meaning of this act, be and the same are hereby re

An Act to repeal the first section of an act, Ch. 48, passed 27th Dec., 1843.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the first section of an act passed on the 27th December, 1843, chapter 48, entitled "an act to prescribe the time, place and manner of choosing Senators to the Congress of the United States," be, and the same is hereby repealed.

F. BUCHANAN,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.
J. M. ANDERSON,

Speaker of the Senate.

Passed, November 16, 1847.

CHAPTER IX.

An Act to exempt persons who have attained to the age of forty-five from working on roads.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That, after the passage of this act, no free white man shall be compelled to work on any public road, in this State, after he shall have passed the age of forty-five years.

F. BUCHANAN,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.
J. M. ANDERSON,

Speaker of the Senate.

Passed, November 19, 1847.

CHAPTER X.

An Act to incorporate the New Orleans and Ohio Telegraph company.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That Samuel F. B. Morse, John Incorporation. M. Bass, G. M. Fogg, James A. Porter, J. J. Gill, James Woods, John Kirkman, C. Connor, James Johnson, James A. McAlister and their associates, who have acquired or may acquire from said Morse, the right to construct and carry on the Electro Magnetic Telegraph by him invented and patented, through this State on the route leading from the cities of Louisville, Cincinnati, Maysville and Pittsburgh to Lexington, Kentucky, and thence to Nashville, Tuscumbia and Jackson, to New Orleans, are hereby created a corporation and a body politic, for the purpose of erecting and maintaining a line of said Telegraph on the route aforesaid, and transmitting intelligence by means thereof, under the name and style of the New Orleans and Ohio Telegraph com

pany.

SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the stock of said. company shall consist of shares of one hundred dollars each to be issued to the original owners of the patent. right and to those who have heretofore or may hereafter furnish funds for the construction and improvement of said line of Telegraph as the owners and subscribers have heretofore or may hereafter agree upon. Provided, That funds to be raised for the construction of said Telegraph, putting the same in operation, and from time to time adding to and improving it, shall be only sufficient for these purposes, and shall not be invested or employed for any other purpose whatever.

Stock.

Powers of

SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the corporators aforesaid, or any one or more of them, acting under the corporators. direction of a majority of said corporators, shall be and are hereby empowered to take such steps as they may deem expedient, to procure subscriptions for the completion of said lines according to existing contracts, or such as may be hereafter made, to collect the money subscribed, and to disburse them for purposes of construction, and perform all other acts necessary to expedite the procurement and proper application of the funds aforesaid.

SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That said corporation To build side shall have the power to build or purchase any connect- lines. ing or side line, having acquired the right to do so from the owners of Morse's patent, and may enlarge the capital for that purpose.

Board.

SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That as soon as the line Election of of Telegraph shall be completed and in operation from Cincinnati or Louisville to New Orleans, the said corporators shall by advertisement, in at least one newspaper in every city on the line, where subscribers for two thousand dollars of stock may reside, to call a meeting of the subscribers and proprietors of the patent right, constituting the corporate body hereby created, at such place as may be most convenient for a majority of the subscribers, for the purpose of choosing a President and Board of Directors, and Secretary and Treasurer for the management of their affairs. Annual meetings of said corporation shall be held at such time and place as may be prescribed by the stockholders at their first meeting; and at any subsequent annual meeting; and special meetings shall be called by the President and Directors whenever, in their opinion, the interests of the company may require it, or when it may be demanded by persons holding one third of the stock. Such reasonable notice shall be given of the time and place of such meetings, as may be prescribed by the by-laws of the corporation. In case of the death or resignation of any Director, a majority of the Board shall have the power to elect another to fill his place.

Board.

SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That the President, DiPowers of rectors, Secretary and Treasurer shall hold their offices for one year, and until their successors shall be elected, and shall exercise such powers pertaining to the building and management of said Telegraph, not incompatible with the constitution and laws of the State, and of the United States, as may be authorized by the by-laws of the said corporation.

SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, At every election each Votes of share shall entitle its holder to one vote, and absent stockStockholders. holders may vote by agents or proxies producing writ

ten authority. In case of a tie the election shall be decided by lot. Provided, That all stockholders owning ten shares and under, shall be entitled to one vote, and the owner of more than ten shares shall be entitled to one vote for every ten shares, so that the whole amount of votes of any stockholder shall not exceed thirty.

SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That the Telegraph Powers of company hereby incorporated, shall have power to sue Company. and be sued, complain and defend in any court of Law or Equity having competent jurisdiction, to make and use a common seal, and the same to alter at pleasure, to purchase aud hold such real and personal estate as the lawful purposes of the corporation may require, and the same to sell and convey when no longer so required,

to appoint such officers and agents as may be necessary to manage the business of the corporation, and allow them a suitable compensation, and to make by-laws not inconsistent with any existing law for the management of its property, the regulation of its affairs, and the issue and transfer of its stock.

SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That the corporation Connection hereby created shall have power by contracts with other with lines out persons as bodies politic, to connect their lines of Telegraph with lines out of this State.

of the State.

May cross

or waters.

SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That the Magnetic Telegraph Company, shall have power to set up their roads, streets, fixtures along and across any of the roads, streets, or waters of this State, without it being deemed a public nuisance; or subject to be abated by any private person; the said fixtures to be so placed as not to interfere with the common use of such roads, streets and waters, or with the convenience of any land owner more than is unavoidable; but the said corporation shall be responsible for any damage which any person or corporation may sustain by the erection, contínuance and use of such fixtures, and in every action brought for the recovery thereof by the owner or possessor of any lands, the damages to be awarded may, at the election of such corporation, include the damages of allowing the said fixtures permanently to continue, on payment of which damages the right of the corporation to continue such fixtures shall be confirmed, as it granted by the parties to the suit, Provided, That no person or body-politic shall be entitled to sue for or recover damages as aforesaid, until the said corporation after due notice shall have failed or refused to remove in reasonable time the fixtures complained of. And every person who shall destroy or commit a trespass upon the fixtures of said corporation, erected in pursuance of the authority hereby given, actually interrupting, or with intent to interrupt the operations of the Telegraph, shall pay to the said corporation one hundred dollars for such offence, and shall be further liable for all damages which said corporation may suffer in repairing the injury, and in the interruption of their business, to be recovered in an action of tresspass.

lines along all

SEC. 11. Be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful May construct for the company hereby incorporated or other proprie- roads, &c. tors of Morse's Electro Magnetic Telegraph, to construct lines of Telegraph along the common roads and streets of this State, along all Turnpikes, Railroads and Canals, for the purpose of communicating between any of the towns and villages in this State, or beyond its limits, and the main line of said company, and with each oth

this State or U.

States.

er, subject to all the terms and conditions of this act contained.

SEC. 12. Be it further enacted, That said corporation Bound to con- shall be bound on application of any of the officers of vey notice for this State, or of the United States, acting in the event of any war, insurrection, riot, or other civil commotion, or resistance of public authority, or in the prevention and punishment of crime, or the arrest of persons charged or suspected thereof, to give to the communication of such officer immediate despatch; and if any officer, clerk, or operator of said company, or any other Telegraph Company, shall refuse or wittingly omit to transmit such communication, or shall designedly alter or falsify the same for any purpose whatever, he shall be subject to fine and imprisonment in proportion to the aggravation of the offence, upon conviction thereof before any court of competent jurisdiction. For transmitting such communications the company shall charge no higher price than for private communications of the same length.

SEC. 13. Be it further enacted, That dividends of so Dividends. much of the profits of the company as shall be deemed expedient, be declared semi-annually in the month of January and July in each year, provided that no dividend shall be declared which shall impair the capital stock of said company.

Tel. Co.

SEC. 14. Be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful May merge for the stockholders of this company, a majority of the stock in West- stock assenting thereto, to merge its capital into that of a company owning a line of Telegraph running from Baltimore to Wheeling, making a continuous line of Telegraph from the city of Baltimore through Wheeling in Virginia, Lexington in Kentucky, and Nashville in Tennessee, to the city of New Orleans, and thenceforward the name and style of this corporation shall be the Western Telegraph Company.

SEC. 15. Be it further enacted, That the said CompaPower to pur- ny shall have power and authority to purchase out the chase improve right of any improvements that may be made in the Magnetic Telegraph from time to time.

ments.

taxation.

SEC. 16. Be it further enacted, That the stock and Exempt from other property of said company shall be exempt from taxation until dividends are declared, when it shall be subject to taxation at the same rates as other property. SEC. 17. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take When to take effect from the date of its passage, and shall be deemed a public act; Provided, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to give to said company any exclusive privileges.

effect.