June 11, 1878. Offices of sink ing-fund commis and duties trans [PUBLIC No. 80.]-AN ACT PROVIDING A PERMANENT FORM OF GOV. ERNMENT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SEC. 7. That the offices of sinking-fund commissioners sioners abolished are hereby abolished, and all duties and powers possessed ferred to Treas by said commissioners are transferred to, and shall be exercised by the Treasurer of the United States, who shall perform the same in accordance with the provisions of existing laws. arer of the United States. Approved, June 11, 1878. PACIFIC RAILROAD ACTS. CHAP. CXX.-AN ACT TO AID IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF A RAILROAD July 1, 1862. Vol. XII, p. 489. 7, 1878, post, p. 235. bonds. See 8, Sec. 10, 1864, post, p. 229. R. S., 3689, ante, 130. this act for $32. per mile. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of See act of May the United States of America in Congress assembled, * * * SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That for the purposes Government herein mentioned, the Secretary of the Treasury shall, upon Dec. 8. act the certificate in writing of said commissioners of the com- 1864; also sec. 10. pletion and equipment of forty consecutive miles of said Now 20 miles. railroad and telegraph, in accordance with the provisions of this act, issue to said company bonds of the United States of one thousand dollars each, payable in thirty years after P. date, bearing six per centum per annum interest (said interest payable semi-annually), which interest may be paid in See sec. 11 of United States treasury notes or any other money or cur-000 and $48,000 rency which the United States have or shall declare lawful money and a legal-tender, to the amount of sixteen of said bonds per mile for such section of forty miles; and to secure the repayment to the United States, as hereinafter provided, of the amount of said bonds so issued and delivered to said company, together with all interest thereon which shall have been paid by the United States, the issue of said bonds and delivery to the company shall ipso facto constitute a first Lien of United mortgage on the whole line of the railroad and telegraph, together with the rolling-stock, fixtures, and property of See sec. 10, act every kind and description, and in consideration of which of 1864, post, p. said bonds may be issued; and on refusal or failure of said company to redeem said bonds or any part of them, when required to do so by the Secretary of the Treasury, in accordance with the provisions of this act, the said road, with See sec. 10, act all the rights, functions, immunities, aud appurtenances thereunto belonging, and also all lands granted to the said company by the United States, which, at the time of said default, shall remain in the ownership of the said company, may be taken possession of by the Secretary of the Treasury for the use and benefit of the United States: Provided, This section shall not apply to that part of any road now con- 1864, post, p. 227. structed. States bonds made subordi nate. 229. 1864, Ibid. Modified. 223 Bonds, when and how paid. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the grants afore said are made upon condition that said company shall pay said bonds at maturity, and shall keep said railroad and telegraph line in repair and use, and shall at all times transmit dispatches over said telegraph line, and transport mails, troops, and munitions of war, supplies, and public stores upon said railroad for the government whenever required to do so by any department thereof, and that the government shall at all times have the preference in the use of the same for all the purposes aforesaid, (at fair and reasonable rates of compensasion, not to exceed the amounts paid by private parties for the same kind of service); and all compensation for services rendered for the government shall be applied to the payment of said bonds and interest until the Government Whole amount is fully paid. Said company may also pay the half to be paid in United States, wholly or in part, in the same or other bonds, treasury notes, or other evidences of debt against the United States, to be allowed at par; and after said road is completed, until said bonds and interest are paid, at least five per centum of the net earnings of said road shall also be annually applied to the payment thereof. transportation, cash. Ibid. Subsidy bonds treble over the Sierra Nevada SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western Railroad Company of Kansas are hereby authorized to construct a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri River, at the mouth of the Kansas River, on the south side thereof, so as to connect with the Pacific Railroad of Missouri, to the aforesaid point on the one-hundredth meridian of longitude west from Greenwich, as herein provided, upon the same terms and conditions in all respects as are provided in this act for the construction of the railroad and telegraph line first mentioned, and to meet and connect with the same at the meridian of longitude aforesaid; and in case the general route or line of road from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains should be so located as to require a departure northwardly from the proposed line of said Kansas railroad before it reaches the meridian of longitude aforesaid, the location of said Kansas road shall be made so as to conform thereto : SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That for three hundred Rocky and the miles of said road, most mountainous and difficult of conMountains. struction, to wit, one hundred and fifty miles westwardly from the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, and one hundred and fifty miles eastwardly from the western base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, said points to be fixed by the President of the United States, the bonds to be issued to aid in the construction thereof shall be treble the number per mile herein before provided, and the same shall be issued, and the lands herein granted be set apart, upon the construction of every twenty miles thereof, upon the certificate of the commissioners as aforesaid that twenty consecutive miles of the same are completed; and between the sections last named of one hundred and fifty miles each, the bonds to be issued to aid in the construction thereof shall Subsidy bonds double between be double the number per mile first mentioned, and the the mountains. same shall be issued, and the lands herein granted be set apart, upon the construction of every twenty miles thereof, upon the certificate of the commissioners as aforesaid that twenty consecutive miles of the same are completed: Provided, That no more than fifty thousand of said bonds shall be issued under this act to aid in constructing the main line of said railroad and telegraph. Hannibal and Saint Joseph Railroad may he extended, &c. SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the Hannibal and Saint Joseph Railroad Company of Missouri may extend its roads from Saint Joseph, via Atchison, to connect and unite with the road through Kansas, upon filing its assent to the provisions of this act, upon the same terms and conditions in all respects, for one hundred miles in length next to the Missouri River, as are provided in this act for the construction of the railroad and telegraph line first mentioned, and may for this purpose use any railroad charter which has been or may be granted by the legislature of Kansas: Provided, That if actual survey shall render it desirable, the said company may construct their road, with the consent of the Kansas legislature, on the most direct and practicable route west from St. Joseph, Missouri, so as to connect and unite with the road leading from the western boundary of Iowa at any point east of the one-hundredth meridian of west longitude, or with the main trunk road at said point; but in no event shall lands or bonds be given to said company, as herein directed, to aid in the construction of their said road for a greater distance than one hundred miles. And the Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western Railroad Company of Kansas may construct their road from Leavenworth to unite with the road through Kansas. SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That the said Union Iowa road from Sioux City. Pacific Railroad Company is hereby authorized and required to construct a single line of railroad and telegraph from a point on the western boundary of the State of Iowa, to be fixed by the President of the United States, upon the compel speedy road. * * most direct and practicable route, to be subject to his approval, so as to form a connection with the line of said company at some point on the one-hundredth meridian of longitude aforesaid, from the point of commencement on the western boundary of the State of Iowa, upon the same terms and conditions, in all respects, as are contained in this act for the construction of the said railroad and telegraph first mentioned; and the said Union Pacific Railroad Company shall complete one hundred miles of the road and telegraph in this section provided for in two years after filing their assent to the conditions of this act, as by the terms of this act required, and at the rate of one hundred miles per year thereafter until the whole is completed: Congress may SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That in case said comcompletion of pany or companies shall fail to comply with the terms and conditions of this act, by not completing said road and telegraph and branches within a reasonable time, or by not keeping the same in repair and use, but shall permit the same for an unreasonable time to remain unfinished or out of repair and unfit for use, Congress may pass any act to insure the speedy completion of said road and branches, or to put the same in repair and use, and may direct the income of said railroad and telegraph line to be thereafter devoted to the use of the United States to repay all such expenditures caused by the default or neglect of such company or Main line to be companies: Provided, That if said roads are not completed, so as to form a continuous line of railroad, ready for use, 7, act of 1864, post, from the Missouri river to the navigable waters of the Sacramento river in California, by the first day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, the whole of all of said railroads before mentioned, and to be constructed under the provisions of this act, together with all their furniture, fixtures, rolling-stock, machine shops, lands, tenements, hereditaments, and property of every kind and character, shall be forfeited to and taken possession of by the United States: Provided, That of the bonds of the United States in this act provided to be delivered for any and all parts of the roads to be constructed east of the one-hundredth meridian of west longitude from Greenwich, and for any part of the road west of the west foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, there shall 1864, post, p. 227. be reserved of each part and installment twenty-five per centum, to be and remain in the United States treasury, undelivered, until said road and all parts thereof provided for in this act are entirely completed; and of all the bonds provided to be delivered for the said road, between the two points aforesaid, there shall be reserved out of each install finished in 1876. See secs. 5 and p. 227. Repealed. See sec. 7, act of |