Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 2.djvu/661

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Notes made negotiable at bank to be considered as bills of exchange.That whenever any note shall be given, containing express consent in writing, that it may be negotiable at the said bank, and the same shall be endorsed, if payment be refused or neglected to be made, at the time it shall have become due, the like proceedings are to be had out of court, and suit may be prosecuted against the drawer and endorser, jointly or separately, in like manner as if the same was a bill of exchange.

Bank to be continued in Alexandria.Sec. 20. And be it further enacted, That the said bank shall continue to transact its business of discount and deposit in the county of Alexandria, in the district of Columbia.

Approved, February 15, 1811.

Statute ⅠⅠⅠ.



Feb. 15, 1811.

Chap. XVI.An Act to incorporate the Bank of Washington.[1]

Bank of Washington incorporated.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the fourth day of March, which will be in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eleven, all those persons, their legal representatives or assigns, who, on the first Monday of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nine, at the city of Washington, subscribed certain articles of association, and formed a company or limited partnership, under the name and style of “The President and Directors of the Bank of Washington,” and who, on the said fourth day of March, in the year eighteen hundred and eleven, shall hold any share of the joint stock or funds, created in pursuance of the said articles of association, and their successors, being stockholders as aforesaid, shall be, and they are hereby incorporated, and made a body corporate and politic, by the name and style of “The President and Directors of the Bank of Washington;” and by that name may sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, answer and be answered, defend and be defended, in courts of record and any other place whatsoever; and by that name may have and hold, purchase, receive, possess, enjoy and retain lands, rents, tenements, hereditaments, goods, chattels and effects, of what nature, kind, or quality soever; and the same sell, grant, demise, alien and dispose of; and, by that name shall have succession, during the continuance of this act, and may make, have and use a common seal, and the same may break, alter and renew at pleasure; and shall have power to ordain, establish and put in execution, such by-laws, ordinances and regulations as shall seem necessary and convenient for the government of the said corporation, not being contrary to law, nor to the constitution thereof; and generally to do and execute all acts necessary or proper for the objects of the said incorporation, subject to the rules, regulations, restrictions, limitations and provisions herein described and declared.

Capital.
Shares, &c.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the capital stock of the said bank shall consist of five hundred thousand dollars, money of the United States, to be divided into shares of twenty dollars each; of which, ten dollars on each share will, according to the articles of association aforesaid, have been paid before the said fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and eleven; and it shall be optional with any stockholder thereafter to fill up his or her share or shares, by the payment, at any one time, of the residue of the money due thereon, who shall thereupon be entitled to receive dividends in future, in proportion to the whole amount paid upon such share or shares: Provided, that the dividend or dividends, on

  1. The deposit of a bill in one bank, to be transmitted to another for collection, is a common usage of great public convenience; and the duty of a bank receiving such bill, is precisely the same, whoever may be the owner thereof: and if it was unwilling to undertake the collection without precise information on the subject, the duty ought to have been declined. The Bank of Washington v. Triplet and Neale, 1 Peters, 30.