shall immediately, out of the monies then remainingin his or any of their hands, arising from the taxes aforesaid, pay to such sheriff or officer aforesaid his just demand: which payments also shall be allowed the clerk or clerks in their settlement with the treasurer as aforesaid. And as it has also been represented, that many suitors have been prevented from the speedy execution of their business in the said supreme court, on account of the short duration of the terms of the said court,

VII. Be it therefore enacted, That the judges may continue to sit twenty-four days (Sundays excluded) in each of the months of June and September.

VIII. And be it further enacted, That every other act, clause, or clauses, so far as the same falls within the purview of, or may be deemed contradictory to this act, shall be, and the same is hereby repealed.

Act for cut.

ble canal,

from the waters of Eliza

CHAP. XIII.

An act for cutting a navigable Canal from the waters of Elizabeth river, in this State, to the waters of Pasquotank river, in the State of North Carolina.

[Passed December 1, 1787]

I. WHEREAS the cutting of a navigable canal from the waters of Elizabeth river, in this state, to the ting a naviga. waters of Pasquotank river in the state of North Carolina, will be of great public utility, and many persons are willing to subscribe large sums of money to effect so beneficial a work, and it is just and proper that they, their heirs and assigns, should be empowered to receive reasonable tolls for ever, in satisfaction for the money advanced by them in carrying the work into execution, and the risk they run; therefore, Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That it shall and may be lawful to open books in the towns of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Petersburg, Richmond,

beth river, in Virginia, to the waters of Pasquotank fiver in N. Carolina.

York, Fredericksburg, and Alexandria, under the management of George Kelly in Norfolk; of John Cowper in Portsmouth; of Wells Cowper in Suffolk; of Christopher M.Connico in Petersburg; of James Heron in Richmond; of Thomas Nelson in York; of William Lewis in Fredericksburg, and of William Hartshorne in Alexandria; and under the management of such persons and at such places in North Carolina as shall be appointed by that state for receiving and entering subscriptions to the amount of eighty thousand dollars for the said undertaking, which subscriptions shall be made personally or by power of attor ney, and shall be in Spanish milled dollars, but may be paid in other silver or in gold coin of the same value. That the said books shall be opened for receiving subscriptions on the first day of May next, and continue open until the first day of September next inclusive; and on the nineteenth day of the said month of September there shall be a general meeting of the subscribers at Halifax in the state of North Carolina, of which meeting, notice shall be given by the said managers, or any three of them, in the gazettes of both the aforesaid states at least one month next before the said inceting, and such meeting shall and may be continued from day to day until the business is finished. And the acting managers shall, at the time and place aforesaid, lay before such of the subscribers as shall meet according to the said notice the books by them respectively kept, containing the state of the said subscriptions; and if one half the capital sum aforesaid, should on examination appear not to have been subscribed, then the said managers are empowered to take and receive subscriptions to make up the deficiency; and a just and true list of all the subscribers with the sums subscribed by each shall be made out and returned by the said managers, or any four or more of them, under their hands into the general court of this state, and into such court as the state of North Carolina shall direct, to be there recorded.→→ And in case more than eighty thousand dollars shall be subscribed, then the same shall be reduced to that sum by the said managers or a majority of them, by beginning at and striking off from the largest subscription or subscriptions, and continuing to strike off a share from all subscriptions under the largest and above one

sliare, until the sum is reduced to the capital aforesaid of eighty thousand dollars, or until a share is taken from all subscriptions above one share; and lots shall be drawn between subscribers of equal sums, to determine the number, in which such subscribers shall stand on a list to be made for striking off as aforesaid; and if the sum subscribed still exceeds the capital aforesaid, then they shall strike off by the same rule until the sum subscribed is reduced to the capital aforesaid, or all the subscriptions are reduced to one share; and if there still be an excess, then lots shall be drawn to determine the subscribers who are to be excluded to reduce the subscriptions to the capital aforesaid, which striking off shall be certified in the list aforesaid, and the said capital sum shall be reckoned and divided into three hundred and twenty shares of two hundred and fifty dollars each, of which every person subscrib ing may take and subscribe for one or more whole shares, and not otherwise.

II. Provided, That unless one half of the said capital shall be subscribed, all subscriptions made in consequence of this act shall be void, and in case one half and less than the whole of the said capital shall be subscribed as aforesaid, then the president and directors are hereby empowered and directed to take and receive the subscriptions which shall be first offered. in whole shares as aforesaid, until the deficiency shall be made up; a certificate of which additional subscriptions shall be made under the hands of the president and directors, or a majority of them for the time being, and returned to, and recorded in the courts as aforesaid.

III. And be it enacted, That in case one half of the said capital, or a greater sum shall be subscribed as aforesaid, the said subscribers, and their heirs and assigns, from the time of the said first meeting, shall be and are hereby declared to be incorporated into a company by the name of the Dismal Swamp Canal Company, and may sue and be sued as such; and such of the said subscribers as shall be present at the said meeting, or a majority of them are hereby empowered and required to elect a president and four directors for conducting the said undertaking and managing all the said companies business and concerns, for and during such time not exceeding three years, as the said subscribers or a majority of them shall think fit; and in

counting the votes of all general meetings of the said company, each member shall be allowed one vote for every share as far as ten shares, and one vote for every five shares above ten by him or her held at the time in the said company; and any proprietor by writing under his or her hand executed before two witnesses, may depute any other member or proprietor to vote and act as proxy for him or her at any general meeting.

IV. And be it enacted, That the said president and directors so elected, and their successors, or a majority of them assembled, shall have power and authority to agree with any person or persons on behalf of the said company, to cut the said canal and to erect such locks and perform such other works as they shall judge necessary for the navigation of the said canal, and carrying on the same from place to place, and from time to time, and upon such terms, and in such manner as they shall think fit, and out of the money arising from the subscriptions and tolls and other aids hereafter in this act given to pay for the same and to repair and keep in order the said canal. locks, and other works necessary thereto, and to defray all incidental charges, and also to appoint a treasurer, clerk, and such other officers, toll-gatherers, managers, and servants, as they shall judge requisite, and to agree for and settle their respective wages or allowances, and settle, pass, and sign their accounts, and also to make and establish rules of proceeding and transact all the other business and concerns of the said company in and during the intervals between the general meetings of the same; and they shall be allowed as a satisfaction for their trouble therein, such sums of money as shall by a gen eral meeting of the subscribers be determined.

V. Provided always, That the treasurer shall give bond in such penalty and with such security, as the said president and directors or a majority of them shall direct for the true and faithful discharge of the trust reposed in him, and that the allowance to be made to him for his services shall not exceed three pounds in the hundred for the disbursements by him made, and that no officer in the said company shall have a vote in the settlement or passing of his own account. And be it enacted, That the said president and directors, and their, successors, or a majority of them, shall have full power and authority from time to time, as money VOL. XII.

L 3

shall be wanting, to make and sign orders for that purpose, and direct at what time, and in what propor tion the proprietors shall advance and pay off the sums subscribed, which orders shall be advertised at least one month in the North Carolina and Virginia gazettes; and they are hereby authorized and empowered to demand and receive of the several proprietors from time to time, the sums of money so ordered to be advanced for carrying on and executing, or repairing and keeping in order the said works, until the sums subscribed shall be fully paid; and to order the said sums to be deposited in the hands of the treasurer, to be by him disbursed and laid out, as the said president and directors, or a majority of them shall order and direct; and if any of the said proprietors shall refuse or neglect to pay their said proportions within one month after the same so ordered and advertised as aforesaid, the said president and directors, or a majority of them, may sell at auction and convey to the purchaser, the share or shares of such proprietor so refusing or neglecting payment, giving at least one months notice of the sale in the North Carolina and Virginia gazettes; and after retaining the sum due and charges of sale out of the money produced thereby, they shall refund and pay the overplus, if any, to the former owner; and if such sale shall not produce the full sum ordered and directed to be advanced as aforesaid with the incidental charges, the said president and directors, or a majority of them, may, in the name of the company, sue for and recover the balance by motion on ten days previous notice; and the said purchaser or purchasers shall be subject to the same rules and regulations, as if the said sale and conveyance had been made by the original proprietor.

VI. And to continue the succession of the said president and directors and to keep up the same number, Be it enacted, That from time to time, on the expiration of the term for which the said president and directors were appointed, the proprietors of the said company at the next general meeting shall either continue the said president and directors or any of them, or shall choose others in their stead; and in case of the death, removal, resignation or incapacity of the president or any of the directors, may and shall in manner aforesaid elect any other person or persons to