The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-04-05
7 sUNDEr APRIL s. 1903 s'''
CORPORATIONS UNDER THE
CONSTITUTION. s


4 CORPORATIONS UNDER THE
AZ CONSTITUTION. @
" That tho interest continues nnabatedd IN
q House bill No. 1o2 Is apparent from the e
n fact that the committee that has the re-
NJ sIderauon OF this bill iii hand mas
] NJ asked the Corporation Commission to ap-
S33 penr, before It, which invitation has been
" acce Pied 4 As far. as can DO learned the
az discussion was mainly about chapter o one,
VI which deals with the provisions necessary
8ls Tor tho Incorporation Of private compa-
al es. n M Wow of8tRe obvious intention t'
ss2s3 81 TIE constitutional Convention to com
a. binc Under ono head, as far as posslp@le,
g& all Of the functions which are n ow al :.
gS administered by various departments OF the
~ State with respect to corporations, and
Nv the NJ obvious failure Of House bill No .51o2
MI ~ carry out this intention, 80 far as
tn private corporations are conc erned, IT rs
II well 1t o refer again to- some of the more
striking departures from the spirit, II not
8&yt he letter OF the Constitution, as shown
5# inE this act. a more cumbersome annoy
S$singSor expensive way OF obtaining char
Il ters5 than that prescribed by section three,
3s 81 cha pter one Of this act could hardly
M beS devised. At the risk Of being tedious
2 we will again point out the PROVISIONS OF
ID this act, as compared with the intention 'tl
tsSs of the Constitution and the law as Fl "
Ell existed prior to April 1st. Under. the
S original law charters could be granted
h BY the courts, and were REQUIRED to he
certified 4 to the Secretary Of the Common
veal thu Under House bill No. t1o2 as II
S 81 lands at present the charter, q fter nay.
N ii gif been properly drawn. must be pre-
] sented to the Judge Of the county or cor
" pora ton wherein the principal office is to
sa Sc located who must certify In his topln-.
ION VIII ether the chart is correctly drawn
s Sssl5o or not The charter 50 endorsed Is then
n sent; to the Corporation Commission, with
the fee. It Is then sent from the Corpo-
ration q Commission to the Secretary OF the
i Comm tn; from the II Secretary Of
al the Commonwealth back to the clerk Of
the court from which vt was originally
h issued, ~ where 1t is recorded. It5
n And this dilatory and expensive process
Il IS the result Of the Constitutional Con-
st$vcntion's labors to give US a simplihed law
gs for chartering private corporations!
ss884 Some OF tho reasons which led the con-
IN vention to franc section 1856 of the Consti-
Il triton were tho fact that at present no.
X body can state even approximately how
4 many corporations there arc In Virginia,
N How many have expired by limitation. how
So many have been dissolved how many
Ssi$llave failed to- pay their taxes or their
S fees. how many have failed to appoint at
~ tcrneys, upon whom process may DO
n served. or to file a list of their directors,
MS required by law. All OF these short
comngs are smillngly accepted. and will
be forever perpetuated under the system
OF creating and governing corporations
81 provided by House bill No. 1o2 It Is to
"a be carefully observed that the Constitu-
Il ton gave no new powers in regard to cor
If porations that were not already In exist
Se ence at the time OF Its pnssag but the
Constitution did, upon careful considera-
Il ton, seek to bring all the information In
regard to corporations under one head,
in order that basis might be given for
scme comprehensive SYSTEM of governing,
II taxing and legislating for this Important
rart of our Industrial life. III
Nobody can tell today how many corr
porations operating under New Jersey
charters III Virginia have complied with
tho requirements OF either New Jersey
t or Virginia laws, and under the old sys-
@ TEN OF chartering corporations, as we'll
as under the system provided by House
I, x,.al 4 To-, nd of
v Ing records that will show whether the
companies have ever organized under the
charters that were granted them or have
ever been dissolved In accordance with
9S8 the terms or this bill.
Now, why should such state Of af-
Il fairs be allowed to continue we hear
that 1t is grayely argued that such an
4 expensive and outworn method as this
shall be kept alive to the detrment OF
Nj the whole State Of Virginia In order that
4 the country lawyers may not DO deprived
Z OF a part OF their practice. Ne do not
"a believe that such an argument can either
Ii be successfully made or maintained, for
ii under the law rs It Is given In House
bill No. 10o, and under the law as 1t was
8JS intended by the Constitutional Conycn-
tlon. the privileges and opportunities OF
~ the local attorneys were practically the
same In each case the lawyer would
have to get his blanks from the Corpora
% lion Commission, md after drawing his
Z charter would have to present Il to the
proper officials. The Idea Of the Cons titu-
ton was that this charter would be mailed
TO the Corporation Commission. whereas
pnder House bill No. lo2 It only reaches
4 tie Corporation Commission after having
Z nassed Through the hands Of the local
fudge. In addition 70 this discrepancy,
the Constitution intended the Corporation
Commission to keep the charter on file
and to record In Its pf'icc the dissolution