and carried away from the road bed, and all stumps, rocks or other obstructions must be removed entirely from all of the public roads of every grade, so that any kind of carriage, or ground slide may safely be propelled along its entire length or course.

SEC. 3. All bridges are to be constructed in a substantial manner and of sufficient width to permit the passage of two vehicles of ordinary width, and of sufficient elevation to put them out of danger of floods, and may be constructed under contract, as now provided for by law.

SEC. 4. Each county commissioner of said county is hereby constituted a road supervisor for his commissioner district, and as such, shall in addition to his bond as a county commissioner, give a bond for ($1,000) one thousand dollars, properly secured, conditioned upon the faithful performance of all the duties required of him by this act, and it shall be the duty of the district judge of this judicial district to charge the grand jury at each term of the district court, to diligently inquire into and faithfully report all delinquencies of duty by these officers, and to indict all such delinquents in the ordinary way as other officers are indicted for negligence, inefficiency or malfeasance in office.

SEC. 5. It shall be the duty of the county commissioners to require a bond from the surveyor or engineer provided for in Section 1 of this act, in the sum of $2,000.00 (two thousand dollars), conditional upon his faithful performance of the duties required of him by this act, and all forfeitures or reclamations under this act of whatever nature are to be placed to the credit of the Cass county road and bridge fund, an account with which shall be opened by the county treasurer and kept open, showing all accounts charged and credited, as per the provisions of this act.

SEC. 6. It shall be the duty of the county commissioners of said county, when the surveyor or engineer named in Section 1 of this act has made his report, to see that this report shows at least one public road of the first class, as heretofore defined in this act, is laid out to pass through each county commissioners' commission district, and terminate at Linden, the present county site of Cass county, or which may terminate after passing through the said commissioners' commission district into another road of the first class, which road termination in Linden, if to do so will lessen. cost of construction and not inconvenience a majority of the citizens in such district or districts.

SEC. 7. Since a compliance with the provisions of this act will necessarily compel many changes in the public roads now existing in this county, the county commissioners' court of Cass county, in its first regular term after receiving a report of the county road surveyor and engineer, as provided for in this act, shall at once proceed to vacate or kill all the public roads that will become useless under a compliance with this law, and shall at once proceed to acquire the right of way for the new road which they may approve, in the same way that railroad companies now acquire their rights of way through private property, except that in no case will the county be required to make a bond, and they are hereby empowered to enter into the necessary proceedings for condemnation of property, assessment of damages and all other things necessary to the carrying out of the provisions of this act; the county judge's draft upon the treasurer, when countersigned by the county clerk, who must certify to the entry of judgment for damages, being the treasurer's voucher for the payment of any and all damages to property coming under the provisions

of this act, and it is hereby stipulated that no public road as mentioned in this act shall be laid off so as to pass within 100 (one hundred) feet of any house or barn belonging to any individual, without the consent in writing of the owner of such house or barn, which written consent shall be filed and kept in the records of the county commissioners' court of the county, nor shall such public road pass through any grounds owned by a church, or any cemetery, or school community, nor through any orchard or ornamental grounds, kept for the adornment of any residence in the county, without such permission of the owner.

SEC. 8. It is hereby made the duty of the county commissioners' court, at any regular term, to appoint road overseers for each public road in the county, and to remove the same when they prove inefficient or incapable, the term of office of such overseers to be as now provided for by law, and the commissioners' court shall also apportion all the able bodied male citizens of the county to these roads as now provided for by law, and these overseers and road hands are hereby placed under the supervision of the county commissioners of the precinct in which they may reside, and no hand is to be excused from service on the road for a term of ten days in each year, for any temporary sickness or disability, but each one must work the full ten days in each year, and in case of removal from one section to another of the county the road overseer may, upon request of such road hand, give him a certificate showing the number of days he has actually worked during the year, and such hand will be due the remainder of the time to the county, wherever he may reside in it, and he must be required to work his full time out unless excused in accordance with Section 9 of this act.

SEC. 9. Any able bodied male person residing in this county, and subject to road duty, may, by paying the sum of $6.00 (six dollars) to the overseer of the road to which he is apportioned, who shall give his receipt. for same, expressing that it is in lieu of road service for that year, and who exhibits such receipt to the person warning him, such receipt will be sufficient excuse when shown to the person warning him to work the road, the warner making a note of such receipt and returning same to the county commissioner of his precinct, and no other persons except ministers of the gospel who are actually in charge of a church or churches, unless they are excused under the General Laws of the State of Texas from road service, are to be excused from road work under this act.

SEC. 10. It is hereby made the duty of the county commissioners to have all the county convicts, not otherwise employed by the county, placed under proper guards and made to work the roads in such places as may need repairs, such as washouts and bottoms that become muddy and require special attention, and they shall be allowed all medicines, medical attention and board, and to be allowed 50 cents per day for each day's labor of eight hours, all to be placed to the credit of the fines imposed upon them by the trial court, and after all the fines have been paid then 50 cents per day shall be allowed for future service to each one until one-half the court costs has been paid, which one-half of costs are to be paid to the proper officers of the court, an allowance of one-half the court costs is thus made for the faithful service and good behavior on the part of each convict, but nothing is to be herein construed limiting the time of service of any convict who may be unruly, or require force on the part of the guards to compel such convict to render such service, and the county commissioner

in whose precinct such convicts are at work, are hereby authorized to use such means as are now resorted to by the State authorities, to exort [exact] service on the road from any county convict, and it is expressly understood that when convicts become unruly, and refuse to work, and force is necessary to be used, then no time allowance whatever is to be granted such convicts; but such convict shall be compelled to serve out the full term required at the rate of 50 cents per day for service; and the usual rewards and their payment for the capture of escaped county convicts are to apply to all such as may escape while engaged in this road service in this county, but no reward is ever to be paid to any guard who may be employed by the county, for the arrest of any county convict.

SEC. 11. For the service demanded of county commissioners in carrying out the provisions of this act each one is entitled to ex-officio pay of $2.00 (two dollars) per day for each day he may be engaged in the actual work of supervising the laying out of the roads and the working of same under the provisions of this act, and no allowance will be made any commissioner in future for viewing roads, letting or receiving bridges, etc.

SEC. 12. It shall be the duty of the county commissioners' court, so soon as they may approve the road system mapped out by the surveyor, as contemplated in this act, to at once purchase road machines, scrapers, shovels, picks and other tools necessary for the rapid construction of the roads, such teams as will be constantly needed to keep the roads in repair are only contemplated in this section, paying for same out of the road and bridge fund of the county, and each road commissioner, as specified. in this act, shall be the proper custodian of this property while in his district, and the commissioners' court of the county shall be the proper custodian of this property at all other times.

SEC. 13. It shall be the duty of the road commissioners of the respective districts, to inform the road overseers of the various public roads in his precinct of the number of teams, plows, wagons and tools usually used on farms and in ordinary business of the county, that he may need in the working of his road, and to have him to warn suitable persons to bring such teams and wagons, plows or any other tools, for service on the roads, and for teams thus used on the public working of roads, the commissioners may allow pay for the owners at the rate of $1.50 per day for double teams and wagon, and 75 cents per day for single team and wagon. SEC. 14. It shall be the duty of the hands after being warned by a proper person, as now provided for under the General Laws of the State of Texas, to promptly repair to the place and at the time warned to appear and to report to the county commissioner or the overseer of the road, and to proceed to work under their direction; and it shall be the duty of the road overseer to keep a record of the time each hand actually works on the road, and any hand or hands that slights his work or becomes unruly may be discharged from the work and sent away, and such hand or hands must be reported by the overseer to the nearest justice of the peace, who shall proceed against such hand as if he had not appeared or refused to work on the road, and this action shall not bar the further charge or charges of disorderly conduct or such charge as may cover his actual conduct on the

occasion.

SEC. 15. And in order that the provisions of this bill may be carried out, and further, if it is found necessary, in order to raise the funds to meet the costs of this road system, the county commissioners' court of Cass

county, are hereby authorized, if in their judgment it become necessary, to assess and collect a tax on all the property of the county not to exceed 15c. (fifteen cents) on the $100.00 (one hundred dollars) of valuation, this tax to be known as a road and bridge tax, and it is to be applied only to the laying out and construction of public roads and bridges in this county, as mapped out and described in this act; and for no other purpose, and it is understood that all other funds that are now used for road and bridge purposes, are to be continued as they are now used, and the tax specified and authorized by this section is to be considered supplemental thereto, and in no case shall the tax contemplated added to any other road or bridge tax, ever exceed the sum of 15c. (fifteen cents) on the $100.00 (one hundred dollars) of taxable values in this county for road and bridge purposes.

SEC. 16. This act is to be construed as cumulative of the General Laws of Texas, and when a conflict may be found, then this act is to be in force as far as Cass county is concerned.

SEC. 17. As this act contemplates a system of terraced roads for Cass county, which will necessarily take a number of years to complete, nothing in this act is to be construed to prevent the assessment and collection of road and bridge taxes not to exceed 15 cents per $100.00 of taxable values in this county, when an election for that purpose has been held according to law in said county.

SEC. 18. The great necessity for this law, there being no law now existing upon the subject which will enable the people of this county to construct a public road system, creates a public necessity, and emergency requiring that the rule that bills be read on three several days in each house be suspended, and the same is hereby suspended, and that this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage, and it is so enacted.

[NOTE. The enrolled bill shows that the foregoing act passed the Senate by a two-thirds vote, yeas 22, nays 0; and reported to the House of Representatives, where it was amended and reported back to the Senate, and amendment was concurred in, vote not given, and passed the House of Representatives by a two-thirds vote, yeas 87, nays 0.]

[NOTE. The foregoing act was presented to the Governor of Texas for his approval on the ninth day of March, A. D. 1899, but was not signed. by him nor returned to the house in which it originated with his objections thereto within the time prescribed by the Constitution, and thereupon became a law without his signature.-D. H. HARDY, Secretary of State.]

STATE REVENUE AGENT-DUTIES AND POWERS.

S. B. No. 67.]

CHAPTER XXIII.

An Act to amend Article 5058, of the Revised Civil Statutes of 1895, of the State of Texas, as passed in 1891, relating to the duties of Revenue Agent.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas:

SECTION 1. That Article 5058, of the Revised Statutes of the State of Texas, as revised in 1895, shall be so amended as to read as follows: Article 5058. The Governor is authorized to appoint a suitable person

as Revenue Agent for the State for the purpose of securing a better enforcement of the revenue laws of the State. The agent provided for herein shall be known as the State Revenue Agent. Said Revenue Agent shall be subject to the direction of the Governor, who may, whenever in his judgment the public service demands it, direct the said Revenue Agent to investigate books and accounts of the assessing and collecting officers of this State, and all officers and persons disbursing, receiving or having in their possession public funds, and to make such other investigations and perfom such other duties in the interest of the public revenues as the Governor may direct. Whenever any such investigation is ordered by the Governor the Revenue Agent shall report to him in writing the results of such investigation, and point out the particulars, if any, wherein the revenue laws have been violated, their enforcement neglected, together with the names of the parties delinquent therein. Whereupon the Governor shall institute civil and criminal proceedings, through the Attorney-General, in the name of the State, against such delinquent parties who are reported by such agent to be delinquent. Said Revenue Agent shall have power at any time to examine and check up all and any disbursements or expenditures of money appropriated for any of the State institutions or for any other purpose or for any improvements made by the State on State property, or money received and disbursed by any board authorized by law to receive and disburse any State money. Said Revenue Agent shall also have power and authority, and it is hereby made his duty, to fully investigate any and all State institutions when so directed by the Governor or required by information coming to the knowledge of said agent. He shall investigate the manner of conducting the same and the policy pursued by those in charge thereof, and the conduct or efficiency of any person employed therein by the State. He shall examine into and report upon the character and manner, as well as the amount of expenditures thereof. He shall also investigate and ascertain all sums of money due the State from any source whatever; the ascertainment and collection of which does not devolve upon other officers of this State under existing law. And he shall report all such facts to the Governor, who shall proceed therein as provided by this or any other law of this State.

SEC. 2. An imperative public necessity exists for the passage of this bill, and the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several days is hereby suspended, and this act be in force from and after its passage, and it is so enacted.

[NOTE. The enrolled bill shows that the foregoing act passed the Senate, and referred to the House of Representatives, where it was amended; Senate concurred in House amendments, vote not given; and passed the House of Representatives by a two-thirds vote, yeas 104, nays 0, after being amended.]

Approved March 9, 1899.