Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 3.djvu/426



. And be it further enacted, That the dividends of the profits of the company, or so much of said profits as shall be deemed expedient and proper, shall be declared half yearly in the first week in July and January, in each year; the amount of said dividend shall, from time to time, be determined by the president and directors, and shall in no case exceed the amount of the net profits actually acquired by the company, so that the capital stock of said company shall never be impaired by dividends.

. And be it further enacted, That, if the said directors shall at any time, wilfully and knowingly make or declare any dividend which shall impair the said capital stock, all the directors present at the making or declaring of said dividend, and consenting thereto, shall be liable, in their individual capacities, to the company for the amount or proportion of said capital stock so divided by the said directors; and each director, who shall be present at the making or declaring of such dividend, shall be deemed to have consented thereto, unless he shall immediately enter, in writing, his dissent on the minutes of the proceedings of the board, and give notice thereof to the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States.

. And be it further enacted, That the bank shall, in no case, buy and sell the funded debt of the United States, or of any state, or be owners of any ships of vessels, or directly or indirectly be concerned in trade, or the importation, exportation, purchase or sale of any goods, wares, or merchandise whatever, except bills of exchange, or bullion, and such ships, vessels, goods, wares, or merchandise, as shall be truly pledged to them by way of security, for debts due, owing, or growing due to the said bank, or purchased by it to secure such debts: Provided, nevertheless, That the said bank may sell and dispose of either the whole or any part of the funded debt of the United States, which it now holds.

. And be it further enacted, That the said bank shall not purchase or hold lands, tenements, or other real estate, other than what may be necessary for the convenient transaction of its business, unless such lands, tenements, and real estates, shall have been bonâ fide mortgaged to the bank by way of security, or conveyed to it in satisfaction of debts previously contracted in the course of dealings, or purchased to secure debts contracted with, or due to, the bank; and in every instance in which the bank may become the owners or claimants of lands, tenements, or real estates, the president and directors are empowered to sell or dispose of the same, in such manner as they may deem beneficial for the said bank.

. And be it further enacted, That if any vacancies shall, at any time, happen among the directors, by death, resignation, or otherwise, the rest of the directors, for the time being, shall elect a director to fill the vacancy.

. And be it further enacted, That if any number of stockholders, not less than twenty, who shall be proprietors of not less than four thousand shares, may, for any purposes relative to the institution, at any time, apply to the president and directors to call a general meeting of the stockholders; and if by them refused, the said number of stockholders, proprietors of not less than the number of shares aforesaid, shall have power to call a general meeting of the stockholders, giving at least sixty days’ notice in two or more of the public newspapers of the district, specifying in such notice the object or objects of such call.

. And be it further enacted, That in case it should at any time happen that an election of directors should not be made on any day when, pursuant to this act, it ought to have been made, the said corporation shall not for that cause be deemed to be dissolved, but it shall be lawful on any other day to hold and make an election of directors, at a