Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 4.djvu/842

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shall either continue the said president or directors, or any of them, or choose others in their stead, and, until such choice be made, the president and directors for the time being shall continue in office; and, in case of the death, removal, resignation, or incapacity of the president, or any of the said directors, may and shall, in manner aforesaid, elect any other person or persons to be president and directors, in the room of him or them so dying, removing, or resigning; and may, at any of their general meetings, remove the president, or any of the directors, and appoint others for and during the remainder of the term for which such person or persons were at first to have acted.

7. And be it enacted, That every president and director, before he acts as such, shall take an oath or affirmation for the due execution of his office.

8. And be it enacted, That the presence of stockholders, having a major part of the stock at least, shall be necessary to constitute a general meeting of the stockholders, which shall be held on the first Monday in June in every year, at such convenient town or place as shall be, from time to time, appointed by the said general meeting: but, if a sufficient number shall not attend on that day, the stockholders who do attend, may adjourn from time to time, until the stockholders holding the major part of the stock do attend, and the business of the company is finished; to which meeting the president and directors shall make report, and render distinct accounts of all their proceedings; and, on finding them fairly and justly stated, the stockholders then present, or a majority of them, shall give a certificate thereof, a duplicate of which shall be entered on the company’s books; and at such yearly general meetings, after leaving in the hands of the treasurer such sums as the stockholders, or a majority of them, shall judge necessary for repairs and contingent charges, an equal dividend of all the net profits arising from the tolls hereby granted, shall be ordered and made to and among all the stockholders of the said company, in proportion to their several shares, subject to the provisions and enactments hereinafter declared; and, upon any emergency in the interval between the said yearly meetings, the said president, or a majority of the said directors, may appoint a general meeting of the stockholders of the company, at any convenient town or place, giving at least one month’s previous notice, in at least four of the newspapers in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia; which meeting may be adjourned and continued as aforesaid: and in case the stockholders, or a majority of them, in any general meeting aforesaid, shall deem it expedient to order a semi-annual, rather than a yearly dividend as aforesaid, then, in like manner, with like notice, and under like restrictions, there shall be a half-yearly, or semi-annual dividend of net profits declared and paid.

9. And be it enacted, That, for and in consideration of the expenses the said stockholders will be at, not only in cutting the said canal, erecting locks and dams, providing aqueducts, feeders, and other works, and in improving and keeping the same in repair, the said canal and all other works aforesaid, or required to improve the navigation thereof, at any time hereafter, with all their profits, subject to the limitations herein provided, and to none other, shall be, and the same are hereby, vested in the said stockholders, their heirs and assigns, for ever, as tenants in common, in proportion to their respective shares, and be for ever exempt from the payment of any tax, imposition, or assessment whatsoever; and that it shall and may be lawful for the said president and directors, at all times, for ever hereafter, to demand and receive, at such places as shall hereafter be appointed by the president and directors aforesaid, tolls for the passage of vessels, boats, rafts, produce, and all other articles, at such rates as the said president and directors may hereafter allow and establish, according to the provisions of this act.

10. And be it enacted, That if the commissioners hereby required to be appointed, shall die, resign or refuse to act, the vacancy occasioned thereby shall be filled by the same authority by which the original appointment was made; and the person or persons appointed to fill such vacancy, shall have all the power and authority which was vested in the commissioner whose place he or they shall be appointed to supply; and when any part of the canal aforesaid shall have been completed, according to the true intent and meaning of this act, the president and directors of the company hereby created, shall have power, and it shall be their duty to ordain and establish a rate of tolls to be paid upon boats, vessels, rafts, or other property, passing on the part of the canal so completed; and so, from time to time, as part or parts shall be completed; and until the eastern section thereof shall be finished up to the mouth of Savage river or creek; and, thereafter, until the entire