CHAPTER VIII.

An Act to establish the Per Diem and Mileage Pay of the Electors of President and Vice President of the United States.

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the electors of President and Vice President of the United States, shall receive the same pay for mileage in travelling to and from the seat of government of the State, and the same pay daily, while engaged there in the performance of the duties required of them by law, as that allowed by law to the members of the Legislature of said State.

Approved, December 1, 1849.

CHAPTER IX.

An Act to amend the second and third Sections of an Act entitled an Act establishing more permanently the Seat of Justice of Collin county, approved January 12, 1848.

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the second section of said Act shall be, and is hereby amended, so as to read as follows: Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That the proceeds arising from the sale of said lots in said county, or from other donations, shall be applied, under the direction of the County Court, first, for the erection of public buildings in said town: That the Commissioners named in the first section of the Act, the sections whereof are hereby amended, be, and they are hereby required to settle with the County Court of Collin county, at its first regular term after the passage of this Act, or at any time thereafter when required by the County Court of said county, and to pay over to said court all moneys remaining in their hands which have been collected by them, arising from the sale of lots in the town of McKinney; also, to turn over to said Court all books, papers, deed or deeds, bond or bonds, notes, maps, and all things pertaining in anywise to the donation made by William Davis to them as Commissioners appointed to receive donations and locate the Seat of Justice of Collin county; and thereafter their duties as said Commissioners shall cease and determine: That if the said Commissioners, or any of them, shall neglect or refuse when called on by the said County Court,

to settle with said Court, in compliance with the first section of this Act, they, and any or every one of them shall forfeit and pay for the use of said county, double the amount of damages which the said county may sustain from such neglect or refusal, to be recovered before any Court having competent jurisdiction: And that the County Court of Collin county is hereby authorized to sell and convey the unsold lots in the town of McKinney, at such times, and on such lengths of credit, as they may think proper, and to apply the unappropriated proceeds arising from the sales of lots in the town of McKinney, to the redemption of the liabilities of said county, or in any other way they may think the good of the county requires.

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That the third section of said Act shall be, and is hereby amended, so as to read as follows: Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect from and after its passage; and that so much of the Act to which this is an amendment as conflicts with this act be, and the same is hereby repealed; and that this Act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved, December 3, 1949.

CHAPTER X.

An Act regulating the election of Clerks of the District Courts in the several Counties of this State.

See. 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That there shall be elected by the qualified voters for members of the Legislature, on the first Monday in August, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty, one Clerk of the District Court in each and every County in the State of Texas, where four years shall have elapsed since the election of the incumbent in the office of District Clerk.

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That on the first Monday in August, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty, and on the first Monday in August every two years thereafter, a regular election shall be held in each and every county where vacancies have already occurred, or may hereafter occur; in the office of the Clerk of the District Court, by death, resignation, removal, or the lapse of four years from the date of the incumbent's election.

Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That in each and every county

where a vacancy in the office of Clerk of the District Court now exists, or may hereafter occur, before the first Monday in August, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty, or between the times specified in this Act for holding regular elections to fill the vacancies in said office, the Judge of the District Court, in vacation or in term time, shall appoint some suitable person Clerk of the District Court, to fill said office until the first regular election thereafter is held according to the provisions of this Act. The order making the appointment shall be entered on the minutes of the District Court, at the first term held in such county after the said appointment; and the Clerk so appointed, shall give bond in the manner now prescribed by law.

Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That this act take effect from and after its passage.

Approved, December 5, 1849.

CHAPTER XI.

An Act to exempt Buildings and Grounds designed and used for purposes of Education or Public Worship, from taxation.

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That all buildings, with their furniture and library, designed and used solely for purposes of education or public worship, together with the land owned by said institutions of learning or churches, upon which the same may be situated, not exceeding ten acres, shall be, and the same are hereby exempted from taxation. Approved, December 12, 1849.

CHAPTER XII.

An Act authorizing and requiring the Governor to subscribe, on behalf of the State, for fifteen hundred copies of a Digest of the Laws of Texas, proposed to be published by O. C. Hartley, Esq.

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the Governor be, and he is hereby authorized and

required to subscribe, on behalf of the State, six thousand five hundred dollars, for fiften hundred copies of a Digest of the laws of Texas proposed to be published by O. C. Hartley, Esq.: Provided, that the copies subscribed for shall be delivered in the office of the Secretary of State within twelve months from and after the adjournment of the present session of the Legislature.

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That a certificate from the Secretary of State, stating that fifteen hundred copies of said Digest have been deposited in his oflice, with a certificate from the Attorney-General, stating that said copies of said Digest are bound in law calf with spring backs, on heavy paper, in digest form, and executed in good style, acording to the plan proposed, which is hereby ordered to be filed in the office of the Secretary of State, shall be sufficient authority to the Comptroller to draw a warrant on the Treasurer in favor of said O. C. Hartley, Esq., for the sum of six thousand five hundred dollars; which said sum is hereby appropriated for that purpose.

Approved, December 18, 1849.

CHAPTER XIII.

An Act to authorize and empower all State, District and County Officers to continue to perform the duties of their respective offices, until their successors shall be elected and qualified according to law.

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That all officers of the State and of each District and County therein, when the time for which they were respectively elected or appointed shall have expired, shall be hereby authorized and empowered to perform the duties of their respective offices until their successors shall be duly qualified; and that this act shall take effect from its passage.

Approved, December 18, 1849.

CHAPTER XIV.

An Act to authorize the several Clerks of the County Courts in the State of Texas to take the separate acknowledgment of Married Women to Deeds executed by them.

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the several Cierks of the County Courts be, and they are hereby authorized to take the separate acknowledgment of deeds executed by married women, under the same rules and regulations as are prescribed for Judges of the Supreme or District Courts, or Notaries Public, in an act entitled "An act defining the mode of conveying property in which the wife has an interest," approved April 30, 1846.

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved, December 18, 1849.

CHAPTER XV.

An Act to make valid the acts of Thomas R. Hill, as Clerk of the District Court of the County of Titus.

Whereas, Thomas R. Hill was elected Clerk of the District Court in the county of Titus on the seventh day of April, in the year eighteen hundred and forty-nine, and,

Whereas, the said Thomas R. Hill, after giving bond and entering upon the duties of said office, resigned without having received a commission from the Governor of the State; therefore,

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That all the acts of said Thomas R. Hill, or his Deputy, as Clerk of the District Court in the county of Titus aforesaid, be, and the same are hereby legalized and made valid, as though he had received a commission in conformity to law; and that this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved, December 18, 1849.