Circular, the 3rd August, 1899,' attention was drawn to the effect of section 4 12th June, of the Army (Annual) Act, 1899," which enables the Secretary of 1906. State to delegate to an officer his power to transfer, under section 91 of the Army Act, 1881, a soldier of the regular forces, who has become a lunatic, to an institution for lunatics or a workhouse, and the wife and family of any such soldier to a workhouse. The power of the Secretary of State to make an order under section 145 of the Army Act, 1881, for the payment by a soldier of the regular forces of a contribution to the maintenance of his wife and children, or of any illegitimate child, may also be delegated by the Secretary of State to an officer under section 4 of the Army (Annual) Act, 18992. A copy of any order or decree for payment by a soldier of the regular forces of the cost of the maintenance of any of the persons abovementioned, or of the cost of any relief given to his wife or child by way of loan, is required by section 4 of the Act of 1899 to be sent to a Secretary of State or to the officer deputed by him for the purpose. Under section 138 (8) of the Army Act, 1881, as amended by section 4 of the Army (Annual) Act, 1899, the sum required to pay any sum ordered by a Secretary of State or any officer deputed by him, to be paid under section 145 of the Act of 1881, is a penal deduction from the ordinary pay due to a soldier of the regular forces. A copy of sections 91, 138 (8), and 145 (1) and (2) of the Army Act, 1881, as amended by later legislation, and in so far as these provisions relate to England and Wales, will be found in Appendix A. to this circular. The Army Council have recently informed the Board that the Secretary of State for War has now delegated his powers under section 91 of the Army Act, 1881, to the General Officers Commanding-in Chief the various commands in the United Kingdom, and in their absence, to the Brigadier-Generals in charge of Administration in these commands only; also to the General Officers Commanding the London, Jersey and Guernsey Districts. Correspondence regarding military lunatics should therefore be addressed by the Poor Law Authorities accordingly. The Secretary of State for War has also deputed his sections 138 and 145 of the Army Act as follows : HOME STATIONS. powers under To the Brigadier-General in charge of Administration in each command in the United Kingdom'; to the General Officers Commanding in London, Jersey, and Guernsey Districts; and to each General Officer Commanding a division, brigade, section of the coast defences, or grouped regimental district (54 in all). 'See Law and Legislation, 1899, p. 4. 2 See Law and Legislation, 1899, p. 3 To each General, or other officer, who commands a district, division, or brigade (48 in all). COLONIAL STATIONS. Generally speaking, to each general, or other officer who is in chief As, however, in regard to the delegation under sections 138 and 145 of the Act of 1881, it is recognised that Poor Law Authorities could not be expected to keep themselves informed as to the grouping of military units at home and abroad, or to distinguish between the various army districts in India and South Africa, the Army Council have forwarded to the Board the statement printed in Appendix B., giving (1) the areas of the chief military commands in the United Kingdom and the addresses of the officers to whom all maintenance orders and correspondence connected therewith should be sent, in the first instance, in respect of soldiers serving at home; and (2) similar particulars as regards India and the Colonies. The Army Council add that the officers named in the above statement will distribute the maintenance orders to the general officers concerned, who will deal with them and conduct any necessary correspondence. The Board request that the guardians will act in accordance with the arrangements which have been made by the Army Council, and that the guardians will regard these arrangements as superseding those indicated in the circular which the Board addressed to the guardians on the 3rd August, 1899.' I am, Sir, Circular, 12th June, 1906. Your obedient Servant, S B. PROVIS, The Clerk to the Guardians. APPENDIX A. Copy of sections 91, 138(8) and 145 (1) and (2) of the Army Act, 1881, in so far as they relate to England and Wales, as amended by the Army (Annual) Acts, 1882, 1883, 1889, 1891, 1894, 1899 and 1904. 66 91.—(1) A Secretary of State or any officer deputed by him for the purpose, may, if he think proper, on account of a soldier's lunacy, cause any soldier of the regular forces on his discharge, and his wife and child, or any of them, to be *sent to the parish or union to which under the statutes for the time in force he appears, from the statements made in his attestation paper and other available information, to be chargeable; and such soldier, wife, or child, if delivered after reasonable notice, in England at the workhouse in which shall be received 66 * # * persons settled in such parish or union are received 66 (2) Provided that a Secretary of State, or any officer deputed by him "for the purpose, where it appears to him that any such soldier is a dangerous lunatic, and in such a state of health as not to be liable to suffer bodily or 'See Law and Legislation, 1899, p. 4. Y 2 Circular, 12th June, 1906. 340 66 SAILORS AND SOLDIERS. mental injury by his removal, may, by order signified under his hand, send such "lunatic direct to an asylum, registered hospital, licensed house or other place in "which pauper lunatics can legally be confined, and for the purpose of the said "order the above-mentioned parish or union shall be deemed to be the parish or "union from which such lunatic is sent. 66 66 (3) In England the lunatic shall be sent to the asylum, hospital, house or 'place to which a person in the workhouse aforesaid, on becoming a dangerous lunatic, can by law be removed, and an order of the Secretary of State or officer "under this section shall be of the same effect as a summary reception order within the meaning of the Lunacy Act, 1890, and the like proceedings shall be "taken thereon as on an order under that Act. 66 66 138. The following penal deductions may be made from the ordinary pay due to a soldier of the regular forces: (8.) The sum required to pay any sum ordered by a Secretary of State or any "officer deputed by him for the purpose, to be paid as mentioned in this Act for "the maintenance of his wife or child, or of any bastard child, or towards the cost of any relief given by way of loan to his wife or child; 66 "Provided that- "(a) the total amount of deductions from the ordinary pay due to a soldier in respect of the sums required to pay any compensation, fine, or sum "awarded or ordered to be paid as aforesaid shall not exceed such sum 66 as will leave to the soldier after paying for his messing and washing less than one penny a day; and “(b) a person shall not be subjected in respect of any compensation, fine, or sum awarded or ordered to be paid as aforesaid to any deductions greater than is sufficient to make good the expenses, loss, damage, or "destruction for which such compensation is awarded, or to pay the said 145.-(1) A soldier of the regular forces shall be liable to contribute to the "maintenance of his wife and of his children, and also to the maintenance of any “bastard child of which he may be proved to be the father, to the same extent as if he were not a soldier; bat execution in respect of any such liability or of any "order or decree in respect of such maintenance shall not issue against his person, pay, arms, ammunition, equipments, instruments, regimental necessaries, or clothing; nor shall he be liable to be punished for the offence of deserting or neglecting to maintain his wife or family, or any member thereof, or of leaving "her or them chargeable to any union, parish, or place. "When any order or decree is made under any Act or at common law for payment by a man who is or subsequently becomes a soldier of the regular forces "either of the cost of the maintenance of his wife or child, or of any bastard "child of whom he is the putative father, or of the cost of any relief given to his "wife or child by way of loan, a copy of such order or decree shall be sent to a "Secretary of State, or any officer deputed by him for the purpose, and in "the case (b) of it appearing to the satisfaction of a Secretary of State, or any officer deputed by him for the purpose, that a soldier of the regular forces has "deserted or left in destitute circumstances, without reasonable cause, "his wife or any of his legitimate children under fourteen years of age, "the Secretary of State or officer shall order a portion not exceeding in respect of a wife or children one shilling, and in respect of a bastard child sixpence of "the daily pay of a non-commissioned officer who is not below the rank of sergeant, and not exceeding in respect of a wife or children sixpence, and in respect of a bastard child threepence of the daily pay of any other soldier, to be "deducted from such daily pay, and to be appropriated in liquidation of the sum adjudged to be paid by such order or decree or towards the maintenance of such wife or children as the case may be, in such manner as the Secretary of State or "officer thinks fit." ་་ (1) Statement of the Chief Military Commands in Great Britain and their Territorial Areas; showing also the Title of the Officer in each Command, to whom Maintenance Orders under Sections 138 and 145 of the Army Act, 1881, should be sent. Brigadier General in charge of Aldershot, and its immediate vicinity. Aldershot Army Corps, Circular, 12th June, 1956. Irish Command, Royal Hospital, Dublin. General Officer Commanding, London District, 23, Carlton House Terrace, S.W. (London District.) London (North of the Brigadier General in charge of (Northern Command.) The Counties of Northern Command, York. Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmor- Brigadier General in charge of Scotland, and Berwick-on-Tweed. Administration, Scottish Command, Edinburgh. Southern Command, Andover. Brigadier General in charge Administration, Western Command, Chester. General Officer Commanding, Jersey. General Officer Commanding, (Southern Command.) The Counties of of (Western Command.) Wales and the Counties of Cheshire, Lancashire (except the City of Lancaster), Shropshire, Hereford, and Monmouth, and the Isle of Man. Jersey. Guernsey and Alderney. Circular, (2) List of Army Officers in India and the Colonies to whom maintenance orders under sections 138 and 145 of the Army Act, 1881, should be addressed in the first instance. 12th June, 1906. COLONIES. in Chief, Malta. British Troops, Cairo, Egypt. Brigadier General in charge of Administration, Pretoria. Bermuda. Jamaica. Mauritius. Singapore, Straits Settlements. INDIA. General Officer Commanding, Northern Command, Rawal Pindi. Western Eastern Poona. I am directed by the Local Government Board to state that they have received representations from the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and the Relief of Distress, urging upon them the need for obtaining a special return, relating to pauperism in England and Wales, based upon facts recorded throughout a year selected for the purpose. The Royal Commission recognise the value of the returns of pauperism now published periodically, which show the number and classification of the persons receiving relief upon particular days; but they point out that in two respects, at least, such returns are inadequate for their purposes. In the first place, the existing returns do not give the total number of individuals who have resort to poor law relief at one time or another during the course of a year, and in the second place they do not show how often, and for what length of time, relief is granted. In the absence of definite information on these two points, the Royal Commission are precluded from making |