Page:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain.djvu/653

  'Thirty-ninth and Fortieth of his present Majesty, for making the said Canal and a collateral Cut thereto.' The deviation here alluded to was laid down in 1803 by Mr. Ralph Walker, who proposed a line nine miles and one chain in length, on a level throughout, and avoiding the necessity of a tunnel, which was proposed in the former act. His estimate for this deviation was £98,147, 10s.

By this act the company had power to undertake the deviation, and to provide for the expenditure on the same by raising an additional sum for the purpose of completing the work according to the new scheme.

The line, however, did not yet appear to satisfy the undertakers of the project, for in 1810 we find them obtaining a further 'Act for enabling the Company of Proprietors of the Thames and Medway Canal to vary the Line of the said Canal; and for altering and enlarging the Powers of Two Acts, passed in the Fortieth and Forty-fourth of his present Majesty, for making the said Canal and a collateral Cut thereto.'  In prosecuting the work the company exhausted their resources, and the next act was passed in 1818, under the title of 'An Act for enabling the Company of Proprietors of the Thames and Medway Canal to raise a further Sum of Money, for completing the said Canal and the Works thereto belonging, and for altering, enlarging, and rendering more effectual, the Powers for making the said Canal and Works.' By this act the company are empowered to raise a further sum of £100,000 in half shares of £50 each, or by granting bonds of £100 each, bearing interest at £5 per cent. to their clerk or treasurer, who are authorized from time to time to sell the same with the sanction of the said company; these bonds being secured on the property vested in the said company.

By the prior acts, the company had authority to demand the following