[ No. 170.]

AN ACT to amend section fifty-seven, of chapter ninety, of the revised statutes of the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-six, and the acts amendatory thereof, approved January twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, relative to the examination of witnesses in cases in chancery.

amended.

SECTION 1. The People of the State of Michigan enact, That Section section fifty-seven, of chapter ninety, of the revised statutes of the year eighteen hundred and forty-six, as amended by act number four, of the session laws of the year eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, entitled an Act to amend the revised statutes of eighteen hundred and forty-six, and other statutes, so as to adapt them to the organization of the present Supreme Court, and to define more accurately the duties of the judges of circuit courts and of circuit court commissioners, approved January twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows:

right of

to examine

Sec. 57. Either party to a cause in chancery shall have the Concerning right to an examination of all the witnesses in the case, in open either party court, as in a suit at law, if within ten days after the cause is at all witnesses. issue he gives notice in writing to the opposite party of his intention to claim such right, in which case no commission shall be issued, nor examination of witnesses had before a circuit court commissioner, but the cause shall be heard in its course on the calendar by examination of witnesses in open court, unless the court, on cause shown, shall otherwise direct, as in a suit at law: Provided, That if notice shall not be given at the Proviso. time and in the manner aforesaid, a commission may be issued and the testimony of the witnesses in said cause taken before a circuit court commissioner, as provided by the rules and practice of said court: And provided further, That in case any cause Ibid. in chancery shall be so tried in open court, either party shall be entitled to make and settle a case setting forth the evidence at large before the judge who tried the same, at such time and in such manner as said judge shall direct, or as shall be prescribed by the rules of said court. And upon the making and

filing of such cause within three months after such trial, the same shall be taken and deemed to be the evidence in said cause, to the same extent and with like effect as if the said testimony had been taken before a circuit court commissioner, and certified by him.

Approved April 6, 1869.

JOINT RESOLUTIONS.

[ No. 1.]

JOINT RESOLUTION asking the Congress of the United States to pass the tariff bill now pending in the Senate, for the relief of copper mining.

Whereas, Foreign ores, mostly the product of peon and slave labor, have to a large extent been imported, and continue to be imported into the United States at a nominal rate of duty, to wit, five per cent. ad valorem;

And whereas, The rates of duty on all articles which enter into copper mining are so high as to make the discrimination in favor of foreign ores and against copper mined in this country palpably unequal, unjust, and most oppressive to the copper mining interests of the United States;

And whereas, The State of Michigan is largely interested in the production of copper, and the mines of Michigan, in consequence of such an unequal taxation, and of the competition growing out of the importation of such foreign ores, are in a greatly depressed and prostrated condition, more than threefourths of the active mining companies having suspended work altogether, causing great distress among a hard-working and industrious population, entirely dependent on the working of the mines for support, and also preventing the development of the great mineral wealth of our State;

And whereas, A bill for the relief of the copper mining interest of our country, which interest is one of the most important in this State, has passed the House of Representatives by a vote of more than two-thirds of its members, and is now pending in the Senate;

And whereas, Iron, lead, and other mineral products of the United States are protected by a duty of about fifty per cent., while foreign copper ores, under present rates, pay five per cent. only;

And whereas, The bill now pending in Congress calls for a duty of only twelve to fifteen per cent. ad valorem; therefore, Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan, in Legislature assembled, That the Senate of the United States be and are hereby most respectfully, but earnestly and specially called upon to give this most important measure, now in their hands, a favorable consideration; and the Senators from Michigan are hereby instructed, and our Representatives in Congress are requested to use all honorable means to promote the passage of the bill referred to. Approved January 8, 1869.

[ No. 2.]

JOINT RESOLUTION asking Senators and Representatives in Congress from Michigan, to secure the passage of the river and harbor appropriation bill, now pending in the United States Senate.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan, That our Senators and Representatives in Congress be and are hereby requested to use their best endeavors to secure the early passage of the House bill appropriating money for the improvement of the harbors within the State of Michigan, now pending before the U. S. Senate.

Resolved, That his Excellency the Governor be requested to transmit copies of the foregoing to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress.

Approved January 30, 1869.

[ No. 3.]

JOINT RESOLUTION to provide for paying publishers of newspapers for publishing the constitution of eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, as provided by the schedule of said constitution.

Whereas, The constitutional convention of eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, made provision in the schedule for the payment, under the direction of the Legislature, of twenty dollars to every publisher of a newspaper in the State who published the proposed constitution in the month of January, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight; therefore,

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan, That the State Treasurer be and he is hereby required to pay upon the warrant of the Auditor General, twenty dollars to every publisher of a newspaper in this State, who furnishes satisfactory proof to the Auditor General that he published said constitution as required by said convention.

2d. Said resolution shall take immediate effect. Approved January 30, 1869.

[No. 4.]

JOINT RESOLUTION asking for a grant of $50,000 in money, to deepen St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal.

Whereas, The draft of water in St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal, connecting lakes Huron and Superior, is only eleven feet;

And whereas, The transportation of iron, iron ore, copper, and other freights has greatly increased, and will increase still more rapidly in the future; and the completion of the Saint Paul and Lake Superior Railroad will soon create a large commerce in wheat and other products from Minnesota and northern Wisconsin, over this thoroughfare;

And whereas, The present depth of said canal is now insufficient for the passage of loaded vessels of the size heretofore and now in use in the upper lakes, thus compelling vessels to