Regular annual meeting. Powers invested. place of holding the same, in some newspaper printed in Vicksburg. SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That at the regular annual meeting of the stockholders, it shall be the duty of the president and directors in office, for the preceding term, to exhibit a clear and distinct statement of the affairs of the company. SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That the president and directors of said company shall be, and they are hereby invested with powers to import and export, to or from the United States, and to buy and sell goods, wares, and merchandize of every description whatever, to purchase and improve such real estate as may be necessary or useful for the transaction of the business of the company, and to purchase and hold such sea vessels, steamboats, and towing boats, as they may think it for the interest of the company to own and employ. SEC. 11. Be it further enacted, That the president and Dividends. directors, semi-annually, shall declare and make such dividends as they may deem proper, of the net profits arising from the transactions of the company. SEC. 12. Be it further enacted, That if five thousand Conditions. shares of the capital stock of said company shall not be subscribed within nine months from the time of opening the books, this charter shall be void. May appoint officers. SEC. 13. Be it further enacted, That the president and directors may appoint a secretary, and such number of clerks as they may think proper, who shall respectively enter into bonds with security, in such penalty as the president and directors may require, conditioned for the faithful performance of their duty. SEC. 14. Be it further enacted, That the stock of said Transfers. company shall be assignable and transferable, according to such rules as shall be prescribed for that purpose, by the by-laws, regulations, and ordinances thereof. Quorum. SEC. 15. Be it further enacted, That no less than six of the directors, with the president, shall constitute a board for the transaction of business: Provided, that in all cases of sickness, or necessary absence of the president, his place may be supplied, by pro tempore appointment, by a majority of the directors. SEC. 16. Be it further enacted, That the corporate powers Duration. of this company shall continue until the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty. SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That this act shall Take effect. take effect, and be in force, from and after the passage thereof. Approved, February 15, 1838. AN ACT for the relief of the Assessors and Collectors of the Counties of Bolivar, Coahoma, Tunica, De Soto, and other counties. to assessors conditions. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Mississippi, That the assessors of taxes, in the various Allowance counties of this state, shall be entitled to an allowance for on certain assessing the state tax thereon of a sum, not less than one hundred dollars, wherein the per centage, for assessing the same, amounts to less than that sum: Provided, that the amount so allowed, shall, in no instance, exceed the amount paid into the treasury by such county. auditor. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the auditor of Duty of the public accounts, in settling with the assessors and collectors for the preceding year, shall allow them the compensation allowed in this act. Approved, February 15, 1838. AN ACT concerning the powers and jurisdiction of the Superior ter may be SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Mississippi, That hereafter any defendant or defendants, New mat in any chancery suit, may introduce any new matter mate- introduced. rial, to his, her, or their defence, and call on the complainant or complainants, if deemed necessary by such defendant or defendants, to answer the same on oath, which the complaint or complainants shall do within the same time, and under the same rules and regulations, as a defendant is now compelled to answer the bill of a complainant, and with the same effect; and any defendant or defendants may, if he, what man ner, &c. she, or they choose, make his, her, or their answer, or Answer, in cross bill against the complainant or complainants, or against his, her, or their co-defendant or defendants, or all of them, upon which no subpoena shall be required to issue, unless new parties be introduced, but the complainant or complainants, or defendants, as the case may be, shall answer unto the matter therein set forth, by way of cross bill, on or before the first term of said court, after filing the same, or earlier if the court shall so direct; and on his, her, or their failure so to answer the same, may be taken for confessed, and the like proceedings shall be had thereon as on other bills, or cross bills, similarly situated. Depositions. SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That in suits in chancery the complainant or complainants may, if he, she, or they elect to do so, take his, her, or their depositions, at any time after the expiration of thirty days from the filing of his, her, or their bills, and the defendant or defendants may do the like immediately after filing his, her, or their answer, and the commissions for taking depositions shall stand open Witnesses until the hearing of the cause: Provided, however, that when the witness or witnesses reside in this state, reasonable notice shall be given to the opposite party or parties, his, her, or their attorney, of the time and place of taking such depositions: And, provided also, that depositions de Provisional. bene esse, in chancery causes, may be taken as heretofore ; and notice to be given them. of the state. and when regularly taken, they shall, unless good cause be shown to the contrary, be read upon the trial of the cause, without the necessity of retaking the same. SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That hereafter, whenever Persons out it may become necessary for any person or persons, who may be out of this state, to make out and file an answer in chancery, in any cause pending in any of the courts in this state, it shall be sufficient for such person or persons to make the necessary oath to such answer, before any judge or justice of the peace, notary public, mayor, or alderman of any city, town, or corporation, in any state or territory of the United States; and such answer, certified by any such judge, justice of the peace, notary public, mayor, or alderman, to have been sworn to before him, and that the person so certifying was, at the time of making such oath, made on a &c. clerk. any of the characters aforesaid, shall be permitted to be filed, and shall have the same effect as if the same had been sworn to in court, or before any officer of this state having power and authority to administer an oath and certify such answer. SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That hereafter, all sales of real or personal estate, made by any commissioner, acting Sales to be under a decree of the superior court of chancery, or of any credit of six of the circuit courts of this state exercising chancery juris- months. diction, shall be made upon a credit of not less than six months, at such place, upon such notice as may be directed in said decree; and it shall be the duty of such commissioners, at the time of making said sale or sales, to take from the purchaser or purchasers, a bond, with good and Conditions, sufficient security or securities, for the payment of the purchase money, to such person or persons as may be entitled thereto, under the decree, which bond shall bear interest at the rate of eight per centum per annum, from the date thereof, and shall be returned by the commissioner taking the same, into the clerk's office of the court in which Duty of such decree was pronounced, and shall, by said clerk, be carefully filed away in his office; and if the said bond shall not be paid on the day the same shall fall due, it shall be the duty of the said clerk to endorse such non-payment In case of on said bond, and thereupon such bond shall have all the payment. force and effect of a judgment; and, upon the request of the obligee, or obligees therein, it shall be the duty of the clerk to issue execution thereon, against the obligor, or obligors therein, which execution shall be endorsed, no security to Writ to be be taken if any of the obligors in said bond shall have died before the issuance of the execution aforesaid, then said execution shall be issued against the survivor or survivors, and the executors or administrators of the deceased co-obligor, or obligors jointly, with the endorsement aforesaid; and if any of the obligees of said bond shall have died In whose before the issuance of said execution, then said execution its shall shall issue in the name of, and in favour of, the survivor, or issue. survivors of them; and if there be none of them surviving, then said execution shall issue in the name of the and in favour of, the executors or administrators of the last surviving obligee. non endorsed. favour SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That hereafter, whenever A receiver in any cause pending in the superior court of chancery, may be the chancellor shall deem it proper and expedient to apappointed. point a receiver; such receiver, when appointed, shall enter into bond and security, in such penalty as said chanPenal bond. cellor may direct, with such condition or conditions as he may prescribe, and be made payable to the said chancellor, and his successors in office, which bond may, at any time, upon a forfeiture thereof, be put in suit, at the instance of be brought. any person aggrieved thereby, and for his use, and shall not become void upon the first recovery thereon, but may, at any time thereafter, be put in suit, in like manner, by any person thus aggrieved, until such recovery or recoveries shall equal the full amount of said penalty. Suit may Rule SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That the rule heretofore enforced in chancery proceedings, which requires two abolished. witnesses, or one witness, and corroborating circumstances, to overthrow an answer denying the allegations of the bill, be, and the same is hereby abolished in all cases where the bill of complaint is sworn to by the complainant; and hereafter, such an answer of a defendant in chancery, shall receive only such weight and credit upon the final hearing, as in view of the interest of the party making the same, and the other circumstances of the case it may be fairly entitled to. Take effect. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect, and be in force, from the passage thereof. Approved, February 15, 1838. mechanics to liens, &c. AN ACT to amend act entitled an act for the relief of certain mechanics, approved February 5, 1819. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state Rights of of Mississippi, That every dwelling house, store, or warehouse, or other building, of whatsoever kind, which may hereafter be erected within the limits of this state, shall be subject to the payment and satisfaction of the price contracted therefor, or in case there be no special contract, of so much as reasonably ought to be paid for the work and |