CHAP. 117.—An ACT to ineorporate the Mutual Benefit Association
of Southwest Virginia.

Approved February 27, 1880.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
A.J. May, S. C. Graham, R. R. Henry, Joseph Straus, Junior,
John D. Alexander, John G. Watts, George W. Spotts, Henry
S. Bowen, Thomas FE. George, James P. Kelly, James R.
Witten, Samuel Leece, A. P. Brown, Henry Routh, John A.
Buchanan, Thomas Ratcliffe, S. D. May, A. L. Pridemore,
Clinton Woods, Samuel W. Williams and George W. Easley,
and those who may be hereafter associated with them in the
manner hereafter provided, and their successors, be and they
are hereby declared to be a body politic and corporate by the
name and style of The Mutual Benefit Association of South-
western Virginia, and by that name may contract and be con-
tracted with, bothin and out of this state, may sue and be sued,
plead and be impleaded in all the courts of this commonwealth
or elsewhere, and have perpetual succession, to have, make and
use a common seal, and the same to alter or renew at pleasure.

2. Every person who becomes a member of this association
and who is entitled to its privileges and benefits as provided
by these articles of incorporation, shall be entitled to one vote
as hereinafter provided.

8. The officers shall consist of a board of directors of not
less than seven nor more than twenty-one, seven of whom
shall reside at or near Tazewell courthouse, Virginia, and con-
stitute a local board; and a majority of said local board shall
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; also a
president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer, to be selected
by the directors from their body, and they shall reside at or
near Tazewell courthouse, Virginia. The first board of direct-
ors shall consist of seven, who shall be the local board as
herein provided, and this board may increase the number of
directors from time to time so that they do not exceed the
number of twenty-one.

4. The office of the assoviation shall be in Jeffersonville
(Tazewell courthouse), Virginia.

5. The board of directors shall control the business interests
of the association; shall have charge of its funds; shall re-
ceive, consider and accept or reject all applications for mem-
bership; shall hold business meetings at least once a month;
and shall, for good cause, have power to call special meetings
of the association ; and shall have power to fill all vacancies
occurring in their own body at any meeting.

6. The board of directors shall have power to remove any
officer of the association for misbehavior in his office or other
good cause, but before there can be any such removal, two-
thirds of the members present must concur, and in such case
no member present shall refuse to vote unless excused by a
majority of the members present: provided further, that before
any vote on such removal shall be had, notice to the party shall
be given in writing, in manner and form to be prescribed by
the by-laws, containing in substance the charges to be pre-
ferred; and no such removal shall be made except at a regu-
lar meeting.

7. All elections of this association shall be by ballot.

8. The conditions of membership in this association and
form of application shall be prescribed by the by-laws.

9. The secretary and treasurer shall give such bond with
sureties payable to this association, for the faithful perform-
ance of their duties, as the board or directors may require.

10. All moneys of the association. shall be paid into the
hands of the treasurer, who shall make investments and dis-
bursements thereof upon the order of the board of directors,
countersigned by the president or vice-president and secretary.
At the annual meeting of the association, and at such other
times as the board may require, he shall report all his receipts
and expenditures, and do such other things touching the affairs
of the association as may be required of him.

11. All moneys received as fees for admission to member-
ship in this association shall go into the invested funds of
the association as hereinafter provided, except as hereinafter
excepted.

12. At the end of each month the incidental expenses for
such month shall be paid out of the funds received for the fees
during the month, which shall be audited and allowed by the
board. It shall be the duty of the board of directors to order

the treasurer to invest the balance remaining on hand in such
stocks, bonds, or other securities as they may particularly
designate, and cause the investment to be made immediately.
They shall also cause to be reinvested, from time to time,
accruing interest or dividends on investments already made,
and so to manage and direct the financial aifuirs of the associa-
tion as to prevent any of its funds from lying idle and unpro-
ductive.

13. The board of directors shall order investments mace in
such securities, and such only, as are good and interest-paying
at the time, keeping constantly in view the desirabieness of
the investment on account of its safety, its productiveness and
the readiness with which it can be converted into cash.

14. The officers of this association, namely: president and
secretary, shall ex-olticio be president and secretary of the
board of directors, and in the absence of the president the
vice-president shall act in his place, and should the secretary
fail to attend any meeting of said board, a secretary pro tem-
pore may be appointed.

15. The object of this association is to provide a beneficiary
fund to be distributed as hereinafter provided.

16. The number of this association shall not exceed two
thousand members.

17. Upon the decease of any member of this association the
beneficiary fund to which he may be entitled shall be paid as
follows :

First. To the widow, for the benefit of herself and children
under the age of twenty-one years, and unmarried daughters
over that age.

Second. If no widow, then to his children under the age of
twenty-one years, and unmarried daughters over that age.

Third. If there be children, but none under the age of
twenty-one nor unmarried daughters, then to his children and
their descendants.

Fourth. If there be no widow or children as above, then to
his grandchild or grandchildren.

Fifth. If none such, then to his mother and sisters.

Sixth. If none such, then to his father.

But the board of directors may, in their discretion, for good
cause, pay the same to some other person as trustee, to be paid
to those entitled, or for their use, in such manner and for such
purposes and in such Sums as the board may direct, or make
such other disposition of the fund as will in their judgment
best subserve the interest of those intended to be benefited
hereby ; and especially in the case of infants care shall be
taken that the funds be so disposed of as will best subserve
their interests: provided, however, that this power of appoint-
ment shall in no case be exercised by the board where the
member may have made such appointment by will.

No member shall, by will or otherwise, divert the benefiiciary
fund from those entitled to it, but may exercise the power of

tended by this association; such, however, may likewise be
conferred on executor or guardian.

18. If a deceased member leaves no person to whom the
fund can be paid, as specified in section three of this article,
then the expenses of his last illness and his funeral expenses
shall be paid out of the amount to which such person or per-
sons in said section three would have been entitled, so far as
it will contribute thereto, and the residue, if any, shall revert
to and become the property of the association.

19. The beneficiary fund shall in no case be subject to the
claims of creditors, or execution, or attachment for debts, taxes
or any other debt or demand whatsoever against the deceased or
his estate.

20. The fees and dues for membership shall be an admission
fee of five dollars, and upon the death of any member an assess-
ment on each survivor of one dollar and twenty cents.

21. Of the one dollar and twenty cents upon such assess-
ment the one dollar shall constitute the beneficiary fund, to be
paid as provided in section three of article four: ten cents
shall be paid to the secretary for his services, postage, and so
forth, upon notice, and ten cents to the treasurer for his
services.

22. Upon the death of a member the president, or in case of
his absence or inability to act, the vice-president, shall call a
meeting of the board of directors, and upon satisfactory proof
of such death the board shall cause to be paid within sixty
days to the person or persons entitled to receive the same by
section three of article four, a sum equal to one dollar for each
surviving member of the association.

23. Upon the death of any member the secretary shall send
a notice of the same to each surviving member, and call for the
payment to the treasurer of all assessments of one dollar and
twenty cents. If any member shall fail to pay an assessment
for thirty days after notice thereof, he shall cease to be a
member of this association, and shall forfeit all claims to any
of its benefits, but for satisfactory reasons and upon payment
of the amount in arrears, may be reinstated by a vote of the
majority of the local board.

24. A notice addressed and sent to the post-office, residence
or business office of any member and not returned to the sec-
retary within thirty days, shall be considered a legal notice.
Upon the change of residence of any member he shall notify
the secretary of such change.

25. This association shall have perpetual succession, and
new members may be admitted from time to time so that the
number living shall not at any time exceed two thousand.

26. The private property of the said members shall be exempt
from the corporate debts.

27. The board of directors may adopt by-laws and make
tules and regulations deemed expedient for the management
of the affairs of the corporation not inconsistent with the con-
stitution and laws of the state of Virginia or of the United
States.
28. The capital of the association shall be made up of the
fees for admission and assessment, and such interest and divi-
dends as may accrue on invested funds, and shall not exceed
at any one time twenty thousand dollars; but the surplus over
fifteen thousand dollars, if it should at any time exceed fifteen
thousand dollars, the board of directors may dispose thereof
for the benefit of the members of the association or those who
will be entitled upon the death of a member, and in such man-
ner as may be deemed equitable.

29. The indebtedness of the corporation shall at no time
exceed one thousand dollars, except it may be to those entitled
to the beneficiary fund.

30. The directors shall be elected annually, and shall hold
their oflices until their successors are elected. The times and
places of the election shall be fixed by the by-laws. A majority
of all the members present or represented shall be necessary
to a choice.

31. That this association shall be exempt from the insurance
laws of this commonwealth, and not required to make any
report, deposit or do any other thing required by the laws of
this state touching domestic or foreign life insurance com-
panies.

32. This act shall take effect from its passage.