Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 14.djvu/271

 THIRTY—NINTH CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 242. 1866. 241 telegraph in repair and use, and shall at all times transport the mails upon said railroad, and transmit despatches by said telegraph line for the government of the United States, when required so to do by any department thereof, and that the government shall at all times have the preference in the use of said railroad and telegraph therefor at fair and reasonable rates of compensation, not to exceed the rates paid by private parties for the same kind of service. And said railroad shall be and remain a public Railroad tobe highway for the use of the government of the United States, free of all ’* P“l’“° 1*5*** . way and free to toll or other charges upon the transportation of the property or troops of the United the United States; and the same shall be transported over said road at the States. cost, charge, and expense of the corporations or companies owning or operating the same, when so required by the government of the United States. Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the said companies shall file Companies their assent to this act in the Department of the Interior within one year ;};‘;’;;0t€h£l;c€“' after the passage hereof, and shall complete the first section of twenty Raw gfprog; miles of said railroad and telegraph within two years, and at least twenty 1‘€SS¤<> bé ¤¤¤d¤· miles in each year thereafter, and the whole on or before the first day of Gaum July, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five ; and the said railroad To lice conshall be of the same gauge as the “Central Pacific Railroad " of Califor- Qgilgggllggl C°°‘ nia, and be connected therewith. R,,m0,,d_ Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the said companies named in C<>r¤(p¤¤i¤¤ f¤ this act are hereby required to operate and use the portions or parts of lfgdlfs sgi23S_ said railroad and telegraph mentioned in section one of this act for all tinnons line, and purposes of transportation, travel, and communication, so far as the gov- “;;‘*°“"* *3 **5* ernment and public are concerned, as one connected and continuous line; $,,,_nz§2:i2,g_ ` and in such operation and use to afford and secure to each other equal ad- ° vantages and facilities as to rates, time, and transportation, without any discrimination whatever, on pain of forfeiting the fbll amount of damage sustained on account of such discrimination, to be sued for and recovered in any court of the United States, or of any State, of competent jurisdiction. Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That in case the said companies shall fail to comply with the terms and condilions required, namely, by If °°mP““l°’ not filing their assent thereto as provided in section six of this act, or by fgiiégeigiggu, not completing the same as provided in said section, this act shall be null ditions, this act and void, and all the lands not conveyed by patent to said company or ;EBb?a;‘;;’,;d{];;‘d companies, as the case may be, at the date of any such failure, shall re- 00,,,-,,)-.,,; to ,-8- vert to the United States. And in case the said road and telegraph line ver? w the shall not be kept in repair and nt for use, after the same shall have been U¥‘;‘;,§,t"£3‘ completed, Congress may pass an act to put the same in repair and use, telegraph line and may direct the income of said railroad and telegraph line to be there- are *}°* lé°P°i¤ after devoted to the United States, to repay all expenditures caused by the Eggjrfgwongmss default and neglect of said companies or either of them, as the case may be, or may Hx pecuniary responsibility, not exceeding the value of the lands granted by this act. Sec. 9. And be it jltrlizer enacted, That the said “California and Or- The ¤<>mP¤¤i¤¤ egon Railroad Company ” and the said “Oregon Company " shall be gov- erned by the provisions of the general railroad and telegraph laws of their respective their respective States, as to the construction and management of the said Sm*°S· railroad and telegraph line hereinbefore authorized, in all matters not pro- The word vided for in this act. lVherever the word “ company " or ‘* companies " f °°‘“l’““Y " t° . . . . . include "asso- IS used in this act it shall be construed to embrace the words " their asso- mms, smc9s_ ciates, successors, and assigns,” the same as if the words had been inserted, Sens, and asor thereto annexed. “g“s' Sec. l0. And be itfurtfzer enacted, That all mineral lands shall be ex- Mineral lands cepted from the operation of this act; but where the same shall contain €;€°°P***d Gem timber, so much of the timber thereon as shall be required to construct t $,gg;:`,»0, said road over such mineral land is hereby granted to said companies: construction. Provided, That theterm " mineral lands" shall not include lands containing `i M‘““Y”1” “°‘ coal and iron. com and mm. v01.. xiv. 16