Public Charities Act 1875 (SA)

ANNO TRICESIMO OCrl'AVO ET TRICESIMO NON0

A. D. 1875.

No. 7.

An Act for the better Investment of Charitable finds.

[Assented to, 15th October, 1875,J

HEREAS various gifts of land and money have been already Preamble.

W made, and may hereafter be made for the maintenance and	support of public charitable institutions in South Australia, and it
is desirable to provide for such investment thereof as may carry out the intention of the donors in the most beneficial manner-Be it therefore Enacted by the Governor of the Province of South Aus- tralia, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in this prevent Parliament assembled, as follows:

l. In this Act the following words shall have the meanings Definition of tarn.

hereby respectively attached to them, that is to say-

the persons duly appointed to manage such Institution:

c6Commissioners of Charitable Funds," and " the said Commis-

sioners," shall mean the Commissioners to be appointed

under this Act:

Public Charitable Institutions," and " Institutions," shall mean and include Public Hospitals, Destitute and Lunatic Asylums, Orphanages, Reformatories, and other institutions of the like nature, whether local or geizeral: Provided that such institu- tions are established by or pursuant to Act of Parliament, and supported wholly or in part out of the General Revenue.

"Board of Management," shall mean the Board entrusted with

the mauagement of the affairs of any public charitable insti-

tution; and in cases where no such Board shall exist, then

20 38" & 39" VICTORIB, No. 7.

The Public Charities Act.-1875.

Gift " shall mean any donation of land or other property of any

kind, or of any interest or estate therein, and whether given by will or deed, or otherwise made to any public charitable institution, but shall not include any annual subscription towards the funds thereof of an amount less than Ten Pounds.

Governormaya~~oint

Commiesioners of	2. The Governor may from time to time appoint any three persons to be Commissioners of Charitable Funds, and may remove any such Commissioners, and every such appointment or removal shall be published in the Government Gazette. Until any appointment shall be made the Auditor-General, Under Secretary, and Under Treasurer shall be, and act as, the first Commissioners under this Act.
cbaritablefun((s,
Commissionera t o be a	3. The said Commissioners and their successors so to be appointed shall be a body politic and corporate by the name of The Com- missioners of Charitable Funds," and by such name shall have perpetual succession and a common seal, and by that name may sue and be sued in all Courts of Law, and shall be capable to take, purchase, and hold, and to sell, demise, exchange, and otherwise dispose of, all gifts whatsoever which may be made to any public charitable institution, and the said Commissioners shall stand pos-

~ o d y corporate.

sessed of the said &ts on the trusts hereinafter declared.

Gifts already m d e to 4. All gifts heretofore made to any charitable institution are

;t$;PtCf:$iF~	hereby vestcd in the said Commissioners for the purposes of this Act,
uloners.	and all gifts which shall hweaftcr be made to any such institution shall at once vest in them. without any conveyance or assignment whatever; and in the event of any gift being made in trust for any such institution by any wi l l or deed, it shall be a sufficient compli- ance with the trusts of such will or deed in that behalf if the

#	executors, trustees, or other persons in whom the immediate pro- perty or possession of such gift is vested, pay over, convey, or transfer the same (m they are hereby required to do) to the said Com- missioners in their corporate name, whose receipt or release there- for shall be a sufficient discharge to such executors, trustees, or
other persons as aforesaid.
X

Commissioners to	5. The said Commissioners shall, for the purposes of	their trust,
keep banking account.

keep a banking account in their official name in some bank to be approved ci' by the Chief Secretary. All cheques and orders for thc payment of any money shall be signed or authenticated in such manner as the Chief Secretary shall from time to time, by order under his hand, direct; and all such cheques and orders shall be a sufficient authority to the bank paying the same for all such payments.

Moneys received by	6. All principal moneys received by virtue of t,Es Act, or which may hereafter be given to any public charitable institution, shall be paid to the account of the said Commissioners at such bank as aforesaid, and subject to such directions, if any, which may be given
them to be placed to
their aocowt.

"Y

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The Public Charities Act.-1 875.

by the will or deed of the donor as to the mode of investment thereof, shall be forthwith invcsted in thc official name of the said Commissioners, in some one or other of the modes hereinafter prescribed, for the benefit of the institution to which they shall belong. All interest, dividends, and other profits arising from such investments, and received by the said Commissioners, shall also be paid into the same account immediately on receipt, to be applied as by this Act directed.

7. The said Commissioners shall invest the principal moneys Powera of inveetment.

which shall come to their hands by virtue of this Act cither on Government securitics, or in thc purchase of freehold land, or on mortgage of landed property, with full power to vary and transpose any such investment from time to time for others of a like nature. The said Commissioners shall also have power to sell or exchange any of the freehold lands in which any such principal moneys shall be invested as aforesaid, and also any landed property which may come to their hands by virtue of this Act, or in consequence of the fore- closure of any mortgage hereby authorized to be taken by them; provided that this power shall not be exercised without the consent of thc Chief Secretary, who, if it shall bc represented to him by the said Commissioners that under the special circumstances of thc case a sale or cxchange of any such land can be cffccted on such tcrrns as to increase the income of the charitable irlstitutions spccified, or be otherwise advantageous to such institutions, may, if he think fit, inquire into such circumstances; and if after inquiry, he is satisfied that the proposed .sale or exchange will be advantageous to the institution, may authorize such sale or exchange, and give such directions as he may think fit in relation thereto, and as to the due investment for the benefit of the institution of the money arising from any such sale, or by way of equality of exchange: Provided that no such investment shall be made or altered without the consent

of the Board of Management of the Institution, for the benefit of

which such investment shall have been made.

8. The said Comrnissioners may also in their discretion lease thc Powers ,,fleaaing.

from year to year, or for any term not exceeding twenty-one

said land which may be so acquired -by them, or any part thereof,

years in possession from the making of the lease, so as in every such lease there shall be reserved the most improved yearly rent. Every such lease shall contain such covenants as are customary or usual, according to the nature of the property demised, and also such special covenants as may be required by the said Commissioners: Provided that no lease containing any right or covenant to purchase by the lessee shall be granted without the consent of the Chief Secretary to be first obtained in manner provided by the preceding section.

9. The said Commissioners may apply by petition to the Supremc Commissioner may

Court or a Judge thereof, for the opinion, advice, or direction of thc apply for advice to

Court or Judge on any question other than the propriety of selling Judge.

or

22 38" & 39" VICTORIB, No. 7.

The Public Charities A c t. 1 8 7 5.

or leasing with right of purchase, respecting the management or administration of the property coming to their hands by virtue of this Act, in the same manner as may by law be done by a trustee, executor, or administrator of any trust property, or assets; and such Court or Judge may thereupon give such opinion, advice, or direction as to it or him shall seem meet, and the said Commissioners acting thereon shall be deemed to have discharged their duty in the subject matter of the said application, and the costs of such application shall be under the direction of the Court or Judge.

N e c e ~ s a ~ expenaea

may be deducted by

10. All expenses incurred by the said Commissioners in the execu- tion of their duties under this Act, may be deducted by them out of the moneys which shall come to their hands as trustees for the charitable institutions, in respect of which such expenses have been incurred, and in case such expenses have been incurred in respect of more than one institution at the same time, then the said Commis- sioners may charge the institutions interested with a ratable amount of such expenscs in proportion to the interest of such institution therein.

Commissioners,

Commissionera 'O be

sub'ect to Jurisdiction	11. In the execution of the powers and duties hereby committed to arid imposed upon the said Commissioners, they shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, and they shall be exempted from liability for involuntary losses, in the samc manner as trustees of private property are now subject to, or may claim to be, under any laws now or hereafter to be in force in the said Province:
of Supreme court.
Attorney-General to	All proceedings against the C'ommissioncrs sEdl be first sanctioned
take proceedings.	by the Attorney-Genwal, and shall be taken in his name as pro- moting the same for and on behalf of the pbrticular charitable institution in- respect of' which such proceedings have become necesssary.
Separato accounts to

be kept and income 12. Proper books of account shall be kept by the said Cornmis-

paid over to institu. sioners, showing the moneys received and held by them on account

tions ~ ~ f - ~ o a r l ~.	of each public charitable institution separately, and such account
shall be balanced each half-year, that is to say, on every first day of July and first day of January, and the accounts of dividends, interest,
and profits then appearing to the credit of each such institution,
after deducting therefrom the expenses connected with the manage- ment of the funds, or the proportion thereof to be borne by each institution (if 'any), shall be forthwith paid over to the Board of Management thereof, whose receipt shall be a sufficient discharge to the said Commissioners.
Abstracts to be pnb-
lisbed and laid b?fore	13. An account in abstract shall be made up by the said Commis- sioners, on the first day of July in every yew, showing the moneys received and expended by them during the year preceding, and also showing the property held in trust by them, and specifying the charit- able institution on behalf of which such moneys and property have been so received and expended, or are held, as the case may be. Such account shall be forthwith published in the Government
Parliament.

Gazette,

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The Pzcblic Charities Act .1875.

Gazette, and shall be, w i t h fourteen days of such publication, if

Parliament be then sitting, or if not, then within fourteen days from the meeting thereof, laid upon the table of each House of Parlia- ment.

I

14. This Act may be cited for all; purposes as The Public Sbo* Title-

Charities Act, 1875."

In the name and on behalf of Her Majesty, I hereby

assent to this Bill.

A. MUSGRAVE, Governor.

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Adelaide: By authority, W. C. Cox, Government Printer, North-terrace.

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