Chap. 557.—An ACT to incorporate and enlarge the powers of the Richmond
passenger and power company.

Approved March 2, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the
company incorporated under the act of March the twentieth, cighteen
hundred and sixty, entitled an act to authorize the common
council of Richmond to authorize persons to construct railroads
in the streets of said city, and the contract made by the common
council of said city with the said company, and known as the Richmond
passenger and power company, is hereby recognized as, and declared
to be, a body politic, duly and properly organized and governed by the
provisions of chapters forty-six, forty-seven, and fifty-one of the
code of Virginia, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, in so far as the
same are applicable to such corporations and not inconsistent with this
act and the said act of March twentieth, eighteen hundred and sixty,
and the contract right of the said Richmond passenger and power
company arising under the franchise already granted the said company
by the city of Richmond by ordinance approved December twenty-third,
eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, in so far as the same have become
or may become operative are hereby expressly recognized and ratified,
and the powers and duties of the said company are hereby enlarged as
follows—to wit:

2. The said company may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded
in all courts of law and equity in this state, and may have, make, and
use a common seal, and the same break, alter, and renew or change at
its pleasure, and may make, ordain, establish, alter, or amend such
by-laws, ordinances, and regulations concerning all the matter of or-
ganization and business not herein specifically provided for as it may
think proper, and generally may do every act and thing necessary to
carry this act into effect or to promote the objects and designs of this
corporation: provided, that such by-laws, ordinances, and regulations
or acts be not inconsistent with the laws of this state or of the United
States.

3. The said company shall be, and is hereby, empowered to promote,
establish, and maintain the business of a general railway and electric
company, and to erect, establish, maintain, and operate, and purchase
or sell a plant or plants in the cities of Richmond and Manchester, and
the counties of Henrico and Chesterfield, for the generation of elec-
tricity and the supply of electric current for its own use and for sale
to persons, natural or artificial, desiring to use the same for light, heat,
or power, or for any and all other uses to which the electric current is
now or may be at any time hereafter applied or applicable; and may
manufacture, use, and sell, distribute, and furnish the same for all
said purposes to any and all persons, parties, and corporations desiring
to use the same, upon such terms as may be agreed upon between the
contracting parties, and to purchase, manufacture, and sell all apparatus
and appliances used in connection therewith. It may build, purchase,
rent, or otherwise acquire and maintain, and operate in the streets,
alleys, avenues, public highways of the cities and counties aforesaid,
subject only to the consent or authorization thereof by the councils of
the said cities, and the judges of the county courts, and the boards of
supervisors of the said counties, who are hereby vested with the power
so to do, within and through which said poles, wires, subways, under-
ground conduits, and submarine cables, and other electrical conductors
may be constructed, such or any line or lines of poles and wires and of
underground conduits or subways, and submarine cables, or other con-
ductors or conduits, for the carriage or support of electric wires, with
the necessary fixtures, stations, terminals, or other facilities connected
therewith, as may be necessary and suitable for the proper, free, and
convenient carrying on of the business of the company; and the same
may sell, lease, and otherwise dispose of, as the company may deem
best, and may take and acquire by purchase, lease, or condemnation
according to law, and may hold such real estate not exceeding the
amount hereinafter limited and provided for as may be found neces-
sary and convenient for the establishment, erection, and maintenance
of such lines or poles and wires, and underground conduits and subways,
and submarine cables, together with the necessary fixtures, stations,
terminals, or other facilities, and for any other of the purposes and
uses of the said company; the mode of condemning such real estate
being the same, and the same powers being hereby given to the officials
and courts of this state, in such condemnation as are provided by the
laws of Virginia for the condemnation of lands by companies incor-
porated for works of internal improvement; but the power to condemn
ig hereby limited to the acquisition of lands necessary for construction
for the conveying of electricity to any corporate limits, but no power is
hereby given to condemn land in any city. The company may utilize
for its purposes steam and water power, and any other available power,
and may purchase, erect, maintain, and operate, lease, sell, and other-
wise dispose of all the buildings, structures, factories, machine shops,
and machinery that may be necessary, convenient, and suitable for the
general business of the company.

4. The said company may, in addition to the franchises granted to
it by the city of Richmond construct, own, maintain, and operate street
railways in the city of Manchester, and the counties of Henrico and
Chesterfield, and may purchase any now, or which may hereafter be,
in operation in and through the streets and highways of the cities and
counties aforesaid, and in and through said counties, to be operated bv
electricity or cable, and may take reasonable tolls for transportation
of persons or property: provided, however, that the ‘councils of said
cities, and the judges of the county courts of said counties,
respectively, and the board of supervisors thereof, who are hereby
vested with the authority so to do, shall first consent to the location 0:
the said railways on the streets and highways, and through the country}
within their respective limits or jurisdiction, and all lines of railway
built by the said company or owned and operated by it, shall be at al
times subject to all restrictions and limitations of whatever nature
which may now or shall hereafter be imposed, respectively, by the coun.
cils of the said cities or by the judges of the county courts and boards
of supervisors of said counties, as to so much of said railways as may be
within the limits or jurisdiction of said cities and counties, respectively.
Whenever any part of a railway constructed, owned, purchased, leased,
or operated under this act shall hereafter be brought within the limits
of the cities of Richmond or Manchester by extension of the corporate
limits, it shall then be subject to the limitations and conditions to which
the connection portion of its line in such city may be then subjected.
And the said company may construct, maintain, and operate its railways
over bridges already, or which may hereafter be, constructed across
the James river, subject to all reasonable limitations and agreements
which may be imposed by the persons or corporations owning or con-
trolling the same, or in the case of the free bridge between Richmond
and Manchester, by the commissioners of the James river bridge.

5. The capital stock of the said company shall not be less than
twenty thousand dollars nor more than three million dollars, to be
divided into shares of one hundred dollars each, and the same may be
issued as common or preferred stock, or part thereof common and part
preferred, as the directors may determine. Subscription to the capital
stock may from time to time be taken and received by the directors
of the said company in such amounts as they may determine, and
without public notice. Subscriptions to the said stock may be payable
in money, land, labor, services, materials, rights, or other property, or
in the capital stock of other corporations of a like character, upon such
terms and conditions as may be agreed upon between the said company
and the subscribers. The said company may acquire by lease, purchase,
subscription to its capital stock, or otherwise, and use and operate the
works, property, franchises, rights, privileges and immunities of any
other electric railway company or companies or of any company or com-
panies incorporated for the purpose of manufacturing or furnishing
electricity to the public, or having the power to do so, and the said
company may unite and consolidate with such other company or com-
panies upon such terms as may be agreed upon between them, and power
is hereby conferred on such other company or companies to transfer
by sale or lease their works, property, franchises, rights, privileges
and immunities to the company hereby incorporated or to unite and
consolidate with it upon such terms as may be agreed upon between
them.

6. The amount of real estate to be owned and held by said com-
pany, exclusive of its road beds and other rights of way, shall not exceed
en acres in each of the cities aforesaid, nor one thousand acres in
ach of the said counties.

7. The principal office of the said company shall be in the city of
2ichmond.

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8. The said company may dispose of the whole or any part of its
property, however acquired, by sale, lease, or otherwise; it may borrow
inoney, and may issue bonds, either registered or coupon, for the same,
and may secure the payment of the principal and interest of said bonds
by mortgage or deeds of trust upon the whole or any part of its property,
works, privileges, rights, and franchises, including its franchises to
be a corporation.

9. The said company shall pay all taxes due to the state of Virginia,
or to any county or city thereof, in lawful money of the United States
and not in coupons.

10. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby
repealed.

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