Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the Genera Assembly, That all such persons as shall become stockholders agreeably to the provisions of this act, in the corporation hereby created, shall be, and for the term of forty years from and after the passage of this act, shall continue to be, a body corporate and politic, by the name of the “Wabash and Indiana Rail Road Company,” and by that name shall have succession for the term of years above specified; may sue and be sued, defend and be defended, in any court of law and equity; may make and use a common seal; may make by-laws and regulations for the management of its property, the regulation of its affairs, and for the transfer of its stock, not inconsistent with the constitution of the United States, and of this State, and the laws thereof; and may moreover appoint such subordinate agents, officers and servants, as the business of the said corporation may require, and allow to them a suitable compensation, prescribe their duties, and require bond for the faithful performance thereof, in such penal sum, and with such sureties as they may choose, who shall hold their offices during the pleasure of a majority of the directors of said corporation.

Sec. 2. The said corporation shall have the right to construct and during its continuance to maintain and

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continue a rail road with a single or double track, with such appendages as may be deemed necessary for the convenient use of the same, from the eastern boundary line of this State, at such point as may be selected, to such point at or near the town of Chicago, as shall be determined after a survey shall have been made of the route, not interfering with other routes heretofore given, to be most eligible and proper therefor.

Sec. 3. The capital stock of the said company shall be one million of dollars, which shall be deemed personal property, and shall be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each.

Sec. 4. Francis C. Sheman, Hiram Pearson, Edmund D. Taylor, Charles V. Dyer and L. D. Boone, shall be commissioners for receiving subscriptions to the capital stock of said corporation, who shall give notice of the time and place of the opening of the books for subscriptions to said stock, and shall direct the manner in which the same shall be taken; a majority of said commissioners shall be sufficient to make a quorum of the board for such purposes.

Sec. 5. The affairs of said corporation shall be managed by a board of seven directors, to be annually chosen by the stockholders from among themselves, as soon as may be after the stock has been subscribed, of which due notice shall be given; the commissioners, or a majority of them, shall attend for such purpose, and shall certify the persons elected, which certificate shall be sufficient evidence of their election; all future elections shall be held at the time, and in the manner, prescribed by the by-laws of said corporation; each stockholder shall be allowed as many votes as he owns shares at the time of such election. The said directors shall hold their offices for one year after their election, and shall elect one of their nnmber president of said board.

Sec. 6. The said corporation shall have the right to construct said road, and shall have power to regulate the time and manner in which goods, effects, and passengers, shall be transported on the same, and the manner in which the same shall be used, by what force the carriages to be used thereon may be propelled, and the rates of toll on the transportation of persons or property thereon; and shall have power to erect and maintain houses, toll-gates, and other buildings for the accommodation and management of the said road and transportation thereon.

Sec. 7. In case the corporation shall not be able to acquire the title to land through which said road shall be laid, by purchase or voluntary cession, it shall be lawful for said corporation to appropriate so much of said lands as maybe necessary for its own use, for the purposes con-

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templated by this act, by three commissioners to be appointed by the circuit court of the county in which such lands may lie, valuing such lands and the damages the owner thereof may sustain by such appropriation thereof, and paying to the owner the amount thereof; said commissioners shall be sworn faithfully to appraise the value of the same, and on the payment of such value the lands shall vest in fee simple in said corporation.2

Sec. 8. Said corporation are authorized to construct the said rail road across any water course, road, or other public highway, and shall be bound to repair all public highways and water courses which may be injured in constructing the said rail road, and shall restore them to as good a condition as they were before they were injured. This act shall be deemed and taken as a public act, and shall be construed beneficially for all purposes herein specified. The company chartered by this act shall be dissolved, and this act become null and void, unless the stock in said company shall be all taken, and twenty thousand dollars be expended in the construction of said road within five years.

Approved 4th March, 1837.