APPENDIX OP CASES.
215
Where the clerk of a friendly society embezzled rents
collected by him in the capacity of cleric :—Held, that he
might be stated to be the cleric to the trustees, to whom
the house had been conveyed, whether appointed by them
or by the society, and that it was no defence that the
affairs of the society had not been conducted according to
the statute : R. v. Miller, 2 Mood. 249. See also R. v.
Proud, 31 L. J. M. 0. 71, and R. v. Murphy, 4 Cox C. C.
101.
The treasurer of a society is an accountable officer, not a
“ clerk or servant,” and cannot be indicted for embezzlement
: R. v. Tyree, 1 L. B. (C. 0.) 177.
Trespass does not lie against a magistrate for anything
done by him in the discharge of his duty, unless he be
made acquainted with every fact necessary to enable him
to determine when called on to act. Where, therefore, the
treasurer of a benefit society brought such an action against
a magistrate, for issuing a warrant of distress against him
upon a previous order of two magistrates for the relief of a
member, in pursuance of 33 Geo. 3, c. 54, s. 15 :—Held,
that the action could not be maintained, it appearing on
the face of the order that the treasurer made no defence,
the defendant’s jurisdiction not having been questioned at
the time, and the treasurer having neglected to present to
his notice a rule of the society, which directed all disputes
between its members to be referred to arbitration, and
which rule was confirmed *by section 16 of the statute,
whereby the award was made conclusive, without being
subject to the control of the magistrate : Pike v. Garter,
10 Moore, 376.
Barrett, app., Markham, resp., L. B. C. P. 405, 8th June,
1872.- 18 (£• 19 Viet. e. 63, s. 24. To render the treasurer
°f a, friendly society liable to the penalties imposed by this
section for withholding or misapplying moneys of the society
which have come to his hands as treasurer, it must be shown
that he has been guilty of some fraud or misrepresentation.
Mere inability to pay the money to the trustees is not enough.
Case stated by a police magistrate under 20 & 21 Viet,
•c. 43.
1. The appellant is one of the trustees of a friendly
society called the “ Prince of Wales Lodge, Order of Ancient
Shepherds, Ashton Unity, South London District,” and the
respondent was, until the 28th of October last, the treasurer
■°f that society.
2. The parties appeared before the magistrate at the
Bamheth Police Court upon a complaint preferred by the
