The Elk advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Elk Co., Pa.) 186?-1868, 1867-04-18

| before the certificate of incorporation
shall be issued, at least ten thousand
dollars per mile shall be subscribed in
good faith, and ten per centum thereon
paid in. We moved to strike out ten
thousand dollars and insert four thou
sand, and again we were voted down
by the friends of the reported bill
Under our present railroad law of
lS49, and its supplement, assuming
fifteen thousand dollars per mile to be
the amount Of capital stock named in
each charter, it is only necessary to
subscribe ten per cent. thereof, or one
thousand five hundred dollars, in order
to secure the issuing of letters patent
and the right to all of the incidents of
a corporation, The same amount must
be paid up under each law. Can there
be any reason given for this vast differ.
ence ! Uuder the law, as it now ex.
lists, less than one sixth of the bona
fde subscriptions is necessary that that
section makes obligatory. In the one
case, the Legislature grants the special
charter in the other, the mere COM
pliance with the statue vests the right
Recognizing, the increase of the cost
of construction Consequent upon pres
cnt high prices }, we proposed to make
four Thousand dollars the minumen, but
failed by the same vote as before Is
it fair, in the face of this comparison
OF the two laws, to say that this bill
| MI nlH
This distinction is made upon very
essential point in the case, the very life.
giving principle to the new companies,
and shows deep ingenuity in its inser-
ton. If one thousand five hundred
dollars be enough to allow the incorpo>
ration of companies under the law as it
now stands, surel ly four thousand dollars
is enough to give them life under the
new bill, when our purpose is declared
to be, -" to authorize the formation of
railway companies"
The provisions of this section also
initiate new policy in our State. 1t
imposes upon all stockholders a liza.
bility for debts Incurred in construction,
maintenance and operation, equal to the
amount Of their sto ok. AS | understand
this, if the road be insolvcnt, the
stockholder not onl ly loses his stock, but
must pay an amount equal thereto upon
the debts of the company. 1t is urged
by the friends OF this provision that
he can only be responsible to the amount
| of the cash value of the stock, and if
he has paid that, he can be held for no
more. Ii this be true, why insert such
a provision ? The stock, if unpaid, can
be reached by ordinary process, or, if
paid up and expended, it is in the road
and its equipments, which can be levied
1t will bear but one construction, which
is the one already placed upon the iu'
dividual liability clause in manufacture
ing charters, viz that the stockholder
is liable to an amount equal to his stock
in addition thereto. The chairman of
the judiciary Mr.. SHoEMAKERl admits
this to be the true construction, and
asserts its correctness as principle,
assuming that, like all manufacturing
companies, these corporations should
be held to a stringent rule. He forgets
that this class Of corporations stand
upon very different and much higher
ground than the other class. These
create and develop wealth wherever
their ramifcations extend they are
public benefit, and nourish and invig~
crate all other enterprises. All regard
them as powerful agents in producing
wealth for the State, the people and
the nation. The other class of corpo-
rations upon which this clause has been
imposed are private enterprises for
personal gain, confined IN their operation
to narrow sphere and often productive
ofinjury TO the mass of the people.
Their privileges are special, and give
them advantages over private capital {;
the mass of the community are not
benefited, and they may we'll be placed
under restrictions that are totally in-
applicable to railroads. 1t is contended
that the laborer will suffer and lose his
wages if this clause be not inserted. If
[ thought so, l would assuredly desire
| prSSeINallOuJ uiI SuCl lS lOI Inc eA-
perience of our people railroads are
built by contract, and the contractor
employs the laborer J; it is the rarest
occasion that he goes on with his work.
No individual liability clause is con.
tanned in our railroad law of lS4O, nor
does it appear in any of the special
charters heretofore granted. Why,
then, shall we change the rule -? Our
policy upon this subject is settled, and
it is wrong now to unsettle it. This
provision will operate as a serious
hindrance in the way OF securing cap
ital, and is an Unnecessary and unwise re-
striction. 1t is almost an adage in our
system of railroad financiering that the
stock must be sunk once before the
road will pay, and this risk is sufficient
to impose upon our capitalists. If this
be the case, the State is still the gamer,
for although the capital is gone, travel