Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 5.djvu/282



. And be it further enacted, That whenever the Territory of Wisconsin shall be admitted into the Union as a State, the lands hereby granted for the construction of the said canal, or such part thereof as may not have been already sold, and applied to that object, under the direction of the Territorial Government, shall vest in the State of Wisconsin, to be disposed of under such regulations as the Legislature thereof may provide, the proceeds of sale to be applied to the construction of the said canal, or of such part thereof as may not have been completed; and the State of Wisconsin shall be entitled to hold, in virtue of the grant hereby made, as many shares of the stock of the said canal as shall be equivalent to the aggregate of all the sums of money arising from the nett proceeds of the sale of the said lands, and applied to the construction of the canal, any thing in the charter of the Milwaukee and Rock river Canal Company to the contrary notwithstanding, and shall be entitled to the same dividends on said stock as any other stockholder; and in the event that the said State shall make no other adequate provision for purchasing out the residue of the stock of the said canal, the dividends of the State stock hereby acquired, and all other proceeds of the sales of the lands hereby granted, shall constitute a fund, and be applied to the extinguishment of the claims of all other stockholders, until the entire stock vested in the canal shall have been acquired by the State: after which, and after the said State shall have been reimbursed for all expenses incurred out of her own proper funds in the construction and repairs of said canal, no other tolls or charge whatever, for the use or navigation of the said canal shall be levied, except to such amount as may be required to keep the said canal and the works appurtenant thereto in good repair, and provide for the collection of the tolls and the superintendence of said canal: Provided, moreover, That no part of the said lands shall be sold for less than two dollars and a half per acre, nor any sale made until after three months’ public notice thereof, and to the highest bidder; but in case such price cannot be obtained therefor, within five years from the first sale attempted to be made, it shall and may be lawful for the Territorial or State Legislature of Wisconsin to reduce the minimum price of the said lands.

. And be it further enacted, That the said State of Wisconsin shall be held responsible to the United States, and for the payment into the Treasury thereof, of the amount of all moneys received upon the sale of the whole or any part of said land, at the price at which the same shall be sold, not less than two dollars and fifty cents per acre, if the said main canal shall not be commenced within  three years, and completed within ten years, pursuant to the provisions of the act creating said canal corporation.

. And be it further enacted, That, in order to render effectual the provisions of this act, the Legislature of the State to be erected or admitted out of the territory now comprised in Wisconsin Territory, east of the Mississippi, shall give their assent to the same by act to be duly passed.

. And be it further enacted, That, for the purpose of securing a better price for the lands hereby granted, and expediting the construction of the said canal, the Territorial Legislature of Wisconsin may borrow, upon a pledge of the said lands, such sum or sums of money as they may think expedient, and defer the sale of said lands, or any part thereof, until such time or times, not exceeding two years beyond the period of the completion of said canal, as they may deem expedient; and for such sum or sums as may be so borrowed, and applied to the construction of said canal, the State of Wisconsin shall be entitled to such interest in the stock of said canal as shall be equivalent thereto in