Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 4.djvu/855



1. Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly of this Commonwealth, That the assent of this legislature in and to the amendments to the “Act incorporating the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company,” as contained in the foregoing act of the General Assembly of Maryland, is hereby as fully and completely given, as if the said amendatory act had been passed by this present General Assembly.

2. This act shall be in force from the passing thereof.

Whereas by the act, entitled “A supplement to the act, entitled an act for the promotion of internal Improvement,” passed at December session, eighteen hundred and twenty-six, chapter two hundred and twenty-one, it is, amongst other things, provided, that one of the conditions upon which the treasurer of the Western Shore shall be authorized to subscribe for five thousand shares in the capital stock of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, is, that whenever the United States shall have authorized subscriptions for not less than ten thousand shares of the capital stock of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company; and whereas it is important, with reference to the interest of the state, that the grant already made by her, to that company, should be made dependent upon such other conditions and restrictions, as will effectually secure the completion of this work, if ever commenced, and the previous payment of the instalments upon all other subscriptions; and that some mode of payment of the subscription already made, should be provided, having reference to the exhausted condition of the treasury, in lieu of the mode of payment provided by the terms of the original subscription: Therefore,

. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, That the treasurer of the Western Shore be authorized to subscribe the aforementioned five thousand shares of the capital stock of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, whenever the commissioners, their successors, or a majority of them, appointed on the part of this state, to aid in opening books, and taking subscriptions to the stock of said company, shall certify that the sum of two millions five hundred thousand dollars has been subscribed by bona fide subscribers, with such additional securities as to them may be deemed ample, to ensure the faithful compliance on the part of the subscribers of the aforesaid two millions five hundred thousand dollars: and provided, also, that the instalments thereon, similar to that required to be paid on behalf of the state, and all the previous instalments, which may have accrued thereon, shall have been paid, before any payment shall be demanded on account of the state’s subscription.

. And be it enacted, That the said subscription is authorized and directed upon the condition, that the said president and directors of the said Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, shall certify to the said treasurer, their agreement, under the corporate seal of said company, to accept and receive, in payment of the instalments which may become due on any such subscription, as they may be called for, certificates of stock of the state of Maryland, at par, irredeemable for fifteen years, and bearing an interest of five per centum per annum, payable quarterly, to commence at the end of one year after the same shall have been issued in succession, and that, upon any such subscription being made, the said Treasurer is further authorized and directed to borrow, on the credit of the state, on the best obtainable terms, from time to time, the funds necessary to meet and discharge the first advance, and each successive payment, whensoever and as often as any instalment on the said subscription of the state shall be demanded, and become due, in conformity to the provisions of the charter of the said company; and to issue for the same, certificates of stock of the state, bearing interest at the rate of five per centum per annum, payable quarterly: provided, that the said stock shall be redeemable at the pleasure of the state, at any time after fifty years from each successive issue of certificates as aforesaid; and the premium, if any, on each and every of the said loans, shall be invested in some safe and productive stock, at the discretion of the said treasurer, with the advice and consent of the governor and council, for the time being; and the interests, dividends or profits, arising from such