of assignees in cases of of fraud he shall be sentenced by the court to suffer imprisonment at hard labor in the State prison, for a term not less than six months, nor more than two years. 3835. SEC. 26. If the judge before whom the accusation of fraud is brought, or an Appointment opposition to the appointment of assignees is made, thinks that the interest of the mass of creditors of the insolvent may suffer by a delay of the approval of the appointment opposition. of the assignees, it shall be lawful for said judge, all opposition notwithstanding, to approve previously the said appointment, if he finds that it has been made agreeably to law. 3836. SEC. 27. That all persons shall be considered as fraudulent bankrupts, who Fraudulent shall be convicted of having concealed their property, with the intention to keep it bankrupts. from their creditors, as also those who shall be convicted of having concealed or altered their books, or papers, with the same intention. amounting to 3837. SEC. 28. That every insolvent debtor shall also be considered as a fraudulent Acts of insolvent bankrupt who shall be convicted of having passed sham deeds for the purpose of con- fraud. veying the whole or any part of his property and depriving his creditors thereof, or of having knowingly omitted to declare any of his property, rights, or claims in his schedule, or of having purloined his books, or any of them, or of having altered, changed, or made them anew, to an intent to defraud his creditors, or of having alienated, mortgaged or pledged any of his property, or of having committed any other kind of fraud to the prejudice of his creditors. act. 3838. SEC. 29. If any debtor shall be convicted of having at any time within three Fraud debarring months next preceding his failure, sold, engaged, or mortgaged any of his goods and from benefit of effects, or of having otherwise assigned, transferred, or disposed of the same, or any part thereof, or confessed judgment in order to give a preference to one or more of his creditors over the others, whereby to receive any advantages in anticipation of his failure, to the prejudice of his creditors, he shall be debarred the benefit of this act. fit of this act. 3839. SEC. 30. All insolvent debtors owing, or accountable in any manner for pub- Certain debtors lic funds or property of whatever nature or kind; all unfaithful depositaries; all such denied the beneas refuse or neglect to pay up all funds received by them as bankers, brokers, commission merchants, or for money, goods, or effects received by them in a fiduciary capacity, shall be denied the benefit of this act; provided, that such parties may avail Proviso. themselves of this act for the purpose of procuring an equal distribution of their assets among their creditors, and for that purpose only said act shall apply to estates of such insolvents in this section mentioned; and provided, further, such debtor may be dis- Proviso. charged from all debts not named in this section.(") [Amendment, approved March 12, 1858, 58. 3840. SEC. 31. If, after the presentation of his petition, the insolvent shall sell, or Transfers and in any manner transfer or assign any of his property, or collect any debts due him, assignments of property after and shall not give a just and true account of the property so sold or transferred, and petition filed. the moneys so collected and pay the same over to the assignees, within ten days after their appointment, said debtor shall not receive the benefit of this act. 3841. SEC. 32. Whenever any insolvent debtor has had the benefit of this act, if Concealing thereafter, at any time, it is made to appear that he has concealed any part of his property. property or estate, or given a false schedule, or committed any fraud under the provisions of this act, it is hereby declared that he has forfeited all benefit and advantage which he would otherwise have had by virtue of this act, and he cannot avail himself of any of its provisions, in bar to any claim that may be instituted against him. 3842. SEC. 33. No person can apply for, or receive the benefit of this act, through an agent or attorney in fact. Insolvent to apply in person. 19 Cal. 162. 3843. SEC. 34. From and after the surrender of the property of the insolvent debtor, Surrender of all property of such insolvent shall be fully vested in his assignee or assignees, for the property. benefit of his creditors, and shall not be liable to be seized, attached, taken, or levied on, by virtue of any execution issued against the property of said insolvent, and the assignees, who may be appointed, shall take possession of, and be entitled to claim and recover all the said property, and to administer, and sell the same, as herein provided. creditors. 3844. SEC. 35. If there be any creditors residing without the limits of this State, Non-resident the judge shall appoint an attorney to represent them; but the fees of said attorney shall in no case be paid by the mass of creditors, but shall be levied on the amount of the sums which shall be recovered for the account of such non-resident creditors, at the rate of ten per centum; provided, that in no case shall the whole fees allowed to Proviso. (*) The original section did not contain either of the provisos. Proceedings where debtor has no property. Proviso. 10 Cal. 265. Assets to be delivered to assignees. Assignees to make out a true account of disbursements. Other assigninents not binding upon creditors. 8 Cal. 471. 8 Cal. 152. counsel, appointed on behalf of said creditors, exceed the sum of three hundred and fifty dollars. 3845. SEO. 36. In case the debtor who applies for the benefit of this act, should have no property to surrender to his creditors, or if the appraised value of the property exhibited in his schedule should not amount to more than one-third of his debts, in case he should already have received the benefit of this act, during the year next preceding, the judge before whom application is made, shall not admit him to the benefit of this law, unless it be proven to the said judge, by affidavit, sworn and subscribed to by two credible and disinterested witnesses, that the debtor has really experienced the losses by him stated, and that the said losses may have reduced him to the situation in which he finds himself; provided, all legal mortgages and liens, bona fide existing on such property at the time of the surrender, as aforesaid, shall remain good and valid, and may be enforced in the same manner as though no such surrender had been made. 3846. SEC. 37. All the goods, titles and claims which the insolvent debtor shall have declared in his schedule, shall be delivered up to the assignees as soon as they shall have been appointed; and, in case the debtor should refuse to deliver up the goods, titles, effects, or estates in his possession, the judge shall oblige to that delivery, either by ordering the sheriff to seize the said property, to be by him delivered up to the assignees, or causing the said insolvent to be imprisoned until the said delivery shall be effected. 3847. SEC. 38. The assignee or assignees appointed under this act, shall make out a true account of all disbursements made by them in discharge of their duties as assignee or assignees, which shall be verified by the oath of such assignee or assignees, and shall deliver the same to the judge having jurisdiction of the subject matter; and such judge shall in writing certify such part or parts of the same as he shall deem to be just, and necessarily expended by said assignee or assignees in the discharge of their duty. which amount so allowed shall be paid out of the property of such insolvent debtor. 3848. SEC. 39. No assignment of any insolvent debtor, otherwise than as provided in this act, shall be legal or binding upon creditors. 3849. SEC. 40. All laws or parts of laws repugnant to, or in any manner conflicting 10 Cal. 269, with the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed. This act shall take effect from Cal. 469. 13 Cal. and after the first day of June next. 12 Cal. 245. 12 242. Conflicting laws repealed. Commencement of this act Licenses to intelligence-offices. See 20 Cal. 591. Requisites of licenses. Amount of license. Manner of keeping books. Penalty. Intelligence Offices. An Act to authorize the board of supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco to regulate and license intelligence offices in said city and county. Approved May 17, 1861, 412. 3850. SECTION 1. The board of supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco are hereby authorized to direct the auditor of said city and county to issue licenses to so many and to such persons as they shall deem properly qualified to keep intelligence offices in the said city and county. 3851. SEC. 2. Each license shall designate the house in which the person, or persons, licensed shall keep his or their office, and said license shall be paid for quarterly in advance, and shall continue and be in force during the current quarter, and no longer, unless revoked by order of the board of supervisors. 3852. SEC. 3. Every person so licensed under and by virtue of the provisions of this act, shall pay to the treasurer of said city and county the sum of fifty dollars per quarter, one-half for the use of said city and county, and the other half for State purposes. 3853. SEC. 4. Each and every keeper of an intelligence office, licensed under the provisions of this act, shall keep his books in the English language, and on the receipt of any money from any person applying for a situation, or other intelligence, for which fees are demanded, shall furnish to the said applicant a statement in writing of the amount received, on what account received, and what the said intelligence office keeper agrees to do for, and on account of said payment, with the date thereof, and to be signed by the said intelligence office keeper with his signature. 3854. SEC. 5. Any person violating the provisions of this act, or keeping an intelligence office within the limits of said city and county, without being duly licensed, or after the same shall have been revoked by order of the board of supervisors of said city and county, or at any other house, or place, than is designated in such license, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail for not less than twenty days, nor more than three months. 3855. SEC. 6. Any person who shall obtain information of employment from an intelligence office keeper, and who shall communicate the same to another person, or send another person in his, or her, stead, with intent, fraudulently, to obtain the return of the money paid for such information, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by fine not exceeding one hundred dollars. SEC. 7. This act shall take effect and be in force, on and after the first day of June, To take effect. eighteen hundred and sixty-one. Interest. An Act to regulate the interest of money.(") Passed March 18, 1850, 92. 3856. SECTION 1. When there is no express contract in writing fixing a different Rate of interest rate of interest, interest shall be allowed at the rate of ten per cent. per annum, for ten per cent 30 all moneys after they become due on any bond, bill, promissory note, or other instru- 16 Cal. 140. ment of writing, on any judgment, recovered before any court in this State, for money lent, for money due on the settlement of accounts, from the day on which the balance is ascertained, and for money received to the use of another. 8 Cal. 31. at 1847-5 Jitts x +53 Parties may for any rate of interest. 3857. SEC. 2. Parties may agree in writing for the payment of any rate of interest whatever on money due, or to become due on any contract. Any judgment rendered on such contract shall conform thereto, and shall bear the interest agreed upon by the 5 Cal. 416. parties, and which shall be specified in the judgment. 11 Cal. 14. 3858. SEC. 3. The parties may in any contract in writing, whereby any debt is Compound secured to be paid, agree, that if the interest on such debt is not punctually paid it interest. shall become a part of the principal, and thereafter bear the same rate of interest as the principal debt. 96 Judges of the Plains. An Act concerning judges of the plains (jueces del campo), and defining their duties. Passed April 25, 1851, 515. 3859. SECTION 1. The board of supervisors of each county in this State may, at Supervisors to their first regular meeting in each year, appoint such number of judges of the plains appoint. for their respective counties as they may deem necessary. Said judges of the plains shall hold their office for the term of one year, and until their successors are appointed and qualified. [Amendment, approved April 25, 1863, 497. 3860. SEC. 2. Judges of the plains are hereby required, and it is made their duty, Duties. to attend all rodeos, or gathering of cattle, whether for the purpose of marking and branding, or for the purpose of separating cattle, when called upon by any ranchero, farmer, or owner of stock, that may be made in their respective counties. [Amendment, approved April 25, 1863, 497. 3861. SEC. 3. Whenever any dispute arises respecting the ownership, mark, or To decide brand of any horse, mule, jack, jenny, or horned cattle, it shall be the duty of the disputes as to judges of the plains to decide on such dispute. ownership of cattle. decision. 3862. SEC. 4. Any party interested in the dispute of the ownership, mark, or brand Appeal from of any animals as enumerated above, may appeal from the decision of the judges of the plains to a justice of the peace of the township where such dispute may arise; provided, such appeal be made within twenty-four hours after the judgment has been Proviso. notified to him. 3863. SEO. 5. All persons traveling with cattle, sheep, hogs, horses, or mules, shall, (*) In addition to the cases noted in the margin, the supreme Cal. 99; 2 Cal. 597; 3 Cal, 281; 6 Cal. 126; 9 Cal. 294; 11 Cal court have construed the interest act in the following cases: 2 316; 14 Cal. 178. Persons travel ing with cattle, the property of others, to have certificate of owners. When cattle to be detained. Duty of judge of the plains as to arrests. Dereliction of duty. Compensation. Powers of supervisors. in case said animals be not of their own mark and brand, be obliged to procure from the person or persons from whom they obtain such cattle, or from the justice of the peace residing nearest to the farm or place where they may obtain the same, a certificate of the number and kind of such cattle, and the mark and brand which distinguished the same; and they shall allow such animals to be subject to the inspection of owners of lands through which they may pass, and upon arriving at any city, town, or village, shall present themselves to a judge of the plains, and state the number and kind of such animals; and it shall be the duty of the judge of the plains to examine the band or drove, and accompany them out of the precinct of such city, town or village. 3864. SEC. 6. That if the number and kind of animals do not agree with the report of the owner or person in charge, and with the certificates in his possession, the judge of the plains shall detain the band or drove, and take the owner or person in charge before the nearest magistrate for examination. 3865. SEC. 7. The judge of the plains shall arrest and take before any magistrate any person who may be accused to him or whom he has reasonable ground to suspect of killing, hiding, or otherwise taking away cattle, horses, or other animals belonging to others, and shall execute any warrant delivered to him by any magistrate for larceny or other offense concerning said described property; he shall execute any warrant delivered to him by any justice of the peace, for the purposes herein named, and otherwise shall have and exercise the same powers as any sheriff, constable, or police officer, in the cases provided for by the act entitled "An Act to punish vagrants, vagabonds and dangerous and suspicious persons," approved April 30th, 1855, and the act amendatory thereof, approved February 19th, 1856, for making an arrest, or the service of process, or other services in criminal cases, he shall receive the same fees or compensation as the sheriff. [Amendment, approved March 31, 1857, 158. 3866. SEC. 8. That should complaint be brought against any judge of the plains for dereliction of duty, the same being sustained, shall be considered as guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable to prosecution for the same. 3867. SEO. 9. The judge of the plains shall receive such compensation for his services as may be fixed upon by the board of supervisors at the time of his appointment, not to exceed the sum of five dollars for each day actually employed, and which shall be paid by the party in default, or by the party requiring his services. [Amendment, approved April 25, 1863, 497. 3868. SEC. 10. The board of supervisors may make such other local regulations with respect to the duties of the judges of the plains, that they may deem necessary. [Amendment, approved April 25, 1863, 497. SEO. 11. This act shall take effect from and after the first day of July; and all laws now in force in this State, having relation to judges of the plains, are hereby repealed. Jurors. 3869. [An Act concerning jurors, passed April 28, 1851, 290, was repealed by, An Act concerning jurors, approved May 3, 1852, 107; amended January 28, 1854, 1; April 8, 1859, 184; May 16, 1861, 407, and April 10, 1862, 209. This act and all acts and provisions amendatory and supplementary thereto were repealed by the act of April 27, 1863, 630 given further along. There were also a number of special acts changing the manner of summoning jurors for the court of sessions or county court in various counties, references to which will be found under the heads of such counties, but they have all been repealed or superseded by the following acts.] JURORS IN GENERAL. [The following is the general act in regard to jurors, but it does not apply to the counties named under its title, except where it does not conflict with the acts relating to jurors in those counties.] An Act concerning grand and trial jurors. Approved April 27, 1863, 680. [See following acts for jurors in Plumas, Humboldt, Klamath, Del Norte, Butte, Siskiyou, Nevada, El Dorado, Tehama, Colusa, Tulare, Sutter, Trinity, Sierra, Lassen, and San Francisco Counties.] 3870. [SECTION 1. A person shall be competent and qualified to act as a grand or Qualification of trial juror if he be :(")] 8 Cal. 107. 6 Cal. 405. jurors. First. A citizen of the United States, a qualified elector of the county, and a resi- Cal. 175. dent of the township at least three months before being selected and returned. Second. In possession of his natural faculties. 17 Cal. 820. Third. Who has sufficient knowledge of the language in which the proceedings of the courts are had; provided, that the requirement of this third subdivision of section Proviso. one shall not apply to the Counties of Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego. Fourth. Assessed on the last assessment-roll of his township or county on real or personal property, or both, belonging to him, if a resident at the time of the assessment. [Amendment, approved April 4, 1864; 1863-4, 462; took effect from passage. 3871. SEC. 2. A person shall be incompetent and disqualified from acting or serving Persons incomas a grand or trial juror if he be: First. A person not possessing the qualifications of section first of this act. Second. A person convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, involving moral turpitude. Third. A professional gambler, following gambling for a business. petent. 3872. SEO. 3. A person shall be exempt from liability to act as a grand or trial Persons exempt juror, and shall not be selected, if he be: First. A judicial, civil, or military officer of the United States, or of the State of California. Second. A person holding a county office. Third. An attorney and counselor at law. Fourth. A minister of the Gospel, or a priest of any denomination. Fifth. A teacher in a college, academy, or school. Sixth. A practicing physician. Seventh. An officer, keeper, or attendant of an alms-house, hospital, asylum, or other charitable institution in this State. Eighth. Any person engaged in the performance of duty as officer or attendant of a county jail, or the State prison. Ninth. A captain, master, or other officer, or any person employed on board of a steamer, vessel, or boat navigating the waters of this State. Tenth. An express agent, mail carrier, telegraph operator, or keeper of a public ferry, or toll-gate. Eleventh. A person otherwise exempt by law. 3873. SEO. 4. The board of supervisors of each county in this State shall, at their Number of regular meeting after this act takes effect, and thereafter at their first regular meeting jurora. in each year, by an order entered on their journal, apportion among the several townships of each county the number of persons who shall be selected and returned from each township for grand and trial jurors, as in this act provided. The aggregate number to be returned for each county shall be determined by calculating thirty for each regular term of court requiring a grand jury, thirty for each regular term of the district court, and thirty for each regular term of the county court, to be held in the county, until the next annual return of grand jurors and trial jurors under this act, to be apportioned among the several townships of each county, as nearly as may be convenient, in proportion to the number of qualified voters residing in each township, as shown by the last official returns of the general State election. The board shall also, at the expense of the county, furnish a safe box for the purpose of containing the names of the grand and trial jurors to be selected and returned under this act, divided in the centre by a partition into two compartments, each compartment to be provided with safe lock and key, and one compartment to be marked "Jury Box No. 1," and the other, "Jury Box No. 2." 3874. SEC. 5. The board of supervisors of each county, with the county clerk, or How selected. his deputy, at their first regular meeting after this act takes effect, and thereafter at their first regular meeting in each year, shall select and return the aggregate number of grand jurors and trial jurors required by the last section, and shall continue from day to day until the said return shall be completed, and shall proceed in the following order: First. Select the aggregate number of grand and trial jurors required by the last section from the several townships of the county, as apportioned thereto, from the (*) The act of April 4, 1864; 1863-4, 462, omits the first clause; subdivisions. The above clause in brackets is from the original but declares that the first section of the act of April 27, 1868, act.. shall be awarded as follows: First, and so on, giving the four |