given in pursuance of this Act, as they have with respect to guardians acting under and relief given in pursuance of the Acts relating to the relief of the poor, and relief given in pursuance of this Act shall be deemed to be relief within the meaning of those Acts.

It will be observed that the preceding section on which this clause was dependent is now repealed. But see the new enactment in sec. 34 of the 39 & 40 Vict., c. 79, post.

ELECTIONS.

Confirmation of Orders as to Elections, &c.

5. The orders and regulations of the Education Department mentioned in the first schedule to this Act, and all orders of the Education Department incorporating the said orders or regulations, so far as they so incorporate them, are hereby confirmed, and shall be deemed to have been duly made, and to have been within the powers contained in the principal Act, and shall continue in force until revoked or altered by any order made under the provisions of the principal Act as amended by this Act.

The Elementary Education (Elections) Act, 1872, contained a provision to the effect that orders made by the Education Department under the powers contained in the first part of the second schedule of the Act of 1870 (with reference to the election and retirement of members of a school board), should not be of any force as regards any election after the 1st of September, 1873, unless confirmed by Parliament. The orders and regulations specified in the first schedule are confirmed, and continued in operation until revoked or altered by the Education Department. The section also precludes any question as to the validity of the orders and regulations in question.

A subsequent Act (37 & 38 Vict. c. 90, post) declares the validity of certain orders of the Education Department with respect to united school districts. For regulations which have since been issued by the Education Department, see pp. 330-359.

Election of School Board.

6. The principal Act shall be construed as if there were substituted for the rules numbered one and three in the first part of the second schedule to the principal Act the rules in the second schedule to this Act, and the references in the principal Act to the second schedule to that Act, or the first

part of that schedule, shall be construed to refer to the said schedule, or the first part thereof, with the provisions so substituted; but the said substitution shall not affect anything done before the passing of this Act.

The rules now substituted for those prescribed by the Act of 1870 (33 & 34 Vict., c. 75, ante) empower the Education Department to make regulations as to the election of school boards, and the duties and expenses of the officers requisite for the purpose of the election. A poll, however, is to be taken so far as circumstances admit in the same manner as a poll at a contested municipal election under the Ballot Act, 1872, and in parishes not situate in the city of London or in a borough, other than the boroughs of Oxford and Wenlock, the rate-book of the parish will be the register of the ratepayers entitled to vote. The rules numbered one and three in the first part of the second schedule to the Act of 1870, and for which the new rules are substituted, are repealed by sec. 28, subject to the provisions contained in that section.

Overseers to allow Inspection of Rate-books and otherwise assist Returning Officers.

7. If any overseer or other officer has in his possession or under his control any rate-book (1) or other document which under the Elementary Education Acts, 1870 and 1873, or any order made thereunder, constitutes the register of persons entitled to vote at an election of a school board, or at the passing of a resolution for an application for a school board, and such overseer or other officer refuses or fails to comply with the directions of any order of the Education Department confirmed by this Act, or made in pursuance of the Elementary Education Acts, 1870 and 1873, with respect to the production, inspection, or copying of such book or document, or the assisting any returning officer at any such election or passing of a resolution, such overseer or officer shall be liable, on summary conviction (2), to a penalty not exceeding five pounds for every day during which he so refuses or fails.

(1) For provision as to the rate-book being the register of the ratepayers entitled to vote in an election, see second schedule (1.) c. See also sec. 79 of the 33 & 34 Vict., c. 75, ante.

(2) As to proceedings for recovery of penalties on summary conviction, see secs. 23 & 24.

Amendment of 33 & 34 Vict., c. 75, s. 91, as to Corrupt
Practices at Elections.

8. Every person who under the principal Act is disqualified by a conviction for corrupt practices at any election from exercising any franchise for any term of years shall be also disqualified during the same term of years from being a member of a school board and from holding any municipal

office.

This cures a defect in the Act of 1870. A person convicted of corrupt practices at the election of a member of a school board, was by see. 91 of that Act disqualified for the term of six years after the election from exercising any franchise at a school board election, or at any municipal or parliamentary election. If, however, the person guilty of the corrupt practices was a candidate for election as a member of the school board, and was returned as elected, he was not disqualified for acting as a member of the board, notwithstanding that the corrupt practices might have secured his election.

A member of a school board who is convicted of an offence under sec. 34 of the Act of 1870 is not guilty of corrupt practices within the meaning of this section. See note to sec. 34 of 33 & 34 Vict., c. 75, ante, as to the case of R. v. Dudley School Board.

Questioning of Election and Resolution.

9. The election of any member of a school board, and the passing of a resolution for an application for a school board under the Elementary Education Acts, 1870 and 1873, shall not be questioned except within six months after the declaration of the election of such member or of the passing of such resolution, whether such declaration was made before or after the passing of this Act.

See also sec. 84 of the Act of 1870 as to the time within which any question as to the legality of an order of the Education Department can be raised, and sec. 30, No. 3, as to defects in the election of persons acting as members of a school board not vitiating the proceedings of the board in which they have taken part.

MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS OF 33 & 34 VICT., c. 75. Amendment of 33 & 34 Vict. c. 75, s. 57, as to Loans.

10. The principal Act and Acts referring thereto shall be construed as if, for section fifty-seven, which is repealed by this Act, there were substituted the following section:

Where a school board have incurred or require to incur any expense (1), either—

(a.) in providing or enlarging a schoolhouse; or
(b.) in paying off any debt charged on a schoolhouse
provided by them, or on any land acquired by
them by gift, transfer, purchase or otherwise for
the purposes of this Act (2); or

(c.) in any works of improving or fitting up a school-
house which, in the opinion of the Education
Department, ought by reason of the permanent
character of such works to be spread over a
term of years (3),

they may, with the consent of the Education Department, spread the payment over such number of years, not exceeding fifty, as may be sanctioned by the Education Department, and may, with the like consent, for that purpose borrow money on security of the school fund and local rate, and may charge that fund and the local rate with the payment of the principal and interest due in respect of the loan. They may, if they so agree with the. mortgagee, pay the amount borrowed with the interest by equal annual instalments not exceeding fifty, and if they do not so agree they shall annually set aside one-fiftieth of the sum borrowed as a sinking fund: Provided that no such consent of the Education Department shall be granted unless proof be given to their satisfaction that the additional school accommodation which it is proposed to supply is required in order to provide for the educational wants of the district: (4)

For the purpose of such borrowing, the clauses of "The Commissioners Clauses Act, 1847," with respect to the mortgages to be executed by the Commissioners, shall be incorporated with this Act; and in the construction of those clauses for the purpose of this Act, this Act shall be deemed to be the special Act, and the school board which is borrowing shall be deemed to be the commissioners: (5)

The Public Works Loan Commissioners may, on the recommendation of the Education Department, lend any money required under this section on the security of the school fund and local rate without requiring any further or other security, such loan to be repaid within such number of years, not exceeding fifty, as may be

recommended by the Education Department, and to bear interest at the rate of three and a half per cent. per annum. (6)

The said substitution shall not affect anything done before the passing of this Act, except that anything done before the passing of this Act which would have been legal if the said substitution had been made shall be legal..

(1) Sec. 57 of the 33 & 34 Vict., c. 75, ante, which is now repealed, empowered the school board, with the consent of the Education Department, to borrow when they "incur any expense in providing or enlarging a schoolhouse." These words were construed by the Public Works Loan Commissioners as requiring that the school board before they obtained a loan should not only have incurred a liability for the expense, but have actually paid the amount. The school boards, in order to pay the contractors and place themselves in a position to obtain a loan from the Commissioners, were obliged therefore to overdraw their account with their treasurer or otherwise obtain a temporary loan; but the auditors held that there was no legal authority for the payment of interest on the amounts thus obtained, and disallowed the charges. These difficulties are now met by the terms of the present section, which authorise the borrowing not only when the school board "have incurred," but also when they "require to incur any expense' for the purposes specified.

(2) With regard to debts charged on a schoolhouse transferred to a school board, see sec. 23 of the 33 & 34 Vict., c. 75, ante.

(3) The power to borrow for these purposes was not specifically given by the Act of 1870.

Permanent school fittings, such as desks and fittings, may be provided for by loan, but not books and ordinary school apparatus.

See also sec. 15 of the 39 & 40 Vict., c. 79, post, as to the powers of a school board to borrow for the purpose of providing certified industrial schools and certified day industrial schools, and sec. 42 of that Act, as to their power of borrowing for providing an office.

(4) The school fund and local rate are defined by sec. 4 of the 33 & 34 Vict., c. 75, ante, and Schedule 1, to that Act.

If the amount borrowed with the interest is to be paid off by equal annual instalments of principal and interest combined in fifty years, the amount to be paid in each year in respect of principal and interest for each 1007. borrowed will be 41. 58. 34d., when the loan is at the rate of 34 per cent. At 4 per cent. the annual payment will be 4l. 138. 14d., at 44 per cent. 5l. 18. 2}d., and at 5 per cent. 5l. 98. 6d.

In the case of loans for industrial schools, the consent of the Secretary of State, and not that of the Education Department, is to be obtained (39 & 40 Vict., c. 79, s. 15, post).

The proviso to the clause is new, and was added in the House of Lords. It was generally the practice of the Education Department, in dealing with an application for their sanction to a loan under the Act of 1870, to consent to the proposal of the school board to borrow-the school board having been chosen to represent the ratepayers of the district-although the school accommodation proposed to be provided might appear to be in excess of that