assistants from office and appoint others in their stead. Every such assistant, during his continuance in office, may discharge any of the official duties of his principal. And it shall be the duty of every committee clerk in each house, when not engaged in the actual discharge of his duties as such, to assist the clerk of either house in the discharge of any of his duties, whenever called upon by such clerk to do so.

WHO TO PRESIDE UNTIL THE ORGANIZATION OF SENATE AND HOUSE.

19. The oldest member of the senate present at the commence. ment of each regular session thereof shall call the senate to order, and preside over the same until a president of the senate shall have been chosen and has taken his seat. The oldest delegate present shall call the house to order, at the opening of each new house of delegates, and preside over it until the speaker thereof shall have been chosen and has taken his seat.

ACTS REPEALED.

2. All acts and parts of acts coming within the purview of this act, and inconsistent with the provisions thereof, are hereby repealed.

CHAPTER XIII.

(Acts 1882, p. 445.)

OF THE PROMULGATION, PROOF, COMMENCEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF LAWS; EFFECT OF THE COMMON LAW AND ANCIENT STATUTES.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE SESSION ACTS.

1. In addition to the five hundred copies of the acts and joint resolutions of each session of the legislature, and matters directed by law to be published therewith, to be distributed as the session progresses among the members of the legislature, pursuant to the ninth section of chapter sixteen, the two thousand copies which, according to the said section, are to be delivered to the secretary of state, shall be by him distributed and disposed of as follows: One copy to every judge and clerk of a court in this state; one copy to every prosecuting attorney, sheriff, assessor, county superintendent of free schools, surveyor of lands, each commissioner of the county court and justice; to the governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, attorney general, state superintendent of free schools and adjutant general, one copy each; five copies to the clerk of the senate, one for his own use, and the others to be kept in his office for the use of the senate, and ten copies to the clerk of the house of delegates, one for his own use, and the others to be kept in his office for the use of the house; ten copies to every member of the legislature, one for his own use, and the others for distribution; one copy to every public library in the state, and one copy each to the West Virginia hospital for the insane, the institution for the deaf, dumb and blind, the penitentiary, the West Virginia university, and the state normal schools; three copies to the librarian of congress, whereof one shall be for the library

and one for each house of congress; one copy to every senator and representative in congress from this state; three copies to the secretary of state of the United States, one for his own office, one for the president and one for the attorney general of the United States; to the judge, clerk, attorney and marshall of the district court of the United States for the district of West Virginia, one copy each; and one copy to the governor of every state and territory. The said copies shall be sent by mail, express or otherwise, as the secretary of state may deem best. The acts to which the officers of a county may be entitled shall be forwarded to the clerk of the county court thereof, and shall be delivered by him to the officers who are entitled to receive them. The clerk, upon the reception of the said acts by him, shall forward his receipt therefor to the secretary of state, specifying the number received. And he shall require each person receiving a copy of said acts from him to sign a receipt therefor in a book to be kept by him for that purpose in his office. The residue shall be sold, under the direction of the secretary of state, at the actual cost of the same to the state, and the proceeds of such sales shall be paid into the treasury.

PRINTED COPIES OF STATUTES TO BE RECEIVED AS EVIDENCE.

2. The printed copies of the acts and resolutions of the general assembly of Virginia and of the statutes and codes of that State, with the supplements to and continuation of the same, and the ordinances of the convention which assembled at Wheeling on the eleventh day of June, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, shall continue to be received in evidence within this State, in like manner as they were receivable within the same when it was part of the State of Virginia.

3. The printed copies of the acts and resolutions of the legislature of this State, which have been, or shall hereafter be, published by authority thereof, shall be received as evidence for any purpose for which the original acts and resolutions could be received and with as much effect.

LAWS OF OTHER STATES AND COUNTRIES.

4. Whenever in any case it becomes material to ascertain what the law, statutory or other, of another State or country, or of the United States is, or was at any time, the court, judge, or magistrate shall take judicial notice thereof, and may consult any printed book, purporting to contain, state or explain the same and consider any testimony, information or argument that is offered on the subject.

THE COMMON LAW AND ANCIENT STATUTES,

5. The common law of England, so far as it is not repugnant to the principles of the constitution of this State, shall continue in force within the same, except in those respects wherein it was altered by the general assembly of Virginia before the twentieth day

of June, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, or has been, or shall be altered by the legislature of this State.

6. The right and benefit of all writs, remedial and judicial, given by any statute or act of parliament made in aid of the common law prior to the fourth year of the reign of James the First of a general nature, not local to England, shall still be saved so far as the same may be consistent with the constitution of this State, the acts of the general assembly of Virginia passed before the twentieth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and the acts of the legislature of this State.

CERTAIN ACTS AND ORDINANCES DECLARED VOID.

7. All ordinances, orders and resolutions of the convention held in Richmond during the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and all acts, orders and resolutions passed after the sixteenth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, by any assembly at Richmond calling itself the general assembly of Virginia, are declared void, and are of no force or effect whatever within this State.

WHEN ACTS OF THE LEGISLATURE TAKE EFFECT.

8. No act of the legislature shall take effect until the expiration of ninety days after its passage, unless the legislature shall by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house, taken by yeas and nays, otherwise direct.

CERTAIN RULES FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF STATUTES..

9. The repeal of a law, or its expiration by virtue of any provision contained therein, shall not affect any offense committed, or penalty or punishment incurred before the repeal took effect, or the law expired, save only, that the proceedings thereafter had, shall conform as far as practicable to the laws in force at the time such proceedings take place, unless otherwise specially provided; and that if any penalty or punishment be mitigated by the new law, such new law may, with the consent of the party affected thereby, be applied to any judgment pronounced after it has taken effect.

10. When a law which has repealed another, is itself repealed, the former law shall not be revived without express words for the

purpose.

11. A solemn affirmation shall be equivalent to an oath in all cases, unless otherwise expressly provided, and the word "oath" shall be deemed to include an affirmation, and the word "swear" or "sworn," to be complied with if the person referred to make solemn affirmation.

12. The time within which an act is to be done shall be computed by excluding the first day and including the last; or if the last be Sunday, it shall also be excluded; but this provision shall not be deemed to change any rule of law applicable to bills of exchange, or negotiable notes.

13. When a proceeding is directed to take place, or any act to be done on any particular day of the month, if that day happen to be on Sunday, the next day shall be deemed to be the one intended and when the day upon which a term of the circuit court is directed by law to commence, happens to be Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday shall be deemed to be the day intended. When an adjournment is authorized from day to day, an adjournment from Saturday to Monday will be legal.

14. In a statute the word "month" shall mean a calendar month, and the word "year" a calendar year; and the word "year" alone be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord."

15. When the seal of the State, or of a court, officer or corporation is to be affixed to any paper, an impression of such seal upon the paper shall be sufficient. When the seal of a natural person is required to a paper, he may affix thereto a scroll by way of seal, or adopt as his seal and scroll, written, printed or engraved, made thereon by another.

16. When a statute requires an act to be done by an officer or person, it shall be sufficient if it be done by his agent or deputy, unless it be such as cannot lawfully be done by deputation.

17. The following rules shall be observed in the construction of statutes, unless a different intent on the part of the legislature be apparent from the context:

First. A word importing the singular number only may be applied to several persons or things, as well as to one person or thing; a word importing the plural number only, may be applied to one person or thing as well as to several; and a word importing the masculine gender only may be applied to females as well as males. Second. Words purporting to give a joint authority to three or more persons, confer such authority upon a majority of them, and not upon any less number.

Third. The words "written " or " in writing" include any representation of words, letters or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing or otherwise. But when the signature of any person is required it must be in his own proper handwriting, or his mark, attested, proved or acknowledged.

Fourth. The words "preceding," "succeeding " or " following " used in reference to any section or sections of a chapter or statute, means next preceding, next succeeding or next following that in which such reference is made, unless a different interpretation be required by the context.

Fifth. An officer shall be deemed to have qualified when he has done all that the law required him to do before he proceeds to exercise the authority and discharge the duties of his office.

Sixth. The words "the governor are equivalent to "the executive of the State" or "the person having the executive power." Seventh. The word "justice" is equivalent to the words "justice peace," and the word "notary" to "notary public."

of the

Eighth. The word "state" when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories.

Ninth. The word person" includes corporations, if not restricted by the.context.

Tenth. The words " personal representative" include the executor of a will, the administrator of the estate of a deceased person, the administrator of such estate with the will annexed, the administrator de bonis non, of snch estate, whether there be a will or not, the sheriff or other officer lawfully charged with the administration of the estate of a deceased person, and every other curator or committee of a decedent's estate for or against whom suits may be brought for causes of action which accrued to or against such decedent.

Eleventh. The word "will" embraces a testament, a codicil, an appointment by will or writing in the nature of a will in exercise of a power, also any other testamentary disposition.

Twelfth. The word "judgment" includes decrees and also orders in chancery for the payment of money and bonds or recognizances, having the force of judgments.

Thirteenth. The words "under disability" include married women, except as otherwise provided by law, persons under the age of twenty-one years, insane persons, and convicts while confined in the penitentiary.

Fourteenth, The words "insane person" include every one who is an idiot, lunatic, non compos or deranged.

Fifteenth. The word "land" or "lands" and the words "real estate" or "real property" include lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein except chattel interests. Sixteenth. The words "personal estate" or "personal property" include goods, chattels real and personal, money credits, investments and the evidences thereof.

Seventeenth. The word "property" or "estate" embraces both real and personal estate.

Eighteenth. The word "offense" includes every act or omission for which a fine, forfeiture or penishment is imposed by law.

Nineteenth. The expression "laws of the state" includes the constitution of the State and the constitution of the United States, and treaties and laws made in pursuance thereof.

Twentieth. Unless otherwise specially provided, every fine or forfeiture imposed by or under an act of the legislature shall accrue to the State, and be applied to the support of free schools, pursuant to the fifth section of article twelve of the constitution,

Twenty-first. The word "town" shall include a city, village, or town, and the word "council," any body or board, whether composed of one or more branches, who are authorized to make ordinances for the government of a city, town or village.