in said plat on file in the clerk or recorder's office shall be deemed and held to be a part of said original corporate city or village, and the inhabitants thereof shall thereafter enjoy the privileges and benefits of such annexation, and be subject to the ordinances and regulations of said city or village; Provided, That such adjacent territory so annexed shall not be taxed for any indebtedness of the city or village to which such territory is annexed, existing prior to the date of the completion of such annexation. [Amended and took effect Mar. 2, 1881.]

SEC. 96, 97, 98. [Repealed Mar. 2, 1881.]

SEC. 99. [Same.]-When any city or village shall desire to annex to its corporate limits any contiguous territory, whether such territory be in fact subdivided into tracts or parcels of ten acres or less, or be not so subdivided, the council or board of trustees of said corporation shall vote upon the question of such annexation, and if a resolution to annex such territory, describing the same in general terms, be adopted by two-thirds vote of all the members elect of such council or board of trustees, said resolution, and the vote thereon, shall be spread upon the records of said council or board. Said city or village may thereupon present to the district court of the county in which such territory lies, a petition praying for the annexation of such territory, together with an accurate plat or map of the same, showing the subdivisions of said territory, if it be so subdivided, and its relative position to such a city or village; and such petition shall set forth the resolution of said council or board of trustees for annexation of the same, and the vote thereon, and also the names of the various owners of said territory, if there be more than one such owner, and shall also set forth the material benefits and advantages to be derived from such annexation. A notice of the filing of said petition shall be served upon the owner or owners of said adjacent territory in the same manner as a summons in civil actions; and in case said owner or owners be non-residents of the state, said notice shall be published in the manner provided for service by publication in civil actions. Issues shall be joined and the cause tried in the same manner, as nearly as may be, as provided for trial of causes under the code of civil procedure, except that no judgment for costs shall be rendered against any defendant who does not make any defense. If the court find the allegations of the petition to be true, and that such territory, or any part thereof, would receive material benefit by its annexation to such corporation, or that justice and equity require such annexation of said territory, or any part thereof, a decree shall be entered accordingly; and a copy of the decree of said court duly certified under the seal thereof, together with a plat of the territory with a proper description thereof, so decreed to be annexed, and in case the same is already subdivided, showing the same subdivided into blocks and lots to correspond as near as may be with the fact, and as near as may be with the lots, blocks, and streets of the adjacent city or village, and corresponding as near as may be to the provisions of said act, under the title of "City and Village Plats," shall be filed and recorded in the office of the county clerk or recorder of the county in which such territory lies; and from the time of filing of such decree and plat, the territory therein described shall be included in and become a part of such city or village, and the inhabitants thereof shall receive the benefits of and be subject to the ordinances and regulations of such city or village; Provided, That appeals may be taken from the proceedings aforesaid in the district court, as in other civil cases; but notice of appeal must be given immediately on the entering of the decree in said district court, and the filing of the said decree and plat in the county clerk's office shall be stayed to abide the event of such appeal, and in case such appeal be not perfected, said corporation may file said decree and plat as hereinbefore provided for, without being prejudiced by lapse of time. On the filing of such decree and plat the council or board of trustees shall pass an ordinance declaring such territory to be annexed to such city or village, and extending the corporate limits thereof accordingly, and file a certified copy of the same in the clerk's office. [Amended and took effect Mar. 2, 1881.]

SEC. 100. [Repealed Mar. 2, 1881.]

SEC. 101. [Disconnecting territory.]-Whenever a majority of the legal voters of any territory within any city or village, and being upon the border, and within the boundary thereof, shall petition the district court of the county in which such city or village is situated, praying to be disconnected therefrom, such petition shall be filed with the clerk of the court at least ten days prior to the first day of the term at which it is proposed to be heard, and like proceedings shall be had thereon as is required in section ninety-nine, as amended in this act, for the annexation of territory to cities and villages, so far as the same are applicable; Provided, That the provisions of this section shall apply only to lands not laid out into city or village blocks, or lots; And, provided also, That in case any territory be disconnected from any city or village, a certified copy of the ordinance or decree disconnecting the same, together with a plat of the disconnected territory, shall be filed and recorded in the office of the clerk of the proper county. [Amended and took effect Mar. 2, 1881.

SEC. 102. [Repealed March 2, 1881.]

SEC. 103. Effect of act on existing corporations.]-Nothing herein contained shall be construed as to affect the boundaries or limits of any city or village now established under any law existing at the adoption of this chapter, but such limits and boundaries shall remain as established until changed in the manner provided by law.

CITY AND VILLAGE PLATS.

SEC. 104. [Plats to be made.]-Every original owner or proprietor of any tract or parcel of land, who has heretofore subdivided, or shall hereafter subdivide the same into three or more parts for the purpose of laying out any city or village or any addition thereto or any part thereof, or suburban lots, shall cause a plat of such subdivision, with references to known or permanent monuments, to be made, which shall accurately describe all the subdivisions of such tract or parcel of land, numbering the same by progressive numbers, and giving the dimensions and length and breadth thereof, and the breadth and the courses of all streets and [alleys] established therein. Descriptions of lots and parcels of land in such subdivisions, according to the number and designation thereof on said plat contained, in conveyances or for the purposes of taxation, shall be deemed good and valid for all intents and purposes. The duty to file for record a plat as provided herein, shall attach as a covenant of warranty in all conveyances hereafter made of any part or parcel of such subdivision by the original owner or proprietors against any and all assessments, costs and damages paid, lost or incurred by any grantee or person claiming under him, in consequence of the omission on the part of said owner or proprietors to file such plat.

SEC. 105. [Statement-Plat.]-Every such plat shall contain a statement to the effect that the above or foregoing subdivision of (here insert a correct description of the land or parcel subdivided,) as appears on this plat, is with the free consent and in accordance with the desire of the undersigned owners and proprietors, and shall be duly acknowledged before some officer authorized to take the acknowledg ment of deeds; and when thus executed and acknowledged, said plat shall be filed for record and recorded in the office of the recorder of the proper county.

SEC. 106. (Acknowledgment and record.--The acknowledgment and recording of such plat is equivalent to a deed in fee simple of such portion of the premises platted, as is on such plat set apart for streets or other public use, or as is thereon dedicated to charitable, religious, or educational purposes.

SEC. 107. [Streets and alleys.]-Streets and alleys laid out in any addition to any city or village shall be continuous with and correspond in directions and width to the streets and alleys of the city or village to which they are an addition.

SEC. 108. [Vacation of plat.]-Any such plat may be vacated by the proprietors thereof at any time before the sale of any lots therein, by a written instrument declaring the same to be vacated, duly executed, acknowledged, or proved and recorded in the same office with the plat to be vacated; and the exe

cution and recording of such writing shall operate to destroy the force and effect of the recording of the plat so vacated, and to divest all public rights in the streets, alleys, commons and public grounds laid out or described in such plat. And in cases where any lots have been sold, the plat may be vacated, as herein provided, by all the owners of lots in such plat joining in the execution of the writing aforesaid.

SEC. 109. [Same-Rights preserved.]—Any part of a plat may be vacated under the provisions and subject to the conditions of this chapter, provided such vacating does not abridge or destroy any of the rights and privileges of other proprietors in said plat, and provided further, that nothing contained in this section shall authorize the closing or obstructing of any public highway laid out according to law.

SEC. 110. [Streets enclosed.]-When any part of a plat shall be vacated as aforesaid, the proprietors of the lots so vacated may enclose the streets, alleys and public grounds adjoining said lots in equal proportions.

SEC. 111. [Duty of clerks.]-The county clerk, in whose office the plats aforesaid are recorded, shall write in plain, legible letters across that part of said plat so vacated, the word "vacated," and also make a reference on the same to the volume and page in which the said instrument of vacation is recorded.

SEC. 112. [Re-platting vacated plat.]—The owner of any lots in a plat so vacated may cause the same and a proportionate part of adjacent streets and public grounds to be platted and numbered by the county surveyor; and when such plat is acknowledged by such owner, and is recorded in the record office of the county, such lots may be conveyed and assessed by the numbers given them on such plat.

SEC. 113. [Failure of owner to plat.]—Whenever the original owner or proprietor of any subdivision of land, as contemplated in section 104 of this chapter, have sold or conveyed any part thereof, or invested the public with any rights therein, and have failed and neglected to execute and file for record a plat as provided in section 104 of this chapter, the county clerk shall notify some or all of such owners and proprietors by mail or otherwise, and demand an execution of said plat as provided; and if such owners or proprietors, whether notified or not, fail and neglect to execute and file for record said plat for thirty days after the issuance of such notice, the clerk shall cause to be made the plat of such subdivision, and any surveying necessary therefor. Said plat shall be signed and acknowledged by the clerk, who shall certify that he executed it by reason of the failure of the owners or proprietors named to do so, and filed for record; and, when so filed for record, shall have the same effect for all purposes as if executed, acknowledged and recorded by the owners or proprietors themselves. A correct statement of the costs and expenses of such plat, surveying, and recording, verified by oath, shall be by the clerk laid before the first session of the county board, who shall allow the same, and order the same to be paid out of the county treasury, and who shall, at the same time, assess the said amount, pro rata, upon all several subdivisions of said tract, lot, or parcel so subdivided; and said assessment shall be collected with and in like manner as the general taxes, and shall go to the general county fund; or said board may direct suit to be brought in the name of the county before any court having jurisdiction, to recover of the said original owners or proprietors, or either of them, said cost and expense of procuring and recording said plat.

SEC. 114. [When county clerk to make plat.]-Whenever any congressional subdivision of land of forty acres or less, or any lot or subdivision is owned by two or more persons in severalty, and the description of one or more of the different parts or parcels thereof cannot, in the judgment of the county clerk, be made sufficiently certain and accurate for the purposes of assessment and taxation without noting the metes and bounds of the same, the clerk shall require and cause to be made and recorded a plat of such tract or lot of land with its several subdivisions in accordance with the provisions of this chapter; and he shall pro

ceed in such cases according to the provisions of section 113, and all the provisions of said section in relation to the plats of cities and villages, and so forth, shall govern as to the tracts and parcels of land in this section referred to.

SEC. 115. [Existing plats.]-None of the provisions of this chapter shall be construed to require replatting in any case where plats have been made and recorded in pursuance of any law heretofore in force; and all plats heretofore filed for record, and not subsequently vacated, are hereby declared valid, notwithstanding irregularities and omissions in manner or form of acknowledgement or certificate; but the provisions of this section shall not affect any action or proceeding now pending.

SEC. 116. [Penalty.]-Any person who shall dispose of or offer for sale, or lease any lots in any town, or addition to any town or city, until the plat thereof has been duly acknowledged and recorded as provided in this chapter, shall forfeit and pay fifty dollars for each lot and part of lot sold or disposed of, leased or offered for sale.

SEC. 117. [Acts repealed.]-"An act to incorporate cities of the second class and to define their powers," approved March 1, 1871, and all acts amendatory thereof or supplemental thereto; "An act to provide the manner of collecting taxes in cities of the second class and define their powers of certain officers," approved June 6, 1871; "An act relating to incorporated towns and villages," approved February 27, 1873; "An act to provide a uniform method of platting and dedicating town sites," approved February 25, 1875, and all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.

SEC. 118. [Act took effect Sept. 1, 1879.]

FUNDING INDEBTEDNESS.

SEC. 119. [Bonds.]-That any city of the second class in the state of Nebraska may issue bonds for the purpose of funding any and all indebtedness now existing or hereafter created, now due or to become due; Provided, That said bonds shall be payable in not less than ten years and not more than twenty years from date of their issue, and that said bonds shall bear interest at a rate not exceeding seven per cent. per annum with interest coupons attached, payable annually or semi-annually, and may levy tax on all the taxable property in the city in addition to other taxes for the payment of said coupons as they respectively become due, and the taxes levied to pay the same shall be payable only in cash or said coupons; Provided, That the city council of said cities shall further authorize the issuing of said bonds by ordinance when so instructed by a two-thirds majority of all the votes cast at an election held in such city for that purpose, except as hereinafter provided. Notice of said election to be published in four issues of some weekly paper published in the city seeking to issue bonds. [Laws 1881 § 1, chap. 19.]

SEC. 120. [Refunding bonds.]-That any city of the second class in the state of Nebraska which has heretofore voted and issued bonds to aid in the construction of any railroad or other work of internal improvement, or [and] which bonds or any part thereof still remain unpaid and are a legal liability against such city and have been finally so determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, and bearing interest at ten per cent. per annum, is hereby authorized to issue coupon bonds at a rate of interest not exceeding seven per cent. per annum, to be substituted in place of and exchanged for such bonds heretofore issued, whenever such city can effect such substitution and exchange, which substitution and exchange

SEC. 117. The following acts relative to cities of the second class organized under the act of 1871 repealed by sec. 117, are omitted, viz: "An act allowing certain cities and towns further time to become cities of the second class." [Gen. Stat. 158.] "An act legalizing the acts of cities of the second class." [Gen. Stat. 159.] "An act to amend section two of an act legalizing the acts of cities of the second class." [Laws 1875, 207) "An act to amend an act to incorporate cities of the second class and to define their powers, approved March 1, 1871, and to legalize certain taxes therein mentioned." [Laws 1875, 205.] NOTE, that section 3 of this latter act held unconstitutional. 5 Neb. 319, 516. NOTE, also, that "An act to legalize the collecting or receiving and expending moneys collected or received by virtue of any levy made by any city of the second class or incorporated town upon dramshops, liquor dealers, etc." Laws 1877, 171, was held unconstitutional, 8 Neb. 163. 9 Neb. 352. SEC. 119. "An act authorizing cities to fund their indebtedness." Approved and took effect Feb. 28, 1881.

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shall not exceed dollar for dollar; Provided, That such substitution and exchange shall have first been duly authorized by a majority vote of the people of said city at an election to be held for the purpose as provided in section 1st of this act. [Id. § 2.]

SEC. 121. [Recitals.]-The bonds issued under the provisions of sec. 2 of this act shall have recited therein the object of their issue, and the section of the -act under which the issue is made, stating the issue to be in pursuance thereof, and shall also state the number, date and amount of the bond or bonds for which it was substituted, and such new bond shall not be delivered until the surrender of the bond or bonds so designated. [Id. § 3.]

ORGANIZATION OF CITIES CONTINUED AND ACTS LEGALIZED.

SEC. 122. [Organization of certain cities continued.]-That in all cases where any municipal corporation containing less than fifteen hundred and more than one thousand inhabitants shall have legally organized as a city of the second class, under a law in force at the time of such organization, and shall not have organized as a village under the provisions of the act to provide for the organization, government and powers of cities and villages, approved March 1, 1879, and shall not so organize by the election of officers on the first Tuesday of April, 1881, the organization of such corporation as a city of the second class shall continue and be in foree until changed as now provided by law. [1881 § 1, chap. 21.] /

SEC. 123. [Acts legalized.]-That all acts performed and elections held by such corporations so legally organized as cities of the second class, under the laws in force at the time of such organization, shall be held to be as valid for all purposes, as if done and held by and in cities of the second class duly organized under the laws in force for that purpose. [Id. § 2.]

INCORPORATION AND ACTS OF VILLAGES LEGALIZED.

SEC. 124. [Acts of certain villages legalized.-That all villages having more than two hundred inhabitants, who have associated themselves together by written agreement or by petition of a majority of their legal voters, therein designating the object of their association to be the incorporation of a village, under the laws of Nebraska, and showing therein the boundaries of the same, and having a board of trustees elected by a majority of the legal voters of said village, who are acting conformable to the law of the state of Nebraska regulating the powers and duties of the boards of trustees of villages, be and the same are hereby declared to be duly and lawfully organized and incorporated as villages under the laws of this state; and such villages, and their boards of trustees, and the officers by them appointed, and all acts, by-laws and ordinances done and adopted by them are hereby declared to be legal and valid, and shall have all the force and effect given to the acts, by-laws, and ordinances of villages incorporated under the laws of this state. [1881 § 1, chap. 25.]

SEC. 125. [Effect of act.]-Such villages shall be governed by the law of this state regulating villages, and shall have and exercise all the powers and privileges of villages duly incorporated under the laws of this state, and their said trustees and officers shall have and exercise all the powers and privileges of trustees and officers, under the laws of this state concerning villages. [Id. § 2.]

CHAPTER 15.-COMMON Law.*

SECTION 1. [Common law in force.]-So much of the common law of England, as is applicable and not inconsistent with the constitution of the United States, with the organic law of this territory, or with any law passed or to be pass

SEC. 122. "An act to continue the organization of cities of the second class, and to legalize their acts and elections thereunder." Approved and took effect Feb. 28, 1881. SEC. 123. thereof, and to constitute its board of trustees a legal body.' "An act to legalize the incorporation of certain villages, and all acts, by-laws and ordinances *NOTE.-Chap. VII R. S. 1866. The common law relative to trespass by stock on uncultivated, uninclosed land is not in force. 10 Neb. 493. Approved Mar. 3. Took effect June 1, 1881.

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