the bonds of the United States in which it is so invested shall be immediately deposited by the Comptroller in the Treasury of the State.

- SEC. 2.

That the Comptroller under this act is not authorized to invest any part of the interest due or received from railroads on account of indebtedness to the school fund since the 30th day of March, 1870, or any part of the taxes collected since that date, and which, under the Constitution, are to be applied to the support of public schools, but all moneys received for such interest and taxes are to remain in the Treasury subject to appropriation for the support of public schools when the same are established.

SEC. 3. That this act shall take effect from and after its passage, and all laws or parts of laws in conflict therewith are hereby repealed. Approved April 17, 1871.

CHAPTER XLVII.

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE TRANSMISSION OF CRIMINAL PROCESS BY TELEGRAPH, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That a warrant issued as required by law for the arrest of any person or persons charged with having committed an offense against the law of Texas, as defined by the Penal Code, may be forwarded by telegraph from any telegraph office in the State to another office in this State, and any sheriff, constable or policeman to whom the said warrant may be sent, shall, on receiving the same, proceed with it to the nearest magistrate, who shall endorse thereon in these words: "Let this warrant be executed in the county of signed by the said magistrate, with the name

of his office; provided, the said warrant is not issued or endorsed by a judge of the supreme or district court, in which case it shall be executed without further endorsement within the State of Texas.

SEC. 2. That an affidavit, in writing, stating that any person or persons have committed any crime known to the law of Texas, made before any judge of the supreme or district court, or magistrate, may be telegraphed as provided in section first, and any judge as named herein, or magistrate to whom the same shall come, shall issue his warrant for the arrest of the party or parties as named or

described in the affidavit; and when the party or parties are taken into custody, they shall be dealt with as provided in articles 225 and 226, Code of Criminal Procedure.

SEC. 3. The original warrant or affidavit, or a duplicate copy thereof, as provided for above, shall be deposited with the manager of the telegraph office from which the same is to be forwarded, and it shall be forwarded, taking precedence over other business, to the place of its destination, or to the office nearest thereto, precisely as it is written, including the certificate of the seal attached.

SEC. 4. When a warrant or affidavit is received at a telegraph office for delivery, it shall be delivered to the party to whom it is addressed as soon as practicable, written on the proper blanks of the telegraph company, and certified to by the manager of the office as. being a true and correct copy of the warrant or affidavit as received at his office.

SEC. 5. No manager of a telegraph office shall receive and forward a warrant or affidavit, as hercin provided, unless, the same shall be certified to and under seal of a court of record, or a magistrate having a notarial seal, or when a magistrate has no such seal, the certificate of the clerk of the district court of the county, attested by the seal of said court, that he is a legally qualified justice of the peace of the said county and State of Texas. Nor shall it be lawful for any judicial office to endorse a arrant, or to issue a warrant, on the faith of an affidavit received by telegraph, nor shall it be lawful for a sheriff, constable or policeman to execute a warrant received by telegraph, unless all the requirements of the fourth section and this one be fully complied with

SEC. 6. The party presenting a warrant or affidavit to the manager of a telegraph office shall pay for the same in advance, unless by the rules of the company it may be sent "collect."

SEC. 7. Any executive officer, director, superintendent, manager, operator, clerk, messenger or other party in the employ of a telegraph company, who shall divulge, or in any manner make known, except to the proper party, the contents of any warrant, affidavit or telegram relating to any crime already committed, or for the prevention of the same, shall, upon conviction, be fined in a sum of not less than five hundred dollars, nor more than two thousand, or be imprisoned in the State penitentiary for a term of not less than two years, nor more than five.

SEC. 8. That this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved April 17, 1871.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE PRESIDING JUSTICES OF THE SEVERAL COUNTIES TO PERFORM CERTAIN ACTS FOR THE BENEFIT OF · IDIOTS AND INSANE PERSONS.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Leyislature of the State of Teras, That in all places in an act, entitled "An act to provide for the organization of the State Lunatic Asylum, and for the care and maintenance of the insane," approved February 5, 1858, where duties are prescribed to be performed by the chief justices of the several counties, the same shall be performed by the presiding justices of the several counties.

SEC. 2. That all acts done by the presiding justices of counties in the matter of sending persons to the State Lunatic Asylum, since the adoption of the Constitution now in force, be and the same are hereby validated.

SEC. 3. That this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved April 17, 1871.

CHAPTER XLIX.

AN ACT TO AMEND "AN ACT PRESCRIBING THE TIMES OF HOLDING THE DISTRICT COURTS IN THE SEVERAL JUDICIAL DISTRICTS IN

THE STATE," APPROVED AUGUST 16, 1870.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Teras, That the second clause of section eleven of "An act prescribing the times of holding the district courts in the several judicial districts in the State," approved August 10, 1870, and which second clause of said section eleven is in the words and figures following, to wit: In the county of Kaufman, on the first Mondays in October, February and June, and may continue in session three weeks," be and the same is hereby amended so as to read as follows: "In the county of Kaufman on the last Mondays in September, January and May, and may continue in session four weeks."

SEC. 2. This act shall be so construed as to change the time of holding the district courts of the Tenth Judicial District, in and for the county of Kaufman, and no other county.

SEC. 3 That this act take effect and be in force in sixty days from the passage thereof. Approved April 20, 1871.

CHAPTER L.

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW BRAUNFELS TO LEVY AND COLLECT A SPECIAL TAX.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the City Council of the city of New Braunfels be and is bereby authorized to levy and collect annually a special ad valorem tax upon all property within the corporation limits, real, personal and mixed, not exceeding twenty cents on each hundred dollars' worth, for and during the term of four years from and after the first day of April, A. D. 1871, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness incurred by said city in the erection of a bridge across the Comal spring, and for the purpose of erecting a new bridge across said Comal spring.

SEC. 2. That this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved April 20, 1871.

CHAPTER LI.

AN ACT FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE GROWTH OF PECAN TIMBER.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That any person who shall cut or otherwise destroy a pecan tree on any land not his own, or without direct and specific authority in writing from the owner, in any county, or the territory belonging to any county, shall be held guilty of a misdemeanor, and punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five, nor more than fifty

dollars, to be recovered before any justice of the peace, having jurisdiction of the same, for every offense; or in default of payment, shall be imprisoned in the county jail for not less than one month, nor more than two months, for each offense, with labor on the public roads.

go,

SEC. 2. That the fines to be collected under this act shall one half, to the informer, and the other half to the county treasurer, for county purposes.

SEC. 3. That the prosecution and conviction under this act shall not bar the right of the owner of the land, his agent or tenant, from proceeding in a civil suit against the offenders for the recovery of damages.

SEC. 4. That any person contracting for delivery of timber, and receiving pecan timber under such contract, shall be held in the same penalties as the party cutting the same, if the land on which such timber has been cut belongs to neither of the parties contracting.

SEC. 5. That this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved April 20, 1871.

CHAPTER LII.

AN ACT TO GIVE EFFECT TO THE SEVERAL PROVISIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION CONCERNING TAXES.

THE TAXES LEVIED.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That each and all of the several provisions of the Constitution concerning taxes shall have force and effect according to their terms, and as hereinafter enacted, and that the following enumerated anual taxes, for each successive year, including the present year, are levied and imposed, and are to be assessed, collected and applied as is hereby prescribed.

THE POLL TAX.

SEC. 2. An annual poll tax of one dollar on all male persons in this State between the ages of twenty-one and sixty years, for the benefit of the public schools.