be public houses of amusement, and the same shall be subject to regulation by the public will as expressed by ordinance, statute, or other law; provided that owners and lessees shall have the right to assign seats to patrons thereof, and to refuse admission to objectionable char

acters.

SEC. 2. Hereafter it shall be unlawful for any owner, or lessee, or any manager, agent, employe or representative of the owner or lessee who may be in charge and having the care and management of such house or houses of public amusement, to discriminate against reputable theaters, operas, shows or other productions by whatever name known. And any owner or lessee, or any manager, agent, employe, or representative of the owner or lessee, in charge of such house or houses, who shall fail and refuse to rent, lease and let such house or houses of public amusement, for one or more performances, and upon such terms and conditions as shall not be deemed unreasonable, extortionate or prohibitive, to the agent, manager, proprietor or representative, who may in good faith make application therefor, of any reputable theatre, opera or show, by whatever name known, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction thereof in any court of competent jurisdiction of this State, be fined in any sum not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, one-half of which fine shall be paid to the complainant, the balance to go to the jury fund of the county in which such prosecution is had; and in addition, such person or persons so convicted may be committed to the county jail for a period of not more than ten days. Each violation of any of the provisions of this Act shall be a separate offense. Provided, however, that if at the time of the application to lease, or rent such house or houses of public amusement for said purposes, it shall be shown by the owner, lessee or other person in charge thereof that said house or houses of public amusement has or have been already leased, let or rented to other persons or parties, and that other bookings have in good faith been made for the date or dates so applied for, and that such leasing, renting, and bookings were made in good faith, and not with the intention of evading the provisions of this Act, then and in that instance, the penalties provided by this section shall not be imposed.

SEC. 3. That owners, lessees, managers or other persons in charge of such house or houses of public amusement shall make and keep in convenient form, a list of all bookings of shows for such house or houses, with the dates as to time specifically set out therein, and said list of bookings shall be exhibited upon request, to all persons applying therefor, who in good faith, desire to lease or rent such house or houses for the purposes indicated in Sec. 2 of this Act; and the failure or refusal of such owner, lessee, or other person or persons in charge of such house or houses, to keep and exhibit such list of bookings as aforesaid, shall upon conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not less than ten nor more than twenty dollars; and each failure or refusal to so exhibit such list of bookings shall be a separate and distinct offense.

SEC. 4. That all leases and renewals of leases hereafter taken and made for a term upon such houses of public amusement as defined in

Sec. 1 of this Act, shall contain a provision therein to the effect that the lessees and his assigns shall, in good faith comply with the provisions of this Act; and the failure or refusal of any such lessee or his assigns to comply with the provisions of this Act shall at once terminate such lease, and upon conviction of the violation of any provision of this law, such lessee or his assigns in addition to the penalties provided in Sections 2 and 3 of this Act, shall forfeit his lease and all rights and privileges under the same.

SEC. 5. The fact that owners and lessees of such public houses of amusement are, by reason of the power and influence of the Theatre Trust, prevented from leasing and letting such houses to any person, company or concern not owned, booked or controlled by said trust, creates an emergency and an imperative public necessity, requiring the suspension of the Constitutional rule that bills be read on three several days, and the same is hereby suspended, and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its passage, and it is so enacted.

[NOTE. The enrolled hill shows that the foregoing act passed the Senate by a two-thirds vote, yeas 21, nays 0; and passed the House of Representatives by a two-thirds vote, yeas 104, nays 3.]

Approved March 5, 1907.

Became a law March 5, 1907.

INTERURBAN ELECTRIC RAILWAY COMPANIES-CONFERRING POWER OF EMINENT DOMAIN.

An Act to confer the power of eminent domain upon interurban electric railway companies, to regulate the exercise thereof, to permit such companies to construct their railways along and across highways, steam railways, roads, canals, streets, streams, bays, navigable waters, and arms of the sea, and to condemn easements and rights of way upon the track or tracks of any electric street railway companies in this State, and to regulate the manner thereof, providing for the making this law cumulative of the General Laws of the State of Texas, and to confer upon interurban electric railway companies the authority to produce, supply and sell electric light and power to the public and to municipalities, and declaring an emergency.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas:

SECTION 1. That all corporations chartered for the purpose of constructing, acquiring, maintaining and operating lines of electric railway between any cities and towns in the State of Texas for the transportation of freight or passengers, or both, shall have the right of eminent domain, as fully to all intents and purposes as is now conferred by law upon steam railroad corporations, and shall have the right and power to enter upon, condemn and appropriate the lands, rights of way, easements and property of any person or corporation whomsoever for the purpose of acquiring rights of way upon which to construct and operate their lines of railways and sites for depots and power plants; provided, that no cemetery grounds, nor any part thereof, shall be so taken or condemned.

SEC. 2. Such corporations shall have the right and power to lay out rights of way for their railways not to exceed two hundred feet in width, and to construct their railways and appurtenances thereon; and for the purpose of cuttings and embankments to take as much more land as may be necessary for the proper construction and security of their said railways, and to cut down any standing trees, or remove any other structure that may be in danger of falling upon or obstructing such railway, compensation being made therefor in accordance with law. And to the accomplishment of these ends such corporation shall have the right to cause such examination and survey of their proposed railways to be made as may be necessary to the selection of the most advantageous route, and for such purposes may enter upon the lands or waters of any person or corporation subject to responsibility for all damages that may be occasioned thereby.

SEC. 3. Such corporations shall have the right and power to construct their railways along, across and over any stream of water, water course, bay, navigable water, arm of the sea, street, highway, steam railway, plank road, turnpike or canal which the route of such railway shall touch, and shall have the right to erect and operate bridges, trams, trestles or causeways over, along or across any such stream, water course, navigable water, bay, arm of the sea, street, highway, plank road, turnpike or canal. Provided, however, that any such bridge or other structure shall be so erected as not unnecessarily or unreasonably to prevent the navigation of any such stream, water course, bay, arm of the sea, or navigable water; and provided, further, that nothing herein contained shall authorize the construction of any such railway upon or across any street, alley, square or property of any incorporated city or town, without the assent of said corporation of said city or town, and that in case of the construction of any electric railway along and upon highways, plank roads, turnpikes, or canals, such interurban electric railway company shall first obtain the consent of the lawful authorities having the jurisdiction of the same.

SEC. 4. The power of eminent domain, and the condemnation of property thereunder given, shall be exercised upon the same conditions, in the same manner and subject to the same regulations, restrictions and penalties as is now provided by law in case of steam railway companies as set forth in Articles 4422 to 4438 inclusive, and from 4440 to 4475 inclusive, being Chapter 8 of Title XCIV, of the Revised Statutes of the State of Texas, and subsequent acts of the Legislature of said State, amendatory of, and supplemental thereto, and especially the following, towit: Act approved April 15, 1899, being Chapter 70 of the General Laws of the Twenty-sixth Legislature; act approved March 7, 1901, being Chapter 17 of the Acts of the Twenty-seventh Legislature, and an Act approved April 1, 1901, being Chapter 36 of the Acts of the Twenty-seventh Legislature; it being the purpose of this act to confer upon interurban railway companies all rights and powers of eminent domain hereinabove set out and conferred upon steam railway corporations of this State, and to regulate the manner of exercise thereof, as is provided in the case of such steam railway companies.

SEC. 5. The right of condemnation herein given to interurban

electric railway companies shall include the power and authority to condemn, for their use and benefit, easements and rights of way to operate interurban cars along and upon the track or tracks of any electric street railway company owning, controlling or operating such track or tracks upon any public street or alley in any town or city of this State for the purpose hereinafter mentioned, subject to the consent, authority and control of the city council of such town or city.

Any such interurban electric railway company seeking to avail itself of the benefits of this section of this act shall have the right to condemn an easement along and upon the track or tracks of any electric street railway company for the purposes only of securing an entrance into and an outlet from a town or city upon a route to be designated by the city council or other city authorities in control of the streets and alleys of such city. And in any proceeding to condemn an easement or right of way for the purposes above mentioned the court or the jury trying the case shall define and fix the terms and conditions upon which such easement or right of way shall be used; provided, the court rendering such judgment shall be authorized upon a subsequent application or applications by either of the parties to the original proceedings, or any one claiming through or under them to review and reform the terms and conditions of such grant and the provisions of such judgment and the hearing upon such application shall be in the nature of a retrial of said cause with respect to the terms and conditions upon which said easement shall be used; but the court shall not have power upon any such rehearing to declare such easement forfeited, or to impair the exercise thereof. Provided, that no application for a rehearing shall be made until two years after the final judgment on the last preceding application.

An interurban electric railway company, within the meaning of this act, is a corporation chartered under the laws of this State for the purpose of conducting and operating an electric railway between two cities or between two incorporated towns, or between one city and one incorporated town in this State, and the rights secured under this section. of this act by any interurban company shall be inoperative and void if the road to be constructed under the charter of said company is not fully constructed from a city or incorporated town to some other city or incorporated town within twelve months from the date of the final judgment awarding to said company said easements and right of way. Any interurban company availing itself of the privileges conferred by this section. of this act is hereby prohibited from receiving for transportation at any point on that portion of the track or tracks so condemned-without the consent of the company over whose track or tracks the easement is condemned-any freight or passengers destined to a point or points between the termini of the track or tracks so condemned; and a wilful violation by the company of this provision of this section of this act shall operate to forfeit such easements or rights of way. If this section of this act, shall be held by the courts of this State invalid for any reason, such invalidity shall not affect any other section or portion of this act.

SEC. 6. Such interurban electric railway companies shall also have

the right and authority to produce, supply and sell electric light and power to the public and to municipalities.

SEC. 7. The provisions of this act shall be held and construed to be cumulative of all General Laws of this State on the subject of interurban electric railways when not in conflict herewith; but nothing contained in this act shall be construed to have the effect to confer the power of eminent domain, or any of the powers herein conferred except those conferred in Section 6, upon any interurban railroad or interurban railroad company or upon any person, firm, association, corporation, or to add to the powers already possessed by any such railroad or railroad company, person, firm, association or corporation so as to enable or authorize it to condemn any land or ground occupied by any portion of its line or track already constructed at the time this act shall take effect, or to condemn any land or ground for the purpose of changing the location of any track or line constructed at the time this act shall take effect. Provided, that nothing contained in this section shall be construed to take from any interurban railroad, interurban railroad company, person, firm, association or corporation, any power of eminent domain already possessed by it.

SEC. 8. The great necessity for this law, there being none existing upon the subject sufficient to permit interurban electric railway corporations to exercise the rights and powers herein conferred, creates an emergency and an imperative public necessity requiring the suspension of the constitutional rule that bills be read on three several days in each house, and the same is hereby suspended, and that this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage, and it is so enacted.

[NOTE. The enrolled bill shows that the foregoing act passed the Senate by a two-thirds vote, yeas 29, nays 0; and passed the House of Representatives by a two-thirds vote, yeas 113, nays 0.]

Approved March 9, 1907.

Became a law March 9, 1907.

LIVE STOCK INSPECTION-EXEMPTING CERTAIN COUNTIES FROM OPERATION OF.

An Act to amend Article 5043, Chapter 6, Title CII, Revised Statutes of the State of Texas, so as to place Swisher county under the operation of the stock inspection law as found in Articles 5002 to 5043, inclusive, as amended by the Twenty-sixth Legislature, Chapter 119, and declaring an emergency.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas:

SECTION 1. That Article 5043, Chapter 6, Title 102, Revised Statutes as amended by the Twenty-fifth Legislature in Chapter 121 of said acts be so amended as to read as follows, towit: Article 5043. The counties of Anderson, Austin, Angelina, Atascosa, Bell, Bowie, Brazos, Bastrop, Bosque, Burleson, Brazoria, Burnet, Caldwell, Camp, Calhoun, Cass, Chambers, Cherokee, Collin, Colorado, Cooke, Delta,