Chap. 173.—An ACT to consolidate in one act all acts creating and amending
the charter of the city of Lynchburg, and to create a new charter for said
city. .

Approved January 29, 1896.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That all acts
creating and amending the charter of the city of Lynchburg, in the
county of Campbell, be, and the same are, hereby consolidated into
one act, in manner and form following, which shall constitute a new
charter for said city.

CHAPTER I.

Corporate Limits.

The territory contained within the limits prescribed by the act
approved December nineteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy, 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 assembly, 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, im-
munities, powers, and privileges, and be subject to all the duties
and obligations now appertaining to and incumbent on said city as
& municipal corporation.

CHAPTER II.

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 purpose what-
ever, except upon property in the said counties owned by the inhabi-
tants 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 offices have existed
under the charter heretofore in force, shall continue to hold the
same under their previous election or appointment until the term of
such office as herein provided shall expire, dating the commence:
ment of such term from the time fixed in said former charter; and
all ordinances and laws in force immediately before the passage of
this charter, so far as is 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.

CHaprTreR III.
-Government.

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 may be constituted and appointed
by said council.

CuHapter IV.

Elections, oaths of office, bonds, and so forth.

1. The election of all the 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 hereinafter
mentioned, except as otherwise provided, it shall be the duty of the
council to certify the same to the judge of the corporation court, who
shall issue his writ for an election to fill such vacancy in the manner
prescribed by the general election 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 election laws
of the state, they shall communicate their order for the same tothe
judge of the corporation court, and the same proceedings shall be
had by it as are provided by law for special elections to fill vacan-
cles 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 council, before en-
tering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall be sworn in
accordance with the laws of the state. Such oaths may be adminis-
tered by any person competent to administer 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 appointment,
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 hereafter required by any law or ordinance, his office
shall be deemed vacant, and there shall be another appointment or
election for the same.

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 suc-
ceeding their election, and shall respectively continue in office until
their successors have qualified.

6. No person shall be eligible to any municipal office unless he be
a resident of the city, and has so been for six months before his
election; and the removal from the city of any one holding any
such office shall vacate the same.

7. The following officers shall give to the city bonds with sureties
to be approved by the council, conditioned so as to secure the faith-
ful discharge of their official duties, 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, five thousand dollars; the treasurer, fifty thousand
dollars ; the collector, fifty thousand dollars; the city auditor, twenty
thousand dollars; the commissioner of the revenue, twenty thousand
dollars; the city engineer, five thousand dollars; the high constable,
one 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 limitations, 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 no wise are to supersede the official bonds to the commonwealth re-
quired of any of said officers by law. All official bonds given by
municipal officers shall be filed with the city auditor, except that of
the auditor, which shall be filed with the clerk of the corporation
court.

8. In case of defaulton the part of any bonded municipal officer,
the city shall have the same remedies upon his bond against him
and his sureties as are provided for the state in enforcing the pen-
alty 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, provided
such appointments meet the approval of the council; but the sure-
ties of said officers, respectively, shall be equally liable for the acts
of said deputies as for those of their principals.

CHAPTER V.

Corporation Court—Mayor, his duties, and so forth.

1. The jurisdiction of the corporation court shall extend to the cor-
porate 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 super-
vision of the conduct of municipal officers and the general affairs of
the city shall 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, al!
moneys received by him 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 ordinances 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 ordered
as a penalty for any breach thereof.

7. In civil suits his jurisdiction within the corporate limits shall
be that of a justice of the peace, and when the matter in controversy,
aed of costs, does not exceed twenty dollars, his judgment shall

e fina

8. An appeal from the judgment of the mayor in imposing penalties
for infraction of the city ordinances may be taken to the corporation
court of the city, except in cases where the penalty imposed is a fine
not exceeding twenty dollars, in which cases 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 president
of the council or such aldermen as may be designated by the council,
shall act as mayor, and shal] 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 shal]
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 pro-
ceedings under this section shall be by order of or motion before said
court, upon reasonable notice to the party to be affected thereby.

15. Every such act, ordinance, resolution, and proceeding of the
council as is described in section five of chapter six of this charter
shall be submitted to the mayor for his approval or disapproval. If
he approve the same he shall sign it, and forthwith return it. If he
disapprove it, he shall within three days, excluding Sundays, return
it to the council with his objections in writing, and the clerk of the
council shall immediately endorse on it the precise date of such re-
turn. If the mayor shall fail so to return within three days any
such act, ordinance, resolution, or proceeding with his approval or
his objections, the same shall take effect as if it had been approved
and returned as aforesaid.
1. The council of the city shall be composed of five members 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 as 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 three members addressed to its clerk.
The members of the city council shall receive no compensation for
their services.

3. The council shall have authority to adopt such rules and ap-
point a clerk and such other officers as it may deem proper and
necessary for the regulation of its proceedings and the convenient
transaction of business, to compel the attendance of absent mem-
bers, to punish members for disorderly behavior, and, by a vote of
two-thirds of its whole number, to expel a member for misconduct
in office. It shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and its meet-
ings shall be open, except when the public welfare requires secrecy.

4. A majority of the members of the council shall constitute a
quorum for the transaction of business, but in any vote on any ordi-
nance, 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 yeas and nays shall
be entered on the record, and no such ordinance, resolution or pro-
ceeding shall be passed, except in cases where greater vote is re-
quired, 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 members as were present when such vote wastaken. No ordi-
nance, resolution, or motion which creates, continues, or revives any
appropriation of money or property, or releases, discharges, or com-
mutes any claim or demand of the city shall have any force or effect
unless the same shall receive the votes of the majority of all the
members elected to the council.

5. Every general ordinance, and every ordinance, resolution, mo-
tion, or other proceeding looking to the appropriation of money
other than for the payment of salaried officers, to the imposition of
taxes or assessments, the contracting of any debt or obligation on
behalf of the city, the continuance or revival of any appropriation
of money or property, or the release, discharge, or commutation of
any claim or demand of the city, shall be presented to the mayor for
his approval. Upon the return of any such ordinance, resolution,
motion, or other proceeding by the mayor with his objections, if two-
thirds of all the members elected to the council shall be of opinion
that the same otght to be passed, it shall, notwithstanding the ob.
jections of the mayor, become a law.
6. Upon the announcement by the president of the adoption of reso-
lutions or ordinances having for their object the increase of the in-
debtedness of the city or the expenditure of its revenue, except in
the payment of its salaried officers, any two councilmen may give
notice of a motion to reconsider, which motion shall delay the ques-
tion until said reconsideration can be acted on at the next regular
meeting of the council.

7. 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 vacancies in its body, and any person appointed to such
vacancy shall hold during the unexpired term of the person in whose
place he may be appointed.

(2) To control and manage the fiscal and municipal affairs of the
city, and 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 prop-
erty 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 main-
tenance of the poor and destitute. It shall possess and exercise ex-
clusive authority over all persons within the limits of the city re-
ceiving the benefits of the poor law; appoint officers and other
persons connected with any institution 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 appoint 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 buildings, and
to establish and regulate public squares and parks in or near the
city, and may acquire by purchase, through condemnation or other-
wise, the land it may deem necessary for such uses.

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

(8) To establish or acquire by purchase and to operate within or
without the corporate limits suitable works for the generation of
electricity for illuminating or other purposes, and to supply the same
to consumers in or near the city at such price and on such terms as
it may prescribe, and to that end may contract with owners of land
for the use thereof, or may have the same condemned.

(9) To take care, supervision and control of streets, squares and
commons, and to close, extend, widen, narrow, lay out, pave, gradu-
ate, improve and otherwise alter the streets in said city; have the
streets properly lighted and kept in good order; make or construct
sewers or public 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.

(10) To permit railroads to be built and to determine and desig-
nate the route and grade thereof; to permit poles for electrical pur-
poses to be erected, gas and steam pipes to be laid in the streets, and
to prescribe an annual license charge for the privileges granted here-
under; to regulate the speed of engines and cars upon the railroads
within the city, and to wholly exclude the same when the welfare of
the city may demand it.

(11) To provide for the weighing of hay, fodder, oats, shucks, or
other long forage, and live stock, and the measuring of wood and
lumber.

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

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

(14) To grant aid to military companies maintained within the
city, to associations for the advancement of agriculture or the me-
chanic arts, to scientific, literary, educational, or benevolent organi-
zations or institutions, and to public libraries: provided that all such
societies, organizations, or institutions, be located in or near the
city; and provided, further, that no appropriation for such purposes
ehall be made nor shall! aid be otherwise granted through exemption
from municipal taxation, or from charge for the use of water or light
furnished by the city, or through the extension of light or water
facilities, either with or without charge, beyond the city limits, unless
two-thirds of all the members elected to the council vote therefor.

(15) 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 effectually to discharge them.

(16) To provide for the registration of births in the city, and
to that end may require physicians, midwives, or parents to report the
same to the board of health under such regulations as it may deem

roper.
, (17) To provide in or near the city lands to be used as burial
places for the dead, to improve and care for the same and the
approaches thereto, and to charge for and regulate the use of
yround therein, to prohibit the burial of dead within the city and to
regulate public cemeteries, and to require the return of bills of mor-
tality by the keepers of all cemeteries in or near the city.

(18) To compel the abatement and removal of all nuisances with-
in the city at the expense of the person or persons causing the same,
or the owner or owners of the grounds whereon the same shall be; to
prevent or regulate slaughter-houses, tan-yards, soap and candle fac-
tories within said city, or the exercise of any dangerons, offensive,
or unhealthy business or employment therein, and to regulate the
transportation of coal, dirt, and other articles through the streets
of the city.

(19) To authorize and regulate the erection of party walls and
fences, and to prescribe how the cost thereof shall be borne by
coterminous owners.

(20) To direct the location of all buildings for storing explosive
or combustible substances; to regulate the sale and use of gun-
powder, nitro-glycerine, fireworks, kerosene oil, or other like ma-
terial ; to regulate the exhibition of fireworks, the discharge of fire-
arms, and the making of bonfires in streets and yards.

(21) To prevent animals from being kept in or from running
at large in the city, and to subject the same to such taxes, regula-
tions, and confiscations as it may think proper.

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

(23) To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants, and mendicants.

(24) To prevent vice and immorality; to preserve public peace
and good order; to prevent and quell riots, disturbances, and dis-
orderly aseemblages; to suppress houses of ill-fame and gaming
houses; to prevent lewd, indecent, and disorderly conduct or exhibi-
tions in the city, and to expel therefrom persons guilty of such con-
duct who have resided therein less than one year.

(25) 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 intoxi-
cating liquors to any child or minor, without the consent of his
parent or guardian, and to impose fines for violation of any such or-
dinance additional to those prescribed by state laws.

(26) To prevent the coming into the city of persons having no os-
tensible 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 bringing such passengers 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 compel such com-
pany to take them back from whence they came, or compel such
persons to leave the city if they have not been in the city more than
six months before the order is given.

(27) 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, carts, wagons, and drays, and
the business of hawkers, peddlers, persons selling goods by sample,
persons keeping billiard tables, ten-pin alleys, and pistol galleries
for profit, and as to such trades, occupations, and employments, or
any others of a like nature, may grant or refuse a license as it may
deem proper.

(28) To compel persons sentenced to confinement in the jail of the
city for petit larceny or other misdemeanors or violations ofthe city
ordinances to work on the public streets of the city, or be sent to the
poor-house, there to perform such labor as the overseers of the poor
may direct; and, on the requisition 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.

(29) To appoint a city engineer and acity surveyor, and prescribe
their respective powers and duties, terms of office, and compensation ;
but, at the discretion of the council, the offices of engineer and sur-
veyor may be consolidated. The engineer may have such assistants
and clerks as the council may approve.

(30) To appoint a collector of city taxes, a city attorney, and such
other officers as it may deem proper and necessary, and to define
their term of office, powers, duties, and compensation: any office,
however, 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 named of streets.

(33) To make such regulations and orders as will protect its citi-
zens against danger from unsafe houses or walls, and 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 sum-
moned before the board of officers of the city, who shall be charged
by the ordinances with such duty, and allowed reasonable opportu-
nity 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 regu-
late the construction of buildings in the city so as to protect it
against danger from fire.

(36) To prescribe any penalty for the violation of any city ordi-
nance not exceeding three hundred dollars, or three months’ im-
prisonment in the city jail, or both; and to further provide that the
parent or guardian of any minor, or the master of any apprentice,
shall be subject to fine for any offence committed by such minor or
apprentice. Any penalty, which may be imposed for a violation of
an ordinance, which shall be above one hundred dollars 1n 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 repugnant 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, the peace, comfort, conve-
nience, order, morals, health and protection 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, au-
thority, capacity or jurisdiction, which is or shall be granted to or
vested in said city or in the council, court or officers thereof, or
which may be necessarily incident to a municipal corporation.

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

(39) Concurrently with the board of supervisors of Campbell
county, to take care, supervision and control for a distance of two
miles from the city limits of all public roads extending from the
city into Campbell county, and jointly with said supervisors to close,
extend, widen, narrow, lay out, graduate, pave, macadamize, and
otherwise improve and alter said roads for such distance, and keep
the same in good order and repair, and to condemn the necessary
land for this purpose; to make or construct sewers, drains and ducts
through the same, or wherever else they deem expedient for the
maintaining and preserving thereof; build bridges in or culverts
under said roads; prevent or remove obstructions or encroachments
in, under, or over the same; plant shade trees along the same, and
prevent the cumbering or injuring in any manner said roads, pro-
vide for the sprinkling or watering thereof, and do all other things
necessary for the proper use and preservation thereof; but the said
council of the city of Lynchburg shall in no case have power to ex-
pend more than one-half of the amount of money used in the con-
struction and repairing of said roads. The city council shall have
authority to pass the proper and necessary ordiuances for the carry-
ing out the powers hereby conferred, and to enforce the same by fine,
to be inflicted by its mayor or police justice by the same proceedings
and in the same manner that violations of city ordinances are now
punished, and the city is given the same powers for collecting said
fines that it possesses in the collection of fines inflicted for offences
committed within its limifs, Nothing contained herein shall be
construed as compelling the exercise of the powers herein given or
as fixing any liability on the said city for the failure to exercise or
the improper exercise of the said powers, except damages for the
land condemned, which are to be ascertained and fixed in the man-
ner provided by the general laws of the state.

8. (1) The council shall appoint a board of police commissioners,
to consist of one person from each ward of the city not a member of
its own body, to be chosen from the qualified voters of such ward,
and shall prescribe their respective terms of office. When a vacancy
occurs in said board, otherwise than by the regular expiration of the
term of a member, the council shall fill the vacancy for the unex-
pired term.

mais
(2) The board of police commissioners shall elect one of their
number president, shall keep a record of their proceedings, and shall
adopt such rules as they may deem proper for their government in
the transaction of their business.

(3) The board shall select from among the electors of the city,
subject to the approval of the council, a chief of police, whose pay,
duties, and bond shall be such as the council may ordain. The war-
rant of appointment of said chief of police, when so approved, shall
be signed by a majority of the board and filed with the city auditor.
The board shall further, upon the nomination of the chief of police,
appoint such number of policemen as may be authorized by the
council, and shall perform any other duties which the council may
delegate to it.

(4) The chief of police and policemen appointed as herein pro-
vided shall constitute the police force of the city, and shall hold
their respective positions during good behavior or until they are re-
moved by the board.

(5) The police force 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 every member thereof is hereby
made a conservator of the peace and endowed with the powers of a
constable in criminal cases and with such other powers under the
laws of the state as may be necessary to the discharge of the duties
of his office.

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

9. (1) The council shall appoint a board of fire commissioners, to
consist of one person from each ward of the city not a member of its
own body, to be chosen from the qualified voters of such ward, and
shall prescribe their respective terms of office. When a vacancy
occurs in the board, otherwise than by the regular expiration of the
term of a member, the council shall fill such vacancy for the unex-
pired term.

(2) The board of fire commissioners shall elect one of their num-
ber president, shall keep a record of their proceedings, and shall
adopt such rules as they may deem proper for their government in
the transaction of their business.

(3) The board shall select from among the electors of the city,
subject to the approval of the council, a chief engineer, whose pay
and bond shall be such as the council may ordain. His warrant of
appointment, when so approved, shall be signed by a majority of the
board and filed with the city auditor.

(4) The board shall select and enlist upon the nomination of the
chief engineer such number of firemen as the council shall authorize,
and any vacancy in the force of firemen shall be filled in like
manner. The chief engineer and firemen shall retain their posi-
tions during good behavior or until they are removed by the board.

(5) The board of fire commissioners shal] perform any other duties
connected with the fire department which the council may delegate

to it. Caoocle
10. Copies of the ordinances, printed under the authority of the
council, and transcripts from such ordinances or from the journal
or ordinance book of the council, certified by the clerk thereof, shal]
be received as evidence for any purpose for which the original
ordinances or journal could be received and with like effect.

CHaPpTeER VII.
Other Officers.

1. There shall be for said city a judge of the corporation court, a
commonwealth’s attorney, a clerk of the corporation court, a treas-
urer, & 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 at-
torney, and all other municipal officers which the council has the
power to appoint shall be appointed by it at such times and shall
hold office for such terms as may be fixed by the ordinances of the
city, and their respective duties and compensation shall be fixed by
the said ordinances.

3. There shall be elected by the qualified voters of the city of
Lynchburg four aldermen from each ward of the 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
shall be confined to the corporate limits of said city, and within said
limits shall be equal and co-extensive 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 re-
moved. Said high constable shal) keep his office in some convenient
place in the city, and shall have the same powers and duties and be
subject to the same penalties as are prescribed by law for other con-
stables; and shall further perform such other duties as may be pre-
scribed by the ordinances of the city, for which his compensation
shall be fixed by the council.

CuapTerR VIII.
Bonds, Taxes, Sinking Funds, et cetera.

1. The council may in the name and for the use of the city con-
tact debts and cayse_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 have 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 sixteen per centum of the value of the real and
personal estate in the city as assessed for taxation; and provided,
further, that the council shall not contract debts or issue any evi-
dences thereof for the purpose 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. .

2. Nodebt shall be created by the council for a longer period than
four months, unless the ordinance creating the same shal! have been
introduced at some meeting of the council at least thirty days be-
fore the same is passed; but an amendment 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 by law from
taxation, all corporations located in the city or having their princi-
pal office therein and not exempt by law from taxation, all moneys
owned by or credits due to any person living in the city, all 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 taxation; in-
come, 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 shal! a tax be imposed at the same time upon stock of a corpora-
tion and upon the dividends thereon. Assessment upon stocks and
bonds shall be according to the market value thereof. —

4. 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 mer-
chants, auctioneers, manufacturers, traders, lawyers, physicians,
dentists, brokers, keepers of ordinaries, hotel keepers, boarding-
house keepers, keepers of drinking or eating-houses, keepers of livery
stables, photographic artists of all kinds, agents of all kinds, (inclu-
ding 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 theatrical or other performances or shows,
keepers of billiard tables, ten-pin alleys, pistol galleries, hawkers, ped-
dlers, sample merchants, 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 employment,
the council may lay a direct tax or may require a license therefor,
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 third section of this chapter.

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

7. There shall be set apart annually from the revenues of the city
8 sinking fund equal to one per centum on the aggregate outstanding
debt of the city which by its terms is not payable within one year.
Said sinking fund, as it accrues, shall be applied to the redemption
of said debt: provided that if no part of the same be due or obtain-
able by purchase at reasonable rates the said fund shall be invested
in the bonds of the state of Virginia or of the United States.

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 members elected to such council.

9. The council may vest in the collector of city taxes and assess-
ments, the collector of water rents, water rates, and water assessments,
and any other collector of sums due the city, which it 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 pro-
ceeding and the mode of proceeding against him for the failure to per-
form his duties. No deed of trust or mortgage upon goods or chat-
tels 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 distrained
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 commencement of the year for which they are as-
sessed. The city council may require real estate in the city delin-
quent for the non-payment of taxes to be sold for said taxes, with
interest thereon and such per centum as they may prescribe for ex-
penses 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 common-
wealth 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 pre-
scribe. :

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

CHaptTEerR IX.
Streets, highways, and so forth.

1. The city shall not take or use any private property for streets
or any other public purposes without making just compensation 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 orcourt of this eommonwealth to stay the proceeding
of the city in the exercise of any power herein granted it over ite
streets and highways, unless it be manifest that it is exceeding its
powers and that the interposition of the court is necessary to pre-
vent injury which cannot be adequately compensated in damages.

3. In every case where there has been or shall be encroachment
upon a street by a fence, building, or otherwise, the mayor may re-
quire the ownerto remove the same. If such removal shall not be
made within the time ordered, the mayor may impose a penalty, to
be fixed by the council, for each day which it is allowed to continue
thereafter, and may cause the ehcroachment 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 dedica-
ted to the public, and the city shall have the same authority and ju-
risdiction over and right andinterest 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 public, and
places a plat thereof on record clearly showing his intention in re-
gard 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 streets, whether the same has been
opened and used by the public or not, shall have the effect of closing
such street or to divest the interest of the public therein or the au-
thority of the city thereover.

7. Whenever any new street shall be opened, any existing street
graded or paved, or any culvert or other public improvement made,
the city council may determine what portion of the expenses thereof
shall be paid by the city aud what portion by the owners of real
estate benefited thereby, and may order that the whole expense be
borne by the 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 same officer,
and in the same manner, as city taxes and levies; but nosuch pub-
lic improvement shall be made to be defrayed in whole or in part
by a local assessment unless first requested by a petition signed by
at least a majority of the owners of property to be assessed for such
improvement or unless, in ordering such improvement, three-fourths
of the whole council shall concur.

8. When water mains are laid ina 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 ex-
ceed one-quarter of one per centum of its assessed value. But it
shall also be authorized to exempt any property from such assess-
ment to which water is supplied and water rates charged.

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

CHAPTER X.

1. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby
repealed.
2. This act shall be in force from its passage.