manner herein after provided, who shall hold their offices for one year, and until others shall be duly elected and qualified to take their place as directors. And the said directors, a majority of whom shall form 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 said directors 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 one or more sureties to the satisfaction of the directors, in a sum not less than twenty thousand dollars, for the faithful discharge of his trust. pres ident and direc SECT. 3. Be it further enacted, That the president and Powers of directors for the time being are hereby authorized and empower- tors. ed, 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 objects 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 Assessments. equal assessments, from time to time, on all the shares in said corporation, as they may deem expedient and necessary in the progress and execution 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 Proceedings in 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 cost of sale; and shall be entitled to the overplus, if his share or shares shall sell for more than the assessments due, with the interest and cost of sale. Provided, however, that no assessment shall be laid upon any shares in said corporation, of a greater amount in the whole than one hundred dollars on each share. case of neglect to pay assess ments. SECT. 4. Be it further enacted, That the said corporation By-laws. 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 Tolls. is granted and established, for the sole benefit of said corporation, on all passengers and property of all descriptions, which may be conveyed or transported upon said road, at such rates per be re Tolls may duced by the Legislature. Toll-houses, gates, &c. Report to the Damages. Lands of married women, &c. Penalties for as may be agreed upon and established, from time to time, by the directors of said corporation. The transportation of persons 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 person who may 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, shall have amounted to more than ten per cent. per annum upon the whole 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, and the rate of tolls may be raised, in case the net receipts shall have been less than ten per cent. during the preceding four years. SECT. 6. Be it further enacted, That the directors of said corporation, for the time being, are hereby authorized to erect tollhouses, 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 Legislature, under oath, of their acts and doings, receipts and expenditures, under the provisions of this act; and their books shall at all times be open to the inspection of any committee of the Legislature appointed for that purpose; and if said corporation shall unreasonably neglect or refuse to make such report, at the expiration of every year after the opening of said rail-road, for every such neglect or refusal, they shall forfeit and pay, to the use of the Commonwealth, a sum not exceeding ten thousand dollars, to be recovered by action or indictment, in any court of competent jurisdiction. SECT. 7. Be it further enacted, That the said corporation 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. SECT. 8. Be it further enacted, That when the lands or other property or estate of any married woman, infant, or person non compos mentis, shall be necessary for the construction of said rail-road, the husband of such married woman, and the guardian of such infant or person non compos mentis, may release all damages in relation to the lands or estates, to be 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 malicious inju- wilfully, maliciously, or wantonly, and contrary to law, obstruct the passage of any carriage on said rail-road, or in any way spoil, ries. 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 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 the justice, court or jury, before whom the trial shall be had; to be sued for and recovered before any justice, or in 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. ing. rail-road across any highway or private way. SECT. 10. Be it further enacted, That the annual meeting Annual meetof 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 shall be chosen by ballot, each proprietor being entitled to as many votes as he holds shares; provided they do not amount to more than one fourth part of the whole number. And the three persons named in this act, or any two of them, are hereby authorized to call the first meeting of said corporation, by giving notice in two daily newspapers published in Boston, and two papers in Dedham, of the time, place and purpose of such meeting, at least ten days before the time mentioned in such notice. SECT. 11. Be it further enacted, That if the said rail-road, Construction of in the course thereof, shall cross any private way, the said corporation shall so construct said rail-road as not to obstruct the safe and convenient use of such way, and if said rail-road 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 under or over the same. And, if said corporation shall raise or lower any such turnpike, highway, or private way pursuant thereto, and shall not so raise or lower the same as to be satisfactory to the proprietors of such turnpike, or to the selectmen of the town or towns in which said highway or private way may be situated, as the case may be, said proprietors or selectmen may require, in writing, of said corporation, such alter Alterations, how made. Restrictions on Proviso. ation or amendment as they may think necessary; and, if the required amendment or alteration be reasonable and proper in the written opinion of a majority of the commissioners of the county in which such amendment or alteration shall be required, and the said corporation shall unnecessarily and unreasonably neglect to make the same, such proprietors or selectmen, as the case may be, may proceed to make such alterations 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 damages, for all charges, disbursements, labor, and services occasioned by making such alteration or amendment, with costs of suit. SECT. 12. Be it further enacted, That no other rail-road, other rail-roads. than the one hereby granted, shall, within thirty years from and after passing this act, be authorized to be made, leading from Boston to any place within five miles of the southern termination of the rail-road hereby authorized to be made provided, the state may authorize any company to enter with another rail-road at any point of said Boston and Providence Rail-road, 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 Providence Rail-road Corporation by virtue Commonwealth of the fifth section of this act provided, also, that it shall be in may purchase the power of the government, at any time during the 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 ef franchise. Conditions of this act. [Further time allowed, 1832 ch. 74.] fect. SECT. 13. Be it further enacted, That if the stock shall not have been subscribed for, the company organized, and location of the route filed with the county commissioners of the county or counties, within which the land proposed to be taken for the use of said rail-road is situate, previous to the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three; or if the stock being so subscribed for, the company organized, and location made as aforesaid, the said corporation shall fail to complete the said rail-road, before the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, in either of the before mentioned cases, this act shall be void, and of no effect, otherwise shall remain in full force to be erected SECT. 15. Be it further enacted, That nothing contained No new bridge in this act shall be so construed as giving authority to erect a new over Boston bridge over the waters of Boston harbor, or of placing any ob- harbor. struction therein. [June 22, 1831.] Add. acts, 1832 ch. 74: 1833 ch. 5: 1834 ch. 171: 1835 ch. 46. 102: 1836 ch. 254. An ACT to establish the Boston and Ontario Rail-road Corporation. Chap. 57. SECT. 1. BE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That William Sturgis, Amos Binney, Henry Wil- Persons incorliams, George Bond, Samuel Whitwell, Luther Faulkner, Henry porated. H. Fuller, Jonas B. Brown, Pliny Cutler, George Hallet, Winslow Wright, Nathaniel Hammond, Joseph T. Buckingham, James K. Mills, Eliphalet Williams, John P. Bigelow, George Morey, Ward Jackson, Henry Rice, Cornelius Coolidge, Thomas R. Sewall, John Brown, Jonathan Whitney, David Moody, William Parker, Isaac Danforth, Daniel Hastings, E. A. and W. Winchester, Reuben Richards, Jr., John G. Thompson, A. Chandler, Thomas B. Wales, William Dehon, and Andrew Dunlap, their associates, successors and assigns, be, and they hereby are made a body politic and corporate, under the name of the "Boston and Ontario Rail-road Corporation ;" and by that name shall be, and hereby are made capable Powers and in law, to sue and to be sued to final judgment and execution, privileges. plead and be impleaded, defend and be defended, in any court 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 hereby are 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 any point in or near the town of Lowell, in the county of Middlesex, and running thence to the northerly or westerly line of the Commonwealth, in such manner and form as they shall deem to be most expedient; and for this purpose the said corporation are authorized to lay out their road, not exceeding six rods wide through the whole length; and for the purpose of cuttings, embankments, and 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 purposes aforesaid, shall be paid for by said corporation, in the manner herein after provided. |