Engineers, &c., XXXIV. That the canal commissioners be and they are hereby of North Branch authorized to appoint a competent engineer and superintendent, to concanal, canal com- struct and superintend the completion of the North Branch, Pennsylvania missioners to ap- canal. point. North Branch canal. Anditor general, duty of. When engineer to be appointed. Inclined plane. XXXV. That whatever balance of money remains in the treasury unappropriated, after the payment of the August and February interest in each current year, shall have been fully provided for, shall, for so long a period as may be necessary, and the same is hereby appropriated toward the completion of the North Branch canal. XXXVI. It shall be the duty of the auditor general and state treasurer, on or before the fifteenth day of August in every year, to report to the governor the amount of money that can be applied to the completion of said canal that year, and he shall notify the canal commissioners thereof, whose duty it shall be to place under contraet a corresponding amount of work. XXXVII. That no engineer or superintendent shall be appointed on the said canal, until it shall be ascertained there will be the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. XXXVIII. That the canal commissioners be and they are hereby authorized and required to locate and put under contract, a railroad to avoid the inclined plane on the Columbia railroad; the maximum grade of which shall not exceed fifty feet to the mile, or forty five feet, if Appropriation to. practicable, within the limits of the appropriation of four hundred thousand dollars hereinafter provided, and commencing at any point not more than eight miles from the head of said plane, and terminating on the west or east side of the Schuylkill, as the canal commissioners shall deem best for the interests of the commonwealth. Proviso. Governor authorized to borrow money, &c. The city of Philadelphia and district of Spring Garden, or the adjacent districts, or either of them, or parties acting under them, shall each have authority to locate and construct a railroad leading from any point within their respective limits or elsewhere, and crossing the river Schuyl kill as aforesaid, by roads and bridges, which shall be approved by the canal commissioners; and the authorities of said city and district are respectively hereby authorized to construct the same, connecting with the said railroad authorized by the first section of this act; and the said city and district shall each have authority to charge and collect tolls for the transportation of persons and things upon the respective roals to be by them constructed, at the same rate per mile as may be charged upon the Columbia railroad: Provided, That such bridge shall be considered as one mile of road in the collection of said tolls. As soon as the route shall be determined upon, the canal commissioners are hereby authorized and required to place the construction of the road under contract, and complete the same without unnecessary delay: Provided, That the cost of constructing said railroad shall not exceed four hundred thousand dollars. That the governor of the commonwealth be and he is hereby authorized to borrow, on the faith of the commonwealth, and of the revenue hereinafter mentioned, and which is hereby specifically pledged for the payment of the interest and re-payment of the principal, the sum of four hundred thousand dollars, and issue certificates of loan therefor, redeemable in thirty years from date, to be paid into the internal improvement fund, and appropriated to the expenditures under this act, the said loan to bear interest at a rate not exceeding six per cent. per annum, payable half-yearly, in specie, on the first day of January and July, to be termed the inclined plane loan: Provided, That if any Proviso. hereby author That there shall be annually set apart by the commissioners of the internal improvement fund, out of the revenue of the public works, for Fund for the final liquidation the payment of the interest and final liquidation of the debt hereby of the debt authorized, the sum of thirty thousand dollars per annum; and it shall be the duty of the said commissioners, after paying the interest, annu- ized. ally to invest the surplus, together with its accumulation of interest, in the said loan, or in any other loan of the commonwealth; if said loan cannot be purchased at its par value, the said investment to form a sink. ing fund for the redemption of the principal at maturity. The canal commissioners are hereby authorized to do all necessary Canal commisacts and things required to carry out this act, according to the intent and sioners to make meaning thereof, and they are hereby required to report all their acts report to legislaand doings under this act fully to the legislature. ture. XXXIX. For the salary of George W. Bowman, as adjutant general, George W. Bowfrom the third day of August, A. D., eighteen hundred and forty-eight, man, for salary to the twenty-first day of November, A. D., eighteen hundred and of. forty-eight. ninety-one dollars, to be paid out of the specific appropriation made for the salary of the adjutant general, by the act passed April eleventh, eighteen hundred and forty-eight. vestigation. XL. That the state treasurer be ordered and directed to pay to Philip Gossler, twenty dollars and seventy-six cents; to Thomas C. Miller, Witnesses, pay seventeen dollars and sixteen cents; to Thomas M'Knight, fifteen dol- of, in case of inlars and sixteen cents; to Frederick Diehl, fifteen dollars and sixteen cents; to Henry Cranmer, nineteen dollars and thirty-six cents; to Daniel Knaub, fourteen dollars and sixteen cents; to George Maish, nineteen dollars and eighty cents; being the amount of their pay and mileage, as witness in the investigation of the charges against the Hon. William N. Irvine, president judge of the nineteenth judicial district. SECTION 3. The state treasurer is hereby authorized, if it shall be State treasurer necessary for the payment of the interest on the funded debt of this authorized to necommonwealth, falling due on the first day of August next, to negotiate gotiate a loan. a loan for a sum not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars, upon the same terms and conditions as were provided for by the second section of the act, entitled An Act to provide for the ordinary expenses of government, the repairs of the canals and railroads belonging to the state, and the payment of other claims upon the commonwealth," passed the eleventh day of April, one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight. SECTION 4. If any appropriation made by this act, for any of the purposes therein specified, shall be more than sufficient therefor, the Restriction. balance shall not be applied to any other purpose, but shall remain in the treasury to be accounted for and added to the receipts of the next year by the state treasurer in his annual report. SECTION 5. That from and after the passage of this act, it shall be the duty of the supervisors of the several divisions of the canal, to pay Supervisors to monthly to the lock-tenders the amount that they, the said lock-tenders pay lock-tenders monthly. are respectively entitled to receive, the accounts for which to be settled by the auditor general and state treasurer, as other accounts of supervisors for disbursements are now settled. Workmen on SECTION 6. That it shall be the duty of the several superintendents canals, &c., to and supervisors on the railroads and canals, to pay the men employed be paid monthly. Supervisors, bonds of. Proviso. Receipts for money paid into be countersigned state treasury to by the auditor general. to make a new issue of relief notes. in their respective departments at the end of each month, if funds can be obtained for that purpose, and that it shall not be lawful for any foreman on said canals or railroads to procure the receipt on any check roll or bill by any laborer, mechanic or material man, or any person having contracts, in any way before such laborer, mechanic or material man, or any persons having contracts under the commonwealth on said railroads or canals, is paid on said check rolls or bills, which check rolls or bills shall be made out in full by the respective foreman, superintendents or supervisors; and any violation of this section, or any part of it, shall be deemed a misdemeanor in office by the persons who shall be guilty of the same. SECTION 7. The canal commissioners are hereby empowered, in such cases as they may deem necessary, to increase the penalty of the bonds of supervisors on the canals and railroads of the commonwealth to ten thousand dollars: Provided, That no supervisor whose bonds shall be thus increased, shall be allowed at any one time to have more than ten thousand dollars in his hands unaccounted for: And provided further, That the said canal commissioners shall not permit any supervisor to draw for funds unless the same be required for the immediate use of his line. SECTION 8. That no receipt for money paid into the state treasury shall be good or available in law unless countersigned by the auditor general, to whom all receipts for money paid into the treasury shall be presented; the auditor general is hereby authorized and required to provide suitable books in which he shall enter, or cause to be entered, the amount and date of the receipts presented, and the names of the parties to whose credit the money was paid, and he shall then countersign the same with his official signature. SECTION 9. That the several banks of this commonwealth which have Banks authorized issued notes under the provisions of the act of the fourth of May, one thousand eight hunded and forty-one, and which shall accept the conditions of this act, are hereby authorized to make, under the direction of the state treasurer, a new issue of notes of like denomination and character, with the notes originally issued under the said act, and not exceeding in amount the relief issues of each bank respectively remaining yet uncancelled. SECTION 10. That when the state treasurer shall notify any bank which shall accept the provisions of this act, that there are then in the treasury five hundred dollars, or upwards, of relief issues of such bank Cancellation of in a torn and defaced condition, such bank shall immediately proceed relief notes. to prepare and hand over to said treasurer new notes, equal in amount to the torn or defaced issues of such bank then in the treasury; and it shall be the duty of the state treasurer and auditor general forthwith to cancel and destroy all notes in lieu of which new issues have been made and received; and the cancellation of such notes as may be re-issued under this act, shall be and the same is hereby postponed for a period of three years from the passage of this act. SECTION 11. That the banks which shall accept of the provisions of Banks entitled to this act, shall be entitled to receive out of the state treasury, as full two per centum. compensation, a sum equal to two per centum upon the amount of new notes, which each bank shall respectively issue under this act. Punishment for issuing notes SECTION 12. That if the president or cashier of any bank, or other shall make or issue, or cause to be made or issued, any note person, purporting to be or notes purporting to be notes issued under the authority of the act of the fourth May, one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, or of this act, except as hereinbefore provided, they shall be considered guilty of notes under certain act. a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof in the court of quarter sessions of the proper county, shall be fined in a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, and imprisoned in one of the state penitentiaries for a period not exceeding five years, at the discretion of the court. SECTION 13. The state treasurer is hereby directed to communicate a copy of this act to each of the banks which have issued notes under said act of fourth of May, one thousand eight hundred and forty-one; and the banks which shall officially notify the state treasurer of their acceptance of the provisions of this act, shall be entitled to make the issues, and receive the compensation hereinbefore provided for. Notice to banks. SECTION 14. That the state treasurer is hereby empowered to authorBanks refusing to ize any solvent bank of this commonwealth, to re-issue the torn or de- re-issue, the same faced bills issued under the authority of the said act, by any bank may be done by refusing to accept the provisions of this act, or any bank which may other solvent have suspended or gone out of operation, subject to all the conditions banks, &c. and restrictions of this act. SECTION 15. That the cities of Pittsburg and Allegheny be and they Pittsburg and are hereby authorized to levy upon all property now made taxable by Allegheny cities law for city purposes, an additional tax, not exceeding one mill upon authorized to levy every dollar of valuation, to be applied to the redemption of the certifi- additional tax. cates of loan of the denominations of one, two and three dollars, issued by said cities, until the whole of said issues shall have been redeemed. WILLIAM F. PACKER, Speaker of the House of Representatives. GEORGE DARSIE, Speaker of the Senate. APPROVED-The tenth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and forty-nine. WM. F. JOHNSTON. No. 405. AN ACT For the relief of certain citizens of the borough of Allentown, Lehigh county; relative to the Kensington gas company; and relative to the road law in certain townships in Susquehanna county; the appointment of a commissioner to settle the affairs of the Lehigh County Bank; and authorizing the Bank of Kentucky to hold certain real estate. WHEREAS, The borough of Allentown, in the county of Lehigh, was Preamble. visited with a destructive fire on the first day of June last, by which a large number of buildings were destroyed: And whereas, It is extremely burdensome for the owners of the lots to pay taxes imposed by the laws of this commonwealth; therefore, State taxes on certain real estate exonerated. Kensington gas company authorized to increase their corporate stock. Bridgewater, SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the whole amount of state taxes heretofore assessed and unpaid for the year ending, Anno Domini, one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, upon the real estate upon which the buildings were destroyed by fire on the first day of June, Anno Domini, one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, in the borough of Allentown, Lehigh county, are hereby exonerated; and that for the year one thousand eight hundred and fortynine, no state taxes shall be assessed on or collected of the owners of the aforesaid real estate in said borough, unless any of the said property shall change owners, in which case it shall be assessed and taxed according to the existing laws of this commonwealth. SECTION 2. That the Kensington gas company shall be and they are hereby authorized to increase their capital stock to the sum of forty thousand dollars; and to sell, issue or otherwise dispose of such an additional number of shares of stock as may be necessary to effect such increase, in such manner, and at such times and places as may be ordered by the directors of said company. SECTION 3. That the first eight sections of an act, entitled "An Act to alter the road laws in the township of Lenox, in the county of SusSilver Lake town- quehanna, and for other purposes," passed the third day of March, ships, Susque- A. D., one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, be and they are certain road laws hereby extended to the townships of Bridgewater, Apalachian and Silver Lake, in the said county of Susquehanna. hanna county, extended to. James S. Rees appointed com Bank. SECTION 4. That James S. Rees be and he hereby is appointed a commissioner to settle the affairs of the Lehigh County Bank; and it shall missioner to settle be the duty of said commissioner, and he is hereby invested with the the affairs of the power to take possession of all the money, books, papers, evidence of Lehigh County indebtedness, assets and property of every kind and description that belongs to or was the property of the said bank, on the third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven; and the said commissioner is hereby authorized to demand and receive all sums of money due or owing to said bank on said day, and to institute and prosecute actions, suits at law and proceedings in equity, for the recovery of all said property and assets, and of all sums of money due or owing to said bank as aforesaid. Powers. of said bank. SECTION 5. That it shall be the duty of the president and cashier of Duty of the presi- said bank, within sixty days from and after the passage of this act, to dent and cashier deliver over to said commissioner the money, books, papers and all other assets and property of said bank of every kind and description, and if they shall refuse, neglect or omit so to do, such refusal, neglect or omission shall be prima facia evidence that said president and cashier of said bank have embezzled said money, assets and property of said bank, and appropriated the same to their own use; and until the contrary be shown, the statement showing the true condition of the Lehigh County Bank, on the mornings of the second Tuesdays of the months of February, August and November, Anno Domini, eighteen hundred and forty-six, made to the auditor general in the month of November, eighteen hundred and forty-six, and certified to have been made under the oath of said cashier, according to law, shall be evidence of the nature and amount of the money, funds, assets and property of said bank, by said president and cashier embezzled as aforesaid; and the said president and cashier shall be held jointly and severally responsible to refund and restore said bank the money, funds, assets and property aforesaid, and the same may and shall be recovered of them in any action or actions |