legitimate or bastard child, such person, nis wife, and any child so chargeable, are liable to be removed respectively to Scotland, Ireland, &c., and if the guardians of such parish or of any union in which it is comprised, or, where there are no such guardians, the overseers of such parish, complain to two or more justices in petty sessions* assembled, or to a stipen diary magistrate, or to a Metropolitan police magistrate, they or he may, if such person do not attend voluntarily, summon him to come before two justices at a time and place named in the summons, who may hear and examine into the complaint; and if it appear that such person is liable to be removed† as aforesaid, and if they see fit, they may issue a warrant under their hands and seals, to remove him forthwith at the expense of such union or parish. CHAPTER XXXV. OF PARISH APPRENTICES. THE binding of parish apprentices is now regulated by the consolidated order of the Poor Law board of the 24th July, 1847, which contains the following regulations: No child under the age of nine years, and no child (other than a deaf and dumb child) who cannot read and write his own name, shall be bound apprentice by the guardians. * 25 & 26 Vict. c. 113, s. 1. The ground of irremovability applicable to English paupers, are equally so where the persons proposed to be removed are Scotch, Irish, &c. No child shall be so bound to a person who is not a housekeeper, or assessed to the poor rate in his own name, or who is a journeyman or person not carrying on trade or business on his own account, or who is under the age of twenty-one; or who is a married woman.* No premium other than clothing for the apprentice shall be given upon the binding of any person above the age of sixteen years, unless such person be suffering from some permanent bodily infirmity, such as may render him unfit for certain trades or sorts of work. No apprentice shall be bound by the guardians for more than eight years. No person above fourteen years shall be so bound without his consent. And no child under the age of sixteen years shall be so bound without the consent of the father of such child, or if the father be dead, or disqualified to give such consent as hereinafter provided, or, if such child be a bastard, without the consent of the mother, if living, of such child. Provided, that where such parent is transported beyond the seas, or is in custody of the law, having been convicted of some felony, or, for the space of six calendar months before the time of executing the indenture, has deserted such child, or for such space of time has been in the service of Her Ma *The 3 & 4 Vict. c. 85, s. 2, prohibits the apprenticing any child to a chimney sweeper, and all such indentures are to be void. No indenture is valid if it requires work to be done underground by a boy under ten or girl of any age in a colliery, or by a boy under twelve or a girl of any age in a metalliferous mine, jesty in any place out of the kingdom, such parent, shall be deemed to be disqualified as herein before stated; and if it be the mother, no such consent shall be required. No child shall be bound to a master whose place of business whereat the child is to work and live is more than thirty miles from the place at which the child is residing at the time of the proposed binding, or at the time of his being sent on trial to such master; unless in any particular case the commissioners shall, on application to them, otherwise permit. If the proposed master reside out of the union, but in some other union or parish under a board of guardians, the guardians shall, before proceeding to effect the binding, communicate in writing the proposal to the guardians of such other union or parish, and request to be informed whether such binding is open to any objection; and if no objection be reported by such guardians within the space of one calendar month, or if the objection does not appear to the guardians proposing to bind the child to be sufficient to prevent the binding, the same may be proceeded with, and when the indenture shall have been executed, the clerk of the guardians who executed the same shall send notice thereof in writing to the guardians of the union or parish wherein the said apprentice is to reside. Other articles prescribe the mode of executing the indenture and the stipulations to be inserted in it, at too great a length, however, to be given here. One of the most important is, that the master shall covenant, under a penalty, not to assign or cancel the indenture without the consent of the guardians under their com mon seal previously obtained, and to pay to the said guardians all costs and expenses that they may incur in consequence of the said apprentice not being sup plied with medical or surgical assistance by the master, in case the same shall at any time be requisite. The indenture shall be made subject to the following provisoes:- 1. That if the master take the benefit of any act for the relief of insolvent debtors, or be discharged under any such act, such indenture shall forthwith become of no further force or effect. 2. That if, on a conviction for a breach of any one of the aforesaid covenants and conditions before a justice of the peace, the guardians who may be parties to the said indenture declare by a resolution that the indenture is determined, and transmit a copy of such resolution under the hand of their clerk, by the post or otherwise, to the said master, such indenture, shall, except in respect of all rights and liabilities then accrued, forthwith become of no further force and effect. Nothing contained in this order is to apply to the apprenticing of poor children to the sea-service.* It will be observed, that under the above order a covenant is to be inserted in every indenture of the description to which we are now referring, that the apprentice is not to be assigned or transferred to a new master without the consent of the guardians. * The apprenticing children to the sea-service by overseers or guardians is now regulated by the 17 & 18 Vict. c. 101, ss. 141-5. Woodfall & Kinder, Printers, 70 to 76, Long Acre, London, W.C |