its continuing existence, is a public institution and body politic; and the fact that private donations have been made to it does not alter the nature of the foundation nor the character of the corporation.11

1 Bonaparte v. Camden etc. R. R. Co. Baldw. 205; Eastman v. Meredith, 35 N. II. 284.

2 Mills v. Williams, 11 Ired. 558; Maury County v. Lewis County, 1 Swan, 236; Laramie County v. Albany County, 92 U. S. 307; Barton County v. Walser, 47 Mo. 189; State v. McFadden, 23 Minn. 40.

3 U. S. Bank v. Planter's Bank, 9 Wheat. 904.

4 State v. Simonton, 78 N. C. 57.

5 Sayre v. Northern Turnpike Co. 10 Leigh, 454.

6 Trustees of Schools v. Tatman, 13 Ill. 27; Connell v. Woodard, 5 How. 665; and see Gilman v. Bassett, 33 Coun. 298; Williams v. Academ ical Assoc. 26 Ind. 310.

7 School Commissioners v. Putman, 44 Ala. 506; Farnum's Petition, 51 N. H. 376.

8 Indiana v. Woram, 6 Hill, 33; State v. Delesdenier, 7 Tex. 76; Cotton v. United States, 11 How. 229.

9 United States v. Maurice, 2 Brock. 96.

10 State v. Atkins, 35 Ga. 315.

11 University of No. Car. v. Maultsby, 8 Ired. Eq. 257; University of Alabama, 5 Stew. & P. 17.

§ 9. Private corporations. — Insurance, canal, bridge, turnpike companies, etc., where the stock is owned by individuals, are private corporations, though their use may be public. So, if the stock of a banking corporation is owned by private individuals, the bank is a private corporation, although the public, through the legislature, exercise over it a supervisory power, and may annul its charter for cause.2 A bank which, beyond a power to contract in its corporate name, has no powers beyond those which every other person possesses, must be deemed a private corporation. An incorporated academy is a private corporation, although it may derive a part of its support from the government.4 And colleges are in general private corporations.5 Railroad companies are deemed private corporations; so are canal coinpanies; and although a corporation, such as a canal company, has been chartered for great public purposes, it may nevertheless be a private corporation.8 Corporations are

not public because their object is of a public character;9 and a corporation which was evidently created to advance the private interests of a certain class in the district incorporated, will be deemed a private corporation, although it may incidentally enhance the general prosperity of the whole community.10

1 Bailey v. Mayor of N. Y. 3 Hill, 531; St. Mary's Church, 7 Serg. & R. 559; Bonaparte v. Camden etc. R. R. Co. Baldw. 205.

2 Bank of Dubuque v. United States, 1 Greene (Iowa) 553; U. S. Bank r. Planters' Bank, 9 Wheat. 904; and see Turnpike Co. v. Wallace, 8 Watts, 316.

3 State v. Simonton, 78 N. C. 57.

4 Cleveland v. Stewart, 3 Ga. 283.

5 Allen v. McKeen, 1 Sum. 276; Dartmouth College v. Woodward, 4 Wheat. 518.

6 Tinsman v. Belvidere etc. R. R. Co. 26 N. J. L. 148; Sweatt v. Boston et. R. R. Co. 3 Cliff. 339; Dearborn v. Boston etc. R. R. Co. 4 Fost. (N. H.) 179.

7 Ten Eyck v. Del. etc. Canal, 3 Har. (Del.) 200.

8 Brady v. State, 26 Md. 290.

9 Tinsman v. Belvidere etc. R. R. Co. 26 N. J. L. 148.

10 Directors etc. v. Houston, 71 Ill. 318; and see Do Vose v. Rich. mond, 18 Gratt. 333; Weightman v. Washington, 1 Black, 3); New Orleans etc. R. R. Co. v. New Orleans, 26 L. An. 473; Comin'rs v. Detroit, 28 Mich. 228; Saving Fund Soc. v. Philadelphia, 31 Pa. St. 175.

§ 10. Quasi corporations.-There are many instances, in the law, of collective bodies of men, coming under one general description, endowed with a corporate capacity in some particulars expressed, but who have, in no respect, the capacities incident to a corporation; and these bodies are usually denominated quasi corporations. 2 Church-wardens,3 most of the commissioners instituted for public purposes, and guardians of the poor,5 are instances of quasi corporations. A public official body charged with the administration of the ministerial and financial duties of a county, such as highways, and the taxes, and having capacity to make contracts in reference to such matters, and to raise money therefor, and having perpetual succession, is a quasi corporation. The commissioners of a county in Pennsylvania are quasi a corporation for the purpose of suing and being sued. Counties are mere quasi corporations, invested with corporate

powers, sub modo.8 Provisions of a statute by which certain persons are made public agents to receive and disburse the school fund of a county, constitute them a quasi corporation. So, school trustees, 10 and school districts,11 are quasi corporations.12 The governor of a state is a quasi corporation sole. 13 And where statutes provide that the property of friendly societies and similar associations shall be vested in a trustee, or in the treasurer or secretary for the time being, and that actions shall be brought by and against him, such person is thereby created a quasi corporation sole.14

1 Jackson v. Hartwell, 8 Johns. 422; Denton v. Jackson, 2 Johns, Ch. 320; Withnell r. Gartham, 6 Term R. 336; Rew v. Pettit, 1 Ad. & E. 196; Clarissy v. Metrop. Fire Depart. 7 Abb. N. S. 352.

2 Mersey Docks etc. v. Gibbs, L. R. (1 H. L.) 293; Hartnall v. Ryde Commissioners, 4 Best & Smith, 351; Harris r. School District, 8 Fost. (N. H.) 58; Hamilton County v. Mighels, 7 Ohio St. 109; Schriffer v. Saum, 81 Pa. St. 835.

3 Ex parte Hunesly, 2 Younge & C. 359; Bailey v. Foster, 3 Com. B. 215; Furnivall v. Coombes, 6 Scott N. R. 537.

4 Hall v. Taylor, El. B. & E. 107; Att.-Gen. v. Andrews, 2 Macn. & G. 226; Conservators of River Tone v. Ash, 10 Barn. & C. 349.

5 Reg. r. Poor Law Comm'rs, 9 Q. B. 291; Pomeroy v. Wells, 8 Paige, 406; Todd v. Birdsall. I Cowen, 250.

6 Levy Court v. Coroner, 2 Wall. 501; Comm'rs v. McPherson, 1 Spear, 218; Comm'rs v. Gherky, Wright, (Ohio) 493; and see People v. Lathrop, 19 How. Pr. 358.

7 Van Kirk v. Clark, 16 Serg. & R. 286.

8 Hannibal etc. R. R. Co. v. Marion County, 36 Mo. 294; Goodnow v. Comm'rs, 11 Minn. 31; Louisville etc. R. R. Co. v. County Court of Davidson, 1 Sneed, 637; Granger v. Pulaski, 26 Ark. 37; Ray County v. Bentley. 4) Mo. 236; Laramie County v. Albany County, 92 U. S. 307. Compare Smith v. Myers, 15 Cal. 33; People v. Supervisors of Sacramento, 45 id. 62; and see § 8 unte.

9 O'Neal v. School Comm'rs, 27 Md. 229.

10 Littleworth v. Davis, 50 Miss. 403. See Bassett v. Fish, 75 N. Y. 303. 11 Inhabitants v. Wood, 13 Mass. 193; Beach v. Leahy, 11 Kans. 23. 12 See § 8 ante; People v. Bennett, 54 Barb. 480; People v. Dupuyt, 71 Ill. 651; People v. Trustees, 78 id. 136.

13 Governor v. Allen, 8 Humph. 176.

14 See Cartridge v. Griffiths, 1 Barn. & Ald. 57.

§ 11. Municipal corporations.-At common law, a corporation aggregate for municipal purposes, is "an investing the people of a place with the local government thereof;" instances of which are, incorporated villages,

towns, and cities.2 Generally speaking, municipal corporations are created in this country at the will of the legislature, for the purpose of aiding in the administration of the government of the state, but chiefly to administer the local affairs of the city, etc., which is incorporated.4 As usually constituted, they are deemed to possess a double character-the one public, the other private. If the powers conferred be granted for public purposes exclusively, they belong to the corporate body in its public, political, or municipal character; but if the grant was for purposes of private advantage, or emolument, though the public may derive a common benefit therefrom, the corporation, quo ad hoc, is to be regarded as a private company.6

1 Cuddon v. Eastwick, 1 Salk. 192; and see Brinckerhoff v. Board of Education, 37 How. Pr. 499; S. C. 2′ Daly, 443; People v. Hurlbut, 24 Mich. 44.

2 People v. Morris, 13 Wend. 325; New Orleans etc. R. R. Co. v. New Orleans, 26 La. An. 473; Harris v. School District, 28 N. H. 53.

3 City v. Shields, 52 Mo. 351; Girard v. Philadelphia, 7 Wall. 1; Ra der v. Road District, 36 N. J. L. 273; Mayor of Hagerstown v. Schner, 37 Md. 180; San Francisco v. Canavan, 42 Cal. 541; Barnes v. District of Columbia, 91 U. S. 540; Vance v. Little Rock, 30 Ark. 435.

4 Hamilton County v. Mighels, 7 Ohio St. 109; Ward v. County of Hartford. 12 Conn. 404, 406.

5 Bailey. Mayor of N. Y. 3 Hill, 531.

6 Bailey v. Mayor of N. Y. 3 Hill, 531; and see Maxmilian v. Mayor of N. Y. 62 N. Y. 160; S. C. 20 Am. R. 468; De Vass v. Richinoud, 18 Gratt. 338; Western College v. Cleveland, 12 Ohio St. 375; Mead v. New Haven, 40 Conn. 72; S. C. 16 Am. R. 14.

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§ 12. What bodies are not corporations. Companies or societies not expressly sanctioned by the legislature, pursuant to some special or general law, are usually deemed nothing more than ordinary partnerships. A "board of brokers" is not, strictly speaking, a corporation, or a partnership, or a joint stock company.2 Boards of health in New York are not corporations, as respects the power to sue and be sued. Nor is the board of supervisors of a county a corporation. The general assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania, is not a quasi corporation, not having the capacity to sue and be sued

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as an artificial person. But a body formed pursuant to a statute authorizing the formation of "associations," and declared by the statute to be, when duly formed, a body corporate and politic, is to be deemed a corporation, and not a quasi corporation, nor a joint-stock company or limited partnership. The fact that the act of parliament creating au English joint-stock company, expressly declares it not to be a corporation, yet grants powers of a corporate nature to the company, cannot prevent it from being treated as a corporation in this country; and it may be taxed as a foreign corporation."8

1 Bullard v. Kinney, 10 Cal. 60; Moore v. Brink, 4 Hun, 402; Lafond v. Deems, 52 How. Pr. 41; Butterfield v. Beardsley,28 Mich. 412; Greenwood's Case, 23 Eng. L. & Eq. 422. Compare Cox v. Bodfish, 35 Me. 302. 2 Leech v. Harris, 2 Brews. (Pa.) 571; White v. Brownell, 3 Abb. Pr. N. S. 318.

3 Gardner v. Board of Health, 10 N. Y. 409; and see Appleton v. Water Comin'rs, 2 Hill, 432.

4 Boyce v. Supervisors of Cayuga, 20 Barb. 294.

5 Com. v. Green, 4 Whart. 531.

6 Falconer v. Campbell, 2 McLean, 195; and see Gillet v. Phillips, 13 N. Y. 114; Leavitt v. Blatchford, 17 id. 521.

7 Liverpool Ins. Co. v. Massachusetts, 10 Wall. 566.

8 Oliver v. Liverpool Ins. Co. 100 Mass. 531; S. C. aff'd, 10 Wall. 566.