CHAP. CXXIV.—An Act to transfer certain Funds. [Approved April 1, 1863.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. The sum of six thousand dollars is hereby trans- Transfer. ferred from the Legislative Fund, and the same is hereby appropriated as follows: Four thousand dollars to pay the contingent expenses of the Assembly, and two thousand dollars to pay the contingent expenses of the Senate. SEC. 2. This Act shall be in force from and after its passage. CHAP. CXXV.-An Act to authorize the County of Placer to subscribe to the Capital Stock of the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, and to provide for the payment of the same, and other matters relating thereto. [Approved April 2, 1863.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. It shall be the duty of the Board of Supervisors Special of the County of Placer, who shall, for that purpose, and to order election. publication of notice, meet on the seventh day of April, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, to order a special election to be held in said county at the several places for holding elections therein, on the second Tuesday in May, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, for the purpose of submitting to the qualified voters of said county the proposition for said Board of Supervisors to take and subscribe two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the capital stock of the "Central Pacific Railroad Company of California," by which a railroad shall be constructed from the navigable waters of the Sacramento River to the eastern boundary line of the State, running through the County of Placer, by way of Clipper Gap, Illinoistown, and Dutch Flat. SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of the said Board of Supervisors Notice. to cause notice of at least twenty days to be published in one or more newspapers printed and published in said county, stating the proposition to be submitted to said electors, and the time and manner of voting thereon. Each of the electors voting at said election shall have written or printed on his ballot the words "Central Pacific Railroad Subscription-Yes," or "Cen- Ballots. tral Pacific Railroad Subscription-No." SEC. 3. Said election shall be conducted in the same manner Returns of as other elections for county officers, and sealed returns shall be election. made of the vote cast on said proposition within five days after Subscription Same. Bonds. Duties of Railroad said election, in the same manner as provided for in case of the election of county officers, to the Clerk of said county, of the number of votes voting "Yes," and the number voting "No," which returns shall be on said fifth day opened and counted in the same manner as the returns of the votes for county officers; and when so opened and counted, the result thereof shall be declared officially by the said Board of Supervisors, who shall, at the time prescribed for the opening and counting of the returns of said election, meet as a Board for that purpose, and for perfecting the subscription of stock as hereinafter provided. SEC. 4. If, at the said election, a greater number of the electors of said county voting upon said proposition shall vote "Yes" than shall vote "No," then, and in that event, is the Board of Supervisors of said county, in the name of said county, hereby authorized, empowered, and directed, immediately after the result of said election is so officially declared, to take and subscribe, for the use, benefit, and advantage of said county, to the capital stock of the "Central Pacific Railroad Company of California," a corporation duly organized under the laws of this State, for the purpose mentioned in section one of this Act, stock to the amount of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and therefor to pledge the faith of said county for the payment of the same in the manner hereinafter provided. SEC. 5. The said subscription shall be made by the Chairman of the said Board of Supervisors, or in case of his neglect or inability to act, by any member of said Board appointed by the Board for that purpose, and who shall perform that duty immediately thereafter. SEC. 6. The said subscription shall be made and so received. conditional to be paid in the bonds of said county, issued as hereinafter directed, and not otherwise; and for such subscription, said bonds shall be received at par, dollar for dollar. SEC. 7. The said Board of Supervisors of said county, from Supervisors time to time, as the payment of said subscription to such capital stock so subscribed shall be required to be made by the Board of Directors of the said railroad company, not exceeding at any one time, however, an instalment of ten per cent upon the amount of said subscription, in the same manner and upon the same terms as other stockholders, shall, by order, direct the Chairman of said Board of Supervisors, the Auditor and Treasurer of said county, who, for that purpose, in addition to their other duties as such officers, and their successors in office, shall constitute a Board of Commissioners, to be styled the "Railroad Commissioners" of said county, as such Railroad Commissioners, to prepare and issue bonds in the sum of five hundred dollars each, for the amount of such subscription to said capital stock. Said bonds shall draw interest at the rate of eight per cent per annum from the date of their issue, and the principal thereof shall be made payable on a specified day, to be named in the bonds, which shall be twenty years from the date of their Issuance of issue, at the office of the Treasurer of said county. The interest on said bonds shall be due and payable semi-annually so long as such bonds are outstanding and unpaid, and shall be made payable on a specified day, to be named in coupons, at the said Treasurer's office, as before provided for the payment of the sioners. bonds. Coupons. payable. principal of said bonds; both principal and interest of said Interest, bonds to be payable in United States gold coin, dollar for dollar. and how Said bonds shall be signed by the Chairman of the said Board of Supervisors, the Auditor and Treasurer of said county, as such officers, and ex-officio Railroad Commissioners, and when so signed, shall be presented by the Chairman of said Board of Supervisors to the Clerk of said county, who shall countersign the same as such Clerk, in the presence of a quorum of such Board, at a meeting thereof. And it shall be the duty of said Board of Supervisors to cause the fact of such countersigning of said bonds to be entered upon their journal, together with the number, date, and amount of each bond so countersigned by such Clerk; and upon the countersigning of said bonds, it shall be the duty of said Board of Supervisors to cause the seal of said county to be affixed to each bond, and appoint a committee of two of their number to deliver said bonds to the said railroad Delivery of company to whom the same shall be issued; and it shall be the bonds. duty of such committee to take a receipt from the Secretary of said railroad company for the bonds so delivered to them, setting forth the number, dates, and amounts of the bonds so delivered, and report the same to the Board of Supervisors. SEC. 8. Coupons for the interest shall be attached to each coupons. bond, so that the coupons may be removed without mutilation to the bond. Said coupons shall be signed by the said County Treasurer. When any interest shall be paid upon a bond issued under the provisions of this Act, the County Treasurer shall detach the coupons for the interest then due and paid, and deliver the same to the Clerk of said county, taking his receipt therefor, whose duty it shall be to file the same in his office, and make a report thereof at the next meeting of the Board of Supervisors. Duty of and Chief railroad SEC. 9. The bonds issued from time to time in payment of such stock subscription by virtue of the provisions of this Act, Secretary and at least an equal amount of any other funds that may be Engineer of obtained from other stockholders, or otherwise, shall be ex- company. pended from time to time, as the said bonds are required to be issued, in the actual construction of that portion of said company's road situated in the said County of Placer, to the extent and amount of the graduation and full preparation of said road for the superstructure thereof. It shall be the duty of the Secretary and Chief Engineer of said company, from time to time, as the said bonds are required to be issued, to make reports, under oath, in writing, and lay the same before the Board of Supervisors, of the progress of the work, and the amount thereof done and performed, as near as the same can be ascertained, on said road in said County of Placer. And if, after the issuance of such bonds in payment of the first instalment of ten per cent on such subscription, there should be at any time any failure or refusal in the expenditure of said bonds, with other funds, in the mode and manner provided by this section, in the construction of said road, then, and in that event, the said Board of Supervisors may, at their option, withhold any further payment on such subscription, and shall not thereafter be liable to any future calls for assessments thereon; and if so declared by said Board of Supervisors, the said subscription shall be held void and of Interest tax. Railroad Surplus in Payment of interest. Redemption of bonds. no effect, and the said company shall be liable to said county for any amounts that may have been previously paid on such subscription at the time of such failure or refusal, recoverable at law in any Court having jurisdiction. SEC. 10. It shall be the duty of said Board of Supervisors to levy a tax each year, to be styled an "Interest Tax," sufficient to raise the amount of interest required to be paid each year on the bonds issued under the provisions of this Act; and in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and every year thereafter until the said bonds issued under this Act shall have been paid and liquidated, the said Board of Supervisors shall, should it be necessary, levy a tax, not exceeding twenty-five cents on the hundred dollars worth of taxable property of said county, for the purpose of raising a Fund for the liquidation of said bonds, which shall be called a "Railroad Fund." The taxes shall be levied and collected in the same manner as the general taxes for county purposes, and when collected, shall be paid to the County Treasurer, who shall account for and deliver the same over to the said "Railroad Commissioners," to be by them applied: First-The "Interest Tax," to the payment of the interest falling due on said bonds. Second-The" Railroad Fund," to the redemption of said bonds, as hereinafter provided. SEC. 11. If there shall be collected as such interest tax, in any one year, a sum greater than is required to pay the annual interest on said bonds issued under the provisions of this Act, then the said "Railroad Commissioners" shall pass over such surplus into the "Railroad Fund." SEC. 12. It shall be the duty of said Railroad Commissioners to make arrangements for the payment of the interest on said bonds when the same falls due, at least thirty days before the time of payment; and in the event the said Interest Fund is insufficient, the said Treasurer shall draw on the General Fund of the said county for such purpose, and deliver the same to said Commissioners; and in the event that those funds prove inadequate, the said Commissioners are authorized and required to make such contracts and arrangements as may be necessary for the payment of said interest and the protection of the faith of said county. SEC. 13. Whenever, at any time, there shall be in the said Railroad Fund a sum of money amounting to three thousand dollars, or upwards, the said Commissioners shall advertise in a public newspaper published in said county, for a space of four weeks, for sealed proposals for the redemption of said bonds; and ten days from the expiration of the time for such publication, the said Commissioners shall open the sealed proposals, and shall pay and liquidate, as far as the Railroad Fund then on hand shall extend, such bonds presented under said proposals as shall have the lowest value proposed at which they may be liquidated; provided, the same shall not be more than the par value thereof; and, provided, should there be no proposals made for less than par value, then the payment of said Railroad Fund on hand shall be made on said bonds according to the number of their issue, of which the said Commissioners shall give four weeks notice of the number of the bonds to be paid, after which time such bonds shall cease to bear interest; and, provided, whenever there may be sufficient in said Railroad Fund for the extinguishment of the bonds issued under the provisions of this Act, it shall be the duty of the said Commissioners to advertise in like manner, for the space of four weeks, for the redemption of all outstanding bonds issued under this Act, after which time said bonds shall cease to draw interest. Any moneys remaining in said Railroad Fund after the redemption of said bonds, shall be, by the said Commissioners, paid over to the County Treasurer, to be by him held subject to the order of the Board of Supervisors. SEC. 14. Whenever any bonds shall have been paid and re- Cancellation deemed by the said Commissioners, they shall mark the same "cancelled" over their signatures as Commissioners, and immediately deliver the same to the County Clerk, taking his receipt therefor, and the said Clerk, upon the receipt of such cancelled bonds, shall file the same in his office. SEC. 15. The County Auditor shall open with said Commis- Duty of sioners an "Interest Tax" account, and a "Railroad Fund" Auditor. account, and shall balance the same quarterly, on the first Monday of January, April, July, and October. officers. SEC. 16. The said Commissioners, and all other officers here- Liabilities of in specified, for the performance of their duties under the provisions of this Act shall, in all things herein required of them, be subject to all the liabilities and penalties to which they are subject on the performance of any other of the duties of their respective offices, and they shall, when the fees or salary is not fixed by law for the services herein required, be allowed, by the Board of Supervisors, a reasonable compensation therefor, to be paid compensaby said county as other fees or salaries are paid; and the Board tion. of Supervisors may, and they are fully authorized so to do, require of each of said Commissioners such bonds and security for Bonds of. the performance of their duties herein required of them as they, the said Board of Supervisors, may deem proper; provided, how- Proviso. ever, that the penal sums of such bonds to each of such Commissioners shall not exceed eight thousand dollars. The said Commissioners shall, when so required, execute the said bonds in the same manner as other official bonds are executed, and to be approved by said Board of Supervisors, and filed in the office of the County Clerk. SEC. 17. The said Board of Supervisors shall have authority Powers of to authorize a committee of any one or more of their number, Supervisors. or any other persons, to cast all votes representing the capital stock so subscribed by them; and they shall, by order made by them for that purpose, have full power to sell, transfer, and assign said capital stock, or any part thereof, so taken by them under the provisions of this Act, whenever, on a submission to the qualified voters of said county, at any county or general election, of a proposition to sell the same, a majority of votes cast thereat shall approve of such sale. SEC. 18. The Board of Supervisors shall have all the rights same. and powers appertaining to other subscribers to such capital stock, and shall receive all of the dividends, issues, and profits arising from such subscription to said capital stock, and shall set apart and transfer the same, together with the taxes that may be paid by said company to said county from time to time, |