Chap. 229.—An ACT to legalize an election held in Charlotte county for the pur-
pose of subscribing to the capital stock of the Charlotte, Farmville and James
River Valley Railway Company.

Approved May 14, 1903.

Whereas, the county court of Charlotte county, Virginia, did, at the
November term, nineteen hundred and two, thereof, make an order re-
quiring the sheriff of said county to open the polls on the eleventh day of
December, nineteen hundred and two, and take the sense of the qualified
voters of the said county on the question of subscribing to the capital
stock of the Charlotte, Farmville and James River Valley Railway Com-
pany in an amount equal to the sum of seventeen hundred and fifty dol-
lars per mile for each mile of railroad actually constructed by said com-
pany within the limits of said county, par value, which subscription as
prescribed in said order should in no event exceed the sum of fifty-two
thousand dollars, and should be payable in the bonds of said county of
Charlotte, bearing interest. from the date thereof at the rate of four per
centum per annum, and the principal thereof to be payable fifty years
from the date of said bonds; and,

Whereas, it was agreed and understood, as provided in said order, that
said railway shall traverse said, county of Charlotte from some point on
the county line at or near Bethlehem church: to Charlotte courthouse,
and thence to some point on Staunton river at or near Cole’s Ferry, and
that the maximum number of miles of road to be built in said county is
thirty; and,

Whereas, it was further provided in said order that in no event should
any payment be made, either in money or in the bonds of said county, on
account of said subscription, until and except— ;

First. That the said company shall construct and put in operation a
line of railway from Rosney, in Buckingham county—a connection with
the Chesapeake and Ohio system—to Farmville, and thence by the route
therein indicated to Staunton river at or near Cole’s Ferry;

Second. That the said company shall enter into obligation with ap-
proved security, whereby the said company will be bound to pay to the
said county of Charlotte annually, for a period of ten years, a sum of
money which, together with the sum paid by the said company for county
and district and school taxes within said county, shall equal the amount
paid by the county in interest on the bonds of the county issued in pay-
ment of such subscription as it may make to the capital stock of said
company ;

Fourth. That the said company shall deliver to the duly authorized
officers or agents of the said county of Charlotte stock of the class com-
monly called and known as preferred stock to the amount of the sub-
scription which said county may make to the capital stock of said com-
pany, and there shall be reserved and secured to said county the right
at any time at its option to surrender said stock and to receive in lieu
thereof the first mortgage bonds of said company, the basis of exchange
to be the market value of said preferred stock and said mortgage bonds;
and,
Whereas, at the said’ election held under said order a majority both of
the qualified voters and of the freeholders of said county voted in favor
of making said subscription as provided in said order to the preferred
capital stock of said railroad company, at par, under the conditions and
upon the terms named in said order of the county court; and,

Whereas, the name of said company has, by an order of the circuit court
of the city of Richmond, been duly changed from the Charlotte, Farmville
and James River Valley Railway Company to Virginia Railroad Com-
pany, as authorized by the charter of said company; therefore,

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the election
held by the citizens of Charlotte county, Virginia, on the eleventh day
of April, nineteen hundred and two, under the order of the court of said
county, entered at the November term, nineteen hundred and two, thereof,
for the purpose of ascertaining the sense of a majority of the qualified
voters and freeholders of said county as to the subscription to the pre-
ferred capital stock of the Charlotte, Farmville and James River Valley
Railway Company, at par,in an amount equal to the sum of seventeen hun-
dred and fifty dollars for each mile of railroad actually constructed by said
company within the limits of said county, upon the terms and conditions
named in said order, is hereby legalized, and’ the general assembly of
Virginia hereby validates the subscription voted by said voters and free-
holders to said preferred stock to the amount above specified, under the
terms and upon the conditions named in said order of the county court
of Charlotte county, as described in this act; and the board of supervisors
for said county, through two agents to be appointed by it for that purpose,
as provided in this act of assembly incorporating said corporation, shall
make formal subscription, in acordance with the report of the county
surveyor, as provided in said act of incorporation, to the preferred capi-
tal stock of the said Charlotte, Farmville and James River Valley Rail-
way Company, now the Virginia Railroad Company, at par, to the
amount above specified; said subscription to be paid in the bonds of said
county, bearing interest from the date thereof at the rate of four per cen-
tum per annum, and the principal thereof to be payable fifty years from
the date of said bonds, and the said bonds shall not commence to bear
interest until the delivery thereof, and the said subscription shall be con-
ditional upon the said railway company’s completing its line of standard
gauge railroad through and across the county of Charlotte, from some
point on the county line at or near Bethlehem church to Charlotte court-
house, and thence to some point on Staunton river at or near Cole’s Ferry,
and that the maximum number of miles of road to be built in said county
shall be thirty-two ; and provided further, that in no event shall any pay-
ment be made, either in money or in bonds of the county, on account of
any subscription by said county until and except—

First. That the said company shall construct and put in operation a
line of railway from Rosney, in Buckingham county—a connection with
the Chesapeake and Ohio system—to Farmville, and thence by the route
herein indicated to Staunton river at or near Cole’s Ferry.

Second. That said company shall enter into obligation, with approved
security, whereby the said company will be bound to pay to the county of
Charlotte annually, for a period of ten years, a sum of money which, to-
gether with the sum paid by said company for county and district and
school taxes within said county, shall equal the amount paid by the county
in interest on the bonds of the county issued in payment of such subscrip-
tion as it may make td the capital stock of said company.

Third. That the said company shall deliver to the duly authorized of-
ficers or agents of the said county of Charlotte, of whom there shall be
two, and who the board of supervisors of said county is hereby authorized
and directed to appoint, stocks of the class commonly called and known
as preferred stock, to the amount of the subscription which said county
may make to the capital stock of said company, and there shall be re-
served and secured to said county the right at any time at its option to
surrender said stock and to receive in lieu thereof the first mortgage
bonds of said company, the basis of exchange to be the market value of
said preferred stock and said mortgage bonds. And the board of super-
visors for the said county of Charlotte are vested with full power to and
shall execute said bonds in the name of said county of Charlotte, and are
directed and empowered to lay such a levy upon the real and personal
property of the said county as may be necessary to provide for the pay-
ment of the interest and a sinking fund for the payment of the principal
of the bonds of said county, the limitations of the amount of taxation as
prescribed in section twelve hundred and forty-three, chapter fifty-one,
of the Code of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, to the contrary not-
withstanding.

2. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with or at variance with this
act are hereby repealed.

3. This act shall be in force from its passage.