melting, or refining, or either, and the date of receiving it. He shall also keep a record of the weight, value, and fineness of the respective deposits of all dust or bullion assayed, refined, or melted, and the date when delivered to the director.

SEC. 9. The State assayer shall regularly number and stamp upon the ingots or bars thus made, the true value in dollars and cents, and the correct weight and carat fineness thereof, in accordance with the United States Mint standard; also the letters "Cal.," the date, and his own initials in plain letters over the words "State assayer," and upon each end and side of any ingot and bar so issued, some uniform stamp or impression; and shall, as soon as thus prepared, place it in the hands of the director, taking his receipt in a book kept by the assayer for that purpose and the director shall hand it over to the depositor, if demanded, within four days after the deposit of the dust, unless the time shall be prolonged by the depositor by a written agreement, when the weight given shall be returned to the director, who shall cancel and keep the

same.

SEC. 10. The State assayer and director shall be entitled to charge and collect from each depositor 1 per cent each upon the value as stamped upon the ingots or bars issued, out of which they shall pay all expenses attending upon their duties as prescribed in this act. The balance shall be equally divided between them. They shall also in addition collect and retain in their possession three-fourths of 1 per cent upon the total amount assayed and issued by them, which sum so retained they shall, at the end and expiration of every 60 days, pay or cause to be paid into the State Treasury for the use of the State.

SEC. 11. The books and papers of the office shall be examined every three months by the attorney general of the State who shall make a report to the governor of each examination. The judge of either county court may institute an examination when requested so to do by any depositor, or the chamber of commerce, or board of trade. of either city in the State; and they shall produce all books, records, and papers, when required by any court before whom complaint or suit is brought, against them or either of them for any violation of this act.

SEC. 12. They shall each make a full and correct report under oath to the State treasurer, every 60 days, in detail of all transactions in his official capacity, as recorder or assayer.

SEC. 13. All ingots or bars of gold bearing the stamp of State assayer as provided by this act shall be received in payment of all State and county dues, taxes, and assessments, at the value expressed thereon in dollars and cents; provided, such ingots of bars have not been mutilated nor reduced in size, weight, or value.

SEC. 14. Neither assayer nor director shall loan or use, or cause to be loaned or used for any purpose whatever, any gold dust or bullion in their possession for account of depositors, and no use shall be made of any gold dust or bullion deposited with them otherwise than for the purpose specified in this act. Any violation of this act shall be deemed a misdemeanor, and either of them, on conviction thereof before any competent tribunal, shall be punished for each offense by fine not less than $1,000, and by imprisonment not less than six months.

SEC. 15. The governor may, when petitioned so to do, direct the director and assayer to establish a branch or branches of their office at Sacramento and Stockton, or Sonora. They shall cause all business of such branch or branches to be conducted in all respects in accordance with the provisions of this act, regulating the office at San Francisco. The director and assayer shall give an additional bond of $50,000 for each branch formed under the provisions of this act; and all ingots or bars made at either branch shall be stamped, marked, and numbered as directed in section 9. And, in addition, the words "Sacramento,' or "Stockton," or "Sonora."

SEC. 16. The director and assayer shall be responsible on his bond for all the acts of their employees and agents.

SEC. 17. Any person or persons who shall alter, mutilate, reduce in weight, clip, file, sweat, alloy, or reduce in value in any way any ingots or bars, made under the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof before any competent tribunal shall be punished for each offense by fine not less than $1,000, nor more than $50,000, and imprisonment not less than six months nor more than two years.

SEC. 18. If any person shall make, or cause or procure to be made, forged, or, counterfeited, or aid or assist in making or circulating any ingots or bars in resemblance or similitude to the ingots or bars which may be made under the provisions of this act he or they shall be considered guilty of counterfeiting, and shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by fine not exceeding $5,000, and by imprisonment in the State prison for a term not exceeding three years.

SEC. 19. Whenever any branch mint of the United States shall be in operation within this State it shall be the duty of the governor to issue his proclamations stating the fact, and abolishing the office of State assayer and director.

SEC. 20. If there shall be any error, either in weights, quality, or value of the gold or metal so stamped upon the said ingots or bars issued by the said assayer and director they shall forfeit the percentage allowed to them, and shall also be liable to the amount of the difference between the stamp upon said ingots or bars, and its true value at the United States Mint standard, and shall also pay all damages that may accrue by such error, and may be sued upon their bonds or otherwise for the same in any court of record in the district in which they shall reside.

SEC. 21. Section 2 of an "Act to prevent the coining of money by individuals," passed April 8 (20), 1850, reads as follows: "Any person who shall stamp or impress, or shall cause to be stamped or impressed upon any piece of gold of less weight than 4 ounces, troy weight, whether pure or alloyed, any figures, letters, or marks indicating or purporting to indicate its weight, fineness, or value, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished as prescribed in the preceding section." So much of this section above recited as may conflict or be inconsistent with any of the provisions of this act is hereby repealed.

REPEALING ACT.

LAWS 1851, P. 307; JAN. 28, 1851.

AN ACT to repeal "An act concerning the office of State assayer, melter, and refiner of gold, and defining his duties."

The People, etc.

SEC. 1. That the act entitled "An act concerning the office of State assayer, melter, and refiner of gold, and defining his duties," approved April 20, 1850, be, and the same is hereby, repealed.

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

MINING STATISTICS.

LAWS 1883, P. 27; MAR. 3, 1883.

AN ACT to establish and support a bureau of labor statistics.

The People, etc.

SEC. 1. As soon as possible after the passage of this act, and every four years thereafter, the governor of the state shall appoint a suitable person to act as commissioner of a bureau of labor statistics.

*

* *

SEC. 3. The duties of the commissioner shall be to collect, assort, systematize, and present, in biennial reports to the legislature, statistical details, relating to all departments of labor in the State, such as the hours and wages of labor, cost of living, amount of labor required, estimated number of persons depending on daily labor for their support, the probable chances of all being employed, the operation of laborsaving machinery in its relation to hand labor, etc. Said statistics may be classified as follows:

COINAGE.

COUNTERFEITING COINS.

LAWS 1850, P. 229, SEC. 74; APR. 16, 1850. (GENERAL LAWS 1850-1864, SEC. 1474.)

SEC. 74 (1474). Every person who shall counterfeit any of the species of gold or silver coin now current, or that shall hereafter be current in this State, or shall pass or give in payment such counterfeit coin, or permit, cause, or procure the same to be uttered or passed, with intention to defraud any person, body politic or corporate, knowing the same to be counterfeited, shall be deemed guilty of counterfeiting, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the State prison for a term not less than one year, nor more than fourteen years.

LAWS 1850, P. 274; APR. 20, (8), 1850. (COMPILED LAWS 1850-1853, P. 210.)

The People, etc.

AN ACT to prevent the coining of money by individuals.

SEC. 1. Any person who shall make or cause to be made, alter or cause to be altered, within this State, or shall make or cause to be made within this State, with intent to utter, either within or without this State, any piece of gold or silver, whether pure or alloyed, in the form of coin, or intended or calculated to circulate as coin, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine in any sum not less than $500, nor more than $1,000, or be imprisoned in the county jail not more than one year, for each offense.

SEC. 2. Any person who shall stamp or impress, or cause to be stamped or impressed, upon any piece of gold of less weight than 4 ounces, troy weight, whether pure or alloyed, any figures, letter, or mark or marks, indicating or purporting to indicate its weight, fineness, or value, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished as prescribed in the preceding section.

(This section repealed. See page —.)

SEC. 3. This act shall take effect on the tenth day after its passage.

REPEALING ACT.

LAWS 1851, P. 404; MAR. 25, 1851.

AN ACT to repeal "An act to prevent the coining of money by individuals."

The People, etc.

SEC. 1. That the act entitled "An act to prevent the coining of money by individuals," approved April 20, 1850, be, and the same is hereby, repealed.

The People, etc.

COINING BY INDIVIDUALS.

LAWS 1851, P. 171; Apr. 21, 1851.

AN ACT to regulate the coining of money by individuals.

SEC. 1. Any person or company who shall make or cause to be made, within this State, any piece of gold or silver, whether pure or alloyed, in the form of coin or otherwise, and intended or calculated to circulate as money, shall be held responsible to the holder thereof, for the marked value thereof, or the rate at which such sum is uttered, and shall, on presentation, redeem all such coins at such rate with legalized coin of the United States.

SEC. 2. If any person making or uttering such coins shall refuse or neglect to redeem the same, in the manner prescribed in section 1, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be liable, on conviction, to be punished in each case by fine not less than $500 nor more than $5,000, or imprisonment for not less than six months, nor more than three years, or both such fine and imprisonment.

SEC. 3. If any person shall hereafter make or utter any piece of gold or silver, as described in section 1, without stamping upon the same the day, month, and year of its manufacture, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be liable on conviction thereof, to the same penalty as is prescribed in section 2.

SEC. 4. If any person shall hereafter make or utter any coin, or piece of gold or silver, such as is described in section 1 of this chapter, of less value than its marked or nominal value, or the value at which it is issued, he shall be deemed guilty of fraud and on conviction thereof shall be liable to the penalties mentioned in section 2. SEC. 5. This act shall take effect on the fifth day after its passage.

COUNTERFEITING.

LAWS 1855, P. 178; APPROVED APR. 28, 1855.

AN ACT to prevent the counterfeiting of gold dust and other species of gold.

The People, etc.

SEC. 1. If any person shall counterfeit any kind or species of gold dust, gold bullion or bars, lumps, pieces, or nuggets of gold, or any description whatsoever of uncoined gold, currently passing in this State, or shall alter or put off any kind of uncoined gold mentioned in this section, for the purpose of defrauding any person or persons, body politic or corporate, or shall make any instrument for counterfeiting any kind of uncoined gold as aforesaid, knowing the purpose for which such instrument was made; or shall knowingly have in his possession and secretly keep any instrument for the purpose of counterfeiting any kind of uncoined gold as aforesaid, every such person so offending shall be deemed guilty of counterfeiting, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the State prison for a term not less than 1 year nor more than 14 years.

SEC. 2. Every person who shall have in his possession, or receive for any other person, any counterfeit gold dust, gold bullion or bars, lumps, pieces, or nuggets of gold, or any description whatsoever of uncoined gold currently passing in this State, or entering in any wise into the circulating medium of the State, with intention to utter, put off or pass the same, or permit, cause, or procure the same to be uttered or passed, with intention to defraud any person or persons, body politic or corporate, knowing the same to be counterfeit, and being thereof duly convicted, shall be punished by imprisonment in the State prison for a term not less than 1 year nor more than 14 years.

SEC. 3. This act shall take effect from and after its passage.

PENAL CODE, SEC. 477; FEB. 4, 1872.

477, (74, act Feb. 4, 1872). Every person who counterfeits any of the species of gold or silver coin current in this State, or any kind or species of gold dust, gold or silver bullion, bars, lumps, pieces, or nuggets, or who sells, passes, or gives in payment such counterfeit coin, dust, bullion, bars, lumps, pieces, or nuggets, or permitscauses, or procures the same to be sold, uttered, or passed, with intention to defraud any person, knowing the same to be counterfeited, is guilty of counterfeiting.