the bill, repealing the charter of said Bank. Approved Feburary 3, 1858.

SEC. 2. This Act is to take effect from and after its passage.

AN ACT Establishing certain Banks in Kansas Territory.

Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Kansas, as follows:

lished.

red.

SECTION 1. That three banks shall be, and are hereby estab- Banks established in the Territory of Kansas, at the places, and subject to the provisions hereinafter named, and that the corporators of said banks, and their associates, their successors and assigns, are hereby created bodies politic and corporate, distinct from each other, for the term of twenty-five years from the passage of this Powers conferAct, and shall each have power, in the name of the president, directors and companies of the respective banks, in law and in equity, to purchase, possess, use and sell any property the same as individuals; to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered unto, defend and be defended in all courts whatever; to make and use a common seal, and the same to break, alter and renew at pleasure, to make and execute such by-laws as may be deemed necessary and convenient for the government and management of said bank, not being contrary to the constitution of the United States; and, generally, to do and execute such things and acts as corporations or bodies politic in law or in fact can legally do; and that all the provisions hereinafter named, shall apply equally to each of said banks, and to no other as distinct and separate corporations, in all respects whatever.

SEC. 2. The names, location and corporators of said banks, Names of banks shall be as follows, viz.: 1. One to be called the Lawrence Bank; ration.

and the corpo

Board of directors.

Of directors

tion.

shall be located in the city of Lawrence, and the corporators thereof shall be Robert Morrow, S. W. Eldridge, S. B. Prentiss, James Blood and H. Shanklin. 2. One to be called the Bank of Leavenworth; shall be located in the city of Leavenworth, and the corporators thereof shall be Henry J. Adams, John Kerr, Samuel Harsh, Henry Foote and I. W. Morris. 3. One to be called the Bank of Wyandott; shall be located in the city of Wyandott, and the corporators thereof shall be Wm. Y. Roberts, J. M. Winchell, Thomas B. Eldridge, James D. Chesnut and J. S. Emery.

SEC. 3. The corporators of each bank, and their associates to the number of eight, shall constitute a board of directors, who shall manage the affairs of the bank till the first annual election shall take place, and till their successors shall be duly qualified, and any vacancy in said board may, at any time, be filled by the remaining members.

shall con

SEC. 4. The board of directors, after the first year, and their elec- sist of eight stockholders, resident in the Territory, four of whom shall be elected for a term of two years, at an annual meeting of stockholders, to be held on the second Tuesday of January in each year, or as soon thereafter as practicable. The first annual meeting shall be held in the year 1859, and at that meeting four directors shall be chosen for a term of two years, and four for a term of one year. Any director selling his entire stock or interest in the bank, or removing from the Territory, shall cease to be a member, and his place shall be filled by the remaining members. Every director shall remain in office until his successor shall be elected and qualified, and a majority shall constitute a quorum to do business.

Officers to be

elected by

tors.

SEC. 5. On the day following the annual election, the direcboard of direc- tors shall meet and organize the board, by the election from their number, of a persident, who shall be the president of the company; a vice president, who shall act as president during the absence or disability of the latter, and a cashier, who shall be the secretary of the company; all of whom shall hold their offices for one year, or until their successors are elected and qualified. No director shall receive any salary as such, but the board may allow the president and cashier such compensation as they may see fit. The board of directors, for the present year, however, may elect a cashier, who is not a member of the same, should they see fit to do so.

SEC. 6. All elections, whether by the stockholders or directors,

Elections to be

shall be by ballot, and all ballots cast, shall be carefully pre- bit. served under seal for future reference.

SEC. 7. The capital stock of each bank shall be one hundred Of capital stock thousand dollars, ($100,000,) with power, on the part of the board, to increase the same from time to time, with the consent of the comptroller, and to an amount not greater than fifty thousand dollars at any one time. The stock shall consist of shares of one hundred dollars each, which shall be personal property, and transferable only on the books of the company, in such manner as its by-laws shall prescribe. Each share of the stock shall entitle the owner to one vote at any stockholders' meeting, which vote may be cast by any person authorized by him in writing to do so.

sworn.

SEC. 8. Every director or other officer, before entering upon Officers to be the discharge of his duties, shall be sworn, faithfully, honestly and impartially, to discharge said duties, and to observe and excute the provisions of this Act.

call special

SEC. 9. The cashier shall, at any time, call a special meeting Cashier may of the stockholders or directors, by order of the president, giving meeting. written notice to the former, of at least thirty days, and to the latter of twenty-four hours, and the president shall, at any time, order such meeting of stockholders, on the written request of the owners of one-fifth of the stock; and he shall, at any time, order such meeting of the board, on the written request of two directors. All meetings of the stockholders or directors shall be held Meetings, when at the office of the company; and notice of the annual meeting. shall be published by the cashier, in two newspapers in the city where it is to be held, for at least four weeks previous to its

Occurrence.

held,

ceedings to be

SEC. 10. A full and fair record shall be kept of the proceed- Record of proings of all meetings, and the ayes and noes shall be taken and kept. recorded at any meeting of the board, on any vote, when required by any member.

open for exam

ination.

posit State

bonds with the

SEO. 11. The books of the bank shall always be open to the Books to be examination of any stockholder, during the business hours of the bank. SEC. 12. Whenever the directors of either bank shall deposit Directors to dewith the comptroller an amount of the State bonds of any interest paying State in the Union, or of the United States, equal in value to twenty-five thousand dollars, ($25,000,) at the current rates of the New York Stock Exchange, and shall satisfy said officer that they have on hand twenty-five hundred dollars

comptroller,

Comptroller

shall countersign notes.

($2,500,) in specie, for the purpose of redeeming the circulating notes of the bank, then the comptroller shall countersign twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000,) of said circulating notes, and return them to the president for use; and it shall then be lawful for said bank to use said notes as currency, and commence and conduct the business of banking in all its departments and details; and whenever said bank shall thereafter deposit additional securities as above stated, and provide ten per cent. of their amount in specie, for purposes of redemption, then the comptroller shall countersign and return to said bank their circulating notes to an amount equal to the value of said additional. Penalty for is securities; and in case said bank shall, at any time, issue its troller's signa- circulating notes without the signature of the comptroller as herein provided for, such act is hereby declared a penal offence, and shall be punishable by a fine equal to the amount of said issue, and imprisonment of the officers guilty of such offence, for such period as the law may direct.

suing notes

without comp

ture.

Comptroller may demand inorease of security.

Comptroller to register notes.

Denomination of notes.

Of securities.

Of rates of interes and discount.

SEC. 13. In case of the depreciation in value of the securities pledged as hereinbefore described, at the New York Stock Exchange, the comptroller shall demand such increase thereof, as, at the current rates, shall make them equal in value to the amount of notes in circulation, unless said bank shall prefer to surrender such amount of notes as have already been countersigned, as will make the whole amount of said notes in its possession, equal to the value of the securities pledged, at the current rates as aforesaid; and in case of said surrender of notes, it shall be the duty of the comptroller at once to cause them to be destroyed.

SEC. 14. All notes thus countersigned by the comptroller, he shall cause to be registered in a book kept especially for that purpose; and all notes at any time surrendered to him by said bank, shall be registered in like manner.

SEC. 15. The denominations of the circulating notes, which it shall be lawful for said banks to issue, shall be one, two, three, five, ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred, five hundred and one thousand dollars, ($1, $2, $3, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, $1,000.)

SEC. 16. All securities pledged for the redemption of the circulating notes, shall be assignable in trust to the comptroller for that purpose, and shall be made negotiable by him only on his own signature, and that of the Governor.

SEC. 17. Each bank shall have power, at all times, to regulate its own rate of interest and discount, on all loans or purchase; but

the rates of interest shall be uniform and apply equally to all persons, and shall be fixed, from time to time, by the board, and kept posted conspicuously in the banking office of the company: Provided, the same shall not be in violation of the usury laws.

as specie.

SEC. 18. In all transactions of the bank, in receiving or pay- May use drafts ing money, or otherwise, the directors shall have power to use as specie, all sight drafts, or certificates of deposits, made by responsible specie paying banking houses in this Territory, or in St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Boston or New York, the same being guaranteed by said bank.

of banks, &c.

SEC. 19. No bank shall, at any time, suspend or refuse the of suspension payment in specie of any of its notes, bills or other obligations, or of any money held upon deposit, at maturity of the same, and the place where made payable; and in case of such refusal, the holders thereof shall, respectively, be entitled to receive interest on the same from the time of such refusal until paid at a rate double that of the bank at the time; and should any bank suspend payment, as aforesaid, for the period of thirty days, it shall then be the duty of the comptroller to investigate the condition of said bank, and, according to his judgment, proceed either to convert into specie, sufficient of the securities in his hands, for the payment of the obligations due, and then to destroy an equal amount of the circulating notes and allow the bank to resume business, or to wind up its affairs at once, by a sale of all its assets, within twelve months from the time of suspension, applying all funds to the payment pro rata, after the necessary expenses of said proceedings: 1. All circulating notes. 2. Of deposits. 3. Of other liabilities. 4. Of stockholders. All sales of property other than stock securities, shall be made by the comptroller, at the office of the company, at public auction, and after a notice in two newspapers in the city, of not less than thirty days, and a printed notice posted on the door of the office for the same period of time; and all sales of stock securities shall be made at public auction at the Stock Exchange in the city of New York, after a public notice of at least ten days, in three daily papers of that city, unless he shall be able to sell said securities at private sale, for the current prices of said Stock Exchange, in which case, he shall have power to do so.

mutilated cur

SEO. 20. Whenever either bank shall desire to replace any May replace portion of its mutilated currency, with new circulating notes, it rency. shall be the duty of the comptroller to receive and destroy said mutilated notes, and to countersign and return new ones to an