492

LAWS OF MARYLAND.

thereof, their assent thereto, and all persons, firms or corpo-
rations, by signing an application for insurance therein, shall
be deemed to have subscribed their assent to this act, and the
by-laws of said company; which expression of assent, and the
payment of such fees, charges or premiums as may be de-
manded by the proper officers of the corporation, shall consti-
tute such persons, firms or corporations, members of the said
company, and as such be bound by all the rules and regulations
of said company, as contained in this act and in the by-laws
of said company, whether enacted before or after the com-
mencement of such membership; and every person, firm or
corporation, which shall be insured by said company, shall
become members thereof as already provided for.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That all persons who
shall be insured by this company shall become members
thereof, and shall be bound by all the rules and regulations of

Liability of
members.

said company, and shall be bound, each to the other, to make
good their proportionate amount (which shall be in proportion
to the amount of their several premium notes) of any loss,
losses or damages that may occur on property insured by the
company, not exceeding for any one loss the amount of pre-
mium note or notes that he, she or they may have given to the
company, and are held by it at the time of such fire, the
assessment to be made after deducting from the amount of
said loss or losses at the time being; but the payment of any
part or parts or the whole amount of such notes for any one
loss or any one assessment, shall not be construed to reduce
the amount of such notes or to invalidate the obligation ex-
pressed thereby; but the said notes shall be held as binding
for the whole amount thereof so often as demanded by order
of the directors for the purposes of paying losses, while the
insurance or insurances for which they were given as pre-
miums shall exist.

Interest on
premium
notes.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That each and every
premium note given by the company shall bear interest at the
rate fixed from time to time by the board of directors, payable
annually in advance, on the last Thursday in July in each and
every year, respectively; and said note shall be held as security
for the payment of any assessment that may be made on the
members and shall not be used for any other pnrpose what-
ever.

Premium
notes in
force.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted. That the premium
notes taken by this company shall remain in full force until
the policies for which they were given are cancelled. And