CHAP. 8.—An ACT to take the sense of the people upon the call of a convention, and providing for organizing the same.

[Passed March 4, 1850.]

Whereas it is represented to the general assembly, that a portion of Preamble. the good people of this commonwealth are desirous of amending the

constitution of the state:

1. Be it therefore enacted, That it shall be the duty of the officers autho- Officers to open rized to conduct elections within this commonwealth, at the time and polls for and against conven. places of holding their respective elections for delegates to the general tion. assembly in the month of April next, to open separate polls for the purpose of taking the sense of the people upon the question, whether they desire a convention or not. The polls to be opened shall contain two columns, and shall be headed on the one side of the poll-book thus: "Shall there be a convention to amend the constitution of this commonwealth ?"

The officers conducting the elections shall take the vote on the question Who to vote. aforesaid, of every person qualified, according to the existing laws of this commonwealth, to vote for delegates to the general assembly, who shall come forward during such election to give his vote, and shall cause the names of those who vote for a convention to be written in the first column under the word "Convention;" the names of those who vote against a convention, to be written in the second column under the words "No convention;" and no person shall be permitted to vote on said question more than once, either in the same county or in different coun

ties.

2. It shall be the duty of the officers, before they commence taking Oaths of officers. the poll provided for in this act, to take and subscribe, before some justice of the peace for their city or county, the following oath or affirmation : "We, A B, &c., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that, in conducting the poll concerning a convention, we will, to the best of our skill and judgment, admit all persons to vote entitled to do so, and reject all not so entitled, and that, as far as depends on us, we will make a just, true and fair return of the results according to law. So help us God." And the justice shall return said oath or affirmation, so taken and subscribed, to the clerk to whom polls for delegates to the general assembly are made returnable by law.

and certified.

3. The officers conducting the elections shall appoint writers, who shall How polls to be make oath or affirmation before some justice of the peace, that they will taken, verified take the polls faithfully and impartially; and they shall deliver to them poll-books, prepared in the manner prescribed by this act, and, after the names of all the electors who have voted shall have been entered, they shall conclude the polls; whereupon, the officers conducting said elections shall certify at the foot thereof the correctness of said polls, and forthwith deliver the same to the clerks to whom the polls for delegates to the general assembly are returnable by law, to be by them safely kept and preserved in their respective offices.

mine and correct

4. It shall be the duty of the several clerks aforesaid, and of the offi- Officers to exacers who may have conducted, the said election at the courthouse of any polls. county, or of the mayors or other officers who may have conducted the said election in any city, town or borough, within ten days after the reception by said clerks respectively of said polls, to examine said pollbooks, and to strike therefrom the names of such persons as shall have voted more than once; and said clerks and conducting officers shall add up said polls, and shall transmit by mail to the executive of this com- Result monwealth a true statement of the result of the same, verified broath to be mailed to or affirmation before some justice of the peace, in form following, viz : "We, A B, clerk of , and C D, who conducted the election on Form of return. court

the
day of April, eighteen hundred and fifty, at
house, (or in the city, town or borough of
,) do solemnly swear
(or affirm) that we have carefully examined, corrected and summed up the

executive.

rtion

When executive

mation of result.

polls taken for said county, (or city, town or borough) of
votes were polled for a convention;

that

convention.

A B, Clerk, &c.
C D, Conducting Officer."

"Subscribed and sworn to before me, a justice of the peace.

J. P." 5. It shall be the duty of the said executive to ascertain the results, as to make procla- exhibited by said statement of the polls, on or before Monday, the third day of June next, and within five days thereafter to declare the same by proclamation, to be published in such newspapers as in the opinion of the executive will be best calculated to diffuse general information thereof, and at least once a week until the day of election hereinafter apProclamation for pointed; and if it be ascertained that a majority of the votes cast are in favor of a convention, he shall at the same time, and in like manner, make proclamation for holding a general election of delegates to said convention, according to the apportionment and districts prescribed in the sixth When election to section of this act. The election of delegates to said convention shall be held on the fourth Thursday of August next.

election of delegates to convention.

take place.

Apportionment of representation.

Election districts.

Members to convention, when elected.

Voters not to vote more than once.

Penalty for illegal voting.

6. The apportionment and districts shall be as prescribed in this section. The districts composed of the following counties, cities and towns, shall elect delegates as follows: Accomack and Northampton, two delegates; Norfolk city, Norfolk county and Princess Anne, five delegates; Southampton, Nansemond, Isle of Wight, Sussex, Surry and Greenesville, four delegates; Petersburg, Chesterfield and Prince George, four delegates; Richmond city, Henrico, Charles City and New Kent, six delegates; Williamsburg, James City, Gloucester, Warwick, York and Elizabeth City, two delegates; Essex, King & Queen, Middlesex and Matthews, three delegates; Caroline, Spotsylvania, King William and Hanover, five delegates; Richmond, Westmoreland, King George, Lancaster and Northumberland, three delegates; Prince William, Alexandria, Fairfax and Stafford, four delegates; Henry, Franklin and Patrick, three delegates; Halifax, Pittsylvania and Mecklenburg, six delegates; Prince Edward, Charlotte and Appomattox, three delegates; Brunswick, Lunenburg, Nottoway and Dinwiddie, three delegates; Cumberland, Amelia, Powhatan and Buckingham, three delegates; Campbell and Bedford, four delegates; Nelson, Amherst and Albemarle, four delegates; Goochland, Fluvanna and Louisa, three delegates; Culpeper, Greene, Madison and Orange, three delegates; Loudoun, three delegates; Fauquier and Rappahannock, three delegates; Botetourt, Roanoke, Alleghany and Bath, three delegates; Augusta, Rockbridge and Highland, five delegates; Rockingham, Pendleton and Page, four delegates; Shenandoah, Hardy and Warren, four delegates; Jefferson, Berkeley and Clarke, four delegates; Frederick, Hampshire and Morgan, four delegates; Ohio, Brooke, Hancock and Marshall, four delegates; Doddridge, Wetzel, Tyler, Harrison, Wood and Ritchie, four delegates; Marion, Preston, Monongalia and Taylor, four delegates; Lewis, Randolph, Barbour, Gilmer, Braxton, Wirt and Jackson, four delegates; Cabell, Mason, Putnam, Wayne, Boone, Wyoming and Logan, three delegates; Greenbrier, Pocahontas, Fayette, Raleigh, Nicholas and Kanawha, four delegates; Carroll, Grayson, Floyd, Montgomery and Pulaski, three delegates; Mercer, Giles, Tazewell and Monroe, three delegates; Smyth, Wythe and Washington, three delegates; Scott, Russell and Lee, three delegates. 7. Be it further enacted, That the persons qualified according to law to vote for members of the house of delegates in each county, city, town and borough in this commonwealth, shall assemble at their respective courthouses or other places appointed by law for holding elections of members of the general assembly, on the fourth Thursday in August next, and then and there vote for as many discreet and proper persons as members of the said convention as are designated in the sixth section of this act for their respective districts. No person shall be permitted to vote more than once, either in the same county or in different counties; and any person who shall violate this provision, or that contained

in the last clause of the first section of this act, shall forfeit and pay to the commonwealth, for the use of the Literary fund, a sum of one hundred dollars, to be recovered as other penalties and forfeitures.

elections for

held.

tors.

8. The persons appointed and authorized by law to superintend and Who to conduct hold elections in the month of April next for members of the general members of conassembly, in the several counties, cities, towns and boroughs, shall con- vention. duct said election for delegates to said convention; and the same shall Elections, how be held in like manner, and each elector shall be entitled to the like pri- Privilege of elec vilege from arrest, and the persons holding the said election, and the writers appointed to keep the polls, shall take and subscribe the like oath or affirmation, and the justices before whom the same may be made shall make the like return of the certificates thereof, and the offi- Duties of officers. cers conducting the election in counties, cities, towns and boroughs composing a district, shall proceed to ascertain and declare who are elected in like manner, and shall give a like certificate of election as is prescribed by law in cases of elections of senators to the general assembly; and in Who to decide case of an equality of votes given to two or more persons, an election elections in case shall be made and declared as in elections of senators. The officers Officers, when to conducting said election shall meet at the courthouse of the county, city meet and comor town first named in their respective districts within the time prepare polls. scribed by law for the assembling of the officers conducting a senatorial election, for the purpose of comparing the polls and otherwise discharging the duties required of them; and the original poll-books shall Poll-books, be returned by said officers to the clerks of their respective county or corporation courts within the time prescribed in cases of senatorial elections; and the said clerks shall file and safely preserve the same.

of a tie.

where filed.

in duty.

9. If any person shall fail or refuse to perform any duty required of Penalty on offihim by this act, upon conviction thereof, by indictment or information, cers for failing he shall be amerced in a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, in the discretion of a jury.

to meet.

10. The persons who shall be elected in pursuance of this act shall, Convention, on the second Monday in October next, meet and assemble at the capitol when and where in the city of Richmond, in general convention, to consider, discuss and Its powers. propose a new constitution, or alterations and amendments to the existing constitution of this commonwealth.

tions.

11. The said convention shall be the judge of its own privileges and Convention to elections, and the members thereof shall have, possess, and enjoy, in judge of electhe most full and ample manner, all the privileges which members elected Privileges of to, and attending on the general assembly are entitled to; and moreover members. Their mileage shall be allowed the same pay for travelling to, attending on, and return- and pay. ing from the said convention, as is now allowed to members of the general assembly for like services. And said convention is hereby empow- Power to appoint ered to appoint such officers, and to make them such reasonable allow- officers, and pay ances for their services as it shall deem proper, which several allowances shall be audited by the auditor of public accounts, and paid by the treasurer of the commonwealth upon proper warrants.

them.

12. In the case of any contested election to the convention, the same contested elecshall be governed in all respects by the existing laws in regard to con- tions. tested elections to the senate.

cies.

13. The executive of this commonwealth shall have power to award writs of election writs of election to supply vacancies which may happen in the conven- to supply vacantion by death, removal, resignation, or other incapacity of any members elected to serve therein, according to the provisions of this act, previously to the meeting of the said convention; but if any such vacancy shall happen after the meeting of the said convention, the presiding officer of the same shall award the said writs, and the election under such writs shall be conducted in all respects as the elections hereinbefore provided for.

14. It shall be the duty of the presiding officer of the said convention Constitution to to certify a copy of the constitution, as the same shall be amended, to be certified to legislature. the general assembly, in order that provision may be made by law for submitting the same to the good people of this commonwealth, and for organizing the government under the amended constitution, in case it be approved and ratified.

Expenses of poll

15. The expenses incurred in providing the poll-books required by this books and keep act for the several counties, cities, towns and boroughs of this common

ing same, how

defrayed.

Compensation to sheriff and offi

cers for comparing polls.

Commencement.

Preamble.

wealth, and in procuring writers to keep the same, shall be borne by said counties, cities, towns and boroughs respectively; and it shall be lawful for the county courts to defray the same by levy in the same manner that existing charges upon their counties are now defrayed, and for the corporate authorities of the cities, towns and boroughs to levy for the same in like manner.

16. The sheriffs or other officers shall receive the same compensation, and be paid in like manner for attending and comparing the polls under this act, as in cases of senatorial elections.

17. This act shall be in force from the passing thereof.

CHAP. 9.-An ACT concerning the Code of Virginia.
[Passed March 20, 1850.]

Whereas the Code of Virginia has been published pursuant to the act passed on the fifteenth day of August eighteen hundred and forty-nine; and it appears that in printing the third section of chapter forty there is an error in omitting after the words " fifty cents" in the seventh line of Tax on suits in the section the following words: When an original suit or an appeal, writ of error or supersedeas is commenced in a circuit court, seventy-five cents;" and in the table of errata, printed after the index, other errors are mentioned:

circuit courts.

Errors in Code corrected.

Code to be evi

and corrected.

66

1. Be it therefore enacted by the general assembly, That the Code shall be construed and the printed copies thereof be evidence as if the same had been passed and printed without any of said errors. In respect to dence as printed. other matters mentioned in the notes of the superintendents of the publication, wherein there is a difference between the text of the Code as printed and the bill as engrossed and enrolled, the Code shall be construed and the printed copies thereof be evidence as if the Code had Errors specified been passed as printed in the text. In chapter eighty-five, section fifty, line seventh, the word "having" shall be deemed to be substituted in place of the words " and there be not ;" and in chapter two hundred and ten, section second, line the fourth, the words "county or corporation" shall be deemed to be substituted in place of the word "said." The fifth and sixth sections of chapter one hundred and twenty-nine, shall be construed as if the section which is now the sixth were the fifth, and that which is now the fifth were the sixth. And the third section of chapter one hundred and forty-two shall be construed as if the words "by suit," in the fourth line were followed by the words "or warrant," and as if the words "payment or" preceded the word "delivery," in the seventh line. Chapter one hundred and eighty-three is amended by How damages af- adding thereto the following: "When a judgment for specific personal ter appeals, for property is affirmed by an appellate court, or an injunction to such judgdetention of personal property ment is dissolved, the person who is entitled to execution of such judgsubsequent to ment, or who would be entitled if execution had not been had, may, on judgment or verdict may be motion to the court from which such execution has issued or might issue, awarded. after four weeks' notice to the defendant or his personal representative, have a jury empanneled to ascertain the damages sustained by reason of the detention of such property, subsequent to such judgment, or if it was on a verdict, subsequent to such verdict; and judgment shall be rendered for the damages so ascertained, if any." The twenty-ninth secpeople necessary tion of chapter eighty-two shall be construed as if the words "if twothirds of the votes be in favor thereof," preceded the word "may," in the first line.

What vote of

to adopt free school system.

Residence of

66

2. And be it further enacted, That section twelve, chapter one hundred clerks to apply and sixty-three, title fifty, of the Code of Virginia, which provides that to those appointed after Code every clerk of any circuit, county or corporation court shall reside takes effect. within the county or corporation for which such court is held, except when it is otherwise allowed by law," shall not be deemed or construed to vacate the appointment of any clerk in office on the first day of July next, but shall apply to clerks thereafter appointed.

MAYO'S GUIDE TO MAGISTRATES.-LIBRARY.

13

3. And be it further enacted, That so much of the sixth section, title Section requiring sixteenth, chapter fifty of the said Code, as requires the jail of the cor- jail of Petersburg to be jail of poration of Petersburg to be the jail of the circuit court for the county Prince George of Prince George, be and the same is hereby repealed.

repealed.

4. Be it further enacted, That the collectors of the revenue for the When tax on counties, cities and towns of the commonwealth shall account for and licenses to be paid into treasupay into the treasury, on the fifteenth of December in each year, the re- ry. venue they may receive from tax on licenses after the thirty-first day of May, and before the first day of September in every year.

5. Be it further enacted, That the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and Provision for sale seventh sections of the one hundred and twenty-eighth chapter of the well as real esof personal as Code of Virginia shall be applicable to personal as well as real estate, tate of persons in like manner as if enacted with the insertion after the word "real," under disability. wherever it occurs in said sections, of the words, "or personal," and with the insertion after the word "land," in the second section, of the

words or personal estate."

6. This act shall be in force upon and after the first day of July next. Commencement.

CHAP. 10.—An ACT providing for furnishing the clerks and justices of the commonwealth with Mayo's Guide to Magistrates out of Court.

[Passed February 28, 1850.]

clerks to be sup

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the governor be and he Mayo's Guide to is hereby authorized and required to purchase for the commonwealth, so Magistrates to be purchased for many copies of "Mayo's Guide to Magistrates out of Court" as shall state. be sufficient to furnish each acting justice in the commonwealth and Justices and clerk of the county and corporation courts with one of the said copies, plied. the same to be delivered to the governor, by the proprietor thereof, on or before the fifteenth day of May next, to be well bound in calf, and How to be printprinted with good type, on good paper, equal in every respect to the ed and bound. edition now preparing for publication, provided the cost thereof shall not What to be paid exceed two dollars and fifty cents per copy, and provided a good and per copy. copious index to the said work shall be prepared and published therewith; and the auditor of public accounts is hereby authorized and required to issue his warrant or warrants on the public treasury on the order of the governor, for the amounts necessary to pay for said copies at the price aforesaid, the same to be paid out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

2. Be it further enacted, That the governor, during the present year, Books, when and at the time and in the manner the acts of assembly are distributed, shall how distributed. cause to be delivered to each of the clerks of the several county and corporation courts in the commonwealth, a number of said copies sufficient for the said clerks and acting justices in said county or corporation; and it shall be the duty of said clerks, upon being applied to by said justices, to deliver one copy to each justice, taking from him a receipt for the Clerks to take redue return thereof upon his resignation, removal or death, and the ex- ceipts from juspense of said distribution shall be paid out of any money not otherwise appropriated: Provided, That whenever hereafter additional copies of Right reserved to said work shall be required for the use of the justices and clerks, the state to take adstate shall have the option to take at the same price and on the same conditions, any number of copies which the governor may require, to be paid for in the same manner as hereinbefore provided for. 3. This act shall be in force from its passage.

CHAP. 11.-An ACT to increase the library of the court of appeals at Lewis

burg.
[Passed March 16, 1850.]

tices.

ditional copies.

Commencement.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the sum of two thousand Appropriation dollars shall be and is hereby appropriated out of the library fund, to be for library of court of appeals expended in the purchase of such books for the library of the court of at Lewisburg. appeals at Lewisburg as the judges of that court may direct.