to writing in a book or books kept for that purpose and all books and papers so kept by said commissioners and all reports made, filed or kept as herein required shall always be and remain public property, and shall be subject to the inspection of all persons therein concerned."

Sec. 4. The owners of said community ditches or their lessees or representatives shall labor therein in proportion to their lands under cultivation. It shall be their duty to furnish the number of laborers, proportionate to their lands, required by the mayordomo, at the time and place he may designate for the purposes mentioned in the foregoing section, and for the time he may deem necessary. If any person thus required shall wilfully neglect or refuse to comply with such requirements of the mayordomo, after having been duly notified by the mayordomo or his agent, he shall be fined, for each offense, in a sum not exceeding five dollars ($5.00), for the benefit of said ditch or acequia, which shall be recovered by the mayordomo in a summary way, and in case of default in the payment of said fine, it may be recovered by the mayordomo before any justice of the peace in the county, within fifteen days after such default, and in such cases, the mayordomo may be a competent witness to testify therein.

Sec. 5. In cases of inevitable accidents, such as continual and prolonged droughts, tempests or floods, producing the total or very material failure of crops or expectant crops, the commissioners may, in their discretion, totally or partially exempt the person or persons thus situated from the requirements of the foregoing section relative to continuous labor for lands under cultivation as the circumstances of the case may require. Such exemption or exemptions shall be consistent with the facts and circumstances of the premises and shall not extend to lands thereafter irrigated. Such action by said commissioners shall be reduced to writing and shall become a part of their records.

Sec. 6. If any person shall, during the time of cultivation, contrary to the order of the mayordomo, cut, break, stop up, interfere with or in any manner disturb said acequia or acequias, or contra or lateral acequia thereof or take or use water from the same, contrary to such orders, he may if he is an owner or lessee be fined by the mayordomo, for each offense, in a sum not exceeding twenty-five dollars ($25.00) recoverable as prescribed in section 4 of this act. And in case

such transgressor or transgressors are not owners or lessees in said ditch or its waters, then each such offender shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon conviction thereof before any justice of the peace in the county where such offense is committed, be punished by a fine in a sum not

exceeding fifty dollars ($50.00) or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding thirty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court trying the

case.

Sec. 7. The mayordomo shall receive such compensation for his services as may be mutually fixed between him and a majority of the owners of said ditch. The commissioners shall receive such compensation as may be mutually fixed between them and a majority of the owners of said ditch and upon failure to so fix such compensation, then they shall receive such compensation as is now provided by law.

Sec. 8. If any mayordomo of any community ditch or acequia, after having undertaken to serve as such, shall wilfully neglect or refuse to perform any of the duties of his office, or conduct himself with impropriety or injustice in his office as mayordomo, or take any bribe in money, property or otherwise as inducement to act improperly, he shall, upon conviction before any justice of the peace within the county where such offense is committed, be punished by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars ($50.00) or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding thirty days or by both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court or jury trying the case.

In case of a fine being recovered as herein provided, half of the same shall go to the school fund and the other half to the general fund of the county where the offense is committed.

Sec. 9. Any wilful neglect of his duties or abuse of his powers by any ditch commissioner shall be deemed a misdemeanor and any such commissioner, upon conviction thereof before any justice of the peace within the county where such offense is committed, shall be fined in a sum not exceeding twenty-five dollars ($25.00) recoverable in the manner now provided by law.

Sec. 10. In all cases of conviction under this act, when the fine assessed by the justice of the peace is the sum of three dollars ($3.00) or less, an appeal shall be granted to the district court only when all the accrued costs shall have been paid; which appeal shall be taken and conducted as all other appeals from the decision of justices of the peace.

Sec. 11. That in counties of the first class in the territory, the judges of election for community ditch officers shall be appointed by the board of county commissioners of the county, and shall serve gratis and in such elections only the owners or lessees of lands irrigated under said ditches shall be allowed to vote and only one vote shall be allowed to each voter notwithstanding the quantity of land owned and irri

gated and notwithstanding that such community ditches are considered as bodies corporate.

Sec. 12. That sections 12, 13, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36, Compiled Laws of 1897, and all laws and parts of laws in conflict with this act be and the same are hereby repealed and this act shall be in force and effect from and after its passage: Provided, none of the parts or provisions of this act or any section thereof shall apply or be construed to be in force or effect in any of the following counties, viz: Doña Ana, Grant, Otero, Luna, Lincoln, Chaves, Eddy, Santa Fe, San Miguel, Mora, Guadalupe, Colfax, Union, Taos, Rio Arriba, San Juan, Quay, McKinley, Roosevelt or Valencia.

CHAPTER 33.

AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE LAW AND PROCEDURE IN CERTAIN CASES. H. B. No. 155; Passed over veto, March 11, 1903.

CONTENTS.

Sec. 1.

Civil procedure in personal injury cases. Person injured to file affidavit when. Case to be dismissed when. Proviso.

Sec. 2. On petition district court may issue summons for person injured to appear in court and file complaint. Procedure when person summoned fails to

answer.

Sec. 3. Unlawful to begin action in any other state or territory. Procedure in case such action has been begun.

Sec. 4. When action begun in any other state or territory district court may issue injunction.

Sec. 5. Provisions of this chapter not to apply in case process cannot be served in this territory.

Sec. 6. Claim for damages may be compromised.

Whereas, It has become customary for persons claiming damages for personal injuries received in this territory to institute and maintain suits for the recovery thereof in other states and territories, to the increased cost and annoyance and manifest injury and oppression of the business interests of this territory and the derogation of the dignity of the courts thereof;

Therefore, Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of New Mexico:

Section 1. Hereafter there shall be no civil liability under either the common law or any statute of this territory on the part of any person or corporation for any personal injuries inflicted or death caused by such person or corporation in this territory, unless the person claiming damages therefor shall within ninety days after such injuries shall have been inflicted make and serve upon the person or corporation

against whom the same is claimed, and at least thirty days before commencing suit to recover judgment therefor, an affidavit which shall be made before some officer within this territory who is authorized to administer oaths, in which the affiant, shall state his name and address, the name of the person receiving such injuries, if such person be other than the affiant, the character and extent of such injuries in so far as the same may be known to affiant, the way or manner in which such injuries were caused in so far as the affiant has any knowledge thereof, and the names and addresses of all witnesses to the happening of the facts or any part thereof causing such injuries as may at such time be known to affiant, and unless the person so claiming such damages shall also commence an action to recover the same within one year after such injuries occur, in the district court of this territory in and for the county in which such injuries occur, or in and for the county of this territory where the claimant or person against whom such claim is asserted resides, or, in event such claim is asserted against a corporation, in the county in this territory where such corporation has its principal place of business; and said suit after having been commenced shall not be dismissed by plaintiff unless by written consent of the defendant filed in the case, or for good cause shown to the court; it being hereby expressly provided and understood that such right of action is given only on the understanding that the foregoing conditions precedent are made a part of the law under which right to recover can exist for such injuries, except as herein otherwise provided.

Sec. 2. Whenever any person or corporation shall file a petition in the district court of this territory for the county in which said petitioner lives, or, if a corporation, in the district court for the county in which such corporation has its principal place of business, stating in effect that such petitioner is informed and believes that some party named in said petition claims that he is entitled to damages from said petitioner for personal injuries inflicted in this territory upon the party named in said petition or for personal injuries inflicted upon or death caused to some other person for which such party claims to have a cause of action against said petitioner, and stating as near as may be the general character of such injuries and the manner and the date said party claims they were inflicted and the place where he claims they were inflicted as near as petitioner knows or is informed as to such facts, and praying that the said party may be required to appear in said court and file therein a statement of his cause of action in the form of a complaint against said petitioner, summons shall issue out of said court and be served and re

turnable as other process, commanding and requiring the said party named in said petition to appear in said court and file such statement in the form of a complaint against said petitioner, if he has to make, and upon such complaint being filed by such party as required, the defendant named therein may demur to or answer the same and such further pleading had as the parties may be entitled to or as may be meet and proper as in other cases of a similar character, and from thence forward such further proceedings shall be had in such cause as in other cases and the same shall be determined upon its merits and final judgment subject, however, to appeal or writ of error, shall be rendered therein either for the petitioner named in said complaint or for the adverse party, and if the court finds the petitioner guilty of any of the wrongs, injuries or trespasses complained of against him in said statement, such damages shall be assessed against the said petitioner as the law and the facts may require, in the same manner as though said cause had been instituted by the filing of said statement as a complaint.

In event said party complained of in said petition, after being duly served with such summons, shall fail or refuse to appear or file his said statement as required herein, judgment shall be rendered by default against him and in favor of the petitioner as in other cases, and thereupon the court shall try and determine the issues raised by such petition including the question as to whether or not the petitioner is liable to said party on account of any of the matters or things stated in said petition in any sum of money whatsoever, and, if so, in what amount, and final judgment shall be rendered in accordance with the facts and the law, and such judgment as the court may render shall be final and conclusive upon the question of the liability or non-liability of said petitioner to said party, and of the amount of the liability.

Sec. 3. It shall be unlawful for any person to institute, carry on or maintain any suit for the recovery of any such damages in any other state or territory, and upon it being made appear to the court in which any proceeding has been instituted in this territory as herein provided, that any such suit has also been commenced, or is being maintained in any other state or territory, contrary to the intent of this act, it shall be the duty of the court to set down for hearing and try and determine the proceeding so pending in this territory as expeditiously as possible, upon such short notice to the other party thereto or his attorneys as the court may direct; and for the purpose of trying the same said court shall have the power to compel the parties thereto to plead or answer on such short day as it may determine, and in event