CHAPTER XCXIX.--An act to change the times of holding the district courts in the twenty-ninth judicial district of the State of Texas.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the district courts within and for the twenty-ninth judicial district shall be hereafter held as follows, to wit: In the county of Jack on the second Mondays in March, July and November in each year, and may continue in session two weeks; in the county of Parker on the second Monday after the second Mondays in March, July and November in each year, and may continue in session five weeks; in the county of Tarrant on the seven h Monday after the second Mondays in March, July and November in each year, and may continue in session eight weeks.

SEC. 2. All writs and process of all kinds that have been or may hereafter be issued from the district courts of the counties mentioned in this act which are made returnable under existing laws, shall be and are hereby made returnable to the terms of said courts as established by this act, next succeeding the terms of said courts as heretofore established by law, to which said process were made returnable.

SEC. 3. Whereas, the terms of said district courts as now established by law results in great inconvenience to the people of said district and conflicts with the terms of the district court in adjacent counties; therefore, an imperative public necessity and emergency exist for the suspension of the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several days, and it is so suspended; that this act shall go into effect from and after the first day of July, 1881.

Approved April 4, A. D. 1881.

Takes effect ninety days after adjournment.

CHAPTER C.--An act to authorize and request the governor to ascertain and file in the war department of the United States, or in such other department as the matter may be referred to, a certified abstract accompanied with proper vouchers and proofs, of the money expended and indebtedness assumed and incurred by the State of Texas in repelling invasions by Mexican and Mexican Indian banditti, and in suppressing Indian hostilities.

WHEREAS, A bill is now pending before the Congress of the United State, entitled "a bill to authorize the secretary of war to ascertain and report to Congress the amount of money expended and indebtedness assumed and incurred by the State of Texas in repelling the invasions of Mexican and Mexican Indian banditti and in suppressing Indian hostilities, being Senate bill No. 1969; and,

Whereas, it is important that the provisions of said bill shall be fully carried out, and the proper steps taken by the State of Texas to lay before the secretary of war the proof of her accounts and claims against the United States for money expended and indebtedness assumed in organizing, arming, equipping, supplying, clothing, subsisting, transporting and paying the volunteer militia and ranger forces of the State, called into service under the laws of the State by the proper authorities, since the twenty-ninth day of December, 1845, excepting the period from

the twenty-eighth day of January, 1861, to the nineteenth day of June, 1865, to aid in repelling invasions of Mexican and Mexican Indian banditti, and in protecting the inhabitants of the State from Indian hostilities within the State and upon the borders thereof; therefore,

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the governor of the State be, and is hereby authorized and requested to appoint some suitable person to audit the claims and accounts of the State of Texas against the United States for the purposes mentioned, and for all other proper expenses necessarily incurred on account of said forces having been called into service, including the claims assumed or paid by the State of Texas for horses or other property lost by said forces in line of dtuy; and that the governor cause to be filed in the war department, or in such other department as the mat ter may be referred to, a certified abstract accompanied with proper vouchers or such other proof as can be procured by the State and required by said department, showing the date and amounts of such accounts, expenditures and indebtedness, and the purposes for which the same was made.

SEC. 2. That the sum of five hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be and is hereby appropriated out of any money in the treasury not heretofore appropriated for other purposes, in order to carry out the object of this act and defray the expenses of auditing said claims.

SEC. 3. That a public necessity and emergency exists for immediate action upon the matter contained in this act, and for the suspension of the constitutional rule requiring this bill to be read on three several days, said rule is therefore hereby suspended, and this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved April 4, A. D. 1881.

Takes effect ninety days after adjournment.

CHAPTER CI.-An act to amend sections 1 and 4 of an act entitled " "an act to regulate the sale of spirituous, vinous or malt liquors or medicated bitters, to fix the rate of occupation taxes upon all persons, firms or associations of persons engaged in the sale of spirituous, vinous or malt liquors or medicated bitters, to define the manner and time of collecting such tax, and affix penalties for failure to pay the same, and to repeal all laws and parts of laws in conflict with the provisions of this act," approved March 11, 1881.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That sections one and four of an act to regulate the sale of spirituous, vinous or malt liquors or medicated bitters, to fix the rate of occupation taxes upon all persons, firms or associations of persons engaged in the sale of spirituous, vinous or malt liquors or medicated bitters, to define the manner and time of collecting such tax, and to affix penalties for failure to pay the same, and to repeal all laws and parts of laws in conflict with the provisions of this act, approved March 11, 1881, be and they are hereby so amended as hereafter to read as follows:

"Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That hereafter there shall be levied upon and collected from any person, firm or association of persons engaged or engaging in the business of selling spir

ituous, vinous or malt liquors or medicated bitters, an annual tax upon every such occupation or separate establishment as follows: For selling spirituous, vinous or malt liquors or medicated bitters in quantities less than a quart, three hundred dollars; for selling such liquor or medicated bitters in quantities of one quart and less than five gallons, two hundred dollars; for selling such liquor or medicated bitters in quantities of five gallons or more, three hundred dollars; for selling malt liquors exclusively, an annual tax of fifty dollars; provided, that nothing in this section shall be so construed as to prevent wholesale liquor dealers, or merchants who pay occupation tax as such, from selling unbroken packages containing less than five gallons, without being required to pay an additional tax as quart dealers.

"Sec. 4. That any person, firm or association of persons desiring to engage in the sale of spirituous, vinous or malt liquors or medicated bitters, in quantities less than a quart, shall, before engaging in such occupation, be required to enter into bond with at least two good and lawful sureties, payable to the county judge and his successors in office, and to be approved by him, in the sum of one thousand dollars, conditioned that said person, firm or association of persons so selling spirituous, vinous or malt liquors or medicated bitters in quantities less than a quart, shall keep an orderly house or place for the sale of such liquors, and that he or they will not sell nor knowingly permit to be sold in his or their said place of business, nor give nor permit to be given any spirituous, vinous or malt liquors or medicated bitters to any minor under the age of twenty-one years, or to students of any institution of learning, or to any habitual drunkard, or to any person after being notified in writing by the wife or daughter of the person not to sell to such person, and that he or they will not knowingly permit any games prohibited by the law of this State to be played, dealt or exhibited in or about such place of business, and that he or they will not knowingly permit any minor under the age of twenty-one years to enter upon or remain in such establishment, which bond may be sued on at the instance of any party aggrieved by the violation of the provisions of said obligation; and said bond shall not be void on first recovery, but may be sued on until the full penal sum named therein shall have been recovered. The provisions of this section shall not be so construed as to repeal or in any manner affect any penal laws now in force concerning the unlawful sale of spirituous, vinous or malt liquors. In addition to civil proceedings for individual injuries brought on said bond, if any person or firm shall violate any of the conditions of the bond herein required, it shall be the duty of the county treasurer and county attorney and the district attorney, or either of them, to institute suit thereupon, in the name of the county judge of the county, for the use and benefit of the county, and the amount of five hundred dollars as a penalty shall be recovered from the principals and sureties, upon proof of a breach of any of the conditions thereof, and whenever the first or subsequent bond required is exhausted by suits at the instance of individuals, or for the use of the county, a new similar bond shall be given and approved, before the dealer shall have the right to further pursue his occupation as a retail liquor dealer, or in case a suit is pending on any such bond, and the county or district attorney shall make and file an affidavit with the clerk of the county court that he believes the bond of the defendant will be exhausted by said suit, said clerk shall notify the liquor dealer thereof, and it shall be the duty of the retail liquor dealer, within twenty days from the time the bond is exhausted, or in the other

event within twenty days from the time the said notice is given to give a new bond similar to the bond first given, to be approved in the same way, and until such new bond is given and approved, where it is required by this act, the retail liquor dealer shall not have the right to further pursue his occupation; and any person who shall pursue his said occupation without giving a new bond, as required by this act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction, shall be fined the same amount provided for in cases where no license has been obtained."

SEC. 2. That whereas, great confusion, difficulty and loss may occur from any delay in the final passage of this act, thereby creating an emergency and imperative public necessity for the suspension of the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several days, therefore said rule is hereby suspended, and this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved April 4, A. D. 1881.
Takes effect from passage.

CHAPTER CII.—An act to amend chapter 11, title 17, of the Revised Civil Statutes of the State of Texas so that towns and villages may be incorporated for free school purposes only.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That chapter 11, title 17, of the Revised Statutes of the State of Texas be amended by the addition of the following articles:

"Article 541a. Towns and villages authorized to incorporate under this chapter, or having two hundered inhabitants or over, not desiring to incorporate for municipal purposes, may incorporate for free school purposes only, and when so desiring, an election may be held under the provisions of this title and chapter, and if at said election a majority of the votes cast be in favor of the corporation, it shall be the duty of the county judge to make return thereof and cause a record of the result of such election to be made the same as is provided by articles 512 and 513 of this chapter, upon which entry being made such town or village shall be regarded as duly incorporated for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a free school therein, and shall upon notice to the state board of education by the board of trustees hereinafter provided for, receive such pro rata share of the available school fund as its scholastic population may entitle it to.

"Article 5416. Upon the entry of record, as provided for in the preceding article, it shall be the duty of the county judge to forth with order an election of five school trustees for such town or village so incorporated for school purposes, who shall be elected in the same manner and at the same time and whose term of office shall be the same as provided in this chapter for the election and term of office of mayor and aldermen.

"Article 541c. The trustees elected in accordance with the preceding article, shall be vested with the full management and control of the free schools of such incorporated town or village, and shall in general be vested with all the powers, rights and duties in regard to the establishment and maintaining of free schools, including the powers and manner of taxation, for free school purposes, that are now conferred by the laws of this State, upon the council or board of aldermen of incorporated cities and towns, as the same is prescribed by title 78, chapter 3, of the Revised Statutes.

"Article 541d. The board of trustees, when elected, shall organize by choosing from their number a president, a secretary, a treasurer, and an assessor and collector of taxes.

"Article 541e. The assessor and collector of taxes shall have the same powers and shall perform the same duties, with reference to the assessment and collection of taxes for free school purposes, that are conferred by this chapter and title upon the marshal of incorporated towns and villages, and he shall receive such compensation for his services as the board of trustees may allow, not to exceed four per cent. of the whole amount of taxes received, and he shall give bond for the faithful discharge of his duties in such amount as may be prescribed by the board of

trustees.

"Article 541f. The treasurer shall be required to give bond, payable to the State of Texas to be approved by the board of trustees, for a sum equal to double the probable amount of taxes assessed, and the pro rata share of the available school fund, conditioned for the faithful discharge of his duties, and the payment of the funds received by him, upon the draft of the president; drawn upon order duly entered, of the board of trustees, and for his services he shall be entitled to retain a commission of one per cent. upon all amounts paid out by him."

SEC. 2. There being many unincorporated towns and villages in the State that desire to incorporate for free school purposes only, and it being important that such incorporations should be duly organized and ready for taking charge of their schools before the commencement of the next scholastic year, thereby creating an emergency that this act take effect from and after its passage, and it is so enacted; and the near approach of the close of the session of the Legislature and the great amount of business now pending creates an imperative public necessity justifying the suspension of the constitutional rule requiring this bill to be read on three several days, and said rule is suspended.

Approved April 6, A. D. 188'.

Takes effect from passage.

CHAPTER CIII.-An act to amend articles Nos. 340, 344, 346, 352, and 357 of the Revised Civil Statutes of the State of Texas, relating to cities and towns.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That articles 340, 344, 346, 352 and 357, title 17, of the Revised Civil Statutes of the State of Texas, relating to cities and towns, be so amended as to hereafter read as follows:

"Article 340. Any city within the limits of this State, containing one thousand inhabitants or over, may accept the provisions of this title in lieu of any existing charter, by a two-thirds vote of the city council of such city, which action by the city council shall be had at a regular meeting thereof and entered upon the journal of their proceedings, and a copy of the same, signed by the mayor and attested by the city clerk or secretary, under the corporate seal, filed and recorded in the office of the clerk of the county court of the county in which such city is situated; and the provisions of this title shall be in force, and all acts theretofore passed, incorporating such city, which may be in force by virtue of any existing charter, shall be repealed from and after the filing of the said