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629. Upon the election of the first board of directors of the corporation created by the agreement in the preceding sections mentioned, all and singular the rights and franchises of each and all of said two or more corporations, parties to such agreement, and all and singular the rights and interest in and to every species of property, real, personal, and mixed, and things in connection, shall be deemed to be. transferred to and vested in such new corporation without any other deed or transfer, and such new corporation shall hold and enjoy the same and all other rights of property vested in the said two or more corporations; Provided, That all the rights of creditors and all liens upon the property of either of said corporations shall be and hereby are preserved unimpaired; and the respective corporations shall continue to exist so far as may be necessary to enforce the same.

630. Any street railway company existing in pursuance of law in this state may, at any time, by means of subscription to the capital stock of any other company, or otherwise, aid such company in the construction of its road for the purpose of forming a connection with the line of road owned by such other company.

631. Any street railway company existing in pursuance of law in this state may lease or purchase any part or all of any other street railway constructed by any other company, or may purchase the capital stock of the same, or may sell and convey by deed or otherwise, or may lease to another street railway company, any part or all of its own railway and franchises upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon between the said companies respectively, and any two or more street railway companies, whose lines are so connected as to form continuous routes of travel, may perfect any arrangement for their common benefit to assist and promote the object for which they were created.

632. Any street railway existing in pursuance of law in this state shall have power and is hereby authorized to mortgage and execute deeds of trust upon its railway and property, in whole or in part, including its real and personal property and franchises, to secure money borrowed for the construction and equipment of their roads, and may also issue their corporate bonds in sums not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000), to make all of said mortgages or deeds of trust payable to bearer or otherwise, negotiable by delivery, bearing interest at rates not to exceed seven (7) per centum per annum, convertible into capital stock or not at the option of the holder, and may sell the same at such rates and prices as they may deem proper, and if said bonds shall be sold below their nominal par value they shall be valid and binding upon the company, the principal and interest of said bonds, or either of them, may be made payable within or without this state at such place as may be determined upon by said company.

633. The word "street railway," as used in the foregoing section, shall be construed to embrace all street railroads built and operated for the convenience of passengers along. the streets and alleys and public thoroughfares of cities in this The motive power by which the same may be operated shall be restricted to horse, mule, electric, or cable powers.

state.

Telegraphs and Telephones.

Secs. 634 to 646. "An act to prohibit extortion and discrimination in the transmission of telegraph dispatches." 1883, p. 321. In force July 1.

634. That all associations, whether the same shall have been or may hereafter be organized or incorporated under the laws of this state, or by and under authority of any other state or territory, or by authority of the United States, whose object and purpose is the transmission, collection, and distribution of dispatches by telegraph, shall be subject to the regulations and restrictions hereinafter prescribed by this act.

635. Every telegraph company and every press association or corporation engaged in the transmission, collection, distribution, or delivery of telegraphic dispatches, either for private use or for publication in newspapers, shall, within thirty days after this act goes into effect, file in the office of the secretary of state a statement, certified to under oath by its president and secretary or by two of its officers, embodying the following information, to-wit: The name of the association, amount of capital invested, character of its business, together with a true copy of its articles of incorporation or articles of copartnership, with regulations and by-laws then in force.

636. It shall be the duty of the secretary of state to issue a certificate to every association or corporation that has filed the statement required by the second section of this act upon payment of five ($5) dollars, which certificate shall convey authority to such association or corporation to conduct its business within this state, under the restrictions and penalties imposed herein.

637. Every telegraph company, press association, or corporation engaged in the transmission, collection, and delivery of telegraphic dispatches that shall refuse or fail to comply with the above provisions within the time herein prescribed, shall forfeit its right to carry on the collection, transmission, and delivery of dispatches for publication or for private use, and shall furthermore forfeit to the county where such business is carried on, for each and every day it so continues in violation of this act, the penal sum of one thousand (1,000) dollars, to be recovered in any court of competent jurisdiction, and it shall be the duty of district attorneys to prosecute such violations of this act at the expense of the respective counties wherein said act is violated.

638. All telegraph companies and associations operating telegraph lines in this state shall transmit and forward all dispatches directed to newspapers, or private individuals, or public officers, with impartiality, in the order in which they are received, and use due diligence in their delivery, without discrimination as to any person or party to whom they may be directed.

639. Every officer or employee of any telegraph company or association engaged in the transmission of dispatches who shall willfully delay the transmission or delivery of any dispatch, or divulge the contents of any dispatch entrusted to his or her care, to any person except the party entitled to receive the same, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by fine of not less than fifty ($50) nor more than one hundred ($100) dollars for each offense, or imprisonment of not less than thirty days nor more than three months in the county jail, at the discretion of the court.

640. It shall be unlawful for any telegraph company, its agents or operators, to demand, charge, or receive from any individual, association, or corporation a greater sum for the transmission and delivery of any telegram or message over a given distance than it demands, charges, or receives for the transmission and delivery of any telegram or message containing an equal number of words over a greater distance, providing that dispatches transmitted during the night and dispatches for publication in newspapers may be forwarded and delivered at reduced rates; such rates must, however, be uniform to all patrons for the same service.

641. [Favoritism.]-It shall be unlawful for any telegraph company, association, or organization engaged in the business of forwarding dispatches by telegraph, to demand, collect, or receive from any publisher or proprietor of a newspaper any greater sum for a given service than it demands, charges, or collects from the publisher or proprietor of any other newspaper for a like service, and the violation of the provisions of sections seven and eight of this act by any telegraph company or association shall constitute a misdemeanor, and upon conviction said telegraph

company or association shall be fined for each and every offense in any sum not less than one hundred ($100) dollars nor more than one thousand ($1,000) dollars, with costs of prosecution, and in addition thereto such telegraph company or association shall be liable for all damages sustained by the person or parties in consequence of such discrimination.

642. Every telegraph company and every press association engaged in the transmission, collection, distribution, or publication of dispatches shall afford the same and equal facilities to all publishers of newspapers, and furnish the dispatches collected by them for publication in any given locality to all newspapers there published on the same conditions as to payment and delivery.

643. Any press association, corporation, or organization violating the foregoing section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall, for each and every offense, be fined in any sum not less than one hundred ($100) nor more than one thousand ($1,000) dollars, and in addition thereto such association and the members therof shall be jointly and severally liable for all damages sustained by the owner of any newspaper in consequence of such discrimination. 644. If any telegraph company, association, or organization engaged in the transmission of telegraph dispatches from any place in this state, or the person having the control or management thereof, refuse to receive dispatches from any person, corporation, or any other telegraph company, or to transmit the same with fidelity and without unreasonable delay, it shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined for each and every offense in the sum of not less than fifty ($50) nor more than one hundred ($100) dollars, and in addition be liable for damages to the person or corporation sustaining a loss by reason of such refusal or failure to so transmit.

645. Any telegraph company engaged in the transmission of telegraphic dispatches is hereby declared to be liable for the non-delivery of dispatches entrusted to its care, and for all mistakes in transmitting messages made by any person in its employ, and for damages resulting from a failure to perform any other duty required by law, and any such telegraph company shall not be exempted from any such liability by reason of any clause, condition, or agreement contained in its printed blanks.

This requirement is reasonable and is binding on all companies doing business in the state, even if the message is to be sent out of the state. Kemp v. W. U. Tel. Co., 28, 667 (44 N. W., 1064). This section is constitutional. And the company cannot release themselves from liability by printed stipulation on the message blank requiring the message to be repeated. W. U. Tel. Co. v. Lowrey, 32, 732 (49 N. W., 707).

646. In all cases where application is made to any telegraph company, or the operator, agent, clerk, or servant thereof, to send a dispatch, it shall be the duty of such operator, agent, or clerk, who may receive dispatches at that station, plainly to inform the applicant, and if required by him to write upon the dispatch that the line is not in working order, or that the dispatches already on hand for transmission will occupy the line, so that the dispatch offered cannot be transmitted within the time required, if the facts be so; and for omitting so to do, or for intentionally giving false information to the applicant in relation to the time within which the dispatch offered may be sent, such operator, agent, or clerk, and the company by which he is employed, shall incur a like penalty as in section eleven of this act [644].

Secs. 647 and 648. "An act granting the right of way to telegraph or telephone companies along public highways, and providing for a penalty in case of malicious injury or interference with the same. 1887, p. 634. In force July 1.

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647. That any telegraph or telephone company incorporated or doing business in this state shall be and is hereby granted the right of way along any of the

public roads of the state for the erection of poles and wires; Provided, That poles shall be set at least six feet within the boundary line of said roadway and not placed so as to interfere with road crossings; Provided, That said wires shall be placed at the height of not less than twenty feet above all road crossings.

648. Any person or persons who shall break, injure, destroy, or otherwise interfere with the poles, wires, or fixtures of any telegraph or telephone company in this state shall be subject to action and penalty prescribed in section 98, chapter 13, Criminal Code [5682].

Telephone companies are public servants and must treat all alike. 17, 126 (22 N. W., 237).

Miscellaneous Corporations.

BRIDGE COMPANIES.

Secs. 649 to 656 formed secs. 29 to 36, ch. 25, R. S. 1866, p. 200.

Webster Telephone Case,

649. Whenever any number of persons, not less than five, associate themselves together for the purpose of constructing a bridge over any of the streams of water in this state, they shall, under their hands and seals, make a certificate, specifying the amount of capital stock necessary, the amount of each share, the place where such bridge is to be built, and on what stream; and said certificate shall be acknowledged, certified and forwarded to the secretary of state, and by him recorded and copied; and when so incorporated, they are hereby authorized to carry on the operations named in said certificate of incorporation, and by the name and style provided in such certificates shall be deemed a body corporate with succession, and they and their associates, successors, and assigns shall have the same general corporate powers and be subject to all restrictions hereafter provided; but in all cases the banks on both sides of the stream where the said bridge is to be erected shall be owned by said company, or they shall obtain in writing the consent of the owner or owners of the banks where the said bridge is to be erected to erect the said bridge as aforesaid, unless the said banks at such point shall be in a public highway.

Proposition to vote bonds containing provision for collecting tolls from persons crossing the bridge not void, especially after bonds negotiated. Fremont Building Ass'n v. Sherwin, 6, 52.

650. The corporators herein named shall open the books of said company for subscription to the capital stock of said bridge, and so soon thereafter as ten per cent of the capital shall be subscribed, they shall call a meeting of the persons who have subscribed stock as aforesaid, and shall then and there proceed to elect five directors, who shall be stockholders in said company, who shall hold their offices as such directors for one year from and after said election, and until their successors are elected and qualified, one of whom shall be president, one treasurer, and one secretary, to be named on the tickets when voted for by the stockholders as aforesaid; each stockholder shall be entitled to one vote for each and every share of stock he may own; and after the first election no stockholder shall be entitled to a greater number of votes than the number of shares he may have paid into the said company.

651. The treasurer of said company, before entering upon his duties of office, shall enter into a bond, with good and sufficient security, to be approved by said board of directors, payable to the said company, conditioned for the faithful performance of all and singular the duties of his said office, and that he will well and truly account for and pay over to the said company all moneys and property that shall, from time to time, come into his hands by virtue of his said office, and that he will use due and proper diligence to collect all moneys and demands that from time to time shall be due and owing to the said company, which it shall be his duty by law to collect.

652. The president shall preside at all meetings when present and not otherwise incapacitated, in which case, or in case of his absence, the board of directors shall choose a president from among their number, who shall perform the duties of the president at such meeting, and perform such duties as may from time to time be pointed out by the by-laws and rules of said company.

653. The secretary shall keep a record of all meetings of the board of directors and other proceedings of said company not required to be performed by any other officers of the said board of directors, and perform such other and further duties as may be assigned him from time to time by the rules and by-laws of the said company.

654. The said company shall have power, from time to time, at any regular meeting of the board of directors, to make, alter, and change such by-laws and rules for the government of the said company.

655. The company, previous to receiving any tolls upon said bridge, shall set up and keep in a conspicuous place a board on said bridge, on which shall be written, painted, or printed, in a plain and legible manner, the rates of toll, which rates of toll shall have been prescribed by the district court of the proper county; and if any company shall demand or receive any greater rates of toll than the rate prescribed by said court, they shall be subject to a fine of ten dollars for each offense. 656. The compensation of the president and other officers of such company shall be regulated and fixed by the rules and by-laws of such company from time to time.

Secs. 657 to 660. "An act to enable associations of persons to become bodies corporate for the purpose of acquiring and holding title to real estate, issuing and negotiating bonds thereon, and borrowing money for the use of the members of said corporation." 1891, p. 217. In force August 1.

657. That any number of persons, not exceeding twenty, may associate themsalves together and become a corporation as provided in chapter (16) of the Compiled Statutes of Nebraska for 1887, commencing at section (123) of said chapter, entitled Corporations [336], for the purpose of acquiring and holding real estate, issuing and negotiating bonds thereon and borrowing money for the use of the members of said corporation; Provided, That no person shall become a member of said corporation unless such person shall be the owner in his own right in fee simple of at least forty (40) acres of land situated in the county in which such corporation may be formed; Provided further, That the bonds so issued shall not bear a greater rate of interest than seven per cent per annum.

658. Each member of such corporation shall convey to said corporation by good and sufficient warranty deed clear of all incumbrance at least forty (40) acres of land situated in the county in which such corporation may be formed, and that the land so conveyed shall constitute the capital stock of said corporation.

659. That each member of said corporation in consideration of the land so conveyed by such member shall receive paid up shares of stock of said corporation to the value of the land so conveyed, and the value of such land shall be ascertained by the appraisement of disinterested appraisers, said appraisers to be appointed and the appraisement conducted in such manner as may be provided by the constitution and by-laws of such corporation.

660. Such corporation shall be empowered and authorized to levy, assess and collect from its respective members such sums of money as may be deemed necessary to pay the interest that may accrue on the bonds so issued and money so borrowed and to enforce the collection and payment of the same by such laws as they may adopt; Provided, That no person shall hold more than ten (10) shares in his own right, such shares not to exceed two hundred ($200) dollars each.

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