PETERSFIELD.
Agent—Miss DUPLOCK.
PETTY SESSIONS, Tuesday. October 18th.—Present: R. Steele, Esq. (chairman), Sir A. K. Macdonald, and John Bonham Carter, Esq., M.P.
— Important to Friendly Societies.—Richard Hall v. Joseph Pannell, William Newman, and Walter Bone. Complainant is a member of the Friendly Society held at the Five Bells, at Buriton, and defendants Pannel and Newman are the stewards, and Bone the secretary of the same. In the spring of the present year complainant met with an accident which threw him on the ‟box,” pursuant to the rules of the society, and the stewards had regularly paid him his allowance of 9s. a week up to the 17th of Sept. last, when they discontinued the payment altogether, and hence the proceedings for the recovery of 27s., being three weeks’ pay from September 17th to the present time. Walter Bone, secretary to the club, explained to the bench that owing to a heavy sick list and superannuations the ordinary payments had for some time past been insufficient to meet the claims, and the club was found to be going down, that a special meeting was called at which it was resolved to close the box for the space of eighteen months in order that the club might recover itself, that previous to the holding of the meeting he had written to Mr. Tidd Pratt, the barrister appointed to certify the rules of Friendly Societies, to enquire if they had the power of closing the box for twelve or eighteen months, that Mr. Tidd Pratt had replied that they might do so under 10 Geo. IV., c. 56, s. 9, that in accordance with this a resolution had been passed to close the box for eighteen months, and this resolution had been duly certified by the barrister. The letters which had passed between the secretary and Mr. Tidd Pratt, and also the certificate from the latter, were produced. On referring to 10 Geo. IV., c. 56, s. 9, it was found that before any alterations can be made in the rules of a Friendly Society, there must be a requisition signed by not less than seven members, to call a meeting for that purpose, and such requisition must be read at two successive quarterly meetings previously, this it appears had not been done, and, moreover, the rules of the society provide that notice of any special meeting shall be given to all the members, this also appeared to have been only partially done. The magistrates, after hearing the case, adjourned their decision for a fortnight.