OF

THE STATE OF TEXAS

PASSED AT THE

REGULAR SESSION OF THE TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE

CONVENED

AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN

JANUARY 11, 1887, AND ADJOURNED APRIL 4, 1887.

GENERAL LAWS OF TEXAS.

TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1887.

APPROPRIATION FOR MILEAGE AND PER DIEM PAY OF OFFICERS, MEMBERS AND EMPLOYEES.

Sec.

1. $80,000.00, per diem pay of members, etc., of the Twentieth Legislature.

Sec..

2. Manner of auditing claims against this appropriation.

3. Emergency clause.

CHAP. 1.-[S. H. B. No. 4.] An Act making an appropriation for the mileage and per diem pay of members and the per diem pay of the officers and employes of the Twentieth Legislature.

That the

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas: sum of eighty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be and the same is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the payment of mileage and per diem pay of members and per diem pay of officers and employes of the Twentieth Legislature of the State of Texas.

Sec. 2. That the certificate of the Secretary of the Senate, approved by the President thereof, or of the Chief Clerk of the House, approved by the Speaker thereof, shall be sufficient evidence to the Comptroller upon which he shall audit the claims and issue his warrants upon the Treasurer for the respective amounts. Sec. 3. And whereas, the Twentieth Legislature, for the payment of the officers, members, and employes of which this law is enacted, is now in session, and public policy requires their payment; therefore, an imperative public necessity exists that the rule requiring this bill to be read on three several days be suspended, and it is so suspended, and that this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

[Note. The foregoing act originated in the House, and passed the same by a vote of 98 yeas, no nays; and passed the Senate by a vote of 24 yeas, no nays.] Approved, January 18, 1887.

Sec.

APPROPRIATION TO DEFRAY CONTINGENT EXPENSES.

1. $30,000 appropriated to defray ex penses of Twentieth Legislature.

Sec.

2. Emergency clause.

CHAP. 2.-[S. H. B. No. 5.] An Act making an appropriation to defray the contingent expenses of the Twentieth Legislature.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas: That the sum of thirty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be and the same is hereby appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury

not otherwise appropriated, to pay the contingent expenses of the Twentieth Legislature; that (except in cases of accounts for printing done and stationery furnished) the certificate of the chairman of the Committee on Contingent Expenses that an account has been examined and approved by said committee, and countersigned by the President of the Senate, or the Speaker of the House, as the case may be, shall be sufficient authority to authorize and require the Comptroller of Public Accounts to draw his warrant on the State Treasurer for the payment of any claim against said fund. The accounts for printing and stationery shall take the course prescribed by the Revised Statutes.

Sec. 2. Whereas, it is of sufficient public importance that the contingent expenses of the Legislature be promptly paid, in order that the material furnished and the labor performed may be procured at cash prices, and the want of such appropriation to pay the contingent expenses of the Twentieth Legislature creates an imperative public necessity that the rule requiring bills to be read on three several days in each house should be suspended and this act take effect from and after its passage, and it is so enacted.

[Note. The foregoing act originated in the House, and passed the same by a vote of 100 yeas, no nays; and passed the Senate by a vote of 29 yeas, no nays.] Approved, January 22, 1887.

CHAP. 3.-[S. S. B. No. 74.] An Act to be entitled An Act to provide for the relief of citizens of Texas suffering by reason of the drouth, to make an appropriation therefor, and to prescribe the manner in which it shall be distributed.

Article 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas: That whereas a long and protracted drouth, beginning in June, A. D. 1885, and continuing with but little intermission up to the present time, has devas[ta]ted a large portion of the State of Texas, whereby many thousands of her citizens are destitute of food, and a great public calamity now exists by reason of said drouth, that the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, out of any funds now in the State treasury not otherwise appropriated, be and the same is hereby set aside and appropriated for the immediate relief of those suffering from destitution by reason of said drouth.

Art. 2. That the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall immediately appoint a committee of three disinterested citizens of the State of Texas, to be known as the Drouth Relief Committee, whose duty it shall be to immediately visit the portions of this State where such destitution prevails, and ascertain the extent of such destitution caused by said drouth; and should said committee upon investigation be satisfied that the people of any county are in destitute circumstances by reason of said drouth, said committee shall draw a draft on the State of Texas, in favor of the

treasurer of such county, for such sum of money as in the judgment of said committee shall be adequate and proper for the immediate relief of the destitute of such county: Provided, That drafts drawn by the committee shall not exceed in the aggregate the sum herein appropriated.

Art. 3. That said drafts so drawn by said committee shall be endorsed by the Governor, and a warrant issued thereon by the Comptroller to the State Treasurer, and he shall pay the same to the county treasurer in whose favor they are severally drawn, out of the funds hereinbefore mentioned as set aside for the relief of those suffering from destitution by reason of said drouth, and the county treasurers of such counties shall designate the money so received by them as the relief fund of the county, and shall pay out the same under the order of the commissioners courts of their several counties, as hereinafter provided: Provided, however, That county treasurer shall receive no commissions for receiving or paying out said money: And provided further, That the county treasurer shall execute a bond, payable to the county judge, to be approved by said county judge, with two or more good and sufficient sureties, in double the amount to be paid into his hands, conditioned that he will faithfully account for and disburse said money. Art. 4. The commissioners court of any county receiving said moneys shall immediately purchase corn, flour, or meal, at such places and in such manner as to said court may seem proper, and shall distribute the same as a donation to the destitute citizens of their several counties as their immediate necessities may demand.

art. 5. The commissioners court purchasing provisions under the preceding article shall give orders on the county treasurer of said county for money to pay for the same, and in distributing said provisions shall give no aid to any persons who have or are able to buy bread for themselves and shall require affidavits to be made by two credible persons, one of whom may be the party for whom the aid is sought, showing such inability to purchase said food, and that such inability was occasioned by the drouth, and further showing such persons for whom aid is solicited to have been bona fide citizens of the county in which they then reside for more than three months next preceding the time of making such application.

Art. 6. Two members of said drouth relief committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business in this behalf. Said committee shall not be required to visit all of the counties that are suffering from destitution caused by said drouth before furnishing relief, but may in their discretion draw drafts for the relief of the people of the counties in succession as visited by them, so as to give them immediate relief, having due regard for the probable number of people to be relieved and the amount herein appropriated to be drawn from.

Art. 7. Said drouth relief committee shall procure information concerning the extent of said drouth and the destitution caused thereby, and make a full report of the same with such suggestions as to them may seem proper, together with a full report of their action, to this Legislature, by or before the 15th of March, 1887. Art. 8. The members of said drouth relief committee shall each receive the sum of five dollars per day for each day actually engaged in the discharge of their duties as required by this act, and all actual necessary expenses incurred by them: Provided, That no members of said committee shall receive pay for more than forty days services, an account of which said actual necessary expenses and per each member shall be made under oath by said members, Governor, and presented to the Comptroller of the State of

accurate itemized diem services of approved by the Texas, who shall