"Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Robbins, from the honourable the Assembly,
delivered to the council the bill entitled _An act for the relief of
John Lansing_, the bill entitled _An act for supplying the city of
New-York with pure and wholesome water_, and the bill entitled _An act
to amend the statute of limitation_, and the bill entitled _An act
making provision to keep in repair the bridge over Schoharie Creek, at
Fort Hunter, in the county of Montgomery_.
"The council proceeded to take the said bills into consideration, and
thereupon
"_Resolved_, That the bill entitled _An act for supplying the city of
New-York with pure and wholesome water_ be committed to the honourable
the Chief Justice; that the bill entitled _An act to amend the statute
of limitation_ be committed to the honourable the Chancellor."
"_At a meeting of the Council of Revision, held at the City Hall of
the City of Albany, on Tuesday, the 2d of April, 1799._
"PRESENT--His Excellency the Governor, the Honourable the Chancellor,
the Chief Justice, and Judge Benson.
"The honourable the Chief Justice, to whom was committed the bill
entitled _An act for supplying the city of New-York with pure and
wholesome water_, reported the following objections, to wit:
"_Because_ the bill creates a corporation, with a capital of two
millions of dollars, vested with the unusual power to divert its
surplus capital to the purchase of public or other stock, _or any
other moneyed transactions or operations not inconsistent with the
constitution and laws of this state or of the United States_, and
which surplus may be applied to the purposes of trade, or any other
purpose which the very comprehensive terms in which the clause is
conceived may warrant; this, in the opinion of the council as a novel
experiment, the result whereof as to its influence on the community
must be merely speculative and uncertain, peculiarly requires the
application of the policy which has heretofore uniformly obtained,
that the powers of corporations relative to their money operations
should be of limited instead of perpetual duration.
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