divided into shares by the corporation, half of which shall be paid in, in money, before the said corporation shall go into operation for the purpose of making insurance; the other half of the said stock may be called for by the directors from time to time, when they deem it necessary or expedient, and shall be paid in by the holders of the stock, which shall always stand pledged to the corporation, for all such assessments so called for.

Sec. 3. At the first meeting of the corporation a number of directors, not less than twelve, shall be chosen by the subscribers to the guarantee stock, who shall hold their offices for one year, and until others shall be chosen in their stead. At all subsequent elections of directors, the number shall be such as may have been provided for by a previous vote of the directors, or by-law of the corporation; and in case of no provision on this subject, the number shall be the same as at the first election, one-half of whom shall be elected by the subscribers to the guarantee stock, and the other half by the assured, not being holders of the guarantee stock, voting in separate bodies. The directors shall all be either stockholders or assured, and in ceasing to be such, shall cease to hold the said office.

Sec. 4. Whenever the net surplus receipts of the said corporation over the losses and expenses, and after providing for risks, shall be sufficient for the purpose, the stockholders shall be entitled to an annual dividend of seven per cent., or to such less dividend, as may be agreed on, at the time of subscribing for the stock; and in case of such dividend not being made in any one year, it shall be made good at a subsequent period, when the net resources of the Company shall be sufficient for paying the same.

Sec. 5. The funds of the said corporation shall be invested in such purchases and loans as are permitted to savings banks, in the seventy-eighth and seventy-ninth sections of the thirty-sixth chapter of the Revised Statutes, and in the forty-fourth chapter of the Acts of the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-one. The said Company may hold real estate to the amount of ten thousand dollars, for the purpose of securing suitable offices for the institution.

Sec. 6. After providing for risks, losses, incidental expenses and dividends as aforesaid, the directors shall set apart one-quarter of the estimated surplus funds and receipts as a reserved fund, to be applied to the redemp tion of the guarantee stock; and whenever after the expiration of ten years from the time of organizing the Company, the amount of such fund shall be sufficient for the purpose, and the assured shall vote to redeem the said guarantee stock, the same shall be redeemed.

Sec. 7. Upon the redemption and extinction of the guarantee stock, under the provision of the sixth section, the directors shall be chosen by the assured.

Sec. 8. At the expiration of every five years from the time of the organi zation of the Company, the remaining three-quarters of the estimated sur plus funds and receipts shall be reimbursed to and among the assured, in

proportion to the whole amount of premiums paid during the preceding five years.

Sec. 9. The said corporation shall on the third Monday of January in each year, pay over to the trustees of the Massachusetts General Hospital, one-third of the net profits, if any, which shall have arisen from insurance on lives made during the preceding year.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, May 10th, 1851. Passed to be enacted. N. P. BANKS, JR., Speaker.

In SENATE, May 14th, 1851. Passed to be enacted.

HENRY WILSON, President.

May 15th, 1851. Approved. GEORGE S. BOUTWELL.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.

AN ACT to change the name of the Berkshire County Mutual Life Insurance Company.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. The Berkshire County Mutual Life Insurance Company are hereby authorized to take the name of the Berkshire Life Insurance Company.

Section 2. This act shall take effect from and after its passage.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, April 30th, 1855. Passed to be enacted. DANIEL C. EDDY, Speaker, &c.

IN SENATE, May 1st, 1855. Passed to be enacted.

HENRY W. BENCHLEY, President.

May 3d, 1855. Approved. (Signed.) HENRY J. GARDNER.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.

AN ACT in addition to an act incorporating the Berkshire Life Insurance Company.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1, The Berkshire Life Insurance Company is hereby authorized, whenever so directed by a vote of the assured, to redeem at par and extinguish all or any part of its original guaranty capital stock, and to appropriate for this purpose so much of its funds as may be necessary. Section 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 27, 1863. Passed to be enacted. ALEX. H. BULLOCK, Speaker.

IN SENATE, February 28th, 1863. Passed to be enacted.

J. E. FIELD, President.

March 3d, 1863. Approved. JOHN A. ANDREW.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.

AN ACT in further addition to an act incorporating the Berkshire Life Insurance Company.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. At the expiration of every five years from the time of organization of the Berkshire Life Insurance Company, the remaining threequarters of the estimated surplus funds and receipts shall be reimbursed equitably to and among the assured in proportion to their contributions to the same, reckoning as contributions: First, the excess of the actual premium over that required by the rate of mortality agreeing most nearly with the actual experience of the Company and the assumed rate of interest accumulated at the current rate of interest. Second, the excess of interest over the assumed rate thereof on the net value of the policy from year to year, also accumulated at current interest.

Section 2. The eighth section of chapter one hundred and forty of the Acts of the year eighteen hundred and fifty-one is hereby repealed.

Section 3. This act shall take effect when accepted by the assured at a meeting of said Company held for that purpose.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, April 2d, 1864. Passed to be enacted. ALEX. H. BULLOCK, Speaker.

IN SENATE, April 4th, 1864. Passed to be enacted.

J. E. FIELD, President.

April 5th, 1864. Approved. JOHN A. ANDREW.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.

AN ACT authorizing the Berkshire Life Insurance Company to hold real

estate.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

The Berkshire Life Insurance Campany is hereby authorized to purchase and hold real estate to an amount not exceeding seventy-five thousand dollars; provided, that no part of said amount shall be invested in real estate except in the purchase of a suitable site and the erection or preparation of suitable buildings to be used wholly or in part for the purposes of said Company; and all income, if any, arising from such real estate, shall be devoted exclusively to the interests of said Company.

February 20th, 1866. Approved. (Signed.)

ALEX. H. BULLOCK.

BY-LAWS.

1st. The annual meeting of the corporation shall be held at the office of the Company, in Pittsfield, on the first Monday after the fifteenth day of September in every year, for the choice of directors, and the transaction of other business.

2d. The regular meetings of the Board of Directors shall be held on the same day of the annual meeting, and on the first Monday of December, March, June and September, at the office of the Company in Pittsfield, and five members of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; but meetings may be adjourned by those present, or by the Secretary.

A special meeting of the Board may also be called by the President and Secretary, by giving notice to each member at least three days before such meeting.

3d. The Board of Directors shall appoint and regulate the salaries of all officers, also employ clerks and agents and require them to give such bonds as they deem advisable. 4th. The President shall preside at the meetings of the Board of Directors and of the corporation.

5th. The Vice-President shall perform the duties of the President in his absence.

6th. The Secretary of the Board shall be clerk of the corporation, and shall give notice of the annual meetings by publishing the same in two newspapers of Pittsfield, ten days at least before the meeting. Similar notice shall be given of any meeting for the alteration of the by-laws or to fill vacancies in the Board. He shall have general charge of the books and papers belonging to the Company, and do all its writing in regard to its business

matters.

7th. The examining physicians shall perform such services in the line of their profession, and at such times as the Board of Directors may require.

8th. The President, Vice-President, Treasurer and four members of the Board of Directors, chosen by the Board shall constitute the financial committee, five of whom shall reside in Pittsfield. Three of the number may do business, provided they all concur. They shall, under the provision of law, and general supervision of the Board of Directors, invest the capital stock and other funds of the Company, and keep the same safely invested. When the interests of the Company demand it, they may collect or sell the stock or securities on hand, or any part of them, and invest anew the proceeds. They shall also examine and settle all accounts and charges against the Company. They shall also keep minutes of their proceedings at their meetings of business, in books kept for that purpose, which shall be kept in common with other books of the Company. Their regular meetings shall be held on the last Monday of every month, at the office of the Company in Pittsfield.

9th. All policies, conveyances, deeds, &c., shall be signed by the President and countersigned by the Secretary.

10th. No policy shall be issued on a single life for a greater amount than twenty thousand dollars; and no policy shall take effect or be binding until the premium is paid to the Company, or an accredited agent.

11th. If any person procuring a policy, and becoming obligated to this Company, for premiums or interest, by note or otherwise, shall fail to pay at the time appointed, or shall fail to pay such assessments upon notes or other obligations as may be demanded, or shall otherwise fail to comply with the terms of the contract, such policy shall be therefore void and all premiums or interest then due, and all payments previously made, shall be forfeited to the Company.

12th. The stock of the Company subscribed as guarantee capital shall be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each. Each share shall entitle the holder to one vote, but no stockholder shall in his own right carry more than thirty votes.

13th. Voters may delegate their right by a written proxy, which shall be filed in the office of the Company.

14th. The half of the guarantee capital stock which is required to be paid in, in money before the corporation shall go into operation for the purpose of making insurance shall always stand pledged as security for any part or all of the remaining half, which may be called for by the directors at any time before the same shall be redeemed.

15th. At the expiration of every five years from the time of the organization of this Company, the remaining three-quarters of the surplus funds and receipts, which are not reserved according to section sixth of the charter, shall be divided among the assured who hold life policies, in proportion to the whole amount of premiums paid during the preceding five years. [Marked "Changed."]

16th. In case persons who are insured in this Company shall, without the written consent of the Company, visit those parts of the United States which lie south of the southern boundaries of Virginia and Kentucky, between the first of June and the first of November, or shall without such previous consent enter into any military or naval service whatsoever, (the militia not in actual service excepted) or shall, without such previous consent, be employed as an engineer or fireman in running a locomotive or steamer, or in the mannfacture or transportation of gunpowder, or employed in a coal mine, or shall become so far intemperate as to impair their health or induce delirium tremens, or shall die by their own hands, or in consequence of a duel, or by the hands of justice, or in the known violation of any law of the States or of the United States, or the British Provinces, their policy shall be void, null and of no effect.

17th. All persons whose lives are insured in this Company are permitted to travel on any of the regular mail routes and coast routes in the United States and Territories (except not to go south of the southern boundary line of Virginia and Kentucky, between the first of June and the first of November, without the written consent of the Company) by steamboat or otherwise, and travel inland or on any of the northern or upper lakes by steamboat or other conveyances.

18th. No person shall be eligible as a director or officer who is not interested in the guarantee stock to the amount of five hundred dollars or is insured by policies of the Company, or in shares and policies combined, to the amount of one thousand dollars.

19th. All losses will be paid within three months after satisfactory proof is received at the office in Pittsfield.

20th. These laws may be amended or repealed by a majority vote of those present at any annual meeting, or meeting of the Company called for that purpose, provided notice thereof is given at least ten days before such meeting.

MASSACHUSETTS MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY.

CHARTER.

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. IN THE YEAR ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE.

AN ACT to incorporate the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Alexander H. Avery, James M. Thompson, William Rice, their associates and successors, are hereby made a corporation, by the name of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, in the town of Springfield, for the purpose of making insurance on lives, with all the pow ers and privileges, and subject to all the duties, liabilities and restrictions set fourth in the forty-fourth chapter of the Revised Statutes.

SECT. 2. There shall be an original guarantee capital stock subscribed to the said corporation, which shall be one hundred thousand dollars, to be divided into shares by the corporation, half of which shall be paid in, in