San Andreas independent., 1856-12-06
Wagon Road Act.

Necaaa Mountdans. Approved April e8, 1855.
1.-THE People of the State of California, repre-
sented in Senate and Assembly, do enac; as fol-
lows
Section |. The Surveyor General of the State
shall cause to be surveyed Good Wagon Road
over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, at an ex-
pense not to exceed FIVE thousand dollars, and
no further liability shall be incurred for this
purpose The Governor the Secretary of State
and the Surveyor-General shall constitute a
Board OF Commissioners, and they are hereby
authorized to contract for the making of said
road, either as a whole or in sections, under
the provisions and restrictions of this Act The
Commissioners shall advertise for at least
twenty days in the newspapers of the county or
counties through which the road passes, and also
in one daily paper in Sacramento and one in
San Francisco, for sealed proposals for the per-
formance of the work to be done in improving
said road and shall, after opening said propo-
sails let the work by contract, to the lowest and
most responsible bidder or bidders provided
that the accepted bidder or bidders shall give
bonds in double the amount of their contracts,
with two or more sureties, to be approved by
the Commissioners, and conditioned for the
faithful performance of such contracts. The
western termination of said road shall be at
the western foot of the steep slope of the Sierra
Nevada Mountains; and nothing herein con-
tanned shall be so construed as to authorize
the expenditure of any money on account of
the State, in improving any road in the Sacra-
mento Valley, or in the western foothills of the
Sierra Nevada, which is now usually travelled
with ordinary ease and safety with loaded
wagons. The right of way for said road is
hereby granted through any lands the property
of this State, and in cases where said road shall
necessarily pass through enclosed lands and val
liable improvements to the property of private
persons, which enclosures and Improvements
have been made in good faith, previous to the
flrst day OF February, eighteen hundred and
fifty-five, the actual damage thereby occasoned
shall be ascertained and assessed in the man.
ner by law prescribed in cases of county roads
and cart-roads through private property; and
when it shall be made to appear to the salts
faction of the Commissioners that such assess
ments have been lawfully made, they shall issue
certificate for the payment of the same, in
the manner provided for in section two Of this
Act.
Section 2. For the purpose of paying the
contractors for the work aforesaid it is hereby
made the duty of the Treasurer of the State to
cause to be issued Bonds of the State, not to
exceed one hundred thousand dollars in all, of
the denomination of FIVE hundred dollars"
payable ten years after date, and bearing an
annual interest of seven per cent payable semi
annually which bonds shall be signed by the
Governor, and countersigned by the Controller,
and endorsed by the Treasurer of State, and
shall have the same force and validity as the
bonds issued under " An Act to fund the Indebt-
edness of the State passed April twenty
ninth, eighteen hundred and ffty-one. They
shall be made payable in the city of New York;
but the interest may be made payable in the
city of New York, or at the Office of the State
Treasurer.
Section 3. The payments on the said con-
tract or contracts shall be made monthly; and
for the purpose of ascertaining the amount due
at the end of each month, it is herein made the
duty of the said Commissioners to ascertain
and certify the same to the Controller of the
State, who shall thereafter issue his warrants
on the Treasurer of the State, in the sum or
sums certified payable out of the bonds herein
provided for; proUided that the sum so paid
shall not exceed seventy-fye per cent, on the
amount of work performed, as certified by said
Commissioners, until the completion of said
contracts.
/ Section 4. The Commissioners, or either of
them, acting under by virtue of this Act
shall not either directly or indirectly, be in any
manner interested in any contract Or underta-
king, either for supplies, materials or otherwise
in the construction of the road herein contem-
plated. Any violation of this section shall be
misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof,
before any competent tribunal, said Commits
sioners, or either of them shall be fined in any
sum not less than five thousand dollars.
Section 5. The said road shall be "Free
Public Wagon Road" and made in such man.
ner as to allow the free and convenient passage
of wagons and other vehicles and for the pur-
pose OF constructing such road the said Com
missioners are hereby empowered to appropri-
ate and set apart as much territory on either
side thereof as may be absolutely necessary
proDided, no private property shall be taken
without just compensation therefor.
Section 6. Any two of the Commissioners
appointed under this Act are hereby author
lied to make contracts and do all acts and
things herein contemplated to be done and the
same shall be as ehectual and valid as if made
by all such Commissioners
| Section I. Said Commissioners are hereby
authorized to expend a sum not to exceed one
hundred thousand dollars, and they are hereby
required to keep minute account of all expen-
ditures connected with the construction of said
road, and to report the same to the next Legis-
/ latufe, and they also shall be held to show the
/ disposition of all bonds issued under the pro-
visions of this Act. The said Commissioners
are required to locate said road at the earliest
practicable day, following lin their judgment)
the most practical and economical route, and if
possible, to have said road so far completed as
to make it beneficial to the emigration of the
present year proUidea, any expenditure made,
or contract entered into, by the Commissioners,
1 beyond the one hundred thousand dollars, shall
be null and void as against the State, and the
Commissioners shall be jointly and severally
| liable to the same prosecution and penalties for
violation of the provisions of this section, as
is provided in section four of this Act.
| Section s. All liabilities authorized and in
Cured under, and by virtue of the provisions
of this Act, shall be paid out of the appropria-
1 ton made by this Act.
6peeial Notiees.