papers. The first chapter of the memoir was prepared by Mr. Taney himself and covers twenty three years of his life, a life covering the historical part of our government and reaching from 1777 to 1864. The fact that a portion of the profits of the work is to be devoted to the benefit of the family of the deceased, who (owing to the niggardly manner in which we reward our judges) are sadly in need of the assistance, should give the memoir an extensive sale among the profession of the country.

LEGAL NEWS.

Ex-judge Cardozo has resumed the practice of the law in New York city.

The Connecticut legislature has displayed its good sense by repealing the usury law. Connecticut laws are not quite so blue" after all.

There will be no district courts in Salt Lake city until September next, which causes much dissatisfaction among the attorneys.

Prince Mohamed Wuhiduddin, a member of one of the most powerful and influential Mohamedan families in India, and a grandson of the famous Tippo Sultan, recently received a call to the English bar.

Governor Hoffman has issued a proclamation ordering an extraordinary general term of the supreme court for the third judicial department, on the 16th inst., at Albany, at which will be heard the appeals in the suits brought in the Tweed and other New York

cases.

L. H. Roots, recently suspended from the office of marshal of the western district of Alabama, is charged with having expended, during one year, nearly $240,000 for expenses of the court, or more than the expense attending all the United States courts in the State of New York. His last requisition was for $25,000. The department of justice ordered $25,000 to be sent to him, but afterward withheld the amount.

A French paper gives the following summary of the result of the trials of the Communist prisoners: sentenced to death, 72; hard labor for life, 212; transportation of the first degree, 894; of the second degree, 2,900; detention, 1,169; imprisonment with hard labor, 60; imprisonment of three months and under, 305; imprisonment of three months and upward, 1,373; imprisonment to periods exceeding one year, 1,138; banishment, 291; total, 8,415; acquittals, 2,112, being at the ratio of about twenty per cent.

The following are the important changes made in the bankruptcy act: The time during which bankrupts may be discharged, upon payment of fifty per cent of their indebtedness, is extended until July 1, 1873; life insurance policies to the amount of $5,000 are exempted from assets available for creditors, and all judgments obtained against parties or property before petitions are filed are to be first and fully satisfied. It also allows all exemptions allowed by any State law on the 1st of January, 1871. It also exempts a widow's dower, or other estate in lieu thereof, if the State law so provides.

NEW YORK STATUTES AT LARGE. CHAP. 693.

AN ACT in relation to the service of citations on lunatics and idiots.

PASSED May 14, 1872; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. In proceedings for the proof of any last will and testament, or on any accounting or other proceedings in the surrogate's court, where any party entitled to be served with a citation shall be insane or an idiot, the citation shall be served on the committee of the person and estate, or of either, of such lunatic or idiot; and in case there shall not be any committee of the person and estate, or of either, then the citation shall be served on the lunatic or idiot personally, and also on the person in whose care and custody said lunatic or idiot shall be.

§ 2. Whenever a citation shall have been served on any lunatic or idiot, the surrogate shall appoint a special guardian for said lunatic or idiot, whose duty it shall be to take the care and charge of the interest of said lunatic or idiot on the proceedings for which he shall be cited.

CHAP. 696.

AN ACT to amend chapter two nundred and nine of the laws of eighteen hundred and forty-seven, entitled " An act in relation to cemeteries in incorporated villages."

PASSED May 14, 1872; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Section one of chapter two hundred and nine of the laws of eighteen hundred and forty-seven, entitled "An act in relation to cemeteries in incorporated villages," as amended by chapter one hundred and seventeen of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

§ 1. The tax payers of any incorporated village, at any meeting thereof lawfully convened, may, by resolution, direct the trustees of such village to purchase suitable lands for a burying ground for such village, or lands in addition to any burying ground now owned by said village, upon such terms and conditions, not inconsistent with this act, as such meeting shall prescribe; but the whole expense of purchasing such ground or additional lands in any village, fencing the same, and putting it in proper condition to be used as a burying ground, shall not exceed ten thousand dollars, unless the population of the village shall exceed four thousand persons, nor more than twenty thousand dollars in any case. And the title of such burying ground, when so purchased, shall be vested in such village by its corporate name, and shall be inalienable, except in the manner and for the purposes hereinafter mentioned.

§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

CHAP. 699.

AN ACT to establish a rifle range and to promote skill in marksmanship among the National Guard. PASSED May 14, 1872; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Whenever the National Rifle Association shall raise the sum of five thousand dollars, for the

purpose of securing, by lease or purchase, of a rifle range for the use of first and second divisions of the national guard of the State of New York, and of such association, and for the purchase and erection of the necessary buildings and appurtenances to fit up and equip the same, and shall, by resolution of its board of directors, appropriate the same to such purpose, the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, which is hereby appropriated, out of any funds in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, shall be expended for the same purpose, as hereinafter provided.

§ 2. The grounds for such range shall be selected by the board of directors of said National Rifle Association, and their location, together with the price to be paid therefor, shall be approved by the adjutant-general of the State, and also by the officers then commanding the first and second divisions of the said national guard, or by a majority of such officers, which approval shall be in writing, and shall be filed with the comptroller before any of the moneys hereby appropriated shall be expended for the payment thereof.

§ 3. The fitting up, equipping and managing of such range shall be done by the board of directors of said National Rifle Association, of which board the persons holding the office of adjutant-general of the State and those commanding the first and second divisions of said national guard shall hereafter always be ex-officio members; and no moneys in excess of one hundred dollars shall be expended for such purpose without a two-third vote of such directors, and without the approval of at least two of such ex-officio members.

§ 4. The comptroller of the State is hereby authorized and directed to draw his warrant upon the treasury of the State for the payment of the moneys expended by said board of directors for the purposes aforsaid, as the same shall be drawn upon by them from time to time, but no drafts shall be drawn by said board upon the funds hereby appropriated, except for an expenditure authorized and approved as provided in the preceding section.

§ 5. All such drafts shall specify upon their face the purpose for which they are drawn, and shall be drawn by the treasurer of said association and countersigned by another of the officers thereof, and by at least one of such ex-officio members of the said board of directors, and shall, in case such draft exceed the sum of one hundred dollars, be accompanied with the vouchers therefor, approved by two of such ex-officio members, and by the oath of the treasurer of said association, certifying that the sum or sums so ordered to be paid have been expended for the purpose of leasing or purchasing such range, or fitting up the same, or that the labor and materials have been duly performed or furnished thereon. It shall also be the duty of the treasurer of said association to file with said comptroller, every six months, a detailed account of all expenditures of said association during said period, verified by him under oath.

§ 6. No officer or member of said board of directors of said National Rifle Association, nor any of the officers named herein as ex-officio members of such board, shall be in any way interested, directly or indirectly, in any of the contracts made by said association for the purposes aforesaid, or in any of the purchases or expenditures made under the provisions of this act; neither shall they, or any of them, receive any salary or compensation for any services they may render in and about the purchase or fitting up of such range, or the management thereof.

§ 7. The said board of directors of said National

Rifle Association are hereby authorized, from time to time, to establish regulations for the use and management of such range, and shall have power to employ the necessary markers and assistants, which regulations shall be in writing, and shall be approved by said adjutant-general and the officers then commanding the first and second divisions of said national guard, or a majority of them, before becoming operative.

§ 8. For the purpose of preserving the property of the State, and of said National Rifle Association upon said range, and of preventing accidents, the persons employed thereon by said rifle association are hereby vested with the powers of constables when in the performance of their duties, and wearing such badge of office as shall be prescribed by said association, and all persons trespassing upon such range, or injuring any of the targets or other property situate thereon, or willfully violating any of the regulations established to secure safety thereon, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 9. The commanding officer of either the first or second divisions of said national guard is hereby authorized to direct the use of said range by any of the regiments of his command without compensation for practice, field drill or any military purpose, whenever, and for such time, as he shall deem it proper or necessary.

$10. The commander-in-chief is hereby authorized to direct the issuing of such ammunition and military equipments from the stores of the State for use upon said range by the national guard, or for rifle practice elsewhere by them, at such times and under such regulations as he shall prescribe.

§ 11. The said commander-in-chief is also authorized to offer annually, on behalf of the State of New York, a prize not exceeding one hundred dollars in value, to be known as the "State Prize," to that regiment or battalion in each division throughout the State, which shall display the greatest proficiency in marksmanship during each year, and a similar prize, not to exceed the sum of five hundred dollars in value, to the regiment or battalion which shall surpass in that respect all other regiments throughout the State during each year. Such prizes to be competed for under regulations to be established by said National Rifle Association, and approved by the commanderin-chief. And the comptroller is hereby authorized to draw his warrant in favor of the adjutant-general for the costs of such prizes, not to exceed the sum of fifteen hundred dollars in any one year, out of any moneys appropriated for military purposes.

§ 12. The boards of supervisors of the counties of New York and Kings may each, in their discretion, appropriate an amount not to exceed the sum of five thousand dollars, in any one year, for the purposes provided in the first section of this act; and they are hereby authorized to levy a tax for such purpose upon the real and personal property of said county or counties, to be levied and collected as other moneys authorized by law are by them levied and collected. § 13. This act shall take effect immediately. CHAP. 736.

AN ACT to provide ways and means for the support of government.

PASSED May 15, 1872; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. There shall be imposed, for the fiscal year

beginning on the first day of October, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, on each dollar of real and personal property of this State subject to taxation, taxes for State purposes hereinafter mentioned, which taxes shall be assessed, levied and collected by the annual assessment and collection of taxes for that year, in the manner prescribed by law, and shall be paid by the several county treasurers into the treasury of this State, to be held by the treasurer for application to the purposes specified, that is to say, for the general fund and for the payment of those claims and demands which shall constitute a lawful charge upon that fund during the fiscal year, commencing October first, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, one mill and onefourth of one mill; for the free school fund, for the maintenance of common schools in this State, one mill and one-fourth of one mill, pursuant to chapter four hundred and six of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-seven; for the payment of the interest and redemption of the principal of the State debt of two and one-half million dollars, as provided in chapter two hundred and seventy-one, of the laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, one-eighth of one mill; for the payment of the interest, and to provide for the redemption of the principal of the State bounty debt, pursuant to chapter three hundred and twenty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-five two mills; for the purposes of the new capitol, one-half of one mill; and for the benefit of the academies and academical department of the union schools, pursuant to chapter five hundred and forty-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-two, one-sixteenth of one mill.

applying to the chancellor for the aforesaid examination shall receive an order to that effect, addressed to one of the boards of examiners, provided he shall adduce proofs satisfactory to the chancellor, that he or she has a competent knowledge of all the branches of learning taught in the common schools of this State, and of the Latin language, and that he has diligently studied medicine not less than three years, under the direction of one or more physicians duly qualified to practice medicine, or has himself been licensed, on examination, by some medical society or college legally empowered to issue licenses or degrees in medicine.

§ 6. The regents of the university, on receiving the aforesaid reports of the examiners, and on finding that not less than five members of a board have voted in favor of a candidate, shall issue to him or her a diploma, conferring the degree of doctor of medicine of the university of the State of New York, which degree shall be a license to practice physic and surgery. §7. The candidate, on receiving said diploma, shall pay to the university the further sum of not less than ten dollars.

§ 8. The moneys paid to the university, as aforesaid, shall be appropriated by the regents for the expenses of executing the provisions of this act.

$ 9. The regents may establish such rules and regulations, from time to time, as they may deem necessary to insure the faithful execution of the provisions of this act.

§ 10. This act shall take effect immediately.

CHAP. 746.

AN ACT relating to the examination of candidates for the degree of doctor of medicine.

PASSED May 16, 1872.

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. The regents of the university of the State of New York shall appoint one or more boards of examiners in medicine, each board to consist of not less than seven members, who shall have been licensed to practice physic and surgery in this State.

§ 2. Such examiners shall faithfully examine all candidates referred to them for that purpose by the chancellor of said university, and furnish him a detailed report in writing of all the questions and answers of each examination, together with a separate written opinion of each examiner as to the acquirements and merits of the candidates in each case.

§ 3. Such examinations shall be in anatomy, physiology, materia medica, pathology, histology, clinical medicine, chemistry, surgery, midwifery and in therapeutics, according to each of the systems of practice represented by the several medical societies of this State.

§ 4. The said reports of examinations, and the annexed opinions of the examiners, shall forever be a part of the public records of the said university, and the orders of the chancellor addressed to the examiners, together with the action of the regents, in each case shall accompany the same.

$5. Any person over twenty-one years of age, of good moral character and paying not less than thirtyfive dollars into the treasury of the university, and on

CHAP. 587.

AN ACT to authorize the appointment of assistant district attorneys in certain counties in this State.

PASSED May 7, 1872; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. It shall be lawful for the supervisors of any county in this State, having at its last census a population exceeding seventy thousand, to authorize the district attorney of such county to appoint a suitable person to be the assistant of such district attorney. Every such appointee must be a counselor at law, and a citizen and resident of the county in which he is appointed. Every such appointment shall be in writing, under the hand and seal of the district attorney, and shall be filed in the clerk's office of the county in which such appointment is made. Every such person before he enters upon the duties of his office shall take and subscribe the constitutional oath of office. Every such appointment may be revoked by the district attorney making the same, which revocation shall be in writing, and shall be filed in the said county clerk's office.

§ 2. It shall be lawful for every such assistant to attend all the criminal courts which may be held in his county, and to assist in conducting all prosecutions for crimes and offenses cognizable therein. It shall also be lawful for every such assistant to attend and appear before any grand jury in his said county, and to perform the same duties before such jury as are by law imposed upon or required by the district attorney.

§ 3. Every such assistant district attorney shall be compensated for his services at and after such annual rate as shall be determined by the board of supervisors of the county in and for which he shall be appointed.

§ 4. The provisions of this act shall not apply to any county where the appointment of an assistant district attorney is now authorized by law.

§ 5. This act shall take effect immediately.

CHAP. 747.

AN ACT for the suppression of the trade in and circulation of obscene literature, illustrations, advertisements and articles of indecent or immoral use, and obscene advertisements of patent medicines, and articles for producing abortion, and to repeal chapter four hundred and thirty of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-eight.

PASSED May 16, 1872; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. If any person shall sell, or offer to sell, or shall give away, or offer to give away, or have in his or her possession, with or without intent to sell or give away, any obscene and indecent book, pamphlet, paper, drawing, lithograph, engraving, daguerreotype, photograph, stereoscopic picture, model, cast, instrument or article of indecent or immoral use, or medicine for procuring abortion, or shall advertise the same for sale, or write or cause to be written, or print or cause to be printed any circular, handbill, card, book, pamphlet, advertisement or notice of any kind, or shall give information orally, stating when, how or of whom, or by what means any of the said indecent and obscene articles and things hereinbefore mentioned can be purchased or otherwise obtained, or shall manufacture, draw and expose, or draw with intent to sell, or to have sold, or print any such articles, every such person shall, on conviction thereof, be imprisoned in the county jail or State prison not more than six months, or be fined not less than one hundred nor more than one thousand dollars for each offense. One-half of said fine to be paid to the informer upon whose evidence the person so offending shall be convicted, and one-half to the school fund of the county in which the said conviction is obtained, except that in the city and county of New York, if the conviction is in said city and county, one-half shall go to the treasurer of the Homœopathic Dispensary, in said city and county, and in the county of Kings one-half shall go to the Brooklyn Homœopathic Hospital, when the conviction is in the county of Kings. And in every other county of the State, one-half of the said fine shall go to the treasurer of the orphan asylum of said county, if there be such an institution in the county.

§ 2. If any person shall deposit or cause to be deposited in any post-office within this State, or place in charge of any express company, or person connected therewith, or of any common carrier or other person, any of the obscene and indecent articles and things | mentioned in the first section of this act, or any circular, hand-bill, card, advertisement, book, pamphlet, or notice of any kind, or shall give oral information stating where, how or of whom such indecent and obscene articles or things can be purchased or otherwise obtained in any manner, with the intent of having the same conveyed by mail or express, or in any other manner; or if any person shall knowingly or willfully receive the same with intent to carry or convey, or shall carry or convey the same by express, or in any other manner (except in the United States mail); every person so offending shall, on conviction thereof, be subject for each offense to the same fines and penalties

as are prescribed in the said first section of this act for the offenses therein set forth, and said fine shall be divided and paid in the same manner as therein provided.

§ 3. All magistrates are authorized, on complaint founded on information and belief, supported by oath or affirmation, to issue a warrant, directed to the sheriff of the county within which such complaint shall be made, or to any constable, marshal or police officer within said county (provided, nevertheless, that nothing in this act contained shall be construed to affect, alter, diminish or extend, or in anywise interfere with the powers and authority of the board of metropolitan police), directing him, them, or any of them, to search for, seize and take possession of such obscene and indecent books, papers, articles and things; and said magistrates shall transmit, inclosed and under seal, specimens thereof to the district attorney of his county, and shall deposit within the county jail of his county, or such other secure place as to him shall seem meet, inclosed and under seal, the remainder thereof, and shall, upon the conviction of the person or persons offending under any of the provisions of this act, forthwith destroy, or cause to be destroyed, the remainder thereof so seized as aforesaid, and shall cause to be entered upon the records of his court the fact of such destruction.

§ 4. It shall be the duty of the presiding judge of every court of sessions or oyer and terminer within this State, especially to charge the grand jury at each term of said court, to take notice of all offenses committed in violation of any of the provisions of this act; and it shall be the duty of all superintendents of the poor and commissioners of charities and corrections to prosecute and recover the penalties in this act.

§ 5. Chapter four hundred and thirty of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-eight is hereby repealed. § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.

CHAP. 721.

AN ACT to amend chapter three hundred and sixtysix of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy, entitled "An act in regard to public libraries incorporated in the State of New York."

PASSED May 14, 1872; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Section one of chapter three hundred and sixty-six of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

$1. If any officer, clerk, agent or member of any public library, duly incorporated under the laws of the State of New York, or any other person whatever, shall thereafter willfully cut, mark, mutilate, or otherwise injure any book, volume, map, chart, magazine, newspaper, painting or engraving, belonging to or deposited in any public library so incorporated as aforesaid, or shall procure such injury to be done as herein stated, every such person shall be deemed to be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof by any court of competent jurisdiction, shall be liable for each offense to a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, at the discretion of the court; provided, however, that no prosecution shall be maintained under this act, unless the library prosecuting shall have at least two printed copies of this act conspicuously placed upon its premises.

§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.