CHAPTER C.

BOARDS OF TRADE AND CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE.

An Act for the incorporation of boards of trade of trade and chambers of commerce.

[Approved March 19, 1863. Laws of 1863, p. 303.]

authorized.

(3006.) SECTION 1. The People of the State of Michigan enact, Boards of trade That any number of persons, not less than twenty, residing in any city, town, or county, may associate themselves together as a board of trade, and assemble at any time and place upon which a majority of the members so associating together may agree, and elect a president, one or more vice-presidents, and such other officers as officers of. may be determined upon, adopt a name, constitution, and by-laws, Names, etc. such as they may agree upon, and shall thereupon become a body corporate and politic, in fact and in name, by the name, style, or Body corporate. title which they have adopted, and by that name shall have succession, shall implead and be impleaded, answer and be answered, defend and be defended, in all courts of law and equity whatever,

and they and their successors shall have a common seal, and may Common seal. alter and change the same at any time, at their discretion. 1

(3007.) SEC. 2. Said corporation shall have the right to admit as Membership. members such persons as they may see fit, and expel any member

or person they may see fit; and in all cases a majority of the mem- By-laws.
bers present at any stated meeting shall have the right to pass, and
also the right to repeal any by-law of said corporation; and in all

1 As amended by Act 68 of the Laws of 1865, p. 81, approved and took effect February 20, 1865.

Constitution and cases the constitution and by-laws adopted by such corporation by-laws binding until amended. shall be binding upon and control the same until altered, changed, or abrogated, in the manner that may be prescribed in said constitution: Provided, That any amendment to said by-laws, or motion to repeal the same, shall be made at a meeting next previous to that on which a vote is to be taken to repeal or amend.

Proviso.

Corporation may hold real and

(3008.) SEC. 3. Said corporation, by the name and style which personal estate. shall be adopted, may receive and hold property and effects, real and personal, by gift, devise, or purchase, and dispose of the same by sale, lease, or otherwise, said property so held not to exceed at any time the sum of one hundred thousand dollars.

Election and appointment of officers.

Committee of reference, arbi

peal.

(3009.) SEC. 4. The time and manner of holding elections, and making appointments of such officers as are not elected, shall be established by the constitution or by-laws of such corporation. The president and vice-presidents shall be ex officio members of the board of directors, and, together with the directors elected, shall manage the business of said corporation.

(3010.) SEC. 5. Said corporation may constitute and appoint tration, and ap- committees of reference and arbitrations, and committees of appeals, who shall be governed by such rules and regulations as may be prescribed in rules or by-laws for the settlement of such matters of difference as may be voluntarily submitted for arbitration by members of such association, or by other persons not members thereof; Powers of chair- the acting chairman of either of said committees, when sitting as arbitrators, may administer oaths to the parties and witnesses, and issue subpoenas and attachments compelling the attendance of witnesses, the same as justices of the peace, and in like manner directed to any constable to execute.

man.

When execution may issue on award.

Bond and oath of officers.

(3011.) SEC. 6. When any submission shall have been made in writing, and a final award shall have been rendered, and no appeal taken within the time fixed by the rules or by-laws, then on filing such awards and submission with the clerk of the circuit court of the county where either of the justices reside, an execution may issue upon such award as if it were a judgment rendered in the circuit court, and such award shall thenceforth have the force and effect of such a judgment, and shall be entered upon the judgment docket of said court.

(3012.) SEC. 7. It shall be lawful for such corporation, when they shall think proper, to receive and require of and from their officers, whether elected [or] appointed, good and sufficient bonds for the faithful discharge of their duties and trusts; and the president, vice-presidents, or secretary is hereby authorized to admin

ister such oaths of office as may be prescribed in the by-laws of such corporation; said bond shall be made payable and conditioned as prescribed by the by-laws of such corporation, and may be sued, and the moneys collected and held for the use of the party injured, or such other use as may be determined upon by said corporation.

appointment

(3013.) SEC. 8. Said corporation shall have power to appoint one Inspector; or more persons, as they may see fit, to examine, weigh, measure, and duties of.. gauge, or inspect flour, grain, provisions, liquor, lumber, or any other article of produce or traffic commonly dealt in by the members of said corporation; and the certificate of such person or Certificate of. inspector as to the quality or quantity of such article, or their brand or mark upon it, or upon any package containing such article, shall be evidence between buyer and seller of the quantity, grade, or quality of the same, and shall be binding upon the members of said corporation, or others interested, and requiring or assenting to the employment of such weighers, measurers, gaugers, or inspectors; nothing herein contained, however, shall compel the employment by any one of any such appointee.

may inflict fines.

(3014.) SEC. 9. Said corporation may inflict fines upon any of its Corporation members and collect the same, for breach of its rules, regulations, or by-laws, but no fine shall exceed five dollars; such fines may be collected by action of debt before a justice of the peace, in the name of such corporation.

(3015.) SEC. 10. Such corporations shall have no power to do or Restrictions. carry on any business, excepting such as is usual in the manage

ment of boards of trade or chambers of commerce, as provided

in the foregoing sections of this bill.

CHAPTER CI.

WAREHOUSE COMPANIES.

Authority to incorporate.

Conditions.

Affidavits required.

An Act to provide for the incorporation of associations for the purpose of constructing, owning, and controlling warehouses for the storage of grain and other commodities.

[Approved February 27, 1867. Laws of 1867, p. 84.]

(3016.) SECTION 1. The People of the State of Michigan enact, That any five or more persons, residents of this State, may associate themselves together as a body corporate, for the purpose of constructing, owning, and controlling warehouses for the storage of grain and other commodities;

(3017.) SEC. 2. Such persons shall, under their hands and seals, make and subscribe to a certificate which shall specify

First. The name and business of said association;

Second. The amount of the capital stock thereof, and the amount of cash capital actually paid in;

Third. The number of shares into which said capital stock shall be divided, and it is hereby provided that such shares shall not be less than twenty-five dollars each;

Fourth. The names of the stockholders, their respective residences, and the numbers of shares held by each person;

Fifth. The amount of all property, real and personal, that may . be held by such corporation;

Sixth. The term of the existence of said corporation, not to exceed thirty years;

Which certificate shall be verified by the affidavits of the persons subscribing the same, and be acknowledged before some officer

corporate.

authorized to take the acknowledgment of deeds, and shall be recorded in the office of the Secretary of State and in the office of the clerk of the county in which such corporation is located. (3018.) SEC. 3. Upon compliance by such persons with the pro- Declared a body visions of the preceding section, such association shall be and is hereby declared a body corporate, empowered to hold and possess so much real and personal estate that may be purchased by it, or that may be given, granted, or devised to it as a corporation, in accordance with the provisions of law at the time such gift, grant, or devise shall take effect, as may be necessary for the use and occupation of said corporation for the purposes of its business: Pro- Proviso. vided, That the whole amount of the real and personal estate of said corporation shall not exceed in value the sum of one hundred thousand dollars: And provided further, That all property of such Proviso. corporation shall be subject to taxation, and shall be used for no other purpose than for the legitimate business of said corporation, as herein before stated.

and receive

grain, etc., on

storage.

(3019.) SEC. 4. Any corporation formed under the provisions of Right to build, this act is hereby authorized to erect a warehouse or warehouses on any portion of the real estate that may be owned or acquired by it in accordance with the preceding section, and to receive for storage therein grain and other commodities; to fix the price for such storage, and to make all necessary rules and regulations for the management of its said business.

ing the first

cers.

(3020.) SEC. 5. When any corporation shall be formed under this Manner of call act, any three of those associated may call the first meeting of the meeting. corporation, at such time and place as they may appoint, by giving notice thereof by publishing the same two or more times in some newspaper printed in the county in which the place of business of said corporation is located, at least fifteen days before the time appointed for such meeting; at which meeting, or at any adjourned Election of offimeeting thereof, the stockholders of said corporation may elect such officers of said corporation as they shall deem necessary for the proper management of the property and business of said corporation, and may also make all necessary by-laws and regulations for the proper management of their affairs: Provided, That said Proviso. by-laws and regulations shall be in conformity with the provisions of chapter seventy-three of the Compiled Laws, relative to corporations.

(3021.) SEC. 6. All corporations formed under this act shall be Other provisions subject to the general provisions of chapter seventy-three of the Compiled Laws, in all matters not herein enumerated and specified, so far as the same may be applicable thereto.