SECT. 6. Said board of trustees shall make a semi-annual report to the governor and council of their doings during the six months next preceding, and of their receipts and expenditures, and shall make an annual report to the board of railroad commissioners in the manner and form and at the time prescribed for railroad corporations.
SECT. 7. Said trustees shall receive, in full compensation for their services as such, the sum of five thousand dollars each per annum, except the president of the board, who shall receive eight thousand dollars, which sums shall be charged to operating expenses. No trustee shall be appointed to any office in the employ of said board of trustees, except the president, but the general manager, when such officer shall be appointed, shall be ex officio a member of the said board.
SECT. 8. Said board of trustees is hereby authorized to re-locate, where necessary, the tracks of said Troy and Greenfield Railroad, taking land therefor in the method prescribed by law in case of land taken for depot or station purposes, and to complete, extend and improve the construction and equipment of said railroad and tunnel, and to prepare the same in all respects for the reception of the traffic of a through line.
SECT. 9. The sum of five million dollars is hereby appropriated, to be expended under the direction of said board of trustees in carrying out the provisions of this act, to be paid to them from time to time as the same may be required and called for, by a two-thirds vote of said board of trustees, on the warrant of the governor. And for the purpose of providing for said appropriation the treasurer of the Commonwealth is hereby authorized to issue scrip or certificates of debt in the name and on behalf of the Commonwealth to an amount not exceeding five million dollars, to be sold or disposed of in such manner, and at such times, and in such amounts, as the governor and council shall direct. Such scrip shall be redeemable in not less than twenty nor more than, forty years from the date thereof, shall bear interest not exceeding six per cent. per annum, payable semi-annually, and shall be known as the "Hoosac Tunnel Railroad Loan"; and the property of the Commonwealth in the Troy and Greenfield Railroad is hereby set apart and pledged to the redemption of said scrip.
SECT. 10. Said board of trustees is hereby authorized and directed to lease in perpetuity, or for such term of years as the governor and council may approve, the franchises and property, and thereafter to maintain, improve and, operate the railroad, with its branches, of the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad Company, on the terms following: twenty-five per cent. of the gross earnings of said leased railroad and property shall be reserved annually by said board of trustees as a specific fund out of which they shall pay to said company, first, a sum sufficient to pay the interest on the indebtedness of said company, at the date of said lease, as said interest becomes due, and, second, a yearly rental equal to ten per cent. on the present capital stock of said company, free of all taxes upon the stockholders or said company (and on any additional stock, when the same shall be issued for existing convertible bonds), or such a proportion of said rental, not exceeding said ten per cent. and said taxes as said reserved fund shall be sufficient to pay: provided, however, that in no year shall there be paid to said company a rental of less than four per cent. on said capital stock, and said taxes together with the amount of said interest; and to the payment of such minimum rental and interest said board of trustees is authorized to pledge the faith of the Commonwealth. Said board of trustees is also authorized to assume and make provision in said lease for the payment of the principal of said indebtedness. The surplus of said reserved fund shall be annually passed by said board of trustees to the account of earnings. When said lease shall have been executed, and while the same continues in force, said Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad Company may elect, from time to time, for a term not exceeding five years, one trustee, who shall be added to said board of trustees, and, upon being sworn to the faithful performance of his duties, shall become an incorporated member of the State Board of Trustees of the Hoosac Tunnel Railroad; and said company may fill vacancies for the remainder of the term.
SECT. 11. Said board of trustees is hereby authorized and directed to lease in perpetuity, or for such term of years as the governor and council may approve, the franchises and property, and thereafter to maintain, improve and operate the railroad, with its branches, of the Fitchburg Railroad Company, on the terms following: twenty-five per cent. of the gross earnings of said leased railroad and property shall be reserved annually by said board of trustees as a specific fund, out of which they shall pay to said company a yearly rental equal to ten per cent. on the present capital stock of said company, free of all taxes upon the stockholders or said company, and also on an additional capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars, which said company is hereby authorized to issue and hold for its own benefit, or such a proportion of said rental, not exceeding said ten per cent. and said taxes, as said reserved fund shall be sufficient to pay: provided, however, that in no year shall there be paid to said company a rental of less than eight per cent. on said capital stock and said taxes; and to the payment of such minimum rental, said board of trustees is authorized to pledge the faith of the Commonwealth. The surplus of said reserved fund shall be annually passed to the account of earnings. When said lease shall have been executed, and while the same continues in force, said Fitchburg Railroad Company may elect, from time to time, for a term not exceeding five years, one trustee, who shall be added to said board of trustees, and, upon being sworn to the faithful performance of his duties, shall become an incorporated member of the State Board of Trustees of the Hoosac Tunnel Railroad; and said company may fill vacancies for the remainder of the term.
SECT. 12. Said board of trustees is hereby authorized and directed to lease the franchises and property, and thereafter to maintain, improve and operate the railroad, with its branches, of the Troy and Boston Railroad Company, and shall pay therefor an annual rental equal to twenty-five per cent. of the gross earnings of said leased railroad and property. When said lease shall have been executed, and while the same continues in force, said Troy and Boston Railroad Company may elect, from time to time, for a term not exceeding five years, one trustee, who shall be added to said board of trustees, and upon being sworn to the faithful performance of his duties, shall become an incorporated member of the State Board of Trustees of the Hoosac Tunnel Railroad; and said company may fill vacancies for the remainder of the term.
SECT. 13. In estimating what shall constitute the said twenty-five per cent. of the gross earnings of said several leased railroads, out of which their rentals are to be paid, there shall be first deducted from twenty-five per cent. of their respective gross earnings, six per cent. per annum on all amounts expended by said board of trustees for the permanent improvement of said railroads respectively.
SECT. 14. Said Vermont and Massachusetts, Fitchburg, and Troy and Boston Railroad Companies are severally authorized to lease their franchises and property to said board of trustees.
SECT. 15. Said board of trustees is further authorized, with the approval of the governor and council, to lease or purchase necessary terminal facilities, and also to lease any railroad now built, or that hereafter may be built, lying in the tunnel route between Boston and Lake Ontario.