Chap. 113.—An ACT to Amend the first Section of an Act entitled An
Act to Amend and Re-enact an Act to Authorize the Circuit Courts of
the Commonwealth to Grant Charters of Incorporation, and to Repeal
Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of Chapter 65, and Section 54 of Chap-
ter 57, of the Code of Virginia (edition of 1860), approved March 20,
1871, in force March 21, 1872, Authorizing Judges in Vacation to
Amend Charters of Incorporation.

Approved March 6, 1873.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
the first section of the act entitled an act to amend and re-
enact an act to authorize the circuit courts of the common-
wealth to grant charters of incorporation, and to repeal sections
four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten of chapter sixty-five,
and section fifty-four of chapter fifty-seven, of the Code of Vir-
ginia (edition of eighteen hundred and sixty), approved March
twenty, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, in force March
twenty-one, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, be amended
and re-enacted so as to read as: follows:

§1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
any five or more persons who shall desire to form a joint stock
company for the conduct of any enterprise or business, which
may be lawfully conducted by an individual or by a body
politic or corporate, except to construct a turnpike to be con-
structed beyond the limits of the county, or railroad.or canal,
orto establish a bank of circulation, may make; sien and ac-
knowledze before any justice of the peace, or notary public, or
county judge, or clerk of a county or circuit court, a certificate
in writing, setting forth the name of the company, the purposes
for which it is formed, the capital stock and its division into
shares, the amount of real estate proposed to be held by it, the
place at which its principal office is to be kept, and the chief
business to be transacted, and the names and residences of the
officers who for the first year are to manage the affairs of the
company. This certiticate may be presented to the circuit
court of the county, city or town in which the principal office
of the company is to be located, or to the judge thereof in
vacation. The said court or judge in vacation shall have a
discretion to grant or refuse to said persons a charter of in-
sorporation, upon the terms set forth in the said certificate, or
upon such other terms as may be adjudged reasonable. If the
charter be granted, it shall be recorded by the clerk of the said
court in a book, to be provided and kept for the purpose, and
shall be certified by said clerk to the secretary of the common-
wealth, to be in like manner recorded in his office, and there-
after the court, or the judge thereof in vacation, may, upon the
motion of the said company, or of any company to whom here-
tofore a charter has been granted by a court, or on reasonable
notice to said company, alter or amend said charter, or change
the corporate name of said company; and such alteration,
amendment, or change, shall be recorded by said clerk, and in
the office of the secretary of the commonwealth, as herein-
before provided for recording charters, and shall be as effectual
and legal from that time as if originally a part of said charter.
2. This act shall be in force from its passage.