CHAPTER 49.

AN ACT to consolidate the Memphis and Ohio, and the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad Company.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the Memphis and Ohio, and the Memphis, Clarksville, and Louisville Railroad Companies be, and the same are hereby consolidated, so as to form one continuous line of railway from Memphis to the Kentucky State line, via Paris and Clarksville, by the name of the Memphis, Clarksville, and Ohio Railroad Company; but this act shall not go into effect, until it is accepted and ratified by a majority of the Board of Directors of each Company, the act of acceptance and ratification spread upon the records of each, and a certified copy of the same forwarded to the Secretary of State.

SEO. 2. Be it further enacted, That when the terms of consolidation, as herein contained, shall have been thus accepted and ratified, a Board of Directors for the consolidated Company shall be organized, to consist of the present members of the Board of the Memphis and Ohio Railroad including those heretofore appointed by the Governor, together with the ten Directors from Montgomery county to be elected by the present Board of the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad, or by a vote of the stockholders of said road, as may be found most expedient and convenient, and the said Board thus consolidated shall have the right to vote by proxy in the election of officers and agents, and shall remain in office until the first Monday in October next, at which time an election shall be holden in Memphis, and Clarksville, for the election of a new Board, which shall consist of fifteen Directors, exclusive of those appointed by the Governor, six of whom shall reside in Shelby county; four between the Shelby county line and Paris; and the remaining five between Paris and the Kentucky State line. But until the election of a Board of Directors for the consolidated road, the affairs of the two Companies shall be managed as heretofore, under their separate organization.

SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the directors thus elected shall choose a President from their own number, and appoint such other officers and agents as they may deem necessary and proper; they shall have authority to name the day and place for the annual election of Directors, shall serve until their successors shall enter upon their duties; and may adopt such rules and regulations as they may deem necessary for the management of their business; but in the event of a conflict upon any point or points

between the charters of the two Companies, the Directors of the consolidated Company shall elect by which charter they will be governed.

ileges.

SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That all the rights, powers and privileges, heretofore conferred by the Legislature upon both or either of these companies, and by virtue of which they may have been constructing their roads, are hereby granted to the consolidated Company; and the Powers and Privsaid consolidated Company may claim and exercise the benefit of the same as fully, and in the same manner as either Company could have done before consolidation; provided, however, that nothing in the act shall be construed as giving to said consolidated company State aid exceeding ten thousand dollars per mile, exclusive of the bridge aid heretofore granted.

SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That when said consolidated Company shall have prepared the road-bed and bridges for the iron rails between Brownsville and the intersection of the Mobile and Ohio road in Gibson county, and the Commissioner of Roads shall so certify the same to the Governor, together with the distance, it shall be the duty of the Governor upon such certificate, to issue to said Company the Coupon Bonds of the State to an amount equal to ten thousand dollars per mile for the road so prepared for the iron, and also, the aid granted to the Memphis and Ohio Railroad Company, for bridges between Brownsville and the Mobile and Chio road.

SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That when said Company shall prepare the road-bed and bridges for the iron rails from Clarksville to the point of intersection with the Kentucky end of said road, or to its point of intersection with the Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad, provided that said point of junction and said point of intersection, shall be within the State of Tennessee, and the Commissioner of Roads shall so certify the same to the Governor, together with the distance; it shall be the duty of the Governor, upon such certificate to issue to said Company the Coupon Bonds of the State to an amount equal to ten thousand dollars per mile, and the bridge aid heretofore granted to the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad Company, for the road between said points so prepared.

SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That said consolidated Company shall have all the rights, powers and privileges to consolidate or unite with other roads in or out of this State that have heretofore been or hereafter may be given to the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad Company.

SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to give said consolidated Company

Montgomery county bonds.

more State aid than ten thousand dollars for any one mile for the construction of said road; nor more bridge aid than is now given by law to the Memphis and Ohio Road as far east as Paris; after leaving Paris they shall be entitled to the bridge aid heretofore granted to the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Road.

SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That after consolidation said Company shall not have power to construct more than one line of road from Memphis to Paris or from Paris to the Kentucky line by the way of Clarksville.

WHEREAS, The county of Montgomery voted two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in bonds of the said county to aid in the construction of the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad, by a vote of said county taken on the 20th day of October, 1853. And whereas, no law exists whereby the said county is authorized to redeem the said bonds before maturity, therefore,

SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That the act of the 2d of March, 1854, entitled, An act to authorize the county of Montgomery to take stock in the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad Company, and for other purposes, be, and the same is hereby amended so that the magistrates of the said county-a majority of them voting for the same-shall be and are vested with full power and authority to enter into contract with said railroad Company for the purchase of the said bonds and shall have the necessary power to levy a tax accordingly, to carry out said contract; and in case of the failure or refusal of the said magistrates to enter into said contract and levy said tax, the people of said county, through a public vote made and conducted in manner and form in which the original subscription of said stock was made, shall have the right, through the county court of said county, to cause a tax to be levied for the purposes above, in manner prescribed by an act passed January 22, 1852; Provided, that no agreement shall be made, nor tax levied for the payment of more than one-third of the whole amount of said bonds yearly, or for any one year.

SEC. 11. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.

DANIEL S. DONELSON,

Speaker of the House of Representatives. JOHN C. BURCH,

Speaker of the Senate.

Passed February 5, 1858.

CHAPTER 50.

AN ACT to amend the charter of the city of Knoxville, and to incorporate the town of Manchester, in Coffee county; to amend the charter of the city of Memphis; to amend the charter of the town of McMinnville, and to amend the second section of an act passed February 28, 1856, chapter 133, entitled, An act to provide for the election of a justice of the peace in the town of Rome.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That an additional voting place be, and is hereby established in the city of Knoxville, and that hereafter in all national, State, and county elections, polls shall be opened and elections held and conducted at the Market House in said city, in conformity with existing laws regulating such elections.

SEC. 2. Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the inhabitants of the town of Manchester are hereby con.stituted a corporation, and body politic, by the name and style of "The Mayor and Aldermen of the town of Manchester," and by that name shall have perpetual succession; shall sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, in all courts of law and equity; and in all actions whatsoever; may purchase, receive and hold property real and personal, and mixed, within the said town, or without its limits; and may sell, lease, or dispose of the same, for the benefit of said town; and may make such contracts for railroad depots, public grounds, promenades, that may be deemed beneficial to said town; they shall have and use a common seal, and change it at pleasure.

SEC. 3. Be it enacted, That the officers of the town. shall consist of a Mayor, Board of Aldermen, Recorder, Treasurer, High Constable, and such other officers as may be provided for, by the laws and ordinances of said corporation.

SEC. 4. Be it enacted, That the Mayor and Aldermen, Recorder, Treasurer, and High Constable, shall be elected by the qualified voters of said town, and shall hold their offices for one year, and until their successors shall be elected and qualified, and when two or more persons shall have an equal number of votes for either office, the election shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the Council elect. A vacancy, whether temporary from absence, or otherwise, shall be supplied in the same manner. The Mayor may fill all vacancies occurring in any office except that of Alderman, until the same can be filled by election. Vacancies, either of Mayor or Aldermen, by death, removal, or resignation, shall be filled by the votes

Manchester incorporated.

of a majority of the Board present at a meeting of the same. The Mayor shall preside at all meetings of the Board, take care that all ordinances of the town are duly enforced, to take an oath before entering upon the duties of the same, and to call special sessions of the Board when he may deem it expedient, and to issue his warrant for the arrest of such persons as he may know to have violated any of the ordinances enacted by said

Board.

SEC. 5. Be it enacted, That the Board shall have full power and authority to appoint such officers, servants, and agents of the corporation as they may deem necessary, and shall provide for, by ordinanccs. They shall fix the compensation of both elected and appointed officers, from time to time, and shall have power to dismiss any officer, servant, or agent by them appointed, two-thirds of said Board concurring in said dismissal.

SEC. 6. Be it enacted, That an election for Mayor, Aldermen, Recorder, Treasurer, and High Constable, shall be held at the Court House in Manchester, or such place or places in its limits as may be fixed by ordinance of the corporation on the third Saturday in December in each year, or upon such other day as the Board may determine by ordinance; provided that the first election held for the officers aforesaid may be held at any time after the passage of this act, first giving ten days' notice of the time of holding the same, said election to be held by the High Constable, Sheriff, or Coroner, or any Constable of the county, or such other person as may be designated by ordinance, or by-law; and such sheriff, or other officer to hold the election under the existing laws in reference to State elections, the result of the election shall be certified to the existing Mayor, who shall lay it before the Board at the first meeting thereafter unless altered by ordinance of the corporation. The Mayor, and Aldermen, and other officers elected as aforesaid, shall enter upon the duties of their respective offices, after first having taken an oath before some justice of the peace in Coffee county to faithfully discharge the duties of the same. The present Board shall continue in office until their successors are appointed and qualified. In all cases of a tie in the election of any of the officers, the Council that are elect, shall choose from among those tied.

SEC. 7. Be it enacted, That the number of Aldermen to be elected shall be seven, unless increased hereafter by ordinance of the corporation. No one shall be elected to any of the offices mentioned in section two, unless he is a bona fide citizen of the town. The Aldermen elect before