The Legislature shall, by general law, conform all charters of savings banks, or institutions for savings, to a uniformity of powers, rights and liabilities, and all charters hereafter granted for such corporations shall be made to conform to such general law, and to such amendments as may be made thereto. And no such corporation shall have any capital stock, nor shall the trustees thereof, or any of them, have any interest whatever, direct or indirect, in the profits of such corporation; and no director or trustee of any such bank or institution shall be interested in any loan or use of any money or property of such bank or institution for savings. The Legislature shall have no power to pass any act granting any special charter for banking purposes; but corporations or associations may be formed for such purposes under general laws. (Art. VIII., Sec. 4.)

The Legislature shall have no power to pass any law sanctioning in any manner, directly or indirectly, the suspension of specie payments, by any person, association or corporation, issuing bank notes of any description. (Art. VIII., Sec. 5.)

The Legislature shall provide by law for the registry of all bills or notes, issued or put in circulation as money, and shall require ample security for the redemption of the same in specie. (Art. VIII., Sec. 6.)

The stockholders of every corporation and joint-stock association for banking purposes shall be individually responsible to the amount of their respective share or shares of stock in any such corporation or association for all its debts and liabilities of every kind. (Art. VIII., Sec. 7.)

In case of the insolvency of any bank or banking association the billholders thereof shall be entitled to preference in payment over all other creditors of such bank or association. (Art. VIII., Sec. 8.)

In pursuance of these provisions the Legislature has enacted general laws, among which are The Business Corporation Law, The Stock Corporation Law, The General Corporation Law, The Banking Law, and The Transportation Corporation Law.

Statutory Provisions.- Before a corporation can begin busi

ness it is necessary that the persons forming it should deposit in the office of the Secretary of State, and the office of the clerk of the county where the corporation is located, a certificate of incorporation, which must contain a statement, among other things, of

(a) the name of the corporation,

(b) its location and object for which formed,

(c) the amount of its capital stock,

(d) the number of shares into which the capital is divided, (e) the time for which it is formed,

(f) the number of its directors and the names of these for the first year, and

(g) the names of the stockholders and the number of shares which each has.

At least once a year there must be a general meeting of the stockholders for the election of officers and transaction of business, at which meeting each stockholder is usually entitled to one vote for each share of stock owned by him.

Each year, also, business corporations are obliged to make a report which is deposited in the same places as the certificate of incorporation, which shows the amount of its capital, and contains a statement of its financial condition.

CHAPTER X.

MILITIA.

Composition. It was seen in the study of the United States Constitution that among the powers given to Congress was that "to provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions." (See Book I., page 102.) The Constitution of the State of New York provides that:

All able-bodied male citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, who are residents of the State, shall constitute the militia, subject, however, to such exemptions as are now, or

may be hereafter created by the laws of the United States, or by the Legislature of this State. (Art. XI., Sec. 1.)

Exemptions. The exemptions mentioned in this section include, among others, members of fire and police departments, persons who have served a stated term as a member of a fire company, or five years in the active militia of this state, certain judges, sheriffs, ministers, and conductors and engineers of railways, but even these are liable to military duty in case of actual war, insurrection or invasion.

Commander. The Governor of the State is commander-in-chief of the state militia, which he has power to order into active service in case of riot, insurrection, or invasion. This was done by Governor Flower upon the occasion of the Buffalo strike in 1892.

Active Force.-The Legislature may provide for the enlistment into the active force of such other persons as may make application to be so enlisted. (Art. XI., Sec. 2.)

The militia shall be organized and divided into such land and naval, and active and reserve forces, as the Legislature may deem proper, provided, however, that there shall be maintained at all times a force of not less than ten thousand enlisted men, fully uniformed, armed, equipped, disciplined and ready for active service. And it shall be the duty of the Legislature at each session to make sufficient appropriation for the maintenance thereof. (Art. XI., Sec. 3.)

Divisions of Active Force. The active force as provided for consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia. The qualifications necessary for enlistment are that a person shall be able-bodied, able to read and write, a citizen of the United States, and not less than eighteen years of age nor more than forty-five. The term of enlistment is five years, but upon the expiration

of such term a person can re-enlist for one year or longer. In theory the National Guard consists of brigades, which in turn are composed of regiments. Each regiment is formed of from eight to twelve companies, which are grouped into battalions, there being two or three battalions in each regiment. In practice, however, there are many, so-called, "separate" companies, not belonging to any regiment, but which are joined into battalions.

Officers. The commanding officer of the National Guard is a Major-General, who, by the provisions of Article XI., section 4, is appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate. Brigadier-generals, colonels, lieutenant-colonels and majors are elected by the company officers of the brigade, regiment or battalion, which they command, and captains and lieutenants are elected by the members of their company. But before receiving their commissions officers are required to show their knowledge of military affairs by examination before a board appointed for that purpose by the Governor, and any one who fails to pass such examination is made ineligible as an officer of the militia for the term of one year. It is further provided that:

The commissioned officers shall be commissioned by the Governor as commander-in-chief. No commissioned officer shall be removed from office during the term for which he shall have been appointed or elected, unless by the Senate on the recommendation of the Governor, stating the grounds on which such removal is recommended, or by the sentence of a court-martial, or upon the findings of an examining board organized pursuant to law, or for absence without leave for a period of six months or more. (Art. XI., Sec. 6.)

Benefit of National Guard.-A most important service of the National Guard is to preserve peace and protect property, when the civil authorities are unable to do so, for in case of riot or other tumult, not only is it subject to the order of the Governor, but it is provided by statute that:

or mayor

or

A justice of the Supreme Court, a county judge sheriff commanding officer of the national guard there And the commanding officer out, in aid of the civil authorities the under his command

may call for aid upon the

stationed shall order

force

CHAPTER XI.

POLITICAL PARTIES AND ELECTIONS.

Officers Elected.—Throughout the study of the federal and state institutions it has been noted that certain officers and representatives are elected by vote of the people of the political district for which they are chosen. This leads us to the consideration of elections and the work and use of political parties.

Division into Parties. In every country which possesses a popular government, the people are divided into at least two marked classes-the conservatives and the liberals. The United States is no exception to this rule. No sooner had the Constitution been proposed and adopted than a division arose among the people on the question of the powers of the general government. One party, called the Federalists (the liberals), believed that the government possessed not only the powers specifically granted to it by