Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That William Craig, John B. Hundley, Benjamin F. Edwards, John B. Campden, and Joseph Green, their associates and successors be, and they are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name of the Illinois Beet Sugar, Silk, and Vegitable Manufacturing Company, and by that name shall have power to contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered, defend, and be defended, in all courts of law and equity in this State, and to make, have, and use a common seal, and the same to alter and renew at pleasure, and shall continue and exist as such, from and after the passage of this act, for the term of twenty years.

Sec. 2. The said company are hereby authorised to enter into and carry on the cultivation of beet, and other saccharine vegetables, and manufacturing sugar therefrom, also the

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cultivation of the different varieties of the mulberry, and the growing of silk and manufacturing the same into the various articles of commerce, also oil from the poppy, sun flower seed, and other vegetables; to export their products and manufactures, to erect mills, works, machinery, and such other buildings as may be necessary to carry on efficiently their business, and to enter into all contracts which may concern the use and management of said property.

Sec. 3. The capital stock of said company shall be fifty thousand dollars, with power to increase the same at the pleasure of said company, to any amount not exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Sec. 4. The stock property, and concerns of said corporation, shall be managed and conducted by five directors, who shall, or a majority of them, constitute a board, and be competent to the transaction of all business, and may from time to time make and prescribe such by-laws, rules, and regulations relative to the concerns of said corporation as may be deemed by them necessary, and shall also regulate the duties of their agents and clerks and all others by them employed.

Sec. 5. William Craig, John B. Hundley, Benjamin F. Edwards, John B Campden, and Joseph Green, shall be directors from the time this act takes effect, and until succeeded by others, who shall be elected by the stockholders or their proxies, on the second Monday in may next, and annually thereafter; but in case such elections should not be so held, this charter shall not be forfeited, but an election may be held at any time within three months thereafter, on the call of any two stockholders given in a newspaper printed in Alton.2

Sec. 6. Immediately after the directors are chosen as above, they shall hold a meeting at which, and at all subsequent meetings a majority shall constitute a quorum; they shall proceed to the election of a president from their number, a secretary, who shall be sworn by a justice of the peace to the faithful discharge of his duty, and who shall record all the votes of the corporation in a book, to be by him kept for that purpose, a treasurer, who shall give bond to such amounts and in such manner as the said president and directors shall direct, and appoint such other officers and agents as to them may seem proper.

Sec. 7. The capital stock of said company shall be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each, and each share shall be entitled to one vote.

Sec. 8. The establishment of said corporation for the cultivation and manufacture of the articles aforesaid, shall be located in Madison or Macoupin county, as the directors, or a majority of them, may deem most advantageous.

Sec. 9. That the general place of meeting for said company, shall be at Alton in this State, but the president and directors ofsaid company may select such other places of business as to them may seem fit, for the general purposes of said company.

Sec. 10. The corporation shall at all times keep proper books of account, in which shall be registered all the transactions of said corporation, and it shall be the duty of said directors to make annual dividends, or at such other times as a majority of them may direct, of the profits of said company, and the said directors shall at least every six months, exhibit a full and complete statement of debts and credits, and such other matters as may be deemed essential relating to the affairs of the company.

Sec. 11. The corporation hereby created by this act, shall be capable and are hereby authorised to purchase, hold, and convey any estate, real, personal, or mixed, that may be necessary to enable the same to carry on efficiently its business as defined in this act, and for no other purposes whatever, Provided, The land to be held by said company shall not exceed, at any one time, six hundred and forty acres.3

Sec. 12. The stock of said company shall be deemed personal property, and assignable and transferrable 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 to the satisfaction of said directors.

Approved Feb. 27th, 1837.