CHAP. 127.—An ACT to amend and re-enact the charter of the city
of Lynchburg.

Approved March 3, 1880.

I. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the charter
of the city of Lynchburg be and hereby is amended and re-en-
acted so as to read as follows: ,

CHARTER OF THE CITY OF LYNCHBURG.
CuapTer I.
Corporate Limits.

The territory contained within the limits of the act pre-
scribed by the act approved December the nineteenth, eighteen
hundred and s2venty, and entitled an act to extend and
define the boundaries of the city of Lynchburg, and by any
other act which may be hereafter passed by the general assem-
bly altering or enlarging such boundaries, shall be deemed and
taken as the city of Lynchburg; and the inhabitants of the city
of Lynchburg, for all purposes for which towns and cities are
incorporated, shall continue to be one body politic in fact and
in name under the style and denomination of the city of Lynch-
burg, and as such shall have, exercise and enjoy all the rights,
immunities, powers and privileges, and be subject to all the
duties and obligations now appertaining to and incumbent on
said city as a municipal corporation.
The government of the city of Lynchburg shall be vested in
a mayor, a council, aldermen, and such boards and officers as
are permitted or required by law, and be constituted and ap-
pointed by said council.

CHAPTER ITI.
Elections, Ouths of Office, Bonds, &c.

1. The election of all municipal officers who are chosen by
the vote of the people shall be held at the intervals and on the
days prescribed for such elections by the laws of the state.

2. In case of a vacancy arising in any municipal office here-
inafter mentioned, except as otherwise provided, it shall be
the duty of the council to certify the same to the judge of the
corporate court, who shall issue his writ for an election to fill
such vacancies in the manner prescribed by the general elec-
tion laws of the state. ;

3. Whenever any special election shall be ordered by the
city council for any object not provided for in the general elec-
tion laws of the state, they shall communicate their order for
the same to the judge of the corporation court, and the same pro-
ceedings shall be had by it as are provided by law for special
elections to fill vacancies in any municipal office.

4. The mayor, members of the city council, and all other
officers of the city, whether elected by the people or the coun-
cil, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices,
shall be sworn in accordance with the laws of the state. Such
oaths may be administered by any person competent to admin-
ister an oath under the laws of the state, and a certificate of
such oaths having been taken shall be filed by each officer
with the clerk of the council, who shall enter the same upon
the journal of the council. If any person appointed or elected
to any office in said city shall neglect to take such oath for
thirty days after receiving notice of his election or appoint-
ment, or shall neglect for. the like space of time to give such
securities as may be required of him by the city council, as
hereinafter provided, or as may be hereinafter required by any
law or ordinance, his office shall be deemed vacant, and
another appcintment or election shall be made.

5. All persons elected by the people to fill any municipal
office shall enter upon the duties thereof on the first day of
July next succeeding their election, and shall respectively con-
tinue in office until their successors have qualified.

6. No person sha!l be elizible to any municipal office unl2ss
he be a resident of the city and has been a resident at least
six months before his election; and removal from the city of
any one holding any such office shall vacate the same.
7. The following officers shall severally give bonds to the
city with security to be approved by the council, conditioned
so as to secure their faithful discharge of the duties to the city
in their respective offices, and the several penalties of said
bonds shall be not less than the sums named below, but may
at the will of the council be greater, to-wit :

The mayor in a penalty not less than ten thousand dollars.

The treasurer in a penalty not less than fifty thousand dol-
lars.

The collector in a penalty not less than fifty thousand dol-
lars. }

The commissioner of the revenue in a penalty not less than
twenty thousand dollars.

The city engineer in a penalty not less than five thousand
dollars.

The high constable in a penalty not less than five thousand
dollars.

And any person holding a municipal office, whether such
office is enumerated above or not, and whether such office now
exists or be hereafter created by act of assembly or ordinance
of the city, may be required by the council, subject to the
above limitation, to give such official bond as it may deem
proper. The bonds provided for under this section are only
to secure official duties to the city, and in nowise are to super-
sede the official bonds to the commonwealth required of any
of said officers by law. All official bonds given by municipal
officers shall be filed with the city treasurer, except that of the
treasurer, which shall be filed with the clerk of the corporation
court.

8. In case of default on the part of any bonded municipal
officer the city shall have the same remedies upon his bond
against him and his securities as are provided for the state in
enforcing the penalty of any official bond given to it.

9. The treasurer, collector, commissioner of the revenue and
high constable may each appoint one or more deputies: pro-
vided, such appointments meet the approval of the council,
but the securities of said officers respectively shall be equally
liable for the acts of said deputies as for those of their prin-
cipals.

CuHaprTer IV.

Corporation. Court—Mayor—His Duties, &c.

1. The jurisdiction of the corporation court shall extend to
the corporate limits of the city, and to a space of one mile
without and around said limits, except that the same shall not
extend further into the county of Amherst than the corporate
line.

2. The mayor shall be elected by the qualified voters of the
city for the term of two years. His salary shall be fixed by
the ordinances of the city, and paid as therein directed; and
the salary of a mayor shall not be diminished during his term
of office.
3. The duties and powers of the mayor with reference to his
supervision over the conduct of municipal officers and the gen-
eral affairs of the city sha!l be such as are prescribed by the
constitution and laws of the state.

4. It shall be his duty to enforce the laws and ordinances of
the city, and all orders and resolutions of the council.

5. He shall report to the council as often as it may require
all moneys received by him for the use of the city from fines,
forfeitures and taxes under the ordinances and laws of the
city, and shall pay the same over at such times as he may be
required.

6. In criminal cases under the laws of the state he shall
exercise all the power and authority of a justice of the peace
within the limits of the jurisdiction of the corporation court
as given above; and in enforcing the laws and drdinances of
the city he shall have authority to impose and collect all fines
and penalties and inflict such other punishments as by said
laws and ordinances are ordained as a penalty for any breach
thereof.

7. In civil suits his jurisdiction within the corporate limits
shall be the same with a justice of the peace, except that the
maximum limit of such jurisdiction within the corporate limits
shall be one hundred dollars, and when the matter in contro-
versy, exclusive of costs, does not exceed twenty dollars, his
judgment shall be final.

8. An appeal may be taken from the judgment of the mayor
in imposing penalties for infraction of the city ordinances to
the corporation court of the city, except in cases where the
penalty imposed is a fine not exceeding twenty dollars, in
which case it shall be final.

9. The mayor shall have power to enforce the payment of
any fine or penalty imposed by him for any infraction of a city
ordinance by imprisonment in the city jail.

10. The mayor shall hold a court every day, except Sunday,
to take cognizance of such cases as may be brought before him
under the laws of the state or the ordinances of the city.

11. Whenever the mayor shall remove or suspend any city
officer he shall report the fact, with his reasons therefor, to the
council at its next regular meeting.

12. In case of the absence or inability of the mayor, the presi-
dent of the council, or such aldermen as may be designated by
the council, shall act as mayor, and shall possess the same
powers and discharge the same duties as the mayor during
such absence or inability.

13. In case a vacancy occurs in the office of mayor the same
shall be filled by the council, until such vacancy is filled by an
election by the people according to law.

14. The corporation court of the city may remove the mayor
from office for malfeasance, misfeasance, and gross neglect of
official duty, and such removal shall be deemed a vacation of
the office. All proceedings under this section shall be by order
of or motion before said court, upon reasonable notice to the
party to be affected thereby.
1. The council of the cit} shall be composed of five mem-
bers from each ward, who shall be elected by the electors of
their respective wards, and shall continue in office two years.

2. The council shall elect one of its members to act asa
president, who shall preside at its meetings, and when he shall
from any cause be absent or unable to act, it may appoint a
president pro tempore. The president may at any time call a
meeting of the council, and in case of his absence, inability or
refusal, the council may be convened by the order, in writing,
of any threé members, addressed to its clerk. The members
of the city council shall receive no compensation for their
services.

8. The council shall have authority to adopt such rules and
appoint a clerk, and such other officers as it deems proper and
necessary for the regulation of its proceedings and the con-
venient transaction of business; to compel the attendance of
absent. members; to punish for disorderly behavior; and by
vote of two-thirds of its whole number to expel a member for
misconduct in office. It shall keep a journal of its proceed-
ings, and its meetings shall be open, except when the public
welfare requires secresy.

4. A majority of the members of the council shall consti-
tute a quorum for the transaction of business. But in any
vote on any ordinance, resolution or other proceeding looking
to the appropriation of money, the imposition of taxes or
assessments, or the contracting of any debt or obligation on
behalf of the city, the ayes and nays shall be entered on the
records, and no such ordinance, resolution or proceeding shall
be passed except in cases where a greater vote is required
unless the same shall receive the votes of a majority of the
whole number of members elected. No vote shall be rescinded
or reconsidered -at a special meeting unless there be then
present aS many as were present when such vote was taken.
No ordinance, resolution or motion which creates, continues or
revives any appropriation of money or property, or releases,
discharges or commutes any claim or demand of the city, shall
have any force or etfect unless the same shall receive the votes
of a majority of all the members elected to the city council.

5. The council shall have all the general powers vested in it
by the laws of the state, and shall further have power,

(1.) To fill the vacancies in its body; and the persons so
appointed shall hold during the unexpired term of the person
in whose place he is appointed.

(2.) Tocontrol and manage the fiscal and municipal affairs of
the city and of all property, real and personal, belonging to
the city, and may make such ordinances, orders and by-laws
relating to the same as it may deem proper and necessary.
(3.) To purchase, hold sell and convey all real and personal
property necessary for its uses and purposes.

(4.) To establish markets in the city, and regulate the same,
and to enforce such regulations in regard to the keeping and
sale of fresh meat, vegetables, eggs and other green groceries,
and the trade of hucksters and junk dealers, as may be deemed
advisable. ;

(5.) To erect in or near the city suitable work-houses, houses
of correction or reformation, and houses for the reception and
maintenance of the poor and destitute. It shall possess and
exercise exclusive authority over all persons within the limits
of the city receiving or entitled to the benefits of the poor law ;
appoint officers and other persons connected with any institu-
tion or house which it may establish, and regulate pauperism
within the limits of the city; and the council, through a board
of overseers of the poor, or such other agencies as it may ap-
point for the direction and management of the poor of the city,
shall exercise the powers and perform the duties vested by
law in overseers of the poor.

(6.) To erect and keep in order all necessary public build-
ings, including a city jail and public school-houses, and to open
and regulate public squares and parks.

(7.) To establish or enlarge water-works or gas-works within
or without said city ; to contract with the owners of land for
the use or purchase thereof, or may have the same condemned
for the location or enlargement of said works, or the pipes or
fixtures thereof. They may protect from injury or pollution,
by proper penalties, said works, or anything connected there-
with, within or without said city,.and may, under this authority,
prevent the pollution of the water in the river by prohibiting
the throwing of filth or offensive matter therein for a distance
of six miles above the limits of the city.

(8.) To take care, supervision and control of streets, squares
and commons, and to close, extend, widen, narrow, lay out,
pave, graduate, improve and otherwise alter the streets in said
city; have the streets properly lighted and kept in order;
make or construct sewers, or pubiic ducts, through the same,
or wherever else they may deem expedient; build bridges in
or culverts under said streets or alleys; prevent or remove
obstructions or encroachments over, under or in the same,
plant shade trees along the same, and prevent the cumbering
of streets, alleys, walks, public squares, lanes or bridges in
any manner whatever.

(9.) To permit railroads to be built ana telegraph poles to be
erected, gas and steam pipes to be laid in the streets, and de-
termine and designate the route and grade of any railroad to
be laid in said city, and to regulate the speed of engines and
cars upon the railroads within said city, and may wholly ex-
clude the same when the welfare of the city may demand it.

(10.) To require spirituous liquors, wine, oils, molasses, vin-
egar and spirits of turpentine in casks to be gauged and
inspected ; to provide for the weighing of hay, fodder, oats,
shucks or other long forage, and to provide for the measuring
of corn, oats, grain, coal, stone, wood, lumber, potatoes and
other articles of sale or barter.

(11.) To require every merchant or trader in property of any
description which is sold by measure or weight to have his
weights and measures sealed by the city sealer.

(12.) To provide or aid in the support or maintenance of the
public free schools; to appoint the school board for the city,
and to designate the age of pupils to be admitted into the
public schools and the grade of such schools.

(13.) To grant aid to military companies organized within
the city; to associations for the advancement of agriculture
or the mechanic arts; to fire companies; to scientific, literary
or benevolent societies, and to public libraries: provided, that
all such associations shall be located in or near the city of
Lynchburg: provided, that no appropriation for such purpose
shall be made unless two-thirds of all the members elected to
the council shall vote therefor.

(14.) To secure the inhabitants from contagious, infectious or
other dangerous diseases; to establish a quarantine ground ;
to provide and maintain hospitals; to compel the removal of
patients to the same; to appoint and organize a board of
health, define its duties and grant to it the necessary authority
etfectually to discharge them.

(15.) To take the necessary measures to prevent accidents by
fire, and especially to organize, equip and govern fire compa-
nies, and to appoint a fire marshal and assistants, with ail
powers now or hereafter to be vested in such officers; and to
purchase and keep in order fire engines and other apparatus.

(16.) To provide in or near the city lands to be improved
and kept in order as burial places for the dead, and may regu-
late and charge for the use of ground in the same; may pro-
hibit the burial of the dead in the city, and may regulate
public burial grounds; and to require the return of bills of mor-
tality by the keepers of all cemeteries in or near the city.

(17.) To compel the abatement and removal of all nuisances
within the city, at the expense of the person or persons causing
the same, or the owner or owners of the ground wherein the
same shall be; to prevent or regulate slaughter-houses, tan-
yards, soap and candle-factories, within said city, or the exer-
cise of any dangerous, offensive or unhealthy business or em-
ployment therein; and to regulate the transportation of coal,
dirt and other articles through the streets of the city.

(18.) To authorize and regulate the erection of party walls
and fences and to prescribe how the cost thereof shall be borne
by co-terminous owners.

(19.) To direct the location of all buildings for storing gun-
powder or other combustible substances; to regulate the sale
and use of gunpowder, fire-crackers, fire-works, kerosene oil,
nitro-glycerine, camphene, burning-fluid or other combustible
material; to regulate the exhibition of fire-works, the discharge
of fire-arms, the use of candles and lights in barns, stables
and other buildings, and the making of bonfires in streets and
yards.
(20.) To prevent hogs, dogs and other animals from being
kept in or from running at large in the city, and to subject the
same to such taxes, regulations and confiscations as they think
proper.

-(21.) To prevent the riding or driving of horses or other
animals at improper speed; to “prevent the flying of kites,
throwing stones or engaging in any sport or employment in
the public streets which is dangerous or annoying to passen-
gers; and to prohibit and punish the abuse of animals.

(22.) To restrain apd punish drunkards, vagrants, mendi-
cants and street beggars.

(23.) To prevent vice and immorality; to preserve public
peace and good order; to prevent and quell riots, disturbances
and disorderly assemblages; to suppress houses of ill fame
and gaming-houses: to prevent lewd, indecent and disorderly
conduct or exhibitions in the city, and to expel therefrom per-
sons guilty of such conduct who have resided therein less than
one year.

(24.) To prevent the vending or other disposition of liquors
and intoxicating drinks to be drunk in any boat, store or other
place not duly licensed; to forbid the selling or giving to be
drunk any intoxicating liquors to any child or minor without
the consent of his parent or guardian; and to impose fines
for violation of any such ordinance additional to those pre-
scribed by state laws.

(25.) To prevent the coming into the city of persons having
no ostensible means of support, or of persons who may be
dangerous to the peace and safety of the city; and for this
purpose may require any railroad company, or the captain of
any boat bringing such passenger to the city, to enter into
bond with approved security that such persons shall not be-
come chargeable to the city for one year, or may compcl such
company or captain to take them back from whence they came,
and compel the persons to leave the city if they have not been
in the city more than six months before the order is given.

(26.) To regulate and control auction sales, livery stables,
slaughter-houses, theatrical performances or other public shows
or exhibitions; the hiring or use for pay of carriages, wagons
and drays, hawkers, peddlers, persons selling goods by sample,
persons keeping billiard tables, ten-pin alleys and pistol galle-
ries for profit; and as to such trades, occupations and employ-
ments, or any other of a like nature, may grant or refuse a
license as it may deem proper.

(27.) To compel persons sentenced to confinement in the
jail of the city for petit larceny, or other misdemeanors, or
violations of thecity ordinances, to work on the public streets
of the city, or be sent to the poor-house, there to perform such
labor as the overseer of the poor may direct; and on the requi-
sition of the mayor it shall be the duty of the sergeant of the
city to deliver such persons to the duly authorized agent of
the city for such purpose from day to day as he may be
required.

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(28.) To establish, construct, keep in order, alter or remove
buildings, wharves or docks on lands belonging to the city ; and
may levy and collect a reasonable tax or duty on boats or
cars coming to and using the same; and may regulate the
manner of using wharves and landings within the corporate
limits.

(29.) To appoint a city engineer anda city suveyor, and
prescribe their respective powers and duties, term of office,
and compensation. But at the discretion of the council the
offices of engineer and surveyor may be consolidated. The
engineers may have such assistants and clerks as the council
may approve.

(30.) To appoint a coliector of city taxes, a city attorney,
and such other officers as it may deem proper and necessary,
and may define their term of office, powers, duties and compen-
sation. Any officer which the council has the power to create,
it may abolish at any time, whether the term of office of the
incumbent has expired or not.

(31.) To change the boundaries of the wards and increase
the number thereof.

(32.) To give names to or alter the names of streets.

(33.) To make such regulations and orders as will protect
its citizens against danger from unsafe houses or walls, gnd to
that end shall have power to cause to be condemned and taken
down any such building or wall, but no such condemnation
shall be made or such house or wall taken down until the
owner thereof, or in case of an infant or insane person, his
guardian or committee, be duly summoned before the board or
officers of the city, who shall be charged by the ordinances
with such duty, and allowed reasonable opportunity to show
cause against such action.

(34.) To provide for the regular and safe construction of
houses in the city for the future.

(35.) To designate and prescribe from time to time the parts
of the city within which no building of wood shall be erected,
and to regulate the construction of buildings in the city so as
protect it against danger from fire.

(36.) To prescribe any penalty for the violation of any city
ordinance not exceeding three hundred dollars or three months’
imprisonment in the city jail; and to further provide that the
parent or guardian of any minor, or the master of any appren-
tice, shall be subject to a fine for any offence committed by
such minor or apprentice; any penalty which may be imposed
for a violation of any ordinance which shall be above one hun-
dred dollars in amount shall be prosecuted in the corporation
court; penalties under that sum may be imposed by the mayor.

(37.) To pass all by-laws, rules and ordinances not repug-
nant to the constitution and laws of the state which it may
deem necessary for the good order and government of the city ;

. the management of its property; the conduct of its affairs;

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the peace, comfort, convenience, order, morals, health and pro-
tection of its citizens or their property, and to do such other
things and pass such other laws as may be necessary or proper
to carry into full effect any power, authority, capacity or juris-
diction, which is or shall be granted to or vested in said city,
orin the council, court or officers thereof, or which may be
necessary incident to a municipal corporation.

(38.) To provide for the due publication in the newspapers,
or otherwise, of its ordinances and resolutions.

6. The printed copies of the ordinances, printed under the
authority of the council, and transcripts from such ordinances
or from the journal or ordinance bvok of the council certified
by the clerk thereof, shall be received as evidence for any pur-
pose for which the original ordinances or journal could be
received, and with as much effect.

CHAPTER VI.
Other Officers.

1. There shall be for said city a judge of the corporation
court, a commonwealth attorney, a clerk of the corporation
court, a treasurer, a sergeant, and a commissioner of the revenue,
each of whom shall be elected in the manner and at the time,
and shall hold office for the term prescribed by law; they shall
respectively perform such duties, have such powers, and be
liable to such penalties as may be prescribed by the laws of
the state or the ordinances of the city, made in pursuance
thereof.

2. The collector of city taxes, city engineer, and surveyor,
city attorney, and all other municipal officers which the council
has the power to appoint, shall be appointed by it at such
times and hold office for such terms as may be fixed by the
ordinances of the city. Their respective duties and compensc-
tion shall be fixed by the said ordinances.

8. There shall be elected by the qualified voters of the city
of Lynchburg four aldermen from each ward of said city, who
shall be residents of their respective wards, and shall be elected
by the voters thereof, and shall hold office for the term of two
years, and until their successors be elected and qualified,
unless sooner removed from office. The said aldermen shall
be conservators of the peace within the city and a space of one
mile beyond and around. They shall have the same powers
and duties within said limits in criminal cases as are now or
may be hereafter allowed by law to justices of the peace in the
several counties of this state. In civil cases their jurisdiction
should be confined to the corporate limits of said city, and
within said limits shall be equal and coextensive with that of
the mayor of said city, and they shall have the same power as
the mayor to enforce the ordinances of the city.

4. There shall be elected by the qualified voters of the
city one high constable, who shall hold his office for the term
of two years, and until his successor be elected and qualified,
unless sooner removed. Said high constable shall keep his
office in some convenient place in the city, and shall have the
same powers and daties, and be subject to the same penalties
as are prescribed by law for other constables, and shall further
perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the ordi-
nances of the city, for which his compensation shall be fixed by
the council.

CHAPTER VII.

Police.

1. The council shall, at its first meeting in the month of July
next succeeding the passage of this act, appoint one person,
not a member of its body, from each ward of the city, who
shall together constitute a board of police commissioners whose
term of office shall be for as many years as there may be elec-
tion wards in the city, except that of the board first elected.
The members from the first ward shall hold only one year; the
members from the second, two years; the members from the
third, three years, and so on; and after the first election the
council shall annually in the month of June fill the vacancy
created by the expiration of the term of office of one member
of the board, and the term of each member when so elected
shall then be the full number of years provided above. When
a vacancy shall occur in the board at any other time than at
the expiration of the term of a member, the council shall fill
the vacancy for the unexpired term. Shoulda new ward at any
time be added to the number now existing, the council shall
during the month of July next succeeding elect a member of
said board for said ward, but such election shall be in lieu of
the election which otherwise would have been made at that time,
and the term of office of the members of the board shall be in-
creased by one year, so as to be the same with the number of
wards and so that one member thereof shall be elected an-
nually.

2. As soon as practicable after said board has been appointed
the members shall qualify and organize by the election of one
of its members as president and another as secretary.

3. Upon its organization the board shall select from among
the electors of the city a chief of police, whose duties and
bond shall be such as may be ordained by the council. His
warrant of appointment, signed by a majerity of the board,
must be filed with the clerk of the council. The board shall
further elect such number of policemen as may be authorized
by the council, but no election of any policeman shall be made
except on the nomination of the chief of police. After the
police force has been so constituted any vacancy therein shall
be filled by the board in like manner. Such chief and police-
men shall constitute the police force of the city, and shall hold
their respective positions during good behavior or until they
may be severally removed by the board.

4. The board shall perform any other duties connected with
the police department which the council may delegate to it,
but for any services rendered by it shall receive no compen-
sation.
5. The police force when duly constituted shall be under the
control of the mayor for the purpose of enforcing peace and
order, and executing the laws of the state and.the ordinances of
the city. It shall also perform such other duties as the council
may prescribe. For the purpose of enabling it to execute its
duties and powers, each member thereof is hereby made a con-
servator of the peace, and endowed with all the powers of a
constable in criminal cases, and all other pewers which, under
the law of the state, may be necessary to enable him to dis-
charge the duties of his office.

6. The pay, uniform, rules and regulations for said police
force shall be prescribed by the council.

CHAPTER VIII.
Bonds, Tuxes, Sinking Fund, &-c.

1. The council may, in the name and for the use of the city,
contract debts and cause to be issued therefor notes or bonds ;
but no debt of the city shall be payable more than thirty-four
years from the date thereof: provided, that the council shall
not bave power to contract debts for the city, or issue evidences
thereof, whether notes or bonds, for sums which, when added
to the debt of the city then existing, shall cause the total
amount of the indebtedness of the city to be greater than
eighteen per centum of the value of the real and personal estate
inthe city assessed for taxation: and provided further, that
the council shall not contract debts or issue any evidences
thereof for the purposes of subscribing to the capital stock of
any internal improvement company; nor shall it cause the
bonds of any such company to be endorsed by the city without
first being authorized so to do by the vote of three-fourths of
the legal voters of the city and a majority of the freeholders
thereof.

2. No debt shall be created by the council for a longer
period than four months, unless the ordinance creating the
same has been introduced at some meeting of the council at
least thirty days before the same is passed; but an amend-
ment to such an ordinance need not lie over for an additional
thirty days.

3. For the execution of its powers and duties the council
may tax all real and personal property in the city not exempt
from taxation; all corporations located in the city, or having
their principal office therein, and not exempt by law from tax-
ation; all moneys owned by or credits due to any person living
in the city; ali capital of persons having a place of business
in the city and doing business therein, and employed in said
business, though the said business may extend beyond the
city : provided, that so much of said capital as is invested in
real estate or employed in the manufacture of articles outside
the city limits shall not be taxed as capital; all stocks in
incorporated joint stock companies doing business in the city,
and by whomsoever owned, and not exempt by law from taxa-
tion ; incomes, interest on money, dividends of banks or other
corporations: provided, that no capital, interest, income or
dividends shall be taxed when a license or other tax is imposed
upon the business in which said capital is employed, or upon
the principal money, credits or stocks from which the interest,
income or dividend is derived; nor shall a tax be imposed at
the same time upon stock of a corporation and upon the divi-
dends thereon; assessment upon stocks and bonds shall be
ace ording to the market value thereof.

_ The council may impose a tax of fifty cents per annum
upon each male resident of the city who has attained the age
of twenty-one years.

5. ‘The council may impose a tax on merchants, commission
merchants, auctioneers, manufacturers, traders, lawyers, phy-
sicians, dentists, brokers, keepers of ordinaries, hotel keepers,
boarding-house keepers, keepers of drinking or eating-houses,
keepers of livery-stables, daguerrean artists of all kinds, agents
of all kinds (including the agents of insurance companies
whose principal office is not located in the city), sellers of wine
and other liquors, venders of quack medicine, public theatri-
cal or other performances or shows, keepers of billiard tables,
ten-pin alleys, pistol galleries, hawkers, peddlers, sample mer-
chants, and upon any other person or employment which it
may deem proper, whether such person or employment be
herein specially enumerated or not, and whether any tax be
imposed thereon by the state or not. As to all such persons
or employinents the council may lay a direct tax or may require
a license tlierefor under such regulations as it may prescribe
and levy a tax thereon; but the taxes herein authorized shall
be subject to the provisions and conditions set forth in the
fourth section of this chapter of this charter.

6. The council may subject any person who, without having
obtained a license therefor, shall do any act or follow any em-
ployment or business in the city, for which a license may be
required by ordinance, to such fine or penalty as it is authorized
to impose for any violation of its laws.

7. There shall be set apart from the resources of this city a
sum equal to one per centum per annum on the aggregate debt
not payable within one year, whether contracted heretofore or
hereafter. The fund thus set apart shall be called the sinking
fund, and shall be applied to the payment of the debt of the
city as it shall become due, and if no part be due and payable,
it shall be invested in the bonds or certificates of debt of the
city, or of this state, or of the United States, or of some state
of this Union.

8. The council shall not appropriate any part of the sinking
fund, or its accruing interest, otherwise than as mentioned in
the preceding section, except in time of war, insurrection, or
invasion, and then only by a vote of two-thirds of all the mem-
bers elected to such council.

9. The council may vest in the collector of city taxes and
assessments, the collection of water rent, water rates and water
assessments, and any other collector of sums due the city
which if may appoint, any or all of the powers which are now
or may be hereafter vested in any collector of state taxes, and
may prescribe the mode of his proceeding, and the mode of
proceeding against him for failure to perform his duties. No
deed of trust or mortgage upon goods or chattels shall prevent
the same from being distrained and sold for taxes assessed
against the grantor in such deed, while such goods and chattels
remain in the possession of the grantor, nor shall any such
deed prevent the goods and chattels conveyed from being dis-
trained and sold for taxes assessed thereon, no matter in whose
possession they may be found.

10. There shall be a lien.on real estate for the city taxes
assessed thereon, from the commencementof the year for which
they are assessed. ‘The city council may require real estate
in the city, delinquent for the non-payment of taxes, to be sold
for said taxes, with interest thereon, and such per centum as
they may prescribe for expenses of collection; and they may
regulate the terms on which real estate, so delinquent, may be
sold or redeemed: provided, that all such sales shall be made
subject to the prior lien of the commonwealth for taxes.

11. A tenant from whom payment of taxes on his landlord’s
property shall be obtained by distress or otherwise shall have
credit for the same against such person on account of his rent
unless by contract the tenant is to pay such taxes.

12. All moneys received or collected for the use of the city
shall be paid over, held and disbursed as the council may order
or prescribe. ,

13. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the corporation court
of said city, annually, between the first and fifteenth days of
January, to furnish the commissioner of the revenue for said
city a certified list of all transfers of real estate which have
been made in his office during the preceding twelve months.

CHAPTER IX.
Streets, Highways, &§c.

1. The city shall not take or use any private property for
streets or other public purposes without making just compen-
sation for the same; but where the city cannot obtain title to
ground necessary for its purposes, it may proceed to condemn
the same in the mode prescribed by law.

2. No order shall be made and no injunction shall be granted
by any judge or court of this commonwealth to stay the pro-
ceeding of the city in the exercise of any power herein granted
it over its streets and highways unless it be manifest that it is
exceeding its powers and that the interposition of the court is
necessary to prevent injury which cannot be adequately com-
pensated in damages.

3. In every case where there has heen or shall be encroach-
ment upon a street by a fence, building or otherwise the mayor
may require the owner to remove the same. If such removal
shall not be made within the time ordered, the mayor may im-
pose a penalty, to be fixed by the council, for each day which
it is allowed to continue thereafter, and may cause the encroach-
ment to be removed at the risk and cost of the owner.

4. Wherever any ground shall have been opened to and used
by the public as a street for ten years, it shall be considered
as dedicated to the public, and the city shall have the same
authority and jurisdiction over and right and interest therein
as it has over other streets.

5. When the owner of any property in the city divides the
same into lots, reserving streets therein for the use of the pub-
lic, and places a plat thereof on record clearly showing his
intention in regard thereto, it shall be held a dedication thereof
to the public use, and the fee in the same shall thereby vest in
the city as a part of its streets.

6. No agreement between or release of interest by persons
owning the land contiguous to such street, whether the same
has been opened and used by the public or not, shall have
effect of closing such street, or to divest the interest of the
public therein or the authority of the city thereover.

7. Whenever any new street shall be opened, any existing
street graded or paved, or any culvert or other public improve-
ments made, the city council may determine what portion of
the expenses thereof shall be paid by the city, and what por-
tion by the owners of real estate benefited thereby ; and may
order that the whole expense be borne by owners of such real
estate. The assessment made against the owners of said real
estate for such improvement shall be a lien on said property,
and may be collected by the officer and in the same manner as
city taxes and levies; but no such public improvement shall
be made, to be defrayed in whole or in part by a local assess-
ment, unless first requested by a petition signed by at least a
majority of the owners of property to be assessed for such im-
provement, or unless in ordering such improvement three-
fourths of the whole council shall concur.

8. When water mains are laid in a street the council shall
have power, for the purpose of meeting the expenses of the
water works of the city, to levy an annual special assessment
upon the real estate on both sides of such street: provided,
such assessment shall not exceed one-quarter of one per centum
of its assessed value; but it shall also be authorized to exempt
any property from such assessment to which water is supplied
and water rates charged.

9. The term “streets” when used in this charter shall be
held to mean strects, alleys, lanes and all species of public
highways.

CHAPTER X.

General Provisions.

1. The city of Lynchburg and its inhabitants shall be exempt
from all assessments for levies in the way of taxes imposed by
the authorities of Campbell or Amherst counties for any pur-
pose whatever, except upon property in said counties owned
by the inhabitants of said city, nor shall said inhabitants be
liable to serve upon juries in said counties.

2. Unless otherwise specially provided, the persons holding
any of the offices provided for in this charter which have here-
tofore existed under the charter in force immediately before
its adoption shall continue to hold the same under their present
election or appointment until the term of such office shall, as
herein provided, expire, dating the commencement of such
term from the time fixed in said former charter; and all ordi-
nances and laws in force immediately before the passage of
this charter, so far as consistent herewith, and all liabilities,
rights, actions, claims, contracts and prosecutions arising there-
under, shall remain and continue as if this act had not been
passed.

II. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are
hereby repealed, and all acts in any way concerning said cor-
poration and the rights of the people thereof, or any of them
not inconsistent with this act shall be in as full force to all
intents and purposes as if this act had never been passed.

III. This act shall be in force from its passage.