Powers of pres

tors.

Assessments.

others shall be duly elected and qualified to take their place as directors; and the said directors, a majority of whom shall form a quorum for the transaction of business, shall elect one of their own number to be president of the board, who shall also be president of the corporation; and shall have authority to choose a clerk, who shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of his duty, and a treasurer, who shall give bonds to the corporation, with sureties to the satisfaction of the directors, in a sum not less than twenty thousand dollars, for the faithful discharge of his trust.

SECT. 3. Be it further enacted, That the president and ident and direc- directors for the time being, are hereby authorized and empowered, by themselves or their agents, to exercise all the powers herein granted to the corporation, for the purpose of locating, constructing and completing said rail-road; and all such other powers and authority for the management of the affairs of the corporation, not heretofore granted, as may be necessary and proper to carry into effect the object of this grant; to purchase and hold land, materials, and other necessary things, in the name of the corporation, for the use of the said road; to make such equal assessments from time to time, on all the shares in said corporation, as they may deem expedient and necessary in the execution and progress of the work, and direct the same to be paid to the treasurer of the corporation. And the treasurer shall give notice of all such assessments. And in case any subscriber shall neglect to pay his assessment, for the space of thirty days after due notice by the treasurer of said corporation, the directors may order the treasurer to sell such share or shares at public auction, after giving due notice thereof to the highest bidder, and the same shall be transferred to the purchaser. And such delinquent subscriber shall be held accountable to the corporation for the balance, if his share or shares shall sell for less than the assessments due thereon, with the interest and costs of sale, and shall be entitled to the overplus, if his share or shares shall sell for more than the assessments due, with interest, and the costs of sale: provided, however, that no assessments shall be laid upon any shares in said corporation, of a greater amount in the whole, than one hundred dollars ou each share.

Proviso.

By-laws.

Tolls.

SECT. 4. Be it further enacted, That the said corporation shall have power to make, ordain and establish all such by-laws, rules, regulations and ordinances, as they shall deem expedient and necessary to accomplish the designs and purposes, and to carry into effect the provisions of this act, and for the well ordering, regulating and securing the interests and affairs of the corporation provided, the same be not repugnant to the constitution and laws of the Commonwealth.

SECT. 5. Be it further enacted, That a toll be, and hereby is granted and established for the sole benefit of said corporation, upon all passengers and property of all descriptions which may be conveyed or transported upon said road, at such rates per mile as may be agreed upon and established from time to time by the directors of said corporation. The transportation of per

sons and property, the construction of wheels, the form of cars and carriages, the weight of loads, and all other matters and things in relation to the use of said road, shall be in conformity to such rules, regulations and provisions as the directors shall, from time to time, prescribe and direct, and said road may be used by any persons who shall comply with such rules and regulations: provided, however, that if, at the expiration of four years from and after the completion of said road, the net income or receipts from tolls and other profits, taking the four years aforesaid as the basis of calculation, shall have amounted to more than ten per cent. per annum upon the cost of the road, the Legislature may take measures to alter and reduce the rate of tolls and other profits, in such manner as to take off the overplus for the next four years, calculating the amount of transportation upon the road to be the same as the four preceding years; and, at the expiration of every four years thereafter, the same proceedings may be had.

ors.

SECT. 6. Be it further enacted, That the directors of said Duty of directcorporation for the time being, are hereby authorized to erect toll-houses, establish gates, appoint toll-gatherers, and demand toll, upon the road, when completed, and upon such parts thereof as shall, from time to time, be completed, and they shall, from year to year, make a report to the secretary of the Commonwealth under oath, of their acts and doings, receipts and expenditures, under the provisions of this act ; and the books of the said corporation shall at all times be open to the inspection of any committee of the Legislature appointed for that purpose.

SECT. 7. Be it further enacted, That the said corporation Damages. shall be holden to pay all damages that may arise to any person or persons, corporation or corporations, by taking their land for said rail-road, when it cannot be obtained by voluntary agreement, to be estimated and recovered in the manner provided by law for the recovery of damages happening by the laying out of highways.

sons non compos mentis.

SECT. 8. Be it further enacted, That when the lands or oth- Lands of perer property or estate of any femme covert, infant, or person non compos mentis, shall be necessary for the construction of said rail-road, the husband of such femme covert, and the guardian of such infant or person non compos mentis, may release all damages for any lands or estates, taken and appropriated as aforesaid, as they might do, if the same were holden by them, in their own right respectively.

SECT. 9. Be it further enacted, That if any person shall Penalty for mawilfully, maliciously, or wantonly, and contrary to law, obstruct licious injuries. the passage of any carriage on said rail-road, or in any manner spoil, injure or destroy said rail-road, or any part thereof, or any thing belonging thereto, or any materials or implements to be employed in the construction or for the use of the said road: he, she or they, or any person or persons, assisting, aiding or abetting in such trespass, shall forfeit and pay to said corporation, for every such offence treble such damages as shall be proved before

Annual meeting.

the justice, court or jury, before whom the trial shall be had; to be sued for and recovered before any justice, or any court proper to try the same, by the treasurer of the corporation or other officer, whom they may direct, to the use of said corporation. And such offender or offenders shall be liable to indictment by the grand inquest, for the county within which such trespass shall have been committed, for any offence or offences, contrary to the above provisions, and, on conviction thereof, before any court of common pleas, to be holden in said county, shall pay a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, and not less than thirty dollars, to the use of the Commonwealth, or may be imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year, at the discretion of the court before whom the conviction may be had.

SECT. 10. Be it further enacted, That the annual meeting of the members of said corporation shall be holden on the first Wednesday of January, at such time and place as the directors for the time being shall appoint, at which meeting five directors Right of voting. shall be chosen by ballot, each proprietor being entitled to as many votes as he hold shares provided, they do not amount to more than one fourth part of the whole number. And the three persons first named in this act, or any two of them, are hereby authorized to call the [first] meeting of said corporation, by giving notice in the Daily Advertiser, published in Boston, and the Columbian Reporter, published in Taunton, of the time, place and purpose of such meeting, at least ten days before the time mentioned in such notice.

How rail-road shall be con

structed across

SECT. 11. Be it further enacted, That if the said rail-road, in the course thereof, shall cross any private way, the said corprivate and pub- poration shall so construct said rail-road as not to obstruct the lic ways. safe and convenient use of said private way; and if said railroad shall not be so constructed, the party aggrieved shall be entitled to his action on the case in any court proper to try the same, and shall recover his reasonable damages for such injury; and if the said rail-road shall, in the course thereof, cross any canal, turnpike or other highway, the said rail-road shall be so constructed as not to impede or obstruct the safe and convenient use of such canal, turnpike or other highway. And the said corporation shall have the power to raise or lower such turnpike, highway or private way, so that the said rail-road, if necessary, may conveniently pass over or under the same. And if said corporation shall raise or lower any such turnpike, highway or private way, pursuant thereto, and shall not so lower or raise the same as to be satisfactory to the proprietors of such turnpike, or to the selectmen of the town in which said highway or private way may be situate, as the case may be, said proprietors or selectmen may require in writing of said corporation, such alteration or amendment as they may think necessary. And if the required alteration or amendment, in the written opinion of the county commissioners of the county where such alteration or amendment is proposed, be reasonable and proper, and the said corporation shall unnecessarily and unreasonably neglect to make

Alterations, how made.

the same, such proprietors or selectmen, as the case may be, may proceed to make such alteration or amendment, and may institute and prosecute to final judgment and execution, in any court proper to try the same, any action of the case against said corporation, and shall therein recover a reasonable indemnity in damage for all charges, disbursements, labor and services, occasioned by making such alteration or amendments, with costs of suit.

SECT. 12. Be it further enacted, That no other rail-road Restrictions on than the one hereby granted shall, within thirty years from and other rail-roads. after the passing of this act, be authorized to be made, leading from Boston, Roxbury or Dorchester, to Taunton, or from Boston, Roxbury or Dorchester, to any place within five miles of the point where the rail-road hereby authorized to be made shall meet the deep water of Taunton river or Mount Hope bay: provided, that the state may authorize any company to enter with another rail-road at any point of said Boston and Taunton railroad, paying for the right to use the same, or any part thereof, such a rate of toll as the Legislature may from time to time prescribe, and complying with such rules and regulations as may be established by said Boston and Taunton rail-road corporation, by virtue of the fifth section of this act : provided, also, that it Commonwealth shall be in the power of the government, at any time during the may purchase continuance of the charter hereby granted, after the expiration of twenty years from the opening for use of the rail-road herein provided to be made, to purchase of the said corporation the said rail-road, and all the franchise, property, rights and privileges of the said corporation, on paying therefor the amount expended in making the said rail-road, and the expenses of repairs, and all other expenses relating thereto, with interest thereon at the rate of ten per cent. per annum, deducting all sums received by the corporation from tolls, or any other source of profit, and interest at the rate of ten per cent. per annum thereon, that shall have been received by the stockholders; and after such purchase, the limitation provided in this section shall cease, and be of no effect.

franchise.

this act.

SECT. 13. Be it further enacted, That if the amount of Conditions of stock for said rail-road shall not have been subscribed, the company organized and the location of the route filed with the coun- [Time extended ty commissioners of the counties of Norfolk and Bristol, previ- 1832 ch. 107.] ous to the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, or if the said stock shall have been subscribed, the company organized and the location made as aforesaid, but the said corporation shall fail to complete the said rail-road on or before the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, in either of the before mentioned cases this act shall be null and void, otherwise shall remain in full force until the Legislature shall purchase said rail-road as aforesaid.

SECT. 14. Be it further enacted, That said rail-road com- Bridges. pany shall constantly maintain, in good repair, all bridges, with their abutments and embankments, which they may construct for

New bridge not to be construct

ed over Boston harbor.

Establishment

minus.

the purpose of passing their rail-road over any canal, turnpike or other highway, or any private way; or of passing such private way, turnpike or other highway over said rail-road.

SECT. 15. Be it further enacted, That nothing contained in this act shall be so construed, as giving authority to erect a new bridge over the waters of Boston harbor, or of placing any obstruction therein.

SECT. 16. Be it further enacted, That the general locaof southern ter- tion and southern terminus of said rail-road shall be fixed and established by three commissioners, to be appointed by the governor and council, and paid by said corporation, and said commissioners shall determine and locate said southern terminus at some convenient place on Taunton river or Mount Hope bay, where it will best promote the public interest. [June 22, 1831.] Add. act, 1832 ch. 107.

Chap. 56.

porated.

An Act to incorporate the Boston and Providence Rail-road Corporation. SECT. 1. BE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority Persons incor- of the same, That John Bryant, Joseph W. Revere, George Hallet and Benjamin R. Nichols, their associates, successors and assigns, be, and they hereby are made a body politic and corporate, under the name of the "Boston and Providence Rail-road Corporation," and by that name shall be, and hereby are made capable in law to sue and be sued to final judgment and execution, plead and be impleaded, defend and be defended, in any courts of record or in any other place whatever; to make, have and use a common seal, and the same to break, renew or alter at pleasure; and shall be and are hereby vested with all the powers, privileges and immunities which are or may be necessary to carry into effect the purposes and objects of this act, as herein after set forth. And the said corporation are hereby authorized and empowered to locate, construct and finally complete a rail-road, beginning at or near the city of Boston, and thence to the line of this Commonwealth in Pawtucket or Seekonk, in the direction to Providence, in the state of Rhode Island, in such manner and form as they shall deem most expedient; and for this purpose the said corporation are authorized to lay out their road at least four rods wide through the whole length; and for the purpose of cuttings, embankments and obtaining stone and gravel, may take as much more land as may be necessary for the proper construction and security of said road: provided, however, that all damages that may be occasioned to any person or corporation by the taking of such land or materials for the purpose aforesaid, shall be paid for by said corporation in the manner herein after provided.

Location, con struction and completion of rail road.

Proviso.

Capital stock, directors, &c. [Capital increased 1835

ch. 102: 1836 ch. 254.]

SECT. 2. Be it further enacted, That the capital stock of said corporation shall consist of ten thousand shares, of one hundred dollars each. The immediate government and direction of the affairs of said corporation shall be vested in five directors, who shall be chosen by the members of the corporation in the