To the Honorable, the Legislature of the State of Michigan :

The undersigned citizens of said state desire respectfully to make and submit for the consideration of your honorable body, a proposition to lease of said state for a term of thirty years the Central Railroad, with its appurtenances &c. And for that purpose the undersigned do hereby propose and agree to lease of the said state the said Central Railroad, together with all and singular its fixtures, appurtenances, locomotives, cars, tools and every thing else thereunto belonging, or in any wise appertaining for the term of thirty years, upon the following terms and conditions, viz:

1st. The undersigned will pay said state for the use of said road, fixtures, appurtenances, locomotives, cars, tools and other things thereunto belonging, the interest on the cost of the same, at the rate of six per cent. per annum; the same to be paid weekly, monthly or quarterly, as your honorable body may determine.

2nd. The undersigned will obligate themselves to construct and complete said road from the village of Kalamazoo to the St. Joseph river, opposite the village of St. Joseph, or to the state of Indiana, within five years: provided, a grant from the said state of Michigan can be obtained for the construction of the same, on the most eligible route from the said village of Kalamazoo.

3rd. The undersigned will also obligate themselves to relinquish said road at the expiration of said time, and surrender possession thereof to the said state of Michigan with a T rail thereon in good order, together with all the fixtures, appurtenances, locomotives, cars, tools and other things thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining.

4th. The undersigned will also further obligate themselves to reduce the present rates of toll for freight on said road, at the rate of five per cent per year for the first ten years; and at the expiration of ten years, to reduce the present rates of toll on passengers, ten per

cent.

5th. The State, in consideration of the further construction and completion of said road, shall convey to the undersigned or their heirs or assigns, all the unsold internal improvement lands which has been already located under the grant of the United States, and one-half of said lands yet to be located by said state, under and by virtue of said grant; said lands to be so conveyed by the state in proportion as the work of the further construction of said road progresses.

6th. The undersigned will further obligate themselves to give security to the state to keep the road in good running order and condition at all times, and that said road or any part thereof shall not become dilapidated so that the interests of the state shall suffer in consequence of said lease.

1

JARVIS HURD,
C. T. GORHAM,
JOHNSON NILES,
A. L. HAYS,
JOHN F. HAMLIN,
B. HUMPHREY.

Detroit, March 11, 1846.

1846.

No. 21,

Report of the Select Committee in reference to the State mortgage on the Detroit and Pontiac Railroad.

The select committee, to whom it was referred, "to inquire into and report upon the situation of the mortgage upon the Detroit and Pontiac Railroad, the probability of the same being good and valid in the hands of the state, and whether the interests of the state require any action with regard to said mortgage, and that said committee have leave to report by bill or otherwise," have had the same under consideration, and beg leave to submit the following report, accompanied by bills:

REPORT.

In pursuance of the duties assigned us, your committee first went about examining the various statutes relative to the subject, which were found to be very numerous, numbering in all nine separate statutory enactments, including the first act of incorporation, approved March 7, 1834.

To relieve ourselves from legal doubts and embarrassment, and that all branches of the government might act in concert, and with the same ends in view, your committee submitted the substance of their instructions to the attorney general for his opinion, and had the honor to receive for answer the following:

Hon. SAMUEL DENTON, Chairman Select Committee, &c. : SIR-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the following resolution:

"Resolved, That the Attorney General be requested to communicate to this committee his opinion as to the validity of the mortgage on the Detroit and Pontiac Railroad, held by the state; and also, his opinion as to the necessity of any further legislation to secure the rights of the state under said mortgage."