Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

in cases where any company is wound up in any part of the United Kingdom, and it shall be lawful for the Court to refer the whole or any part of the examination of any witnesses under this Act to any person hereby appointed Commissioner, although such Commissioner is out of the jurisdiction of the Court that made the order or decree for winding up the Company; and every such Commissioner shall, in addition to any power of summoning and examining witnesses, and requiring the production or delivery of documents, and certifying or punishing defaults by witnesses, which he might lawfully exercise as a Commissioner of the Court of Bankruptcy, Judge of a County Court, Commissioner of Bankrupt, Assistant Barrister, or Recorder, or as Sheriff of a County, have in the matter so referred to him all the same powers of summoning and examining witnesses, and requiring the production or delivery of documents, and punishing defaults by witnesses, and allowing costs and charges and expenses to witnesses, as the Court which made the order for winding up the company has; and the examination so taken shall be returned or reported to such last-mentioned Court in such manner as it directs.

CXXVII. The Court may direct the examination in Scotland of any person for the time being in Scotland, whether a contributory of the company or not, in regard to the estate, dealings, or affairs of any company in the course of being wound up, or in regard to the estate, dealings, or affairs of any person being a contributory of the company, so far as the company may be interested therein by reason of his being such contributory, and the order or commission to take such examination shall be directed to the Sheriff of the County in which the person to be examined is residing or happens to be for the time, and the Sheriff shall summon such person to appear before him at a time and place to be specified in the summons for examination upon oath as a witness or as a haver, and to produce any books, papers, deeds, or documents called for which may be in his possession or power, and the Sheriff may take such examination either orally or upon written interrogatories, and shall report the same in writing in the usual form to the Court, and shall transmit with such report the books, papers, deeds, or documents produced, if the originals thereof are required and specified by the order, or otherwise such copies thereof or extracts therefrom, authenticated by the Sheriff, as may be necessary; and in case any person so summoned fails to appear at the time and place specified, or appearing refuses to be examined or to make the production required, the Sheriff shall proceed against such person as a witness or haver duly cited, and failing to appear or refusing to give evidence or make production may be proceeded against by the law of Scotland; and the Sheriff shall be entitled to such and the like fees, and the witness shall be entitled to such and the like allowances, as Sheriffs when acting as Commissioners under appointment from the Court of Session and as

witnesses and havers are entitled to in the like cases according to the law and practice of Scotland: If any objection is stated to the Sheriff by the witness, either on the ground of his incompetency as a witness, or as to the production required to be made, or on any other ground whatever, the Sheriff may, if he thinks fit, report such objection to the Court, and suspend the examination of such witness until such objection has been disposed of by the Court.

CXXVIII. Any affidavit, affirmation, or declaration required to be sworn or made, under the provisions or for the purposes of this part of this Act, may be lawfully sworn or made in Great Britain or Ireland, or in any Colony, Island, Plantation, or place under the dominion of Her Majesty in Foreign parts, before any Court, Judge, or person lawfully authorized to take and receive affidavits, affirmations, or declarations, or before any of Her Majesty's Consuls or Vice-Consuls, in any Foreign parts out of Her Majesty's dominions, and all Courts, Judges, Justices, Commissioners, and persons acting judicially shall take judicial notice of the seal or stamp or signature (as the case may be) of any such Court, Judge, person, Consul or Vice-Consul attached, appended, or subscribed to any such affidavit, affirmation, or declaration, or to any other document to be used for the purposes of this part of this Act.

CLXIX. If any person, upon any examination upon oath or affirmation authorized under this Act, or in any affidavit, deposition, or solemn affirmation in or about the winding-up of any company under this Act, or otherwise in or about any matter arising under this Act, wilfully and corruptly give false evidence, he shall, upon conviction, be liable to the penalties of wilful perjury.

GUATEMALA.

CONVENTION between Great Britain and Guatemala, relative to the Boundary of British Honduras. Signed, in English and Spanish, at Guatemala, April 30, 1859.*

WHEREAS the boundary between Her Britannic Majesty's settlement and possessions in the Bay of Honduras, and the territories of the Republic of Guatemala, has not yet been ascertained and marked out; Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Republic of Guatemala, being desirous, with a view to improve and perpetuate the friendly relations which happily subsist between the 2 countries, to define the boundary aforesaid, have resolved to conclude a Convention for that purpose, and have named as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say:

* Ratifications exchanged at Guatemala, September 12, 1859.

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Charles Lennox Wyke, Esquire, Her Britannic Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires to the Republic of Guatemala; And His Excellency the President of the Republic of Guatemala, Don Pedro de Aycinena, Councillor of State, and Minister for Foreign Affairs;

Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the following Articles :

ART. I. It is agreed between Her Britannic Majesty and the Republic of Guatemala that the boundary between the Republic and the British settlement and possessions in the Bay of Honduras, as they existed previous to and on the 1st day of January, 1850, and have continued to exist up to the present time, was and is as follows:

Beginning at the mouth of the River Sarstoon in the Bay of Honduras, and proceeding up the mid-channel thereof to Gracias à Dios Falls; then turning to the right and continuing by a line drawn direct from Gracias à Dios Falls to Garbutt's Falls on the River Belize, and from Garbutt's Falls due north until it strikes the Mexican frontier.

It is agreed and declared between the High Contracting Parties that all the territory to the north and east of the line of boundary above described, belongs to Her Britannic Majesty, and that all the territory to the south and west of the same belongs to the Republic of Guatemala.

II. Her Britannic Majesty and the Republic of Guatemala shall, within 12 months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present Convention, appoint each a Commissioner for the purpose of designating and marking out the boundary described in the preceding Article. Such Commissioners shall ascertain the latitude and longitude of Gracias à Dios Falls and of Garbutt's Falls, and shall cause the line of boundary between Garbutt's Falls and the Mexican territory to be opened and marked where necessary, as a protection against future trespass.

III. The Commissioners mentioned in the preceding Article shall meet at such place or places as shall be hereafter fixed, at the earliest convenient period after they shall have been respectively named, and shall, before proceeding to any business, make and subscribe a solemn declaration that they will impartially and carefully examine and decide, to the best of their judgment, and according to justice and equity, without fear, favour, or affection to their own country, upon all the matters referred to them for their decision; and such declaration shall be entered on the record of their proceedings.

The Commissioners shall then, and before proceeding to any other business, name some 3rd person to act as arbitrator or umpire in any case or cases in which they may themselves differ in opinion. If they should not be able to agree upon the choice of such a 3rd person, they shall each name a person; and in each and every case in which the Commissioners may differ in opinion as to the decision which they ought to give, it shall be determined by lot which of the 2 persons so named shall be the arbitrator or umpire in that particular case. The person or persons so to be chosen shall, before proceeding to act, make and subscribe a solemn declaration, in a form similar to that which shall already have been made and subscribed by the Commissioners, which declaration shall also be entered on the record of the proceedings. In the event of the death, absence, or incapacity of either of such Commissioners, or of either of such arbitrators or umpires, or of his omitting, or declining, or ceasing to act, another person shall be named, in the same manner, to act in his place or stead, and shall make and subscribe such declaration as aforesaid.

Her Britannic Majesty and the Republic of Guatemala shall engage to consider the decision of the 2 Commissioners conjointly, or of the arbitrator or umpire, as the case may be, as final and conclusive on the matters to be respectively referred to their decision, and forthwith to give full effect to the

same.

IV. The Commissioners hereinbefore mentioned shall make to each of the respective Governments a joint report or declaration, under their hands and seals, accompanied with a map or maps in quadruplicate (2 for each Government), certified by them to be true maps of the boundary defined in the present Treaty, and traversed and examined by them.

V. The Commissioners and the arbitrator or umpire shall keep accurate records and correct minutes or notes of all their proceedings, with the dates thereof, and shall appoint and employ such surveyors, clerk, or clerks, or other persons, as they shall find necessary to assist them in the transaction of the business which may come before them.

The salaries of the Commissioners shall be paid by their respective Governments. The contingent expenses of the Commission, including the salary of the arbitrator or umpire, and of the surveyors and clerks, shall be defrayed in equal moieties by the 2 Governments.

VI. It is further agreed that the channels in the water-line of boundary described in Article I of the present Convention, shall be equally free and open to the vessels and boats of both parties; and that any islands which may be found therein shall belong to that party on whose side of the main navigable channel they are situated.

VII. With the object of practically carrying out the views set forth in the preamble of the present Convention, for improving and perpetuating the friendly relations which at present so happily exist between the 2 High Contracting Parties, they mutually agree conjointly to use their best efforts, by taking adequate means for establishing the easiest communication (either by means of a cartroad, or employing the rivers, or both united, according to the opinion of the surveying engineers), between the fittest place on the Atlantic Coast, near the settlement of Belize, and the capital of Guatemala; whereby the commerce of England on the one hand, and the material prosperity of the Republic on the other, cannot fail to be sensibly increased, at the same time that the limits of the 2 countries being now clearly defined, all further encroachments by either party on the territory of the other will be effectually checked and prevented for the future.

VIII. The present Convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at London or Guatemala as soon as possible within the space of 6 months.

In witness whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seals of their arms. Done at Guatemala, the 30th day of April, in the year 1859. L.S.) CHARLES LENNOX WYKE. (L.S.) P. DE AYCINENA.

HAMBURGH.

BRITISH TREASURY WARRANT firing the Rates of Postage on Letters transmitted to and from Hamburgh. June 27, 1859.

WHEREAS by an Act of Parliament, passed in the 4th year of the reign of her present Majesty, intituled " An Act for the regulation of the duties of postage,"* power is given to the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, from time to time, by Warrant under their hands, to alter and fix any of the rates of British postage, or inland postage, payable by law, on the transmission by the post of foreign or colonial letters or newspapers, or of any other printed papers, and to subject the same to rates of postage according to the weight thereof, and a scale of weight to be contained in such Warrant, and from time to time, by Warrant as aforesaid, to alter or repeal any such altered rates, and make and establish any new or other rates in lieu thereof, and, from time to time, by Warrant as aforesaid, to appoint at what time the rates which may be payable are to be paid; and it is provided that the power thereby given should extend to any increase or reduction or remission of postage.

* See Vol. 5, Page 248.

« AnteriorContinua »