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SECTION 5. And be it further enacted, That the Griffin and West Point Plank Road Company shall have power and capacity to purchase, have and hold in tee simple, or for years, to them and their successors, any lands or tenements that they may find necessary for the site on and along which to locate, run and establish the aforesaid Plank Road, or to vary or alter the plan or plans, and of such breadth and dimensions through the whole course of said road, and also in like manner to purchase and hold any lands contiguous to or in the vicinity of said Plank Road that they may find necessary for the purpose of procuring all necessary or proper materials for constructing, repairing and adequately guarding and sustaining said Plank Road, and also all lands contiguous thereto that may be found necessary for the erecting of toll houses and other buildings or accommodations that may be necessary or useful to said road or to the business thereof; and said company shall have power, if need be, to conduct the Plank Road across any public road or highway, and across any streams or water courses that may be across the route: Provided, said company shall so construct their Plank Road across all public roads as not to obstruct or injure the same.

SECTION 6. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in all or any case or cases where land or private rights of way may be required by said company for the uses aforesaid, and the same cannot, for want of agreement between the parties as to price or for any other cause, be purchased from the owner or owners thereof, the same may be taken at a valuation to be made by commissioners, one of whom shall be appointed by the Judge of the Superior Court of the county wherein the land may be located, one by said Plank Road Company, and one by the owner of the land; but if such owner shall decline to appoint a commissioner, then the Judge of the Superior Court shall appoint two and the company one commissioner, all which commissioners shall be disinterested freeholders of the county wherein the land is located, and shall before they act severally take an oath before some Justice of the Peace faithfully and impartially to discharge the duties assigned them, the award of whom in writing shall operate as a judgment for the amount against the company, and shall be enforced by an execution from the Superior Court with the right of appeal to either party to be tried by a special jury at the next term thereafter of the Superior Court of said county, and the decision shall vest in the company the fee simple of the land in question, and in the other party a judgment for its value thus ascertained, which may be enforced by the ordinary process of said Court: Provided, nothing herein contained shall authorize the purchase or taking under the award of the commissioners any more land than shall be necessary for the

construction of said road and the building of stations thereon. SECTION 7. And be it further enacted, That in making the said valuation the commisioners, and in case of appeal the court of appeal, shall take into consideration the loss or damage which may occur to the owner or owners in consequence of the land being taken or the right of way obstructed; and also the benefit and advantage he, she or they may receive from the erection and establishment of said Plank Road, and shall state particularly the nature and amount of each, and the excess of loss and damage over and above the benefit and advantage, shall form the measure of valuation of the said land or right of way: Provided, that no difference or disagreement between the company and any landholder shall operate by injunction or otherwise to suspend the progress of said work, but the same shall be continued without interruption on adequate security being given by said company to the land holder to pay such damages as shall be assessed in manner aforesaid: Provided, that nothing in this section shall be so construed as to authorize the commissioners to make any estimate or valuation by which the landholder shall become indebted to the corporation: And provided, five days notice shall be given to the owner of such land of the time and place of trial: Provided, that if the Judge of the Superior Court be a stockholder, then the Justices of the Inferior Court, or a majority of them, in the county, not being stockholders, in which the land or landslie. SECTION. S. And be it further enacted, That whenever it shall become necessary for said Plank Road Company to use any part of a public highway for the construction of said Plank Road, the commissioners of roads of the militia district in which such highway is situated, or a majority of them, may agree with said company upon the compensation and damages to be paid by said company for taking and using such highway for the purposes aforesaid; such agreement shall be in writing, and shall be filed and recorded in the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court of the county through which the highway may pass; in case such agreement cannot be made, the compensation and damages for taking such highway for such purposes shall be ascertained in the same manner as the compensation and damages for taking the property of individuals; such compensation and damages shall be paid to the Inferior Court of the county, to be expended in improving the highways of such district for which the damages may be assessed.

SECTION 9. And be it further enacted, That the said company shall have the exclusive control of said Plank Road, so as to be entitled and empowered to receive and collect tolls on all and every vehicle of whatsoever character and denomination, and all other things or animals which may pass on the said Plank Road; and that for the collection of tolls

the said company or its proper officers may stop and detain all vehicles, produce or merchandize, or live stock or other thing or things passing on said Plank Road, until the owners or carriers thereof shall pay the toll that shall be fixed by said company; and if any owner, carrier or other person in charge of any vehicle, live stock or other thing or things shall pass by any toll gate or other place appointed for taking tolls without making payment thereof, he, she or they so offending shall forfeit and pay for each offence treble the amount of toll usually required to be paid, to be sued for and recovered by action of debt in any court having competent jurisdiction thereof together with cost of suit.

SECTION 10. And be it further enacted, That if any [person] shall wilfully and maliciously destroy, or in any manner hurt, damage, injure, or obstruct, or shall wilfully and maliciously cause, or aid aud assist, or counsel and advise any other person or persons to destroy, or in any manner hurt, damage or injure, or obstruct the said plank road, or any vehicle, right, or privilege connected therewith, such person or persons so offending shall be liable to damages on the civil side of the Court, and shall else be liable to be indicted, and on conviction thereof shall be fined or imprisoned, or both, at the discretion of the Court.

SECTION 11. And be it further enacted, That the exclusive right to make, keep up and use a plank road from Griffin to West Point shall be vested in said company for and during the time of thirty years, to be computed from the time when said plank road shall be completed and ready for use through the whole distance from Griffin to West Point.

SECTION 12. And be it further enacted, That the power of making the by-laws and of appointing officers, agents and servants, as the business of the company may require, and of controlling generally its affairs, and of entering into contracts in its behalf, shall be exercised by the President and Directors of said company.

SECTION 13. And be it further enacted, That any company authorized by the State of Georgia shall have the right of connecting other plank roads with the one contemplated by this act, and continuing the plank roads so conducted in any direction, except between Griffin and West Point, parallel Iwith said road.

SECTION 14. And be it further enacted, That the commmissioners mentioned in the sixth and seventh sections of this act, shall make a return of the award or awards made by them to the Superior Court of the county, within twenty days after said award or awards is or are made, and the same shall be recorded in the Clerk's office of the Superior Court of the county; the fees for such recording shall be the same as those allowed for other records of a similar character, and shall be paid by the said Plank Road Company..

SECTION 15. And be it further enacted, That the commissioners mentioned in the foregoing part of this act shall be allowed two dollars per day for each day they may actually be engaged in making assessments of damages, to be paid by said Plank Road Company.

SECTION 16. And be it further enacted, That the Plank Road to be built by virtue of this act shall not exceed fifty feet in width exclusive of wells, watering places and turnouts, and shall be so constructed as to make secure and maintain a smooth and permanent road, the track of which shall be made of timber, plank or other hard material, so that the same shall form a hard and even surface, and so constructed as to permit carriages and other vehicles conveniently and easily to pass each other, and also so as to permit all carriages to pass on and off, when such road is intersected by other roads.

SECTION 17. And be it further enacted, That whenever said company shall have completed three consecutive miles of said Plank Road, they may erect one or more toll gates thereon, but no two toll gates shall be nearer than three miles of each other; and may demand and receive toll not exceeding three cents per mile for any vehicle drawn by two animals; and for any vehicle drawn by more than two animals, one cent per mile for every additional animal; for every vehicle drawn by one animal, two cents per mile; for every head of sheep, swine, or goats, and for every head of neat cattle, one mill per mile; for every horse and rider, or led horse or mule, over one and a half cents per mile; and every drove horse or mule half cent per mile.

SECTION 18. And be it further enacted, That the President and Directors of said company may require payments of the sums subscribed to the capital stock at such times and in such proportions, and on such conditions, as they shall see fit, under the penalty of the forfeiture of their stock by the stockholders and all previous payments thereon; and they shall give notice of the payments thus required, and of the place and time when and where the same are to be made, at least twenty days previous to the payment of the same, in one or more of the public gazettes of Griffin, or by sending such notice to such stockholder by mail, directed to the post office nearest his, her or their residence.

SECTION 19. And be it further enacted, That the shares in the stock of said company shall be deemed personal property, and may be transferred as shall be prescribed by the by the by-laws of such company.

SECTION 20. And be it further enacted, That the persons and property of the stockholders in the said Plank Road Company and the said Plank Road shall be pledged and bound in proportion to the amount of the value of the shares that each individual or company may subscribe for or hold

in said company, for the ultimate payment of all debts made or contracted by said company, in the same manner as in common commercial cases, or simple actions of debt, to be collected in the manner pointed out in the 9th section of the act incorporating the Gainesville Railroad Company.

SECTION 21. And be it further enacted, That the debts and liabilities of said Plank Road Company shall not exceed in amount, at any one time, ten thousand dollars; and if such debts and liabilities shall at any time exceed such amount, the Directors who created or suffered to be created such excess of liability, shall be, jointly and severally, individually liable for such excess in addition to their liability as stockholders as provided in this act: Provided, That no Director shall be liable for any excess as aforesaid, who was absent at the time such excess was created or incurred, or who being present dissented therefrom, and entered his or their dissent on the minutes of said Board of Directors.

SECTION 22. And be it further enacted, That said company shall have the privilege of building any branches to connect said Plank Road with such points as the Directors of said company, with the consent of a majority of the stockholders thereof, may deem expedient: Provided, That the said branches shall be deemed a part of said road, entitled to all the privileges, and subject to all the liabilities and restrictions, as apply to the main trunk of said Plank Road as contained in this act.

SECTION 23. And be it further enacted, That all vehicles and horsemen travelling over said Plank Road shall in passing other vehicles and horsemen, always pass on the right hand side of said road, in failure of which any driver of a vehicle shall forfeit and pay to the toll gatherer at the next toll gate he may pass, the sum of one dollar, and every horseman, the sum of twenty-five cents, upon complaint of any person or persons who may give information of the same.

SECTION 24. And be it further enacted, That all persons travelling on foot over said road shall at all times pass free of toll.

SECTION 25. And be it further enacted, That the Directors aforesaid shall have the power to enjorce payments for stock subscribed, in the same manner as other debts are collected, in

any court having competent jurisdiction of the amount due by any stockholder; and the failure to pay on the part of any stockholder any instalment or instalments called in according to the provisions of this act, may induce a forfeiture of said stock and all previous payments made thereon, at the option of the Board of Directors of said company.

SECTION 26. And be it further enacted, That said company shall complete and finish the said road within six years from the passage of this act.

Approved, December 20, 1849.

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