230 FORTIETH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 260. 1868L C<>¤~p¤¤y ¤¤¤y Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That to insure the construction of
- "“° b°“d“* the above-mentioned vessels within the time and in the manner hereinbgfore provided, and the maintenance of the said line, the said Commercial
Navigation Company may issue bonds to such an amount that the entire lamount, lend annual interest thereon shall notbexceeéi the sim of tvilo hundred endffigy W W P“Y°· °¥ thousand dollars such bonds to e ma e paya e at the expiration o s, g beforemamed tifieen years, and the interest thereof to be made payable principal and serniannually, the principal and interest of such bones to be made payable i¤**°'9S‘P"-Y“b1° in coin of the United States. That for the protection of the holders of mtg(§§,Y€g;s,,,,0d such bonds they shall be severally registered at the Post-Ofhce Departat Pos:-Ornce ment, and certified by the chief clerk of the Department, without liability D°P*“'““°“· for the payment of the interest or principal of said bonds upon the part of the Post-Office Department only in manner as hereinafter provided. G Postmaster-I And the Postmaste:~General shall receive lallil moneys {or postage efarned °“°*`*‘ *° "PP>’ by the steamships of said company, and s appy the same as ar as ggggiuétingg needed to the payment of the semiannual interest upon- the before-named Ny U18 ¤¤¤¤f¤S¤ bonds, and shall retain the surplus after paying such interest, and shall ggglfalgigzst-or invest the same quarterly in the securities of the United States to form n. sinking fund. sinking fund, t0}>e held solely for the benefit of the bondholders, and to be applied to the payment of the principal of such bonds. And whenever, Wh<=¤ Si¤l<iP8 and as soon as such sinking fund shall equal in amount the entire princi- £?:fl°?;*Q;;f{*“' pal of said bonds, then from that time forward the interest of said bonds how io bepaicl, shall be paid out of the income of such sinking fund, and the principal ’·“°l P°***‘f¥°* thereof out of the same fund at their maturit . And all ostave earned how a l10d• . . y p ° pp after the time when said sinking fund shall be made up to the amount aforesaid shall belong to and be paid quarterly to the said company by the Postmaster-General of the United States. S¤¤¤m=hiD¤» Sec. 5. And be it rther enacted That the aforesaid mail steamshi s h t b m 1 · · · P lslxdgdjg;shall be commanded and officereel only by citizens of the United States, armament; shall mount an armament, 1f' required, of two guns each, and shall have at apprentices; least one apprentice to be instructed in engineering, seamanship, and navigation, for every two hundred tons of registered tonnage for each steammay be mkw ship; and the government of the United States shall have the power to by ¤l¤<> U¤i§°<l take and use the aforesaid mail steaxnships as transports or for ships of
war whenever, in the opinion of the President, the exigencies of the
gency requires; United States may require them, who is authorized, in such an event, to pnymentthere- take said mail steamers and pay said company a just and equitable sum f°" for their use, or purchase the same, as may be deemed most for the interest of the United States; said payment, whether for purchase or use, to be made to the Postmaster-General, who shall payto said navigation company whatever balance be due them, after deducting sufficient for payment for all the before-named registered bonds, the amount of which in this event shall be paid to the holders thereof at maturity of the same. Fmign mm Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the foreign mail agents of the agents of the government of the United States shall have free passage on the ships §‘::g"a_';’:’“;:° of the said Commercial Navigation Company whenever the Postmaster- P `_ General to such foreivn mail avents issues asses certif in to the said sage. _ ¤ _ z> P Y g com an that such is their officxal character. P Y . . . . Qompuny to Sec. 7. And be u further enacted, That the said navigation company m};:’t'i;Q:;:‘;’:" shall keep up and maintain for a period of twenty years, for the said yea,-S_ y United States mail service, at least the said number of seven first-class rlvi egcs, ·c. l nc. . n e z ur er emma , a the rig an privi e¤·es v 1 e Smgmsmgst A d b ’¢ f th J Th t n ‘ nts d " `l gg'2;fu2f:rf§(§ 2 herewith granted shall be and remain to this company, and in no event assigned. shall this company transfer or assign the rights and privileges herein granted, nor shall it be lawful for any 0{Hcer of the government hereafter Intent of net. to recognize any assignment or transfer, it being the intent and meaning of this act to secure an American line of of steam-vessels for the trans
