Trustees to acquire and hold School Property.* (3) To take possession and have the custody and safe keeping of all common school property which has been acquired or given for common by post a statement of his demand. He shall not receive rates for property not set down on his roll. See Consolidated Assessment Act, sections 93, 94, and 95.] 2. Shall seize Goods and Chattels of defaulters. He shall collect the rate within ten days from the date of the warrant; but in case any person refuse payment, he shall, fourteen days after having made a demand, levy for the amount due, by distress and sale of goods and chattels, if found within the municipality, of the person who ought to pay the same. Section 96. 3. How to proceed against non-residents. If the party be a non-resident, the collector shall, one month after delivering to him the roll and warrant, and fourteen days after having transmitted by post a statement and demand, make distress of any goods and chattels found on the non-resident's land, "and no claim of property, lien, or privilege shall be available to prevent the sale, or the payment of the taxes and costs out of the proceeds thereof." Section 97. If there be no goods and chattels, the collector shall *This clause, and especially the tenth section of the School Law Amendment Act, of 1860, as (31) on page 27, vest all school property in the Trustee Corporation. Trustees should, whenever practicable, obtain a deed, a bond for a deed, a lease, or other legal instrument, granting quiet possession to them of the property in their section, in case they have no sufficient title to it. Objection is frequently made to the right of Trustees to assess the section for the repairs or building of the school house, where no full legal title to the school premises is vested in them. To remove this objection (although it is only a technical one), Trustees should obtain the legal instrument referred to. Every public school house and site are exempt from taxation, as provided in the fifth clause of the ninth section of the Upper Canada Consolidated Assessment Act, 22 Vict. chap. 55, The following is the form of deed: day of of -, and Prowife of the Form of Deed for the Site of the School House, Teacher's Residence, &c. This Indentuce, made the in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and in pursuance of the School Acts of Upper Canada, and of the Act respecting the transfer of real property, between the Township [Village, Town, or City] of in the County of vince of Canada, [business or calling], of the first part; said party of the first part, of the second part; and the Trustees of the Common School Section No. - in the Township of [City, Town, &c., of,] in the County of and Province aforesaid, of the third part: Witnesseth, that in consideration of dollars of lawful money of Canada, now paid by the said Trustees to the said party of the first part (the receipt whereof is hereby by him acknowledged), he the said party of the first part, doth grant unto the said Trustees of the School aforesaid, their successors and assigns for ever, all and singular that parcel of land, &c., [describing it in fuli]: To have and to hold the same, in trust to and for the use of a common school [and Teacher's Residence], in and for School Section No. in the Township [City, Town, &c.] of, and in the County and Province aforesaid, according to the provisions of the School Acts of Upper Canada, and for the education of the resident youth of said School Section. THE said party of the first part Covenants with the said Trustees, that he hath the right to convey the said lands to the said Trustees, notwithstanding any act of school purposes in such section, and to acquire and hold as a Corporation, by any title whatsoever, any land, movable property, moneys or make oath of his inability, after diligent inquiry, to discover the goods and chattels of the defaulter, or to collect the rate, and shall then proceed as directed in the one hundred and twenty-seventh section of this Act. Sections 105 and 106. In regard to the property of railway companies, see No. 6 following. 4. Shall give written notice, and Sell by Auction. He shall give a written or printed notice of the day of sale and the name of the defaulter, or the number and description of his lot if his name be not known, in not less than three public places in the place where the sale is to be held, at least six days before the day of sale, and shall sell by public auction the property so seized. Section 98. Any person wilfully tearing down, injuring, or defacing such notice, or the assessment roll, shall be liable to a fine, before a magistrate, of twenty dollars. Section 197. 5. How to dispose of Surplus. If the proceeds of the property amount to more than the rate and costs, he shall return the surplus to the party who was in possession when it was seized, or to the rightful owner, as admitted by the party for whose taxes the property was distrained. If there be a dispute as to the ownership of the pro the said party of the first part: And that the said Trustees shall have quiet possession of the said lands, FREE FROM ALL INCUMBRANCES: And the said party of the first part Covenants with the said Trustees, that he will execute such further assurances of the said lands as may be requisite: And the said party of the first part Covenants with the said Trustees, that he has done no act to encumber the said lands: And the said party of the first part releases to the said Trustees all his claims upon the said lands: And the said party of the second part hereby bars her dower in the said lands. In witness whereof, the said parties hereto have hereunto set their hands and seals, in the day and year before mentioned, J. G. [Seller's Seal.] T. H. M. B. [Trustees' I. B. corporate seal.] REMARKS.-When the land has descended to the wife in her own right, she must, besides joining with her husband in the Conveyance, appear before two Justices of the Peace, to declare that she has parted with her estate in the land intended to be conveyed without any coercion or fear of coercion by or on the part of her husband;. and the certificates of such Justices must appear on the back of the conveyance on the day of its execution. The form of the certificate is as follows: "We [inserting the names] Justices of the Peace for the County of do hereby certify that on this day of 186-, at the within deed was duly executed in our presence, by one of the grantors therein named; and that the said wife of said at the said time and place, being examined by us, apart from her husband, did appear to give her consent to convey with her estate in the lands mentioned in the said deed, freely and voluntarily, and without coercion or fear of coercion on the part of her husband, or of any other person or per sons whatsoever. wife of income for common school purposes, and to apply the same according to the terms on which the same were acquired or received; Trustees may Sell School Site or other Property. [(34) The School Law Amendment Act of 1860 further enacts that: 10. It shall be lawful for any School Trustee Corporation to dispose, by sale or otherwise, of any school site or school property not required by them in consequence of a change of school site, and to convey the same under their corporate seal, and to apply the proceeds thereof for their lawful school purposes. And all sites and other property given or acquired, or which may be given er acquired, for common school purposes, shall vest absolutely in the Trustee Corporation for this purpose.] In regard to new school site, see the thirtieth section of the Consolidated Common School Act, on page 45] perty sold, the surplus shall be paid over to the municipal treasurer until the dispute be settled. Sections 99, 100, and 101. 6. Liabilities of Railway Companies in School Sections. By the seventh section of the Consolidated Assessment Act, the real estate of a railway company which may be situated in a school section, "is not to be considered as land of non-residents." The thirtieth section of that Act requires the company to transmit annually to the clerk of the municipality, a statement of the value of all their real property, except the roadway, in the municipality; the clerk shall communicate the same to the asssesor, and the trustees shall copy it from the assessor's roll and place it upon the collector's roll, with the amount of tax thereon. The collector shall notify the company, and collect the tax at any station or office of the company. See also the one hundred and twenty-seventh section of the Consolidated Common School Act. 7. Omitted Assessments and Mistakes. The Consolidated Assessment Act authorizes the county treasurer to report to the township clerk any land to assessment, but which has not yet been assessed; and the clerk shall enter such land on the collector's roll of the following The treasurer is also authorized to collect any palpable error as certified by the township clerk. Sections 116—119. year. 8 Collector to make return at the time specified in the warrant, &c. The collector shall return his roll to the trustees, and pay over the proceeds, within the time fixed in the bond to the trustees, or their warrant to him, otherwise another person may be employed to collect the taxes which the collector does not collect within the time specified. Sections 103 and 104. 9. Taxes to be a special lien upon land. The taxes accrued or to accrue on any land, shall be a special lien on such land, having preference over any claim, lien, privilege, or incumbrance, of any party except the Crown, and shall not require registration to preserve it. Sec. tion 107. See also the twelfth clause of this twenty-seventh section of the Consolidated Common School Act, and notes, on pages 36 and 37. 10. Punishment of Clerks, Assessors or Collectors, making fraudulent assessments, Collections, &c. The one hundred and seventy-third section of the Upper Canada Consolidated Assessment Law enacts that if any clerk, assessor, or collector, acting under this Act, makes any unjust or fraudulent assessment, or copy of any assessor's or collector's roll, or wilfully and fraudulently inserts therein the name of any person Building, or otherwise providing School Premises. (4) To do whatever they may judge expedient with regard to building, repairing, renting, warming,* furnishing, and keeping in ordert who should not be entered, or omits the name of any person who should be entered, or wilfully omits any duty required of him by this Act, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof before a court of competent jurisdiction, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars, and to imprisonment until the fine be paid, or to imprisonment in the common gaol of the county or city for a period not exceeding six months, or to both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court. Section 173. 11. Proceedings for compelling Collectors to account for or pay over Moneys in their hands by Warrants from Treasurers to Sheriff or High Bailiff. The one hundred and seventy-seventh section of the Upper Canada Consolidated Assessment Law further enacts that if a collector refuses or neglects to pay to the proper treasurer or chamberlain, or other person legally authorized to receive the same, the sums contained on his roll, or duly to account for the same as uncollected, the treasurer or chamberlain shall, within twenty days after the time when the payment ought to have been made, issue a warrant under his hand and seal, directed to the sheriff of the county, or to the high bailiff of the city (as the case may be), commanding him to levy of the goods, chattels, lands and tenements of the collector and his sureties, such sun as remains unpaid and unaccounted for, and to return the Warrant within forty days after the date thereof. *The following are the general regulations, which have the force of law, in regard to warming and keeping in order the school-house, as prescribed by the Council of Public Instruction for Upper Canada : * * * * 13. The trustees having made such provisions relative to the school house and its appendages, as are required by the fourth clause of the twenty-seventh section, and the seventh clause of the seventy-ninth section of the Upper Canada Consolidated Common School Act, it shall be the duty of the master to give strict attention to the proper ventilation and temperature, as well as to the cleanliness of the school house; he shall also prescribe such rules for the use of the yard and outbuildings connected with the school-house, as will insure their being kept in a neat and proper condition; and he shall be held responsible for any want of neatness or cleanliness about the premises. 14. Care shall be taken to have the school-house ready for the reception of the pupils at least fifteen minutes before the time prescribed for opening the school, in order to afford shelter to those who may arrive before the appointed hour. NOTE. It is not the duty, however, either of the teacher or pupils to make the school-house fires, or to sweep the house itself. The teacher is employed to teach the school; but he is not employed to make the fires or to clean the school-house, any more than to repair it. It is the duty of the trustees to provide for warming and cleaning the school-house; and it is the duty of the teacher to see that the provision thus made by trustees for those purposes, is duly carried into effect by the parties concerned. If the teacher undertakes to see these things done, for a certain remuneration, or for what he may have to pay to get them done, very well; but it is clearly the duty of the trustees to make provision for having them done at the expense of the section. † Decisions of the Superior Courts in regard to the School-House. The Court of Queen's Bench has decided that, under the School Act, school trustees are authorized to levy a rate for the erection of a school-house in their the section school-house, and its furniture and appendages, and the school lands and enclosures held by them; and for procuring apparatus* and text-books for their school; (5) And when there is no suitable school house belonging to such section, or when a second school-house is required,t then to rent, section. The Chief Superintendent of Education, appellant from the Judge of the Division Court of the County of Brant, in re John A. Kelly v. Charles Hedges et al. Union Section No. 20, Burford, and 13, Windham. 12 Q. B. R. 531. 2. School Trustee contracts not valid without their corporate Seal. The Court of Common Pleas has decided that the Trustees of a School Section being a corporation under the School Act, are not liable as such to pay for a school house erected for and accepted by them, not having contracted under seal for the erection of the same. The seal is required as authenticating the concurrence of the whole body corporate. (c)-Marshall v. Trustees No.4, Kitley, 4 C. P. R. 375. 3. Contract under Seal, signed by a majority of the Corporation, binding. The same Court has also decided the following case:-A contract was entered into by two of the Trustees of a Section under their corporate seal for building a school house, after the house was built the Trustees refused to pay, on the plea that the contract was not legal, a jury having given a verdict in favour of the Trustees, a new trial was ordered, and the former verdict in favour of the trustees was set aside. The court held that a contract entered into by two trustees under the School Act, with the corporate seal attached, is sufficient; and a plea that the contract was signed by the two subscribing trustees, without the consent or approba tion of the third, was held bad.-Forbes v. Trustees, No. 8, Plympton, 8 Ĉ. P. R. 73, 74. 4. School-house and site in use not liable to be sold on judgment against Trustee Corporation, as not they but the inhabitants of the Section are the cestuis que trust (i. e. persons for whose benefit the trust is held.) The Court of Queen's Bench has given judgment as follows: In a case in which a school site had been given to the trustees for the purposes of a school (with the condition that it should revert to the giver in case it should cease to be used for school purposes), and on which they had erected a school-house, judgment was obtained against the corporation for the money due on the building contract. The school-house and site were actually sold and deeded by the sheriff; but the Court held, that the house and land could not lawfully be sold,-it being contrary to public policy that a school-house in daily use (any more than a court-house or jail) should be held liable upon writ of execution. The plaintiff should have re * Apparatus, maps, library and prize-books, may be obtained from the Educational Depository, Toronto. See "Departmental Notices" on the subject, at the end. tie. For a female school, as authorized by the next clause of this section. (c) "A corporation being an invisible body, cannot manifest its will by oral communication: a peculiar mode has therefore been devised for the authentic expression of its intention,namely, the affixing of its common seal; and it is held that though the particular members may express their private consent by words, or signing their names, yet this does not bind the corporation; it is the fixing of the seal, and that only, which unites the several assents of the individuals composing it; and makes one joint assent of the whole.-Smith's Mercantile Law, B. I. Chap. 1. |