tion of the candidate or candidates nominated upon the face of the returns, which contest and the mode of procedure therein shall be as follows:

(a) Authority and jurisdiction are hereby vested in the County Court or in the judge thereof in vacation, or in the Circuit Court or in the judge or judges thereof in vacation, to hear and determine primary contests. Where a petition to contest a primary shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the court, said petition shall forthwith be presented to the judge thereof, who shall note thereon the day presented, and shall also note thereon the day when he will hear the same, which shall not be more than five (5) days thereafter, and shall order issuance of summons to each defendant named in the petition.

(b) Summons shall forthwith issue to each defendant named in the petition and shall be served in the same manner as is provided in cases in chancery. The case may be heard and determined by the County or Circuit Court in term time, or by the judge or judges thereof in vacation, at any time not less than three days after service of process, and shall have preference in the order of hearing to all other cases. The petitioner shall give security for costs.

(c) If, in the opinion of the court, or the judge thereof, in which the petition is filed, the grounds for contest alleged are sufficient in law, the court shall proceed in a summary manner and may hear evidence. examine the returns, recount the ballots, and make such orders and enter such judgments as justice may require. The court shall ascertain and declare by a decree, as in chancery, to be entered of record in the proper court, the result of such election in the city or village for which the contest is made. The judgment or decree of the trial court shall be final. A certified copy of such decree shall forthwith be made by the clerk of the court and transmitted to the city or village clerk or clerk of the board of election commissioners, as the case may be, at least three days before election, who shall in such case be governed accordingly.

(d) If the candidate nominated at such primary should die or withdraw before the general municipal election, the vacancy caused thereby shall be filled by the placing of the name of the candidate, if for the office of mayor, receiving the third highest number of votes, and if for the office of commissioner, the candidate receiving the ninth highest number of votes at such primary, and so on in case of the death or withdrawal of more than one candidate.

(e) All general and special municipal elections in said city or village shall be held, conducted and contested under the election law in force in such city or village, except that the contest of the election of mayor and commissioners shall be had, prosecuted and conducted in the County or Circuit Court. The council hereunder shall not be the judge of the election and qualification of its members."

APPROVED June 11, 1917.

AN ACT to revise the law creating a firemen's pension fund in cities, villages and incorporated towns with a population of not less than five thousand and not more than two hundred thousand inhabitants.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That in all cities, villages and incorporated towns whose population exceeds five thousand and not more than two hundred thousand inhabitants, having a paid fire department, the city council or the board of trustees, as the case may be, shall levy a tax beginning with the year 1917, and for a period of two years thereafter of three-tenths (3-10) of one mill on the dollar on all the taxable property of such city, village or incorporated town. Such tax to be levied and collected in like manner with general taxes of such city, village or incorporated town, which said tax shall be in addition to all other taxes which such city, village or incorporated town is now or may hereafter be authorized to levy upon the aggregate valuation of all property within such city, village or incorporated town and the county clerk in reducing tax levies under the provisions of section two of an Act entitled: “An Act to amend section 2 of an Act entitled: "An Act concerning the levy and extension of taxes," approved May 9, 1901, in force July 1, 1901, as amended by an Act approved March 29, 1905, in force July 1, 1905, as amended by the Act approved June 14, 1909, in force July 1, 1909, as subsequently amended shall not consider the tax herein authorized as a part of the general taxes levied for such city, village or incorporated town purposes and shall not include the same in the limitation of three per cent of the assessed valuation upon which axes are authorized to be levied:

Provided, in cities, villages and incorporated towns, the city council or the boards of trustees in cities, villages and incorporated towns may dispense with the levy of such tax in case the pension fund, over and above the reserve fund, is sufficient to meet all demands of those requiring payment from the pension fund.

All moneys derived from the taxes so levied and one per centum of all revenues collected by such cities, villages and incorporated towns, authorizing persons or corporations to engage in any business, occupation or profession, excepting that of public utilities, also all fines imposed for the violation of fire ordinances, the enforcement or collection of which may be charged to, and be under the supervision of the chief officer or subordinate officers of such fire department in any such city, village or incorporated town, shall be set apart by the treasurer of such cities, villages or incorporated towns, to whom the same shall be paid, as a fund for the pensioning of disabled and superannuated firemen in such cities, villages and incorporated towns:

Provided, that the word or term "fireman" or "firemen" as used in this Act, shall include all persons, who at the time this Act becomes effective are entitled to the benefits of an Act entitled, "An Act to create a board of trustees of the Firemen's Pension Fund; to provide and distribute such fund for the pensioning of disabled firemen and the widows and minor children of deceased firemen; to authorize the retirement from service and pensioning of members of the fire department; and for the purposes connected therewith, in cities, villages and incorporated towns whose population exceeds fifty thousand (50,000) inhabitants, having a paid fire department," approved May 13, 1887, and in force July 1, 1887, as subsequently amended, and in cities which have adopted an Act entitled, "An Act to regulate the civil service of cities," approved and in force March 20, 1895, all persons who have been or shall be hereafter appointed to any position which is classified by the civil service commission of such city, in the fire service of such city, and in cities, villages and incorporated towns, which have not adopted said Civil Service Act and all persons appointed to any position in the fire department, with the limitations contained in this Act, shall also be included and entitled to the benefits of this Act.

§ 2. The treasurer, clerk, marshall or chief officer of the fire department and the comptroller of such city, village or incorporated town and three other persons who shall be chosen from the active firemen of such city, village or incorporated town and one other person who shall be chosen from the firemen who have been duly retired under this Act shall constitute and be a board by the name of the "Board of Trustees of the Firemen's Pension Fund." The members of this board to be chosen from the active firemen shall be elected by ballot at a biannual election at which election all active firemen of said city, village or incorporated town, shall be entitled to vote:

Provided, that in any city, village or incorporated town where there is no comptroller appointed or elected, that the mayor of such city, village or incorporated town shall be a member of such board and the members of said board to be chosen from among the firemen who have been duly retired or pensioned, as aforesaid, shall be elected by ballot at a biannual election, at which last mentioned election all retired firemen shall be entitled to vote.

The election or elections in this section provided for shall be held biannually on the third Monday in April under the Australian ballot system, at such place or places, in such city, village or incorporated town,

under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the members of this board:

Provided, however, that no person entitled to vote under the provisions of this section shall cast more than one vote at any such election. In the event of the failure, resignation, or inability to act of any member of said board elected under the provisions of this section, the successor to such member shall be elected at a special election which shall be called by said board and shall be conducted in the same manner as the biannual election hereunder. The said board shall elect from their number a president and secretary, provided, that in villages or incorporated towns, the board of trustees of the Firemen's Pension Fund shall consist of the president of the board of trustees, the town clerk, the town or village attorney, the chief officer of the fire department and three other persons who shall be chosen biannually from among the active firemen. The three members of said board to be chosen from the active firemen of said village or incorporated town and the member of said board to be chosen from the retired firemen shall be elected in the manner provided for in this section for the election of such member in cities.

§3. The said board shall have exclusive control and management of the fund mentioned in the first section of this Act, and of all money donated, paid, assessed or provided by law for the relief or pensioning of disabled, superannuated and retired firemen, their widows, minor children and dependent parents, and shall assess each fireman, not to exceed one (1) per centum of the salary of such fireman, to be deducted and withheld from the monthly pay of each fireman so assessed, the same together with all interest accrued or accruing thereon, to be placed by the treasurer of such city, village or incorporated town, who shall be er officio treasurer of such board, to the credit of such fund, subject to the order of such board.

The said board shall make all needful rules and regulations for its government in the discharge of its duties, and shall hear and decide all applications for relief or pensions under this Act, and its decisions on such applications shall be final and conclusive, and not subject to review or reversal except by the board. The board shall have the power to provide for the payment from said fund of all moneys which may be necessary for the expenses of the board.

The board shall cause to be kept a record of all its meetings and proceedings.

§ 4. All rewards in moneys, fee's, [fees,] gifts and emoluments that may be paid or given for or on account of extraordinary services by the fire department, or any member thereof (except when allowed to be retained by competitive award), and all moneys raised under section 1 of this Act, shall be paid into said pension fund.

The said board of trustees may take by gift, grant, devise or bequest, any money, real estate, personal property or other valuable thing; and such money, real estate, personal property, right of property or other valuable thing so obtained, and also all fines and penalties imposed upon firemen, shall be paid into the pension fund, and all moneys. raised under section one of this Act, shall in like manner be paid into

said pension fund, and treated as part thereof for the uses of such pension fund.

The board of trustees created under this Act, shall have power to take and may sell or dispose of in any manner that the said board, in its judgment, deems proper, any or all assets of any kind which are in its possession or under the control of the board of trustees of the Firemen's Pension Fund, existing at the time of the passage of this Act and all moneys and funds realized from the sale of such assets together with all other money or funds received or taken over shall become a part of the fund herein created for the purposes of payment of pensions, under the provisions of this Act; Provided, when twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) shall be received and accumulated in cities, villages and incorporated towns having a population of twenty-five thousand inhabitants or over and less than two hundred thousand inhabitants; and when fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) shall be received and accumulated in cities, villages and incorporated towns having a population exceeding five thousand (5,000) inhabitants and less than twenty-five thousand (25,000) inhabitants, such sums respectively, shall, in each case be retained as a permanent fund, and any excess thereof, in each such case, shall be available for the uses and purposes of such pension fund.

§ 5. If any fireman of any city, village or incorporated town of more than five thousand inhaibitants and less than two hundred thousand inhabitants, while in the performance of his duty, become and be found, upon examination by a medical officer, ordered by said board of trustees to be physically or mentally permanently disabled, by reason of service in such fire department, so as to render necessary his retirement from service in said fire department, said board of trustees shall retire such disabled member from services in such fire department; Provided. no such retirement on account of such disability shall occur unless said member has contracted said disability while in the service of such fire department.

When any fireman is retired as in this section provided, the said board of trustees shall order the payment to such disabled fireman. monthly from said pension fund, a sum equal to one-half of the monthly compensation paid to such fireman as salary, at the date of such retirement.

If, however, after placing a fireman on the pension roll, satisfactory proof is made to the pension board that such retired fireman has recov ered from such physical or mental disability, the board shall order that his pension cease and the fireman shall report back to the marshal or the chief of the fire department of such city, village or incorporated town. who shall thereupon order the reinstatement in active service, in the same rank or grade which such fireman held at the time of his retirement.

§ 6. Any member of the fire department who shall, while in the service of such fire department, in any city, village or incorporate town of more than five thousand inhabitants and less than two hundred thousand inhabitants, be killed or die as the result of injuries received. while in such service or of any disease contracted by reason of such occupation; or if any member of such fire department shall, while in such service, die froin any cause while in said service after a service of