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SEC. 2. Any person violating Section 1 of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined in any sum not less than ten dollars nor more than one hundred dollars.

Approved March 20, 1907.

Takes effect ninety days after adjournment.

BOARD OF STATE ACCOUNTING-CREATION OF.

H. B. No. 218.]

CHAPTER XXXI.

An Act to create a Commission, composed of the Governor, Secretary of State and the chairman of the Railroad Commission, to make a thorough and complete investigation and audit by an expert public accountant or firm of such accountants, of the books, papers, accounts, and methods of accounting, bookkeeping and transacting business prevailing in the departments of the State Treasurer, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Commissioner of the General Land Office and such other departments as the said board shall deem advisable; and authorizing said board to adopt and prescribe and put in force any such changes in any of the methods or systems employed in any of the said departments as they shall deem advisable, and requiring the heads of any such departments to dispense with the services of any number of employes in any of the said departments when directed so to do by the said board, and making an appropriation to cover the expenses thereof, and declaring an emergency.

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

SECTION 1. There is hereby created a board to be known as the Board of State Accounting, which shall be composed of the Governor, Secretary of State and the chairman of the Railroad Commission, whose duty it shall be immediately upon the taking effect of this act to employ a public accountant or a firm of such accountants of unquestioned reputation, whether residing within or without this State at such compensation as shall be agreed upon, to make forthwith a thorough and complete investigation and audit under the direction and supervision of said board, of the books, papers, accounts and the methods of accounting and transacting business in use in the departments of the State Treasurer, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Commissioner of the General Land Office, Penitentiaries, and of such other department or departments of the State government as said Commission shall deem advisable and shall direct; and covering such periods of time. prior to making such investigation and audit as said board shall deem advisable and shall direct. It shall be the duty of such accountant or firm of accountants so employed by said board to make a full and detailed report of its findings upon such investigation and audit together with all recommendations they see fit to make as to any change or changes in the method or the system of transacting business or accounting or bookkeeping employed in each of the said departments, or any of them, or as to the adoption of a method or a new system therefor which would provide or tend to provide a more adequate or efficient. system of checks between any two or more of said departments or upon any such department of the State which shall promote and improve the safety or the economy of expense to the State of said department.

Said accountant or firm of accountants shall be required to make the report herein provided for as to each of said departments, and as soon as their investigation of said department is completed and the recommendations respecting changes therein are formulated.

SEC. 2. Said Board of State Accounting shall be and is hereby empowered and authorized to immediately adopt and put in force any change or changes of method or system or any new method or system in such department which it shall deem advisable and practicable, whether recommended by said accountant or firm of accountants or otherwise, which shall not increase the expense or the number of employes of any such department, and which can be adopted and put in force without changing any existing statute of this State, and it shall direct the head of any department to forthwith adopt and put in use in such department any such change, method or system or any new method or system which they so agree upon. Such changes or adoption of such new system may be ordered by said board in any department at any time after the report herein provided for has been made as to such department by said accountant or firm of accountants. When such changes of method or system is directed by said Board of State Accounting to be made in any department it shall be the duty of the head of such department to immediately discontinue such method or system and dispense with the services of any number of employes whose services in such department will be rendered unnecessary by the adoption of changes as may be required by said board.

SEC. 3. If the said Board of State Accounting shall find that any change of system or method in use in any of the said departments which they deem advisable and practicable can not be made without changing the existing statutes of this State they shall make a full report thereof, specifically setting out the necessary changes in any such statute in order to provide for such changes of methods or systems or the adoption of such new methods or systems to the first regular or called session of the Legislature of this State thereafter to assemble.

SEC. 4. All appropriations made by law and which shall be in force providing compensation for any employe in any of said departments at the time any change of method or system or adoption of any new method or system ordered by said board shall become effective which shall render unnecessary the continued employment in any such department or departments of such employe or employes shall lapse and shall be converted into the general revenue fund of the State.

SEC. 5. There is hereby appropriated out of the general revenue fund the sum of $10,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be expended under the direction of said board in carrying out the provisions of this act, provided that no deficiency shall be created under this act.

SEC. 6. The fact that there are in use in the various departments of this State government the same methods of transacting business, bookkeeping and accounting which have been in use for many years without change, and that it is necessary to carry out the provisions of this act before it can be ascertained whether such method or systems can be changed so as to increase the safety and efficiency of said departments and reduce their expense to the State creates an emergency

and an imperative public necessity demanding the constitutional rule requiring that all bills be read on three several days should be 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 House of Representatives by a two-thirds vote, yeas 94, nays 0; and passed the Senate by a two-thirds vote, yeas 25, nays 0.]

Approved March 20, 1907.

Became a law March 20, 1907.

RAILWAY CORPORATIONS-REQUIRING ELECTRIC

H. B. No. 52.]

HEADLIGHTS.

CHAPTER XXXII.

An Act requiring all railway corporations, or receivers, or lessees operating a line of railway in the State of Texas, to equip its locomotive engines with electric headlights of not less than 1500 candle power without the aid of a reflector, or other headlights of not less than 1500 candle power without the aid of a reflector, and providing a penalty for the violation of this act.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas: It shall be the duty of every railroad corporation or receiver or lessee thereof, operating any line of railroad in this State, within six months. after the passage of this act, or within such additional time as may be prescribed by order of the Railroad Commission of Texas, after a proper showing of their inability to comply by the railroad has been made, to equip all locomotive engines used in the transportation of trains over said railroad with electric headlights of not less than 1500 candle power, measured without the aid of a reflector, or other headlights of not less than 1500 candle power, measured without the aid of a reflector. Provided, that this act shall not apply to locomotive engines regularly used in the switching of cars or trains.

SEC. 2. Any railroad company or the receiver or lessee thereof, doing business in the State of Texas, which shall violate the provisions of this act, shall be liable to the State of Texas for a penalty of not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than one thousand dollars for each offense, and such penalties shall be recovered and suit brought in the name of the State of Texas, in a court of proper jurisdiction in Travis county, Texas, or in any county in or through which such line of railroad may run, by the Attorney General, or by the county or district attorney in any county, in or through which such line of railroad may be operated, and such suits shall be subjected to the provisions of Article 4577, Revised Statutes of the State of Texas.

SEC. 3. The fact that there is now no law requiring railroads to equip their engines with headlights of sufficient power, as provided in this bill, and the safety of railroad employes as well as the general public demand that this be done, creates an emergency and an imperative public necessity that this act take effect from and after its passage.

[NOTE. The enrolled bill shows that the foregoing act passed the House of Representatives by the following vote, yeas 97, nays 0; and passed the Senate by the following vote, yeas 27, nays 0.]

Approved March 20, 1907.

Became a law March 20, 1907.

ABORTION-DEFINING SAME AND PROVIDING PUNISH

H. B. No. 140.]

MENT.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

An Act to amend Article 641 of the Penal Code of the State of Texas, relating to abortion, and defining the meaning of that term, and providing punishment for those guilty of the offense of abortion as defined.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas: Article 641. If any person shall designedly administer to a pregnant woman, or knowingly procure to be administered with her consent, any drug or medicine, or shall use toward her any violence, or means whatever, externally or internally applied, and shall thereby procure an abortion, he shall be punished by confinement in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than five years; if it be done without her consent, the punishment shall be doubled.

By the term "abortion" is meant that the life of the fetus or embryo shall be destroyed in the woman's womb, or that a premature birth thereof be caused.

SEC. 2. The fact that Article 641 of the Penal Code, which relates to the offense of abortion, does not define said offense, and is therefore inoperative, creates an emergency and an imperative public necessity that the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several days in each house, should be, and is hereby suspended, and that this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage, and it is so enacted.

Approved March 20, 1907.

Takes effect ninety days after adjournment.

COURTS-FIXING JURISDICTION OF, IN SAN JACINTO COUNTY.

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An Act to confer upon the county court of San Jacinto county the civil and criminal jurisdiction heretofore belonging to said court under the Constitution and general statutes of the State of Texas; to define the jurisdiction of said court; to conform the jurisdiction of the district court of said county to such change; to fix the time of holding court; to repeal all laws and parts of laws in conflict with this act, and declaring an emergency.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas: That the county court of San Jacinto county shall hereafter have exclusive original jurisdiction in civil cases wherein the matter in con

troversy shall exceed in value two hundred dollars and shall not exceed five hundred dollars, exclusive of all interest, and shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the district court of said county when the amount in controversy shall exceed five hundred dollars and shall not exceed one thousand dollars, exclusive of interest.

SEC. 2. Said county court shall have appellate jurisdiction in civil cases over which the justice courts have original jurisdiction, where judgment of the court appealed from or the amount in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, exclusive of interest, and said county court shall have power to hear and determine cases brought from the justice courts by certiorari under the provisions of the title of the Revised Statutes relating thereto.

SEC. 3. The county Judge of said county shall have authority, either in term time or vacation, to grant writs of injunction, sequestration, mandamus, garnishment, attachment, certiorari, supersedeas, and other writs necessary to the enforcement of the jurisdiction of said court and shall also have power to issue writs of habeas corpus in all cases in which the constitution has not exclusively conferred the power on the district court, or judge thereof.

SEC. 4. That said court shall have and exercise the general jurisdiction of a probate court; shall probate wills, appoint guardians of minors, idiots, lunatics, persons non compos mentis, and common drunkards, grant letters testamentary and of administration; settle accounts of executors, administrators and guardians; transact all business pertaining to the estates of deceased persons, minors, idiots, lunatics, persons non compos mentis, and common drunkards, including the partition, settlement and distribution of estates of deceased persons; and to apprentice minors as provided by General Law and to issue all writs necessary for the enforcement of its jurisdiction, orders and decrees.

SEC. 5. Said county court shall have jurisdiction in forfeiture and judgment of all bonds and recognizances taken in criminal cases of which said court has original or appellate jurisdiction.

SEC. 6. Said county court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction of all misdemeanors, except misdemeanors involving official misconduct, and except misdemeanors in which the highest penalty that may be imposed by law is a fine that does not exceed two hundred dollars; and said court shall have concurrent jurisdiction with that of the justice of the peace in criminal cases and appellate jurisdiction. with trial de novo in criminal cases in which the justice of the peace and other inferior tribunals of said county have original jurisdiction.

SEC. 7. The district court of said county shall no longer have jurisdiction of misdemeanors, except misdemeanors involving official misconduct, and shall no longer have jurisdiction of cases of which the county court of said county by provisions of this Act has original or appellate jurisdiction.

SEC. 8. It shall be the duty of the district clerk of said county, within thirty days after this Act shall take effect, to make full and complete transcript of orders in cases on the criminal and civil dockets then pending before the district court of said county, of which cases. by the provisions of this Act original and appellate jurisdiction is given to the said county court and to deliver said transcript, together

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