Report of the Hoosac Tunnel and Troy and Greenfield Railroad Part 9

MAY 30, 1863.

W. T. DAVIS, Esq., _Treasurer, &c._ DEAR SIR:--I find the statement of payments on road in Senate Doc.u.ment, No. 82, 1863, page 17 communication of J. W. Brooks to governor, viz:--

Oct. 8, 1860, $64,090 00 Dec. 12, 1860, 112,190 00 Jan. 5, 1861, 30,355 00 Feb. 18, 1861, 23,270 00 March 7, 1861, 19,890 00 April 14, 1861, 19,175 00 May 7, 1861, 65,555 00 June 26, 1861, 34,645 00 July 9, 1861, 90,064 00 ----------- $455,234 00

Omitting for the present any consideration of offsets, and deducting this whole amount for a temporary settlement, the items to be filled up will be as follows:--

Whole amount of credit on road per Stevenson's estimate, . . . . . . . . . . . $1,800,000 00 Deduct stock already issued as per certificates delivered, number, . . . . . . . .

Shares, . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bonds delivered, number, . . . . . . .

Dates of delivery, . . . . . . . . .

Total bonds and stock delivered, . . . .

Balance stock to be delivered, . . . . .

In addition to this, H. Haupt & Co. have credits on the books of the company for cash payments made on company accounts as follows:--

Amounting to say, . . . . . . . $90,000 00

Yours, &c., HAUPT.

Stock to be delivered hereafter instead of bonds. You can with these dates make out this statement in an hour, please do so and send to me at Washington.

Some people in Ma.s.sachusetts will find out that I am not quite dead yet, they may feel me kicking before long. Help Field all you can to get releases on payment of the 85 per cent. I will not forget you.

HAUPT.

Previous to the receipt of Mr. Haupt's letter to the treasurer, but subsequent to the message of the governor, from the foregoing, extracts have been made, to wit: On the first day of April, 1863, the following preamble and resolutions were pa.s.sed by the directors.

"On motion of Mr. Brigham, seconded by Mr. Cheever, the following resolutions were adopted:--

"_Whereas_, The stockholders of this company at their annual meeting held September 2, 1862, unanimously acquiesced in the action which the legislature had taken in regard to the affairs of this company, and voted to surrender the property of the corporation to the Commonwealth in the expectation that the railroad and tunnel should be completed in conformity with the avowed intention of the legislature. It is

"_Resolved_, That this board of directors see no reason to regret the step which this corporation has taken, but in the kindly interest shown by His Excellency the governor in this enterprise, and in the able report of the commissioners appointed to examine the subject, they perceive every indication that the great work will be prosecuted with vigor and arrive at an early completion.

"_Resolved_, That having released the property to the Commonwealth, we recognize the State as having entire and complete control over the same; our only claim being that the State shall carry out in good faith the recommendations of the commissioners as contained in their report, and in the address of the chief magistrate of the Commonwealth.

"_Resolved_, That the clerk be requested to furnish copies of the above vote to the friends of the road in the Senate and House of Representatives, to be used if necessary to show the views of the directors."

On the 29th day of April, 1863, the legislature, pa.s.sed an Act ent.i.tled "an Act in addition to an Act, providing for the more speedy completion of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad, and Hoosac Tunnel," which is chapter 214 of the Acts of 1863. By the provisions of this Act, the commissioners appointed under chapter 156 of the previous year, were authorized, subject to the advice and approval of the governor and council, to construct, complete and equip the Troy and Greenfield Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel, and to make such alterations in the line of the road as may be deemed necessary to render it suitable and proper for part of a through line from Troy to Boston. Also such alterations in the location and dimensions of said tunnel as will render it suitable and proper for use, in accordance with the spirit and intent of the 224th chapter of the Acts of 1854.

By the legislation of 1862 and 1863, and the vote of the directors and of the corporation in the same years, the corporation surrendered to the State the road and tunnel, and the State took possession of the same with the express understanding on both sides, that they would proceed in the construction and completion of both works. The enterprise having fallen into the hands of the State, and the work having been a.s.sumed by the State government, no further vote of importance appears upon the records of the directors. Their last meeting was held August 30, 1865, when Alvah Crocker was chosen President, and Wendell T. Davis, Clerk and Treasurer.

[B.]

_Princ.i.p.al Acts of the Legislature relating to the Hoosac Tunnel and Troy and Greenfield Railroad._

[1848--Chapter 307.]

AN ACT to incorporate the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company.

_Be it enacted, &c._

SECT. 1. George Grennell, Roger H. Leavitt, Samuel H. Reed, their a.s.sociates and successors, are hereby made a corporation, by the name of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company, with all the powers and privileges, and subject to all the duties, liabilities, and restrictions set forth in the forty-fourth chapter of the Revised Statutes, and in that part of the thirty-ninth chapter thereof relating to railroad corporations, and in all other general laws which have been, or shall be hereafter pa.s.sed, relative to railroad corporations.

SECT. 2. Said company are hereby authorized to locate, construct, and maintain a railroad, with one or more tracks, from some convenient point on the Vermont and Ma.s.sachusetts Railroad, at or near the termination of said railroad in Greenfield, through any or all of the following towns, viz.:--Greenfield, Deerfield, Conway, Shelburne, Buckland, Coleraine, Charlemont, Hawley, Rowe, and Monroe, in the county of Franklin, and Savoy, Florida, Adams, Clarksburg, and Williamstown, in the county of Berkshire, to some point on the line of the state of New York or of Vermont, convenient to meet, or connect with, any railroad that may be constructed from any point at or near the city of Troy, on the Hudson river, in the state of New York.

SECT. 3. The said company may, with their railroad, unite with, and enter upon, the Vermont and Ma.s.sachusetts Railroad, at or near the termination thereof, as aforesaid, and may likewise enter upon, cross, and use, the railroad of the Connecticut River Railroad Company, in and near the town of Greenfield, (not, however, interfering with the depot buildings of either of said companies,) on such terms as may be agreed upon between the corporation hereby created and the aforesaid companies respectively, or as may be prescribed by law.

SECT. 4. The capital stock of the said company shall consist of not more than thirty-five thousand shares, the number of which shall, from time to time, be determined by the directors thereof; and no a.s.sessment shall be laid of a greater amount thereon, in the whole, than one hundred dollars on each share. And the said company may purchase and hold such real and personal estate, as may be necessary for the purposes of their incorporation.

SECT. 5. If the location of said road shall not be filed within two years, in the manner prescribed by law, or if the said railroad shall not be constructed within seven years from the pa.s.sage of this act, then the same shall be void.

SECT. 6. The legislature may authorize any railroad company to enter, with their railroad, upon the Troy and Greenfield Railroad, on such terms as may be agreed upon by said companies, or as may be prescribed by the provisions of law.

SECT. 7. The legislature may, after the expiration of five years from the time when such railroad shall be opened for use, from time to time, alter and reduce the rate of toll, or profits, upon said road; but said toll shall not be so reduced, without the consent of said company, as to produce, with said profits, less than ten per cent. per annum, upon the investments of the said company.

SECT. 8. The said corporation may contract with the owners of any contiguous railroad leading into or from either of the states of Vermont or New York, for the use of the whole or any part thereof, or for the running and operating the two railroads conjointly, or for the leasing of such contiguous road, or for the letting or hiring of their own road to the owners of such contiguous road, or of any other road which composes a part of the railroad line between the cities of Boston and Troy, of which the railroad hereby authorized shall be a part.

SECT. 9. The Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company shall, within one year after the opening of their road for use, purchase and take an a.s.signment of the lease and contract of transportation, made and executed between the Western Railroad Corporation and the Pittsfield and North Adams Railroad Corporation, on the thirteenth day of January, in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-six; and shall have all the advantages, and a.s.sume all the liabilities, accruing under and by virtue of said lease: provided, that the said Western. Railroad Corporation shall perform their covenants in said lease, to keep said road, and other property therewith connected, in repair, until such a.s.signment; and shall, within six months after the said Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company shall have filed the location of their road, according to law, and shall have raised, by subscription, one million of dollars, for the construction of the same, signify, in writing, their election to make such a.s.signment: and provided, that, at the time of such a.s.signment, there shall be secured to said Western Railroad Corporation, by a proper instrument, a lien or mortgage upon all their rights in said Pittsfield and North Adams Railroad, as collateral security for the performance of all the obligations of said corporation, contained in said lease and contract of transportation: and, provided also, that, after the completion of the said Troy and Greenfield Railroad, the said Western Railroad Corporation shall a.s.sign and convey, to the said Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company, the said contract of transportation, according to the terms of this section, if the said Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company shall so elect.

SECT. 10. This act shall take effect from and after its pa.s.sage.

[_May 10, 1848._

[1852.--Chapter 291.]

AN ACT concerning the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company.

_Be it enacted, &c._

SECT. 1. The Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company and the Southern Vermont Railroad Company, a corporation established by the laws of Vermont, are hereby authorized by a vote of the stockholders now, or to be, pa.s.sed, to unite themselves in one corporation; and such vote having been pa.s.sed, they shall thereupon become one corporation, and all the franchises, property, powers, and privileges now enjoyed by, and all the restrictions, liabilities, and obligations imposed upon, said two corporations, by virtue of their respective charters, shall appertain to said united corporation in the same manner as if the same had been contained in or acquired under an original charter. Such corporation, so formed by such union, shall be called by the name of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company.

SECT. 2. If the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company shall unite with said Southern Vermont Railroad Company, then, and in that case, one or more of the directors of such corporation, formed by such union, shall be an inhabitant of this Commonwealth, on whom processes against such corporation may be legally served, and said company shall be held answerable to answer in the jurisdiction where the service is made and the process returnable.

SECT. 3. The said company and the stockholders therein, so far as they are situate in Ma.s.sachusetts, shall be subject to all the duties and liabilities of railroad corporations in Ma.s.sachusetts, and to the general laws of this Commonwealth in relation to railroad corporations.

[Approved by the Governor, May 20, 1852.

[1854.--Chapter 226.]