Public Works Loans Act, 1881

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PUBLIC WORKS LOANS ACT 1881

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

An Act to grant Money for the purpose of Loans by the Public Works Loan Commissioners and the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland; and for other purposes relating to Loans by those Commissioners. [22nd August 1881.]

[Preamble.]

Short title.

1. This Act may be cited as the Public Works Loans Act, 1881.

[Ss. 2–5 rep. 57 & 58 Vict. c. 56 (S.L.R.)]

Provision as to loan to Wicklow Harbour Commissioners.

6. Whereas the Public Works Loan Commissioners advanced to the Wicklow Harbour Commissioners, on the security of Wicklow harbour and the revenue thereof, a loan of six thousand pounds, by two instalments of three thousand pounds each, on the twenty-seventh day of January one thousand eight hundred and seventy and the eighteenth day of March one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one respectively, and such loan was made repayable by eighteen annual instalments, commencing at the end of the third year from the date of the security, with interest at the rate of five per centum per annum on the principal from time to time remaining unpaid:

And whereas, on the advance of the said loan, the Town Commissioners of Wicklow consented that the said loan and the security for the same should have priority over a mortgage of Wicklow harbour and the revenue thereof to the said Town Commissioners to secure twelve thousand pounds :

And whereas, in consequence of the revenue of Wicklow harbour having been sufficient only for the annual expenses, no part of the principal of the said loan has been repaid to the Public Works Loan Commissioners, and no interest has been paid thereon since the month of March one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two on account of interest accrued due on the thirteenth day of February one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, and the arrears of interest amount to upwards of two thousand eight hundred pounds :

And whereas an application has been made to the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland to advance to the Wicklow Harbour Commissioners, for the purpose of improving and extending the harbour, under a baronial guarantee of certain baronies, a loan of forty thousand pounds, to be repayable in fifty annual instalments, with interest at the rate of four and a quarter per centum per annum, and to be a first charge on the revenue of Wicklow harbour:

And whereas, with a view to enable the Commissioners of Public Works to grant the said application, it is expedient to make such provision as herein-after appears with respect to the said loan, and arrears of interest thereon, due to the Public Works Loan Commissioners:

Be it therefore enacted as follows:—

The Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, out of moneys in their hands for the purpose of loans, may pay to the Public Works Loan Commissioners the principal and interest due to those Commissioners in respect of the above-recited loan of six thousand pounds to the Wicklow Harbour Commissioners, and upon such payment the Public Works Loan Commissioners shall transfer the loan and arrears of interest thereon, and the securities for the same, to the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland.

The Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, in the event of their advancing, in accordance with the above-recited or any other application, any loan to the Wicklow Harbour Commissioners on a baronial guarantee, whether given before or after the passing of this Act, may, if the Town Commissioners of Wicklow consent to the postponement of their mortgage for twelve thousand pounds to such loan, make such loan a first charge on Wicklow harbour and the revenue thereof in priority to the principal and interest of the loan transferred in pursuance of this section. They may also convert the principal of the loan so transferred and the arrears of interest thereon due up to the date of the conversion into a consolidated debt to be repaid by a terminable annuity of such an amount as will repay the same within a period not exceeding twenty-eight years from the date of the conversion, if the rate of interest is taken at four per centum per annum; and so far as they have no further security for the consolidated debt and terminable annuity, the security given for the payment of the principal and interest of the loan shall be a security for the payment of such debt and annuity.

Amendment of Acts.

Amendment of 38 & 39 Vict. c. 89. s. 22. as to rate of interest for loan.

7. Where the Public Works Loan Commissioners have, either before or after the passing of this Act, in pursuance of the Public Works Loans Act, 1875, or of any enactment repealed by that Act, taken possession of any mortgaged property, and after the passing of this Act advance any sum for the completion, repair, improvement, or security of that property, the rate of interest on such sum shall, notwithstanding anything in section twenty-two of the Public Works Loans Act, 1875, or any like enactment repealed by that Act, be not less than five per cent. per annum.

Expenses of ascertaining (under 38 & 39 Vict. c. 89. s. 36.) that loans have been properly applied.

8. The Local Government Board[¹] may make orders as to the expenses incurred by them or by any officer appointed by them in making or conducting any examination in pursuance of section thirty-six of the Public Works Loans Act, 1875, for the purpose of ascertaining that any loan or part of a loan advanced by the Public Works Loan Commissioners either before or after the passing of this Act, on the security of a rate, has been applied to the purpose for which the same was advanced.

Any such order may contain directions as to the parties by whom, and the rates out of which such expenses shall be borne, and on the application of the Local Government Board may be made a rule of the High Court of Justice in England, or of the High Court of Session in either division of the Inner House thereof in Scotland.

Application of surplus balances of loans made by the Public Works Loan Commissioners. 38 & 39 Vict. c. 89.

41 Vict. c. 18.

9. The unapplied balance of any loan advanced by the Public Works Loan Commissioners, either before or after the passing of this Act, on the security of a rate, may, with the consent of the said Commissioners, and of the central authority or department, if any, with whose sanction or consent such loan was authorised to be raised, be applied to any purpose to which moneys borrowed on the security of such rate are properly applicable; and in construing section thirty-six of the Public Works Loans Act, 1875, and section four of the Public Works Loans Act, 1878, the purpose to which any such unapplied balance as aforesaid is so applied, shall be deemed to be the purpose for which that portion of the loan was advanced.

[S. 10 rep. 61 & 62 Vict. c. 44. s. 8.]

Explanation of Acts as to loans for houses for labouring classes in Ireland.

29 & 30 Vict. c. 28.

29 & 30 Vict. c. 44.

42 & 43 Vict. c. 77.

11. [Recital.] Any company, society, or association established for the purpose of constructing or improving dwellings for the labouring classes shall be deemed to be and always to have been a company, society, or association to which a loan may be made in pursuance of the Labouring Classes Dwelling Houses Act, 1866, and the Labouring Classes Lodging Houses and Dwellings (Ireland) Act, 1866, and any loan heretofore made to any such company, society, or association shall be deemed to have been validly made, and the security given for the same shall be valid and effectual to all intents.

The period and rate of interest of any loan made in pursuance of either of the above-mentioned Acts may be such as is mentioned either in the Act or in section six of the Public Works Loans Act, 1879, with respect to the like loans by the Public Works Loan Commissioners, and the said section six shall be deemed to have been and this section shall be deemed to be in addition to and not in derogation of the powers under the above-mentioned Acts.

Explanation of Acts relating to Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland as to date of advance.

12. Whereas under the provisions of divers Acts of Parliament authorising the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland to make loans for public and other purposes, it is provided that the repayment of the loans thereunder shall be completed, and the first instalment of such repayment made within the periods respectively therein mentioned from the date of the advance, or from the time when the first advance is made, and doubts have arisen with respect to the construction of such provisions in the case where a loan is advanced by instalments, and it is expedient to remove such doubts: Be it therefore enacted as follows:

The period of years mentioned in any of the recited Acts as the period within which advances made thereunder by the Commissioners of Public Works are to be repaid shall, as regards each instalment of any loan advanced by the said Commissioners, either before or after the passing of this Act, be reckoned from the date of the advance of the instalment by the Commissioners.

[S. 13 local and personal. Ss. 14, 15 rep. 57 & 58 Vict. c. 56 (S.L.R.)]

[¹In Scotland, the Secretary for Scotland, 48 & 49 Vict. c. 61. s. 1.]