No. 4.] SPECIAL MP:ETING OF BOARD. 15 



case mny be fully understood, with a view to any changes in the 

 law which may be thought necessary or desirable. I do not under- 

 stand tliat section 11 of chapter 114 of the Public Statutes is ma- 

 terial in the case of either of these societies now in question, and 

 I have dealt with the matter only in view of such provisions as 

 seem to be applicable to them upon the statement of facts pre- 

 sented by you, which of course I assume to be correct and sulii- 

 ciently full for the purpose. 



By sections 1 and 6 of chapter 114 of the Public Statutes the 

 right of any society to receive any bounties in a particular year 

 depends upon having awarded and paid the same amount in pre- 

 miums and complied with all the requirements of law and the reg- 

 ulations of the Board during the preceding year. 



The right of any society to representation on the Board in a 

 particular year depends upon its title to receive bounty in that 

 year. Section 2, as now amended, and section 5 require each 

 society to make the proper return, on or before the 10th of Jan- 

 uary in each year, of the facts which show whether it is or is not 

 entitled to a payment of bounty in the following October ; and 

 the theory of the law undoubtedly is that between the 10th of 

 January, when these returns are supposed to be in, and the first 

 Wednesday of P^ebruary, when new members take their seats in 

 the Board, the title to representation in the Board shall be deter- 

 mined, by and upon the returns. 



It thus appears that the riglit of each society to representation 

 on the Board must be determined at the time when the new mem- 

 bers take their seats, on the first Wednesday of February, accord- 

 ing to what the society has done or omitted to do during the 

 preceding year, as shown by its returns. And as the provision 

 of section 1, that no society shall receive any larger bounty in any 

 year than it has awarded and paid in premiums during the preced- 

 ing year, and of section 6, that a society which neglects in any 

 year to comply with the requirements of law or regulations of the 

 Board shall not be entitled to bounty, are expressed in prohibitory 

 language, I think they must be construed as peremptory conditions 

 of representation in the Board, failure to comply with any of 

 which forfeits the right of representation. 



The question has been raised whether the application of the 

 bounty or its equivalent, for the general purpose of the encour- 

 agement or improvement of agriculture or manufactures, under 

 the permission of section 7, is not an equivalent for the earning 

 of a bounty, so as by itself to entitle a society to representation. 

 I do not think tlie statute can be so construed. The provision 

 that no society shall receive a larger bounty than it has awarded 



