New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-02-10
"a Historical Reuieso of the Groacth
of Business Combinations.

e s..,e BY John j. Davis Phi. ID. vols SNo'
SIS iv. IS. q. Il. Putnams Sons
,,--s,.en as an introduction 10 projected work
.,osern corporations. which i'll health and
tn prevented him from completing. these two
,..,ae intended to clear the way for the
- undertaking. are. nevertheless no I'M
-, monument of the authors scholarship
,lsar sighted reasoning from historic facts,
- oirr,es do not profess to he the result or
..ol research but rather IAN Interpretation
sx,s.fng and available historical material.
= roax-is has not hesitated TO disagree with the
a,,n,ons Of those upon whom he has been willins
- ely for the substantial accuracy of the data
-h,cb they were able TO supply. A final chapter
.sAfo6ern Corporations reveals the INTENDED
40 of the work ne had in contemplation ana
-ras briefly to show the connection between
-, old corporations and the new. The author
-0,snes his historical inquiry almost exclusively
. English and American corporations on the
,rouns that the development Of corporate NE
tas heen more orderly and complete" in Eng
lend and America than elsewhere. and So thal
..u that IS worth knowing about corporations
.v be learned from the experience OF those
- countries Regarding it first Of all I'M
.,-,on, 70 get at the bedrock Of fact in MS IN
se.igation in order TO secure firm OASIS ioi
ar intelligent dealing with the varied problems
-esanted by the portentious development Oh
aa-norate activity at the present time, I)r DAVIS
e innatient Of the technical legal definition Oh
. oornoration propounded by Blackstone anu
edr,ittedy based legal fiction, thal II -
.-,ersona fcta'-an artificial person. Nhlle inns
- mas haen repeatedy End often inconsls-
,entlv. modified by later legal interpretations anu
legislative action il remains sufficiently IN
,sncbed 10 obscure the free consideration OF me
s,,hiec+ both by those who seek 10 extend the
.,.of,Inees and those who wish 10 curb the
ob,s.s Of modern corporations. Accordingly as
- result Of a careful ANALYSIS of the origin ana
auctions of corporations. he suggests the loi-
lowing definition:
cornoration IS a body Of persons upon wh enl
- state has conferred such. I.;,s "a
cep'eG t 9Is ana 10 ali Others that an autono-
nous self-suficent and se!i-reIle1s o %iil ana
NV determine and enforce their common ~
An tbe pursuit Of their private lnleEst l'ea oIi,-
80 ,ore eff-iertlv social functions holl slClliiS
I've "a nl,hIic welfare and most appropriated!
exeTcised BY associated persons.
From, this il will be seen that not all the or
ranizstions which he considers under the heau
of corporations may properly be CONSIDERED aS
such The corporate idea is the result OF a nat
uraI development arising from social needs ana
Is as he points out, outgrowth OF the SpIil'
~ the family or clan rather than an amplifca-
ton Of the powers and a limitation Of the re-
spo2sibilities Of the person its essential charac-
atty. Thus rnonasticism grew out Of the more
or less accidental association in desert places OF
ascetics who resorted thither in search of what
the Church. expanding itself in efforts TO become
an institution of government, was unable TO
supply Inspired alike by a common purpose
end the social instinct, these recluses bound
themselves together by common rules and VOWS
established forms Of internal government which
tended 10 become more and more crystallized;
extended their activities. and We're eventually
adopted by the Church as a convenient means
Of expressing its purely religious life In time
as the orders gained in strength, the Church be-
came SO dependent them that ii virtually
unable TO exist without them, while II was un-
able TO make them d part Of itself; and at last
the weakness Of the Church. due largely to the
abstraction from il IF the body of Christians
organized in monastic orders, was the most po-
tent factor in producing the Reformation. If,
continues the author. the Christians who be-
came monks had been so organized as 10 be kept
in close contact with the rest of the world of
Christians Of which they formed a part. the
public purposes Of their organization could not
have been SO easily forgotten and their private
Interests could not have been so easily magni-
fed The monastic orders did not meet DR..
Davs's definition Of a corporation until they had
received the sanction Of the Church
The firth gilds and the social-religious and
ecclesiastical gilds Of the Middle Ages, which
preceded the trade gilds, were not, strictly
speaking, corporations. since the former were
compulsory organizations Of local populations,
and the latter, while voluntary. exercised func-
lions not recognized as essential TO the public
welfare, Yet all had the internal organization
that would be serviceable for corporate activity
and for training the people for more independent
self-control. The trade gilds. first appearing as
gilds merchant, or associations of merchants,
ana later developing into craft gilds as eco
honlc activity widened its scope in England
are The first organizations TO be recognized as
true corporations. These were at first purely
mutual in their character. Their general pur-
pose vas TO regulate trade in SO far il affected
me community in which the gid fourished. and
they regulated it with extraordinary Ininuteness
and particularly. Tolls Were levied on non-gilds-
men from which gldsmen were exempt no mid
oeinan except a gildsman might sell many ar
Dcies at retail, nor might others buy of him
e4IepI gAdamen or tcWnspeople At Reading
foreigner forfeited his corn If he brought il
Joy sale before , O'Clock on market day, nor
might ne sell tanned leather except at time Of
ialfs. Officers elected by the craft gilds had the
power TO search the shops and houses of mem
oers at al times and the men Of a trade OF
d4t We're usually required to live and labor in
IN same neghborhood for the purpose of max
"'e NE work Of searching more effective. The
humber Of apprentices was restricted in many
ways Beef was not 10 be baked in pies and
s'o Tor Fenison. and rabbits were not 10 be-
paked In pies and so sold at all
'Aas usually received their charters from the
municipalities, through grant Of the King OF
'H4ofd, and eventually gained such powers
-sl they soon controlled and later actually abb
"beo The local governing bodies. until by act OF
armament they were finally taken over into