attached thereto, nor to release private bankers, brokers or incorporated companies having no taxable capital stock, but for such purposes the section hereby repealed shall continue in full force and effect.

That so much of the eighth section of the act last aforesaid, as imposes a tax upon the gross receipts of railroad, canal and transportation companies, be and the same is hereby repealed, said repeal to take effect from and after the first day of July next: Provided, That any company which has been exempt from the tax on tonnage by any special law, shall be liable to pay the tax of three-fourths of one per centum upon their gross receipts; and that this act shall not be construed to release any taxes upon gross receipts accruing prior to the first day of July next, nor in any way to effect suits heretofore or hereafter instituted in the name of the Commonwealth for the collection of such taxes, and the penalties and interest attached thereto.

That every company, except bank or savings institutions incorporated under the laws of this Commonwealth, and authorized to issue bonds or other evidences of indebtedness, and which pays interest to its bondholders or other creditors, shall pay to the State Treasurer, for the use of the Commonwealth, semi-annually, on the first days of July and January in each and every year, beginning with the first dlay of July, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, a tax equal to five per centum upon every dollar of interest paid as aforesaid; and it shall be the duty of any company aforesaid to make semi-annual reports to the Auditor General, under oath, showing the total amount of the indebt

edness of said company, and the amount of interest paid to their bondholders or other creditors.

That the eleventh section of the act approved May first eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, entitled "An Act to revise, amend and consolidate the several laws taxing corporations, brokers and bankers," is hereby repealed, said repeal to date from and after the first day of July next, saving, however, to the Commonwealth the right to collect any taxes accruing under said section prior to the date of repeal aforesaid.

TAXATION OF CORPORATONS.

Hereafter no institution or company incorporated by or under any law of this Commonwealth, general or special, or of any other State, and authorized to do business in this Commonwealth, shall go into operation without first having the name of the institution or company, the date of incorporation, the act of Assembly under which incorporated, the place of business, the amount of capital paid in, and the names of the president and treasurer of the same, registered in the office of the Auditor General; and any such institution or company which shall neglect or refuse to comply with the provisions of this section, shall be subject to a penalty of five hundred dollars, which penalty shall be collected on an account settled by the Auditor General and State Treasurer, in the same manner as taxes on stock are settled and collected.

That hereafter it shall be the duty of the president or treasurer of every company now or hereafter incorporated by or under any law of this Commonwealth, except banks and savings institutions, and of every company now or hereafter incorporated by any other State, and doing business in this Commonwealth, which is taxable under the laws of this State, to make report in writing to the Auditor General annually in the month of November, stating specifically the amount of capital paid in, the date, amount and rate per centum of each and

every dividend declared by their respective corporations during the year ending with the first Monday of said month; and in all cases where any such company shall fail to make and declare any dividend upon either its common or preferred stock, during the year ending as aforesaid, the treasurer and secretary thereof, after being duly sworn or affirmed to do and perform the same with fidelity, according to the best of their knowledge and belief, shall, between the first and fifteenth days of November, of each year in which no dividend has been declared as aforesaid, estimate and appraise the capital stock of such company upon which no dividend has been made or declared at its value, not less than the average price which said stock sold for during said year; and when the same shall have been so truly estimated and appraised, they shall forthwith forward to the Auditor General a certificate thereof, accompanied by a copy of their said oath or affirmation, by them signed, and attested by the magistrate or other person qualified to administer the same; Provided, That if the Auditor General or State Treasurer, or either of them, is not satisfied with the valuation so made and returned, they are hereby authorized and empowered to make a valuation thereof, and to settle an account upon the valuation so by them made, for the taxes, penalties and interest due Commonwealth thereon; and any corporation dissatisfied with such settlement, may appeal therefrom, as is now provided by law for appeals from the settlement of accounts by the Auditor General and State Treasurer.

That if the said officers of any such company or corporation shall neglect or refuse to furnish the

Auditor General, on or before the thirty-first day of December, in each and every year, with the report aforesaid, or the report and appraisement, as the case may be, as required by the second section of this act, it shall be the duty of the accounting offi cers of the Commonwealth to add ten per centum to the tax of said corporation for each and every year for which such report, or report and appraisement, were not so furnished, which percentage shall be settled and collected, with the said tax, in the usual manner of settling accounts and collecting such taxes: Provided, That if said officers of any such company or corporation shall intentionally fail to comply with the provisions of the second section of this act for three successive years, the Auditor General shall report the fact to the Governor, who, if he shall be made satisfied such failure was intentional, shall thereupon, by proclamation, declare the charter of said company or corporation for. feited and its chartered privileges at an end; whereupon the same shall cease, end and be determined. That every railroad company, canal company, steamboat company, slackwater navigation company, transportation company, street passenger railway company, and every other company now or hereafter incorporated by or under any law of this Commonwealth, or now or hereafter incorporated by any other State, and doing business in this Commonwealth, and owning, operating or leasing to or from another corporation or company, any railroad, canal, slackwater navigation or street passenger railway, or device for the transportation of freight or passengers, or in any way engaged in the transporation of freight or passengers, shall be subject to