Chap. 140.—An ACT to incorporate the Jamestown Exposition Company.

Approved March 10, 1902.

Whereas, it is the desire and purpose of the people of this Common-
wealth to fittingly commemorate the third centennial of the settlement
effected at Jamestown on the thirteenth day of May in the year sixteen
hundred and seven; and,

Whereas, the general assembly of Virginia, by joint resolution, which
was agreed to by the house of delegates on the second day of February,
nineteen hundred and one, and concurred in by the senate on the fifth
day of February, nineteen hundred and one, expressed the opinion that
the “most fitting form of such a celebration would be to hold a great ex-
position in some one of the cities of Virginia, in which all our sister
States, and, if possible, all the English-speaking people of the earth, shall
be invited to participate, and where shall be displayed the products of
peace and the fruits of free institution in all realms”; and,

Whereas, the general assembly, in the aforesaid joint resolution, in-
vited “all the cities in her borders to consider of ways and means and
make such propositions to the general assembly, at its next session, as
will enable the general assembly to determine that there will be a celebra-
tion of the anniversary herein referred to, the location thereof, and the
proper representation of this Commonwealth therein, and at the same
time enable it to invite the participation in such celebration of such
States and peoples as may be determined upon”; and,

Whereas, the governor of this Commonwealth, in compliance with a
provision in the joint resolution aforesaid, has by his proclamation ex-
tended the invitation to the cities of the State; and,

Whereas, the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Berkley, and Newport
News, and the counties of Norfolk, Princess Anne, Nansemond, Eliza-
beth City, Isle of Wight, and Warwick, by their duly constituted au-
thorities, have maturely considered of ways and means to inaugurate and
successfully conduct such cxposition, and to that end certain public-
spirited citizens of those places desire to form a joint stock company ;
and,

Whereas, it is their opinion, and the opinion of the general assembly
of Virginia, that such exposition should be held at some place adjacent
to the waters of Hampton Roads, whereon the navies of all nations may
rendezvous in honor of the hardy mariners who braved the dangers of
the deep to establish the colony aforesaid: now, therefore,

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That J. W.
Perry, John Willis, G. T. Shepperd, C. Brooks Johnston, Joseph T.
Lawless, D. J. Callahan, J. P. A. Mottu, S. Stokes, Max Pincus, Jacob
Hecht, George FE. Bowden, W. W. Old, H. 0. Page, M. W. Mason, W. H.
Taylor, junior, William Lamb, Harry Hodges, Thomas Townsend, W. H.
Wales, N. Beaman, John G. Tilton, J. II. Davidson, W. D. Pender, C. E.
Finch, KE. T. Lamb, R. B. Cooke, B. P. Voight, T. S. Southgate, M. B.
Crowell, J. D. Burrow, W. B. F. Slaughter. A. H. Grandy, 8. 8. Notting-
ham, J. G. Fiveash, J. U. Thompson, I’. S. Royster, J. O. Reid, C. W.
Priddy, D. Lowenberg, J. Edward Cole, J. L. Jeffries, and Thomas W.
Shelton, of Norfolk; J. L. Bilisoly, G. Hatton, C. S. Sherwood, A. J.
Phillips, J. Davis Reed, C. A. Butt, Frank Lindsay, W. G. Maupin, John
L. Watson, J. W. Brown, junior, J. W. Overton, G. T. Bell, and T. J.
Wool, of Portsmouth; Alvah H. Martin, C. H. Williams, BE. M. Tilley.
J. H. Jacocks, W. L. Berkley, M. C. Keeling, Oscar F. Smith, John A.
Codd, and D. M. Harding, of Berkley; Henry Kirn, of Norfolk county :
George T. Snead and B. D. White, of Princess Anne county; Sidney T.
Ellis, E. E. Holland, and J. L. McLemore, of Nansemond county; R. E.
Boykin, of Isle of Wight countv; D. S. Jones, W. A. Post, J. L. Patton,
O. D. Batchelor, W. E. Barrett, A. EF. Burcher, A. L. Powell, J. W.
Elliott, R. M. Lett, George F. Adams, George B. West, Elias Peyser,
A. A. Moss, E. W. Robinson, and J. E. B. Stuart, of Newport News;
H. P. Taylor, of Warwick county; Frank W. Darling, John M. Willis,
William J. A. Cumming, Robert I. Mason, Henry L. Schmelz, John W.
Rowe, S. Gordon Cumming, J. W. Richardson, Hampton, Virginia;
E. M. Tennis, E. C. Kaiser, of Phoebus, Virginia; John B. Kimberly,
William Baulch, of Fort Monroe, Virginia; M. R. Horrell, of Williams-
burg, Virginia, and Cory Brouck, of James City county, Virginia; C. C.
Vaughan, junior, J. L. Barham, B. E. Worrell, P. D. Camp, J. J. Deyer,
of the county of Southampton; J. H. Spencer, of the county of Henry;
F. E. Nottingham, of the county of Northampton; S. Wilkins Matthews,
of the county of Accomac; James P. Mason, Glade Springs, Virginia;
J. N. Johnson, Bristol, Virginia; George W. Richardson, Mason, Vir-
ginia; James R. Kemper, of Augusta; John J. Lawson, of Halifax;
R. M. C. Glen, of Halifax, and such other person or persons as may be
hereafter associated with them, be, and they are hereby, created and
made a body politic and corporate by the name and style of the James-
town Exposition Company, by which name they may contract and be con-
tracted with, sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, in all the courts
of this Commonwealth and elsewhere during the existence of said com-
pany, and may adopt and use a common seal, which they may alter or re-
new at pleasure. The said company, when organized, may adopt and ordain
such by-laws, ordinances, and regulations for its government as it may
deem wise and proper, and generally do everything which, in its judgment,
may be necessary or proper to carry this act and the ends and purposes
contemplated by it into effect: provided, that nothing in this act shall
be construed as authorizing the said company to do anything in conflict
with the laws of the State or of the United States.

The ineorporators herein named, or a majority of them, after due
notice, shall have the power forthwith to meet and elect a board of direc-
tors of such number as they may deem proper, and to elect a president
and such other officers as they may prescribe, and any two or more offices
may be held by the same person. The directors and officers so to be
elected shall manage the affairs of the company for one year, and until
their successors are duly elected: provided, that a majority of the board
of directors of the said company shall at all times be selected from among
the incorporators herein named.

2. The said company shall have exclusive power to hold, conduct, oper-
ate, and maintain an exposition or fair at some place adjacent to the
waters of Hampton Roads at such time and during such period in the
year nineteen hundred and seven as it may determine. It shall select a
suitable name designating the said exposition, which name shall be com-
mensurate with the great significance of the event it commemorates, and
shall contain the name of no city. It shall also have power to erect at
Jamestown or elsewhere a suitable permanent memorial of such character
as to it may seem appropriate and proper, the erection of a memorial at
Jamestown to be subject to the consent and the design to be subject to
the approval of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiqui-
ties. Said company, by and with the consent of the Association for the
Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, shall have power to hold at James-
town, in the State of Virginia, such celebration commemorative of the
establishment of the colony as said. Association for the Preservation of
Virginia Antiquities may approve, the same to be under the exclusive
management and control of said association, and the profits accruing
therefrom to become its absolute property.

3. For the purpose of holding such fair or exposition the said company
may hold and own, by purchase, lease, gift, or otherwise, as much land as
may be necessary for its purposes, not to exceed five thousand acres, and
may execute and issue its notes, bonds, and other evidences of debt, and
secure the same by mortgage or deed of trust upon its real or per-
sonal property or franchises, and may sell or otherwise dispose of any of
its property or franchises, or any part thereof, at any time. It may ac-
cept aid or assistance of any sort, or in any form, from the government
of the United States, or of any.of the States or territories, or of any
foreign State, or from any officer, citizen, or corporation thereof.

4. The governor of Virginia shall, within thirty days after the passage
of this act, appoint one resident of each of the congressional districts of
this State, and on the recommendation of the Society for the Preservation
of Virginia Antiquities (a corporation) shall appoint two residents of
this State, who shall constitute a commission or board to represent the
State of Virginia as such in all the affairs of said company in whatever
it may do in the execution of the powers and rights herein conferred,
and in carrying into effect the object and purposes of this act; to which
end, and for which purpose, said commission or board shall be clothed
with such powers, duties, and authorities as the general assembly may
prescribe consistent with the provisions of this act. Said commission or
board shall be ex-officio members of the board of directors of said com-
pany, and one or more of them shall be members of each of the standing
committees of said board of directors.

5. The capital stock of said company shall be in such sum as the com-
pany may determine, the same to be not less than one million nor more
than ten million dollars, and shall be divided into shares of such denomi-
nation or denominations in amounts as its board of directors may elect.
Its board of directors shall have further power to issue common and pre-
ferred stock, and in such series as it may prescribe; and the said stock,
whether common or preferred, may be subscribed for or held by any
person, or by any corporation chartered under the laws of this or any
other State. The board of directors of the said company shall have the
right and power to prescribe the manner in which said capital stock may
be subscribed, paid, or called for, and may accept in payment thereof any-
thing of value, the same to be determined by it.

6. The capital stock of said company, whether held by it or by any of
its stockholders, and its property, real, personal, or mixed, and all its
rights, privileges, and franchises shall be exempt from city, county, and
State taxation; but after the closing of the fair or exposition provided for
in this act, the said company shall proceed with reasonable expedition to
wind up its affairs, whereupon the rights, powers, and privileges herein
granted shall cease and determine.

7%. The principal office of said company shall be located in one of the
cities or counties named in the preamble of this act, with such branch
offices therein, or at such other places, as its board of directors may deter-
mine.

8. This charter shall become void unless there shall be on or before
January first, nineteen hundred and four, subscribed to the capital stock
of said company not less than one million dollars, to be in cash or its
equivalent, said subscriptions to be bona fide and enforceable at law. In
the meantime, the said company may organize as herein provided, and
proceed with such operations as may be requisite looking to due prepara-
tion for the accomplishment of the purposes for which it is incorporated ;
and the corporate existence of said company, and the rights and powers
incident thereto, shall not be impaired by this section, unless and until
the same shall have been forfeited under the provisions hereof.

9. This act shall be in force from its passage.