Section 25. Interprets words

25. Interprets words. Schedule A. Form of agreement. Schedule B. Form of order of assignment. Concerning the binding of Apprentices. For better enabling children, and especially ophans and poor children brought up by public charity, to learn trades, crafts and employments, by which, when they come to full age, they may gain a livelihood, It is enacted as follows: I. Any child, above the age of ten, and under the age of eighteen years, may be bound apprentice by his or her father or guardian to learn any fit trade, craft or employment, for such term as is set forth in the contract of apprenticeship, not exceeding seven years, so that it be not prolonged beyond the time when such child shall be of the full age of twenty-one years, or in the case of a female, beyond the time of her marriage. II. The age set forth in the contracts shall be evidence of the age of the child, in all questions which arise as to the right of the master to the continuance of the service. III. Any Magistrate or Justice of the Peace may act with all the powers of a guardian under this Act, on behalf of any orphan, or poor child abandoned by its parents, or of any child convicted before him, or any other Magistrate of vagrancy, or the commission of any petty offence. IV. An orphan or poor child, brought up by any public charity, may be bound apprentice by the Governors, Directors or Managers thereof, as his or her guardians for this purpose. V. Any such boy may be bound as an apprentice in the sea service to any of Her Majesty's subjects, being the owner of any registered ship belonging to and trading from any port in the territories under the Government of the East India Company, 100 THE ACTS OF THE [1850. which has been declared to be a registering port under Act X. 1841, to be employed in any such ship the property of such person, commanded by a British subject, and, while so employed, to be taught the craft and duty of a seaman. VI. Any such boy may be bound in like manner for sea service in any ship of the East India Company belonging to any such port, commanded by a British subject, in which case the contract shall be made with the Master Attendant at such port, or any officer appointed to represent the East India Company in this behalf, who shall appoint the ship in which such apprentice is to serve from time to time. VII. The Master or Commander of any ship in which an apprentice bound to the sea service shall be appointed to serve by the party to whom he is bound, shall be deemed the agent of such party for the purpose of this Act. VIII. Every contract of apprenticeship shall be in writing, according to the form given in the Schedule (A.) annexed to this Act, or to the like effect, which shall set forth the conditions agreed upon particularly specifying the age of the apprentice, the term for which he is bound, and what he is to be taught. IX. Every such contract shall be signed by the person to whom the apprentice is bound, and by the person by whom he is bound, and by the apprentice, when he is of the age of fourteen years or more at the time of binding; but, when the apprentice is bound by the Governors, Directors or Managers of a Public Charity, the signature of two of them, or of their Secretary or Officer, shall be sufficient on behalf of the persons binding the apprentice. X. No such contract shall be valid unless it be executed in the manner aforesaid, nor until it has been deposited in the office of the Chief Magistrate of the place or district where it has been executed, or if the apprentice is bound to the sea service, in the office of the person appointed under Act X. 1841, to make registry of ships at the port where the apprentice is to begin his service; and the person in whose office any such contract is deposited shall give to each of the parties a copy thereof, certified under his hand, which certified copies shall be received as evidence of the contract, without formal proof of the hand-writing of the Magistrate or Registering Officer. ACT XIX.] GOVERNOR GENERAL IN COUNCIL. 101 XI. The terms of service may be changed at any time during the apprenticeship, or the contract may be determined, with the consent of both parties to the contract or their personal representatives, and with the consent of the apprentice, if he is above the age of fourteen years; provided, that the changes agreed to or the termination of the contract shall be expressed in writing on the original contract, with the signature of the proper parties according to Section VIII. of this Act; and the Magistrate or Registering Officer shall thereupon make under his hand corresponding endorsements on the office copies, which shall be brought to him at the same time for that purpose. XII. The master of any apprentice bound under this Act may, with the consent of the person by whom he was bound, and with the consent of the apprentice, if he is above the age of fourteen years, assign such apprentice to any other person, who is willing to take him for the residue of his apprenticeship, and subject to the condition thereof; provided that such person shall by endorsement under his own hand on the contract, declare his acceptance of such apprentice, and acknowledge himself bound by the agreements and convenants therein mentioned, to be performed on the part of the master, and that the consent of the other parties aforesaid shall be expressed in writing on the same, and signed by them respectively: And every such assignment shall be certified on the office copies of the contract under the hand of the Magistrate or Registering Officer according to the form given in Schedule (B.) annexed to this Act. XIII. Upon complaint made to any Magistrate in the said territories, by or on behalf of any apprentice bound under this Act, of refusal or neglect to provide for him, or to teach him according to the contract of apprenticeship, or of cruelty, or other ill-treatment by his master or by the agent under whom he shall have been placed by his master, the Magistrate may summon the master or his agent, as the case may be, if he shall be within his jurisdiction, to appear before him at a reasonable time, to be stated in the summons, to answer the complaint; and at such time, whether the master or his agent be present or not, (service of the summons being proved), may examine into the matter of the complaint; and upon proof thereof, may cancel the contract of apprenticeship, and assess upon the offender, whether he shall be 102 THE ACTS OF THE [1850. the master or his agent, a reasonable sum for behoof of the apprentice, not exceeding four times the amount of the premium paid upon the binding, or if no premium, or a less premium than Fifty Rupees was paid, not exceeding Two Hundred Rupees: and, if the offender shall not pay the sum so assessed, may levy the same by distress and sale of his goods and chattels, and if the offender shall not be the master but his agent, by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the master also. XIV. No contract of apprenticeship shall be cancelled, nor shall any master or his agent be liable to any criminal proceeding, on account of such moderate chastisement for misbehaviour, given to any apprentice by his master or the agent of his master, as may lawfully be given by a father to his child, and the provision for enabling the contract of apprenticeship to be cancelled shall not bar any criminal proceeding against any master or his agent for an assault or other offence committed against his apprentice, for which he would be liable to be punished, had it been against his child: whether or not any proceedings be taken for cancelling the contract of apprenticeship. XV. Upon complaint made to any Magistrate, by or on behalf of the master of any apprentice bound to him under this Act, of any ill-behaviour of such apprentice, or if such apprentice shall have absconded, the Magistrate may issue his warrant for apprehending such apprentice, and may hear and determine the complaint, and punish the offender by an order for keeping the offender, if a boy, in confinement in any debtor's prison or other suitable place, not being a criminal gaol, for any time not exceeding one month, of which one week may be in solitary confinement, during which time such allowance shall be made for his subsistence by the master or his agent as the Magistrate shall order; and, if the offender be a boy of not more than fourteen years of age, may order him to be privately whipped: or, if the offender be a girl, or in the case of any boy, the Magistrate deem any such punishment unfit, he may pass an order empowering the master of the apprentice or his agent to keep the offender in close confinement in his own house, or on board the vessel to which he belongs, upon bread and water, or such other plain food as may be given without injury to the health of the apprentice, for a period not exceeding one month. ACT XIX.] GOVERNOR GENERAL IN COUNCIL. 103 XVI. Upon complaint of wilful and repeated ill behaviour on the part of the apprentice, and on the demand of the master, the Magistrate may order the contract of apprenticeship to be cancelled, whether or not the charge is proved; but only with the consent of the apprentice and of his father or guardian, if the charge is not proved: and such cancelling shall be with or without refund of the whole or part of any premium that may have been paid to the master on binding such apprentice, as to the Magistrate seems fit on consideration of the case; and all sums so refunded shall be applied under the direction of the Magistrate for behoof of the apprentice. XVII. The Magistrate may order any sum recovered for behoof of the apprentice on cancelling the contract to be either laid out in binding him to another master, or otherwise for his benefit, or to be paid to the person by whom any premium was paid when he was bound apprentice. XVIII. No Magistrate shall entertain a complaint on the part of a master against an apprentice under this Act, unless it be brought within one month after the cause of complaint arose; or, if the cause of complaint arose on board ship during a voyage, within one month after the arrival thereof at a port or place in the said territories: and no Magistrate shall entertain a complaint on the part of an apprentice against his master or the agent of his master under this Act, unless it be brought within three months after the cause of complaint arose; or if the cause of complaint arose on board ship during a voyage within three months after the arrival thereof at a port or place in the said territories. XIX. If the master of any apprentice shall die before the end of the apprenticeship, the contract of apprenticeship shall be thereby determined; and a proportionate part, corresponding to the unexpired portion of the term, of any premium, which shall have been paid to such master on the binding of the apprentice to him, shall be returned by the executors or administrators out of the estate of the deceased to the person or persons who shall have paid the same; unless the executors or administrators of the deceased master shall continue the business in which such apprentice shall have been employed, and shall, within three months from the death of the late master, make offer in writing to keep the apprentice on the terms of the original contract; in which 104 THE ACTS OF THE [1850. case the estate of the deceased shall be discharged from all liabilities on account of such premium. XX. If such offer to keep the apprentice shall be made as aforesaid, the same shall be fully expressed and certified by the executors and administrators on the original contract of apprenticeship; and also on the office copies thereof, by the Magistrate or Registering Officer; and the apprentice shall be bound to the executors or administrators so keeping him for the remaining term of his apprenticeship. XXI. Any apprentice bound under this Act, whose master shall die during the apprenticeship, shall be entitled to maintenance for three months from and after the death of his master, out of the assets left by him; provided that during such three months such apprentice shall continue to live with, and serve as an apprentice, the executors or administrators of such master, or such person as they shall appoint. XXII. The apprentice of any person against whom a Commission of Bankruptcy shall be issued, or who shall be adjudged to have committed an Act of Insolvency, during the apprenticeship, shall be discharged from all obligation under the contract of apprenticeship; and, if any premium was paid on binding him as an apprentice, he or the person by whom he was bound shall be entitled to claim the amount thereof, as a debt against the estate of the bankrupt or insolvent. XXIII. For the purpose of this Act all British subjects, wherever or of whatever parents born, as well as other persons in the territories under the Government of the East India Company, without the Towns of Calcutta and Madras, and the Town and Island of Bombay, shall be amenable to the jurisdiction of the Courts and Magistrates of the East India Company. XXIV. An appeal shall lie from any order passed by any Magistrate without the said Towns and Island to the Court of Session to which such Magistrate is subordinate, provided the appeal is made within one month from the date of the order. XXV. In this Act the words "master," owner, "person," and the pronoun "he" shall be understood to include several persons as well as one person, and females as well as males, and bodies corporate as well as individuals, unless there is something in the context repugnant to such construction. ACT XIX.] GOVERNOR GENERAL IN COUNCIL. 105 SCHEDULE A. FORM OF AGREEMENT. This Agreement made the day of in the year between A. B., of and C. D., of witnesseth that the said A. B., doth this day bind E. F., a boy (or girl) of the age of years completed, son (or daughter) of the said A. B. (or otherwise describing the relation in which A. B. and E. F. stand,) to dwell with and serve the said C. D., as an apprentice, from this day forth for years (in the case of a girl add, or until the time of her marriage, which shall first happen), during all which term the said apprentice shall duly and faithfully serve the said C. D., according to his (or her) skill and ability in all lawful business, and demean and behave himself (or herself) honestly, orderly, and obediently, in all things toward the said C. D. and his (or her) family. And the said C. D. for himself (or herself) and his (or her) executors and If there is no premium the words between brackets may be omitted. administrators, in consideration (of the premium or sum of paid by the said A. B., to the said C. D., the receipt whereof the said C. D. hereby acknowledges, and) of the faithful service of the said E. F., doth covenant and agree with the said A. B., his (or her) executors and administrators, that he (or she) will teach or cause to be taught to the said E. F., in the best way and manner that he (or she) can, the trade (craft or employment) of a during the said term; and will also, during the said term, find and allow unto the said apprentice good, wholesome and sufficient food, clothes, lodging, washing, and all other things necessary fit and reasonable for an apprentice: (and further, here insert any special covenants.) In witness whereof the parties have hereunto set their hands and Seals, the day and year above written. A. B. ☐ C. D. ☐ VOL. II. 106 THE ACTS OF THE [1850. SCHEDULE B. FORM OF ORDER OF ASSIGNMENT. (To be endorsed on the Agreement.) Be it known to all men that on the day of ______ in the year personally appeared before G. H., Magistrate of ______ C. D., of ______ with E. F., his (or her) apprentice, and J. K., of ______ and desired that the agreement of apprenticeship, whereby the said E. F. was bound to the said C. D., might be assigned and made over to the said J. K., and the said G. H. having satisfied himself, by personal examination of the said E. F., and by other lawful ways and means, that such assignment is for the benefit of the said E. F., and is made with the consent of (the said E. F., and of) all persons whose consent thereunto by law is required, doth allow such assignment: and the contract of apprenticeship whereby the said E. F. was on the day of ______ in the year bound to the said C. D., as an apprentice to learn the trade (craft or employment) of a ______ shall henceforth endure, unto the end of the said term, as if the said J. K. had been originally party to the said deed, and had executed the same, in the place and instead of the said C. D., and shall be bound, for himself (or herself) his (or her) executors or administrators, to fulfil the covenants by the said C. D., to be performed, and the said E. F. shall henceforth be bound unto the said J. K., in like manner as he (or she) was by the said agreement bound unto the said C. D. C. D. E. F. J. K. In witness whereof the said C. D., E. F. and J. K. have hereunto set their hands before me the day and year above written. G. H., Magistrate.