A. D. 1817. Capital Stock to be deemed personal property. Shares to be sold in case of failure to pay up instalments. Officers. Annual Stateinents. Service of Pro cess. public notice to that effect in two of the daily newspapers of the city of Charleston, stating the amount to which the said stock is to be raised. And the members of the said Corporation shall be liable jointly and severally for all debts and contracts made by such Corporation, until the whole amount of the additional capital stock, so determined to be raised or increased, shall have been actually paid in. And public notice shall be given of the payment of each instalment of the said increased capital stock in the manner hereinbefore provided in the third section of this Act. VI That the capital stock shall be deemed personal property, and be transferable upon the books of the said Corporation, and no part of the said capital stock shall at any time or upon any pretence whatever be loaned to or divided amongst the Stockholders, neither shall the capital be withdrawn or divided among the Stockholders until all the liabilities of the Company are lawfully paid, and no dividends shall be declared except from the nett earnings of the Company. Each Stockholder shall have one vote for each share he may own or represent at the election of Directors and all meetings of the Company. VII. If the Proprietor of any share shall neglect to pay any instalment assessed thereon, for the space of thirty days after the time appointed for the payment thereof, the Treasurer of the Company, by the order of the Directors, may sell, by Public Auction, a sufficient number of such delinquent's shares to pay all instalments then due from him, with all necessary incidental charges. The Treasurer shall give notice of the time and place of sales, and of the sum due on each share, by advertising the same three weeks successively before the same in one of the daily newspapers, published in the city of Charleston, and by giving notice to the said Stockholders either periodically or by letter through the mail, and a bill of sale of the shares so sold, made by the Treasurer, shall transfer said stock to the purchaser, who shall be entitled to a certificate thereof. VIII. The said Corporation may meet and proceed to elect such Directors and officers as they may deem necessary for conducting the affairs of the Company, they to hold office until their successors shall be elected. IX. The Directors shall submit to the Stockholders, annually, a written statement under oath or affirmation, of the Treasurer of the Corporation, setting forth the amount of capital stock paid in and general assets of the Company, and also of the amount of all their existing debts; which statement shall be published in a newspaper of the city of Charleston. X. The service of the process of any Court of this State shall be legal and valid in said body politic and corporate, if the same shall be left at the manu factory: Provided, The President of the Company is absent from and beyond A. D. 1817. the limits of the District of Charleston. That this Act shall continue in force for fourteen years, and no part of the capital stock, or any of the funds of the said Corporation shall at any time during the continuance of this charter, be used or employed directly or indirectly in banking operations, or for any purpose whatever, inconsistent with this Act. XI. The total amount of the debts which said Corporation shall at any time owe, shall not exceed the amount of its capital stock actually paid in, and in case of excess, the Directors under whose administration it shall happen, shall be jointly and severally liable for the same in their natural capacity. Such of the said Directors as may have been absent when the said excess was contracted or created, may respectively exonerate themselves from being so liable, by forthwith giving notice of the fact to the Stockholders at a general meeting, which they shall have power to call for that purpose. Ia the Senate House, the seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one R. F. W. ALLSTON, President of the Senate pro. tem. W. F. COLCOCK, Speaker of the House of Representatives Delts. AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE WASHINGTON AND NEW ORLEANS MAGNETIC No. 3030. TELEGRAPH COMPANY. pa porated. I. Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives, now met and sitting in General Assembly and by the authority of the same, That Samuel F. Company incorB. Morse, John J Haley, William B. Lloyd, and such other persons as now are, or hereafter may be associated with them, including the subscribers in this State, who have acquired from the said Samuel F. B. Morse, the right to construct, and carry on the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, by him invented and tented, through this State, and other States on the route, leading from the City of Washington, to the City of New Orleans, in the State of Louisiana, be, and they are hereby made, and declared, a body politic, and corporate in law, for the purpose of constructing, erecting, and maintaining a line of the said Telegraph, on the route aforesaid, or any other route, through and within this State, and of transmitting intelligence by means thereof, by the name and style A. D. 1847. Capital Stock. Authority to erect. Power to call meeting. Officers. Votes. of the "Washington and New Orleans Magnetic Telegraph Company;" Provided, That the main line, or wire of the said Telegraph, shall pass through the Citics of Columbia, and Charleston, in this State, and a Telegraphic Station be maintained and kept at each of the said Cities. II. That the Capital Stock of the said Company shall consist of sixty thousand dollars, in shares o: fifty dollars each, to be issued to the original owners of the patent right, and to those who have heretofore, or may hereafter contribute funds for the construction and improvement of the said line of Telegraph, in such proportions as the said owners, and subscribers and contributors have heretofore agreed, or may hereafter agree upon: Provided, That when the basis on which such Stock shall be issued, has been fixed, it shall not thereafter be altered; and, Provided, also, That funds raised, or to be raised, for the construction of the said Telegraph, putting the same in operation, and maintaining, adding to, and improving the same, shall be such only as are necessary for the said purposes, and shall not be invested, or employed, for any other purpose. III. That the said Corporation shall have power, and authority to build, or purchase any connecting, or side lines, in this State, having acquired the right to do so from the owners of Morse's Patent, and may enlarge its capital for that purpose. IV. That the persons mentioned in the first Section of this Act, shall have power to call a meeting of the corporate body hereby created, giving three week's notice of the time and place of such meeting, in at least one public Gazette published, respectively, in the Cities of Washington, Richmond, in the State of Virginia, Raleigh, in the State of North Carolina, Charleston and Columbia, in this State, Mobile, in the State of Alabama, and New Orleans, in the State of Louisiana, for the purpose of choosing a President, Secretary and Treasurer, together with a suitable number of Directors, as may be determined on by the Stockholders, for the management of their affairs. V. That the President and Directors, Secretary and Treasurer, shall hold their respective offices, for one year, and until their successors, respectively, shall be elected, and shall exercise such powers, pertaining to the building and management of the said Telegraph, not repugnant to, or incompatible with the Constitution and laws of this State, and the United States, as may be authorized by the Bye-Laws of the said Constitution. VI. That at every election each share shall entitle its holder to one vote, except that no Stockholder shall be entitled to give more than one sixth of the entire vote, to which the Stockholders are entitled; and absent Stockholders may vote by agents or proxies, producing written authority from them. In case of an equal number of votes on both sides, the election shall be decided by lot. A. D. 1847. VII. That the "Washington and New Orleans Magnetic Telegraph Com- Powers. pany," hereby incorporated, shall have power and authority to sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, answer and be answered unto, defend and be defended, in any action, suit or proceeding whatsoever, in any Court of Law, or of Equity, having competent jurisdiction; to make and use a common seal, and the same to alter at pleasure; to purchase and hold, such real and personal Estate, as the lawful purposes of the said Corporation may require, and the same to sell and convey, alien, or in any wise dispose of, in whole, or in any part, when no longer so required; to appoint such officers and agents, as may be necessary to manage the business of the said Corporation, and allow them a suitable compensation therefor; to make Bye-Laws not repugnant to the laws of the land; and generally to use, exercise, and enjoy all rights, privileges and franchises, which are incident, or appertain to incorporated bodies. other lines. VIII. That the said corporation shall have power and authority to contract To contract wit! with any person or persons, or bodies corporate, for the purpose of connecting its lines of telegraph with lines out of this State. High Roads and Proviso. IX. That the "Washington and New Orleans Magnetic Telegraph Company," shall have power and authority to set up their fixtures along and across Allowed to cross any high road, which now, or may hereafter belong to this State, and any Rivers. waters or water-courses of this State, without the same being held or deemed a public nuisance, or subject to be abated by any private person; Provided, the said fixtures be so placed as not to interfere with the common use of such roads, waters, or water-courses, or with the convenience of any land owner, further than is unavoidable; and the said corporation shall be responsible for any damages, which any corporation or private person shall sustain by the erection, continuance, and use of any such fixtures; and in any action brought for the recovery thereof, by the owner or occupier of any lands, the damages to be awarded may, at the erection of the said corporation, include the damage of allowing the said fixtures permanently to continue, on the payment of which damages, the right of the corporation to continue such fixtures, shall be confirmed, as if granted by the parties to the suit. Provided, That no person or Proviso. body politic, shall be entitled to sue for or recover damages as aforesaid until the said corporation, after due notice, shall have refused or neglected to remove the fixtures complained of, within a reasonable time; and every person or persons who shall destroy, or commit any trespass upon the fixtures of the A D. 1847. said corporation, erected in pursuance of the authority hereby given, actually interrupting, or with intent to interrupt, the operations of the telegraph of the said corporation, shall pay to the said corporation the sum of five hundred dollars for each and every such trespass, and shall be further liable for all damages which the said corporation may suffer in repairing the injury, and in the interruption of its business, to be recovered in an action of trespass; and shall be further liable to indictment, and on conviction, be fined or imprisoned, or both, at the discretion of the Court in which such indictment shall be tried; and if any person, iucurring the penalty aforesaid, shall, through insolvency or any other cause, be unable or shall fail to pay the penalty, and damages aforesaid, and shall a second time, destroy or commit a trespass upon any such fixtures, as aforesaid, such person shall be subject to be imprisoned for not less than one month, nor more than six months, upon being duly convicted thereof before any Court of competent jurisdiction. X. That the said corporation shall be bound, upon the application of any of the officers of this State, or of the United States, acting in the event of any war, insurrection, riot, or other civil commotion, or resistance of public authority, or in the punishment or prevention of crime, or the arrest of persons charged, or suspected thereof, to give to the communications of such officers immediate despatch; and if any officer, clerk, or operator of the said corporation shall refuse, or wilfully omit to transmit such communications, or shall Penalty for giv- designedly alter, or falsify the same, for any purpose whatsoever, he shall be ing false information in crimi- subject, upon conviction thereof, before any Court of competent jurisdiction, to be fined and imprisoned, according to the discretion of the Court, and in proportion to the aggravation of the offence. For transmitting such communications, the said corporation shall charge no higher price than shall be usually charged by it for private communications of the same length. pal cases. Action to be taken in case of sale. XI. That should the holders of Morse's Patent, or their assignees, acting in |