An order of the Secretary for Scotland, under section fifty-one of the principal Act, for altering the boundaries of any parish or for uniting several parishes or parts of parishes into one parish by the creation of a new parish or otherwise, or annexing one or. more of such parishes or parts of parishes to a larger parish, or for dividing any parish or for uniting any subdivision of a parish with any other parish, shall have effect for all purposes whether county council, justice, sheriff, militia, parochial board, parish council, school board, local authority, or other, save as herein-after provided. Before making any such order, the Secretary for Scotland shall consult with the authorities concerned, and, upon the application of any one or more of such authorities, shall 'cause a local inquiry in terms of the principal Act to be held, and shall cause the proposed order to be published in the Edinburgh Gazette, and in such other manner as to make the same known to all persons interested, and shall consider all objections and representations respecting such .order, and may, after the expiry of not less than forty days from the date of the publication of the proposed order in the Edinburgh Gazette, finally make the order and cause the same to be forthwith published in the Edinburgh Gazette, and such order shall thereafter have effect as if enacted by Parliament unless or until revoked or modified by subsequent order in terms of this section. In addition to the provisions of the principal Act any such order may be made on the representation of a parochial board or parish council, or the commissioners of a police burgh, or a school board.
An order of the Secretary for Scotland under the powers conferred by section fifty-one of the principal Act or this section may, without prejudice to the generality of the aforesaid powers, provide for all or any of the matters specified in sub-section six of section forty-nine of the principal Act.
The words " in the county" occurring in sub-section (e) of section fifty-one of the principal Act are hereby repealed, and the said section shall be read as if for the words " county burgh or parish," occurring in proviso (ii) thereof, there were substituted the words " county or burgh ; " and the words " this Act," in subsection (g) of the said section, and in sections ninety-five and ninety-six of the principal Act, shall be construed as meaning " the Local Government (Scotland) Acts."