further measures to fill the subscription to that amount, when the books shall again be closed. SEC. 7. As soon as may be, after the books have been closed, the commissioners shall give notice of the time and place at which a meeting of the stockholders will be held, for the choice of directors: such notice shall be published in one or more newspapers in general circulation along the proposed route of said road; at the time and place appointed for such election, the commissioners, or a majority of them, shall attend, and the stockholders, or their proxies, duly appointed in writing, shall proceed to elect, by ballot, seven directors; the commissioners present shall preside at the election, and certify the result in writing; and their certificate in the book of the corporation shall be evidence of the election of the directors therein named; and all subsequent elections shall be conducted in the manner prescribed by the by-laws of said corporation. SEC. 8. Each stockholder shall be allowed as many votes as he owns shares of stock at the commencement of any election of directors, and a plurality of votes shall determine the choice; but when two or more persons shall have the same number of votes, then the choice between them shall be determined by lot. SEC. 9. The directors shall hold their office for one year, and until their successors are elected and qualified; they shall appoint one of their own number president, and some suitable person secretary of the corporation; they shall also appoint all such officers and agents as the convenience of the company may require. SEC. 10. The directors shall have power to cause such examination and surevy of the route for said road to be made, as may be necessary to the selection by them of the most advantageous line, course or way for the construction of said road; and the board of directors shall, as soon thereafter as practicable, select the route on which said road shall be constructed. SEC. 11. The corporation is hereby empowered to purchase, receive and hold such real estate as may be necessary and convenient in accomplishing the objects for which the corporation is granted; and may, by their agents, engineers and surveyors, enter upon such route, place or places, selected, as aforesaid, by the directors, as the line whereon to construct said railroad; and it shall be lawful for said corporation to enter upon and take possession of and use all such lands and real estate as may be indispensable for the construction and maintenance of said railroad, and the accommodations requisite to and pertaining to them; and may also receive, take and hold all such voluntary grants and donations of land and real estate as may be made to said corporation, to aid in the construction, maintenance or accommodation of said road or ways; but all land or real estate thus entered upon and used by said corporation, and earth, gravel, and other materials, except timber, needed by said company, shall be purchased of the owners thereof, at a price to be mutually agreed upon between them; and in case of disagreement of the owners as to the price of any lands or materials so required for said road, or if the owners are under any disability, in law, to contract, or are absent from the country, application may be made, either by said owners or by said corporation, to any judge of the court of common pleas within which said lands or materials may be, specifying the lands or materials so required; and thereupon said judge may issue his warrant, in writing, directed to the sheriff of the county, requiring him to summons three freeholders of the county, who shall not be stockholders, nor interested therein, to appear at, and, upon actual view, value said lands or materials, on a day named in said warrant, not less than five nor more than ten days after issuing the same; and if any of the persons do not attend, the said sheriff may forthwith summon as many as may be necessary to fill said inquest; and the persons so impannelled shall, on their oaths or affirmations, value the damages which the several owners will sustain by the use or occupation of the land, or materials, or property required by said company; and the said inquest shall reduce their valuation to writing; and such valuation, when paid or tendered to said owners, shall entitle said company to the materials, use and occupation of said lands, for purposes of said road, and all the estate and interest therein, as fully as if it had been conveyed by the owners of the same; and every sheriff and freeholder so acting, shall receive one dollar per day for his services, to be paid by the company; either party may, within ten days after such valuation is made, appeal from the same to the court of common pleas of the county, by giving notice thereof to the opposite party, or by filing in the clerk's office a copy of such valuation, with a notice thereto attached; and such court may, for good cause shown, order a new valuation, and, upon final hearing, the court shall award costs, according to equity: Provided, that before said company shall take possession of any such lands or materials, they shall pay to the owners, or secure to them, to the satisfaction of the court, payment for the same. SEC. 12. Said company may construct said road across any road, street, highway, canal or water course, or along any road, street or highway; but such company shall restore such road, street, highway, water course or canal, thus intersected, to its former state, or in a sufficient manner not to impair its usefulness or value to the owner or public. SEC. 13. It shall be lawful for the directors to require payment of the sums to be subscribed to the capital stock, at such time and place, and in such installments as they shall see fit; and if the installments remain due and unpaid for sixty days, the board of directors may proceed and collect the same by suit, or shall have power to sell the stock at public auction for the installments then due, giving twenty days' notice of the time and place of sale, and after deducting the amount due, as aforesaid, and the cost of such sale, the residue of the price obtained shall be paid to the former owner. SEC. 14. That said company may demand and receive for tolls upon the transportation of goods, merchandise, or property of any kind, transported by them along said railway, any sum not exceeding the following rates: On all goods, merchandise, or property of any description transported by them, a sum not exceeding one and a half cents per mile, for toll; five cents per ton per mile, for transportation; and for transportation of passengers, not exceeding three cents per mile for each passenger; and all persons paying the toll aforesaid may, with suitable and proper cars, transport persons and property on said railroad, subject to the rules and regulations as to the construction and speed of said cars, and the regulation of the motive power to be used. SEC. 15. The directors of said company shall, semi-annually, make and declare a dividend of the profits arising from the business of the company, and divide the same among the stockholders, in proportion to the number of their respective shares. SEC. 16. That said directors shall have power to make all by-laws necessary for the interest of said works and company, which do not conflict with the constitution and laws of this state or of the United States. SEC. 17. That if the corporation hereby created shall not, within three years from the passage of this act, commence, and, within eight years, put in operation said railroad, then this act shall be null and void. SEC. 18. That said company shall not contract debts or liabilities to a greater amount than the amount of the capital stock subscribed and held by responsible stockholders, and remaining unexpended, together with the amount of its means on hand, together with that which may reasonably be expected to accrue within three years from the time of making such con tracts. SEC. 19. After the lapse of ten years from the time that said company shall commence charging for transportation on said road, the state shall have the power to reduce the tolls charged upon said road, should they be deemed unreasonably high, and may exercise the same power at intervals of ten years thereafter. SEC. 20. The Governor shall have the power to prescribe what price. may be charged by said company for the transportation of the public mails of the United States, and of the troops and munitions of war belonging to this state and to the United States, should the board of public works at any time entertain the opinion that the prices charged therefor by such company are unreasonably high. ELIAS F. DRAKE, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Speaker of the Senate. February 27, 1846. AN ACT To amend the act entitled "An act to incorporate the city of Columbus, Ohio," and acts amendatory thereto. SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That whenever any vacancy may occur, from any cause, in the city council of Columbus, such vacancy shall be filled by a vote of the said council from the ward in which such vacancy may occur, which appointment shall continue until the next succeeding annual election for city officers, when such vacancy shall be filled for the remainder of the term by the qualified voters of the proper ward, as in other cases of election of members of the city council. SEC. 2. That any thing contained in the act entitled "an act to incorporate the city of Columbus, Ohio," passed March third, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, or in any act amendatory thereto, which conflicts with the provisions of this act, be, and the same is hereby repealed. ELIAS F. DRAKE, Speaker of the House of Representatives. February 27, 1846. Speaker of the Senate. AN ACT To authorize the County Commissioners of Ottawa county to erect a bridge across the Portage river, in said county. SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That the commissioners of Ottawa county are hereby authorized to erect a bridge over the Portage river, at Port Clinton, in said county, at such place as said commissioners may determine; said bridge may be constructed in such manner, and of such materials as shall be agreed upon by the commissioners: Provided, that said bridge shall be so constructed as to admit the passage of vessels and other water crafts that usually pass up and down said river. SEC. 2. That the commissioners shall let the contract for building said bridge to the lowest responsible bidder, after having first given at least four consecutive weeks' notice in some newspaper having general circulation in said county, or by posting up at least one notice containing or setting forth, as near as can be, the plan of said bridge, in each township within said county, and also a plan thereof left with the county auditor of the county, for the information of those interested, at least thirty days prior to the time for receiving said bids. SEC. 3. The commissioners of Ottawa county are hereby authorized to levy a tax of not exceeding five mills on the dollar of the taxable property in the county, each succeeding year, until a sufficient sum be raised to pay the expense of building said bridge, which shall be designated the bridge fund, (if no such fund already exists which can be so appropriated,) and shall be collected by the treasurer of said county, in the manner, and under the same regulations as taxes for state purposes, and he shall pay the same on the order of said commissioners. SEC. 4. This act to take effect and be in force from and after its passage. Speaker of the House of Representatives. February 27, 1846. Speaker of the Senate. AN ACT In addition to the act in relation to State and county roads. WHEREAS, the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Springfield Turnpike Company have constructed a turnpike road from the south line of Warren county to the town of Waynesville, in said county, occupying generally the land occupied by the state road connecting said points; and whereas, doubts. have arisen whether said state road has been vacated by the construction of said turnpike road: therefore, SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That so much of the state road as lies between the southern line of Warren county and the town of Waynesville, in said county, be, and the same is hereby vacated. Nothing in the act in relation to state and county roads, passed March twelfth, one thousand eight hundred and forty-five, shall be construed as repealing any law heretofore passed pointing out the mode of vacating roads. ELIAS F. DRAKE, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Speaker of the Senate. February 27, 1846. AN ACT For the relief of the sureties of Hamilton Robb. SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That the commissioners of Guernsey county, and the trustees of the several townships, and the directors of the several school districts in said county, are hereby authorized to compromise and settle with the defendants, against whom a judgment was obtained, as co-obligers and sureties of Hamilton Robb, in the supreme court of Guernsey county, in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, in favor of the state of Ohio, for the use of the commissioners of Guernsey county; the said commissioners, for the amount due, on said judgment, to said county; the said trustees, for the amounts due to their respective townships, including the road tax for the several townships; and the said directors, for the amounts due their respective school districts, upon such terms as the said commissioners, or a majority of them, and the trustees of the said several townships, or a majority of them, and the directors of the said several school districts, or a majority of them, may think proper, in each case; and upon such settlement with one or more of said defendants, by said commissioners, or by the trustees of any township, or by the directors of any school district, the said commissioners, trustees or directors may execute and deliver to the defendant or defendants, with whom such settlement is made, a release for the claim of such county, township or school district, in whole or in part, as the terms of said settlement may be. |