Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1859-11-08

Sec. l. JARVIS B. BRDwEII- E. G. LANFsoS CONNER
their associates and successors, are here
by made a corporation by the Of the President
Directors and Company Of the Sheiburne Bank. to
be established in the town of Sheburne, and shal
so continue till the first day of October 1915, anu
shall be entitled to all the powers and privileges and
be subject TO all the duties Liabilities and restrictions
set forth in the public statutes of this commonwealth
relative to Banks and Banking.
Sec. 2 The capital stock of said bank shah CON
sist of 100000 to be paid in such instalnents as
the stockholders may direct provided the Wnole
capital stock shall be paid in on or before the rst
day Of May, 1858.
rable only at its banking houses and on its books
Sec 4 Said corporation shall be subject to all
the liabilities requirements and restrictions con-
tanned in such acts as may be passed by the General
Court Q4egislature) in relation to Banks and Bank
ing
This short and simple law establishing the name,
the location and capital stock of corporation IS
the model of all the bank charters passed OF late
wears in Massachusetts, so far as we have ex-
amined. The corporation is declared SUBJECT
to all the existing public statutes OF the Com
monwealth and to all that may be passed after
its charter relative to Banks and BANKING
There are about one hundred and seventy Banks
in Massachusetts, with capital of about ninety
millions of dollars. There are numerous pubhc
statutes relative to banks and banking which gov
ern the whole of them They have bank code.
| They do not Iegislate about one bank; they indeed
/ cannot for they all have the same rights and re-
snonsibilties: and there would be as much propri-
et in legisating about one butcher, blacksmith,
LAWYER or Doctor as about one person in the shape
of bank corporation.
There is nothing in this charter about the size OF
the notes this Shelburne Bank shall issue That Is
in the bank code to be found in the revised statutes
and the whole one hundred and seventy banks must
issue notes of the same SIZE and the Legislature can
change the size at any session by public general
statute of the Commonwealth, applicable to all the
banks or persons pursuing the same business in the
State of Massachusetts,.
There is nothing said in this charter about the
amount of real estate the Bank of Shelburne may
hold That is to be found in the bank law-aet OF
1925
There is nothing said in this Shelburne cRarter
about the tax the Bank shall pay; Act OF 1873
They will make no contract with Mr.. BTEDWEIL and
associates and successors for twenty years that the
tax shall not be increased for it might become ne
cessarv to raise the tax on everything else, and
they ought TO be free to raise it the banks This
they might not be able to do if they agreed before
what the tax should be, and thus sold out the
taxing power for twenty years. The State OF Mas
: sachusetts viii not have hundred and seventy
nor twenty specia contracts binding up the taxing
mower for twenty years The State holds IN It's owl
hands the taxing power. The State OF Massachu
= sets knew. when Mr.. BIRDwEIL and associates ap
piled for a bank charter, that Ohio bad made bank
ing law which stated what the tax should be- tina
the taxes on all property in Ohio had been greatly
increased in consequence ofloans for Improvements
and that the taxes on banks had been increased b.
act; that the banks had refused to pay IT. that th
4 Supreme Court Of Ohio ordered them to pay 1t
r that the banks appealed to Washington, and ther
the Court said the Legislature could not recover tn
: taxes-CArRoN, CAMPBELL and DANIEL dissenting.
; There is nothing in this charter as to what per
sona liability Mr. BIRDwELL and his associates ar
under to pay the debts of this corporation That
TO be found in the public statutes of the Common
wealth, in these words, The holders Of stock
any bank at the time its charter shall expire, sha
be liable in their individual capacity for the pay
ment Of all bills which have been issued by san
bank and which shall remain unpaid, in proportio
e to the stock which they may respectively hold a
the dissolution OF the charter and Mr.. BRDwEL
and his associates stand on the same platform wit
one hundred and seventy others in the State; an
all the Legislature of Massachusetts, has said is, tina
it will not hurt hair of the head of Mr.. BRDwEL
and his associates dealers in notes and deposits 10
less it hurts one hundred and seventy other dealer
: in deposits and notes. See Act of 1919.
: This charter does not say where the notes of Nj
+ BmDwEIL and associates shall be paid. But the &C
of IS4O says that no bank shall pay out from it
counter any notes but its own, under penalty @
$780, This Legislature intended to localize the Gil
culation of paper, so that it should be redeemabl
where it circulated and to some little extent pre-
d | vent excessive issues.
. There is nothing in this charter as to how Ruc
BIRDwELL and associate should issue, over and abov
= their capital stock. If the Legislature had cove
s nanted with HoTcHKIss, BIRDwELL & Co. that the!
should issue sl5OOOO of paper on 100000 of stool
7 which the company was bound for, and the Legisla
ture had afterwards thought that there was $4,000
of mist and moonshine with no corporate stock eve
to ans yer for it. they could not have remidied ii
because the Legislature had covenanted for them
selves end their successors that the said BRDwEL
and his successors should, during 20 years, lssu
g | $4,000 Of mOohshne and mist
. There is nothing said as to how much specie Nh
: BmpwEII and his associates should keep. The BAN
commissioners lOuuu dilef SuoPCAolo' ria
# the disproportion between the amount Of paper i
circulation and the money they heldo meet it. astor
shed the public They therefore said it was all wrong
q that they should all be required to keep enough
n specie to face the reasonable demand against then
s The legislature required Mr.. BRBwEIL and his asso
n ciates to keep the insignificant sum of fifteen pc
&c cent in specie and part thereof in exchange, an
-, that the whole of these hundred snd sevent
II concerns should stand up to this public statute c
: the commonwealth.-Mes BRDwEII- HOTCHKIs
! and associates included But the Bank commission
. ers report that the one hundred and seventy bank
., or some of them, had evaded this statute, and ha
g not kept the insignificant required by the statut
and that other legislation was necessary to remed
this trickerv If there had been any contract abOu
the amount of coin they should keep, the state coul
l. not have remedied the main cause of the last SUI
pension till their charters expired.
Il There is no contract with nv. BRDwELL and hi
successors as to the returns he shall for if
Il had been fixed at quarterly reports the lesisatul
might have found out that quarterly reports wOul
Of have enabled all the one hundred and seventy bant
IT, tohavc made their reports on the same specie ca
N iei from one bank to another by railroad and mg
have desired that they should make a weekly r
n turn of their circulation, dcposites and specie, as.
d. r,ouircd in New York and Louisiana. The Banker
a. of Philadelphia says the Bankers MIgaziae, m
70 and thought it advisable that all the banks should
required to make weekly returns so that the NOR
N mrscrupulous ones should not get false credit
p Massachusetts, had bargained to and with Mr. BR
h. WELL and his successors and granted and confirme
&c To them the aforesaid BroDBELL and ls successor
'i that for and during the term of twenty years Il
- legislature of Massachusetts, then and there sitting
D. and all their successors acting to and for the poop
of the commonwealth of Massachusetts,, should
bound and firmly obligated not to require OF the sal
# BlRnEII and his SUCCESSORS to make weekly repor
at it would not matter perhaps, with BRDWELL ana
in associates whether the interests ofthegood people
= Massachusetts, would would not be promoted by u
q weekly reports ofhs specie circulation and deposit
for might bc the interest of the aforesaid BhDWE
rs and associates not show to the good people OF Ma
sachusets simply the extent of their debts due al
n ability to meet them. and therefore Mr. BRDwEl
v and his associates might state to the Legislature
Of Massachusetts, that IS not inmy covenen with you
cd tn OF m hank for