A Bill—
For an act to incorporate the Stockholders of the “Kaskaskia Rail Road Company.”

Sect.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly; That Pierre Menard, Nathaniel Pope, Edward Humphreys, John P. M^cGinniss, Hypolite Menard, Miles A. Gilbert, William Brewster, John A. Langlois, James Hughes & David J Baker & their associates, successors & assigns, be, & they are hereby made a body politic & corporate under the name of the “Kaskaskia Rail Road Company” & and by that name shall be & are hereby made capable in law & equity, to sue & be sued, plead & be impleaded defend & be defended, in any court or place whatsoever, to make have & use a common seal, & the same to renew & alter at pleasure & by that name and style be capable in law of contracting & being contracted with & of purchasing holding & conveying real & personal estate for the use & purposes of said corporation; & shall be and are hereby vested with all the powers, privileges, & immunities, which are or may be necessary to carry into effect the purposes & objects of this act as herein after set forth, & the said corporation are hereby authorised & empowered to locate & finally complete a Rail Road with a single or, double tract commencing at or near the Kaskaskia Landing on the mississippi River & running thence East to a point on the Kaskaskia River at, or near the town of Kaskaskia in the county of Randolph, in such manner & form as they shall deem most expedient & for this purpose said company are hereby authorised to lay out their Road, not exceeding ten Rods wide through its whole length & for the purpose of cuttings, embankments, & procuring timber, stone or gravel, may take as much more land as may be necessary for the proper construction & security of said Road. Provided however, that all damages that may be occasioned to any person or corporation by the taking of such lands or materials for the purposes aforesaid, shall be paid for by said company in the manner hereinafter provided.

Sect. 2. The capital Stock of said company Shall consist of Five Hundred Shares & the immediate government & direction of the affairs of said company, shall be vested in a board of not less than five Directors, who shall be

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chosen by the members of the corporation, in the manner hereinafter provided & shall hold their offices until others shall be duly elected & qualified, to take their places as directors, a majority of whom shall form a quorum for the transaction of business, shall elect one of their number to be a president of the board who also shall be a president of the company & shall have authority to choose a clerk who shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of his duty; & a treasurer, who shall give bonds to the corporation with sureties, to the satisfaction of the Directors, for the faithful discharge of his trust.

Sect. 3.

That the President & Directors for the time being are hereby authorised and empowered, by themselves or their agents, to exercise all the powers herein granted to the company for the purpose of locating, constructing & completing said Rail Road, & for the transportation of persons, Goods and merchandise & all such power & authority for the management of the affairs of the Company, not heretofore granted, as may be necessary & proper to carry into effect the objects of this company; to purchase & hold lands, materials, Engines, Cars, & other necessary things in the name of the company for the use of the Road & for the transportation of Persons, Goods & merchandise, to make such equal assessments, from time to time on all the Shares in Said Company^corporation^ as they may deem expedient & necessary in the execution & progress of the work, & direct the same to be paid to the treasurer of the Company & the Treasurer shall give notice of all such assessments & in case any Subscriber Shall neglect to pay his assessment for the space of thirty days after due notice by the Treasurer of said company, the directors may order the treasurer to sell such share, or shares, at public auction, after giving due notice thereof; to the highest bidder; & the same shall be transfered to the purchaser; & such delinquent subscriber shall be held accountable to the company for the balance, if his Share or Shares shall sell for less than the assessment due thereon with interest & costs of suit sale; & shall be entitled to the overplus; if his share or Shares Shall sell for more than the assessment due, with interest & costs of sale; Provided however, that no assessment shall be laid upon any share or shares in Said Company, of a greater amount in the whole than One Hundred Dollars on a ^share.^

[Sect.?] 4. The said company shall have power to make, ordain & establish all such byelaws & rules & regulations & ordinances as they may deem expedient & necessary, to accomplish the designs & purposes & to carry into effect the provisions of this act, & for the transfer & assignment of its Stock & the conveyance of its stock property & the well ordering, regulating & securing of the interests & affairs of the Company; Provided howeve[r] the same be not repugnant to the Constitution & laws of this State, or of the United States.

Sect. 5. A toll is hereby granted & established for the sole benefit of said company, upon all passengers & property of all descriptions which may be conveyed or transported upon said Road, at such rates per mile as may be agreed upon & established from time to time by the directors of said Company. The transportation of persons & property the construction of wheels, the form of cars & carriages, the weight of loads, & all other matters & things in relation to the use of said Rail Road, shall be in conformity to such rules, regulations & provisions as the directors shall from time to time prescribe & direct; Provided however, that if at the expiration of ten years from & after the completion of said Rail Road the nett income or receipts from tolls, taking the ten years, aforesaid as a basis of calculation, shall have amounted to more than twelve per centum per annum upon the costs of the Road, the Legislature may take measures to alter & reduce the rate of tolls in such manner as to ^take^ off the overplus for the next ten years, calculating the amount of transportation upon the Road to be the same as the ten preceding years & at the expiration of every ten years thereafter the same proceedings may be had; Provided further, that the said Rail Road shall be commenced within two years from July next & completed within five years thereafter.

Sect. 6. The Directors of said Company, for the time being are hereby authorised to erect toll Houses, ware Houses, & other necessary buildings Establish Gates, appoint toll gatherers & demand toll upon the Road when completed & upon such parts thereof as shall

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from time to time be completed.

Sect. 7. The said company shall be holden to pay all damages that may arise to any person or persons or corporation or corporations, by taking their land for Said Rail Road, when it cannot be obtained by voluntary agreement, to be estimated & recovered in the manner provided by law, for the recovery of damages happening by the laying out of highways.

Sect. 8. When the lands or other property or estate of any feme covert, infant or person non compos mentis, shall be necessary for the construction of said Rail Road, the Husband of such feme covert & the guardian of such infant or person non compos mentis may release, all damages for any lands or estate taken & appropriated as aforesaid, as they might do if the same were holden by them, in their own rights respectively.

Sect. 9. If any person shall wilfully do, or cause to be done any act or acts whatever whereby any building, construction, or work of Said corporation, or any engine, machine, or structure, or any matter or thing appertaining to the same, shall be stopped obstructed, impaired, weakened, injured or destroyed, the person or persons so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor & shall forfeit & pay to said corporation, treble the amount of damages sustained, by means of such offence or injury, to be recovered in the name of said corporation, with costs of suit by action of debt, & shall be subject to indictment & punishment for high crimes & misdemeanors as in other Cases.

Sect. 10. The annual meeting of the members of said company shall b[e] holden on the first Monday in November in each year at Kaskaskia [...?] may appoint at which meeting the directors shall be chosen by ballot, each proprietor being entitled to as may votes as he holds shares; & any ^two^ of the individuals named in the first

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section of this act, are hereby authorised to call the first meeting of the said company, by giving notice in some public news paper of general circulation, published in this state, stating the time, place & purpose of such meeting, at least ten days before the time mentioned in such notice.

Sect 11. If the said Rail Road in the course thereof shall cross any River, Canal, Turnpike, or other highway the said Rail Road shall be so constructed, as not to impede or obstruct the safe & convenient use of such, River, Canal, Turnpike or other highway.

Sect 12. It shall be lawful for the Legislature for this state at any time during the continuation of the charter of the said Rail Road after the expiration of twenty years from the opening for use ^completion^ of the Rail Road herein provided to be made, to purchase of the said company, the said Rail Road, & all the franchises, rights & privileges of the said company, by paying them for the ammount expended in making said Road & in case at the time of purchasing, the said company shall not have received a nett income equal to twelve per cent. per annum on the said expenditures from the time of the payment to thereof to the stockholders, by paying the company such aditional sums as together with the tolls which they shall have received from the said Rail Road, will be equal to the nett profit of twelve per cent. per annum on the costs of said Rail Road from the date of the payment thereof by the Stockholders of the said corporation, to the time of such purchase.

Sect. 13. The said corporation is hereby authorised & empowered to continue the said Rail Road, by extending the same through Columbus in Randolph County to Nashville in Washington County whic which continuation of said Rail Road shall be commenced within three years from the completion of the Rail Road authorised in the first section of this act & subject to the same rules & regulations.

Sect. 14. It shall be lawful for said company to increase their capital Stock to an amount sufficient to extend & complete the Rail Road authorised by this act, or any part thereof whenever the company shall deem it expedient, by a vote of Stockholders at a meeting specially notified for the purpose to be assessed to the same amount as the shares which are already created.

Sect 15. This act to be in force from & after its passage and deemed and to be deemed a public act.