Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1875-02-04

of troops and every description Of sup
plies IN time Of var, and the shipment
Of coal for the use of the Navy, u .
harbor always of easy access &C Al go
sous of the year, and furnishing con-
venient and rapid route of comnnnica-
ton with the important military posts
at Old Point Comfort and the navy
yard at Norfolk, and shortening the
mail service many hours intime to those
points, and throughout the South and
Southwest; and also affording q line for
the cheap and rapid transportation Of
produce of the Great West to harbor
convenient for shipment to all the ports
OF the world, and of easy access from
the sea, and giving the city Of WASH
ingtop an important commercial line,
which viii necessarily give an immense
impulse to every description of business:
Therefore,
Be it enacted by the Senate and House
of Representative Of the United States
of America in Congress assembled, That
the Secretary of the Treasury be, and
he is hereby authorized and directed to
endorse the guarantee of the United
States upon the bonds of the Southern
Maryland Railroad Company to the
amount Of thirty thousand dollars there
of for every mile of said company sr1il-
road between the city of Washington,
in the District of Columbia, to the deep
waters of the harbor of st. Mary's nv.
er, near the confluence of the Potomac
river and the Chesapeake Bay, . total
distance not exceeding eighty miles; the
said bonds to be so endorsed and deliv-
cred to the said company, on the COM
pletion Of said road with single track
and necessary sidings ready for use
Provided, That the iron rails used for
the construction of said railroad shall
be not less than fifty-six pounds per
lineal yard in weight, and shall be of
the best American manufacture.
Section 2. That no such endorsement
shall be made until the said company
shall have made and executed and
duly recorded o deed of trust to the
satisfaction of the Secretary of the
Treasury upon all the said company's
railroad completed, as provided in the
first section of this act, and on all its
lands, lots, rolling stock, and real and
personal property of every description,
providing for the indemni6cation of the
United States against any loss by rea-
son of any such guarantee or endorse
ment.
Section 8. That the said road shall
be completed within two years from and
after the passage of this act, and in de-
fault thereof, this act shall be utterly
void and of non-effect, and the Secreta-
~ of the Treasury shall not endorse or
guarantee bonds of the said company,
as provided in the foregoing sections Of
this act.
Section 4. That in order to provide
means to meet the coupons on the bonds
guaranteed as aforesaid, as the same
shall become due and payable, the Sec
rotary of the Treasury is hereby au-
thorized and directed to retain all mo-
neys arising from the transportation of
mails, coal, troops, and supplies of eve-
~ description for the Government of
the ited, States, and to apply the
same % the payment of the sAid>eeu-
pons as the same may become due; and
in case the amount thus retained shall
not be sufficient to ray the said cou-
pons as thew IA, due, then the said
company shall deposit with tie Sccreta-
~ of the Treasury a sufficient amount
of the net earnings of the said railroad
to make up said deficiency.
Section 5. That the bonds aforesaid
shall be for one thousand dollars each,
and shall bear interest at the rate Of
five per centum per annum, payable
semi-annually, in gold coin of the Uni
ted States, on the first day of June and
first day of December of each and eve
~ year, and shall be redecmable thirty
years after the date of their issue, and
the form Of said bonds shall be pre-
scribed by the Secretary of the Treasu-
nv, the said interest to be payable semi
annually at the Treasury Department
of the United States.
Section 6. That for the purpose of
providing a sinking fund to liquidate
the said bonds at maturity, the surplus,
if any shall exist after paying the cou-
IONS, as provided in section four of
this act, shall be retained by the Secre-
tary of the Treasury, and be by him IN
vested in United States bonds, and the
interest thereon reinvested in like man.
ner for the purpose of creating said
sinking fund, and if the amount thus
retained shall not be annually sufficient,
in the judgment of the Secretary of the
Treasury, to create a sinking fund large
enough to pay said bonds at maturity,
then the said company shall deposit
with the Secretary Of the Treasury out
of the net earnings of said railroad an
amount that will be sufficient at the
expiration of thirty years to create
fund large enough to pay off the prin-
cipal of said bonds.
Section 2. That the said company
shall construct along its road q tele-
graphic line, which the Government of
the United States shall have the right
to use, upon such terms and conditions
as may be hereafter agreed upon be-
tween the proper officers of the, Gov
eminent of the United States and the
said company, and all the moneys aris-
ing out of the use of said telegraphic
line, under such agreement as may be
made, shall be applied as provided in
section four and six of this act.
Section 8. That for the purpose of en-
aiding the sad Southern Mary land Rail
road Company to complete its railroad
within two years, as provided in the
third section of this act, and to effect a
junction with the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad and the Baltimore and Poto-