SEC. 11. All taxes levied and assessed by any county or counties upon the said road shall be collected in the same manner as other taxes are or may be collected, and shall be paid into the territorial treasury, and when so paid the total amount of the respective sums so paid in shall be distributed and paid by said treasurer to the several counties voting aid, as aforesaid, to said road, pro rata upon the amount so voted by said counties respectively: Provided, however, That whenever the amount of taxes collected on freights and distributed under the provisions of section 9 of this act and the amount of taxes collected and distributed under the provisions of this section to the several counties voting such aid shall in the aggregate equal the amount of the bonds and interest thereon issued to such company, association, or corporation, the collection of the tax on freights shall cease to be levied and collected by said company, association, or corporation, and the payment of taxes levied and collected by any county or counties upon said road shall not any longer be required to be paid to the territorial treasurer or distributed.

SEC. 12. It is hereby made the duty of the territorial treasurer from time to time, and as often as any money shall be paid into the territorial treasury in accordance with the provisions of sections 9 and 11 of this act, to estimate the amount that each county shall be entitled to of the same under the provisions aforesaid, and to pay over to the several treasurers of the counties entitled to the same their proportion of said moneys as above specified, taking receipts therefor.

SEC. 13. The moneys paid to the several counties under the provisions of said sections shall be applied solely and exclusively to the payment of the interest on the bonds so issued, as the same shall become due and payable, and to the payment of the principal sums secured thereby, as the same shall respectively mature. If said sums of money so received shall not be sufficient to pay interest on the bonds issued by any county, it shall be the duty of the board of county commissioners to provide for such interest by a levy of a tax therefor, which shall be levied in said county as other taxes.

SEC. 14. It shall not be lawful for any county to assess or cause to be assessed the road bed and track of such road, lying within any such county, at a greater valuation than five thousand dollars per mile.

SEC. 15. Before any money, under the provisions of sections 9 and 11, aforesaid, shall be paid to the treasurer of any county entitled. thereto, said treasurer shall execute a bond in accordance with the provisions of sections 87 and 88 of Article VI. of Chapter XXI. of the codified laws of this territory, in an amount equal to five per cent of the aid which his county has granted to such railroad, conditioned for the faithful performance of his duty under this act, and the payment of all moneys which shall be received by him thereunder. That the treasurers of the several counties voting such aid shall be entitled to receive on all sums of money coming into their hands under the provisions of this act, five per cent on all amounts not exceeding three thousand dollars, and on all amounts over three thousand dollars two and one-half per cent.

SEC. 16. It shall be the duty of said treasurer to render a just and true account of all moneys coming to his hands under the provisions of this act, and to pay the same out as required by law.

SEC. 17. The acceptance by the said S. B. Coulson & Co., or their assigns, or of the company by them or some of them organized, of any aid authorized to be given under this act, shall be deemed their acceptance of the same upon the terms herein specified, and a ratification of the conditions in this act contained.

SEC. 18. The said road shall start from and at the said town of Fort Benton, on the Missouri river, and run from that place to the said town of Helena, within a distance of one mile of the town of Sun River, by the most direct and practicable route.

SEC. 19. If the said S. B. Coulson & Co. shall not proceed to construct said road upon the amounts in their proportion being voted, or if the entire sum so voted shall not be secured from the various counties, and the said S. B. Coulson & Co. will not, before February 1st, 1878, accept the sum voted, and thereafter without unnecessary delay proceed to construct said road, and any other responsible company will accept the amount voted, and, according to the conditions and terms of this act, and the act to which this is amendatory, proceed to construct the same as is by law prescribed, then the boards of the county commissioners of the several counties having contributed, or voted to contribute, to the construction of said road, may meet at Helena, and determine whether they will substitute any other company than the said S. B. Coulson & Co., and if so, what other company shall be substituted; and at such

meeting each county shall have three votes, to be cast by its commissioners or commissioner present, and such counties, upon said proposition, shall each vote by themselves; and if at such meeting any county shall refuse to consent to such substitution, the proposition shall be re-submitted to the electors thereof, as to such substitution, in a manner to be by such commissioners prescribed; and, if ratified, the said substitution shall be deemed and considered binding upon such county.

SEC. 20. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.

RAILROAD-NORTH AND SOUTH.

AN ACT to aid the construction of a railroad to Montana.

Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Montana: SECTION 1. That for the purpose of securing railroad commurication with the several states, the territory of Montana in the form and manner, and upon the conditions and contingencies hereinafter in this act provided, hereby accepts the proposition of Oliver Ames, E. Atkins, Sidney Dillon, Jay Gould, F. Gordon Dexter, S. Richardson, and Royal M. Bassett, to build a railroad into said territory, made on the 23d day of December, 1876, at New York city, which said offer and proposition is as follows, to-wit:

To the Honorable Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Montana: We submit to you the following proposition, to-wit:

First. That we will undertake, in consideration that such a subsidy as hereinafter named is voted, to build a narrow-gauge road of the width of the Utah Northern railroad, starting at Franklin. After obtaining a survey of the contemplated route to run the road to Montana, and to terminate at a point in Montana, as far north as the mouth of the Big Hole river, and said railroad to be completed at the rate of one hundred miles per year from and after the commencement of the same.

Second. That the said road shall be supplied with all the necessary rolling stock to do and transact the business of said road as it progresses.

Third. That the said road will be called the Utah Northern Extension railroad, and be constructed as above named, in consid

eration of your territory granting to the individuals or incorporation building said road, bonds to the amount to $1,500,000, basing the entire length of the road at three hundred miles, which would be built under and pursuant to this proposition.

Fourth. That the amount of bonds to which the said subscribers or corporation shall be entitled, when the whole road is constructed, shall be issued and placed in escrow in the city of New York; but only to be delivered in accordance with the provisions hereinafter contained.

Fifth. That said bonds shall draw interest at the rate of eight per cent per annum, payable in New York city semi-annually, provided that interest shall only be computed from the time of each delivery thereof to the parties engaged in the construction of said road.

Sixth. That the construction of said road shall commence at the said point mentioned-Franklin-and continue towards the said designated terminus; and that from the said place of commencement to the said terminus line in Montana, there shall be delivered and paid over, upon the construction and opening for freight and passengers, of every twenty miles of said railroad from said starting point, the pro rata proportion of bonds-that is to say $5,000 per mile.

Seventh. The depository of said bonds shall be in the city of New York, to be fixed and agreed upon by mutual consent of parties in interest, and the work of constructing said road shall be commenced within sixty days after the bonds shall be deposited as above stated. The foregoing proposition is made in good faith and with the intention of building the said road if the aid asked for is granted by your territory. We are satisfied of our ability to construct the road within the time and in the manner above named.

All of which is most respectfully submitted to your honorable body to act upon.

Dated at New York, this 23d day of December, 1876.

OLIVER AMES.

E. ATKINS.
SIDNEY DILLON,
JAY GOULD.

F. GORDON DEXTER.

S. RICHARDSON.

ROYAL M. BASSETT,

President U. N. R. R. Co.

But subject to the variations in this act provided.

SEC. 2. That for the purpose of aiding in the construction of said railroad to run from Franklin, in the territory of Idaho, to and into the territory of Montana, to a point within five miles of the mouth of the Pipestone creek, Jefferson county, and upon the west bank of Jefferson river, and to the town of Helena, in the county of Lewis and Clarke, the sum of $1,700,000 is hereby contributed by the territory of Montana, to be paid when the coupon bonds of said territory shall become due which are hereby authorized to be issued in the manner and on the same terms provided in this act: Provided, That none of said bonds shall be delivered to any corporation, person or persons, for any purpose whatever, except upon the terms and in the manner provided in this act; but this section is subject to the variation contained in section 21 of this act.

SEC. 3. That such railroad shall be built from the said town of Franklin, along and over the nearest and most paracticable route to a point within five miles of Pipestone creek, in the county of Jefferson, on the west side of Jefferson river, within three years from the first day of July, 1877, to the point named in section 2 of this act, and shall be built of good and substantial material, and of a gauge not less than three feet in width and not more than four feet eight and one-half inches in width. Such railroad shall be finished from said town of Franklin to the terminus aforesaid within three years from the first day of January, 1878.

SEC. 4. The bonds that may be issued under the provisions of this act shall be coupon bonds of the territory of Montana, payable at the city of New York, in the state of New York, twenty years from the date of their issue, and at any time within ten years after the date of their issue at the pleasure of said territory. Said bonds shall bear interest at the rate of seven and three-tenths per cent per annum, shall be dated as hereinafter provided, and shall draw interest from the date thereof. There shall be attached to each bond a coupon for each installment of interest thereon, and the interest shall be due and payable on the first day of January of each year at said city of New York. Each coupon which is due at the time of the delivery of said bond shall, before the delivery of the bond, be detached therefrom, returned to the treasurer of the territory, and by him be cancelled and destroyed in the presence of the governor, and all interest which shall have accrued upon any coupon, but