SEC. 5. That said company shall be subject to such. general laws as are now, or that may be hereafter en acted for the regulation of railroad companies.

SEC. 6. That said company shall not consolidate, lease or sell its road to any parallel or competing road; and any violation of the provisions of this section shall operate to forfeit the charter of said company; and the State of Texas shall not be liable for any deficiency in lands; provided, said company may arrange with any other company to run over or use its road for the rolling stock of this company.

SEC. 7. That this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Passed May 2d, 1873.

[NOTE. The foregoing act was presented to the Governor of Texas for his approval on the fifth 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 of the State, and thereupon became a law without his signature.-JAMES P. NEWCOMB, Secretary of State.]

CHAPTER CX.

An Act to incorporate the City of Corsicana, in Navarro County, Texas.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That all that portion of Navarro county extending one mile north from the court house, one mile south from the court house, one mile west from the court house, and one and a half miles east from the court house, is hereby declared to be the city of Corsicana; that the inhabitants residing within said limits are hereby declared to be a body corporate, in the name of the City of Corsicana; by said name they shall sue and be sued in all courts; may purchase and hold property, and sell and convey the same; shall have a common seal, which shall not be changed, and all their official acts shall be authenticated by the impress of said seal; and shall have and exercise all the rights of notarial persons according to the powers herein granted.

SEC. 2. That there shall be a city council consisting of a mayor and five aldermen, who shall be elected by the qualified voters of said city, and shall hold their respective offices for the term of two years from and after the first Monday in Noyember of each and every second year, beginning with the first Monday in November, 1873. They may be removed from office by indictment and conviction in the District Court of Navarro county, for any offense known and described by the Penal Code, and shall not be subject to removal in any other way. No person shall be eligible to either of said offices unless he has been a resident of the State five years, and within the city six months; they shall judge of the election and qualification of their own members, but when sitting to judge a contested election, shall be sworn. The mayor and three of the alder men shall constitute a quorum to do business. Any member of said council who shall absent himself from any of the meetings of said board shall be deemed guilty of nonfeasance, and on conviction, shall be removed from office. And no person holding another office, State or Federal, shall be eligible to hold office under this charter, nor shall any person hold any two offices in said city. All vacancies in the council, treasurer, marshal or city attorney, shall be filled by election.

SEC. 3. All officers, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall take the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution of the State. In case there shall be a tie in the election of any officer of the corporation, the mayor shall forthwith order a new election for such office, giving at least ten days notice of the time and place of the same. The city council shall meet once each month, and may continue in session three days, unless their business is sooner disposed of, for which service they may receive the sum of three dollars per day; they shall appoint the time and place of said monthly meetings. All laws made by them shall be written upon the records of the council, and signed by a majority of the board, and by the mayor; but they shall not be required to publish the same in any newspaper.

SEC. 4. They shall have power to levy and collect an ad valorem tax of not exceeding one-fourth of one per cent. upon all property within said city limits, on the first day of January of the current year. They shall not have power to levy any other taxes upon the people of said

city, except upon tippling houses, drinking saloons, billiard tables and ten-pin alleys, the tax upon each of which shall not exceed five hundred dollars per annum. They shall have power to suppress all gambling houses, houses of male or female prostitution, and every species of swindling practiced upon the streets by lotteries and otherwise. They shall have power to appoint and fix the pay of policemen, and remove them at pleasure. The treasurer, city marshal and city attorney shall be elected by the qualified voters, and only removed in the manner prescribed for members of the council. The pay of the city treasurer shall be two and one-half per cent. on all moneys paid in to him, and two and one-half per cent. on all moneys paid out by him, which he may retain in his hands. The city marshal shall receive the same fees as constables for like services. The city attorney shall have the same fees as district attorneys for the like services, which shall be taxed on the bill of costs against the defendant, and collected of him in the same. The mayor shall receive a salary of five hundred dollars per year, payable quarterly. The treasurer and city marshal shall give bond in the sum of two thousand dollars, conditioned and payable as the council may direct. The council shall pass all laws for the police of the city and the preservation of order, and may fix fines not exceeding one hundred dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding ten days, for offenses committed; but any person charged with the commission of any offense shall have the right of trial by jury of six good and lawful men, by advancing three dollars jury fee, which shall be distributed equally among the jury. They shall not have the power to impose any forfeiture of property or right, except for crime whereof the party shall be duly convicted; nor shall they have any power to make any regulation interfering with the trade of the citizens of the State, bringing their produce to said city for market; nor to inpose any tax whatever upon them or their produce brought into said city to be sold.

SEC. 5. The council may issue the bonds of the city for not more than one hundred thousand dollars, for educational purposes, and for no other purpose whatever; provided, a majority of the electors in said city shall have voted in favor of the same.

SEC. 6. In case of death, resignation, removal or ab

sence of the mayor, the board of aldermen shall select a presiding officer from among themselves; and in case of vacancy in the office of mayor, the board shall immediately order an election to fill the same.

SEC. 7. All elections shall be held on the first Monday in November of every second year, beginning with the year 1873, and the incumbent shall hold till his successor is qualified. The election shall be held openly, from nine o'clock A. M. till five o'clock P. M., and closed, and the votes counted publicly, and immediately upon the close of the polls.

SEC. 8. That the mayor and aldermen of the city of Corsicana are hereby authorized, by ordinance duly entered on the minutes, to submit to the vote of the people, the question of the issuance of the bonds of the corporation, not to exceed in amount the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, to run such time, bear such interest, as the mayor and board may prescribe; provided, the proceeds arising from the sale of said bonds shall not be used by said city, or appropriated by said board of aldermen to any but educational purposes. That it shall require a majority of two-thirds of the registered voters of said city to authorize the issuance of said bonds; and that an election for this purpose shall be conducted and held in the same manner as an election for mayor and other city officers; and should said bonds be authorized, the mayor and aldermen of said city shall, by ordinance passed and duly entered on the minutes, before the issuance of said bonds, levy a sufficient annual tax on the subjects of taxation under the charter of said city to raise a sufficient fund to pay the annual interest on the bonds issued, and to create a sinking fund of two per cent. per annum on the principal of said bonds. The payment of interest. sinking fund and other matters incident to the issuance and sale of said bonds not herein provided for, may be regulated by the mayor and aldermen by ordinance spread on the minutes.

SEC. 9. That all laws conflicting with this act be repealed, and this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Passed May 2, 1873.

[NOTE.--the foregoing act was presented to the Governor of Texas for his approval, on the fifth 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 CXI.

An Act amendatory of an Act entitled "An Act to incorporate the Bastrop Casino Association,” approved October 27th, 1866.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the "Bastrop Casino Association," having been incorporated under an act entitled “An Act to incorporate the Bastrop Casino Association," approved October 27, 1866 for the sole purpose of promoting education, morals, benevolence, and scientific and literary pursuits, all the property, real, personal and mixed, belonging to said "Bastrop Casino Association," is hereby exempted from taxation, State, county and municipal.

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

Passed May 3d, 1873,

[NOTE. The foregoing act was presented to the Governor of Texas for his approval. on the fifth 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 CXII.

An Act to Incorporate the Saint Louis and Mexican Gulf Railroad Company, and to grant Land to aid in the construction thereof.

SECTION [1.] Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That Henry T. Blow, Charles Sheppard, Job Newton, J. T. Means, Thomas A. Sherwood, Wil