Section 13
SEC. 13. The grantee shall enjoy the following powers, privileges and exemptions: (a) To occupy any part of the public domain, not occupied for other public purposes, which may be necessary for the purposes of the enjoyment of this franchise and may be approved by the Consulting Engineer. The land to be taken under this power shall be acquired by the company in the following manner: The company shall file a petition describing the land which it desires to acquire from the public domain, showing that the, same belongs to the public domain, is not in use for any other public purpose, and is property necessary for the enjoyment of the franchise to construct and maintain the railroad herein described, and praying that the same may be conveyed to it for list's and purposes of the enjoyment of said franchise. The petition shall be accompanied by a plat and survey of the land described in the petition. The Consulting Engineer, after an examination of the petition and the plat and the taking of evidence if necessary, shall approve the same, if he finds the land petitioned for to be necessary and proper for the enjoyment of the franchise herein granted. The Consulting Engineer shall then forward the petition, with his approval, to the Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands, who shall, upon due investigation, determine whether the land sought is public land, and is not in use for any other public purpose, and shall certify the same to the Civil Governor, who, being satisfied of the propriety and legality of granting the petition, shall execute a patent to the railway company for the land described in the petition and plat. The patent shall be recorded in the office of the Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands and thereafter delivered to the grantee company. The patent shall operate to convey the land described therein to the grantee company fur the uses of the franchise herein granted, but shall contain a clause providing for a reverter of the land to the Insular Government whenever it shall have ceased to be used for the purposes of the franchise. (b) To acquire from provincial governments, municipalities, corporations, or private individuals, by contract or expropriation, land which may be necessary for the construction, maintenance and operation of the railroad, but no lands within the boundaries of any province or town shall be occupied by the grantee if the same is in actual use for provincial or municipal purposes, nor shall any land within the boundary of any town be occupied without the consent of the municipal authorities of such town. No part of a public road shall be occupied by the railroad without the consent of both the low and the provincial authorities, except such part as may he necessary in the crossing of the road by the railroad. The character of the crossing of any road shall be agreed upon by the provincial board of the province and the agents of the grantee company. In case of a difference the question shall be referred to the Consulting Engineer, whose decision shall be final. (c) To appear, to petition, to indicate, continue or discontinue at any stage all proceedings in or out of court; to sue and be sued; and to appoint or separate freely such employees and agents as the business of the corporation shall require, and to allow them a suitable compensation. (d) To acquire for the purposes of the railroad by purchase, voluntary grant, or by any other lawful title, the ownership or possession of lands and other real and personal property, as well as any estate, right, interest or easement therein, and to take, hold, lease, exchange, mortgage, pledge, sell or dispose of the same or any part thereof in conformity with the law. (e) To construct, alter, substitute, maintain and operate the railway conceded, make or construct all buildings, stations, shops, planes, tunnels, embankments, aqueducts, bridges, or other structures, wharves, roads, ways, passages, conduits, drains, piers, arches, cuttings and fences on lands acquired, or on which the necessary right has been obtained, and to cross any railway, tramway, river, stream, water course, lake, canal, shore, road, and highway, where the necessary right has been obtained from those public or private corporations or individuals whose rights will be affected, also to direct or alter, as well temporarily as permanently, the course of any river, stream, water course or highway, or raise or sink the level thereof, in order the more conveniently to carry the same across, over, under, or by the side of the railroad, when the consent of the owners of rights or interests which may be prejudiced or injured shall have been obtained through contract, or the injury compensated for in the case of expropriation proceedings. (f) To open quarries, to collect stone from the surface of the land, to cut timber, to mine in lands for materials, and to build and operate kilns for lime, gypsum, and brick on lands owned, occupied, leased, or under control for the purposes of the railroad. (g) To conduct water to the railroad for the use of same, and to acquire the necessary land and to make such roads thereon as may be necessary to give access to the situations from public roads in the vicinity. (h) To borrow such sums of money and contract such debts from time to time as may be necessary to construct, complete, maintain, and operate the railroad or for any other lawful purposes; to issue and dispose of promissory notes, debentures or other securities for any amount so borrowed or debt contracted with or without the security of the properties or properly rights of the railroad, and to secure such debts, notes, bonds, debentures or securities by a mortgage deed, creating mortgages, charges and incumbrances upon owned properties and property rights or rights of any kind, or by deeds constituting liens and charges affecting the rents and revenues of the railroad in whole or in pad. The grantee shall not have power to mortgage the railroad, construction of which is authorized herein, to the extent of more than an amount equivalent to fifteen thousand dollars a kilometer, in money of the United States. (i) No real or personal properly of the railroad actually used and necessary for the purposes of the railroad line shall be taxed by any province or municipality for twenty years from the granting of this franchise. (j) In the case of refusal, neglect, or delay in payment of the cost and expenses of transportation and conduction of freight over the whole length or any part of the line, the grantee shall have the right to detain the same until such time as amount due shall be paid. If the payment of rates or transportation on goods should not be effected within fifteen days, the company may apply for their sale at public auction to the justice of the peace for the district wherein the station is situated, who will order the total or partial sale of said goods in sufficient amount to cover expenses, costs, transport, and conduction. (k) To make application before the justice of the peace of the district wherein the station is situated for the sale at public auction of all articles of freight or luggage transported by the company, which may have remained at such station for two months or over, and not been called for by the owner or consignee. In the before-mentioned cases or when the owner or consignee can not be found or is unknown or shall refuse to receive the goods transported or pay the cost of transport, application may he made by the company to the justice of the peace for an order to sell at public auction within two days those goods which are of a perishable nature, and within ten days those not subject to deterioration. The proceeds of sale shall go first to defray the cost and expenses of said sale, and then to the account of freight and charges of the railroad company on said goods, and the balance, if there be any, shall be deposited with said judge at the disposition of the person who may have right to the same.