of the State of Michigan, That the Auditor General be, and he is hereby authorized and required to audit and allow to the members of the board of trustees of the Michigan asylums, and to the members of the board of education, the expenses necessarily incurred by them in the discharge of their duties; also, two dollars per day for their services actually and necessarily performed, upon their certifying the same to be correct, and draw his warrant upon the treasury therefor. And it shall be the duty of the State Treasurer to pay said warrants out of any moneys not otherwise appropriated, and charge the same to the asylum fund and to the Normal school endowment fund, respectively.

Sec. 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved February 19, 1850.

[ No. 36. ]

AN ACT to extend the time for the completion of the Canal and Locks around the Rapids of Grand River, at Grand Rapids, and for other purposes.

ed.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives Act ainendof the State of Michigan, That section six of act number nineteen of the session laws of eighteen hundred forty-seven, be and the same is hereby amended by striking out the word "three," before the word "years," in the twelfth line of said section, and inserting in lieu thereof the word "four."

may alter

Sec. 2. The comissioners having control of the construction of the commiss'rs canal and locks around the rapids of Grand River, at Grand Rapids, plan. and of the dam constructed in connection therewith, are hereby invested with full power to alter, modify, or in any manner change the plan and construction of the canal, locks and dam, or any portion thereof, either of such portions as are already constructed or which remain unfinished, as in their discretion they shall deem proper, limited only by the laws now in force regulating the manner, mode of construction, size and dimensions of the canal and locks and the depth of water therein, and the provisions of this act: Provided, State not That the State shall in no manner be made liable beyond the appro- liable priation already made for that purpose, in consequence of any such

Engineer; how appoin

ted.

Nie duties.

Duties of cmmisSioners.

Contract

May be exLended.

alteration, modification, or change as herein provided, or for any portion of the expenses of the completion of said canal, locks and dam.

Sec. 3. The commissioners are hereby authorized to appoint a competent engineer, who, in addition to the duties now devolving by law upon the engineer appointed by the board of supervisors of the county of Ionia, under act number 216 of the session laws of 1849, shall superintend the completion of said canal, locks and dam, and such alteration and re-construction as said commissioners may direct under the provisions of this act. And the office of the present acting engineer created by the said act be and the same is hereby annulled. All duties now devolving by section one of act number 216, aforesaid, upon the chairman of the board of supervisors of the county of Ionia, shall hereafter be performed by said commissioners or a majority thereof.

Sec. 5. Thec ommissioners are hereby authorized and required to extend the contract heretofore entered into between the said commissioners and James Davis, for the construction of said canal, locks and dam, until the twentieth day of February, A. D. 1851: Provided, That the said Davis shall, within sixty days after the passage of this act, renew said contract, with such alterations and additional requirements in relation to the said canal, locks and dam as such commissioners shall deem proper to impose under the powers conferred upon them by section two of this act, and shall, within the same time, give to said commissioners security for the faithful performance of such contracts so renewed and altered, which security shall be a bond with good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by the judge of probate of Kent county and said commissioners, running to said commissioners and their successors in office, in the penal sum of twenty thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful performance of such renewed and altered contract; and in case of failure by said Davis to perform the conditions thereof, the said commissioners and their successors in office are hereby authorized to prosecute said bond in their own names, with the addition of their name of office: Provided, always, That in case the commissioners shall determine to make any alteration in regard to the construction or relocation of the west half of the dam, which they are hereby

empowered to do, they are hereby authorized to contract with any person or persons other than the said Davis, to make such alteration, if in their discretion they shall deem it expedient so to do; that the State shall not be liable for any damages or claims on account of liable. such alteration or relocation.

State not

may con

other per

Sec. 5. In case the said James Davis shall neglect or refuse, with- Commiss'rs in sixty days from the passage of this act, to renew and alter said tract with contract with said commissioners for the construction of said canal, sons. locks and dam, as contemplated in sections two and four of this act, or shall fail to give security for the faithful performance of the same, as in said sections required, it shall be the duty of the commissioners to contract with any other person or persons for the completion of said work as contemplated by this act; and they are hereby authorized to let portions of said work to different persons and in separate contracts: Provided, The aggregate of such contracts shall cover the whole work to be done: And provided further, That the aggre gate compensation provided for in all such contracts shall not exceed the unexpended balance of the appropriation of land heretofore made by the Legislature for the construction of the canal and locks around the rapids of Grand River at Grand Rapids: And provided further, That persons taking contracts for the whole or any part of said work, shall give security to the satisfaction of the commissioners for the faithful performance of the same, which may be prosecuted in the same manner as is provided in section four of this act.

Sec. 6. The engineer to be appointed shall, from time to time, as he shall be requested by any person or persons having a contract for the construction of said work or any part thereof, under the provisions of this act, make estimates of labor performed and materials furnished, either or both, as the case may be, which estimates, when countersigned by the commissioners or a majority of them and filed in the State Land Office, shall entitle the person or persons in whose favor such estimates shall be made, to receive from the person performing the duties heretofore devolved by law upon the Commissioner of the State Land Office, a certificate of purchase for such descriptions of land heretofore selected for that purpose, and for which certificates of purchase have not heretofore been issued, as such commissioners shall direct, and which, at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, shall not exceed the amount of such estimates.

Engineer;

bis duties.

Pay of engi

neer.

State rights preserved.

Acts repeal

ec.

Seé. 7. The engineer shall receive for his services three dollars per day, one-half to be audited by the board of supervisors of the county of Kent, and the other half by the board of supervisors of the county of Ionia, and paid by orders on the treasurers of said counties respectively; and the treasurers of the respective counties are hereby required to pay the said orders upon their presentation.

Sec. 8. That no right or interest of the State in and to the use of said canal, and the right of way as connected therewith, shall be impaired by the provisions of this act.

Sec. 9. So much of all acts or parts of acts as contravene the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 10. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved February 20, 1850.

[ No. 37. ]

Incorporation.

Route.

AN ACT to incorporate the Marshall and Bellevue Plank Road

Company.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan, That Isaac E. Crary, Horatio J. Lawrence, Charles Cameron, Martin S. Brackett and John T. Hayt, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners, under the direction of a majority of whom subscriptions may be received to the capital stock of the Marshall and Bellevue Plank Road Company, and the subscribers thereto, with such other persons as they shall associate with them for that purpose, their successors and assigns, shall be and they are hereby created a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of the Marshall and Bellevue Plank Road Company, with corporate succession.

Sec. 2. Said company hereby created shall have the power to lay out, establish and construct a plank road and all necessary buildings and appurtenances, commencing at or near the railroad depot in the village of Marshall, county of Calhoun, and terminating in or near the village of Bellevue, in the county of Eaton, with the privilege. of uniting said road at any point with the road of any other com

pany.

Sec. 3. The capital stock of said company shall be thirty thousand Capital. dollars, divided into one thousand two hundred shares of twenty-five dollars each.

Sec. 4. The directors of said company may commute with any of the stockholders thereof, for any instalments upon their stock, by allowing them instead of paying their subscription in money, to take contracts, on giving satisfactory security for the fulfillment of the same, by furnishing any part of the materials, or executing any part of the construction of said road.

Contracts.

charter.

Sec. 5. This act shall be and remain in force for the term of six- Duration of ty years from and after its passage; but the legislature may at any time alter, amend or repeal this act by a vote of two-thirds of each branch thereof; but such alteration, amendment or repeal shall not be made within thirty years from the passage of this act, unless it shall be made to appear to the legislature that there has been a violation by the company of some of the provisions of this act: Provi ded, That after said thirty years, no alteration or reduction of the tolls of said company shall be made during its existence, unless the yearly net profits of said company, over and above all expenses, shall exceed ten per cent. on the capital stock invested.

Sec. 6. The provisions of all general laws now in force relative to

plank roads, shall be and are made a part of this act.

Sec. 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its

passage.

Approved February 23, 1850.

[ No. 38. ]

AN ACT to amend an act to incorporate the Battle Creek and Has

tings Plank Road Company.

General provisions.

tended.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives Route exof the State of Michigan, That the Battle Creek and Hastings Plank Road Company shall have the power to continue and extend said plank road from the village of Hastings in the county of Barry, to the mouth of the Thornapple river, and thence to the village of Grand Rapids in the county of Kent, on the most eligible route.

Sec. 2. Said company shall have the power to increase the capital stock of said company to sixty thousand dollars, with a corresponding increase of shares of twenty dollars each.