1831.

LAWS OF MARYLAND.

CHAP. 133.

ing of the stockholders, giving at least sixty days notice
in the newspapers printed at Hagerstown and Williamsport,
and in one newspaper printed in the ci'y of Baltimore, and
specifying in such notice, the object or objects of such
meetings.

Dividends.

15th. The dividend of the profits of. the said corporation,
or of so much of the said profits as shall be deemed expe-
dient and proper to divide, shall be declared half yearly,
in the months of May and November, and payable in the
months of June and December, in every year, as shall, from
time to time, be determined by a majority of the directors, at
a meeting, to be held for that purpose, and shall, in no case
exceed the net profits actually acquired by the corporation,
so that the capital stock of the corporation shall never be
impaired by dividends; and at the expiration of every three
years, a dividend of surplus profits shall be made, but the
directors shall then be at liberty to retain at Jeast one per
cent, for the time being, as a fund for future contingencies;
it shall be the duty of the president to cause a correct state-
ment of all the surplus profits remaining in the bank, not divi-
ded among the stockholders antecedent to the annual elec-
tion, to be made out and kept in the bank for the inspection
of stockholders, between the time of such dividends being
declared, and each annual election

Improper divi-
dends.

16th. If the directors shall wilfully and knowingly make
or declare any dividend which shall impair the capital
stock, all the directors present at the making or declaring
such dividend and consenting thereto, shall be liable in their
individual capacities to the corporation for the amount or
proportion of the said capital stock so divided by the direct-
ors, and each director who shall be present at the making
or declaring such dividend, shall be deemed to have con-
sented thereto, unless he shall immediately enter his dissent
in writing on the minutes of the proceedings of the board.

Transfers.

17th. The shares of stock shall be transferable on the
books of the bank only in person or by power of attorney,
but all debts actually due and payable to the said bank by a
stockholder requiring a transfer, must be satisfied before
such transfer shall be made, unless the president and direct-
ors shall direct otherwise.

Limitation of real
estate &c.

18th. The lands, tenements, and hereditaments which it
shall be lawful for the corporation to hold, shall be only such
as shall be requisite for the immediate accommodation in re-
lation to the convenient transaction of their business, and
such as shall have been bona fide, mortgaged or conveyed to
them by way of security, or in satisfaction of debts contract-
ed in the course of their dealings, or purchased at sales up-