scribe the duties of its officers and to fix their compensation, and to alter and amend its by-laws, when necessary.

SEC. 7. Any person owning property in the county for which any such company is formed may become a member of such company by insuring therein, and shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges appertaining thereto, and no person not residing in the county in which the company is formed shall become a director of such company.

SEC. 8. Such company may issue policies only on detached dwellings, school houses, churches, barns (except livery barn and hotel barns), and other farms buildings, and such property as may be contained therein; also, other property on the premises owned by the insured; hay and grain in stack or in the field, and live-stock on the premises of the insured, anywhere in the county, for any time not exceeding five years, and not to extend beyond the time limited for the existence of the charter, and for an amount not to exceed four thousand five hundred dollars on any one risk; provided, that no company which has been organized more than six months shall write insurance subject to one fire exceeding three per cent of the amount at risk upon the books of such company. All persons so insured shall give their obligation to the company, binding themselves, their heirs and assigns, to pay their pro rata share to the company of the necessary expense and of loss by fire which may be sustained by any member thereof during the time for which their respective policies are written, and they shall also at the time of effecting the insurance pay such a percentage in cash, and such other charges, as may be required by the rules or by-laws of the company.

SEC. 9. All such companies must classify the property insured therein at the time of issuing policies thereon under different rates, corresponding as nearly as may be to the greater or less risk from fire loss which may be attached to the several kinds of property insured.

SEC. 10. No such company shall insure any property beyond the limits of the county within which the company is organized, nor shall any company issue policies of insurance on any property within the limits of any city containing over six thousand inhabitants at the time of the organization of such company; provided, that no dwelling shall be insured within the corporate limits of any city or town exposed by any other

building within one hundred feet, or by any other risk other than a dwelling or private barn, within two hundred feet of the risk assumed; provided, that the amount of insurance shall not exceed seventy-five per cent of the value of the property, and that no additional insurance shall be allowed.

SEC. 11. Every member of such company who may sustain loss or damage by fire shall immediately notify the president, or in his absence, the secretary thereof, stating the amount of damages or loss sustained or claimed, and if not more than two hundred dollars, then the president and secretary shall proceed to ascertain the amount of such loss or damage, and adjust the same. If the claim for damage or loss be an amount greater than two hundred dollars, then the president of such company, or in his absence, the vice-president, or in the absence of both, the secretary thereof, shall forthwith convene the board of directors of such company, whose duty it shall be when convened to appoint a committee, of not less than three disinterested members of such company, to ascertain the amount of such damage or loss. If in either case there is a failure of the parties to agree upon the amount of such damage or loss, they shall submit the question of the amount of such loss to arbitration. The president of the company shall appoint one disinterested person to act as an arbitrator, and the claimant or insured shall appoint another, and if such two arbitrators fail to agree upon the amount of such loss, then they shall select a third disinterested person to act with them. Such arbitrators so appointed shall have full authority to examine witnesses, and to do all other things necessary to the proper determination of the amount of loss sustained by the claimant, and shall make their award, in writing, to the president of such company, and such award so as aforesaid made shall be final as to the amount of the loss sustained. The pay of the said committee shall be three ($3.00) dollars per day for each day's services so rendered, and five cents for each mile necessarily traveled in the discharge of their duties, which shall be paid by the claimant, unless the award of such committee shall exceed the sum offered by the company in liquidation of such loss or damage, in which case such expense shall be paid by the company.

SEC. 12. When the amount of any loss shall have been ascertained, which exceeds in amount the cash funds of the company, the president shall convene the directors of said com

pany, who shall make an assessment upon all the property to the amount for which each several piece of property is insured, taken in connection with the rate of premium under which it may be classified.

SEC. 13. It shall be the duty of the secretary, whenever such an assessment shall have been made, to immediately notify every person holding a risk in such company, personally, by an agent, or by letter directed to his usual postoffice address, of the amount of such loss, and the sum due from him, as his share thereof, and of the time and to whom such payment is to be made; but such time shall not be less than thirty days, nor more than ninety days, from the date of such notice.

SEC. 14. An action may be brought against any member of such company who shall neglect or refuse to pay any assessment made upon him by the provisions of this Act, or other liabilities due the company, and the directors of any company so formed who shall willfully refuse or neglect to perform the duties imposed upon them by law or by the by-laws of the company shall be liable in their individual capacity to the person sustaining such loss. An action may also be brought and maintained against any such company by members thereof for losses sustained if payment is withheld after the amount of such losses have been determined, and is due by the terms of the policy.

SEC. 15. It shall be the duty of the secretary to prepare an annual statement showing the condition of such company on the thirty-first day of December, and present the same at the annual meeting.

SEC. 16. Any member of such company may withdraw therefrom by surrendering his policy for cancellation at any time while the organization continues the business for which it was organized, by giving notice in writing to the secretary thereof, and paying his share of all claims that may exist against such company; provided, that the company shall have power to cancel or terminate any policy by giving the insured five days' written notice to that effect, and returning to him any excess of premium he may have paid during the term of the policy, over the cost of his insurance, as measured by the rates of standard fire insurance companies doing business in this State.

SEC. 17. It shall be the duty of the president and secretary, within thirty days after the first day of January in each year,

to prepare, under their own oath, and transmit to the Insurance Commissioner, a statement of the condition of the company on the last day of the month next preceding the annual meeting. If, upon examination, the Insurance Commissioner finds that such company is doing business correctly, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, he shall thereupon furnish the company his certificate, which shall be deemed authority to continue business during the ensuing year, subject, however, to the provisions of this Act. For such examination and certificate the company shall pay one dollar. Each company shall pay, at the time of organization, five dollars to the Insurance Commissioner, for all services which he shall render in the matter of organization.

SEC. 18. Any such company may be proceeded against and dissolved in the manner and upon the same conditions as provided in case of other insurance companies incorporated in this State.

SEC. 19. All Acts and parts of Acts in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.

MUTUAL BENEFICIAL AND RELIEF INSURANCE ASSOCIATIONS.

The following Act was codified by the Legislature of 1905 (see Sections 452a to 453 of the Civil Code), but is placed herein for the reason that, under Section 288 of the Civil Code, it is applicable to all corporations formed under its provisions :

An Act relating to mutual beneficial and relief associations.

[Approved March 28, 1874.]

The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Associations may be formed for the purpose of paying to the nominee of any member a sum upon the death of said member, not exceeding three dollars for each member of such association. No such association shall exceed in number three thousand persons. [Amendment approved Feb

ruary 14, 1901.]

SEC. 2. Such association shall be formed by filing a verified certificate in the office of the Clerk of the county in which the principal place of business shall be situated, and filing a like certificate in the office of the Secretary of State; such certificate shall state the general objects of the association, its principal place of business, and the names of the officers selected to hold office for the first three months, and shall be signed by said officers, and verified by at least three of them.

SEC. 3. Said associations, upon the death of each member, may levy an assessment upon each member living at the time of the death, not exceeding three dollars for each member, and collect the same, and pay the same to the nominee of such deceased; and may also provide the payment of such annual payments of members as may be deemed best, such annual assessment upon any one member not to be raised above the annual assessment established at the time such member joined such association.

SEC. 4. Such association, by its name, may sue and be sued, and may loan such funds as it may have on hand, and may own sufficient real estate for its business purposes, and such other real estate as it may be necessary to purchase on foreclosure of its mortgages; provided, such real estate so obtained through foreclosure shall be sold and conveyed within five years from the day title is obtained, unless the Superior Court of the proper county shall, upon petition and good cause shown, extend the time. [Amendment approved April 6, 1880.] SEC. 5. Such association may make such by-laws, not inconsistent with the laws of this State, as may be necessary for its government and for the transaction of its business, and shall not be subject to the provisions of the general insurance laws.

SEC. 6. All associations heretofore formed for the objects contemplated in this Act, and now in operation, may avail themselves of its provisions by filing the certificate provided for in section one; provided, that such societies shall not have a greater membership than three thousand.

SEC. 7. This Act shall take effect immediately.