522

Right vestedin mayor, &c.

Proviso.

Dimensionsof canal: width,depth.

Basins:

At west end.

At easternbranch.

At Virginiaavenue.

Sides of canal tobe walled, &c.

Time for com-pletion.

Draining ofgrounds alongcanal.

Mayor, &c.authorized tocollect wharf-age.

TWENTY-SECOND CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 113. 1832.

and are now exclusive owners of all the stock of the Washington CanalCompany, and are desirous that the entire property, rights, privileges,and immunities of the said company, be vested in them for the use andbenefit of the said city: Therefore

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the UnitedStates of America, in Congress assembled, That all the right, title, inte-rest, property, and estate, either in law or equity, of the Washington Ca-nal Company be, and the same are hereby, vested in the said mayor, aider-men, and common council, for the use aforesaid; and that the said mayor,aldermen, and common councilmen, shall have full power and authority totake possession of the canal and works of the said company, and tohold, use, occupy, and repair the same, from time to time, as occasionmay require, and as to them shall seem expedient: Provided, That thesaid canal shall be finished and completed, of the breadth and depth, andin the manner, and within the time hereinafter prescribed, and not other-wise.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said canal shall be finishedin such manner that the width thereof, from Seventeenth street west toSixth street west, at the water line, shall be one hundred and fifty feet;from Sixth street west to B street south, eighty feet, at the water line;from B street south to the basin at the Virginia avenue, sixty feet, at thewater line; from said basin to L street south, forty-five feet, at the waterline; from L street south to N street south, forty feet, at the water line;and from L street south to the channel of the eastern branch, one hun-dred and twenty feet, at the water line; and the said canal, throughoutits whole length and breadth aforesaid, shall have a depth of at least fourfeet water at all times. There shall also be made by the said mayor,aldermen, and common councilmen, three basins attached to the saidcanal, which shall be by them kept in repair, of the following dimensions,that is to say: one at the western termination of the said canal, at leastone hundred and fifty feet wide, and five thousand five hundred and forty-five feet long; one at the Eastern branch, at the eastern termination ofthe said canal, of at least one hundred and twenty feet in width and sixhundred and ninety feet in length; and one at the Virginia avenue, ofat least eighty feet in width, and one hundred feet in length; eachof which basins shall, at all times, have, throughout its length andwidth, a depth of water equal to that hereby required in the said canal.And the sides of the said canal and basins shall be secured by walls ofstone or other materials, where necessary, of sufficient strength and heightto allow the use of steam vessels therein; all which work hereby requiredto be done to complete the said canal and basins, shall be done andfinished in the manner aforesaid by the first day of March, in the year onethousand eight hundred and thirty-three, or in default thereof, this act,and all the rights and privileges thereby granted, shall cease and determine.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That all such provisions in anyformer law, as required the Washington Canal Company to raise, drain,or improve the low or wet grounds along or near the said canal, shall re-main in full force, and be obligatory on the said mayor, aldermen, andcommon council: Provided, That no funds for that purpose shall beraised by lottery.

Sec. 4. And be it-further enacted, That for and in consideration ofthe expenses which have been, and will be, incurred in finishing thesaid canal and basins, and of securing the sides thereof, and of the ex-penses of erecting and maintaining locks, and of completing the wholework according to the provisions of this act, and of keeping the same inrepair, including the expense of draining, or otherwise improving or dry-ing the low and wet grounds along and near the said canal, the said mayor,aldermen, and common council, are hereby authorized to collect,on all articles and materials landed on each side of the canal and basins,