Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 3.djvu/53



. And be it further enacted, That the said company shall meet the third Monday in March, in every year, at such place as shall be fixed by their by-laws, for the purpose of choosing such officers as aforesaid for the ensuing year, in manner aforesaid, and at such other times as they shall be summoned by the president and directors aforesaid; at which annual or special meetings they shall have full power and authority to do and perform any act by law allowed, and pertaining to the affairs of said company; and the president and directors for the time being, shall hold their offices until others shall be appointed in their places; and the said corporation shall not be deemed to be dissolved by reason of any defect of officers, but if it should happen that there should be no president or directors competent to call a meeting of the stockholders, the same may be called by any stockholder, for the purpose of electing such officers, giving thirty days’ notice of the time and place of such meeting, by advertisement, in a newspaper printed in the District of Columbia.

. And be it further enacted, That the president and directors shall procure printed certificates for all the shares of said stock, and shall deliver one such certificate, signed by the president, to each person for every share by him or her subscribed and held, which certificates shall be transferable at his or her pleasure in person, or by attorney, in the presence of the president, clerk, or treasurer of said company, who shall witness the same; subject, however, to all payment due, or to grow due thereupon; and the assignee holding any such certificate, having caused the assignment to be entered in a book for the company to be kept for that purpose, and having paid the clerk of said company twenty-five cents for each certificate contained in such assignment, for his services in recording the same, shall be a member of said company; and for every certificate by him held shall be entitled to one share in the capital stock and estate of said company. And if any stockholder, after thirty days’ public notice in a newspaper printed in the District of Columbia, of the time and place appointed for the payment of any portion or dividend of the sum subscribed in said stock, shall neglect to pay the same for the space of thirty days after the time so appointed, the share or shares on which such delinquency has taken place, may be sold at public auction, and transferred by them to any person or persons willing to purchase for such price as can be obtained, or in case any proprietor shall fail to pay any instalment which shall be duly assessed, such instalments or any part thereof that shall remain deficient or unpaid, may be recovered of the person or persons so failing to pay, by warrant from a justice of the peace, if the amount shall not exceed twenty dollars, and if the sum so due shall exceed twenty dollars, the same be recovered by motion in the name of said company, on ten days’ notice, or by action at law in the usual course of judicial proceedings, in any court of record in the District of Columbia, and in all instances where the person so failing to pay his instalment, cannot be found in the said District, then recovery shall be had against him by such mode of judicial proceeding as is authorized by the laws of the country where such defaulter shall be found; and in all such warrants, motions or actions, the certificate of the clerk of the said company shall be conclusive of the defendant’s being a member of the company, and prima facie evidence of the amount due on the share or shares held by such defendant.

. And be it further enacted, That the said president and directors shall meet at such times and places as shall be agreed upon for transacting their business; at which meetings any three members shall form a quorum, who, in the absence of the president, may choose a chairman, and shall keep minutes of all their transactions fairly entered in a book, and a quorum being met, they shall have full power and authority to appoint a treasurer, and all other officers necessary and convenient, and