Degroes.

Memphis charter.

Elections.

shall have power to increase their numbers, and to fill any vacancies in said body, at their discretion. A majority of said Board shall have power to appoint Professors and Teachers, elect a President, Secretary and Treasurer, prescribe the course of instruction, the studies to be pursued, and to make such by-laws for the government of said Seminary, as they may deem proper, not inconsistent with the laws of this State or of the United States.

SEC. 19. Be it enacted, That the Trustees, and such Faculty as they may establish, shall have full power and authority to confer such degrees and literary honors, as are usually conferred in Colleges and Literary Institutions, and to grant diplomas under the seal of the Institution, which shall be signed by the President and Secretary of the Board.

Suo. 20. Be it enacted, That said Cave Seminary shall never be made a sectarian institution, and no religious test shall be required of its officers as members.

SEC. 21. Be it further enacted, That the thirteenth section of an act, passed January 25, 1858, providing for the opening of the polls in each Ward in the city of Memphis, be so amended, as that in elections for Constables and Justices of the Peace in said city, the polls shall be opened at three places in the fifth Civil District, and three places in the fourteenth Civil District of Shelby county, but in all other elections in the county of Shelby, the polls shall be opened in each Ward of said city of Memphis, as was intended to be provided in the thirteenth section of the act, passed January 25, 1858. And that when any street or Streets & alleys. alley has been laid out in the city of Memphis, which in the opinion of the Mayor and Aldermen of the city of Memphis, not necessary for the public use, or when it is obvious that the location of the same may be changed or altered without any detriment to the public, it shall be lawful for the Mayor and Aldermen of Memphis to make said change of the location of streets and alleys: Provided, the owner or owners of adjoining property assent thereto: And provided further, an equal amount of space for streets or alleys be set apart for the use of the public, in lieu of the original street or alley: And provided, that said changes and alterations of streets and alleys, when made, shall be accurately described by proper deeds and conveyances by the parties making the same, which shall be duly recorded on the books of the Corporation, and in the Register's office for Shelby county.

SEC. 22. Be it further enacted, That an act passed at the present session of the General Assembly of the State

Shelby ville.

Nashville Com

of Tennessee, entitled An act to establish a Mayor's Court at Shelbyville, and for other purposes, be so amended, that Mayor's Court of it shall go into effect from and after the date of this act: And also provided, that the Mayor's Court at Shelbyville shall have no work house, but a jail or calaboose. SEC. 23. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That a school for instruction in the various branches of Science, pertaining to Mercantile mercial College. and Commercial pursuits, in Mathematics, with Surveying and Civil Engineering, and in Architectural Drawing, is hereby incorporated under the name and style of the Nashville Commercial College, by which name said College shall be able and capable in law, of suing and being sued, of pleading and being impleaded, of taking and holding property, real and personal, for the purposes of its incorporation, and of disposing thereof, and having and using a common seal, and of altering the same at pleasure, and of doing all and singular such matters, acts and things as may tend to the advancement of the above named branches of education.

SEC. 24. Be it enacted, That said College shall be governed by five Trustees, any three of whom shall be a quorum for the transaction of all business of the corporation. Said Trustees may organize for the transaction of business, in such manner, and by such laws, by-laws as to them may seem proper; they shall continue their succession by appointments of their own, whenever any vacancy may occur in their number. The first five Trustees shall be the following persons: II. G. Scoval, A. B. Shankland, Benj. F. Shields, Hiram K. Walker, Ira P. Jones.

SEC. 25. Be it enacted, That the Board of Instructions may, under such regulations as the Trustees shall make, grant such certificates and diplomas, under the corporate scal and signature of the Board of Instruction, as are granted by similar institutions in the United States.

SEC. 26. Be it enacted. That an Academy shall be, and

Trustees.

is hereby incorporated in the county of Cheatham, by the Cheatham Coun name of the Cheatham County Academy. That said ty Academy. Academy shall be entitled to its share of the Academy

Fund for 1857 and 1858.

DANIEL S. DONELSON,

Speaker of the House of Representatives
JOHN C. BURCHI,

Speaker of the Senate.

Passed March 20, 1858.

Davidson County Court.

CHAPTER 160.

AN ACT directory to the County Court of Davidson county.

SECTION. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the County Court of Davidson county, at its April sessions, in each and every year, is hereby directed, in conjunction with the corporate authorities of the city of Nashville, to make an estimate of the cost of supporting the poor and indigent residing within the limits of said city, and to ascertain, as near as may be, the amount of money necessary to support them.

SEC. 2. When such estimate is made, and amount agreed upon by the parties mentioned in the first section of this act, the said County Court of Davidson county, is hereby directed and required, at its April sessions, in each and every year, to make an appropriation out of the county revenue for the amount so agreed upon, and the Clerk of said Court shall pay over the same to the Treasurer of the city of Nashville, and take his receipt therefor.

SEC. 3. This act shall take effect from its passage.

DANIEL S. DONELSON,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

JOHN C. BURCH,

Passed March 20, 1858.

Speaker of the Senate.

Railroad.

CHAPTER 161.

AN ACT for the benefit of the Central Southern Railroad, and for other purposes.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That whenever the Central SouthCentral Southern ern Railroad Company shall have graded, bridged, and shall have ready to put down the necessary timbers for the reception of rails, and fully prepared their road in a good and substantial manner, with good materials for putting on the iron rails and equipments from the junction of the said road with the Tennessee and Alabama Railroad, near Columbia to the town of Pulaski, being a distance of thirtyfive and a half miles, and the Governor of the State shall be notified of these facts, and the other facts required by

existing laws to be made known to him, and upon report of the Commissioner of Roads, then the Governor shall issue to said Central Southern Railroad Company, coupon bonds of the State of Tennessee, to an amount not exceeding nine thousand dollars per mile for said distance of thirtyfive and one half miles, under all the rules, guards, liens and restrictions now required by law.

SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That this act shall not be so construed as to deprive said Company of the loan of the bonds of the State, as now provided for by law for the remaining portion of their road: And provided further, that it shall not be so construed, as to grant any further State aid than said Company is now entitled to receive.

State bonds.

nooga Railroad.

SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That of the State aid heretofore granted to the Memphis and Charleston Railroad Company, for the purpose of extending said Railroad from Stevenson to Chattanooga, on the north side of Tennessee river, the sum of ten thousand dollars per mile, be, and the same is hereby transferred and granted to the gate aid-NashNashville and Chattanooga Railroad Company, for the pur-ville and Chatta pose of constructing a branch railroad from Bridgeport, or some suitable point on the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, to some point on the line of the extension of said Memphis and Charleston Railroad, the same not to extend beyond the town of Jasper, in Marion county, with the same liens retained to the State as are provided for in said act.

SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That in case the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Company, shall fail or refuse to construct said branch road, the same powers and privileges, be, and hereby granted to the Memphis and Charleston same to Memphis Railroad Company, and either of said Companies agreeing and Charleston to construct said branch road as above provided, is hereby authorized to increase its capital stock to an amount sufficient, with the State aid, to construct said branch road.

SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That if both of said Railroad Companies shall fail or refuse to agree to construct

Road.

and Chattanooga

said branch road within twelve months after the passage of Same to Jasper this act, then said State aid, together with the powers and Road. privileges above conferred, be, and the same are hereby transferred and granted to the junction of Jasper and Chattanooga Railroad Company; said branch road in no event to extend beyond said town of Jasper.

DANIEL S. DONELSON,

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

Speaker of the Senate.

Passed March 20, 1858.

Removal of county seat of Tipton.

CHAPTER 162.

AN ACT to ascertain the will of the people of Tipton county, as to the removal of their seat of justice, and for other purpose.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That B. Payne, C. Crenshaw, R. V. Standford, W. II. Hooten, W. J. Wiseman, A. L. MeCan and J. Thompson, be, and they are hereby appointed Commissioners, whose duty it shall be, to employ a Surveyor or Surveyors and chain carriers, to ascertain the centre of Tipton county, and when said centre is so ascertained, it shall be the duty of the Commissioners, or a majority of them, to designate said centre, if it is a suitable place, and if not, some other place which is suitable and eligible for a new county site, as near said centre as practicable, and within two miles and a half of said centre, so ascertained as aforesaid. That said point, so designated by said Commissioners, shall be for the scat of justice in said county, of which they shall give due and public notice, and shall inform the Sheriff of said county thereof, whose duty it shall be, after giving thirty days notice, to open and hold an election as hereinafter provided.

SEC. 2. Whenever the Sheriff of said county is informed by a majority of said Commissioners, that they have designated the centre as hereinafter provided, and said place so designated, being put in nomination against Covington, it shall be the duty of said Sheriff, after giving thirty days notice, to open and hold an election at all the voting places in said county, on the 22d day of July, 1858, at which election it shall be the duty of the electors to vote for, and they shall have written or printed upon their tickets, "Centre," or "Covington." After said election, if a majority of all the votes in said election be in favor of the Centre, then it shall be the duty of the Sheriff to certify the result of said election, and transmit the same to the Secretary of State, whose duty it shall be, to report the same to the next General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, and that the next General Assembly may or may not remove the seat of justice of said county, as the Constitution of the State now provides for.

SEC. 3. A majority of said Commissioners shall be competent to carry out the foregoing duties, and it shall be a misdemeanor for the Commissioners or Sheriff to neglect or fail to discharge the duties hereinbefore prescribed, and upon conviction, he or they shall be fined not less than five A hundred dollars.