Appropriation. Report of Expenditures, names of orphans, &c. CHAPTER CXLVIII. AN ACT Appropriating Moneys for the Benefit of the Orphan Asylums of the [Approved April 28, 1855.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. The Controller of State is hereby directed to draw his warrants on the Treasurer, payable out of the General Fund, for the sum of ten thousand dollars, five thousand to each, in favor of the Trustees of the two Orphan Asylums in San Francisco, and the sum of ten thousand dollars is hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act. SEC. 2. The Trustees of said Orphan Asylums are hereby required to report to the Governor of this State on the 20th day of December of each year the manner in which said money is appropriated; also, a detailed statement of the expenditure of the above appropriation, with the names of the orphans who may be inmates of their respective Asylums, and a full account of all expenses incurred by said institutions severally. Public buildings. Special tax. CHAPTER CXLIX. AN ACT Supplemental to an Act to create a Board of Supervisors in the Counties of this State, and to define their Duties and Powers, passed March 20th, 1855. [Approved April 28, 1855.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. For the purpose of purchasing, erecting and constructing court houses, jails and other public buildings in the counties of Yuba and Calaveras, the Board of Supervisors of the said counties are hereby authorized to levy a special tax not to exceed one-half of one per cent. on all taxable property in their respective counties. CHAPTER CL. AN ACT Supplementary to an Act entitled An Act to Incorporate the City of [Approved April 28, 1855.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. The right to establish, license and control all ferries Ferries and bridges. and bridges across the Yuba river, from the mouth of said river up the same so far as the corporate limits of the city of Marysville extend, is hereby granted to and vested in the corporate authorities of said city. CHAPTER CLI. AN ACT To provide for the Sale of the Swamp and Overflowed Lands belonging to this State. [Approved April 28, 1855.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. The swamp and overflowed lands belonging to this Sale of lands. State shall be sold at the rate of one dollar per acre, in manner pre scribed by this Act. to purchase. SEC. 2. Any person or persons wishing to purchase lands under Persons wishing the provisions of this Act, shall cause the tract or tracts of land sought to be purchased to be surveyed by the County Surveyor of the county in which such lands may be situated. Surveyor. SEC. 3. It shall be the duty of said County Surveyor to make Duty of County out a plat and field notes of every survey made by him under the provisions of this Act, and keep the same on file in his office, and forward a certified copy of the same to the Surveyor General of this State, within ninety days after such survey or surveys may be completed, and shall also deliver a certified copy of said plat and field notes of such survey or surveys to the person or persons for whom such survey or surveys may be made. And it shall be the duty of such Survey to be recorded. Surveyor General's duty. Price of lands. How paid. Credit. person or persons to cause the same to be recorded in the office of the County Recorder of such county, within thirty days from the time such survey or surveys may be completed, and it shall be the duty of the Surveyor General to transmit a copy of such plat and field notes to the office of the Secretary of State of this State. SEC. 4. The purchaser or purchasers of lands under the provisions of this Act, shall at the time or previous to the filing of such plat and field notes for record, as aforesaid, pay to the County Treasurer of such county the sum of one dollar per acre for all the lands contained in such survey or surveys, which may be paid either in money, Controller's warrants or any other evidence of indebtedness of this State originating out of the ordinary expenses of the State Government, and take said Treasurer's receipt for the same, and have such receipt recorded in the office of the County Recorder, at the time of recording said plat and field notes, as aforesaid. SEC. 5. Any person or persons wishing to purchase lands under the provisions of this Act, may, if preferred by such purchaser or purchasers, have a credit of five years to pay for the same, by Interest-when paying interest at the rate of ten per cent. per annum upon the purchase money, the interest, in all cases, to be paid one year in advance, which interest, as well as principal, may be paid in the same manner as provided by the fourth section of this Act. and how paid. Forfeiture. Resold. County Treasurer to pay. Duties of State Treasurer and Secretary of State. Time of Interest. Purchaser limited. Lands exempted. SEC. 6. If any person or persons purchasing lands, upon a credit of five years, as provided in section five of this Act, shall fail or neglect to pay the principal and interest within the said term of five years from the date of the certificate of purchase, or shall fail or neglect to pay the interest as required by this Act, for the space of one year from the time such interest may become due, or shall fail or neglect to reclaim at least one half of the land so purchased, within the said term of five years, such neglect or failure shall work a forfeiture of such lands, and the same shall be re-sold, as if no purchase had been made. SEC. 7. It shall be the duty of the County Treasurer of each county to pay over to the Treasurer of this State, at the same times and in the same manner as other State revenues, all moneys received by him under the provisions of this Act, and shall, at the same time, transmit to the State Treasurer a certificate showing the name of the purchaser or purchasers, the amount of land purchased, and that the same was paid, as principal or interest, (as the case may be.) SEC. 8. It shall be the duty of the State Treasurer, upon the receipt of the purchase money, or interest upon the same, according to the provisions of this Act, to certify the same to the Secretary of State, whose duty it shall be to issue a certificate of purchase to such purchaser or purchasers, specifying, in a brief manner, the terms of the purchase. SEC. 9. The time of calculating interest shall, in all cases, commence from the date of the certificate of purchase. SEC. 10. No person shall become the purchaser, from the State, of more than three hundred and twenty acres of land, under the provisions of this Act. SEC. 11. No person shall become the purchaser, from the State, of any lands situated within ten miles of the city of San Francisco or San Diego, nor within five miles of the cities of Sacramento, Marysville, or Oakland, nor within one mile of any other incorporated city or town in this State, nor within one mile of the Sacramento river, from the mouth of said river to the mouth of Feather river. The land situated within ten miles of the city of San Francisco or San Diego, within five miles of the cities of Sacramento, Marysville and Oakland, and within one mile of any other incorporated city or town, and within one mile of the Sacramento river, from the mouth of said river to the mouth of Feather river, shall be and they are hereby excluded from the provisions of this Act. SEC. 12. All surveys made under the provisions of this Act shall Instructions. be according to instructions from the Surveyor General of this State, which instructions shall be, as near as practicable, in accordance with the surveys of the public lands of the General Government. purchaser. SEC. 13. Previous to the survey of such lands, the purchaser shall Affidavit of file an affidavit in the Recorder's office, that he or she is not knowing to any other legal claim of any description to said land. SEC. 14. In all cases where full payments have been made by the Patent. purchaser or purchasers of lands, under the provisions of this Act, the Secretary of State shall certify the same to the Governor, whose duty it shall be to issue a patent to the person or persons purchasing the same. SEC. 15. For the issue of such patent the purchaser shall pay a fee of one dollar, which shall go to the Library Fund. Fee. of settlers. SEC. 16. Any person or persons having or holding a settler's Protection claim, under the laws of this State for the protection of settlers, upon the swamp and overflowed lands belonging to this State, shall be and is hereby protected in his, her or their claim to the same, including all improvements thereon; provided, that he, she or they shall, within six Proviso. months after the taking effect of this Act, comply with all the requirements of other purchasers under the provisions of this Act; provided, further, that no person or persons settling upon any of the swamp or overflowed lands described in this Act, shall acquire any right or title, by reason of such settlement, upon any of the lands excepted from the provisions of this Act. SEC. 17. All expenses attending the survey and purchase of lands, Expenses. under the provisions of this Act, shall be paid by the purchaser or purchasers of the same, as far as the same applies to the county officers of the county in which such lands may be situated. SEC. 18. The provisions of this Act shall apply only to lands Lands granted to this State by Act of Congress, passed September 28th, applied to. 1850, entitled "An Act to enable the State of Arkansas and other States to reclaim Swamp Lands within their limits ;" and the provisions of this Act shall not apply to, nor in any manner affect any lands belonging to this State by virtue of its sovereignty, below the line of ordinary high tide water, on the sea shore and the shores of the harbors on the coast of this State. SEC. 19. This Act to take effect and be in force from and after Take effect. the first day of June next. Highways. Road districts. Duty of County Clerk. Overseer's duty. Power of.! Damages. Taxes. CHAPTER CLII. AN ACT Concerning Roads and Highways. [Approved April 28, 1855.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. All roads shall be considered as public highways which are now used as such, and have been declared such by order of the Court of Sessions or Board of Supervisors, or which may be hereafter so declared by the Board of Supervisors within their respective counties. SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of the Board of Supervisors of each county, to divide the county into a suitable number of road districts, and to appoint annually, or whenever vacancies may occur, an Overseer for each district, whom they shall have power to remove at pleasure. SEC. 3. The County Clerk of each county shall notify all persons who have been appointed Road Overseers, within ten days after such appointment has been made, informing them of such appointment, and describing the boundaries of their District. SEC. 4. The Road Overseers shall cause all the public highways within their respective districts to be kept clear from obstructions and in good repair, causing banks to be graded, bridges and causeways to be made where the same may be necessary, to keep the same in good repair, and to renew them when destroyed. SEC. 5. The Road Overseers shall have power to make use of any gravel or dirt for improving the roads, which may be absolutely necessary, from any adjacent unimproved lands, and the Board of Supervisors may allow such damages, if there be any, to the owners of said lands, as they may deem just; provided, that said Supervisors shall be liable to pay damages to the county, at the suit of any citizen, if it shall be proved that they have allowed extraordinary and extravagant damages. SEC. 6. The Boards of Supervisors shall have power to levy a road tax on all able-bodied men between the ages of twenty-one and fifty years, which shall not exceed four dollars per annum, and a property tax, which shall not exceed five cents on each one hundred How collected. dollars, for road purposes, to be levied and collected at the same time and manner as other property taxes are collected; provided, that the provisions of this section, so far as it relates to the road tax, shall not apply to any of the incorporated cities or towns of this State. Same. SEC. 7. The property tax so levied shall be collected by the Sheriff of the county, in the same manner as in the collection of other taxes; but all road taxes for road purposes shall be collected by the Overseers in their respective Districts; provided, that the Board of Supervisors shall in all cases require a bond of such Overseer, to secure |