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paid, to the holders or owners of any such shares, bonds, securities or indebtedness, and in the event of its refusal or neglect to do so, the said corporation shall be liable for the amount thereof and all penalties for non-payment; and the Lien upon amount thereof shall, in the event of such refusal or neglect road, etc. from the first day of May in the year in which assessed, be a lien upon all of its road and property, taking precedence of the lien upon or interest in the railroad or other property on account of which the tax was levied, and of all claims or rights in or to said railroad property arising subsequent to the time said tax becomes a lien.

lien.

SEC. 6. The said tax and interest thereon, shall from the Tax to be a first day of May in each year be a lien upon the shares, bonds, securities or indebtedness on account of which the same is assessed and charged, and shall take precedence of all liens thereupon or claims thereto and assignments or transfers thereof, and the tax may be recovered either through a proceeding to enforce such lien or by an action at law.

make.

SEC. 7. In case any such railroad or railway corporation Report, shall refuse or neglect to make such report within the time refusal to limited, the Auditor General shall nevertheless make such computation of the tax against the holders or owners of such bonds, securities or indebtedness, if he can procure data therefor satisfactory to himself. If he be unable to otherwise Books, etc., procure sufficient data therefor, he may cause an examination may examine. to be made of the books and records of such corporation for the purpose of procuring the necessary information, and shall be entitled to the possession of the same for a reasonable. time for such purpose; and all corporations now or hereafter subject to the provisions of this act shall be required to keep or to produce their corporate books in this State for the purpose of such inspection; the penalty of a refusal thereof to result ipso facto in a forfeiture of any special charter and all rights, privileges and franchises thereunder; in case the Auditor General be unable to procure such information as Information, is required herein as is satisfactory to himself for the pur- to secure. pose of fixing said tax and the persons against whom the same shall be charged and the said corporation refuses to furnish the same or to permit access to its books for that purpose, or in case the books upon inspection fail to furnish the information, then he shall upon the best information obtainable enter taxes against the shares, bonds, securities and indebtedness as a whole, and charge the same to the said railroad or railway corporation whose duty it shall be to reserve the amount thereof from the dividend or interest or principal payable or about to be paid to the holders or owners thereof, directly or through trustees or representatives, and to pay the same within the time herein limited to the said treasurer, and in such cases in addition to the lien against Lien, enthe shares, bonds, securities and indebtedness themselves, forcement of. a lien for such tax and for all interest thereon shall exist upon the entire road and property of the said railroad or

when unable

Validity of

act.

Tax, payment of, under protest.

Appeal.

Defendants in case of suit.

When tax not invalid.

Judgment, enforcement

of.

railway corporation, and the said lien and tax and interest thereon may be enforced against the said railroad or railway corporation, or against any person or corporation liable for the same, either by foreclosure of the said lien or by an action at law, or through any method or procedure heretofore at any time in force in Michigan for the collection of specific taxes.

SEC. 8. It is the purpose that this act shall be valid as far as possible and the invalidity of any provision shall not render invalid other provisions.

SEC. 9. Any person or corporation against whom any tax under this act is assessed or who or which may be required to pay the same, may pay the same to the State Treasurer under protest, giving notice at the time of payment of the reasons for such protest; and the party making such payment may at any time within thirty days thereafter sue the said State Treasurer for the recovery thereof in any court of competent jurisdiction, and if it determines that the same was wrongfully collected as not being due to the State for any reason going to the merits of the same, then the court trying the case may certify of record that the same was wrongfully paid and ought to be refunded, whereupon the Auditor General shall issue his warrant for the same which shall be paid in preference to other claims upon the treasury. The right of appeal shall exist to both parties as in other actions. There shall be no other remedy in any case of the collection of the tax under this act than that above provided, and no writ for the prevention of the collection of any revenue claimed hereunder or to hinder or delay collection of the same shall in any wise issue, but in all cases in which for any reason it shall be claimed that the tax was collected or about to be collected, was or is wrongfully or illegally collected or about to be collected, the remedy shall be as above provided, and in no other manner.

SEC. 10. In case of suit on the part of the State or its officers to enforce collection of such tax against the holders or owners of any such shares, bonds, securities or indebtedness, it shall be permissible to join as defendants in a single case all persons or corporations owning or holding the stocks, bonds, securities or indebtedness of a single corporation, and in case such persons or corporations are non-residents of the State, service upon them may be had by serving any process upon the corporation issuing the bonds, stocks or securities or owing the indebtedness. In addition it shall be permissible to make service upon any such non-residents by publi cation in the manner provided by law.

SEC. 11. No tax levied under this act shall be declared invalid or set aside because of any irregularity or mistake in the name of the person or corporation against whom the assessment is made. In the event of a judgment in an action at law or equity for the amount of the tax, the same may be enforced, either against the property on account of which

the tax is levied, or against any other property within the State belonging to the persons or corporations subject to such tax.

insufficient.

taxes.

SEC. 12. As a cumulative and additional method of pro- Assessment, contesting of. cedure in the assessment of such tax, in those cases where any corporation required to report neglects or refuses to make such report, the Auditor General may at his option proceed in the making of such assessment and giving notice thereof, and the persons or corporations taxed may proceed in contesting the assessment, in the manner provided in sections four thousand thirty to four thousand thirty-four inclusive, of the Compiled Laws of eighteen hundred ninety-seven. SEC. 13. In case any railroad or railway corporation Earnings, whose shares, securities, bonds or indebtedness are subject to taxation under this act, shall not, under its method of apportioning earnings on through or joint business, produce sufficient net earnings to pay dividends or the interest upon its indebtedness, from which such tax may be collected, or if such corporation shall not declare a dividend or pay interest from funds available therefor, and such tax shall not be paid, then the Attorney General may institute proceedings Recovery of against such corporation for the recovery of the taxes assess ed on account of its shares, bonds, securities or indebtedness; and if in any such proceedings the court shall determine that any proprietary or connecting line has been allowed or paid a greater proportion of the earnings than should have been allowed or paid, as its reasonable and equitable proportion of through or joint earnings, or if the said court shall determine that said corporation earned or possesses funds which are applicable to the payment of dividends or interest or principal, then in either such case such corporation shall be liable to the State in the first instance for the amount of such tax, but only to the amount of earnings paid by it to any such connecting or proprietary line or railroad in excess of the fair and reasonable amount that in the judgment of the court should have been paid, or to the amount of undistributed surplus applicable to the payment of dividends, interest or principal, and any amount collected from such corporation under this section may be by such corporation charged against the persons or corporations on account of whose tax the collection was made.

what deemed.

SEC. 14. Any corporation or officer thereof which or who Perjury, shall in reporting pursuant to this act make a false report, shall be deemed guilty of perjury and subject to penalty therefor as provided by general law. Approved April 18, 1911.

19

Section amended.

Townships, organizing, etc.

Certified statement, where filed.

Publication.

County, when indebted to State.

[No. 96.]

AN ACT to amend section fourteen of act number one hun. dred fifty-six of the public acts of eighteen hundred fiftyone, as amended by act number thirty-six of the public acts of nineteen hundred nine, same being section two thousand four hundred eighty-seven of the Compiled Laws of eighteen hundred ninety-seven, and relating to the organization, vacation, division or alteration of townships.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

SECTION 1. Section fourteen of act number one hundred fifty-six of the public acts of eighteen hundred fifty-one, as amended by act number thirty-six of the public acts of nineteen hundred nine, same being section two thousand four hundred eighty-seven of the Compiled Laws of eighteen hundred ninety-seven, and relating to the organization, vacation, division or alteration of townships, is hereby amended to read as follows:

SEC. 14. The board of supervisors in each of the several counties of this State shall have power within their respective counties and all territory attached thereto, by a vote of threefifths of all the members elected to said board, to vacate, divide or alter in its bounds any township, whether the boundaries of such township may have been fixed theretofore by a special act of the legislature or by action of the board of su pervisors or erect a new township, or organize or consolidate townships, upon application to the board, as hereinafter provided, of at least twelve freeholders of each of the townships to be affected by the division, except that in any township where there were not to exceed thirty electors at the last general election, then such petition may be made by five freeholders in such township, and upon being furnished with a map of all the townships to be affected by the division, showing the proposed alterations; and if the application shall be granted a copy of said map, with a certified statement of the action of said board thereunto annexed shall be filed in the office of the clerk of such county; and a certified statement of the action of said board shall also be filed in the office of the Secretary of State; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to cause the same to be published with the laws of the next legislature, after the filing thereof, in the same manner as other laws are published. Whenever it shall appear that any county is indebted to the State of Michigan, judicially or otherwise, and the amount of such indebtedness is determined and established and duly and properly certified to the proper officers of such county, it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors, within twenty days thereafter, to meet and consider such indebtedness or

bond issue.

judgment, and said board may at such meeting submit to a Referendum, vote of the electors of the county a proposition to issue bonds or to levy a tax to pay such indebtedness or judgment, as in this act provided.

Approved April 18, 1911.

[No. 97.]

AN ACT to amend sections five and twelve of act number one hundred seventy-seven of the session laws of eighteen hundred fifty-nine, approved February fourteen, eighteen hundred fifty-nine, being compiler's sections three thousand five hundred forty and three thousand five hundred fortyseven of the Compiled Laws of eighteen hundred ninetyseven, entitled "An act further to preserve the purity of elections, and guard against the abuse of the elective franchise by a registration of electors."

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

SECTION 1. Sections five and twelve of act number one Sections hundred seventy-seven of the session laws of eighteen hun- amended. dred fifty-nine, approved February fourteen, eighteen hundred fifty-nine, being compiler's sections three thousand five hundred forty and three thousand five hundred forty-seven of the Compiled Laws of eighteen hundred ninety-seven, entitled "An act further to preserve the purity of elections, and guard against the abuse of the elective franchise by a registration of electors," are hereby amended to read as follows:

SEC. 5. On the second Saturday next preceding the gen- Registration eral election, and on the seventh day (Sunday excepted) next in cities. preceding the day of any regular charter election, or any special election, and on such other days prior to such date as shall be appointed by the common council of the city, not exceeding three days in all previous to any such election, the boards of registration of the city, to be constituted as aforesaid, shall be in session at such places in the several wards as they shall designate in their notices, to be published and posted up as hereinafter provided, from eight o'clock in the forenoon until eight o'clock in the afternoon, for the purpose of completing the lists of the qualified voters; during which session it shall be the right of each and every person then actually residing in the ward, and who, at the then next approaching election may be a qualified elector, and whose name is not already registered, to have his name entered in the register, which shall be done in the manner above described; and such boards,

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