7 train, with train crew consisting of less than six (6) persons, 8 to-wit: One engineman, one fireman, one conductor, one flagman, 9 and two brakemen.

Sec. 4. Any railroad company, its officers or agents, receivers 2 or any person or persons having control of the operation of freight 3 trains doing business in this state who shall violate any of the 4 provisions of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon 5 conviction shall be fined the sum of one hundred dollars.

Sec. 5. Suits for the violation of this act may be instituted 2 in any county of the state having jurisdiction of the subject matter, 3 by any prosecuting attorney of said county, and the fines recovered 4 hereunder for violations of this act shall be subject to the same 5 disposition as other fines collected for the violation of the laws of 6 this state.

Senate Bill No. 179

[BY MR. HARMER.]

Introduced January 29, 1919. Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. February 5, reported back with the recommendation that it do pass. February 6, taken up in regular order for consideration, read a first time and ordered to its second reading.

A BILL to amend and re-enact sections seventy-four and eighty-six of chapter three of the code concerning elections.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

Section 74. Any officer or person who shall offend in any of 2 the following particulars:

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(1) Any commissioner of election or poll clerk who shall know4 ingly make or cause to be made, or conspire with others to make, 5 a false return of the result of the votes cast for any candidate at a 6 precinct election held pursuant to law; or,

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(2) Any commissioner of election receiving the ballot of a voter 8 to be deposited in the ballot-box at any precinct election, who shall 9 put another ballot in the box instead of the one so received by 10 him; or,

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(3) Any commissioner of election or poll clerk who shall count 12 and string a ballot not taken from the ballot box, in lieu of one 13 taken or which should have been taken, from such ballot-box; or, 14 (4) Any commissioner of a county court, whether acting as

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15 such or ex-officio as a member of a board of canvassers or otherwise, [S. B. No. 179 16 clerk of a county court, or other person, who shall abstract from 17 any package of ballots voted, sealed and returned from any precinct 18 election either before or after they are filed with the clerk of the 19 circuit or county court, or who shall in any manner change any 20 such ballot from what it was when voted by the voter, or who shall 21 put another ballot in such package in the place of one so abstracted 22 therefrom; or,

23 (5) Any commisioner of a county court, whether acting as such 24 commissioner or ex-officio as a member of a board of canvassers or 25 otherwise, who shall knowingly make and enter of record, or in 26 any way aid, counsel or advise the same to be done or permit the 27 same to be done without objection on his part, any false or fraudu28 lent statement of the result of any election held within their 29 county; or,

30 (6) Any person who shall aid, assist, counsel or advise in the 31 commission of any of the offienses above specified; every such officer 32 or person so offending shall be guilty of felony, and upon convic33 tion thereof, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than five 31 nor more than ten years, and at the discretion of the court, he 35 may in addition thereto, be fined not less than five hundred nor 36 more than five thousand dollars. And any person who shall falsely S. B. No. 179]

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37 make or fraudulently deface or fraudulently destroy, any certificate 38 of nomination or any part thereof; or file any certificate of nom39 ination, knowing the same or any part thereof, to be falsely made, 40 or suppress any certificate of nomination which has been duly filed, 41 or any part thereof; or forge or falsely make the official endorse42 ment of any ballot, or print or cause to be printed, any imitation 43 ballot, or circulate the same, or erase, deface, or change in any 44 manner, any election record, or any ballot, poll book, tally sheet 45 or certificate of election deposited with either of the clerks of the 46 county or circuit courts; or conspire with another to do any of 47 said acts, or induce or attempt to induce any other person to do 48 any of said acts, whether or not said acts, or any of them, be com49 mitted or attempted to be committed, shall be deemed guilty of a 50 felony and upon conviction thereof shal be punished by imprison50-a ment in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than five 50-b years.

51 (7) Any commissioner of election, poll clerk or challenger 52 who shall fail or refuse, without reasonable excuse therefor, to 53 serve as such election offcer after he has been appointed, or who 54 shall demand or receive any greater compensation than that herein 55 provided shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon con[S. B. No. 179 56 viction thereof shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor 57 more than one hundred dollars.

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Sec. 86. Every commissioner of election, poll clerk, chal2 lenger and ballot commissioner shall be allowed three dollars each 3 day he shall serve as such, and any commissioner or messenger 4 shall receive three dollars and mileage at the rate of five cents per 5 mile for delivering the ballots, ballot boxes, poli books and tally 6 sheets to the voting place, and like compensation for returning 7 the same.

8 The ballot commissioners, however, shall not receive an al9 lowance for more than two days.

PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE COMMITTEE ON RAILROADS

Senate Bill No. 54.

[BY MR. CHAPMAN.]

Introduced Jan. 14, 1919. Printed by order of the Committee on Railroads.

A BILL to require railroads to provide safe and convenient caboose cars on freight trains, and imposing a penalty for failure so to do. Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

Section 1. That is shall be unlawful for any railroad com2 pany, corporation, firm, individual, receiver or trustee, operating a 3 standard guage railroad as a common carrier in the state of West 4 Virginia, to run or permit to be run over its tracks, except in yard 5 limits and in transfer service, a train of one or more cars, other 6 than a passenger train, without having attached thereto a caboose 7 car, excepting cases of emergency occurring on the road which will 8 not permit a compliance of this act, and provided further that the 9 provisions of this act shall not apply to light engines.

Sec. 2. Said caboose car shall not be less than twenty-one 2 feet in length, exclusive of platforms at each end, which shall not 3 be less than two feet in width and shall be constructed with a door

4 in each end and with eight (8) windows in the body of the car, and 5 shall be equipped with two four-wheel trucks and an emergency 6 brake valve in the body of the car within reach of the cupalo, and 7 shall have a cupola with eight windows, and shall be of a construc8 tive strength of a sixty thousand pound capacity freight car, ex9 cept where pusher engines are used, when it shall be of a resistent [S. B. No. 54 10 strength equal to that of a hundred thousand pound capacity 11 freight car.

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Sec. 3. Whenever any caboose car now in use upon any such 2 railroad in this state shall, after this act goes into effect, be brought 3 into the shops of any such railroad for general repairs, it shall be 4 unlawful to again put the same into the service of such railroad, 5 within this state unless it be equipped as provided in section two of 6 this act.

Sec. 4. Such railroad company, corporation, firm, individual, 2 receiver or trustee, operating standard guage railroads in this state 3 as a common carrier, shall equip for service in accordance with 4 provisions of this act at least ten per cent of the number of caboose 5 cars in use on its railroads in this state, that are not so equipped, 6 but the public service commission of this state is hereby author7ized to grant to any such railroad company, corporation, firm or in8 dividual or receiver, or trustee operating a standard guage railroad 9 as a common carrier in this state, upon a full hearing and for a 10 good cause shown, a reasonable extension of time within which to 11 comply with the provisions of this act.

Sec. 5. Any such railroad company, corporation, firm, in2 dividual, receiver or trustee operating a standard guage railroad in 3 the state of West Virginia as a common carrier violating any of the S. B. No. 54]

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4 provisions of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon 5 conviction thereof shall be fined one hundred dollars ($100.00) for 6 each offense.

Sec. 6. Provided that the provisions of this act shall not ap2 ply to any such railroad company, corporation, firm, individual, re3 ceiver or trustee operating a standard guage railroad in this state, 4 as a common carrier, which railroad may now or hereafter have 5 neither of its terminals in this state, nor to any standard guage 6 railroad operated as a common carrier which is not more than thir7 ty miles in length.

Sec. 7. Prosecutions under this act shall be made by the pro

2 secuting attorney of the state in any court of competent jurisdiction 3 in any county or municipal corporation, in or through which such 4 railroads may have run the train thus improperly equipped.

Sec. 8. An emergency for the comfort and convenience of the. 2 train crews being declared to exist, this act shall be effective on and 3 after its passage.

Senate Bill No. 13

[BY MR. SANDERS.]

Introduced January 13, 1919. Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. January 15, reported back with the recommendation that it do pass. January 16, taken up in regular order for consideration, read a first time and ordered to its second reading.

A BILL to amend and re-enact sections three, seventeen, and eighteen

of chapter one hundred and thirty-five of the code of West Virginia, of one thousand nine hundred and thirteen, prescribing the limitations for writs of error and appeals.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That sections three, seventeen, and eighteen of chapter one hundred and thirty-five of the code be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 3. No petition shall be presented for an appeal from, 2 or writ of error or supersedeas to, any judgment, decree or order, 3 whether the state be a party thereto or not, nor to any judgment 4 of a circuit court or municipal court rendered in an appeal from 5 the judgment of a justice, which shall have been rendered or 6 made more than six months before such petition is presented. 7 Provided, that if such judgment, decree or order was rendered 8 or made before this section as amended takes effect such petition 9 may be presented within one year from the date of such judg10 ment, decree or order.

Sec. 17. No process shall issue upon any appeal, writ or 2 error or supersedeas allowed to or from a final judgment, decree 3 or order, if when the record is delivered to the clerk of the ap4 pellate court there shall have elapsed eight months since the date 5 of such final judgment, decree or order, but the appeal, writ of