so met shall have full power and authority to judge thereof and and confirm or set aside the same, and to order a new election or elections, as the case may require. SECTION 5. That if any member of the town council shall misbehave in his said office, or shall neglect to discharge the duties thereof, it shall and may be lawful for any number not less than ten of the said members of town council to remove, in a summary way, any such member from his said office and declare his seat vacant. Removals. SECTION 6. That in case any vacancy shall happen by death, Vacancies. removal or otherwise, such vacancy may be supplied at the next general election, or a majority of the town council may appoint a special election for supplying such vacancy, of which they shall cause to be given at least six days' notice by hand-bills posted up in at least ten of the most public places within each ward in the said borough, and such election shall be conducted and the proper return thereof made in manner and form as hereinbefore directed, and the person so chosen and approved as aforesaid shall be a member of the town council for the remainder of the term that the member in whose place he was elected had been elected for. SECTION 7. That the majority of the whole number of the said members of town council shall be a quorum for transacting all business except for the purchase and sale of real estate, for mortgaging or incumbering the same, or for borrowing money, for which purpose a concurrence of two-thirds of the whole number of the members of town council shall be essential; and the said members of town council shall not receive any compensation for their services, and at all their meetings the door of their council chamber or hall shall be open for the admission of any peaceable and orderly citizen, and all elections and appointments held and made by the said members of town council shall be viva voce and not otherwise. Quorum. SECTION 8. That hereafter the annual taxes for said borough Assessment and shall be levied and assessed by the town council on or before collection of taxes the last Monday in May in each year, and shall not exceed one cent in the dollar on the valuation of taxable property as taken for county rates and levies, and the town clerk shall, immedi ately after every such assessment, make out a duplicate of the same, and the president of the council shall issue his warrant with the duplicate aforesaid to the treasurer of the borough to collect the said tax; and the council shall have the right at all times to make such abatements or exonerations for mistakes or indigent persons as to them shall appear just and reasonable; and upon the receipt of the said warrant and duplicate, the said treasurer shall give public notice by not less than ten written or printed advertisements, posted in the most public places in each of the wards of said borough, of the time and of his attendance and readiness to receive such tax, which time so fixed shall not be less than six consecutive hours during one day in each week thereafter, prior to the thirty-first day of December in each year; and it shall be the duty of the treasurer to be in attendance at the time and place fixed by him as aforesaid for receiving the said tax, and all persons paying their said taxes within the year for which they are assessed, shall be allowed an abatement by the said treasurer at the rate of twelve per cent. per annum from the day of payment until the end of the year, and all taxes remaining unpaid after the thirty-first day of Decem Bonds. Duty of treasurer Taxes made liens ber in each year shall be collected in manner following: It shall be the duty of the said treasurer to issue his warrant, with a schedule of such unpaid tax, and the names of the persons respectively to whom the same is charged in the proper duplicate, directed to any constable of the borough, whose duty it is hereby made to receive the same, authorizing and requiring him to demand and receive from the persons named in the said schedule the sums with which they are therein charged respectively, together with five per cent. on the amount thereof, which per centage shall in all cases be collected and retained by such constable for his compensation, and vesting him with like powers and authorities given to collectors of county rates and levies by the laws of this commonwealth, and the amount so collected, less the per centage, shall be paid into the treasury for the use of the corporation. SECTION 9. That before the delivery to the constable of the warrant and schedule as aforesaid, the said treasurer shall require from him sufficient bond and security for the payment of the amount of the tax contained in said schedule; and if said constable shall fail to give the security required, the said treasurer shall appoint another person of the said borough to collect the said unpaid tax, who shall have the same power, and receive the same compensation for the performance of this duty, as the constable aforesaid; and if, in the opinion of the treasurer, the person so appointed shall own a freehold estate, which is of itself a sufficient security for the payment of the amount of such tax, the said treasurer may dispense with any further security; and the person so appointed failing to take upon himself the duties of his appointment, shall forfeit and pay the sum of fifty dollars for the use of the said borough. SECTION 10. That the said treasurer shall provide himself with a book, at the expense of the said corporation, in which the name of each taxable shall be entered, at the time he, she, or they shall pay their respective taxes, together with the amount charged against such taxable, the amount paid, the time when paid, and the specific abatement made; which book shall be kept in tabular form, so as to exhibit at one view, the true and full account of every such taxable; and at the time of making such entries respectively, the said treasurer shall write the word "paid" in his duplicatè, opposite the name of the person paying his said taxes, and at every regular meeting of the council, the said treasurer shall furnish to the council a transcript from his said book, of the transaction therein during the month preceding the first day of the month in which such meetings are held; the said treasurer shall also enter in the said book all other moneys received by him, for the use of the said borough, and furnish to the council, at their next regular meeting after the receipt of such other moneys, an account of the specific amounts received by him, and from whom received; and at all other times when required by the town council the said treasurer shall render an account of the moneys in his hands, and for all his services he shall receive two per centum on all the moneys received by him, except such as may be collected under the warrant issued by him as provided in the eighth section of this act. SECTION 11. That all taxes which may be hereafter lawfully imposed and assessed as aforesaid, shall be a lien on the real estate upon which they are assessed, and shall be paid in prefer ence to any other subsequent incumbrance on such property; and in addition to the other remedies in this act provided for the recovery of the same, may be collected by an action of debt against the owner or owners of any such property, before any tribunal having jurisdiction of the amount. SECTION 12. That the town council shall cause all accounts Annual account. of receipts and expenditures of moneys to be published up to the first day of March, inclusive, in each and every year, within ten days thereafter, and vouchers in support of all charges may be viewed at reasonable hours, by any taxable inhabitant owning property within the limits of the corporation, who may demand the inspection thereof; and the said council shall also keep regular minutes of their proceedings, which may be examined by like persons, and at like times, as the accounts aforesaid. SECTION 13. That hereafter it shall be lawful for the town coun- Street commiscil of the said borough, to appoint either one or more persons to sioners. act as street and road commissioners of the said borough. SECTION 14. That each of the officers appointed by the town Officers to bo council of said borough, shail before entering upon the duties swor of his office, take and subscribe a solemn oath or affirmation well and faithful to perform and execute the same, but no member of the town council shall be appointed to any office to which a compensation is attached, nor shall any member of the town council be surety for any officer or officers, from whom, by any law or ordinance of said borough surety may be required. SECTION 15. That the present members of the town council of said borough, shall continue to hold their office until the members authorized to be elected on the third Friday of March next, shall be duly qualified. Council continued SECTION 16. That so much of any act or acts of assembly as Repeat. RICHARDSON L. WRIGHT, APPROVED-The eighth day of March, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six. JAMES POLLOCK. No. 123. AN ACT Relating to returns by Collectors of Taxes upon Unseated Lands in the county of Erie. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represen tatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assem bly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That it shall be lawful for the commissioners of Erie county and they are hereby required to receive, at any time for thirty days after the passage of this act, from any collector of taxes in said county who has omitted to make a return of unseated lands or lots, as now required by law, such lists of unseated lands or lots, in their respective townships or wards, upon which either the state, county, school, city or road taxes for the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty four remain due and unpaid, to be received in like manner and with the same force and effect as if the same had been returned before the close of the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four; and sales by the treasurer of said Erie county, if any, of such lands or lots for said taxes, (in whole or in part,) which shall hereafter be made, in all other particulars in conformity with the laws of this commonwealth, shall be as valid and effectual as if the said list of unseated lands or lots had been made within the time and in the ordinary manner: Provided however, That no sale shall be made of any such unseated lands or lots so returned as aforesaid, in pursuance of the provisions of this act, before the expiration of two years from the passage of the same. RICHARDSON L. WRIGHT, Speaker of the House of Representatives. WM. M. PIATT, Speaker of the Senate. APPROVED-The eighth day of March, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six. JAMES POLLOCK. To authorize the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company to borrow money. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That May borrow it shall be lawful for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western money. mailroad company, to issue bonds or certificates of loan to an amount not exceeding two millions and six hundred thousand dollars, bearing interest at a rate not exceeding seven per cent. per annum, the proceeds thereof to be applied to the completion and equipment of their railroad, and other necessary purposes within their corporate powers, and to secure the payment Give mortgage. of such bonds or certificates, by a mortgage upon the whole or any part of their property, rights and franchises, subject to any existing incumbrances thereon: Provided, That no bond or cer- Proviso. SECTION 2. That said company shall not, at any time here- Purchase of coal after, have the right to purchase anthracite coal, mined from regulated. other lands than their own, when their charges from Scranton, in Luzerne county, to Elizabethport, in New Jersey, for the use of the road and motive power in the transportation of anthracite coal, shall exceed two cents per ton per mile. SECTION 3. That said company may purchase and hold, at or May buy land. near Elizabethport, in the state of New Jersy, such quantity of land as may be necessary for depot, wharfage and coal yard accommodations for their business, not exceeding fifty acres. SECTION 4. That the powers conferred upon said company to Branch reads. construct branch and lateral roads, shall authorize them to construct such roads at any point on the line of their main road, as well on the west as on the east side of the Lackawanna creek, and they may proceed to procure the right of way, and materials therefor, in the manner now provided relative to their main road. RICHARDSON L. WRIGHT, WM. M. PIATT, Speaker of the Senate. APPROVED-The eighth day of March, Anno Domini one thou sand eight hundred and fifty-six. JAMES POLLOCK. |