An Act Respecting the Nakusp and Slocan Railway
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
1894. RAILWAY, NAKTJSP AND SLOGAN. CLXAP. 43. CHAPTER 43. An Act respecting the Nakusp and Slocan Railway. [llih April, 189i.} 7HEREAS authority was conferred upon the Lieutenant-Governor Preamble. > in Council by the " Railway Aid Act, 1893," to give a guarantee of interest upon the bonds of (amongst other railways) the Nakusp and Slocan Railway Company, hereinafter called the " Company," to the extent, at the rate, and upon the conditions in said Act specified, and power was also conferred to arrange all details, and to enter into all agreements which might be necessary for cariying out the pro visions of the said Act: And whereas under and in pursuance of the authority conferred by the said Act, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council duly authorized the execution of the several agreements, copies whereof arc set out in the schedule hereto purporting to be executed by the Minister of Finance or the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, as the case may be, viz.:— (1.) Agreement dated the 9th day of August, 1893, between the Nakusp and Slocan Railway Company and the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works; (2.) Agreement dated the 29th day of August, 1893, between the Nakusp and Slocan Railway Company, the Bank of British Columbia, Messrs. WulfFsohn & Bewicke, Limited, and the Minister of Finance. And whereas pursuant to said agreements the Company has by instrument, dated the 16th day of August, 1893, duly assigned to the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works all benefit and advantage under the agreement with the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, as provided by the first clause of the said agreement of the 9th August, 1893 : 223 CHAP. 43. RAILWAY, NAKUSP AND SLOGAN. 57 VICT. And whereas the said railway is now in course of construction, under and by virtue of the said agreements: And whereas the Company has in further performance of said agreement deposited to the credit of the Government with the Bank of British Columbia the sum of one hundred and eighteen thousand four hundred dollars: And whereas it is advisable to confirm the said agreements, and to make due provision for carrying the same into effect: Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:— Short title. 1. This Act may be cited as the "Nakusp and Slocan Railway Aid Act, 1894." Confirms certain 2. The two agreements, dated respectively the 9th and the 29th agreements. days of August, 1893, recited in the preamble hereto, and copies whereof are set out in the Schedule to this Act, are hereby confirmed, ratified and validated for all intents and purposes whatsoever. Authorizes Lieut. - 3. It shall be lawful for the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, subject Governor to guaran tee certain bonds. to the provisions of this Act, to authorize the Minister of Finance to guarantee the payment of the bonds of the Company to a sum not exceeding the amount of seventeen thousand five hundred dollars ($17,500) per mile of railway, and of the interest thereupon at a rate not exceeding four per centum per annum, for a period not longer than twenty-five years from the date of issue. This Act to be read 4. This Act shall be read with and form part of the "Railway Aid with "Railway Aid Act, 1893." Act, 1893," which Act so far as it relates to the Nakusp and Slocan Railway Company, shall be construed as modified by this Act and by the agreements hereby confirmed. 224 1894. RAILWAY, NAKUSP AND SLOGAN. CHAP. 43. SCHEDULE. THIS LNDENTUBE mide on the ninth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three, between the Nakusp and Slocan Railway Company, hereinafter called " the Nakusp Company," of the first part, and the Honourable Forbes George Vernon, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works for the Province of British Columbia, acting on behalf of the Government of British Columbia, hereinafter called " the Commissioner,'' of the second part: Whereas, by the "Railway Aid Act of 1893," it is provided that the Government of British Columbia may guarantee interest upon the bonds of the Nakusp Company, not to exceed the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) per mile of railway constructed by the said Company : And whereas it is in contemplation by the Government of British Columbia to ask the authority of the Legislature, in lieu of guaranteeing the interest merely upon the bonds of the Nakusp Company, to guarantee both principal and interest upon seventeen thousand five hundred dollars ($ I 7,500.00) per mile, or, at the option of the Government, to advance the Company towards construction an amount equal to such last mentioned guarantee, bearing interest at four per centum (4%) per annum : And whereas it is necessary, in order that the said railway should be constructed at once, that the requisite means for raising the moneys for its construction should be taken and a guarantee given under the terms of the said Act, so as to raise the necessary money : And whereas an agreement has been concluded between the Nakusp Company and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, hereinafter called " the Pacific Company," by indenture dated the ninth day of August, 1893, whereunder, in accordance with the requirements of the " Railway Aid Act, 1893," the Pacific Company has undertaken to lease and to equip, maintain, and operate the said railway when completed for the term of twenty-five (25) years, paying to the Nakusp Company, as a rental therefor and as a consideration for the said agreement, an amount equal to forty per cent. (40%) of the gross earnings of the said Railway : Now THIS INDENTURE WITNESSETH that it is agreed between the Commissioner and the Nakusp Company as follows :— 1. The Nakusp Company shall forthwith assign to the Commissioner all benefit and advantage under the said agreement between the Nakusp Company and the Pacific Company, and shall obtain a satisfactory undertaking on the part of the Pacific Company that it will take over and operate the said projected Railway as soon as it is completed, according to the said agreement, and whether the title to the lands for right of way and station grounds has or has not been then acquired as intended, to the end that the operation of such Railway and payment of such rent under the said lease shall not be delayed for want of such title. 2. The Nakusp Company shall forthwith proceed with the construction of the said Railway in the manner provided in the said agreement between the Nakusp Company and the Pacific Company, and shall in all things complete the construction of the said Railway in running order as far as Slocan Lake, according to the said agreement, on or before the thirty- first day of December next. 3. The Nakusp Company shall forthwith issue bonds of the Company to the extent of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per mile of its railway, payable in twenty-five (25) years from the date thereof and bearing interest at four per cent. (4%) per annum, which bonds shall be endorsed by the Minister of Finance for the Province of British Columbia, with a guarantee of interest as provided by the "Railway Aid Act, 1893," and such bonds shall be, by the said Minister of Finance, deposited in escrow with the Bank of British Columbia, or some other chartered bank to be named by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council. 225 CHAP. 43. RAILWAY, NAKUSP AND SLOGAN". 57 VIOT. 4. The Government shall be at liberty to redeem the said bonds at any time before the termination of the next session of the Legislature by endorsing a new issue of bonds of the Company of the same date as the former bonds, redeemable in twenty-five (25) years from the date thereof (which bonds the Nakusp Company are hereby required to issue on demand), guaranteeing the principal sum of seventeen thousand five hundred dollars ($17,500) per mile of railway, and interest at a rate per annum sufficient to enable the Company to realize par, but in no case shall the said bonds bear a higher rate of interest than four per cent, per annum. 5. And whereas, under the " Railway Aid Act, 1893," the Nakusp Company may, as the work of construction proceeds, obtain payments on account in guaranteed bonds, and it is necessary, in view of the intended detention of the bonds of the Company in escrow, that arrangements should be made whereunder advances of money should be made to the Nakusp Company from time to time as the work progresses. 6. It is therefore hereby provided that the Nakusp Company shall arrange an overdraft with the said bank and that the said bonds shall stand as security against such overdraft, including the ordinary bank interest, in respect of all moneys drawn to the extent of the certificates of the Minister of Finance, to be given in manner hereinafter mentioned. 7. The work shall be under the direction of an Engineer to be appointed by the commis sioner, at a salary to be named by the commissioner, and paid by the Company, who shall issue certificates from time to time shewing the progress of the work and the value thereof, and upon such certificates, countersigned by the Minister of Finance, the Nakusp Company may draw ninety per cent. (90%) of the amounts named in such certificates. 8. Provided always that for the purpose of such certificates the value of the work shall be estimated upon the basis following, that is to say : (a.) From Nakusp to Slocan Lake, fourteen thousand three hundred and fifty dollars, ($14,350) per mile.