or the circuit court having jurisdiction in his city, a list under oath, showing what capitation taxes he has received under orders of court heretofore or hereafter made, and under the act which became a law December fourth, nineteen hundred and three, entitled "an act to prescribe the manner in which a duly registered voter who has not been assessed with his State capitation tax may pay the same, and to prescribe penalties for a failure on the part of clerks and treasurers to observe the provisions of this act."

The first report shall show all amounts received up to the time it is made, and all subsequent lists shall show the taxes received annually.

3. Such lists shall be examined by the court, and when found correct shall be certified to the auditor of public accounts, who shall charge the treasurer with amount shown to have been collected by him.

CHAP. 27.-An ACT to repeal sections 1897 and 1898 of the Code of Virginia. Approved February 17, 1906.

Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That section eighteen hundred and ninety-seven of the Code of Virginia be, and the same is hereby, repealed; and that section eighteen hundred and ninety-eight of the Code of Virginia be, and is hereby, repealed.

CHAP. 28.-An ACT to amend and re-enact section 109 of the Code.

Approved February 17, 1906.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That section one hundred and nine of the Code of Virginia be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

$109. General elections; when held.-There shall be held throughout the State on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in the counties and cities, and on the second Tuesday in June in the cities and towns, general elections for all officers required to be chosen at such elections respectively.

CHAP. 29.-An ACT to allow continuances as of right to parties in any action or proceeding during the session of the general assembly when a member or officer of the general assembly has been employed or retained as attorney prior to the beginning of the session of the general assembly.

Approved February 17, 1906.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That any party to any action or proceeding in any court may have a continuance as a matter of right when the general assembly is in session, and a member or officer of the general assembly has been employed or retained by him as

attorney in such action or proceeding prior to the beginning of the session of the general assembly.

2. An emergency existing in that members and officers of the present general assembly now in session are embarrassed in the performance of their duties as such members by a conflict therewith of their duties to clients in suits pending at terms of the court during this session, this act shall be in force from its passage.

CHAP. 30.-An ACT to provide for the discontinuance of gates on public roads, which provision shall be section 945 of the Code of Virginia.

Approved February 17, 1906.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That section nine hundred and forty-five of the Code of Virginia shall be as follows: $945. Discontinuance of gates.-If it be suggested by any citizen of this State to the board of supervisors of the county in which such gate is that injury or inconvenience results from any gate across a public road, the said board shall cause the owner of such gate to be summoned to appear at the next meeting of the board and show cause why the same should not be discontinued; and upon the return of the order "executed" by any officer authorized to execute process shall determine whether there ought to be such discontinuance or not. If the board decide that the gate shall be removed, it shall direct the commissioner, superintendent, road foreman or other person having charge of such road to remove the gate, and it shall be his duty so to do at such time as the board may direct. Wherever a road is, or has been, established with gates, and the gates are removed as ordered, and damages are claimed by the party owning the same, the board of supervisors shall appoint viewers to examine and report upon the nature and extent of the damage caused by the removal; and upon their report and other evidence, if any, the board may allow such damages as may appear to be proper, which shall be chargeable on the county. The clerk of the court shall, at the request of either party, or at the direction of the board, issue summons for witnesses to appear before the board, and the board may award the costs of summoning witnesses and of their attendance against the losing party.

From any order of the board of supervisors discontinuing or refusing to discontinue any gate, or awarding or refusing to award damages under this act, any party interested may appeal of a right to the circuit court of the county provided, notice of such appeal is filed with the board of supervisors or with the county clerk in fifteen days after such order is entered.

2. This act shall apply to all the counties of the State, whether acting under special road laws or not.

3. It being represented that there are cases in which the public interest is suffering by reason of the obstruction of roads by gates, this act shall be in force from its passage.

CHAP. 31.-An ACT to amend and re-enact section 631 of the Code of Virginia, 1887, relative to the reimbursement of a fiduciary out of estate.

Approved February 17, 1906.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That section six hundred and thirty-one of the Code of Virginia, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

$631. Fiduciary to be reimbursed out of estate. Where taxes or levics are paid by any fiduciary on any estate in his hands or for which he may be liable, such taxes and levies shall be refunded out of said estate.

CHAP. 32.-An ACT to provide for the transition of municipalities from the grade of cities of the second-class to the grade of cities of the first-class.

Approved February 17, 1906.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, Whenever any city of the second-class first attains a population of ten thousand inhabitants or more, as shown by any legal census heretofore or hereafter taken, such city shall be deemed to have become, ipso facto, a city of the first-class as of the date of the proclamation of that fact by the governor as provided for in section two of this act.

2. Whenever, by any local census authorized by law and heretofore or hereafter taken, it appears that a city has, since the last preceding local, State or federal census attained a population of ten thousand inhabitants or more, it shall be the duty of the judge of the corporation court of such city (or, if there be no such court, then the judge of the circuit court having jurisdiction over such city) to promptly enter that fact of record by an order, to be recorded in one of the order books of his court. At the expiration of the period of sixty days next after the return by the judge to the city council of the result of such local census in accordance with the provisions of the act approved December twenty-second, nineteen hundred and three, entitled "an act authorizing the councils of cities. to have a legal enumeration of their population," or of any amendment thereof (whether such return be heretofore or hereafter made), or at the expiration of sixty days next after the final announcement of the result of any other local census taken according to law; or in case a supersedeas to such final return or announcement of any local census be obtained as provided in section three of this act, then, and in that event, at the expiration of ten days after the final decree of the appellate court disposing of such supersedeas and confirming the fact that such city has ten thousand inhabitants or more, the said judge shall certify to the secretary of the Commonwealth the fact that such city has ten thousand inhabitants or more; but should such appellate court in and by its decree disposing of such supersedeas wholly set aside such census, or decide and hold that such city has not as much as ten thousand inhabitants, then such city, until otherwise determined by some subsequent legal census,

shall continue a city of the second-class, and no such certificate as hereinbefore provided shall be sent by such judge to the secretary of the Commonwealth. Upon receipt of such certificate furnished as hereinbefore provided, the secretary of the Commonwealth shall file and preserve the same among the records of his office, and shall report to the governor at once, and to the general assembly at its next succeeding session, the fact of such city having become on the date specified in such certificate a city of the first-class; of which fact the governor, upon receiving such report, shall at once make proclamation. From and after the date of such proclamation all legislative, judicial, and executive bodies and officers in the Commonwealth shall take official cognizance that such city has become and is a city of the first-class, of the fact of which transition the said proclamation shall be conclusive evidence.

3. On the petition of the Commonwealth filed by the attorney-general, or of such city, accompanied by a certified copy of the record, the supreme court of appeals, or any one of the judges thereof in vacation, may, at any time within the period of sixty days specified in section two of this act, but not afterwards, grant a writ of error, or appeal, and supersedeas to the official return or announcement of any local census authorized by law to be taken in any city of the second-class. Such writ of error, or appeal, and supersedeas shall be promptly heard and finally disposed of by the supreme court of appeals at its then existing (or if it be in vacation, then at its or next succeeding) session (regardless of the place of session) immediately after disposing of the criminal cases and appeals from the corporation commission upon the docket of said court and ready for hearing. The said appellate court, in its decree disposing of such supersedeas, shall declare the true and correct population of such city as shown by such local census, after correcting any such errors in such census as may appear to have been made therein, or shall wholly set aside such local census in event it be vitally affected by one or more fatal defects incapable of correction by said appellate court. Such decree disposing of such supersedeas shall be forthwith certified by the clerk of the appellate court to the clerk of the corporation court of such city (or in event there be no such court, then to the clerk of the circuit court having jurisdiction over such city), and the clerk to whom such final decree of the appellate court is so certified shall immediately upon its receipt record the same in one of the order books of his court.

4. Should there be a corporation court of such city existing at the time of such transition, such court shall thereupon become a regular corporation court of a city of the first-class, and its then existing judge shall thereupon become and continue the judge of such court as a corporation court of a city of the first-class for a period corresponding with unexpired portion of his then existing term, and he shall have rank and pay at the rate of twenty-five hundred dollars ($2,500.00) per year as a regular judge of the corporation court of a city of the first-class from the date of such transition, which salary (unless an appropriation for the payment thereof by the State shall, in the meantime, have been made by the general assembly in anticipation of such transition) shall thereafter be paid to him monthly by such city until the adjournment of the next succeeding

session of the general assembly; but one-half of the salary so paid by such city shall be refunded to it by the State as soon as the necessary appropriation therefor shall be made. After such next succeeding session of the general assembly the said salary shall be paid to the judge. directly by the State in the same manner and subject to the same conditions and provisions as in the case of the salaries of other judges of the corporation courts of cities of the first-class.

5. Should there be no corporation court of such city existing at the time of such transition, then such city shall remain without a corporation court until the same shall have been established by the general assembly at its next succeeding session; but the circuit court having jurisdiction over such city prior to said transition shall continue to have jurisdiction over it after such transition until otherwise provided by law.

6. Upon the occurrence of such transition it shall be the duty of the council of such city existing at the time of such transition to prescribe by ordinance (to be approved by the mayor or passed over his veto as prescribed by law), within ninety days next after such transition, the number of members within the limits prescribed by law, who shall compose the upper and lower chambers respectively of the new city council, and to apportion such members among the wards of the city so as to give, as far as practicable, to each ward equal representation in each chamber in proportion to the population of such ward. Upon the failure of the council. to perform such duty within said period it shall become the duty of the corporation court of such city (or, if there be none, then of the circuit court having jurisdiction over such city), or the judge thereof in vacation, by order entered of record in such court to forthwith prescribe the membership of such new council and apportion the same as aforesaid.

7. The number of members to compose the two chambers of the new council, respectively, and the apportionment thereof among the several wards of the city, when once fixed as provided by section five of this act, shall not thereafter be changed except in the manner provided by statute for changing the membership of councils and the apportionment thereof in other cases.

8. Whenever the charter of a city of the second-class shall in the matter of the election, apportionment, qualification, term, duties or compensation of any public officer (whether State or municipal), or in the matter of the establishment of any office (whether State or municipal), conflict therein with the general law applicable to cities of the first-class, then such general law, upon the transition of such city from the second to the first-class (and thereafter until otherwise provided by act of the general assembly passed after such transition), shall prevail and take effect as to such city, and such provisions of the city charter existing at the time of such transition conflicting in the matters aforesaid with said general law shall, upon such transition, become, and thereafter remain, inoperative and of no effect.

9. Should such transition occur more than four months before the next succeeding regular election for the city council, or should there be no sufficient time after such transition to provide for the election of a twochambered council at such next succeeding regular election, then, and in either event, upon the adoption of the ordinance required by section six of