Page:The Federal and state constitutions vol1.djvu/690

648 hereby adopted, and for the effectual and proper government of the District of Columbia; and said Commissioners shall annually report their official doings in detail to Congress on or before the first Monday of December.

13. That there shall be no increase of the present amount of the total indebtedness of the District of Columbia; and any officer or person who shall knowingly increase, or aid or abet in increasing, such total indebtedness, except to the amount of the two hundred thousand dollars, as authorized by this act, shall be deemed, guilty of a high misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding ten years, and by fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars.

14. That the term “school houses” in the act of June seventeenth, eighteen hundred and seventy, chapter thirty, was intended to embrace all collegiate establishments actually used for educational purposes, and not for private gain; and that all taxes heretofore imposed upon such establishments, in the District of Columbia, since the date of said act are hereby remitted, and where the same or any part thereof has been paid, the sum so paid shall be refunded. But if any portion of any said building, house, or grounds in terms excepted is used to secure a rent or income, or for any business purpose, such portion of the same, or a sum equal in value to such portion, shall be taxed.

15. That all laws inconsistent with the provisions of this act be, and the same are hereby, repealed.

Approved June 11, 1878.