10,894

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Now, the State of Maryland in 1851, when it wrote

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the 1851 constitution, realized that it could not continue

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to give these charters which conferred special status

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upon corporations, and here I should say that at this

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time all the corporations of the state were enacted by

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the charter method through the General Assembly, through

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acts of the General Assembly, but the state realized

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it would want to keep a protection to itself so that it

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could alter or repeal or amend charters, and so in 1851

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the first two sentences that you see in this section here

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were added as a part of the 1851 constitution which in

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effect said that any corporation charter granted by the

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General Assembly from here on in shall be subject to

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alteration, modification, and repeal by the General

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Assembly.

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Now, nobody knows exactly how many state

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charters were conferred by the General Assembly prior

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to 1851, both in colonial and governmental, national

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governmental times, which contain these exemptions.

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We are aware of two and possibly three -- the

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B&O Railroad exemption from taxation, the Green Mountain