said plat of ground, and for other purposes therein mentioned.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep resentatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly convened, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That from and immediately after the passage of this act, the Muscogee Railroad Company may take and hold in fee simple the plat of ground containing four acres on the east common, for the purpose of a Railroad depot, lying south of the Railroad depot, and between Randolph and St. Clair streets, granted to said company by the Mayor and Council of the city of Columbus, by a resolution of the same, adopted on the eleventh day of December in the year 1849; Provided, said company shall relinquish to the city of Columbus all their right to the use of four acres of land lying east of their said depot-any law, usage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.

Approved, February 14, 1850.

AN ACT to extend the time for the completion of the Ocmulgee and Flint Railroad and Canal Company.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep resentatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the time allowed for the completion of the Ocmulgee and Flint Railroad and Canal Company be and is hereby extended to the first day of January in the year (1860) eighteen hundred and sixty, subject to the same restrictions as are embraced in the second section of an act supplementary to and amendatory of the original act of incorporation, assented to 22d December, 1834.

SECTION 2. And be it further enacted, That all laws and parts of laws, militating against the spirit and intention of this act, be and the same are hereby repealed.

Approved, December 21, 1849.

AN ACT to amend an act incorporating the Atlanta and
Lagrange Railroad Company.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate und House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly met, That the Atlanta and Lagrange Railroad Company shall have power to extend their road to the Alabama line at or near West Point.

SECTION 2. And be it further enacted, That any contract made between said company and the Macon and Western Railroad Company for a junction of their road, and the joint use of said road, or any part thereof, shall be binding between the parties; and should any such contract or arrangement for a limited time suspend the completion of the Atlanta and Lagrange Railroad, the part of said road so suspended may be finished at any time within three years after the termination of said contract.

SECTION 3. And be it further enacted, That when the said Atlanta and Lagrange Railroad Company cannot agree with the owner or owners of any land through which they may propose to construct said road, and the said company shall comply with the provisions of the fourth section of the original charter of said company, the progress of said road shall not be delayed by said disagreement; they shall proceed with their road, on tendering to said owner or claimant a bond with good security to pay to him or them the amount of the final award in said controversy.

Approved, December 14, 1849,

AN ACT to amend the several acts in relation to the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly_met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company shall be allowed to increase their capital to a sum not exceeding five millions of dollars, upon such terms, limitations and conditions as the stockholders thereof in convention shall determine: Provided always, That the banking capital of said compary shall not be increased beyond the amount now authorized by their charter, namely, one million of dollars.

SECTION 2. And be it further enacted, That the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company shall be and they are hereby authorized to subscribe for and hold in the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Company of the State of Tennessee, stock to the amount of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or any less amount, upon the terms and restrictions contained in the charter of the said last mentioned company or such other as may be agreed on.

SECTION 3. And be it further enacted, That the power heretofore granted to the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company, of constructing a branch of their road to Washington, in the county of Wilkes, be and the same is hereby revived and authorized to be exercised by said company: Provided,

That the amount of the increased stock of said company shall not be exempted from taxation, as is secured to the present stock by the latter clause of the 15th section of the charter of said company, but shall be subject to such tax as the Legislature may hereafter impose.

Approved, December 20, 1849.

AN ACT to incorporate the Eatonton Branch Rail Road.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That Michael Dennis, Stephen B. Marshall, David R. Adams, James A. Meriwether, Alexander J. Reid, Samuel A. Wales, Ellmore Calloway, Andrew Reid, John A. Cayburn, Robert Bledsoe, Evan Harvey, Samuel Pearson, James Nicholson, Alexander B. Harrison, Wm. B. Carter, Herrod Bridges, Joshua Driskell and Wm. Garrard, and their associates be and they are hereby declared to be a body politic, under the name of "the Eatonton Branch Rail Road," for the purpose of constructing a Rail Road from the town of Eatonton to the most eligible point on the Milledgeville or Central Rail Road, and as such shall sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded.

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SECTION 2. And be it further enacted, That the capital stock of said road shall consist of four hundred thousand dollars, to be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each; that said company shall be under the direction of a President and seven Directors, to be selected by the stockholders, and to hold their office for the period of one year, and until their successors are elected; that said Directors shall have the power of making such by-laws as may be deemed necessary for the management of the affairs of the company, not conflicting with the laws of this State; that the corporation before mentioned shall have the privilege of opening books of subscription for the purpose of obtaining the necessary amount of stock to build said road in such manner as they may deem best.

SECTION 3. And be it further enacted, That said company shall possess and enjoy all the rights, immunities and privileges which are had, possessed and enjoyed by the Central Rail Road and Banking Company, except the privileges of Banking and exemption from taxation, and shall be subject to all the pains, penalties, liabilities, restrictions and limitations which are incident to and binding upon said company. Approved, February 15, 1850..

AN ACT to grant the privilege to the stockholders of the Cross Plains and Red Clay Branch Railroad Company to change the name of said road, and for other purposes.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the name of the Cross Plains and Red Clay Branch Railroad Company be and the same is hereby changed, and that it shall hereafter be known by the name of the Union Branch Railroad, with all the rights and privileges conferred, and subject to all the liabilities in the original charter by an act of the General Assembly of this State, approved the 22d day of December, 1840; and that the ninth and tenth sections of said act be and the same are hereby repealed.

SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority afore said, That the Secretary of said company be and he is hereby vested with full authority to transfer all forfeited stock of said company by the original stockholders to others desirous of purchasing the same, and that the said company be allowed the term of three years from the passage of this act to complete their work.

SECTION 3. And be it further enacted, That said company shall be deemed a common carrier as respects goods, wares, produce and merchandize, entrusted to them for transportation, and have the right to demand freight and toll on the same, and also for passengers, such as the Board of Directors may find necessary to adopt.

Approved, December 5, 1849.

AN ACT to incorporate the Houston Branch Railroad Company, and to authorize said Company to construct a Rail road from some suitable point on the Southwestern Railroad to the town of Perry in Houston county.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That Howell Cobb, Samuel Felder, Eli Warren, John Laidler, sen., William Allen, Alfred Nelson, William H. Miller, James W. Belvin, George F. Cooper, and William H. Talton, and their successors, shall be constituted a body corporate under the name and style of the "Houston Branch Railroad Company," to be capable in law of suing and being sued, to have a common seal and the same to break and alter at pleasure, and to perform the usual functions incident to corporations.

SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said company shall have the power to con struct and maintain a railroad from some eligible point on

the Southwestern Railroad, to be agreed upon by said Company and said Southwestern Railroad Company, to the town of Perry in Houston county, and to take land for the purpose of building the said Railroad, upon the same terms and under the same restrictions as are prescribed and provided for in the charter of the Southwestern Railroad, and to equip and furnish the said Railroad with the necessary engines, cars, and other apparatus for the transportation of goods, produce and merchandize.

SECTION 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the capital stock of said company shall be one hundred thousand dollars, to be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each, and that the said corporators, or a majority of them, shall, after the passage of this act, be authorized to open books in the town of Perry, and at such other places as they may deem proper, for subscriptions to said stock, giving thirty days' notice in the public gazettes of the city of Macon, and posting the same at the court-houses of the counties where books may be opened; that said corporators may receive subscriptions payable in cash, or in work, or materials for said Railroad, at fair prices.

SECTION 4. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That when the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars shall be subscribed, the said corporators, or a majority of them, are authorized to advertise for an election to be held in the town of Perry for seven Directors to manage the affairs of said corporation, and the said Directors when chosen shall elect one of their number to be President, thirty days' notice of said election to be given by advertisement as aforesaid.

SECTION 5. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said company shall have the same powers and privileges in relation to the organization of the company, construction of the road or its management, as are granted to the Southwestern Railroad Company, and be subject to the same restrictions and liabilities: Provided, said powers and privileges do not conflict with or contravene the interests of said Southwestern Railroad Company.

SECTION 6. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That said company shall have power to make such arrangements for the working said road in connection with the Southwestern Railroad, as may be agreed upon between the two companies.

SECTION 7. And be it further enacted, That the ninth section of the act to incorporate the Gainesville Railroad Company, approved December 28th, 1847, shall become and be a part and parcel of this act.

SECTION 8. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all laws and parts of laws militating against this act be and the same are hereby repealed.

Approved, December 20, 1849.