ble lot in said city, within the boundary of the original (50) fifty acres donated to the commissioners of said county for the purpose of a county seat of justice; and said jail shall also be located within the same boundary; and said court shall have power to purchase, or receive by donation, a suitable lot or lots, within said boundary, as a site or sites for the erection of said court house and jail, or either; provided, that the cost of such lot or lots shall be computed as a part of the cost of said buildings. SEC. 3. That should said county court decide to have such court house and jail, or either, erected, they shall cause to be made a proper draft or drafts, and specifications thereof, which shall be kept in the office of the clerk of the district court, for inspection; and they shall cause publication to be made in all the newspapers published in said county, for thirty days, inviting bids for the building of such court house and jail, or either; and said court shall have power to accept any bid that may be most advantageous to the county, or to reject all bids, and republish in the same manner. And when any bid shall be accepted, a written contract shall be drawn up in accordance with this act, and with a clause containing this act, and the draft and specifications as a part thereof; which shall be signed by the contractor or contractors, and all the members of said court, attested by the clerk of the district court, executed in duplicate, one copy to be delivered to the contractor, and the other recorded in the record of deeds, &c., and delivered to the county treasurer for safe keeping.

SEC. 4. Said County Court shall have power to agree for the payment and discharge of said contract, either in money or the bonds hereinafter provided for, or both, and shall express in said contract exactly how and in what manner the same is to be discharged; and if they agree that the same or any part thereof shall be paid in money, then the same shall be paid out of any money belonging to the county arising from the proceeds of the sale of the old court house and jail, and the lots and grounds on which they are situate, if such sale or sales should be made; and secondly, out of the fund procured by the sale of bonds issued under the provisions of this act.

SEC. 5. The County Court shall, upon the closing of such contract or contracts, issue and deliver into the

hands of the county treasurer of said county, bonds sufficient in aggregate amount to pay the cost or any balance due thereon, on the erection of such court house or jail, or both, to be by the treasurer delivered to the contractor or contractors, or sold under the provisions of this act, as may be specified in the contract; provided, that the treasurer shall be required to give bond in a sum equal to the whole amount of bonds deposited with him; and prooided further, that said bonds shall not be binding upon the county, until indorsed by the treasurer and delivered to the contractor or purchaser. And in case the county treasurer shall fail to execute the bond, then the County Court shall appoint a special commissioner to take charge of the bonds, and dispose of them as required by this act. SEC. 6. The bonds provided for in this act shall be printed or engraved; shall be payable twenty years after date, and shall bear eight per cent. interest, per annum, from the date of their negotiation. They may be made payable at a given place, and may be for any sum not less than one hundred nor more than one thousand dollars each. There shall be attached to said bonds, coupons for the interest falling due at different times of payment, so printed as to be capable of being detached. Each coupon shall state the number of the bond to which it is attached, the amount for which it calls, and when it falls due; shall be signed by the presiding justice. The interest on said bonds shall be made payable semi-annually. The bonds shall be signed by the presiding justice, and attested by the clerk of the District Court with the seal of said court affixed; and before they are delivered to the contractor or purchaser, shall be endorsed by the treasurer or special commissioner, giving the date of the endorsement and delivery.

SEC. 7. Before the bonds hereby authorized shall be issued or negotiated, the County Court shall levy a direct ad calorem tax upon all property subject to taxation, situated in said county, of a per cent. sufficient to produce a revenue equal to the interest upon the whole amount of bonds issued, and two per cent as a sinking fund, to be used in the gradual liquidation of said bonds, which tax, when so levied, shall remain and be the annual tax for that purpose until the whole of said bonds shall have been paid. And there shall be collected annually of each male person residing in said county, over twenty

one years of age, a poll tax of one dollar each, to constitute a part of this fund. And the said County Court shall levy and collect annually one-fourth part of the State tax assessed upon any and all avocations, callings, trades, pursuits, occupations or professions, pursued, followed or engaged in within the limits of said county, to constitute a part of this fund.

SEC. 8. The coupons upon the bonds due, or falling due, shall be receivable for every class of taxes levied and collected under this act, and it shall be the duty of the county court to cause the interest and two per cent. sinking fund to be tendered at the place or places of payment: provided, that if any holder of said bonds should refuse to receive payments on the principal of said bonds before maturity, and said sinking fund shall accumulate, then the county court shall be authorized to buy up any outstanding bonds with said fund, and have such bond, when so paid off, canceled and destroyed.

SEC. 9. The taxes herein authorized to be levied, shall be collected by the officer authorized by law to collect the State and county tax, for which he shall receive the same compensation allowed by law for collecting other county taxes; and the sheriff or other officer so collecting shall enter into a bond, with two or more good sureties, to the presiding justice, and his successors in office, in double the amount of the levy, conditioned for the faithful performance of this duty. And the ad valorem tax herein authorized shall be levied and collected upon the regular assessments made by the assessing officer of the county for State and county taxes for each year.

SEC. 10. The taxes collected under this act shall be paid over to the county treasurer, to be by him paid out under the orders of the court, and for which he shall receive the same compensation as for similar services; provided, that before receiving any money, said county treasurer shall be required to execute a bond, to the presiding justice, with two or more sufficient sureties, in double the amount of the tax so levied. And if the treasurer fail to execute such bond, the court may appoint a special commissioner, who shall perform said duties upon the same terms and conditions.

SEC. 11. The county treasurer, or special commissioner, shall have power to sell or negotiate the bonds herein provided for, or cause the same to be done, in accordance

with the provisions of this act, and for the purposes specified in the contract; provided, that said bonds shall not be sold or negotiated for less than eighty cents on the dollar.

SEC. 12. The County Court shall select some competent, discreet and suitable person as inspector, to superintend the work upon said building or buildings, and guard the interests of the county in the manner of doing the work, and the character of the material used, and who shall have power to suspend the work in case the contractor shall have violated the agreement or failed to comply therewith, and refuses, upon demand, to remedy it; and in case the work shall be suspended, then said contractor and inspector shall each select an arbitrator, who shall decide the matter, with power to them, in case of disagreement, to select a third man. The work shall then proceed in accordance with that decision.

SEC. 13. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Passed April 28th, 1873.

[NOTE.--The foregoing act was presented to the Governor of Texas for his approval, on the second day of May, A. D. 1873, and was not signed by him, or 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. JAMES P. NEWCOMB, Secretary of State.]

CHAPTER CVII.

An Act for the Relief of J. Lancaster.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the Commissioner of the General Land Office be and he is hereby authorized and required to issue to J. Lancaster two certificates; one for one-third of a league, being headright, and one for six hundred and forty acres, being for bounty; for his services as a soldier in the army of the Republic of Texas during the war which separated Texas from Mexico.

SEC. 2. That the said certificates when issued may be

located and patented as other certificates; and that this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage. Passed April 30th, 1873.

[NOTE.-The foregoing act was presented to the Governor of Texas for his approval on the seventh day of May, A. D. 1873, and was not signed by him, or 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.-JAMES P. NEWCOMB, Secretary of State.]

CHAPTER CVIII.

An Act to adjust and define the rights of the Texas and Pacific Railway Company within the State of Texas, in order to encourage the speedy construction of a Railway through the State to the Pacific Ocean.

WHEREAS, By the terms and conditions of an act entitled "An act to encourage the speedy construction of a railway through Texas to the Pacific Ocean," passed May 24th, 1871, and an act supplementary and amendatory thereto, passed November 25th, 1871, authority was given to the Southern Trans-Continental Railway Company, and to the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, incorporations created by acts of the Legislature of the State of Texas, to become consolidated with the "Texas Pacific Railroad Company," an incorporation created by an act of the Congress of the United States; and

Whereas, It appears, from documentary evidence on file in the office of the Secretary of State of the State of Texas, that such consolidation has been effected; and as a difference of opinion may arise as to the construction of the acts of the Legislature herein before referred to, in regard to the amount of lands to which said Texas and Pacific Railway Company may be entitled under the said acts of incorporation, and other laws of this State; and

Whereas, It is desirable that there should be a complete and final adjustment of the rights of said Texas and Pacific Railway Company, as the assignee and successor of the said Southern Pacific Railroad Company, and the