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the election of representative members of the Parochial Board, appoint a Committee, consisting of not less than ten nor more than twenty members, half of whom shall be chosen from amongst the Magistrates and Council, or Board, as the case may be, and the remaining half from amongst the householders of the Burgh or Parish other than the Magistrates and Council, or Board, and three members of such Committee shall form a quorum.

Appointments to Vacancies in Committee.

19. Any member of Committee shall have power to resign office upon giving at least fourteen days previous notice to the Clerk of the Committee of his intention so to resign; and in the event of any vacancy occurring in the Committee during their term of office by the resignation or death of any member, the Committee shall forthwith cause the same to be intimated to the Magistrates and Council, or Board, and the Magistrates and Council, or Board, as the case may be, may at a meeting thereafter elect from among themselves, or from among the householders other than themselves, according to the class in which the vacancy has arisen, a member of Committee in place of the member so resigning or dying, provided that no proceedings of the Committee shall be invalidated or be illegal in consequence of a vacancy or vacancies in the number of the Committee.

Meetings of Committee and Appointment of Chairman.

20. The Committee appointed as aforesaid shall, in the case of a Burgh, meet once in every three months, or oftener if necessary, and in the case of a Parish, as often as may be necessary, to determine as to any business falling to be transacted by them, and shall appoint a Chairman from among their own number, who shall hold office until next election of Committee; and such Chairman shall, in case of equality, have a casting vote in addition to his vote as an individual; provided that, in the event of a vacancy occurring in the office of Chairman, the Committee shall at the first meeting thereafter appoint a new Chairman, and in the absence of the Chairman of Committee at any meeting, the meeting shall appoint a Chairman for the time being, who at that meeting shall exercise the privileges of the Chairman of Committee.

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Powers of Committee.

21. The Committee shall manage, regulate, and control all Libraries and Museums established under this Act, or to which this Act applies; and shall have power to do all things necessary for such management, including the following powers; that is to say.

To appoint Sub-committees of their own number:

To appoint a salaried clerk, and salaried librarians, officers, and servants to act during the pleasure of the Committee, and to pay and dismiss them:

To purchase books, newspapers, reviews, magazines, and other periodicals, statuary, pictures, engravings, maps, specimens of art and science, and such other articles and things as may be necessary for the establishment, increase, and use of the Libraries and Museums under their control, and to do all things necessary for keeping the same in a proper state of preservation and repair :

To provide from time to time the necessary fuel, lighting, and other matters:

To sell or exchange any books, works of art, or other property of which there may be duplicates, provided that the money arising from such sale, and the property received in exchange, shall be applied and held for the purposes of this Act:

To provide suitable rooms in the Libraries within which the books, periodicals, and newspapers may be read:

To lend out, for the purpose of being read by the householders and inhabitants of the Burgh or Parish in and for which the Committee has been appointed, the books of any Library under their control, or such of them as they may consider proper; and at their discretion to grant the same privilege to the inmates of industrial schools, training ships, reformatories, barracks, and other similar institutions, established for or in the Burgh or Parish; and also to any person carrying on business within the limits of the Burgh or Parish, or to any employee engaged in employment therein, although such person or employee

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may not be a householder, and may not reside within such limits:

To compile and print catalogues of all or any books, articles, and things in the Libraries and Museums under their control, and reports of their proceedings, and to sell the same, the proceeds to be applied for the purposes of this Act.

Power to Committee to make Byelaws.

22. It shall be lawful for the Committee to make byelaws for regulating all or any matters and things whatsoever connected with the control, management, protection, and use of any property, articles, or things under their control for the purposes of this Act, and to impose such penalties for breaches of such byelaws, not exceeding five pounds for each offence, as may be considered expedient; and from time to time, as they shall think fit, to repeal, alter, vary, or re-enact any such byelaws, provided always that such byelaws and alterations thereof shall not be repugnant to the law of Scotland, and before being acted on shall be signed by a quorum of the Committee, and, except in so far as they relate solely to the officers or servants of the Committee, such byelaws shall be approved of by the Magistrates and Council, or the Board, as the case may be, and shall be approved of and confirmed by the Sheriff of the County in which the Burgh or Parish, or the greater part of the area thereof, is situated : Provided also, that nothing herein contained shall preclude the Magistrates and Council, or Board, as the case may be, from recovering the value of articles or things damaged, or the amount of the damage sustained, against all parties liable for the same.

Newspaper Publication of Byelaws before Confirmation, and Time and Manner of Stating Objections.

23. No byelaws or alterations thereof requiring confirmation shall be confirmed, as before mentioned, unless notice of the intention to apply for confirmation of the same shall have been given in one or more newspapers published and circulated in the district one month at least before the hearing of the application for confirmation, and any party aggrieved by any such byelaws or alterations thereof, on giving notice of the nature of his objec

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tion to the Clerk to the Committee ten days before the hearing of the application for confirmation, may, by himself or his counsel, attorney, or agent, be heard thereon, but not so as to allow more than one party to be heard upon the same matter of objection.

Exhibition of Byelaws Previous to Confirmation.

24. For one month at least before any such application for confirmation of any byelaws or alterations thereof, a copy of such proposed byelaws or alterations shall be kept at the office of the Clerk to the Committee, and shall also be put up in some conspicuous place in each of the Libraries and Museums of the Committee, and all persons may, at all reasonable times, inspect such copy without fee or reward; and the Clerk to the Committee shall furnish every person who shall apply for the same with a copy thereof, or of any part thereof, on payment of sixpence for every one hundred words so to be copied.

Printed Copy of Byelaws to be Provided.

25. The Clerk to the Committee shall give a printed copy of the confirmed byelaws, for the time being in force, to every person applying for the same, without charge; and a copy thereof shall be painted or placed on boards, and put up in some conspicuous part of each of the Libraries and Museums of the Committee, and such boards with the byelaws thereon shall be renewed from time to time as occasion shall require, and shall be open to inspection without fee or reward.

Byelaws when Confirmed and Published to be in Force.

26. All byelaws or alterations thereof made and confirmed according to the provisions of this Act, when so published and put up, shall be binding upon and be observed by all parties, and shall be a sufficient warrant for all persons acting under the same.

Evidence of Byelaws.

27. The production of a written or printed copy of the byelaws requiring confirmation as aforesaid, authenticated by the signature of the Sheriff who shall have confirmed the same, and a written or printed copy of the byelaws not requiring such confirmation, authenticated by the common seal of the Committee, and signed

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by the Chairman of the Committee at the time when the same were made, shall be evidence of the existence and making of such byelaws in all cases for prosecution under the same, without proof of the signature of such Sheriff, or the common seal of the Committee, or the signature of their Chairman; and with respect to the proof of the publication of such byelaws it shall be sufficient to prove that a board containing a copy thereof was put up and continued in manner by this Act directed.

Recovery of Penalties and Forfeitures.

28. All penalties and forfeitures exigible under this Act, and the Acts incorporated wholly or partially herewith, or under any byelaw made in pursuance thereof, may be recovered by an ordinary small-debt action in the name of the Clerk to the Committee for the time being before either the Sheriff or Justices of the district; and the same shall be payable to the Committee, and shall, when recovered, be applied by them for the purposes of this Act; and in any prosecution under this Act an excerpt from the books of the Committee, certified by the Clerk or other proper officer, shall be held equivalent to the books of the Committee, and all entries in the books of the Committee bearing that any book or books mentioned or referred to therein has or have been borrowed by the person complained against shall be taken and received as evidence of the fact, and the onus probandi shall be thrown on the party complained against, and if decree passes against such party, he shall be found liable in costs.

Actions by or against Committee.

29. All actions at the instance of the Committee shall be brought in name of the Clerk to the Committee, and in all actions against the Committee, it shall be sufficient to call the Clerk to the Committee for the time being as defender, and service on him shall be sufficient service; and all actions brought by or against the Clerk to the Committee in his official character shall be continued by or against his successors in office without any action of transference.

Estimates to be made up.

30. The Committee shall in the month of April in every year make up, or cause to be made up, an estimate of the sums required