ALBERT C. RITCHIE, GOVERNOR. 377

tric light or power line or for any other purpose, except for
tracks for railroad or railway use, the terms, conditions and
rates of charges for such use, provided, however, that any such
contract for the use of said bridge for such purpose or purposes
shall in every case provide for adequate compensation to said
company, its successors and assigns. The rates of tolls and
charges so fixed shall be the legal rates, unless and until changed
by order of the Public Service Commission, as may be author
ized by Law.

SEC. 6. Be it further enact ed, that no person, partnership,
association or corporation, private or public, shall be authorized
to, and it shall be unlawful for any person, partnership, asso-
ciation or corporation, private or public, to construct or oper-
ate any bridge over the waters of the Chesapeake Bay at a
distance less than ten miles from the bridge to be erected in
pursuance of this Act, except such other bridge be erected
after the acquisition by the State of the bridge to be erected,
pursuant hereto, and with the consent of the General Assembly.

SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That a franchise tax is hereby
levied annually upon the gross receipts of said Company, its
successors and assigns, derived from the tolls and all other rev-
enues from the said bridge, such tax being as follows, to wit:
two and one-half per cent, of so much of such gross receipts
as shall be not in excess of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars
($500, 000) in any one year, and in addition thereto three and
one-half per cent of so much of such gross receipts as shall be
in excess of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500, 000) and
not in excess of One Million Dollars ($1, 000, 000) for such year,
and in addition thereto five and one-half per cent, of so much
of such gross receipts as shall be in excess of One Million Dol-
lars ($1, 000, 000); and that for the purpose of determining
said tax, said Company, its lessees, its successors and assigns,
and any purchaser thereof, shall make the appropriate reports,
and be subject to the appropriate penalties, provided in Sections
172 to 191, inclusive, of Article 81 of the Code of Public General
Laws of this State, and of said tax one-half of one per cent,
of such gross receipts, as above specified, shall be payable to
the Treasurer of the State, and the remainder thereof shall be
payable one-half to the Treasurer of Baltimore County and
one-half to the Treasurer of Kent County, and it shall be the
duty of the State Tax Commission, when it has ascertained and
fixed the amount of such tax, to certify to the Comptroller of
the Treasury, and to the Treasurer of Baltimore County and to
the Treasurer of Kent County, and to the said Chesapeake Bay
Bridge Company, the. amount of such tax due to the said State of