SECOND READING. (Hansard, 1 April 1868)

§ MR. HADFIELD
, in moving the second reading of this Bill observed that it was very nearly in the words of a measure which last Session passed through the House without a dissentient voice. Two Members of the Cabinet expressed their opinion in favour of that measure, and a like opinion had been expressed by two Chairmen of Committees appointed to consider the Mortmain Act, 9 Geo. II., c. 36. He was not aware that on the present occasion there was any real opposition. The late Lord Chancellor (Lord Cranworth) had stated that he could see no possible objection to the Bill. Its provisions extended to all sorts of charitable and scientific, as well as religious societies, and it really only conferred on them the same powers as was given by the Companies Act, 25 & 26 Vict. c. 89, s. 21, to joint-stock companies—namely, power to acquire two acres of land for the purpose of building for any charitable institution which they might require. By the provisions of the Mortmain Act, certain restrictions were imposed on such institutions, and the Bill proposed that whenever land was purchased for the purposes of such an institution there should be no necessity for incurring such an enormous expense as was at present required to obtain a proper conveyance of land. The Mortmain Act contained two sets of provisions: the first was that no person should devise land for charitable purposes, and that when any gift was made by deed, the deed must within six months be enrolled in Chancery, and the donor live twelve months after the execution of the deed and the second was, that every conveyance for a charitable institution should be void (see Section 3) except it were duly executed and duly enrolled six months after execution, although a full and valuable consideration should have been actually paid for the purchased property. It was with the latter only that he wished to interfere. He did not object to the enrolment of deeds and the consequent expense, in the case of large and rich institutions; but the present regulations operated 663 as a great restriction to the establishment of many of the smaller religious, benevolent, and literary societies of the kingdom. In many schools the requirements of the Mortmain Act were dispensed with by law altogether. All that he wished was that charitable institutions, not exceeding two acres, should be freed from the expense which the present state of the law cast upon them. Since the passing of the Mortmain Act thousands of deeds, made and executed for full consideration paid, had become void in consequence of their not having been executed in the form prescribed by the Act and enrolled, and Acts of Parliament had from time to time been passed for the purpose of restoring deeds of this character to their full legal operation. There was already an Act to allow trustees to apply at any time to the Court of Chancery to be allowed to enrol, and thus make good, their deeds; and since 1860 there had been several thousand deeds enrolled in the Court of Chancery, and thus made legal and binding, under recent Acts of Parliament; whereas for many years they had been illegal. One remarkable instance of the bad effect of the old law was that, many years ago, of the Manchester Infirmary, in reference to which the requirements of the Mortmain Act had not been for fifty years complied with, and during this time the heir to the estate might have taken possession; but instead of doing this he nobly completed the title of the trustees.

MR. HEADLAM
said, that some years ago he was Chairman of a Committee upon the Laws of Mortmain, and he might say that though, in that Committee, there was great variety of opinion upon the general subject, yet there was perfect unanimity upon this point, that there should be an exception in favour of institutions such as those mentioned in this Bill. In a former Committee, also, he believed that there was similar unanimity in favour of such an exception.

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
said, he should offer no objection to the second reading of the Bill. Last year a clause had been moved in "another place" which had induced the hon. Gentleman to give up his Bill; but that was a clause which it did not appear necessary to insist upon in a Bill which applied only to the objects which this Bill contemplated. He by no means said that it was unnecessary to keep up those restrictions on grants and alienations of land which were imposed by the 664 Laws of Mortmain; yet, having regard to the small quantities of land which would be taken under this Bill, he should certainly offer no objection to the measure.