1844.

THOMAS G. PRATT, ESQUIRE, GOVERNOR.

CHAP. 279.

Board of Di-
rectors.

SEC. 2. And be it enacted, That the persons named in
the foregoing section are hereby constituted and appoint-
ed a board of directors of said company, until the first
election of directors, as hereinafter provided for, shall take
place; and that it shall be the duty of said directors, or
of a majority of them, at their first meeting, to begin the
organization of said company by the appointment of a
president and secretary; and that they shall have power
to establish their salaries, fill vacancies in their own body,
make by-laws, and posses all the other powers conferred
upon the directors by this act.

Books to be
opened.

SEC. 3. And be it enacted, That it shall be the duty of
said board to open books to receive applications for
insurance as aforesaid, and as soon as the amount of in-
surance approved by them shall amount to one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars, the premiums on which shall
have been actually paid or secured to be paid, the com-
pany shall be considered as organised, and go into opera-
tion.

Privilege of
company for
protection of
dealers.

SEC. 4 And be it enacted, That the said company for
the better security of its dealers, may receive notes for
premiums in advance of persons intending to receive its
policies, and may negotiate such notes for the purpose of
paying claims or otherwise in the course of its business;
but the aggregate amount of said notes shall not exceed
at any one time fifty-thousand dollars, and shall not be
used by the company until all its other available funds are
exhausted, and in lieu of all other compensation or in-
terest, the respective signers of said notes shall be en-
titled to the same privileges and to the same share or divi-
dends of the profits of the company, as if the amount of
said notes were for premiums paid to the company for
risks insured by it; but in proportion as its earnings will
justify it, the company shall have the right to decrease the
respective amount of said notes, and to cancel or return
them to their respective signers, after receiving from them
the proportion which the company may have earned for
policies issued to them respectively, and should any por-
tion of said notes have been used for paying losses, before
any disposition shall be made of the funds of the company,
towards the redemption of dividend certificates, as herein-
after mentioned, the same shall be made good as soon as
the business and resources of the company will permit, it
being the true meaning and intent of this act, that should
the said sum of fifty thousand dollars, or any part thereof,
be at any time required to meet any demands against the
company, such amount shall be made good to the respec-