8 [68] 
but, if a sufficient number shall not attend on that day, the stockhold- 
ers who do attend, may adjourn from time to time, until the stock- 
holders holding tiic major part of the stock do attend, and the business 
of the company is finished; to which meeting the president and di- 
rectors shall make report, and render distinct accounts of all their 
proceedings; and, on finding t!)em fairly and justly stated, the stock- 
holders tlien present, or a maj(}' ity of them, shall give a certificate 
thereof, a duplicate of which shall be entered on the company's books; 
and at such yearly general meetings, after leaving in the hands of the 
treasurer such sums as the stockholders, or a majority of them, shall 
judge Jieccssary for repairs and contingent charges, an equal dividend 
of all the nett profits arising from the tolls hereby granted, shall be 
ordered and made to and among all the stockliolders of the said com- 
pany, in proportion~to their several shares, subject to the provisions and 
enactments hereinafter declared: and, upon any emergency in the in- 
terual h."tveen the said yearly meetings, the said president, or a majority 
of the^aid directors, may appoint a general meeting of the stockholders 
of the company, at any convenient tow n or place, giving at least one 
mouth's previous notice, in at least four of the newspapers in Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, which 
meeting may be adjourned and continued, as aforesaid. And, in case 
the stockholders, or a majority (»f them, in any general meeting afore- 
said, shall deem it expedient to order a semi-annual rather than a 
yearly dividend as aforesaid, then, in like manner, with like notice, 
a)id under like restrictions, there shall be a half-yearly or semi-annu- 
al dividend of nett profits declared and paid. 
Sec. 9. *ind he it enacted, That, for and in consideration of the ex- 
penses the said stockholders will be at, not only in cutting the said 
canal, erecting locks and dams, providing aqueducts, feeders, and 
other works; and in improving and keeping the same in repair, the 
said canal, and all other works aforesaid, or required to improve the 
navigation thereof, at any time hereafter, w ith all their profits, sub- 
ject to the limitations herein provided, and to none other, shall be, 
and the same are hereby, vested in the said stockholders, their heirs 
and assigns, forever, as tenants in common, in proportion to their re- 
spective shares, and be forever exempt from the payment of any tax, 
imposition, or assessment, whatsoever; and that it shall and may be 
lawful for the said president and directors, at all times, forever, here- 
after, to demand and receive, at such places as shall hereafter be ap- 
pointed by the president and directors aforesaid, tolls for the passage 
of vessels, boats, rafts, produce, and all other articles, at such rates 
as the said president and directors may hereafter allow* and establisbi 
according to the provisions of this act. 
Sec. 10, Jnd be it enacted. That, if the commissioners hereby re* 
quired to be appointed, shall die, resign, or refuse to act, the vacan- 
cy occasioned thereby shall be tilled by the same authority by which 
the original appointment was made; and the person or persons ap- 
pointed to fill such vacancy, shall have all the power and authoritf 
which was vested in the commissionei' whose place he or they shall 
