Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 4.djvu/853



thence, by the valley of Wills’ creek and Castleman’s river, to the Youghiogany, and from thence to the city of Pittsburg: Provided, That the United States’ board of internal improvement, or a majority thereof, should deem and report that route to be the best.

. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That, should the United States of America subscribe to the stock of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, the said company shall, within six months after receiving the sum subscribed, commence the western section of said canal, at such point or points as may deemed most advantageous to the interests of the said company, and it shall be their duty to apportion at least one half of the subscription of the United States to the western section of the said canal. And whatever amount of stock may be subscribed by the citizens of Pennsylvania, shall be expended wholly on the western section, unless authority is given to the said company, by the Pennsylvania subscribers, to extend their subscriptions differently; and in case of failure of the said company to comply with the provisions herein set forth, this act shall cease to have any force or effect whatever.

. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That, if the net annual dividend of said company shall, for any two years in succession, exceed the amount of fifteen per cent., such excess shall be equally applied, by the president and directors, to the accommodation of the inhabitants of the shores of the Youghiogany and Monongehala rivers, and the country drained by the tributary streams thereof, now navigable, or which may hereafter become so, in the same manner, in proportion to the distance, as is directed for the accommodation of the inhabitants of the shores of the Potomac and its tributary streams, by the eleventh section of an act of the state of Virginia, entitled “An act incorporating the Ohio and Chesapeake Canal Company,” passed the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four.

. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for the said Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, at any place within this commonwealth, on the route of the said canal, to sell or lease the use of the water contained therein, or in any embankment, dyke, pond, or other improvement connected therewith, to any individual or individuals, or private company or companies, for that purpose incorporated by the state of Pennsylvania, for mills, or any other water-works, or for irrigating any lands, or for supplying bleach grounds, tan pits, or brick yards, and the profits or rents resulting therefrom, to take and receive to, and for the use and benefit of, the said corporation, in addition to the tolls and profits allowed to be taken by the act of Virginia: Provided, That the navigation of the said canal be not thereby impeded or obstructed: And provided further, That the said Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company shall not, at any time, be, directly or indirectly, engaged or concerned in any banking, merchandising, milling, or the erecting of mills, manufacturing, or mining, or in any other business whatsoever, except such as may be necessary and proper for the construction of such canal and appurtenances, and the performance of the several functions of a canal company.

. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That, as a further condition on which the assent of this state is given to the Virginia act, aforesaid, that, so far as regards the territory of Pennsylvania, whenever the said canal shall cross any public or private laid-out road or highway, or shall divide the ground of any person or persons, so as to require a ford or bridge to cross the same, the jury, who shall inquire of the damages to be sustained, in manner directed by the fifteenth section of the Virginia act, shall find and ascertained whether a passage across the same shall be admitted or maintained by a ford or bridge; and, on such finding, the said Ohio and Chesapeake Canal Company shall cause a ford to be rendered practicable, or a bridge fit for the passage of carts and wagons to be built, and for ever hereafter maintained and kept in repair, at all and every places so ascertained by the said jury, at the cost and charges of the said company; but nothing herein contained shall prevent any person from erecting and keeping in repair any foot or other bridge across the said canal, at his own expense, when the same shall pass through his ground: Provided, The same shall be of such height above the water, as shall be usual in the bridges erected by the company: And provided, also, That such foot or other bridges so to be erected by the owners of such lands, shall not interfere with any of the locks, buildings, or other works of the company, or with the navigation of the said canal.

. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the assent