" faithfully, impartially, diligently and honestly, execute the duties of —— -, agreeably to the provi-
" sions of law, and the trust reposed in me, to the best of my skill and judgment, and that I will not,
" directly or indirectly, make use of any money for the purpose of usury, which I may obtain by loan
" or discount from the Commercial and Farmers Bank of Baltimore, and that I will not buy or dis-
" count, or be interested in the buying or discounting, any note or obligation at higher rate than legal
" interest, and that I will not, if in my power to prevent it, suffer any person to obtain any discounts
" from the bank aforesaid, whom I may know or believe to be in the practice of buying or discount-
" ing notes or obligations at unlawful interest; " and the cashier, the tellers, book-keepers, and
other officers, shall also take the following oath, or affirmation: "I,. ——, do swear, er affirm,
" that I will faithfully, impartially, diligently and honestly, execute the duties of ———, agreeably
" to the provisions of law, and the trust reposed in me, to the best of my skill and judgment; " and
shall besides give bonds with security, to the satisfaction of the president and directors, for the
faithful discharge of their duties in their respective stations.
8th. The total amount of the debts which the said corporation shall at any time owe, whether by
bond, bill, or other contract, shall not exceed double the amount of the capital actually paid into
the said bank; provided, that the money deposited in the said bank for safe keeping, shall not be
considered as the debts of the bank within the provision of this clause, unless the contracting of
any greater debts shall have been previously authorised by a law ef the state; in case of excess,
the directors under whose administration it shall happen, shall be liable for the same in their natu-
ral and private capacities, and an action may in such case be brought against them, or any of them,
or their heirs, executors or administrators, in any court of record of this state, by any creditor
or creditors of the said corporation, and may be prosecuted to judgment and execution, any condi-
tion, covenant or agreement, to the contrary notwithstanding, but nothing herein contained shall
be construed to exempt the said corporation, or the lands, tenements, goods or chattels, of the
same, from being also liable for, and chargeable with, the said excess; and such of the said direc-
tors who may have been absent when the said excess was created, or may have dissented from the
resolution or act whereby the same was created, may respectively exonerate themselves from being
so liable, by forthwith giving notice of the fact, and of their absence or dissent, to the governor
of the state, and to the stockholders at a general meeting which they shall have power to call for.
that purpose.
9th. The president and eight directors shall constitute a board for the transaction of business,
but ordinary discounts may be done by the president and five directors; in case of sickness, or ne-
cessary absence of the president, his place may be supplied by a director, whom he, by writing
under his hand, shall nominate for the purpose.
10th. In case of death, resignation, disqualification, or removal out of the state, of the presi-
dent, the directors shall meet as soon as can be thereafter and elect another person for president for
the residue of the year.
11th. Half-yearly dividends shall be made to the stockholders of so much of the nett profits of
the bank as shall appear to the president and directors adviseable, and such dividends shall be de-
clared half-yearly in the months of April and October, and paid in the months of May and Novem-
ber, in every year.
12th. No director shall be entitled to receive any emolument for his services unless the same
shall have been allowed at a general meeting of the stockholders, and the stockholders shall make
such compensation to the president for his extraordinary attendance at the bank as shall appear to
them reasonable.
13th. That the president and directors may call a general meeting of the stockholders for any
purposes relative to the institution, giving at least six weeks notice in two or more news-papers in
the city of Baltimore, one news-paper at Easton, and one at Frederick-town; any number of stock-
holders, not less than fifty, who together shall be proprietors of one thousand shares of stock, may
at any time apply to the president and directors to call a general meeting of the stockholders for
any purposes relative to the institution, and if the president and directors shall refuse to call such
meeting, the said number of stockholders, proprietors of not less than the aforesaid number of
shares, shall have power to call a general meeting of the stockholders, giving at least sixty days
notice in two news papers in the city of Baltimore, in one news-paper at Easton, and in one at
Frederick-town, and specifying in such notice the object or objects of such meeting.
14th. The lands, tenements and hereditaments, which it shall be lawful for the said corporation
to hold, shall be only such as shall be requisite for its immediate accommodation in relation to the
convenient transacting of its business, and such as shall have been bona fide mortgaged or conveyed
to it by way of security, or in satisfaction of debts contracted in the course of its dealings, or pur-
chased at sales upon judgments which shall have been obtained for such debts.
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Chap.
LXVIII.
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