persons by them employed, bond in sufficient penalties, and with such sureties as they shall by their rules, order and regulations require, for the faithful discharge of the several duties and trusts to them or any of them respectively committed.

How regula

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That dividends of so much Dividendsof the profits of the company as shall appear advisable to the ma- when to be nagers shall be declared at least twice a year in every year, and made. paid to the stockholders on demand, at any time after the expiration of ten days therefrom, but they shall in no case exceed the amount of the nett profits actually acquired by the company, so that ted. the capital stock shall never be thereby impaired; if the said managers shall make any dividends which shall impair the capital stock Managers of said company, the managers consenting thereto shall be liable liable, when. in their individual capacities to said company for the amount of the stock so divided, and each manager present when such dividend shall be made shall be adjudged to be consenting thereto, unless he forthwith enter his protest on the minutes of the board, and give public notice to the stockholders at the declaring of such dividend.

SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That at the end of the third Abstract of year after the date of this act and of every third year thereafter, the account there shall be furnished to the Legislature an abstract of the ac- to be furnish

ed to the le

count of the company, showing the whole amount of their capital gislatureactually paid into the funds of the company, and the amount of when and dividend declared in each year, or the losses sustained, as the case how made. may be; which abstract shall be verified by the oath or affirmation of the president of the company for the time being.

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the president and man- Location of agers of the said rail-road company, shall have power to survey, the road. lay down, ascertain, mark and fix such route as they shall deem expedient for such road, beginning at some point on the Christiana river, within the borough of Wilmington; which point shall not be east of Poplar street in said borough, and extending to the line of this State in the direction of Downingtown in the State of Pennsylvania, having due regard to the situation or nature of the ground and of the buildings thereon, the public convenience and the interest of the stockholders, and so as to do the least damage to private property; and the said road shall not be more than four rods wide, and shall not pass through any burying ground, or place of Not to pass public worship, nor any dwelling-house, without the consent of the through any burying owner thereof, nor shall it pass through any outbuilding of the value ground, &c. of three hundred dollars without such consent; and the said president and managers shall, within six months after ascertaining the route of the rail-road, cause an accurate survey of the lines of the said road to be made, a map or plot of which survey they shall A map therecause to be filed in the Secretary's office of this State; which map or plot, or a certified copy thereof, shall be sufficient evidence of tary's office. the course of said road which may then be opened, and all the expenses incurred thereby shall be defrayed by said company.

of to be filed in the Secre

Powers of the

company in locating the road.

And gradua ting its de

scent.

How dama

certained.

SEC. 13. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the presi dent, managers and company, of the said rail-road company and their agents, and all persons employed by or under them for the purposes contemplated by this act, to enter upon any land which they shall deem necessary for laying out said road, and also for the purpose of searching for stone, sand, gravel or wood for constructing said road; but no stone, sand, gravel or wood shall be taken away from any land without the consent of the owner thereof, until the rate of compensation for the same be ascertained and paid; which rate of compensation, if the parties cannot agree thereon, shall be ascertained in the manner hereafter prescribed as to the compensation for lands over which said road may be laid.

SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the said company to make, construct and establish a railroad on the route laid out as aforesaid, to be constructed so that the said rail-road in its progress shall in no part of it rise above one inch to a foot; and said company are also hereby empowered to erect, make and establish all works, edifices, and devices to the said rail-road as may by the said company be deemed expedient for the purposes of carrying into effect the objects of their incorporation, and also to construct or agree with the owner or owners for the purchase of any lands or tenements which may be necessary for the purpose of erecting the said rail-road.

SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That whenever it shall be ges to lands, necessary for the president, managers and company of the said &c. to be as- rail-road company to enter in and upon, and occupy for the purpose of making said rail-road, any land upon which the same may be located, if the owner or owners of said land shall refuse to permit such entry and occupation, and the parties cannot agree upon the compensation to be made for any injury or supposed injury that may be done to said land by such entry and occupation, it shall and may be lawful for the parties to appoint five suitable and disinterested persons to estimate such damage, who shall be under oath or affirmation fairly and impartially to estimate the same, and shall reside within the county of New Castle; and the expenses incurred by the said appraisers shall be defrayed by the said railroad company; but if the parties cannot agree upon such persons, or if the persons so chosen shall not decide upon the matter, or if the owner of such land shall refuse or neglect to join in such appointment within twenty days after requisition upon him for that purpose made, or if such owner shall be feme covert, under age, non compos mentis, out of the State, or unknown, then it shall be lawful for the Court of Common Pleas of said county, on application of either party and at the costs and charges of the said company, to appoint five disinterested men of said county, to view, examine and survey the said lands, tenements or hereditaments, and estimate the injury or damage, if any, that in their apprehension will be sustained as aforesaid by reason of said rail-road, and report the same under their oaths or affirmation to the said court,

Viewers'

the agreement of any three of them to said report being sufficient; which report being confirmed by the said court, judgment shall be entered thereon, and the viewers shall be entitled to one dollar per diem for their services, to be paid by said company; and it shall fees. be the duty of the appraisers, viewers in estimating such injury or damage, to take into consideration the advantages that will be derived to the owner or owners of the said lands from the said railroad: Provided, that either party may appeal to the said court Appeal granwithin thirty days after such report may have been filed in the ted. prothonotary's office of said county, and have the matters in issue decided in the same manner in which appeals from the judgments of justices of the peace are decided, and such decision shall be final; and upon the coming in of such repert and the confirmation thereof, or upon final judgment on appeal therefrom, and the said company paying to such owner the sum in such report or judgment specified in full compensation for said lands, or for the injury sustained as aforesaid, the said company shall become seized of the same estate in the said lands which the owner held in the same; and they, and all who act under them, shall be acquitted and freed from all responsibility for and on account of such injury: Provided, Damages to that the payment of damages aforesaid for land, through which be paid bethe said road may be made, shall be made before the said compa- fore entry on ny or any person under their direction or in their employ, shall be lands. authorised to enter upon or break ground in the premises, except for the purpose of surveying and laying out said road, unless the consent of the owner of such land be first obtained.

SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That the said rail-road shall How the rail be so constructed by the said company as not to obstruct or im- road shall be pede the free use or passage of any public road or public roads, constructed. which may cross or enter at the same, being now laid out, or hereafter to be laid out; and in all places where the said rail-road may cross, or in any way interfere with any public road, it shall be the duty of the said company to make or cause to be made, a good and sufficient causeway or causeways, to enable all persons passing or travelling such public road, to cross and pass over the said rail-way, which causeway or causeways shall be made and maintained by the said company; and if the said company shall refuse or neglect to make such causeway or causeways, or when made to keep the same in good repair, they shall be liable to pay a penalty of ten dollars, for every day the same shall be so neglected or refused to be made or repaired; to be recovered by the road commissioners of the hundred with costs for the use of the hundred, as debts of like amount are by law recoverable, and shall moreover be liable to an action or actions at the suit of any person who may be aggrieved thereby; and the service of process upon any officer or agent of said company shall be as good and available in law, as if served upon the president himself.

SEC. 17. And be it enacted, That for the accommodation of all persons owning or possessing land, through which the said rail

vision.

When the road may or shall pass, and to prevent inconvenience to such persaid rail-road son in crossing and passing over the same, it shall be the duty of shall pass through planthe said company when required, to make or cause to be made a tation-pro- good and sufficient causeway or causeways, whenever the same may be necessary, to enable the occupant or occupants of said lands to cross or pass over the same with wagons, carts and implements of husbandry, as occasion may require: Provided, that the said company shall in no case be required to make or cause to be made more than one such causeway through each plantation or lot of land, for the accommodation of any one person owning or possessing land through which the said road may or shall pass; and where any public road shall cross said rail-road, the person owning or possessing land through which the said road shall pass, shall not be entitled to make such requisition on said company, and the said causeway or causeways when so made, shall be maintained and kept in repair by the said company; and if the said company shall refuse or neglect to make such causeway or causeways, or when so made to keep the same in good repair, the said company shall be liable to pay any person aggrieved thereby, all damages sustained by such person in consequence of such refusal or neglect, to be sued for and recovered before any justice of the peace, or any court having cognizance thereof; and the service of process upon any officer or agent of said company shall be as good and available in law as if served upon the president himself.

Limitation of action for penalty, &c.

SEC. 18. And be it enacted, That no suit or action shall be brought or prosecuted by any person or persons for any penalties incurred under this act, unless suit or action shall have been commenced within six months, next after the offence shall have been committed, or the cause of action shall have occurred, and the deGeneral issue fendant or defendants in such suit or action may plead the general issue, and give this act and the special matter in evidence, and that the same was done in pursuance and by authority of this act.

Lateral railroads may be laid out.

Rates of toll.

SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That from time to time, whenever it may be necessary, the president and managers are hereby authorised to lay out or cause to be laid out and constructed in manner as above prescribed, such lateral rail-roads as occasion may require. And that the Legislature reserves the right, if the said company unreasonably refuse or neglect to lay out and construct such lateral rail-roads as the public wants may demand and require, to authorise any person or persons, company or companies to construct the same, subject to such reasonable terms and regulations as the Legislature may prescribe.

SEC. 20. And be it enacted, That on the completion of a section of two miles of the principal rail-road, beginning at the Christiana river, and from time to time of the lateral rail-roads, the same shall be esteemed the public highway, free for the transportation of all commodities; and the said company may charge and receive tolls, and for freight on and for transportation of goods, wares and merchandise at the following rates, that is to say: on cach ton of salt,

three cents per mile; on each ton of coal, gypsum, brick, lime, iron-ore and sand, two cents per mile; on wood for fuel, two cents per cord per mile; on lumber, squared and round, per one hundred feet solid, two cents per mile; on boards, plank, scantling, or other sawed stuff, reduced to inch stuff, two cents per one thousand feet per mile; on staves and heading, for barrels and other vessels of less size, one cent per mile per thousand; on all carriages conveying passengers, one cent per mile for each passenger; on pig-iron, three cents per ton per mile; on manufactured iron, four cents per ton per mile; on all articles not enumerated, passing southward, two cents per ton per mile, and on all articles not enumerated, passing northward, four cents per ton per mile; on all single and detached articles, weighing less than a ton, it shall be lawful to charge and receive on the transports thereof, an advance of twenty on goods per centum on the rates as above established. Provided always, passing and it is hereby declared and enacted, that the rate of tolls charge- southward able on articles of any kind whatsoever passing northward, may and northbe one-third more than the tolls hereby established, and chargeable on similar articles passing southward: Provided also, that from the Do. in the boline of the borough of Wilmington to any and every part of said rough of Wilborough, when the said rail-road may be located, the tolls shall be mington. the same as is charged for one mile, on the several articles before

Rate of tolls

ward.

mentioned, and no more. And provided further, that every person Carriages to or persons using the said road shall only use those carriages, wag be adapted to ons and conveyances which shall be adapted thereto; which said the rail-road. carriages, wagons and conveyances, to be used thereon for the transportation of persons or commodities, shall be of such kind as the said company shall prescribe. And provided further, that if the nett proceeds of the tolls, according to the rates herein-before established, shall not amount to six per centum per annum on the capital stock of said company, the president and managers shall have power and they are hereby authorised to increase said rates so far as that the said nett proceeds shall amount to six per centum per annum on said capital stock.

SEC. 21. And be it enacted, That if any persen or persons shall Penalty for wilfully and knowingly break, injure or destroy the rail-road or injury to the any part thereof, or any work, edifice or device, or any part there- road, &c. of to be erected by the said company in pursuance of this act, he she or they shall forfeit and pay to the said company three times the actual damage so sustained, to be sued for and recovered with costs of suit before a justice of the peace, or in any court having cognizance thereof, by action of debt in the name and for the use of the said company.

How recov

ered.

SEC. 22. And be it further enacted, That if the president, mana- In case the gers and company shall not proceed to carry on said work within company nethree years from the date of this act, and shall not complete the glect to com plete the same as aforesaid in seven years, according to the true intent and road. meaning of this act, or if after the completion of the said rail-road the said company shall suffer the same to go to decay and be im