Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Benjamin Godfrey, Stephen Griggs, Calvin Riley, William Manning, jr., Winthrop S. Gilman, Simeon Rider, Hezekiah Hawley, Mark Pierson, Thomas G. Hawley, Caleb Stone, Ambrose C. Henkinson, and Jonathan T. Hudson, and their associates and successors, be, and they are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, under the name of the “Alton Hotel Company,” to be located in the town of Alton, Madison county, and by that name shall have power to contract and be contracted with, and may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered unto, in all courts having competent jurisdiction, and shall be vested with all the powers and privileges necessary to the object of their incorporation, as are hereinafter defined and limited.

Sec. 2. The said company shall have power, and be capable of holding, purchasing, improving, selling and conveying any estate, real or personal, for the use of said corporation; second, to improve or erect buildings on the same; third, to rent, lease or occupy any or all such lands belonging to said company, for a term not exceeding the limits of this charter: Provided, That the real estate owned by the said company, shall not exceed one quarter section of land, except such as may be held as collateral security for debts due the said company, or may become the property thereof by virtue of such indebtedness.

Sec. 3. The capital stock of said company shall be twenty thousand dollars, with power to increase the same, at the pleasure of said company, to any sum not exceeding fifty thousand dollars, which capital stock shall be divided into shares of fifty dollars each, and subscribed for and held in manner hereinafter provided.

Sec. 4. The better to enable said corporation to transact and carry on the purposes of their said incorporation, they are hereby authorized and empowered to make, endorse, issue, receive and transfer promissory notes, bills of exchange, conveyances of land, to receive the hypothecation and pledges of the stock of other companies or incorporations, and other instruments in writing necessary to the transaction and safety of their said business: Provided, That this act shall not be construed so as to authorize the said company or corporation to make or emit bills of credit, promissory notes, bank notes, or other instruments to be used as a circulating medium.

Sec. 5. All contracts or other evidences of indebtedness which may be made or entered into by the said corporation, shall be subscribed by the president, and attested by the

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secretary, and being so signed and attested, shall be binding on said corporation; and all conveyances made and entered into by the said corporation, conveying real estate belonging to the said company, when signed and attested as aforesaid, shall, in like manner, be binding on said corporation, according to the tenor, effect, and true intent and meaning of the same.

Sec. 6. The concerns of said corporation shall be managed and conducted by five directors, who shall be chosen annually by the stockholders or their proxies, which shall be by ballot; and the five persons receiving the greatest number of votes, shall receive the certificates of the inspectors declaring them duly elected. The directors so chosen, or the major part of them, shall constitute a board, and be competent to the transaction of business; and shall, and may, from time to time, make and prescribe such by-laws, rules and regulations, relative to the concerns of said corporation, the duties of the president and secretary, (each of whom shall be elected by a majority of the directors so chosen,) and shall, also, regulate the duties of their agents, clerks, and all others by them employed; and also, shall appoint a treasurer, who shall give bond in such amount, and in such manner, as the said directors shall prescribe; and the said directors shall have power to appoint such other officers, agents, and clerks, as may be necessary for carrying on the business of said corporation, with such salaries and allowances as to the said directors shall seem proper: Provided, That such by-laws and regulations shall not be repugnant to the constitution and laws of the United States or of this State.

Sec. 7. That Benjamin Godfrey, Calvin Riley, and Stephen Griggs, shall be commissioners, the duties of whom, or a majority of them, shall be to open books of subscription to the capital stock of said corporation, within one month from and after the passage of this act, in such places and at such times as, in their opinion, is best calculated to have said stock taken up; twenty days notice shall be given, by the said commissioners, of the time and place, and the number of days the subscription books will be kept open for subscriptions, in a public newspaper published in the places, where they intend to open said books for subscriptions of the capital stock of said company. The commissioners shall receive no subscriptions, unless at least one dollar on each share subscribed, be paid at the time of subscription; and as soon as the whole amount of the said capital stock shall be subscribed, the said commissioners shall give a like notice of twenty days for the meeting of the stockholders, for the purpose of choosing five directors, designating the time and place of such election; at which

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election, persons holding stock of said company, shall be permitted to vote either in person, or by lawful proxy; the said commissioners shall be inspectors of the first election of directors, and shall certify under their hands, the names of those duly elected, and deliver over to them the subscription books, and the amount of money received on subscriptions, to the said directors.

Sec. 8. The stock of said corporation shall be deemed personal property, and assignable and transferable on the books of the corporation; but no stockholder, indebted to the corporation, shall be permitted to make a transfer until such debt be paid or secured, to be paid to the satisfaction of the directors.

Sec. 9. The company shall, at all times, keep proper books of accounts, in which shall be registered all the transactions of the corporation, and the same shall, at all times, be subject to the inspection of the stockholders, and it shall be the duty of the directors to make annual dividends, or at such other times as a majority of the directors shall direct, of so much of the profits of the said company, as to them, or a majority of them, shall appear advisable; and the said directors shall, whenever required by a majority of the stockholders, exhibit, at a general meeting, a full and perfect statement of the debts and credits, and all such other matters as may be deemed essential, relating to the affairs of the company.

Sec. 10. The stock, not disposed of by the commissioners in the manner hereinbefore named, shall, and may be issued by the directors for the time being, according to the by-laws and regulations that may be adopted by the said company.

Sec. 11. As soon as twenty per cent. of the capital stock of said company shall be subscribed and paid in, the said corporation shall be authorized to proceed to business, and not before.

Sec. 12. This act is hereby declared public, and shall take effect from and after its passage, and be and remain in force for the term of ten years.

Approved, Feb. 12, 1835.