of their works, not inconsistent with the laws of this State, and for the use and distri- 979. SEC. 4. Every company organized under the authority of this act, shall con- To build and struct, and keep in good repair at all times, for public use, across their canal, all of the keep bridges in repair. ridges that the board of supervisors of the county or counties in which such canal is situated shall require; said bridges being on the lines of public highways, and necessary for public use in connection with such highways. 980. SEC. 5. The provisions of this act shall not apply to the counties of Nevada, Not applicable Placer, Amador, Sierra, Klamath, Del Norte, Trinity, Butte, Plumas, Calaveras, and to certain Tuolumne. SEC. 6. This act shall take effect from and after its passage. counties. IX. MINING COMPANIES.(^) An Act in reference to corporations organized in this State for the purpose of mining out of this State. Approved March 5, 1861, 41. 981. SECTION 1. That it may be lawful for any corporation organized in this State, Assessments, under the laws of this State, for the purpose of mining, or carrying on mining operations, without this State, whose business office is in this State, to levy assessments upon the capital stock thereof to pay the debts, future or present, of said corporation, or to carry on the business of said corporation; provided, the same shall be equal Proviso. and uniform, and at no one time exceed five per cent. of the capital stock, and such levy, or assessment, shall constitute a valid and binding obligation upon the holders of such stock to pay the sum so assessed against the stock so held. Notice of each such call, or assessment, shall be given to the respective stockholders personally, or shall be published once a week for at least four weeks in some newspaper published at the place designated as the principal place of business of the corporation, and also in some newspaper published nearest to the point where said mining operations are being carried on. If, after such notice has been given, any stockholder shall make default in the payment of such call, or assessment, as to the shares of stock held by him, so many of such shares may be sold as will be necessary for the payment of the call, or assessment, on the shares held by him. The sale of said shares shall be made as prescribed in the by-laws of the company; provided, that no sale shall be Proviso. made except at public auction to the highest bidder, after a published notice of thirty days, published as above directed; and that at such sale the person who will agree to pay the call, or assessment, so due, together with the expense of advertisement and the other expenses of the sale for the smallest number of whole shares, shall be deemed the highest bidder. SEC. 2. This act shall take effect from and after its passage. An Act to authorize mining companies or corporations to change their principal place of business. Approved February 15, 1864; 1863-4, 76. stockholders 982. SECTION 1. Any mining company or corporation lawfully organized and in- Consent of corporated for mining purposes within the State of California, may change its office two-thirds of or principal place of business by first obtaining the consent, in writing, of the stock- necessary. holders representing two-thirds of all the capital stock of the company; provided, Proviso. that notice of such intended change, after such consent shall have been obtained, shall be inserted for thirty days in some newspaper published at or nearest the principal place of business of said mining company or corporation, designating the county or Publication. city and county to which it is intended to remove, before such removal shall be deemed lawful. 983. SEC. 2. Any mining company or corporation availing itself of the privileges Filing of certi of this act, upon filing in the office of the county clerk of the county or city and fled copy with county to which a removal is intended to be made, a certified copy of its articles of incorporation, together with a certificate of the trustees of the company or corpora (") See ante, 932. county clerk. Removal from State not authorized. Corporation have power to remove office. Manner of procedure. Legalizing past removals. Provisc Transfer agencies. Stock issued at tion, under the seal thereof, that the requirements of section one of this act have been fulfilled, shall, from the time of such filing, be vested with all the powers in its new place of business which it might or could have exercised if originally incorporated in the county to which its office or principal place of business shall be removed. 984. SEC. 3. This act shall not be so construed as to authorize any mining company or corporation to remove its office or principal place of business out of the State. 985. SEC. 4. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. SEC. 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. An Act to authorize the removal of the office and principal place of business of mining and other corporations from the Town of Aurora, in the Territory of Nevada, to the City of San Francisco, or other places in the State of California. Passed February 27, 1864; 1863-4, 109. 986. SECTION 1. It is hereby declared lawful for any corporation heretofore organized under the laws of this State, whose principal place of business is in the Town of Aurora, Territory of Nevada, and such corporation is hereby authorized and empowered to remove its office and principal place of business to the City of San Francisco, or to any other city or town in the State of California, as such corporation may select, by a resolution of the board of trustees thereof, adopted in accordance with its by-laws. 987. SEC. 2. Every such corporation desiring to make such removal shall file in the office of the clerk of the City and County of San Francisco, or of the City and County of Sacramento, or of such county in this State wherein is situated the city or town to which such corporation desires to remove, a certified copy of such resolution, under their corporate seal, together with a certified copy of the original certificate of incorporation now on file in the office of the secretary of State, and shall also deliver a certified copy of such resolution to the county clerk of Esmeralda County, Nevada Territory, and shall cause the same to be published for four successive weeks in some newspaper in the said Town of Aurora; and from the time of the filing of said instruments in the clerk's office of the proper county in this State, the office and principal place of business of such corporation shall be deemed removed to and established at such city or town in this State as may be declared in such resolution. 988. SEC. 3. The resolution heretofore passed by the board of trustees of any corporation whose office and principal place of business has heretofore been in the Town of Aurora, removing such office and place of business to any city or town in the State of California, is hereby legalized and declared valid and effectual; and from the time of the passage of such resolution all acts and proceedings of the trustees of such corporation, had or done in such city or town in this State, are hereby declared and made valid and effectual, in law and equity, as fully to all intents and purposes as though such city or town had been originally designated in the certificate of incorporation of such corporation as the principal place of business thereof; provided, that such corporation shall, within sixty days from the passage of this act, file in the office of the county clerk of the county wherein such city or town is situated, a certified copy of such resolution, attested by their corporate seal, together with a certified copy of the certificate of incorporation of said corporation, now on file in the office of the secretary of State. SEC. 4. This act shall take effect from and after its passage. An Act to authorize corporations organized in this State for the purpose of mining in or without this State, to establish and maintain transfer agencies in other states. Approved April 4, 1864; 1863-4, 429. 989. SEC. 1. That it may be lawful for any corporation organized in this State for the purpose of mining or carrying on mining operations, in or without this State, to establish and maintain agencies in other states of the United States for the transfer and issuance of their stock; and a transfer or issuance of [the] same at any such transfer agency, in accordance with the provisions of this statute, shall be valid and binding, and as fully and effectually so for all purposes as if made upon the books of such corporation at its principal office within this State. 990. SEC. 2. All stock of any such corporation issued at any such transfer agency, transfer agencies. shall be signed by the president and secretary of the corporation, and countersigned at the time of its issuance by the agent or agents of such corporation having the charge of such transfer agency; and no stock shall be issued at such transfer agency unless the certificate or certificates of stock in lieu of which the same is issued, shall, at the time of such issuance, be surrendered for cancelation. 991. SEC. 3. The stockholders of any such corporation may pass by-laws for the Laws regulating regulation and conduct of any such transfer agency: Provided the same be not incon- agencies, sistent with the provisions of this act. And such transfer agency shall at all times be subject to the control of the trustees of said corporation. 992. SEC. 4. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent here with are hereby repealed. SEC. 5. This act shall take effect from and after its passage. be formed. 993. SEC. 146. Any number of persons not less than three, may associate and form Companies may a company for the purpose of constructing, owning, holding, and working, a line, or lines, of telegraph in this State, or beyond the limits thereof, or partly within this State and partly beyond the limits thereof, upon the terms and conditions, and subject to the liabilities prescribed in this chapter.() [Amendment, approved April 4, 1861, 84; took effect immediately. 994 SEC. 147. Such persons, under their hands and seal, shall make a certificate Certificate. which shall specify First. The corporate name of the company. Second. The general route of the principal line, or lines, of telegraph, designating the principal points to be connected thereby. Third. The amount of the capital stock of the company and the number of shares into which the same shall be divided. Fourth. The names and places of residence of the principal shareholders, and the number of shares subscribed for by each. Fifth. The period of the existence of said company, not to exceed fifty years. Which certificate shall be proved, or acknowledged, and filed in the office of the county clerk of the county in which one of the principal offices of said company shall be established, and a copy or duplicate thereof filed in the office of the secretary of State; provided, that any telegraph company, formed, or to be formed, under the Proviso. laws of this State, may, with the consent of the persons holding two-thirds of the issued stock of said company, continue its corporate existence, or become reincorporated, under the same, or a different name, and may, in its new certificate, provide for the construction, owning, holding, controlling, and working, of the same, or other, lines of telegraph, or both, and for any other matters connected there with that may be proper for the convenient carrying out of the purposes of said company; which certificate shall also state the number of shares and amount of the capital stock of said company, and shall be signed by the president and secretary of the company, and proved, or acknowledged, and filed as herein before provided; and the new coinpany shall thereupon succeed to all the debts and liabilities, and all the rights, franchises, and property, of the old company.() [Amendment, approved April 4, 1861, 84; took effect immediately. 995. SEC. 148. Upon complying with the provisions of the last preceding section, Incorporation. such company shall be, and remain, a body corporate by the name designated in said certificate; and a copy of said certificate, duly certified by the clerk of the county where the same is filed, or by the secretary of State, may be used in all courts and 8. The capital stock of such association, and the number of shares into which the stock shall be divided. 4. The names and places of residence of the shareholders, and the number of shares held by each of them respectively. 5. The period at which such association shall commence and terminate; which certificate shall be proved or acknowledged, and recorded in the office of the clerk of the county where any office of such association shall be established, and a copy thereof filed in the office of the secretary of State. Such acknowledgment may be taken by any officer authorized to take the acknowledgment of deeds of real estate, at the place where such acknowledgment is taken Powers of company. Power as to construction of Proviso. places for and against said corporation.(") [Amendment, approved April 4, 1861, 84 ; took effect immediately. 996. SEC. 149. Such company shall have power to purchase, take, receive, hold, use, and vend to others to be used, any patent, or patents, for telegraphing, and any and all rights thereunder; to purchase, take, receive, hold, and maintain, any and all rights, privileges, and franchises, relating to the business of telegraphing; to make, receive by assignment, or ratify, any contract, or agreement, for the building, maintaining, controlling, or working, of any line, or lines, of telegraph; to construct, purchase, lease, take, receive, hold, control, and work, any lines for telegraphing, whether within the State of California, or beyond the limits thereof, and to purchase, take, lease, hold, own, use, and occupy, any personal, or real, estate, rights, property, telegraph lines, grants, franchises, and privileges, that may be proper, or convenient, for the complete transaction of its business, or for effectually and conveniently carrying out the objects and purposes of said company. It shall also have power to appoint such directors, officers, and agents, and to make such rules, regulations, and by-laws, as may be necessary, or proper, in the transaction of its business and not inconsistent with the laws of this State, or of the United States.(") [Amendment, approved April 4, 1861, 84; took effect immediately. 997. SEC. 150. Such association is authorized to construct lines of telegraph along telegraph lines. and upon any road or highway, or across any of the waters or any lands within the limits of this State, by the appropriation of any trees growing by nature or by the erection of the necessary fixtures, including posts, piers or abutments, for sustaining the wires of said lines; provided the same shall not be so constructed as to incommode the public use of said road or highway, or injuriously interrupt the navigation of said waters; nor shall this chapter be so construed as to authorize the construction of any bridge across any of the navigable waters of this State.(") [Amendment, approved April 2, 1857, 171. Persons damaged. 998. SEC. 151. If any person over whose lands said lines shall pass, upon which posts, piers or abutments shall be placed, or standing trees appropriated, shall consider himself aggrieved or damaged thereby, it shall be the duty of the county court of the county within which such lands are, on the application of such person, and on notice Commissioners of such application being served on the president or any director of such association, to appraise. to appoint three discreet and disinterested persons as commissioners, who shall severally take an oath before any person authorized to administer oaths, faithfully and impartially to perform the duties required of them by this chapter; and it shall be the duty of said commissioners, or a majority of them, to make a just and equitable appraisal of all the loss or damage sustained by said applicant by reason of said lines, posts, piers, or abutments, or appropriation of standing trees, duplicates of which said appraisement shall be reduced to writing and signed by said commissioners, or a majority of them; one copy shall be delivered to the applicant, and the other to the president or any director or officer of said association or corporation on demand; and in case any damage shall be adjudged to said applicant, the association or corporation shall pay the amount thereof, with the costs of said appraisal, said costs to be set forth and liquidated with the damage appraised, and said commissioners shall receive for their services such compensation as the county judge may award, to be paid in like manner as the costs and damages appraised. But in no case shall the person feeling himself injured or aggrieved, be entitled to any damage when application is not made to the county court within three months after the erection of said telegraph lines across the lands of such person.(d) [Amendment, approved April 2, 1857, 171. 999. SEC. 152. Any person who shall unlawfully and intentionally injure, molest, the erection of the necessary fixtures, including posts, piers, or abutments, for sustaining the cords or wires of such lines: Provided, the same shall not be so constructed as to incommode the public use of said roads and highways, or injuriously interrupt the navigation of said waters; nor shall this chapter be so construed as to authorize the construction of any bridge across any of the waters of this State. Corporation to commissioners. (*) Original section: SEC. 148. Upon complying with the provisions of the last preceding section, such association shall be and is hereby declared to be a body corporate by the nume as aforesaid, to be designated in said certificate, and a copy of said certificate, duly certified by the clerk of the county where the same is filed and recorded, or by the secretary of State, may be used in all courts and places for and against such association. () Original section: SEC. 149. Such association shall have power to purchase, receive, and hold, and convey such real estate, and such only, as may be necessary for the convenient transaction of the busijess, and for effectually carrying on the operations of such assoelation; and may appoint such directors, officers, and agents, and make such prudential rules, regulations, and by-laws, as may be necessary in the transaction of their business, not inconsistent with the laws of this State, or of the United States. () Original section: SEC. 150. Such association is authorized to construct lines of telegraph along and upon any of the public roads and highways, or across any of the waters within the limits of this State, by (4) Original section: SEC. 151. If any person over whose lands said lines shall pass upon which posts, piers, or abutments shall be placed, shall consider himself aggrieved or damaged thereby, it shall be the duty of the county court of the county within which said lands are, on the application of such person, and on notice to said association (to be served on the president or any director), to appoint five discreet and disinterested persons as commissioners, who shall severally take an oath before any person authorized to administer oaths, faithfully and impartially to perform the duties required of them by this chapter; and it shall be the duty of said commissioners, or a majority of them, to make a just and equitable appraisal of all the loss or damage sustained by said applicant by reason of said lines, posts, piers, or abut or destroy any of said lines, posts, piers, or abutments, or the materials or property Penalty for inbelonging thereto, shall, on conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, of company. juring property and be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail, not exceeding one year; or both, at the discretion of the court before which the conviction shall be had. 1000. SEC. 153. It shall be lawful for any association of persons organized under Increase of this chapter, by their articles of association, to provide for an increase of their capital, capital may be provided for. and the number of the association. 1001. SEC. 154. It shall be the duty of any company owning, or working, any tele- Duties and graph line in this State, on the payment of the usual charges therefor, as established liabilities as to dispatches. by said company, to receive all dispatches from any individual, or person, and to trans- 15 Cal. 472. mit the same with impartiality and good faith to the person, or persons, to whom the same may be directed; and for any neglect or refusal so to do, such company shall forfeit the sum of five hundred dollars, to be recovered, with costs of suit, by the person desiring to send the same.(") [Amendment, approved April 4, 1861, 84; took effect immediately. [Sec. 155 () was repealed by Sec. 7 of "An Act concerning telegraphic messages, and to secure secrecy and fidelity in the transmission thereof," approved May 14, 1861, 380; which act was repealed by Sec. 23 of "An Act for the regulation of the telegraph, and to secure secrecy and fidelity in the transmission of telegraphic messages," approved April 18, 1862, 288. See TELEGRAPHIC MESSAGES, post 7057.] An Act to amend and supplemental to "An Act to authorize the formation of corporations for the construction of plank and turnpike roads, passed May 12, 1853." [An Act concerning corporations, passed April 22, 1850.]() Approved April 2, 1857, 171. [Section 1 contains the amendments to Secs. 150 and 151 of the act of 1850 therein inserted.] 1002. SEC. 2. Any person or persons, who shall wilfully or maliciously break, Penalty for injury to teleinjure, or destroy a subaqueous telegraph cable, crossing any of the waters of this graph cable. State, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not less than five hundred nor more than ten thousand dollars, to which may be added imprisonment in the State prison, for any term not less than one year, nor more than five at the discretion of the court. Such persons so offending, or any person who shall break, injure, or destroy, through neglect or want of proper care, said subaqueous cable, shall also be held liable for full damages arising from the injury or destruction of the same; and any ship, steamer, or other vessel which, by dragging its anchor or otherwise, shall, in any Masters of vesmanner damage or destroy said subaqueous cable, upon proof that proper care and discretion were not used by the master of said vessel, or person commanding or having charge of such vessel, at the time the said injury or destruction took place, shall be held responsible for all damages, and the person commanding or having the said vessel in charge, at the time said injuries to said cable were sustained, shall be subject to the fine and imprisonment herein before provided. sels when liable. observed. 1003. SEC. 3. Before any association formed for telegraph purposes shall be entitled Conditions to be to the benefits of section second of this act, they shall cause to be erected at the commencement and termination of said subaqueous cable, on the shores of the water such cable underlies, suitable monuments, one on each shore, indicating the place of said cable, and shall also cause to be published, in a public newspaper having a fair circulation, on and about the waters crossed by said cable, a public notice setting forth a description of said monuments, together with the termination and course of said cable. Such notice shall be published at least one month, and it is herein provided, that no association for telegraph purposes shall be entitled to the benefits of section second ments, duplicates of which said appraisement shall be reduced to writing, and signed by said commissioners, or a majority of them; one copy shall be delivered to the applicant, and the other to the president, or any director, or officer, of said association or corporation, on demand; and, in case any damage shall be adjudged to said applicant, the association or corporation shall pay the amount thereof, with costs of said appraisal, said costs to be liquidated and ascertained in said award, and said cominissioners, for their services, shall receive such compensation as the court may award. or lines, directed to a third person, in the penalty of five hundred dollars for every neglect or refusal so to do, or confidential disclosure, to be recovered with costs of suit in the name and for the benefit of the person or persons sending or desiring to send such dispatches. () Repealed section: SEC. 155. It shall likewise be the duty of every such owner or association to transmit all dispatches in the order in which they are received, under the penalty of one hundred dollars, to be recovered with costs of suit by the person or persons whose dispatch is postponed out of its order, as herein prescribed: Provided, however, that an arrangement may be made with the proprietors or publishers of newspapers for the transmission, for the purpose of publication, of intelligence of general and public interest out of its regular order. () There is an evident mistake in the title of this act. It is amendatory of and supplemental to the 6th chapter of the act of 1850 concerning corporations, and not, of the act of 1853 coucerning plank and turnpike road corporations. |