Amount of cap ital stock. SEC. 3. The capital stock of said company shall be one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, in shares of twenty dollars each, and as soon as five hundred shares of the capital stock shall be subscribed, and ten per cent on each share actually paid in, the subscribers of such stock, with such other persons as shall associate with them for that purpose, their successors and assigns, shall be, and they are hereby created and declared a body corporate and politic, by the name and style of the Milwaukee and Fond du Lac plank road company, with perpetual succession; Powers, &c. and by that name shall be capable in law of purchasing, holding, selling, leasing and conveying estate, real, personal or mixed, and in their corporate name may sue and be sued, may have a common seal, which they may alter or renew at pleasure, and gener ally may do all and singular the matters and things which are au thorized by law for the interest and well being of said company. When com Proviso. SEC. 3. The said commissioners, or a majority of them, after missioners to the said five hundred shares of stock shall have been subscribed give notice of as aforesaid, shall give at least twenty days notice in the newspameeting to elect directors. pers heretofore mentioned, of the time and place of a meeting of the stockholders for the purpose of electing seven directors; and annually thereafter, the said stockholders shall meet on the first Monday in January, for the purpose of electing directors as aforesaid, upon a like previous notice to be given by a majority of the directors, for the time being, in such newspapers as they may think proper: Provided, that previous to the first election, the commissioners hereinbefore named shall elect one of their number president, and they shall perform all the duties, and be invested with all the power of directors: Provided further, That if from any cause an election shall not be held at the regular time specified therefor, the same may be held at any other time on notice as aforesaid, that until such election, the directors of the preceding year shall continue to act, and this charter shall not be avoided by reason of any irregularity or want of such election, and in case of any vacancy in the board of directors, the same shall be filled by the other directors or a majority of them. Proviso. How affairs of SEC. 4. The affairs of said company shall be managed by a company man- board of seven directors, who shall be stockholders, and be chosen aged. annually by ballot, by the stockholders of said company, the votes to be given in person, or by proxy, duly authorized, which directors shall appoint one of their number president, and shall serve until others are elected in their stead. They shall make and establish such by-laws, rules, orders, and regulations as may be necessary for the well ordering of the affairs of said company.Each share of stock shall be entitled to one vote, and in all cases of elections for directors, the seven stockholders having the greatest number of votes shall be declared duly elected. Duties, &c. Five directors a quorum. SEC. 5. Five directors shall be a quorum for the transaction of business, who in the absence of the president may appoint a Duties, &c. president, pro tempore. The said directors shall appoint a secretary, treasurer and such engineers and other officers as they may find necessary; shall fix their compensation and may deward ad equate security for the performance of their respective trusts: such portion of the work as may at the time be completed. They Power of di- SEC. 6. The said company shall have power to locate and Power to loconstruct a single or double track plank road, from such eligible cate road.-point in the city of Milwaukee and passing through the towns of Route. Milwaukee and Mequon, and the villages of Cedarburg and West Bend, to the village of Fond du Lac ; and they shall have power to extend said road from from Fond du Lac to Taychedah, and to erect all such toll houses, bridges, and other works and appendages as may be necessary for the convenience of said company, in the use of said road, and also to connect said road with other plank roads in the territory or state of Wisconsin, and to unite and consolidate stock with any such plank road company. The track of Materials to said road shall be constructed of plank, stone, gravel or charcoal, construct road. in whole or in part, at the option of the directors, so that the same shall constitute a firm and smooth surface for the passage of wagons and carriages. The directors shall exercise all powers Power of direcconferred on them by law; shall audit and pay all accounts against tors, &c. said company; fix the compensation and salary of the officers they may appoint; and meet at such times and places as they may prescribe in the by-laws to be enacted by them. They may appoint and remove all officers at pleasure; prescribe the meeting of the stockholders and declare and pay the dividends, or so much of the surplus profits of the company as they shall deem advisable, which may accrue on the shares of said stock to the stockholders of said company, on the first Monday of July and January in each year. SEC. 7. It shall and may be lawful for said company their of Right to lay out a route. Proviso. jury. to ficers, engineers and agents, to enter upon any lands for the parpose or exploring, surveying and locating the route of said plank road, doing thereto no unnecessary damage; and when said route shall be determined by the said company, it shall be lawful for them, their agents, officers, engineers, contractors and servants, at any time, to enter upon, take possession of, and use such lands, not exceeding four rods in width, along the line of said route, subject, however, to the payment of such compensation as the company may have agreed to pay therefor, or as will be ascertained in the manner hereinafter directed: Provided, That in such places as may be necessary for the company to obtain gravel and stone, or to make excavations and embankments for the construction of said road, the company may locate the route of said road, not to exceed six rods in width, and they may also cut down such trees on each side of said road as may endanger said road by falling or otherwise. When price of SEC. 8. When the said corporation cannot agree with the materials, &c. owner or owners of any land, gravel, stone, or other material recannot be a quired for the construction of said road, for the purchase thereof, greed upon the or for the compensation to be paid therefor, or when by reason of question to be submitted the absence or legal incapacity of the owner or owners, no such argreement or purchase can be made, then and in any such case, it shall be lawful for any justice of the peace of the town in which the property may lie, to issue a warrant, directed to the sheriff or any constable of said county, not directly interested, requiring him to summon a jury of nine freeholders of said county, not interested in said property, to meet the said justice at some convenient place, at or near the property to be valued, on a day in said warrant named, not less than five nor more than ten days from the date of said warrant; and if at the time and place named, any of the persons so summoned do not attend, the said sheriff or constable shall immediately summon as many as may be necessary, with the persons in attendance as jurors to furnish a pannel of nine jurors, and from them, the said company and the owner or owners of the property to be valued, their agent or attorney, or either of them, and if they are not present in person or by attorney, the sheriff or constable shall for him, her or them, strike off, each two of said jurors, and the remaining five shall act as a jury of Jury to take inquest of damages Before they act as such, the said justice of the peace shall administer to each of them an oath or affirmation, that they will faithfully and impartially value the land and material required for such road, and all damages which the owner or owners shall sustain by reason of the construction of said road, taking into consideration the advantages the same will be to the owner or owners according to the best of his skill and judgment; whereupon the said justice and jurors shall proceed to review the said land or material so required, and to hear the evidence of the respective parties, which the said justice shall reduce to writing. which shall be signed by the said justice, and the verdict of the jurors thereon shall be signed by the jurors, or a majority of them, and by the justice of the peace; and the said justice of the an oath. how filed. peace shall within five days thereafter, transmit the same to the clerk of Verdict of jury the district court of the proper county, who shall file the same. Such inquisition shall describe the property taken or to be taken, or the boundaries of the land in question, and the value thereof, as aforesaid, and such valuation, when paid, together with the costs of such inquisition, or tendered to the owner or owners, or deposited with the said court shall entitle the said company to the estate and interest in the same thus valued, as if it had been conveyed by the owner or owners thereof, so long as the land thus valued and taken shall be used for the track of said plank road: Provided, Proviso. that it shall not be lawful for any justice and jury of inquest to proceed in the valuation of any such property or material, in the absence of the owner or owners thereof, his, her, or their legal representatives, unless it be made to appear, by affidavit, that such owner or owners have had at least five days notice of the time and place of the meeting, for the purpose of making such valuation, or unless it shall in like manner be shown that such owner or own ers are under age, or non-compos mentis. Such service of notice may be made upon the guardian or trustee, under the same restrictions as in ease of owners, or if there be no guardian or trustee, the same shall be established by affidavit: Provided, That no Proviso. such materials shall be taken, if the jury shall decide that the same are essential to the owner or owners thereof. SEC. 9. The shares of stock of the corporation shall be deem- Stock to be per ed personal property, and every person becoming a shareholder sonal property. by transfer, purchase or otherwise, of shares of said stock, shall succeed to all the rights and liabilities of the prior holder of said share or shares, and the shares shall be liable to be taken in execution for the payment of the debts of the owner, in such manner as is or may be provided by law. Wherever the route of said road follows the line of any public highway, the said company shall not take possession of said highway until the commissioners of highways, for the town through which it passes, shall have given them written consent, which shall be recorded in the town clerks office. Rates of toll. SEC. 10. The directors may erect toll gates, and exact toll May erect toll from persons traveling on their road, whenever five consecutive gate. miles are finished, or when the whole road is completed, not exceeding two cents a mile for every vehicle, sled, sleigh or carriage drawn by two animals; and if drawn by more than two animals, one cent a mile for every additional animal; for every vehicle, sled, sleigh or carriage drawn by one animal, one cent a mile ; and for every horse and rider, or led animal, one cent a mile; for one score of sheep or swine, one cent a mile, and for every score of neat cattle, four cents per mile: Provided, That persons going Proviso. to and from military parade, at which they are required by law to attend, and persons going to or returning from funerals, shall be exempt from toll. The toll-gatherer a teach and every gate, when erected on said road in pursuance of this act, may detain and prevent from passing such gate any carriage or animal subject to toll until the toll thereon is paid. Punishment for malicious injury. Additional pen alties. Directors may tal stock. SEC. 11. If any person shall wilfully and knowing obstruct, break, injure or destroy the plank road to be constructed by said company or any part thereof, or any work, buildings or fixtures attached to, or in use upon the same, belonging to said company, such person or persons so offending, shall, each of them, for every such offence be liable to a civil suit for the recovery of damages by said company, by an action of trespass, in any court having competent jurisdiction in the county wherein the offence shall have been committed, and shall also be subject to indictment, and upon conviction, shall be punished by fine and impris onment, or either at the discretion of the court. SEC. 12. Any person who shall wilfully break or throw down any gate on such road, which may have been erected in pursuance of this act, or do any damage to said road, or forcibly or fraudulently pass any such gate without having paid the legal toll, or to avoid the payment of the legal toll, shall with his team, carriage or animal turn out of said road, or pass any gate thereon, or ground adjacent thereto, and again return on said road, shall for each offence forfeit a sum not exceeding ten dollars, to and for the use of said company, and also for all damages done to the profits of said company, in an action of trespass. SEC. 13. The directors of said company, at any annual or increase capi- special meeting of the stockholders, with the consent of a majority in amount of said stockholders, may provide for such increase of the capital stock of said company as may be found necessary to complete said road, in such sections as may have been actually commenced, but remain in an unfinished state for want of means for completing the same. Rights reseind to state. How charter and void. SEC. 14. If said company shall violate any of the privileges hereby granted, the legislature of the state of Wisconsin may rescind all and singular the rights and privileges vested in said company by this act. SEC. 15. If said corporation shall not within three years from to become null the passage of this act commence the construction of said plank road, and expend three thousand dollars or more thereon, and shall not within ten years from the passage of this act, construct, finish and put in operation a single or double track of plank road from Milwaukee to Fond du Lac, then the rights, privileges and powers of the said corporation under this act shall be null and void. How act con. strued. SEC. 16. This act shall be favorably construed to effect the purposes thereby intended, and the same is hereby declared to be a public act, and copies thereof, printed by authority of the state, shall be received as evidence thereof. SEC. 17. This act may be altered or amended by any future legislature of the state of Wisconsin. MOSES M. STRONG, Speaker of the Assembly. SAMUEL W. BEALL, Lt. Governor, and President of the Senate. Approved, February 9, 1850. NELSON DEWEY. |