Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 54 Part 1.djvu/187

 76TH CONG. , 3D SESS.-CH. 130 - -APR. 22, 1940 1902, and who either have been honorably discharged from the service or still continue in the same, and women who served honorably under contract or by appointment as Army nurses, chief nurses, or superin- tendents of the Army Nurse Corps at any time between April 21, 1898, and July 4,1902, is hereby created a body corporate and politic of the District of Columbia, by the name of "United Spanish War Veterans", by which name it shall be a person in law, capable of suing and being sued, and of having and exercising all incidental powers as a litigant or otherwise as if it were a natural person, with power to acquire by purchase, gift, devise, or bequest, and to hold, convey, or otherwise dispose of property, real or personal, as may be necessary to carry into effect the patriotic, fraternal, and charitable purposes of its organiza- tion, and to use in carrying out the purposes of the corporation such emblems and badges as it may have heretofore or may hereafter adopt, and generally to do any and all such acts and things as may be neces- sary and proper in carrying into effect the purposes of the corporation. SEC. 2. The object and purpose of this corporation shall be to per- petuate the name of United Spanish War Veterans and to preserve in corporate form said organization as now and heretofore maintained and conducted, and to thus provide and continue an agency and instru- mentality through and by which its members, for and during the remainder of their natural lives, unite in the fraternal bonds of com- radeship; perpetuate the memories of the War with Spain and the campaigns incident thereto; promote peace and good will at home and among all nations; encourage an adequate national defense and protect and preserve our institutions of government. The corporation shall not at any time engage in any business for pecuniary profit and gain. SEC. 3. The principal office of this corporation shall be kept and maintained in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, but annual or other meetings of its governing body and members may be held in any State of the Union, and the corporation shall have the power to possess and hold property needful or desirable for its objects and purposes anywhere in the United States or any of its Territories or dependencies consistently with the provisions of local laws pertaining thereto. SEC. 4. The supreme governing and controlling authority in said organization shall be the national encampment thereof, composed of representatives from the several department encampments as are now or may hereafter be organized: Provided7 That there shall never be any change in the plan of organization of said national encampment that shall materially change its present representative form of gov- ernment or render possible the concentration of the control thereof in the hands of a limited number or in a self-perpetuating body not representative of the membership at large. SEC. 5. The qualifications for membership in said organization, except as they are limited by the provisions in section 1 of this Act, and the rights and privileges of the members thereof shall be such as are fixed by the constitution and rules and regulations heretofore or hereafter adopted by said national encampment. SEC. 6. Tle activities of said corporation shall be exercised through and by the following agencies in accordance with the constitution and rules and regulations now in force or such as may be hereafter enacted by the national encampment thereof, namely: First. Through the national encampment, its officers, and com- mittees. Second. Through such department encampments as may have been heretofore or as may be hereafter organized, their officers, and com- mittees. Corporate powers. Object and purpose. Principal office. Power of corporation to possess and hold property. National encamp- ment, authority. Proviso. Restriction on change of plan, etc. Qualifications, rights, and privileges. Activities exercised by designated agen- cies. National encamp ment. Department en- campments. 54 STAT.]

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