512 



MISSISSIPPI. 



term of four years, with a salary of $2,500 per 

 annum. All marriage licenses are to be granted 

 and issued by the clerks of the Circuit Courts 

 of the several counties. Provision is made 

 against the abuse of the judicial process, by 

 the following section of the act: 



SECTION 10. Be it further enacted, That no clerk 

 of the Circuit Court or of the Chancery Court, and 

 no justice of the peace, shall be compelled to issue 

 any original process in any civil cause until the per- 

 son proposing to institute such suit shall deposit with 

 said clerks or justices of the peace a sum of money 

 sufficient to cover the same : Provided, That the pro- 

 visions of this section shall not apply to any person 

 wishing to institute any suit who shall make and file 

 an affidavit that he or she believes the cause of action 

 on which the suit is founded is meritorious, and that 

 he or she is unable to pay the costs, or give the secu- 

 rity required by this section. 



For the purposes of Chancery Courts the 

 State is divided into twenty districts, for each 

 of which a Chancellor is appointed by the 

 Governor, subject to the confirmation or rejec- 

 tion of the Senate. A court to be styled the 

 Chancery Court is to be held in each county 

 of the State four times a year. The jurisdic- 

 tion of these courts is defined in the following 

 sections : 



SECTION 3. Be it further enacted, That said Chan- 

 cery Courts shall have.full jurisdiction in all matters 

 of equity, and of divorce and alimony, in all matters 

 testamentary, and of administration, in minors' busi- 

 ness, in allotment of dower, in cases of idiocy, lunacy, 

 and of persons non compos mentis, and of all matters 

 properly cognizable in a court of equity, and per- 

 taining to matters properly cognizable in a court of 

 probates. 



SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That the said Chan- 

 cellors shall have power, in term tune, or in vacation, 

 to grant writs of injunction ne exeat, attachments, 

 and all other remedial writs, returnable to said courts, 

 and properly belonging to a court of chancery or 

 court of probates, and they shall, or may, make orders 

 for bail, and for the appointment of receivers, before 

 or after answer filed, isuch orders may also be made 

 by any of the Circuit Judges of the State, or the 

 Supreme Judges of the State. 



Free schools are provided for by the consti- 

 tution, and the subject early occupied the at- 

 tention of the Legislature. By the school law 

 which finally passed, a liberal system of educa- 

 tion is provided. 



Every county constitutes one school district, 

 except that any incorporated city of more than 

 5,000 inhabitanta shall constitute a separate 

 district. A Board of Education and a State 

 Superintendent of Education are provided for 

 by the constitution. The act requires the 

 Board of Education to choose a secretary of 

 the Board, and biennially to nominate to the 

 Senate for confirmation the candidates for the 

 office of County Superintendent of Public In- 

 struction, for which office the board are to 

 prescribe a standard of literary or educational 

 qualification, and they are to see that all can- 

 didates conform to this standard. The Board 

 of County Supervisors and the city council of 

 any city that constitutes a separate school dis- 

 trict are empowered to appoint a Board of 

 School Directors, consisting of six in each dis- 



trict, whose term of office is three years. Of 

 this board the County Superintendent is presi- 

 dent, and the clerk of the Circuit Court the 

 secretary. 



The Board of Education have general super- 

 vision of all lands, money, or other personal 

 property, granted or bequeathed to the State 

 for educational purposes, and are authorized 

 to sell any lands which have escheated to the 

 State for want of heirs, or which have been for- 

 feited for non-payment of taxes. The net 

 proceeds of such sales are to be placed to the 

 credit of the common-school fund, which is 

 under the management of the board: 



To the Boards of School Directors are dele- 

 gated the more immediate management and 

 supervision of the schools. They are also re- 

 quired to prescribe a uniform series of text- 

 books, to be used throughout their respective 

 counties, and are authorized to make arrange- 

 ments for furnishing the books to the various 

 schools of their districts, at the actual cost 

 price. It is made the duty of the Board of 

 County Supervisors to levy a tax upon the 

 taxable property of each district, of not more 

 than ten mills on the dollar, for school-house 

 purposes, and of not more than five mills on 

 the dollar, for a teachers' fund. 



To relieve the State from its financial em- 

 barrassments, an act of great importance, pro- 

 viding for the issue of certificates of indebted- 

 ness by the State, was passed. These certifi- 

 cates are to be of denominations not larger 

 than five dollars, nor less than one, and are not 

 to exceed in the aggregate $500,000. They 

 are to be received by tax-collectors and all 

 other officers in payment of taxes and other 

 dues to the State (except the special tax pro- 

 vided in the act), for the full sum expressed on 

 their face, and in payment for any thing sold 

 by the State. For the purpose of retiring 

 these certificates of indebtedness, bonds are to 

 be issued to the amount of $500,000, for which 

 the certificates are exchangeable at their par 

 value ; said bonds to be issued in five series of 

 $100,000 each, redeemable at the office of the 

 Secretary of State, between the 1st of January, 

 1872, and the 1st of January, 1876. These 

 series are to be issued in respective successive 

 years, and all the bonds of one series are to be 

 issued before any of the following series are 

 taken up. These bonds are to be of denomi- 

 nations of not less than $50, nor more than 

 $1,000, and are to bear interest at eight per 

 cent, per annum, payable semi-annually, in 

 current money of the United States. No 

 bonds are to be issued except in exchange for 

 the certificates of indebtedness authorized by 

 this act. For the payment of the interest and 

 principal, at maturity of these bonds, " a suffi- 

 cient special tax, which shall be a percentage 

 of the ordinary State tax, and shall be collect- 

 ed and paid into the Treasury in United States 

 currency," is to be levied, the whole amount of 

 which is to be reserved and set aside for the 

 payment of the interest and principal of these 



