Contracts legalized. When stock ferred. The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. The aforesaid writing, executed by the said Peter Donahue, Charles Mayne and Henry M. Newhall, and the aforesaid orders of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Clara, as well the order of the twenty-fourth day of December, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, as the order of the twenty-seventh of February, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixtyeight, and the aforesaid compromise, are hereby ratified, confirmed and declared legal and binding between the County of Santa Clara and the said Peter Donahue, Charles Mayne and Henry M. Newhall, and their successors in interest. SEC. 2. In case the said Peter Donahue, Charles Mayne and to be trans- Henry M. Newhall, or their successors in interest, shall within eighteen months from the twenty-fourth day of December, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, either in their own names or in the names of any other person or company, build or cause to be built, equipped and put in operation, a railroad connecting with the San Francisco and San José Railroad, in San José, and extending to the Town of Gilroy in the County of Santa Clara, then the title to the stock now standing in the name of the County of Santa Clara, or the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Clara, or in the name of any person for the benefit of the County of Santa Clara, on the books of the San Francisco and San José Railroad Company, and known as the stock of the County of Santa Clara in said company, shall vest absolutely in the said Peter Donahue, Charles Mayne and Henry M. Newhall, and their successors in interest, and the Treasurer of the County of Santa Clara shall transfer said stock to them on the books of said company, and shall deliver to them the certificates and evidences thereof. Forfeiture. SEC. 3. In case the said Donahue, Mayne and Newhall, and their successors in interest, shall fail to build or cause to be built, equipped and put in operation such railroad within the time above specified, then the said stock shall be sold and the proceeds disposed of as provided in aforesaid agreements and orders of the Board of Supervisors. When to be levied. CHAPTER CCCCXXXVIII. An Act relating to the levy of State and county taxes for the County of [Approved March 30, 1868.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. The Board of Supervisors for Del Norte County are authorized, and it shall be their duty, to levy such State and county taxes as are required by law to be levied, at the regular meeting of said Board to be held in the month of May, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight. SEC. 2. This Act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. CHAPTER CCCCXXXIX. An Act concerning the foreign miners' license tax in the County of Placer. [Approved March 30, 1868.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and of proceeds. SECTION 1. The Treasurer of Placer County is hereby author- Distribution ized and directed to place the money hereafter received from the foreign miners' license, which was granted said county by an Act entitled an Act granting to the mining counties of this State the foreign miners' tax collected in said counties, severally, approved March sixteenth, eighteen hundred and sixtyeight, in the following funds in the Treasury of said county, to wit: Fifty per cent. thereof in the Common School Fund, and fifty per cent. thereof in the Railroad Fund. SEC. 2. This Act shall take effect from and after its passage. CHAPTER CCCCXL. An Act to define the legal distances from the county seats of Calaveras, [Approved March 30, 1868.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. The distances established by this Act shall be, Legal dis and the same are hereby declared to be, the legal distances for tances. which mileage shall be allowed to the Capitol at Sacramento: First-For County Treasurers settling their accounts at the State Capitol at Sacramento. Second-For conveying the insane to the Asylum at Stockton. Third-To Sheriff's for transporting prisoners to the State Prison at San Quentin. SEC. 2. From the county seat of Calaveras County to Sacra- Calaveras, mento, seventy-five miles; to Stockton, forty-five miles; to San Quentin, one hundred and seventy-five miles. SEC. 3. From the county seat of Inyo county to Sacramento, Inyo. three hundred and seventy miles; to Stockton, three hundred and thirty miles; to San Quentin, three hundred and fifty miles. Kern. Mendocino. Mono. SEC. 4. From the county seat of Kern County to Sacramento, three hundred and sixty miles; to Stockton, three hundred and fifteen miles; to San Quentin, four hundred and forty-five miles. SEC. 5. From the county seat of Mendocino county to Sacramento, two hundred and twenty-five miles; to Stockton, two hundred and twenty-one miles; to San Quentin, one hundred and ten miles. SEC. 6. From the county seat of Mono County to Sacramento, two hundred and ten miles; to Stockton, one hundred and seventy miles; to San Quentin, three hundred miles. SEC. 7. This Act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. Public highways. CHAPTER CCCCXLI. An Act to provide for the location, construction and maintenance of public roads in the County of Nevada. [Approved March 30, 1868.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. All roads in the County of Nevada which have been located as public highways by order of the Board of Supervisors or Township Trustees, and all roads in public use which have been recorded in county or township records as public highways, or which may be recorded by authority of the Board of Supervisors, as hereinafter provided, are hereby declared public highways; and all roads in the County of Nevada now in public use which do not come within the provisions of Vacation of this Act are hereby declared vacated; provided, no toll road shall be established on any road vacated by virtue of the foregoing provisions of this section upon which there shall have been expended any money or labor belonging to the Road Fund, or tax of said county, unless with the full knowledge and consent of the Board of Supervisors of said county. roads. Road Commissioner to be elected. SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of the Board of Supervisors to order an election, to take place in the manner and on the same day on which the election for Presidential Electors shall be ordered, to wit: November third, eighteen hundred and sixtyeight-by the qualified electors of Nevada County, of one person, who shall be a qualified voter of said county and a householder, to be Road Commissioner of Nevada County for the term of one year, or until the next general election for county officers, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine. At all general elections for county officers held in Nevada County after the passage of this Act, an election shall be ordered and held, at the same time and in the same manner as such elections are held for county officers, for some person to be and act as Road Commissioner, who shall hold his office for two years from the date of his election and until his successor is elected and qualified. Said Road Commissioner, to be eligi ble to the office, must be a householder and a qualified elector of the County of Nevada. SEC. 3. At all elections held under the provisions of this Act Returns. the returns shall be made to the County Clerk in the same manner as other election returns are made; and the Board of Supervisors shall, at their regular meeting for the opening of the election returns and the counting of votes for county and township officers, canvass the votes for the office of Road Commissioner, and the person receiving the highest number of votes for that office shall be declared elected; and the County Clerk shall immediately transmit to such person so elected a certificate of his election; and such person shall, within ten days Official bond. thereafter, qualify by filing a bond with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, in a sum which the Board of Supervisors may deem sufficient, which shall not be less than two thousand dollars, with two sureties, conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties; which bond shall be approved by the County Judge, and made payable to The People of the State of California, and by taking and subscribing an oath before the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors that he will faithfully and impartially perform the duties devolved upon him by law as Road Commissioner. powers of roads. SEC. 4. It shall be the duty of the Road Commissioner, within Duties and fifteen days after his election, and every two years thereafter, Commis if he shall deem it necessary, to lay off and divide the public sioner. roads in the county by townships and sections, which he shall number and describe in a book to be called a "Road Book of Nevada County." He shall distinctly specify therein what he shall deem necessary for the improvement and keeping in good repair the said public roads and highways; and when the Commissioner shall have so laid off the said roads, as aforesaid, he Repair of shall submit his report to the Board of Supervisors at their first regular meeting, a majority of whom shall have power to modify or amend the report of the Commissioner, and who shall give their written assent to the report, or report so amended or modified, which shall be the warrant of the Road Commissioner and his guide in the performance of his duties; and the Road Commissioner shall, within five days thereafter, give public notice for at least one week, in one of the daily papers of the county, published at the county seat, designating the time and place for the taxable inhabitants of the county to meet in their respective townships, at the principal town in the township designated by the Commissioner in the public notice aforesaid, at which time and place it shall be the duty of said Commissioner to attend and sell out, at public sale, for the term of two years, each section or subdivision of said public road lying within said township, to the lowest bidder; but the Commissioner shall have power to refuse such bid if he shall deem the same too high; and if any section or sections of said road shall remain unsold, on account of no bid having been made for the same, it shall be lawful for said Commissioner thereafter to let out such section Contracts. or sections at private contract; provided, that the said Commissioner shall not be, directly or indirectly, interested in taking or keeping in repair any section or sections so let out as aforesaid; and provided, also, that not more than the yearly proportion of Bonds of contractors. Record. Liabilities of contractors. When contracts transferred. such purchase or contract shall be paid in any one year; and be it further provided, that no Commissioner shall sell, by public or private contract, any section or sections of the public highway for a longer time than he shall be entitled to hold his office, either by election or appointment. SEC. 5. The Road Commissioner may exact bonds from the purchaser or contractor of any section or sections of the public roads, if he shall deem it to be required by public interest, in such sum as shall amount to twice the sum named in the contract, with two sureties, made payable to The People of the State of California, to be accepted by the Board of Supervisors, conditioned for the faithful performance of the specifications in the contract, which shall be filed with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, who shall be furnished with and shall keep on file all agreements or contracts of any and all contractors or purchasers, made under bond or otherwise, and who shall furnish to such contractor or purchaser a duplicate copy of his agreement, with specifications contained in his contract. SEC. 6. Any person or persons purchasing or contracting for any section or sections of road, as aforesaid, shall write his or their names, respectively, in the Commissioner's book opposite the section or sections so contracted for, and also the amount of the purchase or contract price. SEC. 7. It shall be the duty of the contractors or purchasers, as aforesaid, to keep their respective sections in good and substantial repair during the said term of the contract; and should any person or persons neglect or refuse to make the improvements, or to keep in good repair the section or sections so purchased or contracted for, upon complaint being made to the Commissioner, it shall be the duty of said Commissioner to examine the section or sections so complained of as soon as practicable; and, if he shall deem the complaint well founded, to give notice to the party or parties complained of to make the improvements and put his or their section or sections of road in good repair, according to the terms of the contract, within ten days thereafter; and if he or they shall refuse or neglect to comply with said notice until the expiration of the ten days, it shall be the duty of the Commissioner to have the said section or sections improved or repaired according to the terms specified in the contract; and the cost of improving or repairing the same shall be recoverable by the Commissioner from such person or persons so neglecting or refusing, or of their sureties, as other debts of equal amount are now recoverable by law, with costs of suit. SEC. 8. Any contract for opening or repairing roads shall not be transferred to a third person without due notice and consent of the Road Commissioner. Where no bond has been exacted, and where a bond has been executed for the faithful performance of a contract to keep in good repair any section or sections of the public road, the consent of a majority of the Board of Supervisors also shall be necessary to release the principal and bondsmen of the sued party or contractor, and they may require bonds to be given by the third person in the manner herein before provided; and in case of the death or removal of any contractor from the township to a locality remote from |