VII. That from after the passing of this Act it shall and may be lawful for the said principal officers of the Ordnance, and their successors for the time being, to sue in the name and by the description of "The principal Officers of His Majesty's Ordnance," without naming them or any of them, in all actions, suits, and proceedings whatsoever concerning the estates and interests which now are or hereafter may be vested in them by virtue of the said Acts or any of them, or of this Act, or otherwise howsoever, and also upon all covenants and contracts whatsoever, now or hereafter made by the said officers of the said Ordnance relating to the said service, and upon all other cause and causes of action concerning the goods or chattels, stores, monies, and other property under the care, controul, and disposition of the officers of His Majesty's Ordnance; and that no such action, suit, or proceeding shall abate or be delayed by reason of the death, removal, or resignation of any of such principal officers.

VIII. Provided, That no officer of His Majesty's Ordnance shall be personally liable, nor shall the property of any such officer be liable, to any legal process or execution in such actions or suits as aforesaid.

IX. That from and after the passing of this Act it shall and may be lawful for two or more of the principal officers of His Majesty's Ordnance, and any such two or more principal officers are hereby empowered to exercise and execute all powers, authorities, and duties, and to perform, do, and execute all acts, deeds, matters, and things appertaining to their office, which, by any Act or Acts now in force, or otherwise, may or ought to be, or in case this provision had not been made could or might hereafter have been exercised, executed, performed, or done by three or more of such principal officers; and all such acts, deeds, matters, and things done, performed, and executed by two or more of the said principal officers in their respective offices shall be as valid and effectual to all intents and purposes as if done, performed, and executed by three or more of the said principal officers.

x. That in all contracts of every description, and in all conveyances, surrenders, leases, and other deeds and instruments whatsoever relating to the publice service, which from and after the passing of this Act shall or may be made or entered into by, to, or with the principal officers of the Ordnance for the time being, or any two or more of them, or whereunto they or any two or more of them shall or may be parties, it shall be sufficient to call or describe the said principal officers by the style or title of "The principal Officers of His Majesty's Ordnance," without naming them or any of them; and that all such contracts, conveyances, surrenders, leases, and other deeds and instruments wherein the said principal officers shall be called or described by their style or title as aforesaid, and the execution thereof respectively by the said principal officers or any two or more of them, shall be as valid and effectual, and shall have the like force and operation, to all intents and purposes whatsoever, as if the said principal officers, or any two or more of them, had been particularly named and described therein.

CAP. XXVI.

AN ACT to authorize the Commissioners for auditing the Public Accounts of Great Britain to examine and audit Accounts of the Receipt and Expenditure of Colonial Revenues.

(9th April 1832.)

CAP. XXVII.

AN ACT for altering and amending an Act passed in the present Session of Parliament for the Prevention, as far as may be possible, of the Disease called the Cholera, or Spasmodic, or Indian Cholera in Scotland.

CAP. XXVIII.

(9th April 1832.)

AN ACT for punishing Mutiny and Desertion; and for the better Payment of the Army and their Quarters.

(9th April 1832.)

1. Number of the forces, 89,478 men, exclusive of the regiments employed in the territorial possessions of the East India Company, but including the officers and men of the troops and companies recruiting for those regiments.-Crimes punishable by death, or as a Court Martial may award.

II. The ordinary course of law not to be interfered with.-(This section is the same as in c. 23. s. 2, using the word soldier instead of marine.)

VOL. X. STAT.

F

III. Soldiers not to be taken away from the Service for Debts under 301.-That no person whatever (except an apprentice) enlisted into His Majesty's service as a soldier shall be liable to be arrested or taken therefrom by reason of the warrant of any Justice, on account of any breach of contract or engagement to serve or work for any employer; and no person enlisted as a soldier, or serving as a non-commissioned officer or drummer on the permanent staff of the disembodied militia, shall be liable to be taken out of His Majesty's service by any process or execution whatsoever, other than for some criminal matter, unless an affidavit shall be made by the plaintiff, or some one on his behalf, for which no fee shall be taken, before some Judge of the court out of which such process or execution shall issue, or before some person authorized to take affidavits in such courts, of which affidavit a memorandum shall, without fee, be indorsed upon the back of such process, that the original debt for which the action has been brought or execution sued out amounts to the value of 501. at least, over and above all costs of suit in the action or actions on which the same shall be grounded; and any Judge of such court may examine into any complaints made by a soldier, or by his superior officer, and by warrant under bis hand discharge such soldier without fee, he being shewn to be duly enlisted, and to have been arrested contrary to the intent of this Act, and shall award reasonable costs to such complainant, who shall have for the recovery thereof the like remedy as would have been applicable to the recovery of any costs which might have been awarded against the complainant in any judgment or execution as aforesaid; provided that any plaintiff upon notice of the cause of action first given in writing to any soldier, or left at his last place of residence before such listing, may file a common appearance in any action to be brought for or upon account of any debt whatsoever, and proceed therein to judgment and outlawry, and have execution other than and against the body.

IV. The King may make articles of war in conformity with this Act.

v. Constitution of courts-martial.

VI. Composition of general courts-martial.

VII. Powers of general courts-martial.

VIII. Trial by general court-martial for embezzlement.

IX. Powers of district or garrison courts-martial.

x. Regimental court-martial.

XI. Marking a deserter.

XII. Powers of a detachment court-martial.

XIII. Mixture of officers upon courts-martial.

XIV. Power to administer oaths.

XV. Proceedings of courts-martial.

xvi. Appeal.

XVII. Report of proceedings of general courts-martial.

XVIII. Transportation from the United Kingdom.

XIX. Transportation from the colonies.

xx. Offences against former mutiny Acts may be tried under this Act.

XXI. Subsequent enlistment no protection from punishment for desertion.

XXII. Apprehension of Deserters.-That it shall be lawful for the constable of any place where any person reasonably sus pected to be a deserter shall be found, or of any adjoining place, and if no such constable can be immediately met with, then for any officer or soldier in His Majesty's service, to apprehend or cause such suspected person to be apprehended, and to cause him to be brought before any Justice living in or near such place, and acting for the same or any adjoining county, who hath hereby power to examine such suspected person; and if by his confession, or the testimony of one or more witnesses upon oath, or by the knowledge of such Justice, it shall appear that such suspected person is a soldier, and ought to be with the corps to which he belongs, such Justice shall forthwith cause him to be conveyed to some public prison in such place, or if there be no public prison in such place, then, at the discretion of such Justice of the Peace, to the nearest or most convenient public prison in the same or any next adjoining county, or if such deserter shall be apprehended by any party of soldiers of his own regiment, or shall be apprehended in the vicinity of the head quarters or of any depôt of the regiment to which he shall belong, then such Justice may deliver such deserter to the party of his regiment, or may order such deserter to be taken to the head quarters or depot of the regiment to which he shall belong, instead of committing him to prison; and such Justice shall transmit an account thereof, in the form prescribed in the schedule annexed to this Act, to the Secretary at War, specifying at the foot thereof the commitment to prison or delivery of such deserter to the party of his regiment, in order for his being taken to the head quarters or depôt of his regiment, as the case may be, to the end that such person may be removed by an order from the office of the said Secretary at War, and proceeded against according to law; and such Justice shall also send to the Secretary at War a Report, stating the names of the persons by whom the deserter was apprehended and secured; and the Secretary at War shall transmit to such Justice an order for the payment to such persons of such sum, not exceeding 40s., as the Secretary at War shall be satisfied they are entitled to, according to the true intent and meaning of this Act: Provided also, that no fee or reward shall be taken by any Justice, or his clerk, in respect of any information, commitment, or report as aforesaid.

XXIII. Fraudulent Confession of Desertion.-That any person who shall voluntarily deliver himself up as a deserter from His Majesty's forces or the embodied militia, or the forces of the East India Company, or who, upon being apprehended for any offence, shall, in the presence of the Justice, confess himself to be a deserter as aforesaid, shall be deemed to have been duly enlisted and to be a soldier, and shall be liable to serve in any of His Majesty's forces, as His Majesty shall think fit to appoint, whether such person shall have been ever actually enlisted as a soldier or not; or shall be liable to be punished as a

rogue and vagabond, or may be prosecuted and punished for obtaining money under false pretences; and the confession and receiving subsistence as a soldier by such person shall be evidence of the false pretence and obtaining money; and if the person so confessing himself to be a deserter shall be serving at the time in any of His Majesty's forces, he shall be deemed to be and shall be dealt with as a deserter.

XXIV. Penalty for inducing or assisting to desert.—That every person who shall in any part of His Majesty's dominions, directly or indirectly, persuade any soldier to desert, shall suffer such punishment by fine or imprisonment, or both, as the Court before which the conviction may take place shall adjudge; and every person who shall assist any deserter, knowing him to be such, in deserting or in concealing himself, shall forfeit for every such offence the sum of 201.

XXV. Penalty for forcible entry.-That every commissioned officer who shall, without warrant from one or more of His Majesty's Justices, forcibly enter into or break open the dwelling-house or outhouses of any person whomsoever, under pretence of searching for deserters, shall upon due proof thereof, forfeit the sum of 201.

XXVI. Custody of offenders under a military sentence.

XXVII. Custody of Deserters.-That the gaoler or person having the immediate inspection of any prison, gaol, or house of correction in every part of His Majesty's dominions, shall diet and supply every soldier with fuel and other necessaries, according to the regulations of the prison to which he shall be committed, and shall receive on account of every soldier, during the period of his imprisonment, 6d. per diem, which the Secretary at War shall cause to be issued out of the subsistence of such soldier, upon application in writing, signed by any Justice within whose jurisdiction such place of confinement shall be locally situated, together with a copy of the order of commitment, and which sum of 6d. per diem shall be carried to the credit of the fund from which the expense of such prison or house of correction is defrayed; and such gaoler is hereby required to receive and confine every deserter who shall be delivered into his custody by any soldier conveying such deserter under lawful authority, on production of the Warrant of the Justice of the Peace on which such deserter shall have been taken, or some order from the office of the Secretary at War, and such gaoler shall be entitled to 1s. for the safe custody of the said deserter, while halted on the march, and to such subsistence for his maintenance as shall be directed by His Majesty's regulations. XXVIII. Notice of expiration of imprisonment.

XXIX. Persons subject to this Act as military persons.

xxx. Foreign troops in this country.

XXXI. Militia and Yeomanry.—That nothing in this Act contained shall in anywise be construed to extend to any of the militia forces or yeomanry or volunteer corps in Great Britain or Ireland, excepting only in such cases wherein by any Act or Acts for regulating any of the said forces or corps, the provisions contained in any Act for punishing mutiny and desertion shall be specifically made applicable to the said corps.

XXXII. Limitations as to certain islands.

XXXIII. Enlisting and swearing of Recruits.-When any person shall be enlisted as a soldier in His Majesty's land service, he shall within four days, but not sooner than twenty-four hours after such enlisting, appear, together with some person employed in the recruiting service of the party with which he shall have enlisted, before a Justice residing in the vicinity of the place, and acting for the division or district where such recruit shall have been enlisted, and not being an officer in the army; and if such recruit shall declare his having voluntarily enlisted, the said Justice shall put to him the several questions contained in the schedule to this Act annexed, and shall record or cause to be recorded, in writing, his answers thereunto; and the said Justice is hereby required forthwith to cause the answers so recorded in writing, and the first and second articles of the second section of the articles of war against mutiny and desertion to be read over, in his own presence, to such recruit, and to administer to such recruit the oath in the schedule to this Act annexed, for limited or unlimited service, or for service in the forces of the East India Company, as may be applicable to the case of the recruit, and no other oaths, anything in any Acts to the contrary notwithstanding; and the said Justice is hereby required to give, under his hand, the certificate in the schedule to this Act annexed; and if any such recruit so to be certified shall refuse to take the oath in the schedule to this Act annexed, before the said Justice, it shall be lawful for the officer or non-commissioned officer with whom he enlisted to detain and confine such person until he shall take the said oath of fidelity.

XXXIV, Dissent and relief from enlistment. (This section is exactly similar to sec 34 of cap. 23, only substituting the army for the marines, and the word soldier for marine.)

Xxxv. Offences connected with enlistment. (This is the same as sec. 37 of cap. 23, changing marine into soldier, the marine service into the army, and Secretary of the Admiralty into Secretary at War.)

XXXVI. Officers offending against laws regarding enlistment to be cashiered.

XXXVII. Enlistment and re-enlistment abroad.

XXXVIII. Enlistment of negroes.

XXXIX. Apprentice enlisting to be liable to serve after the expiration of his apprenticeship.-(Similar to 35th section of cap. 23, substituting the army or East India Company's service for marines.)

Claims of Masters to Apprentices.

XL. That no master shall be entitled to claim an apprentice who shall enlist as a soldier in His Majesty's or the East India Company's service, unless he shall, within one calendar month after such apprentice shall have left his service, go before some Justice and take the oath mentioned in the schedule to this Act annexed, and produce the certificate of such Justice of his having taken such oath, which certificate such Justice is required to give in the form in the schedule to this Act annexed; and unless such apprentice shall have been bound, if in England, for the full term of seven years, not having been above the age of fourteen when so bound, prior to the period of enlistment; and unless such contract or indenture so duly executed shall,

within three months after the commencement of the apprenticeship, and before the period of enlistment, have been produced to a Justice of the Peace of the county wherein the parties reside, and there shall have been indorsed thereon by such Justice a certificate or declaration signed by him, specifying the date when and the person by whom such contract or indenture shall have been so produced, which certificate or declaration such Justice of the Peace is hereby required to indorse and sign; and unless such apprentice shall, when claimed by such master, be under twenty-one years of age; provided that any master of an apprentice indentured for the sea service shall be entitled to claim and recover him in the form and manner above directed, notwithstanding such apprentice may have been bound for a less term than as aforesaid; and any such master, who shall give up the indentures of apprenticeship within one month after the enlisting of such apprentice, shall be entitled to receive, to his own use, so much of the bounty payable to such recruit, after deducting therefrom two guineas to provide him with necessaries, as shall not have been paid to such recruit before notice given of his being an apprentice.

XLI. Punishment of Apprentices enlisting.-That no apprentice claimed by his master shall be taken from any corps or recruiting party but under a warrant of a Justice residing near and within whose jurisdiction such apprentice shall then happen to be, before whom he shall be carried, and such Justice shall inquire into the matter upon oath, which oath he is hereby empowered to administer, and shall require the production and proof of the indenture, and that notice of the said warrant has been given to the commanding officer, and a copy thereof left with some officer or non-commissioned officer of the party, and that such person so enlisted declared that he was no apprentice; and such Justice, if required by such officer or non-commissioned officer, shall commit the offender to the common gaol of the said place, and shall keep the indenture, to be produced when required, and shall bind over such person as he may think proper to give evidence against the offender, who shall be tried at the next or at the session immediately succeeding the next general or quarter sessions of the county, division, or place, unless the Court shall on just cause put off the trial; and the production of the indenture, with the certificate of the Justices that the same was proved, shall be sufficient evidence of the said indenture; provided that any Justice not required as aforesaid to commit such apprentice may deliver him to his master.

Musters and Penalty on False Musters.

XLII. Every person who shall give or procure to be given any untrue certificate, whereby to excuse any soldier for his absence from any muster or any other service which he ought to attend or perform, if the person giving such untrue certificate shall not have any military commission, he shall forfeit for every such offence the sum of 501.; and any person who shall falsely be mustered or offer himself to be mustered, or lend or furnish any horse to be falsely mustered, shall, upon oath made by two witnesses before some Justice of the Peace residing near the place where such muster shall be made, forfeit the sum of 201. XLIII. Musters in and near Westminster.

XLIV. Forfeiture of pay.

XLV. Extension of furlough. That when there shall not be any military officer of rank, not inferior to captain, or any adjutant of regular militia, within convenient distance of the place where any non-commissioned officer or soldier on furlough shall be detained by sickness or other casualty rendering necessary any extension of such furlough, it shall be lawful for any Justice who shall be satisfied of such necessity, to grant an extension of furlough for a period not exceeding one month; and the said Justice shall immediately certify such extension, and the cause thereof, to the commanding officer of the corps or detachment to which the man belongs, if known, and if not, then to the agent of the regiment, in order that the proper sum may be remitted to the soldier, who shall not during the period of such extension of furlough be liable to be treated as a deserter; provided that nothing herein contained shall be construed to exempt any soldier from trial and punishment, according to the provisions of this Act, for any false representation made by him in that behalf to the said Justice, or for any breach of discipline committed by him in applying for and obtaining the said extension of furlough.

XLVI. Marching money on discharge.

XLVII. Commissaries to attest their accounts.

XLVIII. Issue of pay of the army.

XLIX. Penalty for disobedience by agents.

L. How and where Troops may be billeted. That it shall be lawful for all constables of parishes and places, and other persons specified in this Act, in England and Ireland, and they are hereby required, to billet the officers and soldiers in His Majesty's service, and persons receiving pay in His Majesty's army, and the horses belonging to His Majesty's cavalry, and also all staff and field officers' horses, and all bât and baggage horses belonging to any of His Majesty's other forces, when on actual service, Not exceeding for each officer the number for which forage is or shall be allowed by His Majesty's regulations, in victualling houses and other houses specified in this Act; and that they shall be received by the occupiers of such houses in which they are so allowed to be billeted, and be furnished with proper accommodation in such houses, and in England with diet and small beer, and with stables, hay, and straw for such horses as aforesaid, paying and allowing for the same the several rates hereinafter provided; and at no time when troops are on a march shall any of them, whether infantry or cavalry, be billeted above one mile from the place mentioned in the route; and in all places where cavalry shall be billeted in pursuance of this Act, the men and their horses shall be billeted in one and the same house, except in case of necessity; and in no other case whatsoever shall there be less than one man billeted where there shall be one or two horses, nor less than two men where there shall be four horses, and so in proportion for a greater number; and in no case shall a man and his horse be billeted at a greater distance from each other than one hundred yards; and the constables are hereby required to billet all soldiers and their horses on their march in a just and equal proportion upon the keepers of all houses within one mile of the place mentioned in the route, although some of such houses may be in the adjoining county, in like manner in every respect as if such houses were locally situate within such place; provided that nothing herein contained shall be construed to extend to authorize any constable to billet soldiers out of the county to which such constable belongs, when the constable of the adjoining county shall be

present and undertake to billet the due proportion of men in such adjoining county; and no more billets shall at any time be ordered than there are effective soldiers and horses present to be billeted; all which billets, when made out by such constables, shall be delivered into the hands of the commanding officer present; and if any person shall find himself aggrieved by having an undue proportion of soldiers billeted in his house, and shall prefer his complaint, if against a constable or other person not being a Justice, to one or more Justices, and if against a Justice, then to two or more Justices, within whose jurisdiction such soldiers are billeted, such Justice respectively shall have power to order such of the soldiers to be removed, and to be billeted upon other persons, as they shall see cause; and when any of His Majesty's cavalry or any horses as aforesaid shall be billeted upon the occupiers of houses in which officers or soldiers may be quartered by virtue of this Act, who shall have no stables, then and in such case, upon the written requisition of the commanding officer of the regiment, troop, or detachment, the constable is hereby required to billet the men and their horses, or horses only, upon some other persons who have stables by this Act liable to have officers and soldiers billeted upon them; and upon complaint being made by the person or persons to whose house or stables the said men and horses shall have been so removed to two or more Justices within whose jurisdiction such men or horses shall be so billeted, it shall be lawful for such Justices to order a proper allowance to be paid by the persons relieved to the persons receiving such men and horses, or to be applied in the furnishing the requisite accommodation; and commanding officers may exchange any man or horse billeted in any place with another man or horse billeted in the same place, for the benefit of the service, provided the number of men and horses do not exceed the number at that time billeted on such houses; and the constables are hereby required to billet such men and horses so exchanged accordingly; and it shall be lawful for any Justice, at the request of any officer or non-commissioned officer commanding any soldiers requiring billets, to extend any routes or enlarge the district within which billets shall be required, in such manner as shall appear to be most convenient to the troops; provided that, to prevent or punish all abuses in billeting soldiers, it shall be lawful for any Justice within his jurisdiction, by warrant or order under his hand, to require any constable to give him an account in writing of the number of officers and soldiers who shall be quartered by such constable, together with the names of the persons upon whom such officers and soldiers are billeted, stating the street or place where such persons dwell, and the sign, if any, belonging to those houses; and it shall be lawful to billet officers and soldiers in Scotland according to the provisions of the laws in force in Scotland at the time of its union with England; and no officer shall be obliged to pay for his lodging where he shall be regularly billeted, except in the suburbs of Edinburgh.

LI. Billeting the guards in and near Westminster.

LII. Military officer not to act as a Justice in billeting.

LIII. Allowance to innkeepers. (This clause is similar to the 46th section, substituting soldier for marine, and the agent of the regiment for the Secretary of the Admiralty.)

LIV. Definition of terms. (Similar to the 61st section of cap. 23.)-Powers and regulations as to billets.-Exemptions from billets.

LV. Supply of Carriages.-That for the regular provision of carriages for his Majesty's forces, and their baggage, in their marches in England, all Justices of the Peace within their several jurisdictions, being duly required thereunto by an order from His Majesty, or the General of His Forces, or the Master General or Lieutenant General of His Majesty's Ordnance, or other person duly authorized in that behalf, shall, on production of such order to such Justices by some officer or non-commissioned officer of the regiment so ordered to march, issue a warrant to any constable having authority to act in any place from, through, near, or to which the troop shall be ordered to march, (for each of which warrants the fee of 1s. only shall be paid,) requiring him to provide the carriages, horses, and oxen, and drivers therein mentioned, and allowing sufficient time to do the same, specifying places from and to which the said carriages shall travel, and the number of miles between the places, for which number only so specified payment shall be demanded, and which number of miles shall not, except in cases of pressing emergency, exceed a day's march prescribed in the order of route, and shall in no cases exceed twenty-five miles; and the constables receiving such warrants shall order such persons as they shall think proper, having carriages, to furnish the requisite supply, who are hereby required to furnish the same accordingly; and when sufficient carriages cannot be procured within the proper jurisdiction, any Justice of the next adjoining jurisdiction shall, by a like course of proceeding, supply the deficiency; and in order that the burthen of providing carriages may fall equally, and to prevent inconvenience arising from there being no Justice residing near the place where troops may be quartered on the march, any Justice residing nearest to such place may cause a list to be made out, at least once in every year, of all persons liable to furnish such carriages, and of the number and description of their said carriages, (which lists shall at all seasonable hours be open to the inspection of the said persons,) and may by warrant under his hand authorize the constables within his jurisdiction to give orders to provide carriages, without any special warrant for that purpose, which orders shall be valid in all respects; and all orders for such carriages shall be made from such lists in regular rotation, as far as the same can be done.

LVI. Rates to be paid, and mode of proceeding.-(Exactly similar to the 48th section of cap. 23, substituting Secretary at War for Secretary of the Admiralty.)

LVII. Supply of Carriages in cases of emergency. That it shall be lawful for His Majesty, by his or their order, distinctly stating that a case of emergency doth exist, signified by the Secretary at War, to authorize any general or field officer commanding His Majesty's forces in any district or place, or to the chief acting agent for the supply of stores and provisions, by writing under his hand, reciting such order of His Majesty, to require all Justices within their several jurisdictions to issue their warrants for the provision, not only of waggons, wains, carts, and cars, kept by or belonging to any person, and for any use whatsoever, but also of saddle horses, coaches, post-chaises, chaises, and other four-wheeled carriages kept for hire, and also of boats, barges, and other vessels used for the transport of any commodities whatsoever upon any canal or navigable river, as shall be mentioned in the said warrants, therein specifying the place and distance to which such carriages or vessels shall go; and on the production of such requisition to such Justice by any officer of the corps ordered to be conveyed, or by any officer of the Commissariat or Ordnance Department, such Justice shall take all the same proceedings in regard to such additional supply so required on the said emergency as he is by this Act required to take for the ordinary provision of car