four and sixty-five of the "act to provide for the organiza- N. H. VAN VORHES, President of the Senate. April 8, 1856. AN ACT commission ers. To amend the act to regulate the fees of officers in civil and criminal cases. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That section fourteen of the act entitled "an act to regulate the fees of officers in civil and criminal cases," passed March 5, 1831, be amended so as to read as follows: Fees of county Sec. 14. That each county commissioner shall be allowed two dollars per day for his services, to be paid out of the county treasury, upon the order of the county auditor; except in counties in which, by the last federal census, the population amounted to one hundred thousand or upwards, in which counties each commissioner shall be allowed five dollars per day for his services, to be paid out of the county treasury as aforesaid. SEC. 2. That original section fourteen of the act afore- Sec. repealed. said, be and the same is hereby repealed. SEC. 3. That the act entitled an act to fix the compensa- Act repealed. tion of the commissioners of Hamilton county, passed March 20, 1850, be and the same is hereby repealed. N. H. VAN VORHES, Speaker of the House of Representatives. THOMAS H. FORD, April 8, 1856. President of the Senate. Commission ers of sinking fund shall iseates of stock. sue certifi Limitations. Proceeds AN ACT To prvide for the payment of the public debt of the state, due January 1, 1857, and for the payment of the interest on the public debt. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That the commissioners of the sinking fund be, and they are hereby authorized, to issued in accordance With the provisions and conditions of the act of February 4, 1825, creating the state debt, and of the several acts amendatory thereof, transferable certificates of stock bearing interest at a rate not exceeding six per centum per annum, payable semi-annually at the transfer agency in the city of New York, the principal to be redeemable at the pleasure of the state, at such time between the year 1875 and the year 1886, as the commissioners of the sinking fund may determine; the certificates to be transferrable at said agency in the manner prescribed by law, or coupon certificates as the said commissioners may deem most advisable to be registered at said agency. SEC. 2. The said commissioners shall not, by authority of this act, issue certificates to an amount greater than the principal of the funded debt of the state, made payable at the pleasure of the state after the year 1856, after the application of the sinking fund available for that purpose, to the payment thereof; nor shall they sell any certificate of stock at a rate less than the per value thereof. SEC. 3. The moneys arising from the sale of the certifihow applied. cates authorized by this act, shall be applied by the commissioners of the sinking fund, to the redemption of the certificates of the funded debt of the state, made payable as stated in the second section of this act, and to no other purpose. Appropriations. SEC. 4. The following sums are hereby appropriated of any moneys in the treasury belonging to the sinking fund including the amount that may be raised by the sale of certificates as provided in the first section of this act for the year 1856, viz: For the payment of the semi-annual interest to become due on the foreign debt of the state, on the first day of July 1856, and the first day of January 1857, and the semi-annual interest to become due on the domestic debt of the state on the first day of May, and the first day of November 1856, the sum of eight hundred and thirty thousand dollars. For the payment of interest on school and trust funds, held by the state, one hundred and thirty-three thousand eight hundred and thirty dollars. For the payment of the foreign debt of the state, payable at the pleasure of the state after the year 1856, two millions five hundred and nine thousand dollars. For the payment of the debt of the state past due, the certificates of which have not been presented for payment and not bearing interest, two thousand three hundred and fifty dolloars. For the payment of the salaries of the transfer agent and registrar in New York City and contingent expenses of their offices for the year 1856, a sum not exceeding eight thousand dollars. SEC. 5. This act shall be in force from and after its pas- In force. sage. N. H. VAN VORHES, Speaker of the House of Representatives. April 8, 1856. President of the Senate. AN ACT To enable mutual insurance companies to become joint stock companies. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That any corporation authorized, or that may hereafter become authorized by any law of this state, to insure property against loss or damage by fire, or any other cause or risk, to make insurance upon lives, to make insurance against loss or damage on goods or merchandise in the course of transportation, whether on land or water on any vessels or boats, to lend money on bottomry or respondentia, or to cause itself to be insured against any loss or risk they may incur in the course of its business, and which is bound by law to distribute the net profits of its business, in whole or in part, among those who have paid premiums to the said company for insurance, or are otherwise holders of its policies of insurance, may become a joint stock company, with all the powers and privileges as to the kind of business it may be authorized to prosecute, and as to the mode and manner of prosecuting the same it previously possessed, by accepting the provisions of this act, in the manner hereinafter provided. SEC. 2. That when the board of directors for the time being, of any such company desire to become a joint stock company, by accepting the provisions of this act, they shall pass a resolution to that effect, calling a meeting of those holding the certificates of said company, and all others entitled to receive on distribution, any proportion of the net profits of said company, of which meeting at least thirty days notice shall be given in two newspapers published in, or of general circulation in the county in which the principal office for business of said company is situated, specifying 8-LAWS. Mutual insur ance companies may become joint panies. stock com Proceedings.. What certifi issued. the time, place and object of holding the same; when the proposition to become a joint stock company shall be submitted to them to be voted on, and if agreed to by the persons, representing in person or by proxy, three-fourths in amount of the certificates of said company, or otherwise entitled on distribution to the major part of the net profits of said company, the said company shall thereupon cease to be a mutual, and shall be and become a joint stock company. SEC. 3. That thereafter no certificates shall be issued to cates shall be any person or persons, entitling them to any proportion, on distribution of the net profits of said company, except certificates of shares in the capital stock of said company, and all existing and outstanding certificates shall be canceled, and new certificates of capital stock issued to an equal amount to the holders thereof, according to their relative value which shall be estimated in conformity with the interest they respectively bear, and whenever the board of directors shall thereafter declare a dividend arising from the profits of said company, they may either pay the same, in whole or in part, in money, or issue new certificates therefor, in whole or in part, thereby increasing the capital stock of said company, unless otherwise directed by the holders of a majority in amount of the stock. Holders of certificates who vote against change. Sale of certificates for indebtness of holder. SEC. 4. That the holder of any certificate in any such mutual insurance company, or other person entitled to receive a proportion on distribution of the net profits thereof, voting at any such meeting, as herein provided for, against the proposition to make such company a joint stock company, shall be entitled to retain his said certificate or other claim, drawing interest as if such change had not been made, and to receive thereon from time to time, the proportion of the profits thereof, to which he would have been otherwise entitled, to be credited on the same, until the same shall become fully paid off and extinguished, remaining liable however, for any payments thereon to said company, to which he would have remained liable on account of any losses, in case said change had not been made. SEC. 5. That the certificate or certificates of any person or firm, who may at any time be indebted to the said insurance company, and who shall not pay such indebtedness within sixty days after notice, that the same is due, may be sold at public auction after three weeks notice of such sale, in at least two newspapers published in, or of general circulation in the county where the principal office of business of said company is situated, and the net proceeds of such sale shall be applied to the payment of the claim of the said insurance company, and the remainder, if any, shall be paid on demand to the party entitled to the same, and the interest of the holder of such certificates shall be effectually canceled ⚫ by such sale, and the certificates shall be deemed void and of no effect, and new certificates shall be issued by said company to the purchasers of said certificates. SEC. 6. That the directors of any such company, on such change being agreed to as herein above provided, shall de termine and declare the amount of each share of the said capital stock, for which certificates shall be issued, and for all fractional parts thereof, to which any person may be entitled, shall issue certificates therefor, which shall draw such rate of interest, payable out of the current net profits, of said company, and the principal of which shall be paid and canceled, as the directors of said company, for; the time being, may from time to time order and determine., SEC. 7. That it shall also be lawful for any mutual in surance company now in existence, or hereafter created, which shall not desire to become a joint stock company aq cording to the provisions of this act,, to receive from any person or persons applying for insurance in said company, a certain definite sum of money, to be determined by the directors of said company, in full, før such insurance, and said sum shall be in lieu of a premium note, and such person or persons shall not be liable to said company during the continuance of his or their policies on account thereof for any further sum of money, and all such sum or sums of money as shall be paid to said company in lieu of said premium note as aforesaid, shall be retained as a fund for the payment of losses and expenses which may happen or accrue in and to said company, which said fund shall be exhausted before a resort shall be had to assessments upon the premium notes deposited with said company, which said notes and fund as aforesaid, shall constitute the capital of said company for the payment of losses and expenses. SEC. 8. This act shall take effect and be in force from In force. and after its passage. N. H. VAN VORHES, Speaker of the House of Representatives. THOMAS H. FORD, President of the Senate. 74 |