Acts Passed by the General Assembly of Georgia

such place near the Etowah river as Messrs. Stovall and Lother shall designate: Provided, the said Stovall and Lother shall pay all expenses incurred in making said turnout, and load all cars loaded at said turn-out by them at their own expense, and take receipts for the freight from the agent at the next depot below said turn-out.

Approved, February 11, 1850,

AN ACT to provide for the collection and safe keeping of the revenues of the Western and Atlantic Railroad, to punish those who may attempt to defraud the same, and for other purposes therein contained.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That from and after the passage of this act, the Treasurer of the Western and Atlantic Railroad shall give a bond with good and sufficient security payable to the Governor of this State and his successors in office in a sum of not less than twenty or more than fifty thousand dollars for all monies which may come.to his hands, to be approved by the Governor.

SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That each and every person connected with the Western and Atlantic Railroad, whose business and employment require the collection and disbursement of money, or into whose hands money may come, shall give bond with good and sufficient security payable to the Governor and his successors in office in such sum as he and the Chief Engineer may by order from time to time specify and direct.

SECTION 3. And be it enacted by the authority afore said, That any officer or other agent of the said road into whose hands may come any money belonging to the State, derived from the business or operations of said road, who shall fail or refuse on the written demand of the Chief Engineer to pay over or otherwise faithfully account for the same, shall be held and deemed as guilty of embezzlement, and liable to indictment in the Superior Court, and on conviction thereof shall be sentenced to hard labor in the Penitentiary for a term of not less than two or more than seven years. SECTION 4. Be it further enacted by authority aforesaid, That all monies paid out by the Treasurer of the Western and Atlantic Railroad shall be upon the warrant of the Chief Engineer.

every

SECTION 5. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall be the duty of each and locomotive engineer employed on said road before entering upon his duty to take and subscribe the following oath: 1, A. B. do sol

emnly swear (or affirm as the case may be) that I will make and return to the office of Chief Engineer a true appraise. ment of the value of every horse, cow, hog, or other domestic animal killed by engine or train so far as I may know, so help me God; which oath or affirmation shall be filed in the office of the Chief Engineer, who shall cause payment therefor to be made to the owner upon his application; and in case the owner is dissatified with the said appraised value, it shall be his duty to appoint one appraiser and the Chief Engineer another, who together with said the locomotive engineer shall finally settle the sum to be paid for the stock so killed.

SECTION 6. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Governor shall not sell at any time any part of the right of way heretofore acquired by the State, nor any property or land that may be necessary now or at any other time for the erection of depots, wood yards, or water stations, or for any other improvement necessary or convenient to said road.

SECTION. 7. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Governor and Chief Engineer be and they are hereby authorized and empowered to adopt such rules and regulations for the government and managment of said road as they may deem conducive to the public interest, not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of this State, which shall be recorded, from time to time as they are adopted, in one or more order books to be kept for that purpose. SECTION 8. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesuid, That the ninth section of an act assented to the 29th December, 1838, entitled "an act to authorize the sale of scrip or certificates of State debt, and to enlarge the duties of the commissioners of the Western and Atlantic Railroad of Georgia," be and the same is hereby repealed.

SECTION 9. Be it further enacted, That all laws and parts of laws militating against this act, be and the same are hereby repealed.

Approved, February 23, 1850.

AN ACT to more effectually provide for the maintenance and protection of widows and orphans.

debts of said deceased, then and in that case the said wife and child or children or orphan shall be permitted to hold and enjoy for their support and maintenance, free from levy and sale for any debt or demand which existed against the husband or father at the time of his death, the sum of one hundred dollars worth of such effects as they or their guardians may select for their welfare and comfort.

SECTION 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall in all such cases be the duty of the Clerk of the Court of Ordinary to make the valuation and set apart the property which is declared to be exempt from levy and sale under the provisions of this act, and report the same to the Court of Ordinary, whose duty it shall be to order said report to be recorded on the minutes of said Court, and the property contained in said report shall be and it is hereby declared to be vested in said widow and child or children or orphan or orphans, for the purposes herein before specified.

SECTION 3. And be it further enacted, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to take from widows and orphans any property and rights now allowed them by

law.

SECTION 4. And be it further enacted, That all laws and parts of laws militating against this act, be and the same are hereby repealed.

Approved, February 23, 1850.

AN ACT to allow the widow and children of deceased persons a support out of the estate of the deceased for the term of twelve months after the decease in cases where no administration has been granted on the estate of the decased, and to ascertain the amount necessary for the support and set apart the same, and to exempt it from levy and sale for the debts of the deceased or by an administration, and to vest the title thereof in the family of the deceased.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly_met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That from and after the passage of this act, when any person shall die leaving a widow and children or a widow or child or or children or a widow and child, and no administration is granted by the proper authority on the estate of the deceased, the widow and child or children or either of them shall be allowed a reasonable support and maintenance out of the estate of said deceased for twelve months after the death of said deceased, notwitstanding any debts, dues and obligations of said deceased.

SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall be the duty of the Justices of the Peace of the several militia districts in this State, on the application of the widow of any person deceased in their respective districts, or the person having the care of the child or children of the deceased, to go to the late residence of the deceased and assess the sum necessary for the support and maintenance of the family of said deceased for the term of twelve months, and to set apart that amount in money or such property as may be selected by the widow or person having the care of the children of said deceased, if there be no widow, at a fair valuation to be made by the said Justices of the Peace, and the money or property so set apart shall be exempt from levy and sale by virtue of any judgment and from the control of any administrator of said estate afterwards appointed to administer the estate of said deceased, and the title thereto shall vest in the family for their support and

maintenance.

SECTION 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall be the duty of the said Justices of the Peace to return to the next Court of Ordinary in their county a schedule of the property so set apart for the support the family of the deceased, with the valuation as fixed by them, together with the amount necessary for the support of the family as determined by them, and the said Court of Ordinary shall order the same to be entered of record by their Clerk in a book to be kept by him for that purpose.

SECTION 4. And be it further enacted by the authority afore said, That the said Justices of the Peace shall be paid by the applicant the sum of one dollar each for their services, and the Clerk of the Court of Ordinary the same fee for recording the same as he is allowed for recording by law.

SECTION 5. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all laws and parts of laws militating against this act, be and the same are hereby repealed.

Approved, February 22, 1850.

RESOLUTIONS

WHICH ORIGINATED IN THE SENATE.

Report and Resolution on Mandamus.

The Select Committee to whom was referred the Message of the Governor in answer to the Resolution of the Senate in relation to the Mandamus issued against him, have had the same under consideration, and ask leave to submit the following Report:

The Committee regret to see, in a mandamus nisi issued by his Honor H. V. Johnson, Judge of the Superior Courts of the Ocmulgee Circuit, at the instance of John H. Low, of Henry county in this State, calling on his Excellency George W. Towns, as Governor of the State, to shew cause, on the fourth Monday in February instant, or so soon thereafter as counsel can be heard at Milledgeville, why he should not issue a commission to John H. Low, as Clerk of the Court of Ordinary of Henry county in this State, that there is a possibility of a conflict or contest for jurisdiction between the Executive and Judiciary Departments of the Government of the State of Georgia-a thing certainly never contemplated by the framers of the Constitution of the State or the legislators that enacted the laws to carry it into effect; for the one declares that the two Departments shall be separate and distinct, and the other has not enacted that the action of one should await or depend on the decision of the other; and hence there cannot be a conflict without an overreaching in the one or the other.

While the Committee would carefully avoid coming in contact, by any legislative enactment, with either the Executive or Judicial Departments of the Government, or attempting as Legislators to control the action of either, under the existing laws of the State, they deem it due to the occasion, and not disrespectful to either the Executive or Judiciary Departments of the Government, to express an opinion as to what the intention of the legislators was that enacted the law which requires the Governor of the State to cause to be commissioned the officers elected under the laws of this State, and therefore recommend the adoption of the following resolution, to wit:

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly met, That the commissioning power vested in the Governor by the laws of the State imposes an executive duty, which the Governor is sworn faithfully to perform, and to enable him to

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