Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 4.djvu/850

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according to the best of his skill and judgment: and that in such valuation he will not spare any person for favour or affection, nor any person grieve for hatred, malice, or ill-will; and the inquisition thereupon taken shall be signed by the sheriff, and some twelve or more of the jury, and returned by the sheriff to the clerk of his county, to be by him recorded. And upon every such valuation, the jury is hereby directed to describe and ascertain the bounds of the land by them valued, and their valuation shall be conclusive on all persons, and shall be paid by the said president and directors to the owner of the land, or his legal representatives; and on payment thereof, the said company shall be seised in fee of such land, as if conveyed by the owner to them and their successors by legal conveyance.

. And be it enacted, That the said president and directors, or a majority of them, are hereby authorized to agree with the proprietor, for the purchase of a quantity of land, at or near such of the places of receipt of tolls aforesaid, for the purpose of erecting necessary buildings; and in case of disagreement, or any of the disabilities aforesaid, or the proprietor being out of the state, then such land may be valued, condemned, and paid for as aforesaid, for the purpose aforesaid; and the said company shall, upon the payment of the valuation of the said land, be seized thereof in fee simple, as aforesaid.

. And whereas some of the places through which it may be necessary to conduct the said canals may be convenient for erecting mills, forges, or other water-works, and the persons possessors of such situation may design to improve the same; and it is the intention of this act not to interfere with private property, but for the purpose of improving and perfecting the said navigation—Be it enacted, That the water, or any part thereof, conveyed through any canal or cut made by the said company, shall not be used for any purpose but navigation, unless the consent of the proprietors of the land, through which the same shall be led, be first had.

. And be it enacted, That the treasurer of the Western Shore be, and he is hereby, authorized and required, for and on behalf of the state, to subscribe to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company for stock to the whole amount of the stock of the Potowmac Company owned by the state, and of the debt due to the state by the said Potowmac Company, and to pay for the same in certificates of the stock of the Potowmac Company, and in the evidences of the debt due to the state, certified in the manner specified in the charter of the said Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company; and also to subscribe for five thousand shares of the stock of the said company, payable, agreeably to the terms of the charter, in the legal currency of the United States.

. And be it enacted, That the treasurer of the Western Shore be, and he is hereby, instructed and required, in like manner, to subscribe for five thousand shares in the Maryland Canal Company hereby incorporated.

. And be it enacted, That the sum of two hundred thousand dollars shall be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, or such part thereof as may be necessary, to drain, embank, and render dry and arable, the low lands on the margins of such rivers and creeks of the Eastern Shore of this state as the Board of Public Works may think proper and recommend, and to complete and carry into effect such plans for opening and improving the navigation of the Pokomoke, Manokin, Wicomico, Great Choptank, Chester, Elk, and North East rivers, as the Board of Public Works may devise, recommend, and contract for, on behalf of the state of Maryland: Provided, That, before any part of the aforesaid subscriptions, except so much as is payable in the stock and debt of the Potomac Company, shall be made, or any part of the sum herein appropriated to execute the improvements contemplated by this act to be made on the low lands situated on the margins of the aforesaid rivers and creeks, or to execute the improvements of the Pokomoke, Manokin, Wicomico, Great Choptank, Chester, Elk, and North East rivers, be expended, the Congress of the United States shall, by law, authorize a subscription for not less than ten thousand shares of the capital stock of the eastern section of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and shall enact a law expressly securing