Canal Act.

No. XXIV. brought up to the 25th March, shall be laid before the said proprietors to be audited and settled, and such account shall be deposited with the clerk of the said Company during twentyone days immediately preceding such meeting, for the purpose of being inspected by the proprietors at all seasonable times; and every such treasurer &c. shall produce all receipts and vouchers, and pay over all such monies as remain in their respective hands to the said Company or such person as they appoint; and if any treasurer, &c. refuse to produce such vouchers or make payment of such monies within twenty-one days after being thereunto required, it shall be lawful for the said Company to bring any action for the same, or to make complaint to any justice of the peace, who may determine the matter in a summary way, and if satisfied that any monies remain in the hands of such treasurer &c. may levy the same by distress and sale, and in default of distress may commit offender for any period not exceeding calendar months, or until he compound with the said Company.

Appointment of chairman by committee.

Sect. 54. The said committee shall at their first and every other meeting, to be held in pursuance of this Act, appoint a chairman, and any or more shall constitute a meeting; and all questions at any such meeting shall be decided by a majority of the members présent, but no member shall have more than one vote at such meetings, except that, in case of an equal division, the chairman shall have the casting vote; and the said committee shall make reports to and be subject to the orders and directions of such general meeting, and subject thereto the said committee shall meet or adjourn their meetings from time to time as they think proper.

Sect. 55. All books, accounts, writings and papers whatsoever in the custody of any such treasurer &c., his executors or administrators, in anywise relating to the said intended undertaking, are hereby declared to be the rightful property of the said Company; and if any agent, toll collector, wharfinger, lock keeper, bridge keeper or other servant of the said Company occupying any house, offices or buildings belonging to the said undertaking be discharged from his office, he, or in case of his death, his wife and family, shall deliver up possession of the same, and in case of refusal it shall be lawful for any justice of the

peace, upon complaint made to him, by his warrant to order a constable or peace officer to remove the persons found therein and to deliver the possession thereof to the said Company.

No. XXIV.

Canal Act.

committee.

Sect. 56. The said committee of management shall have full Power of the power to contract and purchase all lands &c. wanted for the said navigation and other works hereby authorized to be made, and to sell and convey or demise such parts of any lands &c. as shall not be wanted, and to enter into all agreements touching compensation for damages, or with any engineers, surveyors, agents and other persons in or about carrying on the said navigation as shall be thought expedient, and to make all such contracts as anywise concern the said undertaking, and at all times to use the common seal of the said Company for such purposes as they think proper, and generally to direct the affairs of the said Company, and to do all such things as the said Company are authorized by this Act to do, subject nevertheless to the directions of any meeting of proprietors as aforesaid.

Sect. 57. And it shall be lawful for such committee to ap- Appointment and powers of point sub-committees, who shall have full power to do all things sub-committees. which the committee themselves are hereinbefore authorized to do, subject nevertheless to the control and direction of the committee, to whom they shall from time to time make reports of their proceedings.

Sect. 58. The committee and the several sub-committees shall at their respective meetings cause their proceedings to be entered into books to be provided for that purpose at the expence of the said Company, by whom all reasonable expences incurred by the committee or sub-committees at their several meetings shall be defrayed; provided always, that no money shall be issued by the treasurer without an order made by the said committee at any of their meetings, or a draft or order signed by three or more members of the said Committee.

Sect. 59. The said committee shall have power from time to Committee may time to make calls for money upon the several proprietors as the make calls. same shall be wanted for the purpose of carrying on the said undertaking, so as such call does not exceed £ made at a less distance than three months from the preceding call, and that fourteen days' notice of every such call be published in some newspaper; and in case any such subscribers Remedy to

,

and is not

Canal Act.

No. XXIV. neglect or refuse to pay the same, the said Company are hereby empowered to sue for and recover the same with interest, after the rate of 51. per cent. per ann. from the time appointed for the payment thereof.

recover the amount with interest.

Sect. 60. For the better enforcing the payment of such calls, if any subscriber, for the space of thirty days next ensuing any such call, neglect or refuse to pay his rateable share, he shall forfeit the sum of 20s. for every share, and in case he continues to refuse or neglect for the space of three months, it shall be lawful for the said Company at some general meeting to declare the shares of such person to be forfeited, and such forfeited shares may be sold at a public sale by the said Company for the most money that can be got for the same, and the monies arising from such sale shall be applied for the purposes of this Act; provided that no such share shall vest in the said Company until notice thereof has been given to the person or to the clerk or officer of any body politic in whose name such share stands in the register book, the same to be left at the place of abode of the party ten days at least previous to such vesting; and in case the place of abode be unknown, then the notice shall be published in the London Gazette or such other newspaper as the said committee direct: Provided also, that no share shall be forfeited if the proprietor pay what appears by the statement in such notice to be due, together with interest for the same, and the aforesaid penalties for non-payment, and all expences attending the application for the same: Provided also, that such forfeiture, when taken advantage of, shall be an absolute indemnification and discharge to the proprietor against all actions and proceedings for any breach of contract, and in case the money produced by the sale of any shares be more than sufficient to pay all arrears of any call and lawful interest thereon, together with the expences of such sale, the surplus of such money shall be paid on demand to the owner, and no more shares of defaulter shall be sold than what may be deemed necessary to pay such arrears &c. Sect. 61. In all actions and suits for the recovery of arrears of call it shall be sufficient for the said Company to allege that the defendant, being an owner of such shares, is indebted to the said Company in such sums of money as the calls in arrear amount to, for such and so many calls, of such and so many

sums of money upon such and so many shares, whereby an action hath accrued to the said Company by virtue of this Act; and on the trial it shall be only necessary to prove that the defendant was owner of some shares in the said undertaking, and that such calls were in fact made, and that notice was given as directed by this Act.

No. XXIV.

Canal Act.

sell shares.

Sect. 62. It shall be lawful for proprietors, their executors, Proprietors may administrators and assigns, to sell any shares to which they may be intitled, subject to the rules and conditions hereinmentioned; the transfer of which shares shall be in the form or to the effect following:

"I, A. B., of &c.

C. D. of

in consideration of £

paid to me by do hereby bargain, sell, assign and transfer to the said C. D. all that share (or those shares') in the joint stock or capital of the Company of Proprietors in the navigation called being No. of the said shares: To hold to the said C. D., his executors, administrators and assigns, subject to the same rules, orders and restrictions, and on the same conditions as I held the same immediately before the execution hereof; and I, the said C. D., do agree to accept and take the said shares, subject to such rules as aforesaid. As witness our hands and seals the

day

transfer.

And a memorial of every such transfer shall be registered by Memorial of the clerk of the said Company, for which the sum of 2s. 6d. and no more shall be paid; and until such registry the purchaser shall have no part of the profits of the said navigation, nor any dividend on such shares paid to him, nor any votes in respect thereof.

пр

fer.

before trans

Sect. 63. After any call has been made as aforesaid, no per- Calls to be paid son shall sell or transfer any share which he possesses in the undertaking, upon pain of forfeiting the same, unless at the time of such transfer he has paid to the treasurer the sum called for upon the share so sold.

Sect. 64. Before any person claiming any part of the profits Provisions as to acquisition of of the said undertaking in right of marriage is intitled to receive shares. the same or to vote in respect of any shares, an affidavit containing a copy of the register of such marriage shall be made and be sworn to by some credible person before a Master in Chancery or one of her Majesty's justices of the peace, and shall be trans

VOL. I.

F

Canal Act.

No. XXIV. mitted to the clerk of the said Company, who shall file the same and make an entry thereof in the book kept for the entry of transfers of shares; and before any person claiming by virtue of any bequest or will, or in the course of administration, is intitled to receive any part of such profits, the said will or the probate thereof, or the letters of administration, shall be produced and shewn to the said clerk, or a copy of so much of such will as relates to the said shares shall be sworn to, and shall also be transmitted to the said clerk, who shall file and enter the same as before mentioned; and in all cases where the right to any such shares passes from the original proprietor by any legal means, other than a transfer and assignment thereof as herein directed, an affidavit shall be made and sworn to, stating the manner in which such share has passed to such other person, and the same shall be transmitted to the clerk, who shall thereupon enter and register the name of every such new proprietor; and every person whose name stands in such register book as a proprietor shall be deemed and taken to be a proprietor of the several shares standing in his name, and no assignment or other instrument giving title to any shares or to any securities on the said navigation, or the monies thereby secured, which has not been registered by the said clerk, shall be admitted as evidence for the purpose of establishing the claims of any parties.

tolls.

Sect. 65. If the said Company deem it expedient out of any surplus monies or otherwise to buy up any shares in the said canal navigation offered for sale, it shall be lawful for any general meeting of the said Company to direct that any such share so bought up shall merge in the said undertaking, or that the same shall be transferred to the clerk of the said Company in trust for the said Company, and such shares may at any time thereafter be sold for the purpose of raising any sum of money which may be wanted for carrying on the said undertaking.

Company emSect. 66. It shall be lawful for the said Company from time powered to take to time hereafter to demand, take and recover to and for their own purposes the several rates hereinafter mentioned for tonnage of the several articles to be carried upon the said canal; that is to say, (here set out the rates of tonnage) :

And all such rates, tolls and duties shall be payable respec