SEC. 64. On the trial of any action wherein any claim or defence is founded on book accounts, any original entry therein, on proof of the death of the party making such entry, and that the same is in his handwriting, may be admitted as evidence, the weight to be given to it to be determined by the court or jury, as the case may bc.

SEC. 65. The proof of the service of any process issued by the court, or of any notice to be served upon any party, shall be as follows: 1. If served by the marshal or other officer, his certificate thereof; or, 2. By any other person, his affidavit thereof; or,

3. In case of publication, a printed copy, with the affidavit of the printer, his foreman or clerk, or any competent witness, and an affidavit of the deposit of a copy of the summons and complaint in the post office, if the same shall have been so deposited; or,

4. The written admission of the defendant. The affidavit or admission must state the time and place of service.

SEC. 66. The clerk's endorsement upon every paper filed in his office or in open court, and upon every process returned to him or to court, except subpoenas, shall be presumptive evidence of the time of the filing and return.

ADMISSION AND INSPECTION OF PAPERS.

SEC. 67. Either party may exhibit to the other, or his attorney, at any time before the trial, any paper or document material to the action, and request an admission, in writing, of its genuineness. If the adverse party or his attorney refuse to give such admission within five days after the request, and the party exhibiting the paper or document be afterwards put to any cost to prove its genuineness, and the same be admitted on the trial, such costs, to be ascertained at the trial, shall be paid by the party refusing to make the admission, unless it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court that there were good reasons for the refusal.

SEC. 68. Either party, or his attorney, may demand, in writing, of the adverse party, an inspection and copy, or permission to take a copy, of a book, paper, or writing in his possession, or under his control, containing evidence relating to the merits of the action or defence therein. Such demand shall specify the book, paper, or writing, with sufficient particularity to enable the other party to distinguish it, and if compliance with the demand within five days be refused, the court

or in vacation a judge thereof, may, on motion, and notice to the adverse party, order him to give the other, within a specified time, an inspection and copy, or permission to take a copy, of such book, paper, or writing; and on failure to comply with such order, the court may exclude the book, paper, or writing from being given in evidence by the party so refusing, or, if wanted as evidence by the party applying, may direct the jury to presume it to be such as the party by affidavit alleges it to be. This section is not to be construed to prevent a party from compelling another to produce any book, paper, or document when he is examined as a witness.

GENERAL PROVISIONS.

SEC. 69. Before testifying, witnesses shall be sworn to testify the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The mode of administering the oath shall be such as is most binding upon the conscience of the witness.

SEC. 70. Interpreters may be sworn to interpret fully, when

necessary.

SEC. 71. If any party summon more than three witnesses to prove the same fact, he shall, in the discretion of the court, pay the costs occasioned by the additional number of witnesses.

SEC. 72. When counsel engaged in a case shall be examined as a witness therein, on behalf of his own client, he shall thereupon retire from the same, and cease to take any part therein as counsel. This section is not to preclude counsel from proving facts incidental to the trial, such as the loss of a paper, service of notice to produce, and the like, without abandoning the case.

SEC. 73. If any person who shall have resided in this District go from, and do not return to the same for seven years successively, he shall be presumed to be dead, in any case wherein his death shall come in question, unless proof be made that he was alive within that time.

SEC. 74. If the person so presumed dead be found to have been living, any person injured by such presumption shall be restored to the rights of which he shall have been deprived by reason thereof.

SEC. 75. A party producing a witness shall not be allowed to impeach his credit by evidence of bad character, unless it was indispensable that the party should I roduce him, or in case of manifest

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surprise; but he may in all cases contradict him by other evidence, and by showing that he has made statements different from his present testimony.

SEC. 76. If the defendant in any action for slander, or for publishing a libel, shall plead in his justification that the words spoken or published were true, such plea, though not maintained by the evidence, shall not in any case be of itself proof of the malice alleged in the complaint.

SEC. 77. In actions for defamation, the defendant may prove, , in mitigation of damages, that subsequent to uttering the words, or publishing the libel, he retracted the charge or imputation, or acknowledged he had been mistaken, or offered to apologize, or that the words were not spoken in earnest, or circumstances which induced him erroneously to make the charge, or he may show the general bad character of the plaintiff in respect to the matter imputed, and the jury shall allow to all such proof the weight to which they may think it entitled.

TITLE V.

Of justices of the peace, and their jurisdiction and procedure in civil cases.

CHAPTER 116. Of justices of the peace.

CHAPTER 117. Of proceedings in civil cases before justices of the peace.

SECTION 1. The President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, may appoint such a number of proper and discreet persons to be justices of the peace for the county of Washington, as he from time to time shall think expedient, to continue in office three years.

SEC. 2. Every person appointed to the office of justice of the peace shall, before he enters upon the duties of his office, take an oath to support the constitution of the United States, and to discharge faithfully and impartially the duties of his office.

SEC. 3. Every person hereafter appointed to the office of justice of the peace shall, before he enters upon the duties of his office, give bond to the United States in the sum of five thousand dollars, with two or more resident freehold sureties to be approved by the circuit court, conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties, and for paying over on demand to the person entitled or authorized to receive the same, all moneys that may come into his hands as a justice of the peace during his continuance in office.

SEC. 4. Such bond shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court, and any person aggrieved by a breach of the condition thereof may recover against the justice and his sureties such sum as he may show himself entitled to, with costs and twenty-five per cent. damages.

SEC. 5. The jurisdiction of justices of the peace shall be co-extensive with the limits of the county of Washington, and no other or greater, unless so expressly provided by law.

SEC. 6. Every justice of the peace shall, by virtue of his office, be a conservator of the peace. He shall have power to administer any oath required by law to be taken or administered, except where otherwise provided, and to grant and issue subpoenas for witnesses, and to coerce their attendance in a cause or matter pending before him, or in any other cause or matter wherein he may be required to take testimony.

SEC. 7. Every justice of the peace shall have power to take all necessary recognizances and obligations for good behavior, to keep the peace, to appear and answer any offence or criminal charge in the court having jurisdiction thereof.

SEC. 8. If any justice of the peace shall die, resign or remove from this District, or if his term of office be in any manner terminated, the

docket, books, records, and papers appertaining to his office, or relating to any action, matter, or controversy committed to him in his official capacity, shall be delivered to the clerk of the circuit court. In the event of the death of any justice of the peace, such docket, books, records, and papers shall be so delivered to the said clerk by the executor or administrator of such justice.

SEC. 9. Every person whose duty it is to deliver over the docket, books, records, and papers, as prescribed in the section next preceding, shall forfeit and pay to the United States one hundred dollars for every three months' neglect to perform such duty.

SEC. 10. The circuit court may, for incompetency, habitual drunkenness, or any wilful misconduct in the discharge of the duties of his office, remove any justice of the peace from office. The justice may be proceeded against in the manner provided in chapter one hundred and thirteen.