Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 3.djvu/685

 67S FEDERAL REPORTER. �interest acoruing thereon, from tîme to time, sliall be held and used by the state as a sinking fund for the payment of the bonds issued to the company ; and should said oompany repurohase any of the bonds issued to it under the provisions of this act, they shall be credited as aforesaid and cancelled. And should said company fail to comply with the provisions of this section, it shall be proceeded against as provided in the fifth section of this act," viz., as in case of failure to meet instalments of interest. It will be noticed that, as these bonds were to be issued in instalments at different periods, they would therefore fall due at dififerent times, �The sixth section provides "that if said company shall fail or refuse to pay any of said bonds when they fall due, it shall be the duty of the governor to notify the attorney general of the district in which is sitnated the place of business of said company, of the fact; and thereupon said attorney general shall forthwith file a bill against said company in the name of the state of Tennessee, in the chancery or circuit court of the county in which is situated said place of business, setting forth the facts, and thereupon said court shall make ail such orders and decrees in said cause as may be deemed necessary by the court to receive the payment of said bonds, with the interest thereon, and to indemnify the state of Tennessee against any loss on account of the issuanoe of said bonds, by ordering the said railroad to be placed in the hands of a receiver, ordering the sale of said road, and ail the property and assets attached thereto or belonging to said company, or in such other manner as the court may deem best for the interest of the state." �By section 12 "the state of Tennessee expressly reserves the right to enact by the legislature thereof, hereafter, ail such laws as may be deemed necessary to protect the interest of the state, and to secure the state against any loss in con- sequence of the issuance of bonds under the provisions of this act, but in such manner as not to impair the vested rights of the stockholders of the companies." �Complainants contend that the statutory lien is to be regarded as an instrument of security taken for the benefit of ����