as herein after provided, to any amount not exceeding the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, in addition to its present capital, which additional capital stock shall be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each. A subscription for the same shall be opened at said Norwalk, on the 26th day of July, 1854, under the direction of Joshua B. Ferris, John Woodruff, 2d, and Roger Averill, who are hereby appointed commissioners, with full power and authority to receive subscriptions for such additional capital, and to adjourn from time to time as may be necessary, having first given public notice of the time and place of their meeting, by advertising in the Norwalk Gazette, a newspaper printed in said Norwalk, at least two weeks before said 26th day of July next.

SEC. 2. The subscribers to said additional stock shall, at the time of subscription, pay to the said commissioners, for the use of said bank, as their first installment, twenty dollars on each share subscribed for by them respectively, and also such further sum as shall be required by said commissioners, after hearing such proper evidence as may be submitted to them, for the equalization of the value of the whole capital stock of said bank, both old and new, and for the equalization of the whole capital stock of said bank, and which said sum so to be paid and added to said surplus fund, shall be over and above all installments to be paid by the subscribers to make the sum of one hundred dollars on each share.

SEC. 3. Each subscriber may pay the whole of said sum of one hundred dollars per share, at the time of subscription; but if he shall at that time pay only said sum of twenty dollars per share, the residue of said sum of one hundred dollars, shall be paid by installments of ten dollars per share every sixty days thereafter, until the whole shall be paid, with interest from the time of such subscription to the time of payment. In case of failure to pay the first installment, such subscription shall be null and void; and in case of failure to pay the second installment, the first shall be forfeited to the bank; and in case of failure to pay any subsequent installment, the party failing shall forfeit to the bank any dividend accruing on the stock allotted to him during the time that payment shall be delayed.

SEC. 4. The payments for said additional stock shall be made in gold or silver coin, or in such current bank notes as shall be equivalent to gold and silver coin. And no share of said additional stock shall entitle the holder thereof to vote in the meetings of the stockholders of said bank, until the whole amount of such share shall have been paid in.

SEC. 5. If the subscriptions to said additional stock shall exceed one thousand shares, said commissioners shall reduce the number of shares to one thousand, for which purpose they shall make all necessary inquiry, and apportion the shares in such manner and to such persons as to them shall seem proper, having regard to the interests of said bank and the accommodation of the public.

INCORPORATING THE FARMERS BANK, IN BRIDGEPORT.

PASSED 1849.

Resolved by this Assembly, SEC. 1. That a bank be established, in the city of Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield, by the name of "The Farmers Bank," and the stockholders thereof, their successors and assigns, shall be and remain a body politic and corporate by that name, and shall be capable in law to purchase and hold all kinds of property, real as well as personal, and the same at pleasure to sell and convey, to sue and be sued in all courts, to have and use a common seal, such as they may devise, and the same to alter at pleasure, to make and carry into effect all such bylaws and regulations as may be deemed expedient for the proper management of the affairs of said corporation and promotion of its best interest, not repugnant to the laws of this state or of the United States, and, generally, to do and cause to be done and executed all such acts and things as to them may appertain, subject to the provisions herein contained. Provided, the president, directors and company of said bank pay over to the treasurer of the General Hospital Society of Connecticut, on or before the first day of January, 1850, the sum of five thousand dollars, for the use and purposes of said society.

SEC. 2. That the capital stock of said bank shall consist of two thousand shares, of one hundred dollars each, which shall be transferable according to such rules as may be established by the directors of said bank, and at the time of subscribing to the stock of said bank, there shall be paid in gold or silver, or in bank notes of the states of New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, provided the same shall then be at par value in this state, the sum of twenty-five dollars on each share thus subscribed, and twenty-five dollars ninety days thereafter, and ten dollars on each share at the expiration of every ninety days thereafter, until the whole amount is paid in to said corporation.

SEC. 3. The subscription towards constituting the said capital stock shall be opened in the city of Bridgeport, under the superintendence of Henry B. Graves, Alfred Blackman and Dexter R. Wright, hereby appointed commissioners for that purpose, who shall meet on or before the second Tuesday of October, 1849, and at such other time or times as they or a majority of them shall judge expedient, first giving twenty days' notice of the time and place of receiving such subscriptions, in a newspaper printed in Bridgeport, and also such other notice as they may think proper. A majority of said commissioners assembled for the purpose of discharging the duties herein conferred upon them, shall have full power to proceed in the discharge thereof. If the subscription to said capital stock shall exceed two thousand shares, the commissioners shall reduce the same to that number, and shall apportion the same between the subscribers in such manner as to them may appear proper, having regard to the interest of the bank, and the accommodation of the public.

SEC. 4. If there shall be a failure to pay the first installment on any subscription to said capital stock, such subscription shall be null aud void; and on failure to pay the second installment, the first shall be forfeited to

the bank, and in case of failure to pay any subsequent installment, the party thus failing shall lose the benefit of any dividend accruing during the time such payment shall have been delayed. After the commissioners shall have apportioned the capital stock of said bank, they shall immediately call a meeting the stockholders, for the purpose of choosing the directors of the bank, who, when chosen, shall continue in office until the first annual meeting of the stockholders, which shall be holden in said city of Bridgeport, on the second Wednesday of July, then next thereafter, which shall be the time of the annual meeting of the stockholders in each year.

SEC. 5. There shall be nine directors of said bank, who shall be elected annually by the stockholders in general meeting, and who shall be residents of this state. None but stockholders shall be chosen directors; and at their first meeting following, they shall choose one of their number for president. And whenever the place of president or director shall for any cause become vacant, such vacancy may be supplied by the board of directors for the remainder of the year; and all elections of president and directors shall be by ballot.

SEC. 6. A general meeting of the stockholders may be called by the board of directors whenever it shall judge proper, giving ten days' notice of the time and place of such meeting, in the way and manner prescribed by the by-laws of such corporation. Each share of stock represented at any meeting shall be entitled to one vote, if after said first election of directors the same have stood on the books of the corporation in the name of the party claiming to vote thereon, two months previous to such meeting. No person shall be entitled to vote by virtue of any proxy, unless the same shall have been executed within sixty days next preceding.

SEC. 7. Not less than three directors shall constitute a board for transacting business of the corporation, of whom the president shall be one, except when necessarily prevented from attending, when the directors present shall choose one of their number as president for the occasion. No director shall be entitled to any compensation for discharging the duties of his appointment, except the president, who shall receive such compensation as the board of directors may judge reasonable and proper.

SEC. 8. A cashier, and such other officers and agents as may be neces sary for performing the business of the corporation, shall be appointed, and their compensation regulated by the board of directors, who shall have power to require securities for the faithful discharge of the duties of any officer or agent of said corporation.

SEC. 9. The board of directors shall have the disposal and management of the moneys, credits, and other property of the corporation, with power to regulate the concerns thereof in all cases not herein otherwise provided. Said corporation shall not trade in anything except bills of exchange, gold and silver bullion, and the sale and disposition of other estate taken as security for debts or liabilities due to it; nor shall it take more than at the rate of six per cent. per annum for or upon its loans, computed in accordance with the fourth section of an act entitled "An act to restrain the taking of Usury." And dividends of such parts of the profits arising from the business of the corporation as the directors may judge proper may be made semi-annually. Said corporation shall not commence the business of banking until fifty per cent. of the whole amount

of the capital stock herein provided for, shall have been subscribed for and paid in to said corporation; nor shall they loan to any individual, copartnership or corporation a sum exceeding ten per cent. of the capital stock actually paid in at the time of said loan.

SEC. 10. The bills or notes of said corporation, signed by the president and countersigned by the cashier or treasurer thereof, promising the payment of money to any person, or order, or bearer, shall be obligatory upon the corporation according to the tenor thereof, and shall be assignable and transferable according to the custom of merchants and laws relating to inland bills of exchange. And in case of failure by said bank to pay said bills or notes on demand, the president, directors and cashier of said corporation, shall be liable as joint and several debtors to pay the notes and bills of said bank or corporation, to the holders thereof: and all negotiable paper duly executed may be indorsed to the bank in the same manner and on the same principles as to individuals, and the corporation may institute any proper suit or suits for the recovery of the money due thereon.

SEC. 11. The said corporation shall on the first Mondays in January and July in each year, in addition to the capital stock herein before authorized, receive subscriptions for stock at the rate of one hundred dollars for each share, from the school fund of this state; provided, the shares thus subscribed shall not be transferable, but may at any time be withdrawn on six months' notice to said directors; and the shares so subscribed shall never exceed twenty per cent. of the capital stock subscribed and paid in by individuals; and provided also, that the corporation shall receive three months' notice of the intention to make such subscription.

SEC. 12. The total amount of the indebtedness of said corporation shall not at any time exceed fifty per cent. over and above the capital stock of said bank actually paid in, and the moneys or bullion at any time on deposit in said bank for safe keeping. And on the failure or insolvency of the corporation, the holders of its bills or notes of the denomination of one hundred dollars and less, shall have a lien on all the property of the corporation, and on all claims in its favor, and every assignment, conveyance or transfer of such property, debts, securities or claims, made in contemplation of such failure or insolvency, shall be utterly void. No part of said capital stock paid in shall be withdrawn without the consent of the general assembly; and if it be thus withdrawn, the president, directors, cashier and stockholders consenting thereto, and causing the same to be done, shall be liable, jointly and severally, out of their own estate, for the full payment of all the debts of the corporation which cannot be collected by reason of such withdrawal.

SEO. 13. This act may be altered, amended or repealed at the pleasure of the general assembly.

INCREASING THE CAPITAL STOCK OF THE FARMERS BANK.

PASSED 1851.

Resolved by this Assembly, That power and authority be and are hereby given to the Farmers Bank, to increase their capital stock by subscriptions, as is herein after provided, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, which additional capital stock shall be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each. A subscripton for the same shall be opened at the banking house of said bank, in the city of Bridgeport, under the direction of John C. Palmer, Nelson L. White, and Frederick Chittenden, Esqrs., who are hereby appointed commissioners for that purpose, who, or a majority of whom, shall have full power and authority to open said subscription, at such time in the month of July or August, 1851, as they or a majority of them shall appoint, having first given notice of the time and place of their meeting to receive said subscriptions, by advertising the same in one or more newspapers published in Bridgeport and New Haven, at least two weeks before such meeting; at which time, or at any duly adjourned meeting of said commissioners, to be held at said Bridgeport, said additional stock may be subscribed for. Provided, that said commissioners shall, before opening said subscription as aforesaid, after hearing such proper evidence as may be necessary, equalize and determine the value of the whole capital stock of said bank, and of each share thereof; and if they shall find that such shares are worth more than their par value, the subscribers to said additional stock shall, at the time of subscribing for the same, pay to said commissioners, on each share by them respectively subscribed, such sum as each of said original shares exceeds its par value; which sum shall be, by said commissioners, upon the final distribution of said stock, paid over to said bank, and added to its surplus funds, for the benefit of all the stockholders, both new and old. The said additional stock shall be paid in to said bank, either in full at the time of subscription therefor, or by installments as follows, to wit: ten dollars on each share at the time of subscription, and the residue at such time and in such installments as the directors shall order, with interest from the time of subscription to the time of payment, at the rate of six per cent. per annum. Provided, that said directors shall call in the whole of said additional stock before the first day of July, 1852. In case of failure to pay the first installment, the subscription shall be void as to the subscriber failing to pay as aforesaid, and shall enure to the benefit of said bank; and in case of failure to pay the second installment, the first shall be forfeited to the bank; and in case of failure to pay any subsequent installment, the party failing to pay shall lose the benefit of any dividend accruing during the time any payments shall be delayed. The payments for said additional stock shall be made in gold or silver coin, or in such current bank notes as are equivalent to gold or silver coin. If the subscriptions aforesaid shall exceed one thousand shares, the commissioners shall reduce the same to that number, for which purpose it shall be their duty to make all necessary inquiries, and apportion the shares in such manner as to them may appear proper, having regard to