Chap. 283.

AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An act to amend chapter nine hundred and seven of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-nine entitled An act to amend an act entitled an act to authorize the formation of railroad corporations and to regulate the same,' passed April second, eighteen hundred and fifty, so as to permit municipal corporations to aid in the construction of railroads," passed May eighteen, eighteen hundred and seventy.

PASSED April 4, 1871; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Section four of chapter seven hundred and eighty-nine of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

§ 4. It shall be the duty of such commissioner, with all reasonable dispatch, to cause to be made and executed the bonds of such municipal corporation, attested by the seal of such corporation affixed thereto, if such corporation has a common seal, and, if not, then by their individual seals, and signed and certified by said commissioners, who are hereby authorized and empowered to fix such common seal thereto, and to sign and certify such bonds. Such bonds shall become due and payable at the expiration of thirty years from their date, and shall bear interest at the rate of seven per cent per annum, payable semiannually, and shall not exceed in amount twenty per cent of the entire taxable property within the bounds of said municipal corporation, as shown by said tax list, nor shall they exceed in amount the amount set forth in such petition. The said bonds shall also bear interest warrants, corresponding in number and amounts with the several payments of interest to become due thereon, but the commissioners may agree with any holders to register any such bonds, in which case the interest warrants on the registered bonds shall be surrendered, and the interest shall be payable only on the production of the registered bonds, which shall then be transferable only on the commissioner's records. The savings banks of this State are authorized to invest in said bonds not to exceed ten per cent of their deposits. All taxes, except school and road taxes, collected for the next thirty years, or so much thereof as may be necessary, in any town, village or city, on the assessed valuation of any railroad in said town, village or city for which said town, village or city has issued or shall issue bonds to aid in the construction of said railroad, shall be paid over to the treasurer of the county in which said town, city or village lies.

It

shall be the duty of said treasurer, with the money arising from taxes levied and collected as aforesaid, which has heretofore been or shall hereafter be paid to him (including the interest thereon), to purchase the bonds of said town, issued by said town, to aid in the construction of any railroad or railroads, when the same can be purchased at or below par; the bonds so purchased to be immediately canceled by said treasurer and the county judge, and deposited with the board of supervisors. In case said bonds so issued cannot be purchased at or below the par value thereof, then it shall be the duty of said treasurer, and he is hereby directed, to invest said money so paid to him as above mentioned, with the accumulated interest thereon, in the bonds of this State, or of any city, county, town or village thereof issued pursuant to the laws of this State, or in bonds of the United States. The bonds so purchased, with the accumulated interest thereon, shall be held by said county treasurer as a sinking fund for the redemption and payment of the bonds issued or to be issued by said town, village or city in aid of the construction of said railroad or railroads. In case any county treasurer shall unreasonably refuse or neglect to comply with the provisions of this act, any tax payer in any town, village or city theretofore having issued bonds in aid of the construction of any railroad or railroads, is hereby authorized to apply to the county judge, on petition, for an order compelling said treasurer to execute the provisions of this act. And it shall be the duty of said county judge, upon a proper case being made, to issue an order directing said county treasurer to execute the provisions of this act. All provisions of laws now in force relating to the enforcement of the decrees or orders of the supreme court are hereby declared to apply to and devolve upon said county judge in the enforcement of said order. The county treasurers of the several counties of this State, in which one or more towns are situated, which have issued bonds for railroad purposes, shall execute a bond, with two sufficient sureties to be approved by the county judge of the counties respectively, to the people of the State of New York, in such penal sum as may be prescribed by the board of supervisors of the respective counties, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties devolving upon him, in pursuance of the provisions of this act.

§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

Chap. 388.

AN ACT extending the provisions of certain laws permitting munic ipal corporations to aid in the construction of railroads in the county of Niagara, excepting the town of Royalton, in said county. PASSED April 11, 1871; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. The provisions of chapter nine hundred and seven of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, entitled, "An act to amend an act entitled, 'An act to authorize the formation of railroad corporations and to regulate the same,'" passed April second, eighteen hundred and fifty, so as to permit municipal corporations to aid in the construction of railroads; and of chapter five hundred and seven of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy, entitled, "An act to define the powers of commissioners appointed under chapter nine hundred and seven of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, bonding municipalities to aid in the construction of railroads," and of all laws amendatory thereof, are hereby extended and made applicable to the county of Niagra, excepting the town of Royalton in said county. § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

Chap. 537.

AN ACT requiring commissioners of towns, cities and villages, appointed under the several acts to facilitate the construction of railroads in this State, to present bonds and coupons paid by them before the boards of auditors in towns, cities and villages, and providing for the cancellation and preservation of the same.

PASSED April 17, 1871; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. The commissioners appointed under and by virtue of the several acts to facilitate the construction of railroads in this State, and who have been duly authorized under said laws to issue bonds of any town, city or village therein, are hereby required to present before the boards of auditors of their respective towns, cities or villages, whose duty it is annually to examine and audit the receipts and disbursements

of either town, city or village officers, at each annual meeting of said boards of town auditors, or the auditing board in any city or village, all such bonds and coupons thereof which have been paid by them respectively during the year then ending; also to render a written statement or report annually to said board, showing in items all their receipts and expenditures, with vouchers. It shall be the further duty of said commissioners to loan on proper security or collaterals or deposit in some solvent band or banking institution, at the best rate of interest they may be able to obtain (not exceeding seven per cent), all moneys that shall come into their hands by virtue of their office, and not needed for current liabilities, and all interest or earnings accruing from such loans or deposits shall be credited to their respective towns, cities or villages, and accounted for in their annual settlements with the said boards of auditors.

§ 2. It shall be the duty of the several boards of town auditors, or any auditing board in the cities or villages of this State, before whom such bonds or coupons thereof may be presented in pursuance of section one of this act, to cancel the same, by cutting out a portion of each bond or coupon so presented, in such manner as to effectually prevent the repayment of the same.

§ 3. All bonds and coupons so presented and canceled shall be deposited for safe-keeping and future reference in the office of the clerk of the county in which such towns, cities or villages are respectively situated, and said boards of town auditors or auditing boards in any city or village shall prepare and sign a certificate, showing a full description of all bonds or coupons so canceled and deposited by them, and shall file said certificate in the office of the clerk of their respective towns and villages, and in cities in the office of the clerk of the city. § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

Chap. 560.

AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An act to authorize the forma tion of railroad corporations and to regulate the same," passed April second, eighteen hundred and fifty.

PASSED April 19, 1871.

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. The twenty-second section of an act entitled "An act to authorize the formation of railroad corporations and to regulate

the same," passed April second, eighteen hundred and fifty, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

§ 22. Every company formed under this act, before constructing any part of their road into or through any county named in their articles of association, shall make a map and profile of the route intended to be adopted by such company in such county, which shall be certified by the president and engineer of the company, or a majority of the directors, and filed in the office of the clerk of the county in which the road is to be made, or in the office of the register in counties where there is a register's office. The company shall give written notice to all actual occupants of the land over which the route of the road is so designated, and which has not been purchased by or given to the company, of the time and place such map and profile were filed, and that the route designated thereby passes over the land of such occupant. Any occupant or owner of land over which such route passes, feeling aggrieved by the proposed location, may, within fifteen days after receiving written notice as aforesaid, give ten days' notice, in writing, to such company and to the owners or occupants of lands to be affected by any proposed alteration, of the time and place of an application to a justice of the supreme court, in the judicial district where said lands are situated, by petition duly verified, for the appointment of commissioners to examine the said route. Such petition shall set forth the petitioners' objections to the route designated by the company, shall designate the route to which it is proposed to alter the same, and shall be accompanied by a survey, map and profile of the route as designated by the company and of the proposed alteration thereof, copies of which petition, map, survey and profile shall be served upon the company and said owners or occupants, with the notice of the application. If the said justice shall consider sufficient cause therefor to exist, he may, after hearing such parties as shall appear, appoint three disinterested persons, one of whom must be a practical civil engineer, commissioners to examine the route proposed by the company and the route to which it is proposed to alter the same, and, after hearing the parties, to affirm the route originally designated, or adopt the proposed alteration thereof, as may be consistent with the just rights of all parties and the public, including the owners or occupants of lands upon the proposed alteration; but no alteration of the route shall be made except by the concurrence of the commissioner who is a practical civil engineer, nor shall an alteration be made which shall cause greater damage or injury to lands, or materially greater length of road, than the route designated by the company would cause, nor which shall substantially change the general line