No. 53

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 46
of the 9th May, forwarding copies of an Ordinance passed at the last
Session of the Legislature of British Columbia, entitled No. 4 "An
Ordinance in aid of the Trustees Relief Act."

There appear to be one or two errors of language in this Ordinance
which it may be worth while to point out to you.

In Section 1 after the words "in the name" it would be proper to
insert "or to the account."

The first phrase of Section II "all payments heretofore made" does
not clearly show what payments the Clause was intended to cover. This
should be made clear. It was probably intended to protect "all
such payments and transfers heretofore made in the manner
aforesaid." But whatever was the intention of the Legislature,
the language should, I think, be more accurately adjusted to it.

Your Government will also do well to consider whether such an Act
as that of 10 and 11 Victoria Cap: 96 would be extended to the Colony by
the general words of the Proclamation of the 19th November 1858. It
appears to me very advisable to obviate any doubt on this point by
specifically enacting that the Imperial Statute with certain specified
substitutions (including those provided for by this Ordinance) should
be deemed to have been in force in the Colony, from the 19th November
1858, and declared in terms that the Supreme Court of the Colony should
be competent to exercise all powers conferred by that Act on the Court
of Chancery, the Lord Chancellor and the Master of the Rolls.