Chap. 203.—An ACT to validate bonds issued under the provisions of an act
entitled “an act to provide for the settlement of the public debt of Virginia
not funded under the provisions of an act entitled an act to ascertain and
declare Virginia’s equitable share of the debt created before and actually
existing at the time of the partition of her territory and resources, and to
provide for the issuance of bonds covering the same, and the regular and
prompt payment of the interest thereon, approved February 14, 1882,” ap-
proved February twentieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and to provide
for the retirement of said bonds by authorizing and directing the issuance
and sale or exchange of $11,750,000.00 or so much thereof as may be neces-
sary, of bonds and/or notes of the Commonwealth of Virginia; to provide for
the payment of the interest on such bonds and/or notes herein provided for
and the principal thereof at maturity; to allow holders of bonds issued under
the said act of 1892 to exchange, upon certain conditions, said bonds for
bonds issued under the provisions of this act; to provide for the funding of
obligations of the Commonwealth authorized to be funded by an act, ap-
proved February twentieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, remaining un-
funded as of the date of issue of bonds herein authorized and for the pay-
ment of the principal of and accrued interest on the debt so funded and
making an appropriation therefor; to provide for the payment of expenses
incident to carrying out the provisions of this act and making an appropria-
tion therefor; to repeal all acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the pro-
visions of this act. [S B 358]

Approved March 14, 1936

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, as follows:
Section 1. Whenever in the opinion of the commissioners of the
sinking fund and the Governor it shall be for the best interest of the
Commonwealth the commissioners of the sinking fund, with the ap-
proval of the Governor, are hereby authorized and directed to issue and
sell bonds in the name of and on behalf of the Commonwealth of Vir-
ginia of the par value of eleven million seven hundred and fifty thou-
sand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, for the purpose
of raising funds to retire on call, before maturity, bonds of the Com-
monwealth of Virginia issued under an act entitled, “an act to provide
for the settlement of the public debt of Virginia not funded under the
provisions of an act entitled an act to ascertain and declare Virginia’s
equitable share of the debt created before and actually existing at the
time of the partition of her territory and resources, and to provide
for the issuance of bonds covering the same, and the regular and prompt
payment of the interest thereon, approved February fourteenth, eighteen
hundred and eighty-two,” approved February twentieth, eighteen hun-
dred and ninety-two, which said bonds are hereby found and declared
to be valid and legally binding obligations of the Commonwealth of
Virginia and all proceedings taken in connection with the issuance of
said bonds are hereby validated, ratified and confirmed.

If and when any bonds are issued under the provisions of this act,
the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund shall, notwithstanding any
other provisions of this act, allow any and all holders of bonds issued
under the provisions of the said act approved February twentieth, eight-
een hundred and ninety-two, and called for retirement as contemplated
in the preceding paragraph of this section, to exchange the said bonds
for bonds issued under the provisions of this act. Bonds issued under
the provisions of the said act of eighteen hundred and ninety-two shall
be accepted by the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund at par for bonds
of a like par value issued under the provisions of this act, subject to the
express condition that if the accepted bid for bonds issued under the
provisions of this act be in excess of par, the holder desiring to make
such exchange shall pay to the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund in
cash the difference between the par value of the bonds surrendered for
exchange and the value, at par plus premium, if any, as determined by
the accepted bid, of the bonds given in exchange. No exchange herein
provided for shall be allowed by the Commissioners of the Sinking
Fund, however, unless the holder of bonds issued under said act of
eighteen hundred and ninety-two shall notify the State Treasurer, with-
in such time as the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund shall prescribe,
of his intention to make such exchange and shall thereafter comply with
such requirements as the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund shall
prescribe with reference to such exchange. Bonds received by the Com-
missioners of the Sinking Fund through exchange as herein provided
shall be disposed of by the said Commissioners in like manner as herein
provided with reference to bonds retired in accordance with the other
provisions of this act.

Section 2. The bonds authorized and directed by this act to be
issued shall be dated the first day of July, nineteen hundred and thirty-
six, or a date subsequent thereto, to be determined by the commis-
sioners of the sinking fund and the Governor, and shall become due
and payable in such amounts and at such time or times as may be
fixed and determined by the commissioners of the sinking fund, with
the approval of the Governor, provided that such bonds shall mature
not later than fifty years from their date. They shall bear interest
payable semi-annually on January first and July first of each year, at
a rate or rates to be fixed by the commissioners of the sinking fund,
but not exceeding three per centum per annum. They shall be issued in
such denominations as the commissioners of the sinking fund may
determine.

Section 3. The said bonds may be issued in either registered or
coupon form, as the commissioners of the sinking fund may determine.

Bonds issued in registered form shall be registered as to principal
and interest in the office of the State Treasurer, who shall register in
books provided for that purpose, the number of each registered bond
issued under the provisions of this act, the date and the date of issue
thereof, its maturity, the amount of each bond, and the interest pay-
ment dates thereof, and the name and address of the registered owner.
Bonds issued in registered form shall be transferable only by the regis-
tered owner thereof or his duly authorized attorney in fact, upon pre-
sentation of such bonds at the office of the State Treasurer. Interest on
such registered bonds shall be payable semi-annually January first and
July first of each year at the office of the State Treasurer by checks
signed by him and issued on warrants drawn by the Comptroller.

The principal of such registered bonds shall be paid as they mature
upon presentation and surrender of such bonds on or after the maturity
date or dates thereof, by the registered owner or his duly authorized
attorney in fact, at the office of the State Treasurer.

The State Treasurer shall list all coupon bonds issued under this
act separately in books provided for the purpose, in each case giving
the number, date of issue, maturity, and amount of each bond and shall
list all registered bonds, as provided in the preceding part of this section.

The coupon bonds shall have affixed to them coupons in proper
amounts representing interest to become due on such bonds payable
semi-annually January first and July first of each year. The principal
of and interest on such coupon bonds shall be payable to the bearer
upon presentation and surrender of the principal bonds or the interest
coupons, as the case may be, as they severally mature at the office of
the State Treasurer on or after their maturity dates, such payments to
be made by checks signed by the State Treasurer and issued on war-
rants drawn by the Comptroller with respect to interest and by warrants
authorized by the commissioners of the sinking fund with respect to
principal.

Both the principal of and interest on the bonds issued under the
provisions of this act shall be payable in lawful money of the United
States.

Section 4. Registered bonds issued hereunder shall be convertible
into coupon bonds of equal amount, upon presentation and surrender
of such registered bonds at the office of the treasurer by the registered
owner thereof, or his duly authorized attorney in fact, and the coupon
bonds shall be convertible into registered bonds of equal amount upon
such presentation and surrender of such coupon bonds with all un-
matured interest coupons attached. The conversion of registered bonds
into coupon bonds and of coupon bonds into registered bonds shall be
done as at present with reference to the public debt, and the provisions
of sections twenty-six hundred and thirty-four, twenty-six hundred and
thirty-five, twenty-six hundred and thirty-six, twenty-six hundred and
thirty-seven, twenty-six hundred and thirty-eight, twenty-six hundred
and thirty-nine and twenty-six hundred and two of the Code of Vir-
ginia, shall be applicable, so far as not inconsistent with the provisions
of this act, to the bonds issued hereunder.

Section 5. The bonds and coupons issued under the provisions of
this act shall be lithographed or engraved, and the bonds shall be
signed, on behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia, by the Treasurer
of Virginia and the Comptroller, under the lesser seal of the Common-
wealth. The interest coupons on such bonds as may be issued in coupon
form, shall bear the facsimile signature of the State Treasurer, which
signature upon such coupons may be his lithographed or engraved
facsimile signature. The said bonds and coupons may be signed by
the present Treasurer and Comptroller, or by their respective successors
in office at the time of signing, but no change in such signature shall
be necessary by reason of any change of said officers. The said bonds
shall be lithographed or engraved by a company of recognized standing,
who shall either permit the plates to be the property of the Common-
wealth of Virginia, or shall, in the presence of the Comptroller and
State Treasurer, destroy the said plates.

Section 6. The State Treasurer shall be the custodian of all unsold
and unexchanged bonds issued pursuant to the provisions of this act
and of the plates from which such bonds and the interest coupons are
lithographed or engraved, if they be not destroyed as hereinbefore
provided.

Section 7. All bonds issued under the provisions of this act shall
be exempt from taxation by the Commonwealth of Virginia and by
every county, district, or municipality thereof, which fact shall appear
on the face of these bonds as a part of the contract with the holder
thereof.

Section 8. The full faith and credit and taxing power of the Com-
monwealth of Virginia are hereby pledged to secure the payment of
the principal and interest of the bonds issued under the provisions of
this act. In order to insure the prompt payment of the interest on such
bonds as it matures, there shall be annually set aside beginning July
first, of the year in which the bonds are dated, out of any moneys in
the general fund of the State treasury, a sum sufficient for such pur-
pose; and in order to create a sinking fund for the payment of the
principal of such bonds at maturity, there shall be annually set aside,
beginning July first, of the year in which the bonds are dated, out of
any moneys in the general funds of the State treasury such an amount,
as if repeated annually and if laid out at interest, would be sufficient
for the payment of such principal when due. The moneys belonging
to such sinking fund shall be invested by the commissioners of the
sinking fund in safe securities at the highest rate of interest obtainable,
and all interest received on such investments shall become a part of
the sinking fund. When such bonds mature, they shall be paid by the
commissioners of the sinking fund out of the sinking fund provided
for that purpose.

Section 9. The commissioners of the sinking fund shall, except as
otherwise provided, in this act, sell the bonds issued under the provi-
sions of this act, for cash at such prices not less than par, as may be
approved by them. The sums of money, equal to the par value of the
bonds so sold, received from the sale of bonds issued and sold under
the provisions of this act shall be paid into the State treasury by the
commissioners of the sinking fund for credit to the sinking fund for
bonds issued under the act approved February twentieth, eighteen hun-
dred and ninety-two, required by that act to be established, for which
purpose and for the purposes hereinafter set forth in this section the
said sums of money are hereby appropriated. All sums of money
received in connection with the sale or exchange of bonds authorized
by this act in excess of the par value thereof and any assets of that
sinking fund remaining after all bonds for which the said sinking
fund was established have been retired shall be credited to or trans-
ferred to the credit of the sinking fund for the bonds issued under
the provisions of this act, to be used to the extent required to retire
the said bonds at maturity. The commissioners of the sinking fund
shall make and keep a record of all bonds issued under the said act
approved February twentieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, sur-
rendered to them, and shall cancel all such bonds, and out of the pro-
ceeds derived from the sale of the bonds issued under this act shall pay
the par value of the bonds so surrendered and not exchanged as pro-
vided in section one of this act.

Section 10. At any time after the issuance of the bonds herein
provided for, has been authorized by the commissioners of the sinking
fund and before the sale of said bonds, the commissioners of the sink-
ing fund may anticipate the issuance of refunding bonds authorized by
this act by issuing and selling or exchanging negotiable notes of the
Commonwealth of Virginia, in coupon or registered form, bearing in-
terest at a rate not exceeding six per centum per annum and maturing
not later than two years from their date and all other provisions of
this act applicable to bonds herein authorized to be issued, shall apply
to such notes. Such notes may be renewed or refunded from time to
time by the issuance of refunding notes running for a like period of
not exceeding two years from their respective dates, which dates shall
be the dates of maturity of the notes for the renewal or refunding of
which such notes may be issued. If notes are issued pursuant to this
section then the refunding bonds authorized by this act shall not be sold
and delivered or exchanged more than thirty days prior to the date of
maturity of such notes.

Section 11. Except insofar as is prescribed in this act, the com-
missioners of the sinking fund shall determine the forms of the bonds
and/or notes provided for in this act and of the coupons to be attached
to the coupon bonds and/or notes. The commissioners of the sinking
fund are authorized to do any and all things necessary in carrying out
the provisions of this act and in the issue, sale and exchange of the
bonds and/or notes herein authorized. All expenses incurred in carrying
into effect the provisions of this act, shall be paid out of the State
treasury, out of any moneys in the State treasury not otherwise ap-
propriated, upon warrant of the Comptroller drawn on the State Treas-
urer, upon vouchers approved by the commissioners of the sinking
fund for which purpose there is appropriated a sum sufficient.

Section 12. The commissioners of the sinking fund may, with the
written approval of the Governor being first obtained, when the said
bonds or any part thereof are due, effect temporary loans for and on
behalf of the sinking fund provided for in section eight (8) of this act
and pledge as security therefor any securities in which funds of the
said sinking fund have been invested, when the opinion of the said
commissioners such action should be taken in lieu of selling the securi-
ties so purchased; if any such loan be effected the securities pledged
shall within a reasonable time thereafter be disposed of and the pro-
ceeds from such sale used to repay the money borrowed.

Section 13. Obligations of the Commonwealth of Virginia author-
ized to be funded by the provisions of the said act of the General As-
sembly, approved February twentieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two,
hereinbefore referred to, remaining unfunded as of the date on which
bonds authorized by this act are issued, if surrendered on or after
that date shall be funded in accordance with the provisions of the Act
of the General Assembly, approved February twentieth, eighteen hun-
dred and ninety-two, and amendments thereto, but the bonds issued
for the obligations surrendered shall be deemed to have been called for
retirement at par as of the date the said bonds are issued. The said
bonds so issued shall be retained by the Commonwealth, the owner
thereof paid for the same their value at par plus accrued interest from
the next preceding interest payment date and the said bonds shall be
forthwith cancelled. For the purpose of making provisions of funds for
the retirement of the said bonds and for the payment of accrued interest
thereon there is hereby appropriated out of any moneys not otherwise
appropriated out of the general fund of the Commonwealth a sum
sufficient.

Section 14. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions
of this act are hereby repealed.

Section 15. This act being necessary for the protection of the public
welfare and for the best interest and credit of the Commonwealth an
emergency is hereby declared to exist, and this act shall take effect and
be in force immediately upon its passage.