An Act to revive and continue temporarily the power of making Orders under the Fishery Harbours Act 1915.

[21st August 1917.]

BE it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

1. REVIVAL AND CONTINUANCE OF POWERS.-The power of making orders under the Fishery Harbours Act 1915 (5 & 6 Geo. 5, c. 48), which, in accordance with the provisions of that Act, ceased on the expiration of two years from the passing thereof, is hereby revived, and shall be continued as from the date of the passing of this Act until the thirty-first day of December nineteen hundred and eighteen, and shall then cease, unless further continued.

2. SHORT TITLE.-This Act may be cited as the Fishery Harbours (Continuance of Powers) Act 1917.

CHAPTER XL.

An Act to amend section one hundred and forty-eight of the Public Health (Ireland) Act 1878, as respects the Prevention and Treatment of Disease in Ireland.

[21st August 1917.]

7 & 8 GEORGE 5, CHAPTER 41.

CHAPTER XLI.

An Act to make further provision for raising Money for the present War, and for purposes incidental thereto. [21st August 1917.]

Most Gracious Sovereign, WE, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled, towards raising the necessary supplies granted to Your Majesty, have resolved that money be raised in manner provided by this Act; and do therefore most humbly beseech Your Majesty that it may be enacted, and be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:1. ISSUE OF NEW WAR LOAN.-(1) Any money required for the raising of any supply granted to His Majesty for the service of the year ending the thirty-first day of March nineteen hundred and eighteen, and, in addition, of a sum not exceeding two hundred and fifty million pounds, or for the raising of any sum required for cancelling securities or Treasury bills under the powers of this Act, may be raised in such manner as the Treasury think fit, and for that purpose they may create and issue any securities by means of which any public loan has been raised or may be raised, or such other securities bearing such rate of interest and subject to such conditions as to repayment, redemption, or otherwise, as they think fit.

(2) For the purpose of making the statutory provisions applicable to former war loans applicable to the war loan under this Act, subsections (2) and (3) of section one of the War Loan Act 1914 (4 & 5 Geo. 5, c. 60), and subsections (2) and (3) of section fourteen of the Finance Act 1914 (Session 2) (5 & 6 Geo. 5, c. 7) shall apply to any sums or loan raised or any securities issued under this Act as they apply to sums or loans raised or stock issued under the War Loan Act 1914; and subsections (3), (4), and (5) of section one of the War Loan Act 1915 (5 & 6 Geo. 5, c. 55) shall apply with respect to the issue of securities under this Act and to securities issued under this Act as they apply with respect to the issue of securities under that Act and to securities issued under that Act, and in those subsections as so applied any reference to war stock, war bonds, or securities issued under the War Loan Act 1914 shall be deemed to include a reference to securities issued under the War Loan Act 1915, section fifty-eight of the Finance Act 1916 (6 & 7 Geo. 5, c. 24), and the War Loan Act 1916 (6 & 7 Geo. 5, c. 57).

(3) There shall be paid to the Banks of England and Ireland respectively out of the Consolidated Fund or the growing produce thereof, for the management in every financial year of any securities issued under this Act, such sums as may be agreed upon between the Treasury and those banks respectively.

(4) Any expenses incurred in connection with the redemption of any securities issued under this Act shall be charged on and paid out of the Consolidated Fund or the growing produce thereof.

(5) The power to raise sums under this Act or under any other Act authorising the raising of any sums for the purpose of the present war, whether passed before or after this Act, shall extend, and in the case of any past Act shall be deemed always to have extended, so as to authorise the raising of those sums either within or without the United Kingdom and either in British or in any other currency.

2. SHORT TITLE AND CITATION.-This Act may be cited as the War Loan Act 1917, and the War Loan Acts 1914 to 1916 and this Act may be cited together as the War Loan Acts 1914 to 1917.

CHAPTER XLII.

An Act to provide for an addition during the present war and a period of six months thereafter to the amount of the compensation payable under the Workmen's Compensation Act 1906 in cases of total incapacity. [21st August 1917.]

BE it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and

WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION (WAR ADDITION) ACT 1917.

consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

1. TEMPORARY INCREASE OF AMOUNT OF COMPENSATION IN CASES OF TOTAL INCAPACITY. (1) Where any workman is at any time during the period for which this Act continues in force entitled during total incapacity to a weekly payment by way of compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Act 1906 (6 Edw. 7, c. 58), he shall, whether the incapacity arose before or after the commencement of this Act, be entitled to receive from the person liable to pay the compensation, by way of addition to each such weekly payment payable in respect of any week within the said period, a sum equal to one-fourth of the amount of that payment.

(2) The additional weekly sum payable under this Act shall be deemed to be part of the weekly payment under the Workmen's Compensation Act 1906 for the purposes of

(a) The provisions relating to the recovery of weekly payments;

(b) Any order made with respect to payment into court of a weekly payment; (c) The provisions of paragraph (19) of the First Schedule to the Workmen's Compensation Act 1906 (which prohibits the assignment, &c., of weekly payments);

and shall, notwithstanding that the liability to make the said weekly payment is redeemed subsequently to the commencement of this Act, continue to be payable in the same manner as if that liability had not been redeemed.

2. PROVISION WITH RESPECT TO CERTIFIED SCHEMES.-Where an employer is liable to pay benefits under a scheme certified by the Registrar of Friendly Societies under section three of the Workmen's Compensation Act 1906, the Registrar may direct that workmen, who are at any time during the period for which this Act continues in force entitled to benefits under the scheme as on account of total incapacity, shall receive such additional benefit as is specified by the Registrar in the direction as being in his opinion of equivalent value to the additional sum payable under the foregoing provisions of this Act.

3. COMMENCEMENT AND SHORT TITLE.-(1) This Act shall come into operation on the first day of September nineteen hundred and seventeen, and shall continue in force during the continuance of the present war and for a period of six months thereafter.

(2) This Act may be cited as the Workmen's Compensation (War Addition) Act 1917.

CHAPTER XLIII.

An Act to amend, in connection with the present war, the Law relating to the Qualifying Examinations for Solicitors. [21st August 1917.]

CHAPTER XLIV.

NEW MINISTRIES ACT 1917.

[7 & 8 GEO. 5. CH. 44.]

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS.

Section.

1. Establishment of the Ministry of Reconstruction. 2. Powers and duties of Minister of Reconstruction.

3. Staff, remuneration, and expenses.

4. Style, seal, and proceedings of Minister of Reconstruction.

5. Power for Minister and a secretary to sit in Parliament.

6. Cessation of Ministry of Reconstruction.

7. Right of certain Ministers to sit in Parliament.

8. Short title.

7 & 8 GEORGE 5, CHAPTER 44.

CHAPTER XLIV.

An Act to provide for the Establishment of a Ministry of Reconstruction, and to make provision as to the right of certain Ministers to sit in Parliament.

[21st August 1917.] BE it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

1. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF RECONSTRUCTION.-With a view to promoting the work of organisation and development after the termination of the present war, it shall be lawful for His Majesty to appoint a Minister of Reconstruction, who shall hold office during His Majesty's pleasure.

2. POWERS AND DUTIES OF MINISTER OF RECONSTRUCTION.—(1) It shall be the duty of the Minister of Reconstruction to consider and advise upon the problems which may arise out of the present war, and may have to be dealt with upon its termination, and for the purposes aforesaid to institute and conduct such inquiries, prepare such schemes, and make such recommendations as he thinks fit; and the Minister of Reconstruction shall, for the purposes aforesaid, have such powers and duties of any Government department or authority, which have been conferred by or under any statute, as His Majesty may by Order in Council authorise the Minister to exercise or perform concurrently with, or in consultation with, the Government department or authority concerned.

(2) The Minister of Reconstruction shall in each year present to Parliament a report of such of the schemes prepared and recommendations made by him as he shall deem suitable for publication.

(3) Any Order in Council made for the purpose of this Act may be added to, varied, or revoked by a subsequent Order in Council.

(4) An Order in Council under this Act shall be laid before each House of Parliament forthwith, and, if an address is presented by either House within the next subsequent forty days on which that House shall have sat praying His Majesty that the Order may be annulled, His Majesty in Council may annul the Order, and it shall thenceforth be void but without prejudice to the validity of anything already done thereunder.

3. STAFF, REMUNERATION, AND EXPENSES.-(1) The Minister of Reconstruction may appoint such secretaries, officers, and servants as the Minister may, with the sanction of the Treasury, determine.

(2) There shall be paid, out of moneys provided by Parliament, to the Minister of Reconstruction such annual salary not exceeding two thousand pounds, and to the secretaries, officers, and servants of the Ministry such salaries or remuneration as the Treasury may determine.

4. STYLE, SEAL, AND PROCEEDINGS OF MINISTER OF RECONSTRUCTION.—(1) The Minister of Reconstruction may sue and be sued, and may for all purposes be described by that name.

(2) The Minister shall have an official seal, which shall be officially and judicially noticed, and that seal shall be authenticated by the signature of the Minister, or of a secretary, or of some person authorised by the Minister to act on behalf of a secretary.

(3) Every document purporting to be an instrument issued by the Minister, and to be sealed with the seal of the Minister, authenticated in manner provided by this Act, or to be signed by a secretary or any person authorised by the Minister to act on behalf of a secretary, shall be received in evidence, and be deemed to be such an instrument without further proof, unless the contrary is shewn.

(4) A certificate signed by the Minister that any instrument purporting to be male or issued by him is so made or issued shall be conclusive evidence of the fact.

(5) The Documentary Evidence Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict. c. 37), as amended by the Documentary Evidence Act 1882 (45 & 46 Vict. c. 9), shall apply to the Minister of Reconstruction as if that Minister were mentioned in the first column of the Schedule to the first-mentioned Act, and as if the Minister, or a secretary of the

NEW MINISTRIES ACT 1917.

Ministry, or any person authorised by the Minister to act on his behalf, was mentioned in the second column of that Schedule.

5. POWER FOR MINISTER AND A SECRETARY TO SIT IN PARLIAMENT.-(1) The office of Minister of Reconstruction shall not render the person holding it incapable of being elected to, or of voting in, the Commons House of Parliament, and shall be deemed to be an office included in Schedule H of the Representation of the People Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict. c. 102); in Schedule H of the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict. c. 48); in Schedule E of the Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict. c. 49); and in Part I. of the Schedule of the Promissory Oaths Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict. c. 72).

(2) The person who is first appointed to be Minister of Reconstruction shall not by reason of such appointment, if a member of the Commons House of Parliament, vacate his seat as such member.

6. CESSATION OF MINISTRY OF RECONSTRUCTION.—The office of Minister of Reconstruction shall cease to exist on the termination of a period of two years after the conclusion of the present war or such earlier date as may be fixed by His Majesty in Council, and then any appointments made under the powers conferred by this Act shall be determined.

7. RIGHT OF CERTAIN MINISTERS TO SIT IN PARLIAMENT.-Where, before the passing of this Act, a member of His Majesty's Privy Council has been appointed to be a Minister of the Crown at a salary without any other office being assigned to him, he shall not by reason thereof be deemed to have been or to be incapable of being elected to or of voting in the Commons House of Parliament, and shall not, if at the time of his appointment he was a member of that House, be deemed to have vacated his seat.

8. SHORT TITLE.-This Act may be cited as the New Ministries Act 1917.

CHAPTER XLV.

An Act to extend and amend the Munitions of War Acts 1915 and 1916.

[21st August 1917.] BE it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

1. POWER TO GIVE DIRECTIONS AS TO REMUNERATION OF CERTAIN CLASSES OF WORK.—(1) If at any time during the continuance of the present war the Minister of Munitions considers it necessary, in order to maintain the output of munitions, that directions should be given with respect to the remuneration to be paid for work (being munitions work or work in connection therewith or work in any controlled establishment), which at the time when the directions are given is paid at time rates, he may, subject always and without prejudice to any agreement made between employers and workmen, with the consent of the Minister with respect to the remuneration of such work, by order give such directions with respect to the remuneration of such work as he may consider necessary for the purpose of the maintenance or increase of output.

(2) Any contravention of or non-compliance with any such directions shall be punishable in like manner as if the order in which the directions are contained was an award made in settlement of a difference under Part I. of the Munitions of War Act 1915 (5 & 6 Geo. 5, c. 54), but where a difference has arisen respecting matters on which the Minister of Munitions has given directions under this section the difference shall be referred to a special arbitration tribunal constituted under section eight of the Munitions of War (Amendment) Act 1916 (5 & 6 Geo. 5, c. 99).

(3) Any directions given under this section may be varied from time to time, but shall not continue in force after the termination of the present war.

2. RESTRICTION ON EMPLOYMENT OF WORKMEN WHO HAVE BEEN ENGAGED ON CERTAIN MUNITION WORK.-The Minister of Munitions, on being satisfied that the provisions of section seven of the Munitions of War Act 1915, as amended by any subsequent enactment, can consistently with the national interests be repealed, may