An Act to aid in
the Construction of a Railroad and Telegraph Line from the Missouri River to
the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to the Government the Use of the same for
Postal, Military, and Other Purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That Walter S. Burgess, William P.
Blodgett, Benjamin H. Cheever, Charles Fosdick Fletcher, of Rhode Island;
Augustus Brewster, Henry P. Haven, Cornelius S. Bushnell, Henry Hammond, of
Connecticut; Isaac Sherman, Dean Richmond, Royal Phelps, William H. Ferry,
Henry A. Paddock, Lewis J. Stancliff, Charles A. Secor, Samuel R. Campbell,
Alfred E. Tilton, John Anderson, Azariah Boody, John S. Kennedy, H. Carver,
Joseph Field, Benjamin F. Camp, Orville W. Childs, Alexander J. Bergen, Ben.
Holliday, D. N. Barney, S. De Witt Bloodgood, William H. Grant, Thomas W.
Olcott, Samuel B. Ruggles, James B. Wilson, of New York; Ephraim Marsh, Charles
M. Harker, of New Jersey; John Edgar Thompson, Benjamin Haywood, Joseph H.
Scranton, Joseph Harrison, George W. Cass, John H. Bryant, Daniel J. Morell, Thomas
M. Howe, William F. Johnson, Robert Finney, John A. Green, E. R. Myre, Charles
F. Wells, Jr., of Pennsylvania; Noah L. Wilson, Amasa Stone, William H.
Clement, S. S. L’Hommedieu, John Brough, William Dennison, Jacob Blickinsderfer,
of Ohio; William M. McPherson, R. W. Wells, Willard P. Hall, .Armstrong Beatty,
John Corby, of Missouri ; S. J. Hensley, Peter Donahue, C. P. Huntington, T. D.
Judah, James Bailey, James T. Ryan, Charles Hosmer, Charles Marsh, D. O. Mills,
Samuel Bell, Louis McLane, George W. Mowe, Charles McLaughlin, Timothy Dame,
John R. Robinson, of California; John Atchison and John D. Winters, of the
Territory of Nevada; John D. Campbell, R. N. Rice, Charles A. Trowbridge, and
Ransom Gardner, Charles W. Penny, Charles T. Gorham, William McConnell, of
Michigan; William F Coolbaugh, Lucius H. Langworthy, Hugh T. Reid, Hoyt
Sherman, Lyman Cook, Samuel R. Curtis, Lewis .A. Thomas, Platt Smith, of Iowa;
William B. Ogden, Charles G. Hammond, Henry Farnum, Amos C. Babcock, W. Seldon
Gale, Nehemiah Bushnell and Lorenzo Bull, of Illinois; William H. Swift, Samuel
T. Dana, John Bertram, Franklin S. Stevens, Edward R. Tinker, of Massachusetts;
Franklin Gorin, Laban J. Bradford, and John T. Levis, of Kentucky; James
Dunning, John M. Wood, Edwin Noyes, Joseph Eaton, of Maine; Henry H. Baxter,
George W. Collamer, Henry Keyes, Thomas H. Canfield, of Vermont; William S.
Ladd, .A. M. Berry, Benjamin F. Harding, of Oregon; William Bunn, Jr., John
Catlin, Levi Sterling, John Thompson, Elihu L. Phillips, Walter D. McIndoe T.
B. Stoddard, E.H. Brodhead, A. H. Virgin, of Wisconsin; Charles Paine, Thomas
A. Morris, David C. Branham, Samuel Hanna, Jonas Votaw, Jesse L. Williams,
Isaac C. Elston, of Indiana; Thomas Swan, Chauncey Brooks, Edward Wilkins, of
Maryland; Francis R. E. Cornell, David Blakely, A. D. Seward, Henry A. Swift,
Dwight Woodbury, John McKusick, John R. Jones, of Minnesota ; Joseph A.
Gilmore, Charles W. Woodman, of New Hampshire; W. H. Grimes, J. C. Stone,
Chester Thomas, John Kerr, Werter R. Davis, Luther C. Challiss, Josiah Miller,
of Kansas; Gilbert C. Monell and Augustus Kountz, T. M. Marquette, William H.
Taylor, Alvin Saunders, of Nebraska; John Evans, of Colorado; together with
commissioners to be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, and all persons
who shall or may be associated with them, and their successors, are hereby
created and erected into a body corporate and politic in deed and in law, by
the name, style, and title of “The Union Pacific Railroad Company;” and by that
name shall have perpetual succession, and shall be able to sue and to be sued,
plead and be impleaded, defend and be defended, in all courts of law and equity
within the United States, and may make and have a common seal; and the said
corporation is hereby authorized and empowered to layout, locate, construct,
furnish, maintain, and enjoy a continuous railroad and telegraph, with the
appurtenances, from a point on the one hundredth meridian of longitude west
from Greenwich, between the south margin of the valley of the Republican River
and the north margin of the valley of the Platte River, in the Territory of
Nebraska, to the western boundary of Nevada Territory, upon the route and terms
hereinafter provided, and is hereby vested with all the powers, privileges, and
immunities necessary to carry into effect the purposes of this act as herein
set forth. The capital stock of said company shall consist of one hundred
thousand shares of one thousand dollars each, which shall be subscribed for and
held in not more than two hundred shares by anyone person, and shall be transferable
in such manner as the by-laws of said corporation shall provide. The persons
hereinbefore named, together with those to be appointed by the Secretary of the
Interior, are hereby constituted and appointed commissioners, and such body
shall be called the Board of Commissioners of the Union Pacific Railroad and
Telegraph Company, and twenty-five shall constitute a quorum for the transaction
of business. The first meeting of said board shall be held at Chicago at such time
as the commissioners from Illinois herein named shall appoint, not more than
three nor less than one month after the passage of this act, notice of which
shall be given by them to the other commissioners by depositing a call thereof
in the post office at Chicago, post paid, to their address at least forty days
before said meeting, and also by publishing said notice in one daily newspaper
in each of the cities of Chicago and Saint Louis. Said board shall organize by
the choice from its number of a president, secretary, and treasurer, and they
shall require from said treasurer such bonds as may be deemed proper, and may
from time to time increase the amount thereof as they may deem proper. It shall
be the duty of said board of commissioners to open books, or cause books to be
opened, at such times and in such principal cities in the United States as they
or a quorum of them shall deter- mine, to receive subscriptions to the capital
stock of said corporation, and a cash payment of ten per centum on all
subscriptions, and to receipt therefor. So soon as two thousand shares shall be
in good faith subscribed for, and ten dollars per share actually paid into the
treasury of the company, the said president and secretary of said board of
commissioners shall appoint a time and place for the first meeting of the subscribers
to the stock of said company, and shall give notice thereof in at least one
newspaper in each State in which subscription books have been opened at least
thirty days previous to the day of meeting, and such subscribers as shall
attend the meeting so called, either in person or by proxy, shall then and
there elect by ballot not less than thirteen directors for said corporation;
and in such election each share of said capital shall entitle the owner thereof
to one vote. The president and secretary of the board of commissioners shall
act as inspectors of said election, and shall certify under their hands the
names of the directors elected at said meeting; and the said commissioners,
treasurer, and secretary shall then deliver over to said directors all the
properties, subscription books and other books in their possession, and
thereupon the duties of said commissioners, and the officers previously
appointed by them shall cease and determine forever, and thereafter the
stockholders shall constitute said body politic and corporate. At the time of the
first and each triennial election of directors by the stockholders two
additional directors shall be appointed by the President of the United States,
who shall act with the body of directors, and to be denominated directors on
the part of the government; any vacancy happening in the government directors at
any time may be filled by the President of the United States. The directors to
be appointed by the President shall not be stockholders in the Union Pacific
Railroad Company. The directors so chosen shall, as soon as may be after their
election, elect from their own number a president and vice-president, and shall
also elect a treasurer and secretary. No person shall be a director in said
company unless he shall be a bona fide owner of at least five shares of stock
in the said company, except the two directors to be appointed by the President
as aforesaid. Said company, at any regular meeting of the stockholders called
for that purpose, shall have power to make by-laws, rules, and regulations as
they shall deem needful and proper, touching the disposition of the stock,
property, estate, and effects of the company, not inconsistent herewith, the
transfer of shares, the term of office, duties, and conduct of their officers
and servants, and all matters whatsoever which may appertain to the concerns of
said company; and the said board of directors shall have power to appoint such
engineers, agents, and subordinates as may from time to time be necessary to
carry into effect the object of this act, and to do all acts and things
touching the location and construction of said road and telegraph. Said
directors may require payment of subscriptions to the capital stock, after due
notice, at such times and in such proportions as they shall deem necessary to
complete the railroad and telegraph within the time in this act prescribed.
Said president, vice-president, and directors shall hold their office for three
years, and until their successors are duly elected and qualified, or for such
less time as the by-laws of the corporation may prescribe; and a majority of
said directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The
secretary and treasurer shall give such bonds, with such security, as the said
board shall from time to time require, and shall hold their offices at the will
and pleasure of the directors. Annual meetings of the stockholders of the said
corporation, for the choice of officers (when they are to be chosen) and for
the transaction of annual business, shall be holden at such time and place and
upon such notice as may be prescribed in the by-laws.
SEC. 2. And he it further enacted, That the right of way through
the public lands be, and the same is hereby, granted to said company for the
construction of said railroad and telegraph line; and the right, power, and
authority is hereby given to said company to take from the public lands
adjacent to the line of said road, earth, stone, timber, and other materials
for the construction thereof; said right of way is granted to said railroad to
the extent of two hundred feet in width on each side of said railroad where it
may pass over the public lands, including all necessary grounds for stations,
buildings, workshops, and depots, machine shops, switches, side tracks,
turntables, and, water stations. The United States shall extinguish as rapidly
as may be the Indian titles to all lands falling under the operation of this
act and required for the said right of way and; grants hereinafter made.
SEC 3. And be it further enacted, That there be, and is hereby ,
granted to the said company, for the purpose of aiding in the construction , of
said railroad and telegraph line, and to secure the safe and speedy
transportation of the mails, troops, munitions of war, and public stores
thereon, every alternate section of public land, designated by odd numbers, to
the amount of five alternate sections per mile on each side of said railroad,
on the line thereof, and within the limits often miles on each side of said
ro1ld, not sold, reserved, or otherwise disposed of by the United States, and
to which a preemption or homestead claim may not have attached, at the time the
line of said road is definitely fixed : Provided, That all mineral lands shall
be excepted from the operation of this act; but where the same shall contain
timber, the timber thereon is hereby granted to said company. And all such
lands, so granted by this section, which shall not be sold or disposed of by
said company within three years after the entire road shall have been
completed, shall be subject to settlement and preemption, like other lands, at
a price not exceeding one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, to be paid to
said company.
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That whenever said company
shall have completed forty consecutive miles of any portion of said railroad
and telegraph line, ready for the service contemplated by this act, and
supplied with all necessary drains, culverts, viaducts, crossings, sidings,
bridges, turnouts, watering places, depots, equipments, furniture, and all
other appurtenances of a first class railroad, the rails and all the other iron
used in the construction and equipment of said road to be American manufacture
of the best quality, the President of the United States shall appoint three
commissioners to examine the same and report to him in relation thereto; and if
it shall appear to him that forty consecutive miles of said railroad and
telegraph line have been completed and equipped in all respects as required by
this act, then, upon certificate of said commissioners to that effect, patents
shall issue conveying the right and title to said lands to said company, on
each side of the road as far as the same is completed, to the amount aforesaid;
and patents shall in like manner issue as each forty miles of said railroad and
telegraph line are completed, upon certificate of said commissioners. Any
vacancies occurring in said board of commissioners by death, resignation, or
otherwise, shall be filled by the President of the United States: Provided,
however, That no such commissioners shall be appointed by the President of
the United States unless there shall be presented to him a statement, verified
on oath by the president of said company, that such forty miles have been completed,
in the manner required by this act, and setting forth with certainty the points
where such forty miles begin and where the same end; which oath shall be taken
before a judge of a court of record.
SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That for the purposes herein
mentioned the Secretary of the Treasury shall, upon the certificate in writing
of said commissioners of the completion and equipment of forty consecutive
miles of said railroad and telegraph, in accordance with the provisions of this
act, issue to said company bonds of the United States of one thousand dollars
each, payable in thirty years after date, bearing six per centum per annum
interest (said interest payable semi-annually,) which interest may be paid in
United States treasury notes or any other money or currency which the United
States have or shall declare lawful money and a legal tender, to the amount of
sixteen of said bonds per mile for such section of forty miles; and to secure
the repayment to the United States, as hereinafter provided, of the amount of
said bonds so issued and delivered to said company, together with all interest
thereon which shall have been paid by the United States, the issue of said
bonds and delivery to the company shall ipso facto constitute a first mortgage
on the whole line of the railroad and telegraph, together with the rolling
stock, fixtures and property of every kind and description, and in
consideration of which said bonds may be issued; and on the refusal or failure
of said company to redeem said bonds, or any part of them, when required so to
do by the Secretary of the Treasury, in accordance with the provisions of this
act the said road, with all the rights, functions, immunities, and appurtences
thereunto belonging, and also all lands granted to the said company by the
United States, which, at the time of said default, shall remain in the
ownership of the said company, may be taken possession of by the Secretary of
the Treasury, for the use and benefit of the United States: Provided, this
section shall not apply to that part of any road now constructed.
SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the grants aforesaid are
made upon condition that said company shall pay said bonds at maturity, and
shall keep said railroad and telegraph line in repair and use, and shall at all
times transmit despatches over said telegraph line, and transport mails,
troops, and munitions of war, supplies, and public storage upon said railroad
for the government, whenever required to do so by any department , thereof, and
that the government shall at all times have the preference in the use of the
same for all the purposes aforesaid, (at fair and reasonable rates of
compensation, not to exceed the amounts paid by private parties for the same
kind of service;) and all compensation for services rendered for the government
shall be applied to the payment of said bonds and interest until the whole
amount is fully paid. Said company may also pay the United States, wholly or in
part, in the same or other bonds, treasury notes, or other evidences of debt against
the United States, to be allowed at par; and after said road is completed,
until said bonds and interest are paid, at least five per centum of the net
earnings of said road shall also be annually applied to the payment thereof.
SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That said company shall file
their assent to this act, under the seal of said company, in the Department of
the Interior, within one year after the passage of this act, and shall complete
said railroad and telegraph from the point of beginning as herein provided, to
the western boundary of Nevada Territory before the first day of July, one
thousand eight hundred and seventy-four: Provided, That within two years after
the passage of this act said company shall designate the general route of said
road, as near as may be, and shall file a map of the same in the Department of
the Interior, whereupon the Secretary of the Interior shall cause the lands
within fifteen miles of said designated route or routes to be withdrawn from
preemption, private entry, and sale; and when any portion of said route shall
be finally located, the Secretary of the Interior shall cause the said lands
hereinbefore granted to be surveyed and set off as fast as may be necessary for
the purposes herein named: Provided, That in fixing the point of connection
of the main trunk with the eastern connections, it shall be fixed at the most
practicable point for the construction of the Iowa and Missouri branches, as
hereinafter provided.
SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the line of said
railroad and telegraph shall commence at a point on the one hundredth meridian
of a longitude west from Greenwich, between the south margin of the valley of
the Republican River and the north margin of the valley of the Platte River, in
the Territory of Nebraska, at a point to be fixed by the President of the United
States, after actual surveys; thence running westerly upon the most direct,
central, and practicable route, through the territories of the United States,
the western boundary of the Territory of Nevada, there to meet and connect with
the line of the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California.
SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the Leavenworth, Pawnee,
and Western Railroad Company of Kansas are hereby authorized to construct a
railroad and telegraph line, from the Missouri River, at the mouth of the
Kansas River, on the south side thereof, so as to connect with the Pacific
railroad of Missouri, to the aforesaid point, on the one hundredth meridian of
longitude west from Greenwich, as herein provided, upon the same terms and
conditions in all respects as are provided in this act for the construction of
the railroad and telegraph line first mentioned, and to meet and connect with
the same at the meridian of longitude aforesaid ; and in case the general route
or line of road from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains should be so
located as to require a departure northwardly from the proposed line of said
Kansas railroad before it reaches the meridian of longitude aforesaid, the
location of said Kansas road shall be made so as to conform thereto; and said
railroad through Kansas shall be so located between the mouth of the Kansas
River, as aforesaid, and the aforesaid point, on the one hundredth meridian of
longitude, that the several railroads from Missouri and Iowa, herein authorized
to connect with the same, can make connection within the limits prescribed in
this act, provided the same can be done without deviating from the general
direction of the whole line to the Pacific coast. The route in Kansas, west of
the meridian of Fort Riley, to the aforesaid point, on the one hundredth
meridian of longitude, to be subject to the approval of the President of the
United States, and to be determined by him on actual survey. And said Kansas
company may proceed to build said railroad to the aforesaid point, on the one
hundredth meridian of longitude west from Greenwich, in the territory of
Nebraska. The Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, a corporation
existing under the laws of the State of California, are hereby authorized to
construct a railroad and telegraph line from the Pacific coast, at or near San
Francisco, or the navigable waters of the Sacramento River, to the eastern
boundary of California, upon the same terms and conditions, in all respects, as
are contained in this act for the construction of said railroad and telegraph
line first mentioned, and to meet and connect with the first mentioned railroad
and telegraph line on the eastern boundary of California. Each of said
companies shall file their acceptance of the conditions of this act in the
Department of the Interior within six months after the passage of this act.
SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the said company
chartered, by the State of Kansas shall complete one hundred miles of their
said road, commencing at the mouth of the Kansas River as aforesaid, within two
years after filing their assent to the conditions of this act, as herein
provided, and one hundred miles per year thereafter until the whole is
completed; and the said Central Pacific Railroad Company of California shall
complete fifty miles of their said road within two years after filing their
assent to the provisions of this act, as herein provided, and fifty miles per
year thereafter until the whole is completed; and after completing their roads,
respectively, said companies, or either of them, may unite upon equal terms
with the first-named company in constructing so much of said railroad and
telegraph line and branch railroads and telegraph lines in this act hereinafter
mentioned, through the Territories from the State of California to the Missouri
River, as shall then remain to be constructed, on the same terms and conditions
as provided in this act in relation to the said Union Pacific Railroad Company.
And the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, the Pacific Railroad Company of
Missouri, and the first-named company, or either of them, on filing their
assent to this act, as aforesaid, may unite upon equal terms, under this act, with
the said Kansas company, in constructing said railroad and telegraph, to said
meridian of longitude, with the consent of the said State of Kansas; and in
case said first-named company shall complete their line to the eastern boundary
of California before it is completed across said State by the Central Pacific
Railroad Company of California, said first-named company is hereby authorized
to continue in constructing the same through California, with the consent of
said State, upon the terms mentioned in this act, until said roads shall meet
and connect, and the whole line of said railroad and telegraph is completed;
and the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, after completing its
road across said State, is authorized to continue the construction of said
railroad and telegraph through the Territories of the United States to the
Missouri River, including the branch roads specified in this act, upon the
routes hereinbefore and hereinafter indicated, on the terms and conditions provided
in this act in relation to the said Union Pacific Railroad Company, until said
roads shall meet and connect, and the whole line of said railroad and branches
and telegraph is completed.
SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That for three hundred miles
of said road most mountainous and difficult of construction, to wit: one
hundred and fifty miles westwardly from the eastern base of the Rocky
Mountains, and one hundred and fifty miles eastwardly from the western , base
of the Sierra Nevada mountains, said points to be fixed by the President of the
United States, the bonds to be issued to aid in the construction thereof shall
be treble the number per mile hereinbefore provided, and the same shall be
issued, and the lands herein granted be set apart, upon the construction of
every twenty miles thereof, upon the certificate of the commissioners as
aforesaid that twenty consecutive miles of the same are completed. and between
the sections last named of one hundred and fifty miles each, the bonds to be
issued to aid in the construction thereof shall be double the number per mile
first mentioned, and the same shall be issued, and the lands herein granted be
set apart, upon the construction of every twenty miles thereof, upon the
certificate of the commissioners as aforesaid that twenty consecutive miles of
the same are completed: Provided, That no more than fifty thousand of said
bonds shall be issued under this act to aid in constructing the main line of
said railroad and telegraph.
SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That whenever the route of
said railroad shall cross the boundary of any State or Territory, or said
meridian of longitude, the two companies meeting or uniting there shall agree
upon its location at that point, with reference to the most direct and practicable
through route, and in case of difference between them as to said location the
President of the United States shall determine the said location; the companies
named in each State and Territory to locate the road across the same between
the points so agreed upon, except as herein provided. The track upon the entire
line of railroad and branches shall be of uniform width, to be determined by
the President of the United States, so that, when completed, cars can be run
from the Missouri River to the Pacific coast; the grades and curves shall not
exceed the maximum grades and curves of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad; the
whole line of said railroad and branches and telegraph shall be operated and
used for all purposes of communication, travel, and transportation, so far as
the public and government are concerned, as one connected, continuous line; and
the companies herein named in Missouri, Kansas, and California, filing their
assent to the provisions of this act, shall receive and transport all iron rails,
chairs, spikes, ties, timber, and all materials required for constructing and
furnishing said first-mentioned line between the aforesaid point, on the one
hundredth meridian of longitude and western boundary of Nevada Territory,
whenever the same is required by said first-named company, at cost, over that
portion of the roads of said companies constructed under the provisions of this
act.
SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the Hannibal and Saint
Joseph Railroad Company of Missouri may extend its roads from Saint Joseph, via
Atchison, to connect and unite with the road through Kansas, upon filing its
assent to the provisions of this act, upon the same terms and conditions, in
all respects for one hundred miles in length next to the Missouri River, as are
provided in this act for the construction of the railroad and telegraph line
first mentioned, and may for this purpose use any railroad charter which has
been or may be granted by the legislature of Kansas; Provided, That if actual
survey shall render it desirable, the said company may construct their road,
with the consent of the Kansas legislature, on the most direct and practicable
route west from St. Joseph, Missouri, so as to connect and unite with the road
leading from the western boundary of Iowa at any point east of the one
hundredth meridian of west longitude, or with the main trunk road at said point;
but in no event shall lands or bonds be given to said company, as herein
directed, to aid in the construction of their said road for a greater distance
than one hundred miles. And the Leavenworth, Pawnee, and Western Railroad
Company of Kansas may construct their road from Leavenworth to unite with the
road through Kansas.
SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That the said Union Pacific
Railroad Company is hereby authorized and required to construct a single line
of railroad and telegraph from a point on the western boundary of the State of
Iowa, to be fixed by the President of the United States, upon the most direct
and practicable route, to be subject to his approval, so as to form a
connection with the lines of said company at some point on the one hundredth
meridian of longitude aforesaid, from the point of commencement on the western
boundary of the State of Iowa, upon the same terms and conditions, in all
respects, as are contained in this act for the construction of the said
railroad and telegraph first mentioned; and the said Union Pacific Railroad
Company shall complete one hundred miles of the road and telegraph in this
section provided for, in two years after filing their assent to the conditions
of this act, as by the terms of this act required, and at the rate of one
hundred miles per year thereafter, until the whole is completed: Provided,
That a failure upon the part of said company to make said connection in the
time aforesaid, and to perform the obligations imposed on said company by this
section and to operate said road in the same manner as the main line shall be
operated, shall forfeit to the government of the United States all the rights,
privileges, and franchises granted to and conferred upon said company by this
act. And whenever there shall be a line of railroad completed through Minnesota
or Iowa to Sioux City, then the said Pacific Railroad Company is hereby authorized
and required to construct a railroad and telegraph from Said Sioux City upon
the most direct and practicable route to a point on, and so as to connect with,
the branch railroad and telegraph in this section hereinbefore mentioned, or
with the said Union Pacific Railroad, said point of junction to be fixed by the
President of the United States, not further west than the one hundredth
meridian of longitude aforesaid, and on the same terms and conditions as
provided in this act for the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad as
aforesaid, and to complete the same at the rate of one hundred miles per year;
and should said company fail to comply with the requirements of this act in
relation to the said Sioux City railroad and telegraph, the said company shall
suffer the same forfeitures prescribed in relation to the Iowa branch railroad
and telegraph hereinbefore mentioned.
SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That any other railroad
company now incorporated, or hereafter to be incorporated, shall have the right
to connect their road with the road and branches provided for by this act, at
such places and upon such just and equitable terms as the President of the
United States may prescribe. Wherever the word company is used in this act it
shall be construed to embrace the words their associates, successors, and
assigns, the same as if the words had been properly added thereto.
SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That at any time after the
passage of this act all of the railroad companies named herein, and assenting
hereto, or any two or more of them, are authorized to form themselves into one
consolidated company; notice of such consolidation, in writing, shall be filed
in the Department of the Interior, and such consolidated company shall thereafter
proceed to construct said railroad and branches and telegraph line upon the
terms and conditions provided in this act.
SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That in case said company or
companies shall fail to comply with the terms and conditions of this act, by
not completing said road and telegraph and branches within a reasonable time,
or by not keeping the same in repair and use, but shall permit the same, for an
unreasonable time, to remain unfinished, or out of repair, and unfit for use,
Congress may pass any act to insure the speedy completion of said road and
branches, or put the same in repair and use, and may direct the income of said
railroad and telegraph line to be thereafter devoted to the use of the United
States, to repay all such expenditures caused by the default and neglect of
such company or companies: Provided, That if said roads are not completed,
so as to form a continuous line of railroad, ready for use, from the Missouri
River to the navigable waters of the Sacramento River, in California, by the
first day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, the whole of all of said
railroads before mentioned and to be constructed under the provisions of this
act, together with all their furniture, fixtures, rolling stock, machine shops,
lands, tenements, and hereditaments, and property of every kind and character,
shall be forfeited to and be taken possession of by the United States: Provided,
That of the bonds of the United States in this act provided to be delivered for
any and all parts of the roads to be constructed east of the one hundredth
meridian of west longitude from , Greenwich, and for any part of the road west
of the west foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain, there shall be reserved of each
part and installment twenty-five per centum, to be and remain in the United
States treasury, undelivered, until said road and all parts thereof provided
for in this act are entirely completed; and of all the bonds provided to be
delivered for the said road, between the two points aforesaid, there shall be
reserved out of each installment fifteen per centum, to be and remain in the
treasury until the whole of the road provided for in this act is fully
completed; and if the said road or any part thereof shall fail of completion at
the time limited therefor in this act, then and in that case the said part of
said bonds so reserved shall be forfeited to the United States.
SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That whenever it appears that
the net earnings of the entire road and telegraph, including the amount allowed
for services rendered for the United States, after deducting all, expenditures,
including repairs, and the furnishing, running, and managing of said road,
shall exceed ten per centum upon its cost, exclusive of the five per centum to
be paid to the United States, Congress may reduce the rates of fare thereon, if
unreasonable in amount, and may fix and establish the same by law. And the
better to accomplish the object of this act, namely, to promote the public
interest and welfare by the construction of said railroad and telegraph line,
and keeping the same in working order, and to secure to the government at all
times (but particularly in time of war) the use and benefits of the same for
postal, military and other purposes, Congress may, at any time, having due
regard for the rights of said companies named herein, add to, alter, amend, or
repeal this act.
SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That the several railroad
companies herein named are authorized to enter into an arrangement with the
Pacific Telegraph Company, the Overland Telegraph Company, and the California
State Telegraph Company, so that the present line of telegraph between the
Missouri River and San Francisco may be moved upon or along the line of said
railroad and branches as fast as said roads and branches are built; and if said
arrangement be entered into and the transfer of said telegraph line be made in
accordance therewith to the line of said railroad and branches, such transfer
shall, for all purposes of this act, be held and considered a fulfillment on
the part of said railroad companies of the provisions of this act in regard to
the construction of said line of telegraph. And, in case of disagreement, said
telegraph companies are authorized to remove their line of telegraph along and
upon the line of railroad herein contemplated without prejudice to the rights
of said railroad companies named herein.
SEC. 20. And he it further enacted, That the corporation hereby
created and the roads connected therewith, under the provisions of this act,
shall make to the Secretary of the Treasury an annual report wherein shall be
set forth –
First. The names of the stockholders and their places of residence, so far as
the same can be ascertained;
Second. The names and residences of the directors, and all other officers of
the company;
Third. The amount of stock subscribed, and the amount thereof actually paid in;
Fourth. A description of the lines of road surveyed, of the lines thereof fixed
upon for the construction of the road, and the cost of such surveys;
Fifth. The amount received from passengers on the road;
Sixth. The amount received for freight thereon;
Seventh. A statement of the expense of said road and its fixtures;
Eighth. A statement of the indebtedness of said company, setting forth the
various kinds thereof. Which report shall be sworn to by the president of the
said company, and shall be presented to the Secretary of the Treasury on or
before the first day of July in each year.
APPROVED, July 1, 1862.
SOURCE: Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior on the
Operations of the Department for the Year Ended June 30, 1879, Volume 2, p. 107-15
