Attendance
of subscribers
holding fifty
shares necessary,
&c.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

President, &c.
may agree
with the
owners, &c.
 

    VIII.  And be it enacted, That after the said first meeting of the subscribers at
Easton as aforesaid, the attendance of proprietors in person, or by proxy, having
fifty shares at the least, shall be necessary to constitute a general meeting of the
proprietors on the Wednesday after the second Tuesday of September in every
year, at such convenient town as shall be from time to time appointed by the said
general meeting, but if a sufficient number should not attend on that day, the
proprietors who do attend may adjourn the said meeting from day to day till a
general meeting of the proprietors shall be had, which may be continued from day
to day until the business of the company is finished, to which meeting the president
and directors shall make report, and render distinct and just accounts of all
their proceedings, and on finding them justly and fairly stated, the proprietors
then present, or a majority of them, shall give a certificate thereof, a duplicate
of which shall be entered on the said company's books; and at such yearly
general meetings, after leaving in the hands of the treasurer such sum as the
proprietors, or a majority of them, shall judge necessary for repairs and contingent
charges, an equal dividend of all the net profits arising from the tolls
hereby granted shall be ordered and made to and among all the proprietors of
the said company, in proportion to their general shares, and upon any emergency
in the interval between the said yearly meetings, the said president, or a majority
of the said directors, may appoint a general meeting of the proprietors of the 
said company, at any convenient town, giving at least one month's previous notice
in one of the Baltimore and Easton papers, which meeting may be adjourned
and continued as aforesaid.

    IX.  And, whereas it is necessary for the making the said canal, locks and
other works, that a provision should be made for condemning a quantity of land
for the purpose, Be it enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the said
president and directors, or a majority of them, to agree with the owners of any
land through which the said canal is intended to pass, for the purchase thereof,
and in case of disagreement, or in case the owner thereof shall be a feme-covert,
under age, non compos, or out of the state, on application to any two justices of
the peace for the county in which such land shall lie, the said justices shall issue
their warrant, under their hands, to the sheriff of their county, to summon a
jury of twenty-four inhabitants of his county, or property and reputation, not
valued at a day to be expressed in the warrant, not less than ten nor more than
twenty days thereafter; and the sheriff, upon receiving the said warrant, shall
forthwith summon the said jury, and when met, shall administer an oath, or
affirmation, to every juryman that shall appear, that he will faithfully, justly
and impartially, value the land, (not exceeding in any case the width of two
hundred feet,) and all damages the owner thereof shall sustain by cutting the
canal through such land, according to the best of his skill and judgment, and
that in such valuation he will not spare any person for favour or affection, nor
any person grieve for hatred, malice or ill will; and the inquisition thereupon
taken shall be signed by the sheriff, and some twelve or more of the jury, and
returned by the sheriff to the clerk of his county, to be by him recorded; and
upon every such valuation the jury is hereby directed to describe and ascertain the
bounds of the land by them valued, and their valuation shall be conclusive on
all persons, and shall be paid by such president and directors to the owner of
the land, or his legal representatives, and on payment thereof, the said company
shall be seized in fee of such land, as if conveyed by the owner to them, and
their successors, by legal conveyance; provided nevertheless, that if any further
damage shall arise to any proprietor of land in consequence of opening such
canal, or in erecting such works, than had been before considered and valued,
it shall and may be lawful for such proprietor, as often as any such new damage
shall happen, by application to, and warrant from, any two justices of the
county where the lands lie, to have further damage valued by a jury in