| 114 MARYLAND HISTORICAL MAGAZINE
such incorporation, corporate privileges were granted spar-
ingly by the General Assembly, probably because of its
fear of monopolies and because of prejudice against some Eng-
lish corporations which had been operating-in the colonies be-
fore the Revolution.l'° Between 1783 and 1807 the General
Assembly created forty-two business corporations. The largest
number created in any one year was eleven in 1804. Four
types of companies were incorporated in Maryland: compan-
ies for transportation improvements, banks, insurance com-
panies, and local public utility companies.
TABLE I
CORPORATIONS CHARTERED FOR BUSINESS PURPOSES
SPECIAL ACT 1777-1807
Type Number Per Cent of Total
Transportation 22 52
Canals 5 11
Turnpike Roads 10 24
Toll-Bridges 7 17
22 52
Banks 7 17
Insurance 10 24
Public Utilities
Water Companies 2 5-
Miscellaneous 1 2
52 100%
Often Maryland participated directly in such companies by
purchasing stock and electing directors in proportion to the
amount of stock held. The " mixed corporation," as this state
participation in private enterprise is usually known, was pe-
culiar to Maryland and several other American states at that
time.
Of the private interests seeking to improve transportation
facilities, those first to apply to the Maryland legislature for cor-
porate privileges were the inland navigation companies. Proj-
"° Davfs, Ii, 329.
|
