FLORIDA. 



309 



be kept by him, in the form of a credit in favor of 

 the prisoner ; and the warden shall also record in 

 favor of any prisoner who shall well and truly per- 

 form the labor allotted to him, either in the prison, 

 or by contract for individuals, and shall not have 

 violated any of the rules of the prison, a credit of 

 five days for each month of the term of his sen- 

 tence ; and the Commissioners of Public Institutions 

 shall, from time to time, consider the record of con- 

 duct of each prisoner, and they shall have authority 

 to allow the said credits, and to recommend the Ex- 

 ecutive clemency in behalf of any prisoner so cred- 

 ited, and, upon the allowance by the commissioners, 

 the total number of days specified in favor of the 

 prisoner shall be deducted from his term of sentence. 



An act was passed to " provide for the pro- 

 tection of the citizens of this State against 

 defaulting foreign corporations," which re- 

 quires all insurance companies formed in other 

 States to deposit with the Treasurer $30,000 

 in State bonds before doing business in Flori- 

 da. Violation of this requirement by the offi- 

 cer of any foreign insurance company is made 

 a felony, punishable by a fine of $500. Any 

 foreign corporation ceasing to transact insur- 

 ance business in the State can withdraw these 

 bonds on publishing notice of its application 

 therefor once a week for twelve weeks, but 

 the bonds will not be surrendered " on such 

 application during the life of any insurance 

 policy issued by such company to any person 

 covering property in this State, or during the 

 pendency of any action against such corpora- 

 tion or company in any court of this State up- 

 on any policy of insurance, or while any judg- 

 ment recovered in this State shall remain un- 

 satisfied against such company, if notice of 

 the existence of any such policy, action, or 

 judgment, with an affidavit of the truth there- 

 of, shall have been filed with the Treasurer 

 prior to the application to withdraw such 

 bonds." 



It is further provided that 



Whenever execution upon any final judgment 

 against such corporation or company shall have been 

 returned unsatisfied in whole or in part, and a certi- 

 fied copy of such execution and the return thereon 

 shall be presented to the State Treasurer, it shall be 

 his duty to advertise said bonds to be sold by him, 

 at the capitol at Tallahassee, to the highest bidder, 

 at a time to be named, not less than thirty days from 

 the first publication of notice of such sale, so many 

 only of said bonds being sold as may be necessary to 

 realize the amount due upon said execution, with 

 costs of advertising, and five per cent, upon said pro- 

 ceeds for the fees of the Treasurer for his services in 

 making such sale. 



An act was also passed authorizing counties, 

 that have incurred indebtedness for the con- 

 struction of railroads, to levy a tax upon the 

 road-bed and personal property of such roads 

 lying within their own limits, unless such 

 property has been exempted from taxation in 

 the charter of the roads. 



Most of the other important legislation of 

 the session related to the finances of the State. 

 Besides the general act for raising revenue, 

 there was an act for the equalization of taxa- 

 tion, an act to provide for the support of com- 

 mon schools, and "an act relating to the 



finances of this State." The equalization act 

 provides for a Board of Equalization, consisting 

 of a joint committee of the two branches of 

 the Legislature, three members being appointed 

 by the President of the Senate, and five by 

 the Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

 It is to be the duty of this board to revise and 

 determine the relative value of the real estate 

 in different counties, and the Comptroller is 

 required to apportion the taxes according to the 

 valuation so determined. The same act imposes 

 a tax of one dollar per mile on all telegraph-lines 

 operated upon land within the limits of the 

 State, and eight dollars per mile on submarine 

 telegraph. The officers of telegraph compa- 

 nies are required to make an annual report of 

 the length of lines under their control, in or- 

 der that the tax may be assessed, and if they 

 fail so to do, or neglect to pay the tax, their 

 property is liable to be seized and sold. 



A special tax of one-tenth of one per cent. 

 on the assessed value of taxable property in 

 the State is to be levied for educational pur- 

 poses, and collected at the same time, and in 

 the same manner, as. other taxes. The interest 

 on the common-school fund and the fund 

 raised by this one-mile tax is to be apportioned 

 among the counties in proportion to the num- 

 ber of children between the ages of four and 

 twenty-one. The Board of Public Instruction 

 in each county is required to prepare an item- 

 ized statement on or before the last Monday 

 of May, in each year, showing the amount of 

 money required for the schools during the en- 

 suing year, and deliver the same to the clerk 

 of the Circuit Court. This amount shall not 

 be less than one-half that received from the 

 State, nor more than one-half of one per cent, 

 of the assessed value of taxable property in 

 the county, and is to be collected with the 

 other county taxes. Counties or school dis- 

 tricts neglecting to maintain schools, at least 

 three months in the year, forfeit their share 

 of the school funds, and the same is to be dis- 

 tributed among the other counties. 



The act "relating to the finances of the 

 State" provides for the issue of thirty -year 

 seven per cent, bonds for the purpose of fund- 

 ing the floating indebtedness of the State, 

 equal in amount to the Comptroller's warrants 

 and Treasurer's certificates outstanding, and to 

 be issued from July 1, 1871, to January 1, 

 1872, provided the aggregate do not exceed 

 $350,000. Those bonds being dated July 1, 

 1871, are to be exchanged for the Comptrol- 

 ler's warrants and Treasurer's certificates, 

 which are then to be cancelled. The pay- 

 ment of the interest on these bonds and the 

 accumulation of one per cent, of the principal 

 each year for a sinking fund are to be secured 

 by an annual apportionment of the necessary 

 amount among the counties, to be raised by 

 taxation. The interest coupons when due are 

 made receivable for all dues to the State, ex- 

 cept for the school fund, and the Treasurer is 

 required to cancel all coupons and warrants 



