In default of the municipal officers levying or causing such taxes to be levied during the two months next after the forwarding of such statement, the secretary-treasurer of the county council possesses, for the purpose of levying and collecting such taxes, all the rights and powers had by such local officers under section second of chapter first of title tenth of this Code, and the payment of the taxes in such case shall be made at the office of the secretarytreasurer of the county council." 34 V., c. 68, s. 941; 47 V., c. 18, s. 7. 6198. The following article is added after article 942 : 942a. In determining the value to be given to lands used for agricultural purposes and situated within the limits of town or village municipalities, regard is had to the value of such lands for agricultural purposes simply, except for that part fronting on streets and roads to the ordinary depth of building lots in that locality, which may be taxed according to its real value." 41 V., c. 18, s. 36. 6199. Article 943 shall read as follows: "943. The council of every local municipality may, by a resolution, exempt from the payment of municipal taxes, for a period not exceeding twenty-five years, any person who carries on any business, trade, or manufacturing enterprise whatsoever, or the proprietor of any bridge, as well as the land used for such business, trade, manufacturing enterprise, or bridge; or may agree with such person for a fixed sum of money payable annually for any period not exceeding twenty-five years, in commutation of all municipal taxes. It may also exempt the poor of the municipality and their property from the payment of municipal taxes. Such exemption or agreement does not extend to work upon water-courses, boundary-ditches, fences, clearances, or front roads connected with taxable property so exempted or commuted." 34 V., c. 68, s, 943; 36 V., c. 21, s. 30; 4142 V., c. 10, s. 34 ; 45 V., c. 35, s. 31. 6200. Articl 951 shall read as follows: "951. The payment of municipal taxes may be also claimed by an action brought in the name of the corporation, before any justice of the peace, before the commissioners' court for the summary trial of small causes of the parish or municipality, if there be one, before the magistrate's court, or before the Circuit Court for the county or district, as well against persons absent from the municipality as against those present therein." 34 V., c. 68, s. 951; 46 V., c. 28, s. 8. 6201. Article 963 shall read as follows: '963. Such seizure and sale are made under a warrant, signed by the mayor of the council or by the warden of the county, as the case may be. Such warrant is addressed to a bailiff, and must be executed by that officer under his oath of office, according to the same rules and under the same responsibilities and penalties as a writ of execution de bonis, issued by the Circuit Court. The mayor or warden, as the case may be, in giving and signing such warrant, does not incur any personal responsibility; he acts under the responsibility of the corporation in whose interest the distress is made." 34 V., c. 68, s. 963; 47 V., c. 18, s. 8. 6202. The following article is added after article 978: “978a. The taxes intended to pay the interest upon municipal debentures, as also those intended for the payment of a sinking fund, or for the redemption of such debentures, shall be imposed or levied according to the last valuation roll in force in the municipality. It is the duty of the secretary-treasurer to make, each year, until the payment or redemption of the debentures, a special collection roll, apportioning on the taxable properties subject thereto, according to their respective value, as shown on such valuation roll, the amount of the tax imposed for the interest and for the annual payment to the sinking fund." 36 V., c. 21, s. 31; 41-42 V., c. 10, s. 35. 6203. Article 979 shall read as follows: "979. The Provincial Secretary must compile annually in the month of June, from the returns transmitted to his office in conformity with article 168, a statement in tabular form shewing: 1. The names of all the municipal corporations indebted; 2. The amount of the debt of each of such corporations; 3. The amount of interest due by them; 4. The value of the moveable and immoveable property belonging to them; 5. The amount of the valuation of taxable property in each of the municipalities, the corporation whereof is indebted; 6. The total rate of taxation or assessment in the dollar, levied for any purpose whatsoever upon taxable property or only upon taxable real estate in such municipalities. A copy of such tabular statement must be forwarded by the Provincial Secretary to each branch of the Legislature, within the first fifteen days of the following session." 34 V., c. 68, s. 979; 41 V., c. 18, s. 37. 6204. Article 980 shall read as follows: "980. The loans contracted and the debentures issued or the issue of which has been authorized before the promulgation of this Code, in conformity with the acts respecting the municipal loan fund, and remaining unpaid, continue to be governed by the provisions of the acts relating thereto. The amounts of such loans or debentures are repayable, the taxes levied to discharge them are apportioned and collected even in cases where the corporation is in default, and the duties and obligations of the municipal councils and officers regarding such loans or debentures must be discharged, until the same have been wholly paid and redeemed, in the same manner as if this Code had not been promulgated, subject nevertheless to the application of article 978u." 34 V., c. 68, s. 980; 36 V., c. 21, s. 32. 6205. Article 990 shall read as follows: "990. The secretary-treasurer of any corporation, the council whereof has passed a by-law for the purpose of raising money by the issue of debentures, must before the negotiation, sale or promise of sale thereof, transmit to the registrar of the registration division in which such municipality is situated and to the Provincial Secretary an authentic copy of the by-law authorizing the issue of debentures, together with a return showing: 1. The nature and object of such by-law: 5. The date at which the same respectively fall due; 7. The amount of the privileges and hypothecs to which the immoveable property of the corporation is subject; 8. The amount of the valuation of the taxable property in the municipality; 9. The annual rate of assessment in the dollar required to liquidate the debentures." 34 V., c. 68, s. 990; 45 V., c. 36, s. 9. SECTION XIII. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE ELEVENTH OF BOOK SECOND. OF THE SALE AND ADJUDICATION OF LANDS. 6206. Article 998 shall read as follows: 998. The secretary-treasurer of every county council must, before the eighth day of the month of January in each year, from the statements transmitted to the office of the council under article 373, prepare a list shewing: 1. The description of all the lands situated in the county municipality, on account of which municipal or school taxes are due, together with the names of the owners as mentioned in the valuation roll; 2. Opposite the description of such lands, the amount of the taxes for which they are liable. Such list is accompanied by a public notice setting forth that such lands are to be sold at public auction, at the place where the sessions of the county council are held, on the first Wednesday of the month of March following, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, in default of payment of the taxes for which they are liable and the costs incurred." 34 V., c. 68, s. 998; 45 V., c. 35, s. 32. 6207. Article 1000 shall read as follows: 1000. At the time appointed for the sale, the secretarytreasurer of the county council, or some other person acting for him, sells to the highest bidder those lands described in the list upon which taxes are still due, after making known the amount to be raised on each of such lands, including therein a part of the costs incurred for the sale, proportionate to the amount of the debt. In all proceedings had and adopted to effect such sale, the county corporation shall not be responsible for the errors or informalities committed by local municipalities, against which alone shall third parties have recourse.' 49-50 V., c. 21, s. 3. 6208. The following article is added after article 1001 : "1001a. The secretary-treasurer is entitled to ten cents for each hundred words or figures, for all notices, lists and other documents in relation to the sale of lands indebted for taxes, and further to the repayment of any sum advanced by him to defray the cost of publication, in the Quebec Official Gazette and in other newspapers, and to one dollar and fifty cents for each certificate of adjudication or for every deed of sale, in addition to the costs of the registration thereof, until such time as such fees are otherwise established by a resolution of the county council." 39 V., c. 29, s. 16. 6209. Article 1003 shall read as follows: 66 '1003. If at the time of the sale no bid is made, or if all the lands advertised cannot be sold on the first Wednesday in March, the sale must be adjourned to the following or any other day within eight days, in the manner set forth in the last provision of the preceding article." 34 V., c. 68, s. 1003; 47 V., c. 18, s. 9. 6210. Article 1004 shall read as follows: “1004. On payment by the purchaser of the amount of his purchase money, the secretary-treasurer sets forth, in a certificate made in duplicate and signed by himself, the particulars of the sale, and delivers a duplicate of such certificate to the purchaser. The purchaser is thereupon seized and possessed of the land adjudged, and may enter into possession thereof, subject to the same being redeemed within the two years next following, and to the constituted ground rents. The purchaser, however, cannot carry off timber from such land during the first year he is in possession thereof." 34 V.,c. 68, s. 1004; 39 V., c. 29, s. 17. 6211. The following article is added after article 1006: "1006a. The secretary-treasurer of each county council shall, within eight days after the adjudication thereof, transmit to the registrar a list of lands sold for taxes under the provisions of this Code; and for such purpose he is entitled to twenty cents for each piece of land mentioned in the list furnished by him, of which one half is transmitted by him to the registrar with the list to cover the fees of the latter for the deposit and entry and for the cancellation thereof. The omission to forward such list or to mention any lot therein does not invalidate any proceedings in the matter in which such omission may occur, but the secretary-treasurer in default is responsible for all damages which result therefrom." 43-44 V., c. 25, ss. 10, 14 and 15. 6212. Article 1009 shall read as follows: "1009. The deed of sale is executed in the name of the corporation of the county, by the secretary-treasurer, in the presence of two witnesses who sign it, or in minute form before a notary." 34 V., c. 68. s. 1009; 39 V., c. 29, s. 18. 6213. Article 1013 shall read as follows: “1013. The sale made under the provisions of this chapter is a title which conveys the ownership of the land adjudged. It vests in the purchaser all the rights of the original owner and purges the land from all privileges and hypothees whatsoever, to which it may be subject except claims for constituted ground rents, for seigniorial dues and for rents substituted therefor, and the amounts for which such land may be encumbered for the payment of municipal debentures issued in aid of railways and other public undertakings; and except also, the rights of trustees for the amount of any assessment imposed on such land for defraying the cost of building or repairing any church, vestry, parsonage or cemetery, provided that, at least eight days before such sale, the chairman of the trustees has lodged with the secretary-treasurer of the county, whose duty it is to make such sale, a statement attested |