not less than two nor more than ten years; and in the event of the death of any traveler, employee, or other person resulting from such malicious injuring, destroying, or removing, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of murder, the degree to be determined by the jury. If such act be done unlawfully, but not maliciously, the offender shall, in the discretion of the jury, be confined in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than five years, or be confined in jail not exceeding twelve months and fined not exceeding $500. And in the event of the death of any traveler, employee, or other person, resulting from such unlawful injuring, destroying, or removing, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of murder or of manslaughter, as the jury may determine.

Junk dealers (chap. 492, p. 522, approved February 24,1898).—An act to require junk dealers to keep certain books and exhibit the same, to make a report of certain articles received or purchased by them, and prescribing penalties for failing to do so. 1. Every junk dealer shall keep at his place of business a book, or books, in which shall be fairly written in English an accurate description of each article purchased or received by him (except rages, bones, old scrap iron other than gas pipe, and paper), with the price paid therefor, together with the name, residence, occupation, and a correct description of the person from whom he received the same. The said book shall at all times be open to the inspection of any sheriff, sergeant, constable, or police officer of the county or corporation in which such junk dealer shall do business. Every junk dealer doing business in any city or town shall, every day (except Sunday) before 11 o'clock in the forenoon, deliver to the chief of police of such city or town, on a blank form to be prescribed by such chief of police, a legible and correct transcript from his book or books of his transactions of the previous day. No junk dealer shall sell, melt, change the form of, or dispose of any article bought or received by him which he is required by this act to make record of and report within five days after such report.

Any junk dealer who shall fail to keep such book, or who shall, on demand, fail or refuse to exhibit the same to any sheriff, sergeant, constable, or police officer, or who shall fail or refuse to make a correct report as required by this section, or who shall in any other respect violate the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and for each offense shall, on conviction thereof, be punished with a fine of not less than $10 nor more than $100.

2. If any junk dealer shall have in his possession any article which is proved to have been stolen, except rags, bones, old scrap iron other than gas pipe, and paper, the receipt or purchase of which he has not recorded in the book which he is required to keep, or which he has not reported, as prescribed by the preceding section, he shall be deemed guilty of the larceny thereof.

Quarantine (chap. 538, p. 568, approved February 28, 1898).-Adds a section to act approved February 26, 1877, providing for inspection and quarantine of travelers by land and of cars and other vehicles of railroad companies, and other carriers, and of freight and baggage for the quarantine district of the Elizabeth River and its branches, and of the city of Norfolk and the city of Portsmouth and the county of Norfolk. Any person coming into this district by land from a place infected with a dangerous, contagious, or infectious disease, may be compelled to perform quarantine.

Any such person who shall before he is discharged travel in this State, unless it be to return by the most direct route to the State from which he came, or any railway company or other carrier which shall refuse or evade compliance with the provisions of this section, shall be fined $100 for each offense.

Telephone and telegraph lines (chap. 560, p. 587, approved February 28, 1898.— Prohibits malicious injury to telephone or telegraph lines or the tapping of such lines. Violation, misdemeanor: Fine, $50 to $200, or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six months, or by both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.

Protection of fruit trees (chap. 567, p. 592, approved February 28, 1898).— Empowers the board of control of the State Agricultural Experiment Station to take immediate action to suppress and eradicate this insect.

It is made unlawful to sell or give away or transport plants infested with the insect. Penalty: Fine, $50 to $100.

Power of inspection is given to the agents and employees of the Agricultural Experiment Station. Any person who obstructs them in the discharge of their duties is guilty of a misdemeanor: Fine, $20 to $50.

Gaming (chap. 617, p. 656, approved March 1, 1898).-Amends section 3820 of code of Virginia to read as follows:

If a keeper of an ordinary house of entertainment or barroom permit unlawful

gaming at his house, or at any outhouse, booth, arbor, or other place appurtenant thereto or held therewith, he shall be fined $100, and shall forfeit his license and give surety for his good behavior for one year, or in default of such surety be confined in jail not exceeding four months.

Cigarettes, County of Accomac (chap. 622, p. 663, approved March 1, 1898).— Imposes a special license for cigarette dealers of $10 per annum. Violation, misdemeanor: Fine, $5 to $25.

Attempts to poison (chap. 461, p. 682, approved March 1, 1898).—Section 3669 of the code of Virginia is amended and reenacted so as to read as follows:

"If any person administer or attempt to administer any poison or destructive thing in food, drink, medicine, or otherwise or poison any spring, well, or reservoir water with intent to kill or injure another person, he shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than three nor more than eighteen years."

Combinations of fire insurance companies (chap. 644, p. 683, approved March 1, 1898).

It is made unlawful for any fire insurance company to enter into any combination with other fire insurance companies for the purpose of controlling rates charged for fire insurance on property in this State.

All fire insurance companies are required to file on the 1st day of March in each year with the auditor of public accounts an affidavit of some officer or agent, setting forth the fact that the company has not in the twelve months previous entered into any trust, combination, or association for the purpose of preventing competition in insurance rates in this State.

Any false statement in said affidavit shall be deemed perjury. Penalty: Fine, from $100 to $1,000 and confinement in the penitentiary for one year, or, in the discretion of the jury, by confinement in jail for a period not less than thirty days nor more than twelve months.

The license of the companies may be revoked for three years. For violation of any of the provisions of the act by any company, fine not less than $500.

Merry-go-rounds (chap. 645, p. 684, approved March 2, 1898).-Reenacts section 87 of act approved March 6, 1890, to provide for the assessment of taxes, etc. Persons exhibiting or operating hobby-horse machines or merry-go-rounds shall pay a tax of $10 for each county, but in the county of Accomac such person shall pay the sum of $50 for such privilege as a license tax; and in the said county all fairs or industrial expositions shall pay an additional license tax of $5 a day a day or $20 per week.

Any person operating such machine without having paid the specific amount therefor shall pay a fine of not less than $20 nor more than $50.

Beneficiary associations.—An act to define and regulate fraternal beneficiary associations, orders, or societies (chap. 688, p. 734, approved March 3, 1898).

The penalties prescribed relate to officers acting for any order or subordinate body thereof within this State while it shall be enjoined or prohibited from doing business pursuant to this act or to persons acting as officers or agents for any such order which shall have neglected or refused to comply with this act. In either case the violation is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of from $25 to $100.

Tax on telephone and telegraph companies (chap. 702, p. 752, approved March 3, 1898).-Telegraph or telephone companies required to take a license. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall pay a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $400 for each offense.

Corporal punishment for minors (chap. 833, p. 859, approved March 3, 1898).— An act to empower any judge or justice of the commonwealth before whom a minor under 16 years of age is convicted of a misdemeanor to substitute stripes in lieu of fine and imprisonment, or of either, with the consent of the parent or guardian of such minor.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That when any minor under sixteen years of age is convicted of a misdemeanor the justice or judge before whom such conviction is had may, if the parent or guardian shall inflict on such minor such punishment as the court may think adequate, then the court shall discharge such minor from custody.

2. The stripes imposed under this act shall be administered by the sheriff or any constable of the county or sergeant of the corporation wherein the conviction is had upon the order of the judge or justice imposing the sentence, and at such time and place as the said judge or justice may direct. The parent or guardian shall have the right to be present when such stripes are administered.

Coal and mineral veins (chap. 838, p. 864, approved March 3, 1898.)-An act in relation to working coal and other mineral veins in the counties of Henrico and Goochland.

No owner or tenant of any land containing coal within the aforesaid counties shall open, or sink, or dig, excavate, or work in any mine or shaft on such land within 40 feet of the line dividing said land from that of another person without the consent in writing of every person interested in or having title to such adjoining lands in possession, reversion, or remainder, or of the guardian of any such person as may be an infant.

Penalty, $500 to anyone who may sue for the same.

Bureau of labor and statistics (chap. 863, p. 894; also chap. 1007, p. 1032).The act establishes a bureau of labor and industrial statistics in the State of Virginia. 2. It shall be the duty of said bureau to collect, assort, systematize, and present in annual reports to the governor, to be by him biennially transmitted to the legislature, statistical details relating to all departments of labor, penal institutions, and industrial pursuits in the State, especially in their relation to the commercial, industrial, social, educational, and sanitary condition of the laboring classes, and to the permanent prosperity of the productive industries of the State.

Sections 3 and 4 of this act were amended at the same session (chap. 1007), approved March 4, 1898. Section 4 as amended reads as follows:

"The commissioner shall have power to take and preserve testimony, examine witnesses under oath and administer the same; and in the discharge of his duties may, under proper restrictions, enter any public institution of the State, and any factory, workshop, or mine. The commissioner may also furnish and deliver a written or printed list of interrogations to any person, company, or the proper officer of any corporation, and require full and complete answers to be made thereto and returned under oath within thirty days of receipt of said list of questions; and if any person who may be sworn to give testimony shall wilfully fail or refuse to answer any legal and proper question propounded to him concerning the subject of such examination, as indicated in the second section of this act, or if any person to whom a written or printed list of such interrogations has been furnished by said commissioner shall neglect or refuse to fully answer and return the same under oath, such person shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof before a court of competent jurisdiction, shall be fined in a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars nor less than twenty-five dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding ninety days, or by both fine and imprisonment: provided, however, that nothing in this act shall be construed as permitting the commissioner or any employé of this bureau to make use of any information or statistics gathered from any person, company or corporation for any other than the purposes of this act."

Killing of trees (chap. 864, p. 895, approved March 3, 1898).-The act amends sec. 3586 of the code of Virginia so as to read as follows:

SEC. 3856. If any person kill a tree within the distance of 50 feet of a road, or so cut or injure it as to render it liable to fall, and leave it standing, or knowingly and willfully, without lawful authority, break down, destroy, or injure any bridge, bench, or log placed across a stream for the accommodation, or any sign board, mile stone or post for the direction of travelers, or obstruct any road or any ditch made for the purpose of draining any such road, or willfully ride any horse, mule, or other animal, or use a bicycle, or drive any vehicle upon any sidewalk constructed along any highway through any unincorporated village, he shall be fined not less than $1 or more than $100, and in the discretion of the court be confined in the county jail not exceeding sixty days.

Rafts and river obstructions, county of Halifax (chap. 896, p. 941, approved March 3, 1898.) The bill has the following preamble:

"Whereas persons owning land on Hyco River, in the county of Halifax, have allowed rafts and trees to blockade the bed of the said river, thereby overflowing the bottoms and forming bogs and ponds, and in the dry hot season from the decomposition of vegetable matter making a source of malaria from which most malignant and pernicious diseases are generated, which cause much distress, sickness, and death to the citizens in the vicinity of said river." The act therefore requires land owners "to cut out all rafts and trees to the center of the river, and get them out during the months of July and August of each year."

Land owners who fail to comply shall pay whatever costs and expenses are incurred in having the rafts and trees removed, and shall pay a fine of $25 for such refusal to comply.

Municipal penalties.-Under town charters in Virginia, as in other States, limited powers to impose fines and penalties are granted to municipal authorities. Thus

in chap. 60, p. 68, relating to the town of Culpeper, the council has power to make and pass all needful orders, by-laws, and ordinances, not contrary to the constitution and laws of Virginia, and to prescribe, impose, and enact reasonable fines and penalties, with imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding thirty days in case of contempt, or to enforce the collection of a fine.

The town of Grundy (chap. 152, p. 156, Laws of 1898) may require bonds for good behavior, in a penalty not to exceed $1,000 and imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed twelve months.

In the town of Emporia, page 182, the limit of penalties in section 144 is $100 and six months' imprisonment.

In the town of Pulaski (chap. 190, p. 206, sec. 8) the council has power to enforce ordinances by penalties not exceeding the penalties fixed by the laws of the commonwealth for like offenses, and (sec. 9) the council may establish a chain gang and require offenders to work therein on the public streets, roads, or public buildings, as provided under the general law of the commonwealth.

ELECTION LAWS.

City of Charlottesville (chapter 59, p. 56, approved January 12, 1898).-The ac prescribes various regulations for primary elections. Section 7 says:

SEC. 7. Any person who knowingly or wilfully votes or attempts to vote at such primary election contrary to the rules and regulations governing the same, or will fully violates any of the rules of the same, or who fraudulently registers for the purpose of voting, or any voter who shall vote under an assumed name or shall vote or attempt to vote more than once, or shall vote or attempt to vote in any way that would be illegal in a general election, or shall bribe or attempt to bribe or induce another to vote illegally, or shall receive any money, goods, or chattels for his vote, or any candidate who shall give to any voter or to any person who is not a member of a political party holding such primary election any money or thing of value for his vote, shall upon conviction thereof be guilty of a misdemeanor, and be fined not less than $5 nor more than $100, and be imprisoned in jail not less than one nor more than sixty days.

City of Richmond (chap. 86, p. 89, approved January 22, 1898).-This act amends and reenacts an act to legalize primary elections and conventions in the city of Richmond, approved February 23, 1894.

Section 5 provides that "any person who knowingly or wilfully votes or attempts to vote at such primary election or convention contrary to the rules and regulations upon which the same is conducted shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor."

Penalty, fine not less than $100 nor more than $300, or imprisonment in the city jail not exceeding twelve months.

Newport News (chap. 418, p. 452, approved February 21, 1898).-The penalty for voting contrary to rules and regulations is from $100 to $300 and imprisonment in the city jail not exceeding twelve months.

Counties of Clarke and Warren (chap. 652, p. 689, approved March 2, 1898).— Similar penalty to the above.

Henrico County (chap. 968, p. 994, approved March 4, 1898).—Amends chapter 398, approved February 20, 1896. Section 2 forbids anyone approaching the voting place nearer than 40 feet except the voter engaged in the act of depositing his ballot, and he shall not remain within the reserved space of 40 feet longer than the time required to deposit his ballot, under the penalty of a fine of $5 or ten days imprisonment in jail.

The introduction of this penalty is a new feature.

Violations of section 6, providing for the printing of official ballots and the counterfeiting or corrupt use of the same, a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine, $50 to $200, and imprisonment, not less than ten days nor more than three months in jail. Violation of section 12, in regard to illegal voting, bribery, etc., fine, $5 to $10, or imprisonment in county jail from ten to thirty days, and perpetual disfranchisement for the person bribing, attempting to bribe, or receiving a bribe.

Judges of election.-An act to amend and reenact section 117 of the code of Virginia. (Chap. 832, p. 858, approved March 3, 1898.)

It is made the duty of the electoral board of each city and county to appoint three competent citizens as judges for all elections to be held in their respective election districts for the term of one year. Duties of the electoral board are further indicated.

"The members of any electoral board who shall wilfully fail to comply with this requirement shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Fine, from $100 to $500."

ROADS AND BRIDGES.

Culpeper County (chap. 101, p. 106, approved January 25, 1898).-Provides in much detail for the working of roads and construction of bridges.

The only penal feature is the fine imposed upon persons appointed overseers of roads who refuse to serve after being appointed; liability, a fine not exceeding $50. Persons intentionally obstructing public roads or drains or not moving obstructions after due notice shall be liable to fine not exceeding $50 for each offense.

Working out fines on public roads.-An act to empower the boards of supervisors of Giles, Pulaski, Craig, Lee, Wise, Dickenson, Buchanan, and Scott counties to require old fines and costs to be worked out upon the public roads and streets of the towns of said counties, and providing rules and regulations therefor. (Chap. 155, p. 159, approved January 29, 1898.)

The attorneys of the commonwealth in these counties are to furnish on or before the first day of June, 1898, to the board of supervisors of their counties a list giving the names and amounts of all fines and costs due the commonwealth. The board of supervisors are to give notice to those to whom fines and costs are due that they can voluntarily work out the same at the rate of $1 per day with their nearest road

overseer.

The act fixes October 1, 1898, as time within which such work may be done, but board of overseers may give reasonable additional time. Upon a failure to pay said fines and costs the delinquents are to be arrested under a capias pro fine, and when so arrested shall be required to work out said fines and costs at the rate of 50 cents per day, under such control and supervision as the several boards of supervisors may designate, upon the streets of the towns or roads of the respective counties as the several boards of supervisors may designate, and under such provisions as to confinement in the county jail or otherwise, when not employed during the period of working out said fines, as the board of supervisors may adopt.

In case of bodily infirmity or other sufficient cause the board of supervisors may grant exemption from work, but this shall not operate as a release from the fines and costs due by such parties.

Obstruction of roads.-An act to prevent the obstruction of public roads in the counties of Buchanan and Dickenson. (Chap. 160, p. 162, approved January 29, 1898.)

The act prohibits the obstruction of public roads by felling trees or placing timber in the same, or by any fencing in or on the right of way. Anyone hauling log or lumber wagons and thus injuring the road is required to repair the same within forty-eight hours.

Violation, misdemeanor; penalty, from $5 to $100 for each offense.

Shenandoah County.-An act to provide for the establishing, altering, and building the public roads and bridges in the county of Shenandoah, and for working and keeping the same in repair. (Chap. 230, p. 254, approved February 8, 1898.) The duties of commissioners are prescribed in section 6, and for each and every breach of duty the commissioner shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not less than $5 nor more than $20.

County of Patrick (chap. 829, p. 851, approved March 3, 1898).-SEC. 21. The board of supervisors, with the consent of the county court, or the judge thereof in vacation, shall have power, and the said board is hereby authorized, to employ upon the county roads, or any portion thereof, all vagrants and convicted criminals confined in the county jail and all persons confined in said jail in default of the payment of fines imposed upon them; said persons to be worked under the supervision of the said superintendents of roads and bridges of the several districts, subject to such rules and regulations as the said board may prescribe. But in such case the board, maintenance, and cost of guarding such prisoners where necessary shall be paid for out of the road tax of the district in which they may be worked.

Counties of Scott and Lee (chap. 339, p. 375, approved February 14, 1898).An elaborate road law. Section 23 provides that any member of the board of supervisors, or any other person appointed under the provisions of this act, failing to discharge his duty, or refusing to act when appointed, shall be proceeded against in the county court by a rule or summons in the nature of an information: Penalty, if guilty, fine not exceeding $10. The costs in any such proceeding shall be taxed as they are in misdemeanors.