'Sec. 3. The said commissioners authorized by this act may, in their discretion, dispose of such bonds, or any part thereof, to such persons or corporations and upon such terms as they shall deem most advantageous for their said township, but not for less than par; and the money that shall be raised by any loan or sale of bonds shall be invested in the stock of said railroad company for the purpose of building the aforesaid railroad, and said money shall be applied and used in the construction of said railroad, its buildings, equipment, and necessary appurtenances, and for no other purpose. The commissioners respectively, in the corporate name of each of their said townships, shall subscribe for and purchase stock in said railroad company to the amount they may have severally borrowed as aforesaid; and by virtue of such subscription or purchase of stock, upon receiving certificates for the amount of said stock so subscribed for or purchased by them, the said townships shall acquire all the rights and privileges respectively of other stockholders of said company, and it shall be lawful for the commissioners provided for in this act, or either of them with the consent of the others, or a majority of the said commissioners, to participate in and to act in all the regular and legally authorized meetings of the stockholders, and either of them may act as director of said company, if he shall be duly elected as such.'
By section 4, the commissioners were directed to report annually to the township committee the amount required for the next year to pay the interest or principal of the bonds, and to apply in payment thereof the dividends on the stock subscribed or purchased for the township; and any deficiency was to be assessed and levied upon the landed property of the township, like other taxes. By section 5, the railroad company might agree with the commissioners, 'in behalf of their respective townships,' to pay the interest accruing 'on the bonds issued by such townships,' for three years, or until the railroad should be completed and earning sufficient to pay dividends equal to the interest. By section 6, the commissioners might, after acquiring stock, exchange it for bonds issued, and cancel the bonds so received; or they might, with such consent as mentioned in section 2, sell the stock for cash at public sale, and apply the proceeds to the purchase or redemption of the bonds. And by section 7, at the end of 25 years, the sum due for principal and interest on the bonds, as reported by the commissioners, was to be assessed and levied on the landed property. By section 9, the commissioners were required, before entering upon the discharge of their duties, to give bond to the township, with sureties approved by the township committee or by the judge of the county court. By section 11, their pay and disbursements were to be 'audited and paid by the township committee, the same as other township expenses.' By section 12, the commissioners in each township were to 'constitute a board to act for their said townships respectively.' And by section 14, all bonds issued were required to be registered in the office of the county clerk, and the words 'registered in the county clerk's office' be printed or written across the face of each bond, attested by the signature of the county clerk, 'and no bond shall be valid unless so registered.'
Commissioners for the township of Bernards, in the county of Somerset, were appointed, and gave bond to the township according to sections 1 and 9. On the seventeenth of December, 1868, they filed in the county clerk's office the written consent of a number of tax-payers, not being a majority of all the tax-payers in the township, but being a majority in number and value of the owners of real estate therein; with an affidavit of one of the commissioners to the signatures; and an affidavit of the assessor that the signers were a majority of the tax-payers of the township and represented a majority of the real property of the township, and also that they were a majority of the tax-payers of the township appearing upon its assessment roll for 1867, or their legal representatives, and represented a majority of the landed property of the township appearing upon that assessment roll.