addition to the bond above specified, the sheriff shall also execute a bond, payable to the county court, naming the members thereof and their successors in office, in a sum at least equal to the probable amount of the county tax of the county, with two or more good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by said county court; and no person shall be received as a surety for an amount greater than the value of his property after deducting all exemptions and legal liabilities, which amount shall be stated under oath; said bond shall be deposited in the office of the clerk of the district court, and by him duly recorded. Said bond shall be conditioned that the sheriff shall faithfully discharge all the duties required of him by law as collector of taxes, and shall make settlement with the treasurer of the county for all moneys that may come into his hands belonging to the county, at least every two months, or oftener, if so ordered by the county court. Said bond shall also extend to the faithful performance of his duties for the full term for which he was elected or appointed, and shall not be void upon the first recovery; provided, the court may, in its discretion, require a new bond at any time; and further provided, that nothing herein shall be so construed as to prohibit the sheriff from collecting the county tax by a qualified deputy.

HOW TAXES COLLECTED SHALL BE ACCOUNTED FOR AND DISPOSED OF.

SEC. 28. The sheriff shall report to the Comptroller of Public Accounts, on the first day of August, the amount collected by him for State taxes, and for county taxes, of property in counties other than his own; and he shall, in like manner, report taxes collected every sixty days thereafter. He shall, at all times, pay drafts drawn on him by the Comptroller. or remit by draft or postoffice money order, the funds in his hands as rapidly as collected, when required so to do by the Comptroller, and he shall make final settlement on or before the thirty-first day of December, in each and every year thereof. It is also made the duty of the sheriff to obey all orders of the county court in the matter of taxes collected by him on property situated in his county, and he shall pay over to the county treasurer, on the order of said court, as often as ordered so to do, all moneys or county liabilities received by him in the proportion that he received the same from the tax-payer; and when not otherwise ordered, he shall pay over to the county treasurer all funds or county liabilities received by him, every two months from and after the first day of April, 1871.

DUTIES OF OFFICERS NAMED IN THIS ACT.

SEC. 29. It shall be the duty of each of the officers, deputies included, named in this act, to well and truly do and perform what they are respectively required to do by this act and by the instructions issued in pursuance thereof, in conformity with the Constitution

and laws of this State.

COMPENSATION OF OFFICERS UNDER THIS ACT.

SEC. 30. Where the assessment for all the precincts of a county is made by a deputy of the justices thereof who is bonded, he shall be allowed and paid a commission cf five per cent. on the first five thousand dollars of taxes lawfully assessed by him, and three per cent. on all sums above five thousand dollars, half the above rates to be allowed for assessing other taxes than the direct ad valorem State tax. Where any justice of the peace assesses in person or by a deputy, who is not also the deputy of the other justices of the county, the above named commission shall be allowed and paid him. Sheriffs, or their deputies, shall be allowed and paid for distraints under this act what they are allowed and paid for like services in civil suits; and shall also be allowed and paid mileage, at the rate of twenty cents per mile for every mile actually and necessarily traveled by them, in going to and returning from the capital, in order to settle their accounts and pay into the Treasury the taxes collected by them; they shall be allowed and paid commissions for collecting all State, occupation and direct ad valorem taxes, five per cent. cn the first five thousand dollars, and three per cent. on all sums above five thousand dollars, and shall be allowed and paid one-half of the above rates for collecting all other taxes. The fee for every oath required to be administered under this act, shall be twenty-five cents; which fee, together with the fee for making the assessment, shall be added to and collected with the direct State tax; provided, nevertheless, that where the total compensation (fees included) for assessing or for collecting in any county, shall exceed the sum of four thousand dollars, the excess shall be paid into the State Treasury, and shall be applied in like manner with the direct ad valorem State tax.

INSTRUCTIONS SUPPLEMENTARY TO THIS ACT.

SEC. 31. Instructions to carry the provisions of the Constitution in relation to taxes and this act into effect, and supplementary thereto, shall be prepared by the Comptroller of Public Accounts,

and he shall have power, from time to time, to alter such instructions, and the instructions and alterations shail be issued and obeyed by all officers intrusted with the execution of this act, in like manner as this act.

REPEALING SECTION.

SEC. 32. All laws and parts of laws in conflict herewith, except such as authorize special county taxes and other special taxes, shall be and are hereby repealed, saving and reserving all rights of the State, of the respective counties and of the officers thereof under the same; the rights of the officers to be adjusted in conformity with the instructions to be issued under this act.

SEC. 33. For the purpose of the prompt promulgation and understanding of this act by tax payers, the Secretary of State is directed to have the same published in the official journals of the several districts of the State; and this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. Approved April 22, 1871.

CHAPTER LIII.

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE OBTAINING AND TRANSCRIBING OF THE SEVERAL ACTS OR CHARTERS FOUNDING THE TOWNS OF REYNOSA, CAMARGO, MIER AND GUERRERO, IN THE REPUBLIC of MEXICO, AND CF LAREDO IN TEXAS, AND MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THAT PURPOSE.

WHEREAS, Many of the lands on the east side of the Rio Grande were originally granted by the supreme government of New Spain by good and valid grants; and

Whereas, Many of said lands have been abandoned, and have escheated to the State of Texas, and become a part of the public domain of the State; and

Whereas, There is not in the General Land Office, or elsewhere in the State of Texas, any evidence of the extent of said grants, and the same is only to be found in the archives of the towns mentioned in the caption of this act; therefore,

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the Governor be, and he is hereby authorized to appoint

a suitable person, understanding the Spanish language, whose duty it shall be to proceed to the towns of Reynosa, Camargo, Mier and Guerrero in Mexico, and to Laredo in Texas, and obtain from the authorities of said towns access to the archives of the same, and make a correct and accurate transcript and translation of all the acts, charters or grants affecting the lands on the east side of the Rio Grande, and who shall obtain from the said authorities a certificate as to the correctness of said transcripts, which, together with the translation, shall be filed in the General Land Office.

SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the appointee of the Governor under this act, shall not receive more for the transcribing of the documents required than the fees allowed in the General Land Office for transcripts in the Spanish language; provided, he shall be allowed mileage in addition thereto, in going to and returning from said towns, at the rate allowed persons attending as jurors in the United States district courts.

SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be and is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the payment of the expenses in carrying out the provisions of this act, and shall be paid out upon the order of the Governor.

SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage. Approved April 24, 1871.

CHAPTER LIV.

AN ACT TO ORGANIZE AND MAINTAIN A SYSTEM OF PUBLIC FREE SCHOOLS IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Teras, That the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall have supervisory control of all the public free schools in this State, and shall receive a salary of three thousand dollars per annum. He shall keep a record of the number of children in each county of scholastic age, from six to eighteen years of age; apportion the money of the school fund of the State to the several counties according to the scholastic population. He shall keep a correct account of all moneys of the school fund and matters appertaining

thereto, and report to the Governor annually, at the close of the fiscal year, the condition of the school fund, distributions of moneys, and such suggestions in regard to the school system as may be deemed advisable. The fiscal scholastic year shall be the same as the fiscal year of the Treasury. He shall prescribe and furnish all necessary forms for teachers and all other subordinate officers of the Bureau of Education, and he shall direct the manner and times of making reports by those officers and persons, and shall examine and approve all accounts for compensation of teachers and employés of the Bureau of Education, and for school books and apparatus purchased for public schools before the same shall be paid at the Treasury.

SEC. 2. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the Governor, shall appoint for each judicial district of this State one supervisor of education for such judicial district, who shall hold his office for four years, unless sooner removed. Each supervisor of education shall receive, as compensation, the sum of five dollars per day for the time actually employed in attending to the duties of his office; provided, that the total to be paid to any supervisor during any one year shall not exceed the sum of twelve hundred dollars. The supervisors of education may be removed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, on the approval of the Governor, for incompetency, malfeasance or neglect of duty. The supervisors of education shall be empowered to lay off and subdivide the counties of their respective judicial districts into school districts, and shall be empowered to appoint five school directors for each school district; but the authority of the supervisors in these respects shall be subject to the control and revision of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. It shall be the duty of the supervisors to enforce, in their respective districts, all rules and regulations adopted by the Board of Education for the government of public free schools in this State.

SEC. 3. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the Governor and the Attorney General, shall form a Board of Education for the State. It shall be the duty of this board, subject to the Constitution and laws of this State, to adopt all necessary rules and regulations for the establishment and promotion of public schools; to provide for the examination and appointment of teachers, and to fix their compensation; to define the course of studies in the public schools, and direct the class and kind of apparatus and books to be used therein; to prescribe the duties of the boards of directors, and generally do all things not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of this State necessary to establish and maintain a system of public free schools; provided, that the Board of Education for this State shall prescribe no rule or regulation that will prevent the di