the necessity to make effective the quarantine proclamation of the governor requires this bill to take effect from and after its passage, and it is so enacted.

Approved July 9, A. D. 1879.

Takes effect from and after its passage.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.—An act supplementary to an act entitled "an act to provide for the organization of the state penitentiariss, and to regulate the management of the convicts therein," approved March 24, 1879.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the governor shall appoint by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, when in session, one additional assistant superintendent of the state penitentiaries, who shall hold his office during the term of the governor, unless sooner discharged by the governor, who shall perform such duties and have such powers as are required of and authorized by the assistant superintendent in the act entitled "An act to provide for the organization of the state penitentiaries, and to regulate the management of the convicts therein, approved March 24, 1879," and said assistant superintendent shall receive the same salary and emoluments as fixed by said act for the assistant superintendent.

Sec. 2. The additional assistant superintendent, together with the present assistant superintendent, shall divide the convict camps or places where convicts are employed into two divisions, and assign one assistant superintendent to each of said divisions; and said officers shall visit such camps or places where convicts are employed at least twice in each month and examine into and report to the governor all complaints preferred by convicts or by citizens, which may have been substantiated by satisfactory evidence, and they may exchange districts with each other in their discretion.

Sec. 3. Said assistant, superintendents shall make reports of the condition of the convicts, their names and how treated and clothed, etc., in their respective divisions, as is now required by law of the assistant superintendent.

Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of the superintendent and assistant superintendent to have all convicts who may die while in custody, decently buried, and have each grave marked by a board with a suitable inscription, giving the name of the convict, what county he resided in, the date of his death, and his age, if known.

Sec. 5. The importance of the immediate passage of this bill, there being now only one assistant superintendent, and the welfare of the convicts and the interests of the state requiring one more such officer, and the fact that this session of the Legislature is limited to thirty days and the greater portion of the time having already expired, creates an emergency and an imperative public necessity for the immediate taking effect of this act, and for the suspension of the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several [days]; and it is therefore enacted, that said rule is suspended, and that this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved July 9, A. D. 1879.

Takes effect ninety days after adjournment.

CHAPTER XXXIX.-An act to provide for the sale, exchange or destruction of useless or injured property belonging to the state.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the commissioner of insurance, statistics and history, the state treasurer and the comptroller of public accounts be and they are hereby constituted a board to inspect and condemn for sale, exchange or destruction, such useless or injured property belonging to or controlled by either of the executive departments, state institutions or state boards, as to the majority of said board may be deemed proper for such disposition.

Sec. 2. That the said board shall, immediately upon the taking effect of this act, enter upon the performance of the duties herein prescribed, and shall keep a record of all its proceedings, which shall be kept and deposited in the office of the comptroller of public accounts; and the financial operations of said board shall be included in the annual reports of said officer. The proceeds arising from the sale or exchange of property described in the preceding section shall be, by said board, disposed of as follows, to wit:

First-all property acquired by exchange shall be delivered to the officer in charge of and used for the benefit of the department or institution from which the effects may have been taken that were used in making the said exchange. Second-all money realized from the sale of property received from either of the state institutions or state boards, shall be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of such institution or board furnishing the same, and shall be deemed a part of the fund for its support, during the current fiscal year, and shall be subject to the control of and disbursement by such institution or board. Third-all money realized from the sale of surplus cord-wood or other surplus of property on hand, purchased by either house of the Legislature, and from property received from any of the executive departments of the state, shall be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the fund for the preservation and improvement of public buildings and grounds; and shall be used for the benefit and preservation of the same by the officer having supervision thereof, and subject to disbursement upon his certificate for labor performed or material fnrnished.

Sec. 3. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with the provisions of this act be and the same are hereby repealed.

Sec. 4. There being no law in force for the rescue or preservation of public property contemplated by this act, an imperative public necessity and emergency exists for the passage of this act, it is therefore ordered that the rule be suspended, and it is enacted that this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved July 9, A. D. 1879.

"Takes effect from and after its passage.

CHAPTER XL.-An act to amend an act to amend article 4759 of the Revised Civil Statutes of the State of Texas, adopted on the 21st day of February, 1879, approved April 22, 1879, and to add article 4759a, article 4759b, article 4759c.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That article 4759 of the above recited act be amended as follows:

"Article 4759. Should the collector of taxes fail to make sale of any real estate for want of a purchaser, he shall bid the same off for the state

for the taxes and penalties due and all costs accruing thereon, and execute a deed to the state; and one deed shall include all tracts of land bid off to the state at such tax sale, and make due return thereof, under such forms and directions as the comptroller may furnish and direct; and after sale and purchase by the state of any real estate, it shall not be lawful for said collector to levy upon or advertise or sell the same for any remaining or accrued taxes due thereon until the same shall have been redeemed by the owner or is sold by the state. Said collector shall, on final settlement of his accounts with the commissioners' conrt, and the comptroller of public accounts, be entitled to a credit for the amount of taxes due the state and county, respectively, for which the land and lots were bid off to the state."

"Article 4759a. That the owner, or his agent, of any lands that may have been conveyed to the state under the provisions of the foregoing article, desiring to redeem the same, may do so by depositing with the collector of the county in which the lands were sold, double the amount of the purchase money, and all accrued taxes thereon within two years. from the date of the deed to the state, and it shall be the duty of such collector to execute a receipt to such owner, or agents, giving therein the amount of money received, and a description of the land so as to identify the same, and sign and seal the same officially, and upon presentation of such receipt to the comptroller of public accounts, he shall execute to the owner a relinquishment under his signature and seal of office, which may be admitted to record in like manner with other conveyances of land.

"Article 4759b. In case said land shall not have been redeemed as provided in article 4759a, then the same may be sold as provided by an act entitled 'An act to provide for the sale of all real estate bid off to the state by collectors of taxes at tax sales, the owners of which have not redeemed the same,' approved April 7, 1879.

"Article 4759c. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with the foregoing articles are hereby repealed, and particularly 'An act to amend section twenty-one of an act regulating the duties of tax collectors in reference to the seizure and sale of property of delinquent taxpayers, and to define the further duties, powers, qualifications and liabilities of collectors of taxes and to regulate their compensation, approved August 21, 1876, approved April 19, 1879, be and the same are hereby repealed."

Sec. 2. Whereas, the near approach of the close of this session of the Legislature and the limited time for legislation, create an imperative public necessity authorizing the suspension of the rule requiring this bill. to be read on three several days, and said rule is suspended, and the importance to the state of the legislation afforded by this act creates an emergency that this act should go into effect at once; therefore, this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. Approved July 9, A. D. 1879.

Takes effect from and after its passage.

CHAPTER XLI.-An act to authorize the governor, comptroller and attorney general of the state to purchase additional lands for the use of penitentiaries, and to make an appropriation therefor.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the governor, comptroller and attorney general, when they deem it to the interest of the state, are authorized and empowered to purchase or exchange adjacent state lands for additional lots or parcels of lands.

for the use and benefit of one or both of the penitentiaries of the state, and the sum of five hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be paid out of the moneys received from the lessees of the penitentiary, be and the same is hereby appropriated to carry this act into effect; provided, they shall make no contract which involves the payment of a larger amount than that herein specified.

Sec. 2. The fact that we are near the close of this session of the Legislature, and the great necessity for the organization of the penitentiaries, create an imperative public necessity and emergency that the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended, and it is so enacted, and this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved July 9, A. D. 1879.

Takes effect ninety days after adjournment.

CHAPTER XLII.—An act to amend article 1333 of the Revised Civil Statutes of the State of Texas, passed at the regular session of the Sixteenth Legislature, as amended by the act amendatory thereof, approved April 19, 1879.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That article 1333 of the Revised Civil Statutes of the State of Texas, as amended by the act amendatory thereof, approved April 19, 1879, be amended so that said article shall hereafter read as follows:.

"Article 1333. The jury shall render a general or special verdict as may be directed by the court, and the verdict shall comprehend the whole. issue or all the issues submitted to them; and upon a trial by the court, the judge shall, at the request of either of the parties, also state in writing the conclusions of fact found by him separately from the conclusions. of law, which conclusions of fact and law shall be filed with the clerk and shall constitute a part of the record; and in all cases where a special verdict of the jury is rendered, or the conclusions of fact found by the judge are separately stated, the court shall, unless the same be set aside, and new trial granted, render judgment thereon, and it shall be sufficient for the party excepting to the conclusions of law or judgment of the court, to cause it to be noted on the record in the judgment entry that he excepts thereto; and such party may thereupon take his appeal or writ of error without a statement of facts or further exceptions in the transcript, but the transcript shall in such case contain the special verdict or conclusions of fact and law aforesaid and the judgment rendered thereon."

Sec. 2. The fact that the passage of this act will facilitate the administration of justice, and the certainty of an early adjournment of the Legislature renders it doubtful whether this bill can be read on three several days; it is therefore enacted that the constitutional rule requiring this bill to be read on three several days be suspended and it is so suspended. Approved July 9, A. D. 1879.

Takes effect ninety days after adjournment.

CHAPTER XLIII.-An act to provide for the assessment of sleeping, dining-room, palace and parlor cars assigned upon the railroads of this state, and to prescribe the method for levying and collecting the tax hereby imposed upon the same, and to repeal all former laws in conflict therewith.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That any person, firm, company or corporation, owning or using in this state, sleeping, dining-room, palace or parlor cars, and run over the railroads therein, shall, in person or by their agent, report to the comptroller of this state, on or before the first day of January of each and every year, the number and valuation of sleeping, dining-room, palace or parlor cars so owned or assigned in this state at the time of said report. Said report of the number and value of said cars to be made under oath and to contain a clause to the effect that none of said cars have been temporarily withdrawn from said state before the date of said report, on the first day of January of each year, so as to avoid taxation. And in default of the person, firm, company or corporation making such report within thirty days after the time herein required to be made by themselves or agents, that the said comptroller is hereby empowered to make such assessment of the number and value thereof for the purpose of taxation; provided, that no greater number of cars shall be taxed than that number which shall be regularly or usually in the state.

Sec. 2. That there shall be levied and collected an annual direct ad valorem tax of one-half of one per cent. upon the value of the sleeping, dining-room, palace or parlor cars at the time of said assessment, in lieu of all other taxes upon said property, to be paid by said persons, firm, company or corporation to the comptroller of public accounts, on or before the first day of July in each and every year, and in default of such payment, the comptroller shall proceed to collect the same under the laws now in force for the collection of taxes; and the taxes herein imposed shall be and remain in lieu upon all the property of such persons, firm, company or corporation found in this state, and the comptroller is hereby empowered and directed to issue process upon the failure of such person, firm, company or corporation to pay the said tax, within the time herein specified, to the tax collector of any county in this state, in which the property of such persons, firm, company or corporation may be found, for purpose of enforcing the collection of the taxes herein imposed.

Sec. 3. That within thirty days after this act shall have taken effect, the persons, firm, company or corporation liable to tax under the preeeding sections, shall make report of the cars and their value, as hereinbefore provided, to the comptroller of this state, and shall pay the ad valorem tax of one-half of one per cent. hereby imposed upon the same, on or before the first day of January thereafter, subject to the same penalties for default as provided for in the second section of this act.

Sec. 4. Should the comptroller and the persons, firm, company or corporations liable to tax under the provisions of this act, their agents or attorneys, fail to agree as to the valuation which shall be made of the property taxed hereunder, then they shall each select one disinterested. person to make a valuation of such property. Should the two persons so selected fail to agree upon a valuation to be made, then they shall select a third disinterested person to act with them, and the valuation made by such persons so selected shall be accepted by all parties and the property rendered thereat.