COPYRIGHT, 1917
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS

213153

18
CONTENTS

BOOK TWO

CHAPTER I

PAGES

3-33

INTRODUCTORY.

Inclusiveness of the term “business corporation,” 3. Colonial pro-

totypes and predecessors, and reasons for their paucity, 4. Conditions

after the Revolution favorable to the growth of corporations, 6.

General purpose of the present essay,

Power of incorporation assumed by state legislatures, 8. A governor's

charter annulled, 9. Status of corporations with colonial charters, 9.

Incorporation powers of the Confederation Congress, in law and in

fact, 10. Proposals in the constitutional convention to give such powers

to the new Congress, 12. Attempts to secure constitutional restric-

tions on the power, 14. The test of the national bank charter, 14.

The case of corporations in the District of Columbia, 16.

Freedom of incorporation for non-business corporations, 16. Massa-

chusetts general incorporation act (1799) for aqueduct companies, 17.

North Carolina statute of 1795, relative to canal companies, probably

not in the same class, 18. Process of incorporation by special act, 19.

Variants from the usual method of incorporating, 20.

General view of eighteenth century charters: classification, distribu-

tion by years, types, and sources of charters, and relation to density of

population, 21. Corporations with more than one charter, 29. Busi-

ness cycles, 1781-1800, related to the growth of business corporations,

31. Material presented in this essay, 31.

CHAPTER II

BANKING COMPANIES

34-108

Commercial banks lacking in the colonies, 34. The so-called Penn-

sylvania Bank, 35. Plan for a Bank of North America, 36. Table of

bank charters, 37. Vicissitudes of the Bank of North America, 39. Its

success, 43. The Bank of New York, 44. Early days of the Massa-

chusetts Bank, 46. The Bank of Maryland, 49. Movement for a bank

in Providence, 49. A national bank proposed, 50. Establishment of

the Bank of the United States, 51. Possibilities of a unified banking

PAGES

system, by means of branches or inter-corporate relations, 52. The

decision in favor of a few branches in principal centers, and its conse-

quences, 56.

Increase of banks and banking capital after 1789, 59. The Providence

Bank, 60. The New Hampshire Bank, 63. Connecticut banks at Hart-

ford, New London, and New Haven, 63. Prosperity and criticisms of

the Massachusetts Bank, 65. Resulting attempts to tax it, to modify

its charter, and to establish a state bank, 68. The Boston Tontine

Association, 70. It becomes the Union Bank, 72. Relations with the

state, 74. Its early policies and practices, 75. The Essex Bank in

Salem, refused a charter, operates without one, 78. Virginia banks, at

Alexandria and Richmond, 78. The Bank of South Carolina, unincor-

porated until 1801, 80. The Bank of Albany, 80. The “bancomania”

in New York City (1792), 81. Hamilton's relations, while Secretary

of the Treasury, with the Bank of New York, 91. The Bank of Penn-

sylvania, the principal example of a state bank before 1800, 95.

Other banks chartered after 1792: Banks of Columbia at Hudson,

N. Y., and the new federal district, 97. The Bank of Baltimore, 97.

Massachusetts institutions at Salem, Nantucket, Newburyport, Port-

land (Maine), and Gloucester, 98. Rhode Island banks at Newport,

Bristol, and Westerly, 99. Connecticut charters for Middletown and

Norwich banks, 100. The Bank of Delaware, 100. The Manhattan Com-

pany's charter and bank, 101. Other attempts to establish banks, 101.

General considerations: naturalization of the bank in New England,

102; banking conducted largely by incorporated institutions, 102; bank

capitals and dividends, 103; charter provisions, 105; state participation

in banking, 107. Conclusion, 108.

CHAPTER III

CORPORATIONS FOR IMPROVING INLAND NAVIGATION

109-185

Ante-revolutionary moves toward improving communication by

water, in Pennsylvania, 109; in Maryland and Virginia, particularly

the Potomac improvement, 11. General view of enterprises chartered

before 1800, 116.

The first corporation, Maryland's Proprietors of the Susquehanna

Canal, 117. Table of charters, 118. The Potomac project revived,

supported by General Washington, and chartered by Maryland and

Virginia, 120. State support for the Potomac Company, 123. Subscrip-

tion and organization, 125. Labor policies and problems, 126. Diffi-

culties of engineering and superintendence, 128. Financial problems,

130. Progress in construction, 132. Failure and factors responsible,

135. Chesapeake and Delaware canal, 136. The James River Com-

pony, 137. The Dismal Swamp Company, 140. South Carolina en-

terprises: the Santee and Cooper, 142; the Edisto and Ashley, 146; the

Catawba and Wateree, chartered also by North Carolina, 146. North

Carolina repeals its charter, 147.

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The Pennsylvania Society for promoting the improvement of Roads and
Inland Navigation, — its formation, investigations, and recommenda-
tions, 149. A state policy formulated, 151. Charters for three “navi-
gations" and their flotation, 152. Activities amid opposition and usual

difficulties, 153. Liberal state support refused, and consequent aban-

donment, 156. Efforts of Christopher Colles in New York, 157. El-

kanah Watson's agitation, 158. Incorporation and flotation of New

York's northern and western inland navigations, 160. The western

company's progress, difficulties, and measure of success, 161. Vain

efforts of the northern company, 165.

New England projects to improve the navigation of the Connecticut,

at South Hadley and Montague, 167; at Bellows Falls, 168; at White

River Falls, 169; at Water Queche Falls, 170; between Hartford and

Middletown, 170. Locks and Canals on Merrimack River, 170. The

Middlesex Canal and its special significance, 171.

Experiences of the major canal enterprises summarized, 173. Various

abortive projects of considerable size, 174. Smaller corporate and non-

corporate undertakings to improve navigation, in North Carolina, 177;

in Virginia and other southern states, 180; in New Jersey, 181; in New

England, 182. Success of these companies, 184. Conclusion, 184.

CHAPTER IV

TOLL-BRIDGE AND TURNPIKE COMPANIES

186-230

Forerunners of the corporation in bridge construction and control,

186. The Charles River Bridge, Boston, 187. Table of toll-bridge

charters, 188. Malden Bridge, 189. Essex Bridge connecting Beverly

and Salem, 190. Newburyport Bridge, 191. West Boston Bridge, 192.

Four more Merrimac River bridges, at Lowell, Lawrence, and Haver-

hill, 194. Second ineffective charter, 1796, for a Connecticut River

bridge, 196. The New Bedford Bridge, 196. Summary of Massachu-

setts' experience, 196. Maine charters, 197. New Hampshire the

leader in toll-bridge charters, 198. Amoskeag, White River Falls, and

Piscataqua bridges, 199. Other New Hampshire charters, 200. Ver-

mont's five companies, 202. Companies of northern and western New

England compared with those near Boston, 202. Three Rhode Island

companies, 203.

New Jersey companies: the Passaic and Hackensack River bridges,

204; the New Brunswick Bridge, 208; Rancocus Toll-Bridge, 209; Dela-

ware River bridges at Easton and Trenton, 210. Inoperative Pennsyl-

vania charters, 211. The Schuylkill Permanent Bridge at Philadelphia,

212. New York's Cayuga bridge, 213. Maryland's Potomac bridge

companies, 213. Lone charters in South Carolina and Kentucky, 215.

Size of the toll-bridge companies, 215.

Turnpike companies in tabular view, 216. Forerunners of the turn-

pike corporation, 217. The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, 218.

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Other Pennsylvania charters, 220. Ineffectual promotion of a turnpike

to connect Philadelphia and New York, 220. Rhode Island's three com-

panies, 221. Connecticut's leadership with twenty-three, and their

location, 221. Massachusetts turnpikes, 222. The movement in New

York, 223. Four important New Hampshire companies, 224. Nine

Vermont turnpikes, 225. Virginia and Maryland companies the only

southern representatives, 226. Size of the turnpike companies, 227.

Outstanding features of charters of highway companies, 227.

CHAPTER V

INSURANCE, WATER SUPPLY, MANUFACTURING, AND MISCEL-

LANEOUS CORPORATIONS

231-290

Insurance business in eighteenth century America, — life, 231;

marine, 232; fire, 234. Table of insurance company charters, 235.

The first corporation, the mutual Philadelphia Contributionship, char-

tered, 235. Other mutual fire insurance companies after the Revolu-

tion, 236. The Baltimore joint stock company and its successor, 238.

The Universal Tontine develops into the Insurance Company of North

America, 239. Rival joint stock companies chartered in Philadelphia,

Baltimore, and New York, 242. The Massachusetts Fire, becoming

the Massachusetts Fire and Marine, and its competitor, the Boston

Marine, 242. Other companies in New England, 244. Distribution

and size of the insurance companies, 245. Their relations with banks,

245. Charter features, 246.

Water supply companies in colonial days, 247. Abortive schemes

and unincorporated associations after the Revolution, 248. The Balli-

more Water Company charter inoperative, 248. Table of charters, 250.

Massachusetts leadership, 250. The Boston Aqueduct Corporation,

251. The Manhattan Company's charter and insignificant accomplish-

ments, 252. Minor concerns, 252. Distribution and ill-success of water

companies, 253. Characteristics of their charters, 254.

Manufacturing in the household stage or the domestic system, 255.

Scale of operations, 256. Associations of tradesmen or to promote

manufactures, 257. Unincorporated joint stock manufacturing com-

panies appealing to various motives, 258. A New York iron company,

260. The Boston Duck or Sail Cloth Manufactory, and others, 260.

The Boston Glass Manufactory and others, 262. Activities of the

Pennsylvania Society, 264. The Hartford Woollen Manufactory, 266.

Other unincorporated joint stock companies, 267. Table of charters to

manufacturing corporations, 269. The peculiar Company of the Con-

necticut silk manufacturers, 269. The Beverly Cotton Manufactory, 270.

The New York Manufacturing Society, 275. The New Jersey "S.U.M.”

275. The Newburyport Woollen Manufactory, 277. A Massachusetts

calico printing company, 278. The Hamilton Manufacturing Society,

278. The Salem Iron Factory Company, 279. Reasons for the failure of

manufacturing corporations, 279.