — 75 35 — 72 30 — 70 28 — 65 28 — 62 ?«a

Cr R. York .. .. „, .. It Jas. Murray Ir R. M. Corkindale .. [r A. TV. "Robertson Ir P. Vennell , .. .. Ir 3 as. Martin ( . . . . [r Thos. Corry Ir Win. M'Keiizie !aptain Ellis .. .. .. Ir Fuldseth yds. .. 40 .. 39 .. 43 .. 40 .. 38 .. 38 .. 42 .. 37 -. 38 .. S3 yds. 'Tl. 41 — 81 38 — 77 34 — 77 35 — 75 35 — 75 35 — 7S 30 — 72 34 — 71 31 — 69 34 — 67 Total POET CHALMERS 3 nava: .. ..735 ILS.