President to be chosen.

Vacancies sup. plied.

Corporation not dissolved

on failure to

elect on day

prescribed

Stock forfeited on failure to pay instalments.

of directors of the said incorporation, and shall certify, under their hands, the names of those persons duly elected, and deliver over the subscription books and money paid in, deducting a reasonable compensation for their own services, to the said directors, and the time and place of holding the first meeting of said directors shall be fixed by the said persons named in the first section of this act, or a majority of them: and the directors chosen at such meeting or at the annua elections of said corporation, shall, as soon as may be after every election, choose, out of their own number, a president and in case of the death, resignation, or removal of the presi dent, or any director, such vacancy or vacancies may be filled, for the remainder of the year wherein they may hap pen, by the said board of directors, or a majority of them and in case of the absence of the president, the said board directors, or a majority of them, may appoint a president pr tempore, who shall have such power and functions as the by laws of the said corporation shall provide.

Sec. 4. And be it enacted, That in case it should happen that an election of directors should not be made during the day when, pursuant to this act, it ought to have been made. the said corporation shall not, for this cause, be deemed to be dissolved, but such election may be held at any other time on notice as aforesaid; and the directors, for the time being, shall continue to hold their office until new ones shall have been chosen in their places.

Sec. 5. And be it enacted, That five directors of said corporation shall be competent to transact all business of the said corporation; and they shall have power to call in the remaining capital stock of said company, by such instalments. and at such times as they may direct, by giving thirty days previous notice in two of the newspapers of the county of Burlington; Provided that no such instalment shall exceed five dollars upon each share, and that no two instalments shall be required within thirty days of each other; and in case of the non-payment of said instalments, or any one of them, they shall have power to forfeit such share or shares upon which such default shall arise, to and for the use of the said company; and to make and prescribe such by-laws, rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the constitution or laws of this state or of the United States, as to them shall appear needful and proper for the management and regulation of the stock, property, estate and effects of the said corporation; and also shall have power to appoint a secretary, a treasurer, and so many clerks and servants as to them shall seem meet, and the same at pleasure to remove, and to establish and fix such salaries to them, and also to the president, as to the said directors shall seem proper.

rail road.

Sec. 6. And be it enacted, That the president and directors of the said company be, and they are hereby authorized and Location of invested with all the rights and powers necessary and expedient to survey, lay out and construct a rail road, from some suitable point on the river Delaware within the city of Burlington to some point in the town of Mount Holly, not exceeding sixty feet wide, with as many sets of tracks and rails as they may deem necessary; and it shall be lawful for the said president and directors, their agents, engineers, superintendents, or others in their employ, to enter, at all times, upon all lands or water, for the purpose of exploring, surveying, levelling or laying out the route of such rail road, and of locating the same, and to do and erect all necessary works, buildings, and appendages thereof, doing no unnecessary injury to private or other property; and when the route of such road shall have been determined upon, and a Survey of survey of such route deposited in the office of the secretary route to be of state, then it shall be lawful for the said company, by its officers, agents, engineers, superintendents, contractors, workmen, and other persons in their employ, to enter upon, take possession of, hold, have, use, occupy and excavate, any such lands, and to erect embankments, bridges, and all other works necessary to lay rails, and to do all other things which shall which compabe suitable or necessary for the completion or repair of the ny may enter said road, subject to such compensation as is hereinafter pro- on lands, &c. vided; Provided always, that the payment, or tender of the payment of all damages for the occupancy of lands through which the said rail road may be laid out, be made before the said company, or any person under their direction or in their employ, shall enter upon or break ground in the premises, except for the purpose of surveying or laying out said. road, unless the consent of the owner or owners of such lands be first had and obtained.

filed in Secre

tary's office.

Purposes for

ers of land

Sec. 7. And be it enacted, That if the said company, or its agents, cannot agree with the owner or owners of such required lands for the use or purchase thereof, or if, by reason of the legal incapacity or absence of such owner or own- Proceedings ers, no such agreement can be made, a particular description when compa of the land so required for the use of the said company, in the ny and ownconstruction of the said road, shall be given in writing under cannot agree. the oath or affirmation of some engineer or proper agent of the company, and also the name or names of the occupant or occupants, if any there be, and of the owner or owners, if known, and their residence, if the same can be ascertained, to one of the judges of the inferior court of common pleas of the said county, who shall cause the said company to give notice thereof to the persons interested, if known and in this state,

or if unknown, or out of this state, to make publication there. of, as he shall direct, for any term not less than twenty days, and to assign a particular time and place for the appointment of the commissioners hereinafter named, at which time, upon satisfactory evidence to him of the service or publication of such notice aforesaid, he shall appoint, under his hand and seal, three disinterested, impartial, and judicious freeholders, resident in the county of Burlington, commissioners to examine and appraise the said land, and to assess the damages, upon such notice, not less than twenty days, to be given to the persons interested, as shall be directed by the justice making such appointment, and it shall be the duty of the said cómmissioners, (having first taken and subscribed an oath or affirmation before some person duly authorized to administer the same, faithfully and impartially to examine the matter in question, and to make a true report according to the best of their skill and understanding,) to meet at the time and place appointed, and proceed to view and examine the said lands, and to make a just and equitable estimate or appraisement of the value of the same, and assessment of damages, which shall be paid by the company, for such land, and damages aforesaid; the said commissioners are also directed and required to assess the damages which any individual or individuals may sustain by the said road, arising from the removing, making and maintaining the fencing on the line of the route of said road through any improved lands over which the same may run; which report shall be made in writing under the hands and seals of the said commissioners, or any two of them, and filed within ten days thereafter, together with the aforesaid description of the land and the appointment and oaths or affirmations aforesaid, in the clerk's office of the said county, to remain of record therein, which report, or a copy thereof, certified by the clerk of the said county, shall, at all times, be considered as plenary evidence of the right of said company to have, hold, use, occupy, possess and enjoy the said land, or of the said owner or owners, to recover the amount of said valuation with interest and costs in action of debt, in any court of competent jurisdiction, in a suit to be instituted against the company, if they shall neglect or refuse to pay the same for twenty days after demand made of their treasurer, and shall from time to time constitute a lien upon the property of the company in the nature of a mortgage; and either of the judges of the said court shall, on application of either party, and on reasonable notice to the others, tax and allow such costs, fees and expenses, to the judges of said court, commissioners, clerks, and other persons, performing any of the duties prescribed in this section. of the act, as he shall think equitable and right, and to order

and direct by whom the same shall be paid, under the circumstances of the case.

Sec. 8. And be it enacted, That in case the said company, or owner or owners of the said land, shall be dissatisfied with the report of the commissioners named in the preceding sec- Appeal may tion, the party so aggrieved may appeal to the judges of the be had. inferior court of common pleas of the county, at the first or second term after the filing of the said report, by proceeding in the form of petition to the said court, which proceeding shall vest in the said court of common pleas full right and power to hear and adjudge the same, and thereupon to direct a proper issue for the trial of the said controversy to be formed between the said parties, and to order a jury to be struck, Jury to be and a view of the premises to be had, and the said issue to be summoned. tried at the next term of said court, to be holden in the said county, upon the like notice and in the same manner as other C issues in the said court are tried, and it shall be the duty of the said jury to assess the value of the said land and damages sustained, and if they shall find a greater sum than the said commissioners shall have awarded in favor of the said owner or owners, then judgment thereon with costs shall be entered against the said company, and execution awarded therefor; but if the said jury shall be applied for by the owner or owners, and shall find the same, or a less sum than the company shall have offered, or the said commissioners awarded, then the said costs to be paid by the said applicant or applicants, and either deducted out of the said sum found by the said jury or execution awarded therefor, as the said court shall direct; but such application shall not prevent the company from taking the said land upon the filing of the aforesaid

i report.

Sec. 9. And be it enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Other roads said company to construct and keep in repair, good and suf- not to be ok ficient bridges or passages, over or under the said rail road, structed. where any public or other road shall cross the same, so that the passage of carriages, horses, and cattle, on the said road, shall not be impeded thereby; and also, where the said road shall intersect any farm or lands of any individual, to provide, and keep in repair, suitable and convenient wagon ways over or under said rail road, so that they may be passable.

Sec. 10. And be it enacted, That the president and directors of the said company, shall have power to have construct- Powers ed, or to purchase with the funds of the company, and to place on the said rail road, all machines, engines, wagons, carriages, or vehicles for the transportation of persons, or any species of property, as they may think reasonable, expedient

T

Rates for pas. sage and transportation.

Lands to re

vert to owners in certain ca- !

ses.

Semi annual

made.

or right; and they are hereby authorized to demand and receive such sum or sums of money for the transportation of persons and every species of property whatsoever thereon, as they from time to time shall think reasonable and proper; Provided, that they shall not charge more than at the rate of five cents per mile for carrying each passenger, nor more than ten cents per ton per mile for the transportation of every spe cies of property on said road in the carriages of the said company, or three cents per mile per ton for property, or three cents per mile for each passenger carried on said road in the carriages of others, and three cents per mile for each empty carriage; and that the road authorized by this act shall be, and is hereby declared a public highway, and free for the passage of any rail road carriage thereon with passengers or property, upon payment of the tolls prescribed by this act; Provided always, that the said carriages so used thereon shall be of the same description in the formation of the wheels and length of axle as those used by the company, and shall be regulated as to the times of starting and rates of travelling by the company, in the same manner as the carriages of the company are; and the said rail road and its appendages, and the land over which the same shall pass, and all the works and improvements, and all other property whatsoever belonging to the company, are hereby vested in the said company and their successors, for and during the continuance of the charter; Provided always, that in case the said company, after the same is completed, shall abandon the said road, or cease to use and keep the same in repair, at any time for three successive years, that then and in that case, this charter shall be annulled, and the title to the lands over which the said road shall pass shall be revested in the person or persons from whom the lands were taken by concession or by inquisition, as aforesaid.

Sec. 11. And be it enacted, That the president and directors shall within one year after the said rail road shall have dividends to be been completed declare and make such dividend of the net profits thereof, and shall in like manner semi-annually thereafter declare such dividends, and pay the same to the stockholders of the said company, or to their legal representatives, in proportion to the number of shares held by them respectively, as they may deem prudent and proper.

Sec. 12. And be it enacted, That the said company may have and hold real estate, at or near the commencement and termination of the said road, not exceeding two acres at each place, and may erect and build thereon houses, warehouses, and such other buildings and improvements as they may deem expedient for the safety of their property and other necessary uses appertaining to their business.