104 CORPORATIONS. [ART. 23

this State, any contract of insurance, or shall effect an insurance
or insurances, or pretend to effect an insurance or insurances, or
connect any other person or persons with them in any policy
they may at the time hold, or shall do any business of insurance
of any kind, or make any guaranty, contract or pledge for the
payment of annuities or endowments or money, whether the
amount thereof be fixed or contingent, to the families or repre-
sentatives of any policy or certificate holder, or the like, or shall
advertise or circulate any card, circular, notice, or open or keep
any office for the transaction of said business, except an insurance
broker, duly licensed, without fully complying with all the pro-
visions of this sub-title of this article, shall be subject to the fines
and penalties imposed by section 138 of this article; and the
term "Insurance Company, " as used in this article, shall be taken
to embrace every corporation, association, partnership or individ-
ual engaging in such business; and every such corporation, asso-
ciation, partnership or individual making any engagement for the
payment of any money or other benefits in the event of sickness,
accident or death, or other contingency, either to the member,
"policy or certificate holder, or by whatsoever name the same may
be known, or to their families or representatives, or entering into
any contract or agreement in which the chances or probabilities
of the duration of life, or the rate of mortality or hazard of occu-
pation, are in any way involved as an element or condition of
such contract or agreement, shall be deemed and taken to be a
life insurance company, within the meaning of this article, and
shall be subject to all the requirements of law, applicable to said
life insurance company; provided that the said business may be
conducted on the mutual or co operative plan, and that all such
organizations shall, prior to beginning business and thereafter,
have in force bona fide application for membership from at least
one hundred persons; and in case said organization issues its cer-
tificates for a maximum sum of less than five hundred dollars,
these said applications shall at least equal ten thousand dollars of
insurance; and if any certificate of insurance on one life be issued
in excess of five hundred dollars, then they shall at least equal
the amount of insurance now required by law for a mutual com-
pany, and in addition thereto, comply with the seven following
sections of this article for said mutual or co-operative organiza-