See CR URe a W AUDENS; C HURCI1 RATES.
The next most important business connected with the parish is that which concerns the poor, the leading principle being, that each union is bound to pay the expense of relieving its own poor. See OVERSEETte; GUARDIAN: POOR.
Another important feature of the parish is, that all the highways within the parish must he kept in repair by the parish, i.e., by the inhabitants who are rated to the poor. For this purpose, the inhabitants of each parish, in vestry assembled, appoint each year a surveyor of highways, whose duty it is to see that the highways are kept in good repair; and he is authorized, by the general highway act, to levy a rate on all the prop erty within the parish. The office of a surveyor of highways is, like those of church warden, overseer, and guardian, a compulsory and gratuitous office. When a highway is out of repair, the mode of enforcing the repair is by summoning the surveyor of high ways before justices, to show cause why he has not repaired the road; and if the facts are not disputed, the justices either fine him, or order an indictment to be laid against the inhabitants of the parish. This indictment is tried, and the expense of it is defrayed out of the highway-rate, which is subsequently made. The highways of each parish being thus exclusively under the control of the ratepayers and their officers, it happened that great inequality prevailed in the standard of repairs which each parish set up for itself. Phis led to the late highway district acts, first passed in 1862, the object of which is to enable the justices of the peace of the district to combine several parishes into one dis trict, and thus secure more uniformity in the repairs of the highways. A way-warden is now appointed to represent each parish at the highway board, instead of the old high way surveyor; but the expenses of maintaining the highways are still ultimately paid by the parish in which they are situated, the only change being, that the expenses are ordered to be incurred by the highway board, instead of the parochial officer.
The above duties in reference to the parish church, the poor, and the highways, are the leading duties attaching to the parish as a parish; but over and above these, many miscellaneous duties have been imposed on the parish officers, particularly on the over seers and churchwardens, which will be found specified under the head of OVERSEERS. In nearly all cases where the parish, as a parish, is required to act, the mode in which it does so is by the machinery of a vestry. A vestry is a meeting of all the inhabitant householders rated to the poor. It is called by the churchwardens, and all questions are put to the vote. Any ratepayer who thinks the majority of those present do not repre sent the majority of the whole parishoners, is entitled to demand a poll. At these meet ings, great excitement often prevails, especially when there existed church-rates. Wher ever a parish improvement is found to lie desirable, the vestry may meet and decide whether it is to be proceeded with, in which case they have powers of rating themselves for the expense. Such is the case as to the establishment of baths and wash-houses, watching, and lighting. Returns are made of all parish and local rates to parliament
every veer. The parish property, except the goods of the parish church, which are vested in the churchwardens, is vested in the overseers, who hold and manage the same, requiring the consent of the poor-law board in order to sell it. Of late, a statute has authorized benefactors to dedicate greens or playgrounds to the inhabitants of parishes, through the intervention of trustees.
In Scotland the division into parishes has existed from the most ancient times, and is recognized for certain civil purposes relative to taxation and otherwise, as well as for purposes purely ecclesiastical. The court of session, acting as the commission of teinds, may unite two or more parishes into one; or may divide a parish, or disjoin part of it, with consent of the heritors (or landholders) of a major part of the valuation; or apart from their consent, if it be shown that there is within the disjoined part a sufficient place of worship, and if the titulars of teinds (q.v.), or others .:ho have to pay no less than three-fourths of the additional stipend, do not object. By act 7 and 8 Viet. c, 44, any district where there is an endowed church may be erected into a parish quoad sacra, for such purposes as are purely ecclesiastical. Endowed Gaelic congregations in the large towns of the Lowlands may similarly be erected into parishes queen sacra.
The principal application of the parochial division for civil purposes relates to the administration of the poor-law. Under the old system the administrators of the poor law were the kirk-session in county parishes, and the magistrates, or certain managers selected by them, in burghal parishes. The act 8 and J Viet. c. 83, which remodeled the poor-law of Scotland, retained the old administrative body so long as there was no assessment; but, on a parish being assessed, substituted for it a new one, consisting in rural parishes of the owners of heritable property of £20 yearly value, of the magistrates of any royal burgh within the bounds, of the kirk-session, a certain number of members chosen by the persons assessed; and in burghal parishes of members, not exceeding 30, chosen by the persons assessed, four members named by the magistrates, and not above four by the kirk-session or sessions. The board of supervision may unite two Or more parishes into a combination for poor-law purposes. There is not the same extensive machinery for parochial that exists in England. The burden of sup porting the fabric of the church falls on the heritors, and there are no churchwardens. Highways are not repairable by die parish, and there are no elections of surveyors or way-wardens. The meeting of the inhabitants in vestry, which so often takes place in England, is unknown in Scotland, and hence the ratepayers do not interest themselves so myth in local affairs. Many of the dillies which in England are discharged by paro chial officers, are in Scotland discharged by the sheriff-clerk, a county-officer. The sys tem of having a parish school (q.v,) in every parish (a system extended by the education act of 1872) has long prevailed in Scotland, though unknown in England till the year 1870