Amount capita. stock. directors. in width, through the whole length of said route; and for the purpose of cuttings, embankments, stone and gravel, may take and appropriate as much more land as may be necessary for the construction and security of said road. § 2. The capital stock of said company shall consist of one million of dollars, whlch may be increased to any amount not exceeding three millions of dollars, to be diviPowers of the ded into shares of one hundred dollars each. All the corporate powers of said company shall be vested in and exercised by a board of not less than five nor more than thirteen directors, who shall be chosen by the stockholders of said company, in the manner hereinafter provided, who shall hold their offices for one year or until their successors shall be Quorum to do elected and qualified; and said directors, a majority of whom shall form a quorum for the transaction of business, shall elect one of their number to be president of the company; and said board of directors shall have power to appoint all necessary clerks, secretary, treasurer and all other officers deemed necessary in the transaction of the business of said company. business. Examinations and surveys. § 3. The said corporation is hereby authorized, by their agents, surveyors and engineers, to cause such examinations and surveys to be made of the ground and country as shall be necessary to determine the most desirable route whereon to construct their said railroad; and it shall be lawful for May take lands. said company to enter upon and take possession of and use all such lands and real estate as will or may be necessary for the construction and maintenance of said railroad, its depots, side tracks, water stations, engine houses, machine shops and other buildings and appendages necessary to the construction of said railroad: Provided, that all lands or real estate entered upon or taken possession of by said corporation, for the purpose and accomodation of said railroad or upon which the site for said railroad shall have been loPay damages cated or determined by said corporation, shall be paid for by said company in damages, if any be sustained by the owner or owners thereof by the use of the same for the purposes of said railroad; and all lands entered upon and taken for use of said corporation, which are not donated to said company, shall be paid for by said corporation, at such prices as may mutually agreed upon by the said corporation and the owner or owners of such lands; and in case of disagreement, the price shall be estimated, fixed and recovered in the manner provided by the general laws now in force or which may hereafter be in force providing for the condemnation of land for purposes of internal improve for land take Annual meeting of directors. ment. § 4. The time of holding the annual meeting of said directors shall be fixed and determined by the by-laws of said company, and at all meetings each stockholder shall be entitled to vote, in person or by lawful proxy, one vote for Subscription books opened to Meeting stockholders. each share of stock he, she or they may hold, bona fide, in said company, upon which all installments called have been paid. $ 5. The persons named in the first section of this act are hereby appointed commissioners, who, or a majority of capital stock. them, are hereby authorized to open or cause to be opened subscription books for the stock of said company, at such time and place as they may think proper, and also to appoint one or more agents to open such books and receive such subscriptions. The said commissioners or their agents shall require each subscriber to pay five dollars or execute. a note therefor, as they shall determine, on each share subscribed, at the time of subscribing; and whenever fifty thousand dollars shall be subscribed, the said commissioners shall call a meeting, or a majority of them shall, of the stockholders, by giving ten days' notice in some newspaper printed in the city of Chicago or by personal notice, served upon each of the stockholders, of the time and place of holding such meeting, at least five days previous to the time of such meeting. And at such meeting it shall be Election lawful for the stockholders to elect the directors of said com- tors. pany and transact any other necessary business; and when the directors are chosen, the said commissioners shall deliver said subscription books, with all sums of money and notes received by them or by any agent appointed by them as commissioners, to said directors. No person shall be a director unless he shall be a bona fide stockholder in said company. of of board of direc directors. § 6. The directors of said company, after the same is Powers of the organized, are hereby authorized and empowered to take and receive subscriptions to their said capital stock, on such terms and in such amounts as they may deem for the interest of said company, and, as they may prescribe by their by-laws or regulations, from any other railroad company or corporation, and from any county, city or town, making the same, and may acquire, by donation, stock, subscription or purchase and dispose and convey, as they may deem expedient, real estate and coal and mineral lands, not exceeding one thousand acres; but no subscription shall be made to the capital stock of said company by any county, city, Submitted to or town until the question of making such subscription shall have been submitted to a vote of the legal voters of such eunty, city or town, at a regular election or at a special election to be called for that purpose; and in all cases at least thirty days' notice of such election shall be given in the manner now prescribed by law; and in case at such election a majority of all the votes cast shall be for such sub-cription it shall be lawful for such county, city or town to subscribe to the capital stock of such company to the amount mentioned in the notice of such election, and not otherwise. legal voters. Right of way. Propelling power. Rates of toll. 37. That the right of way and the real estate purchased for the of way or other purpose by said company, whether by mutual agreement or otherwise, or which shall become the property of said company by operation of law, as in this act provided, shall, upon payment of the amount of money, belonging to the owner or owners of said lands, as a compensation for the same, become the property of said company in fee simple. § 8. The said corporation may take and transport on said railroad any person or persons, merchandise or other property, by the force and power cf steam or animals or any combination of them, and may fix, establish, take and receive such rates of toll for all passengers and property transported upon the same as the directors shall from time to time establish; and the directors are hereby authorized and empowered to make all necessary rules, by-laws, regulations and ordinances that they may deem necessary and expedient to accomplish the designs and purposes and to carry into effect the provisions of this act and for the transfer and assignment of its stock, which is hereby declared personal property and transferable in such manner as shall be provided by the by-laws and ordinances of said company. 9. In case of death, resignation or removal of the president, vice-president or any director, at any time before the annual election, such vacancy shall be filled for the remainder of the year, whenever they may happen, by the board of directors; and in case of absence of the president and vice-president, the board of directors shall have power to appoint a president, pro tempore, who shall have and exercise such powers and functions as the by-laws of Absence of the said corporation may provide. In case it should at any time happen that an election shall not be made on any, day on which in pursuance of this act it ought to be made, the said corporation shall not for that cause be deemed dissolved, but such election shall be held at any other time directed by the by-laws of said corporation. Vacancy, how filled. president. Right to intersect railroad. Consolidation of roads. § 10. Whenever it shall be necessary for the construction of said railroad to intersect or cross a track of any other railroad or stream of water or water course or road or highway on the route of said railroad, it shall be lawful for the company to construct their raiload across or upon the same: Provided, the said railroad shall restore the railroad, stream of water, water course, road or highway, thus intersected or crossed, to its former state, or in a sufficient manner not materially to impair its usefulness. § 11. Said company shall have power, by and with the consent of the owners of three-fourths of the capital stock of said company, and it is hereby made lawful for said company to unite or consolidate its railroad stock and property with that of another continuous line of railroad or within this or any other state, whose line or lines of road Execution of may cross or intersect the railroad hereby authorized or to be § 12. That the said railroad company by this act incor-May borrow with interest coupons thereto annexed, and secure payment Payment secur of the same by mortgage on the whole or any part thereof ed by mortgage of said railroad property and income of the company then existing or thereafter to be acquired, and may annex to said mortgage bonds the privilege of converting the same into the capital stock of the company, at par, at the option of the holders, if such election be signified, in writing, to the company three years before the maturity of such bonds. § 13. That the directors of said company be and they sale of bonds. are hereby authorized to negotiate and sell the bonds of the said company at such times and in such places, either within or without this state, and at such rates and for such prices as in their opinion will best advance the interests of the company; and it such bonds are negotiated or sold at a discount below their par value such sale shall be as valid and binding on the company, in every respect, as if they were sold or disposed of at their par value. 14. That the said company, in securing the payment Security for of said bonds by a mortgage on the road, property and payment bonds. income of the company, shall have power to execute a mortgage, aforesaid, to secure the payment of the full amount of bonds which the company may at the time the said mortgage bears date, or at any time hereafter, desire to sell and dispose of, and may execute and sell, from time to time, such amounts of said bonds and of such dates and payable to such persons as the directors of said company inay deem advisable, till the whole amount of bonds mentioned in such mortgage is executed and sold; and the said mortgage shall be as valid and effectual to secure the Mortgage valid. payment of the bonds so executed and sold and every part thereof, as if the same and every part thereof had been executed with even date with the said mortgage. 15. This act shall be deemed a public act, and is hereby so declared, and shall be favorably construed, for all purposes herein expressed and declared, in all courts or places whatever, and shall be in force from and after its passage. APPROVED March 31, 1869. In force March AN ACT to incorporate the Muscatine and Illinois River Railroad Com29, 1869. Corporators. pany. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Henry R. Sanderson, Lorentus E. Cougar, W. Selden Gale, A. C. Babcock, S. N. Basset, Owen Bellerton, Clark E. Carr, John W. Ross, Ephriam Gilmore, David H. Frisbie, Timothy M. Morse, I. C. Elwell, and Richard A. Whiting, and their associates, successors and assigns, be and they are hereby created and constituted a body politic and corName and style. porate, by the name of "The Muscatine and Illinois River Railroad Company," with perpetual succession; and, by Corporate pow- that name, be and are hereby made capable, in law and ers Construction of ailroad. equity, of suing and being sued, pleading and being impleaded, defending and being defended, in any court of law or equity in this state or elsewhere; and may make, have and use a common seal, and alter the same at pleasure; and shall be and are hereby invested with all the powers, privileges and immunities incident to corporations, for the purpose hereinafter mentioned. § 2. The said company are hereby authorized and empowered to locate and, from time to time, to alter, change, relocate, construct, reconstruct and fully finish, perfect, equip and maintain a railroad, with one or more tracks, Route of road. from the Mississippi river, at or near the city of Muscatine, in the state of Iowa, through the counties of Rock Island, Mercer, Warren, Knox and Fulton, to the Illinois river, by such route as the directors of said company may deem most feasible and eligible, and also to extend and continue said railroad beyond the Illinois river, to intersect and connect with any railroad leading to either of the cities of St. Louis, Springfield or Bloomington, and, for this purpose, said company is authorized to lay out and construct said road, in width not exceeding one hundred feet, throughout its whole length; and, for the purpose of cuttings, embankments, and obtaining stone and gravel, and for constructing and erecting shops, depots and other suitable, proper and convenient fixtures, in connection with and appurtenant to said railroad, and all necessary and proper uses, may take as much more land as may be needed for the construction, operation and security of said road. Materials, etc. |