The Married Women's Property Act 1882, does not extend to Scotland, and it has therefore been considered advisable to print the more important sections of The Married Women's Property (Scotland) Act 1881, which now governs the law on the subject in that country. The few decisions of the Superior Courts respecting Savings Banks having received an important addition in the case of The Queen v. Littledale (10 L.R. Ir. 78, and 12 L.R. Ir. 97), the report of this case has been appended. A valuable opinion by Mr. J. Balfour Paul, Assistant-Registrar for Scotland, on the effect of the Provident Nominations and Small Intestacies Act 1883, is, by his kind permission, printed in Appendix II. The writer has to thank Mr. J. M. Ludlow, Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies; Mr. Court, Assistant Comptroller, National Debt Office, and Mr. Compton, Controller of Post Office Savings Banks, for much kind advice and assistance. I, BRICK COURT, Temple. II. OPINION OF THE ASSISTANT-REGISTRAR OF FRIENDLY SOCIETIES FOR SCOTLAND AS TO THE THE LAW OF SAVINGS BANKS SINCE 1878, 1 BEING A SUPPLEMENT TO THE LAW RELATING SAVINGS BANKS. INTRODUCTION. THE Savings Bank Act, 1880 (43 & 44 Vict. c. 36), has three main objects;-first, to provide for the deficiency in respect of the assets and liabilities of Trustee Savings Banks by means of a terminable annuity; secondly, to reduce the interest payable to the trustees of Savings Bauks; and thirdly, to provide for the investment of savings bank deposits in Government stock. Section I relates to the first object. It provides for the valuation at a fixed rate of the assets and liabilities of the National Debt Commissioners in respect of Trustee Savings Banks, and for the creation of a terminable annuity for not exceeding twenty-eight years, charged on the Consolidated Fund, of an amount sufficient to pay off the total deficiency on the Savings Bank account, if the interest is calculated at the rate of 34 per cent. per annum. Section 2 enacts that, after November 20, 1880, receipts in respect of money paid into the Banks of England or Ireland by trustees of Savings Banks shall bear interest at 3 per cent., and that the interest pay B able to depositors by the trustees shall not exceed the rate of 21. 158. per cent. Section 3 deals with investments in stock. Any moneys deposited in a Trustee or Post Office Savings Bank, not being less than 10l., or the amount of the current price of 10l. stock, with the addition of the commission, whichever sum is least, may, on the request of the depositor, be invested by the Savings Bank authority (ie., as respects a Trustee Savings Bank, the trustees of the Bank; and as respects the Post Office Savings Banks, the Postmaster-General) in Government stock; the term comprising Consols, Reduced and New. The amount of stock credited to any one account in any one year (ending, in the case of a Trustee Savings Bank, November 20, but in the case of a Post Office Savings Bank, December 31), whether any stock has been previously sold or not, cannot exceed 100l., and the whole amount credited to any one account cannot exceed 300l. stock. A depositor may request the Savings Bank authority to sell not less than 10l. stock, or than stock of the value of Iol., over and above the commission, whichever is least. The Savings Bank authority must, not later than seven days from the request in either case, carry out the transaction in manner provided by the Act. Dividends, subject to the deduction of the commission, are to be dealt with as interest on deposits. For the purpose of immediate investment in stock a deposit to an amount not exceeding the value of 100l. stock with the commission may be made, and in computing the maximum amount of deposit the value of the depositor's stock, or any sum deposited for the sole purpose of an immediate investment in stock, is not to be reckoned. A depositor may also, on request to the Savings Bank authority, obtain a stock certificate with coupons annexed under the National Debt Act 1870, for any stock standing to his account to the amount of 50l., or of a multiple of 50l., |