be chosen.

Directors to said company, five directors shall be chosen annually, on the first Monday of June, or at such time and place as shall be designated by the directors. and if any vacancy shall occur by death, resignation or otherwise, of any of the officers or directors during the term for which the same were elected, such vacancy for the remainder of the term may be filled by a majority of the directors; and the directors of said company shall hold their office until others are chosen and qualified, and after the first election, as provided in section seven of this act, thirty days' public notice shall be given of all meetings of the company, prior to the holding thereof.

president & directors.

SEC. 9. The said president and directors, or a majority of them, Power of shall have power to appoint, contract with and determine the compensation of such officers, engineers, agents and servants whatsoever, as they may deem necessary for the transaction of the business of the company, and remove them at pleasure; also the manner and evidence of the transfers of the stock in the said company; and they shall have power to pass all the by-laws necessary for carrying into execution all the power vested in the company hereby incorporated Provided, Such by-laws shall not be contrary to the constitution or laws of the United States or of this state.

May agree

of land.

SEC. 10. The president and directors may agree with the owner with owners or owners of any land, or for any materials or articles whatsoever which may be wanted in the construction, repairs or use of said road or any of its works, for the purchase and occupancy of the

Penalty for wilful injury

same.

SEC. 11. If any person shall wilfully and maliciously remove any stake, alter, deface, or injure in any manner, any bench, stake, post or fixture set up by any engineer or superintendent in the employ of said company, or by any means obstruct, injure, impair or destroy any part of the road constructed by said company under this act, or of any necessary works, building or machinery of said company, such person so offending shall be liable to indictment, and on conviction shall be punishrd by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding one year, or either in teh discretion of the court.

SEC. 12. Said company shall commence the construction of said road as soon as is practicable, and shall complete the same within two years from the date of the passage of this act.

SEC. 13. Said company shall not be entitled to any damages on account of any improvement made byr under authority of this state, that may render its stock less valuable.

SEC. 14. The stockholders of said company shall be porsonally liable at all times for the debts of said company, to the extent of the interest of any stockholder in the stock of said company, af ter the property of the company has been exhausted.

SEC. 15. The rights and privileges herein granted shall not be exercised so as to infringe on or in any wise conflict with or impair the rights of any individual, nor shall the same be construed as conferring banking powers of any nature or form whatsoever.

SEC. 16. The said company shall pay to the state an annual tax Aunual tax. of one-half of one per cent. upon its capital stock paid in, including all loans made by said company, for the purpose of constructing said plank road or railway, which tax shall be paid in the last week in January in each year, to the state treasurer, and the property and effects of said company, whether real, personal or mixed, shall in consideration thereof, be exempt from all and every tax, charge and exaction, by virtue of any law of this state, now or hereafter to be in force, except penalties by this act imposed.

have lien

SEC. 17. The state shall have a lien upon the rail road of said State to company, its appurtenances and stock thereon, for all penalties, upon road, taxes and dues which may accrue to the state from said company, which shall take precedence of all other debts or demands, judgments or decrees against said company; and any inhabitant of this state shall have a lien upon said plank road or railway, stock and appurtenances, and upon the property of said company, for all dues. or demands against said company to the amount of one hundred dollars or under, originally contracted within this state, which, after said state lien, shall take precedence of all other debts or demands, judgments or decrees, liens or mortgages, against said road or company.

SEC. 18. The legislature of this state may repeal, alter or amend this act, by a vote of two-thirds of each house.

Approved March 17, 1847.

[No. 76.]

Office of ac

ting com'r

AN ACT to abolish the Office of Acting Commissioner of Internal Improvements, and for other purposes.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representaabolished. tives of the State of Michigan, That the office of acting commissioner of internal improvement be and the same is hereby abolished from and after the twentieth day of April next.

Who shall constitute

imp.

Duty of ac

ting com'r.

SEC. 2. The state treasurer, secretary of state and auditor geneboard of int. ral shall, from and after the said twentieth day of April next, by virtue of their offices, constitute a board of internal improvement, and shall have all the powers, and perform all the duties prescribed by law to be performed by such board, or by the acting commissioner of internal improvement. They shall receive no extra compensation for such services,necessary travelling expenses excepted. SEC. 3. It shall be the duty of the acting commissioner, on or before the twentieth day of April next, as far as practicable for the best interests of the state, to dispose of all the personal property appertaining to the business of internal improvements of this state, except such books, papers, maps, profiles, leveling, surveying and mathematical instruments, or other personal property, as in the opinion of the board ought to be retained for the use of the state; and all such books, papers or other property as shall remain, shall be by the acting commissioner, on or before the twentieth day of April next, delivered over to the board hereby constituted, to be by them preserved or otherwise disposed of, for the best interests of

Duty of

board of int. imp.

the state.

SEC. 4. It shall be the duty of said board to discharge all the officers connected with, and to close up the business of this state with internal improvements under existing provisions of law, except so far as it may be necessary to continue said business for the preservation of the Clinton and Kalamazoo Canal, its extension if required by future enactment, and for the proper management of such works of internal improvement as may hereafter become the property of the state, or may be directed by law.

its

SEC. 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after passage.

Approved March 17, 1847.

[No. 77.]

AN ACT to provide for the collection of a Special Tax for the improvement of the Territorial or Vistula Road, in the counties of Lenawee and Hillsdale.

and collec

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- Assessment tires of the State of Michigan, That for the purpose of improving tion of taxes the territorial (now state) road, known as the Indiana and Vistula road, through the counties of Hillsdale and Lenawee, there shall be assessed, levied and collected, in township number nine, south of ranges one, two, three and four west, and ranges one and two east, or so much thereof as lies within one mile of the Ohio state line, in addition to all other taxes, the sum of five mills on the dollar valuation of said township.

SEC. 2. That said tax shall be assessed, levied and collected, in the same manner as other road taxes are assessed and collected, and the same may be discharged by labor upon said road, and the money raised by said tax shall be subject to the order of the commissioners.

SEC. 3. That Nathaniel S. Dewey, of the county of Hillsdale, and V. R. Paine, of the county of Lenawee, be, and they are hereby appoihted special commissioners, whose duty it shall be to superintend the expenditure of such sums of money as may from time to time be collected and received by them for the benefit and improvement of said road, and to direct and determine the manner in which said labor shall be applied.

Special comr's.

May receive

&c.

SEC. 4. That said commissioners may receive donations and subscriptions for the benefit of said road, aud shall cause the same to donations, be faithfully applied to the improvement thereof, and may sue for and recover any or all subscriptions thereto, in their own names, or either of them.

SEC. 5. That said commissioners shall perform all the duties of overseers of highways, and be subject to the same penalties, and shall be entitled to receive for the time necessarily employed, the sum of one dollar per day for their services as such commission'

ers

Comr's to perform duties of over

seers.

to be expen

SEC. 6. That all moneys received for non-resident highway taxes, All moneys upon the lands lying within said above mentioned townships, shall ded on road be expended on said road, in addition to the special tax here

in provided, and that this act shall continue in force for the term of

ceded.

[No. 78.]

AN ACT to cede Jurisdiction to the United States over Lands to be occupied as sites of Light Houses within this State.

be

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of RepresentaJurisdiction tives of the State of Michigan, That jurisdiction is hereby ceded to the United States over so much land as may necessary for the construction and maintainance of light houses within this state, not to exceed ten acres of land for each; the same to be selected by an authorized officer of the United States, approved by the Governor, and the boundaries of the land selected with such approva! endorsed thereon, and a map thereof being filed in the office of the secretary of state of this state, and by him recorded: Provided always, and the assent aforesaid is granted upon the express condition, that this state shall retain a concurrent jurisdiction with the United States in and over the several tracts aforesaid, so far as that all civil and such criminal processes as may issue under authority of this state against any person or persons charged with crimes committed without the bounds of said tract, may be executed therein in the same manner as though this assent had not been granted. SEC. 2. That the foregoing shall be applicable only to such land light houses as shall be selected and approved as aforesaid, and a survey thereof filed and recorded as above provided, for the construction of the following light houses, to wit: One at Monroe, one at Clinton river, one near Wangoshance, one at Point au Barques, one at the mouth of Saginaw Bay, one at Detour, where the river Sault Ste Marie empties into Lake Huron, one at White Fish Point on Lake Superior, one at St. Josephs, and one at Copper Harbor or Fort Wilkins.

For certain

Approved March 17, 1847.