The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1901-09-20
FoRsIINe o. coRPoRATIONs.
how the ThinE Il Done An new jersey
and other New EaEIand
states.


With the view of adding strength
and insuring Permanence, many small
enterprises, as wen as most Of the
great ones. are nowadays organized
as corporations instead OF being nom
inally conducted BY individuals. To
some persons the beginnings of such
a corporation are full of mystery.
They have heard that the laws Of Ger
tain states-New Jersey, Maine and
Delaware, for example-are specially
friendly to men who wish thus to unite
their resources; but they do not re
alize how simple-in almost any state
are the processes that Precede the
issue of a charter to a company, says
Youths Companion.
Suppose one wants to capitalize" q
retail business OF a factory, a new
patent or a mining property The
New Jersey law provides that three or
more persons shall take part in the
preliminary eps-althOugh it does
not require that any of them shall be
citizens or residents of the state. The
first thing to be done is to ill out the
articles of incorporation on a blank
form supplied by the secretary Of
state.
The opening paragraph gives the
name of the new company and the OBJ
ject for which it is organized. It is
at this point that clever corporation
lawyer earns his money; for to be on
the safe side a corporation should
have the right TO do many things it
may never wish to undertakes, for
instance, a mining company should be
authorized to operate transportation
companies as well as to dig for metal.
The ideal charter, from a PrOmOt-
er's standpoint, would permit a cor
pOratiOn to carry on almost any bust
ness within the scope of the law.
AS a famous attorney once jocularly
| expressed it; I'VE can do everything
but levy troops and coin money"
The amount of the capital stock,
| the number of shares, and the par
value of each, are next set forth. If
/ the stock is divided into preferred
and common, the terms are named
on which each class is issued. Here
it is also partieularized whether the
/ charter is to continue for a definite
| time-since some states limit the life
! of a charter to 20 years or sO-Or is
| to be perpetual, as other states per
init.
Succeeding clauses fix the powers
of the stockholders and directors
such as the circumstances under
/ which the officers may mortgage the
eOmPany's prOPerty-and give the 10
cation of the comPany's principal
Office and the title of the agent upon
whom legal papers may be served
| Then the incorPoratOrs subscribe the
amount.-in New Jersey s1,OOO-witI
/ which the state requires a corpora
/ ton to begin business, and they sign
and swear to the document.
The New Jersey law provides thai
a copy of these articles of incorpOra
| ton shall be filed with the county
clerk. the original being filed Will
| the secretary OF state. Then the in
| corporators meet and adopt bylaws
elect officers and authorize the issue
| of stock Within "a hours from The
time they first came together TIT
CORPORATION may be a going con
Germ"
Technically its home is New Jer
sew. and there it must maintain al
Office: but none but stockholders
J meetings are obliged to be hel'
/ there; the directors-the real rulers
| of the corPoration-need never g
| near the state, and the corporation
| NAV do business not only in New
jersey. but in every other state, ter
ritory and colony of the Unite'
States. and in every foreign country