Chap. 112.—-An ACT concerning the bureau of insurance, and insuran-e,
guaranty. trust, indemnity, fidelity, security, and fraternal benefit com-
panies, associations, societies. and orders, and imposing penalties for its

violation.
Approved March 9, 1906.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, as follows: That a
hureau of insurance be, and the same is hereby, established, within the de-
partment and subject to the supervision and control of the State corpora-
tion commission, which bureau shall be charged with the execution, under
the supervision and control of the said commission, of all laws now in
force, or which may be hereafter enacted, relative to insurance, and to
insurance, guaranty, trust, indemnity, fidelity, and security companies
and associations, of every character and nature, and fraternal and other
beneficiary orders and societies; and all such companies, associations, sv-
cicties, and orders, domestic, foreign and alien, now transacting or to be
admitted to transact business in this State, are hereby placed under the
bureau of insurance, and shall be subject to the inspection and supervision
of the State corporation commission through the said bureau.

2. The said bureau shall be known as the “bureau of insurance of Vir-
ginia,” and its chief officer shall be known as the “commissioner of in-
surance,” whose term of office shall be four years. he office of the
commissioner of insurance shall be located in the city of Richmond, and
the State corporation commission shall assign to him suitable offices for
conducting the business of the said bureau.

3. ‘he commissioner of insurance shall be elected by the joint vote of
the two houses of the general assembly, and he shall hold office until his
successor is duly clected, commissioned, and qualified, unless sooner re-
moved for cause, as hereinafter in this chapter provided. The said com-
missioner of insurance provided for hereunder shall, before entering upon
the discharge of his duties, qualify before the State corporation commis-
sion by taking the oaths required by the Constitution and the laws of this
State, and shall give bond in the penalty of ten thousand dollars, in such
forin and with such security as shall be approved by the State corporation
commission, conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties. The
said oaths and bond shall be filed in the office of the State corporation
commission, and recorded on the minutes of its proceedings. The first
commissioner of insurance under this act shall be elected by the joint
vole of the two houses of the present general assembly, and his successor
in office shall be elected by the joint vote of the two houses of the genera]
assembly in the month of January, nineteen hundred and ten, and in the
month of January every four years thereafter. The commissioner of in-
surance herein provided for shall appoint a deputy, who shall be subject
to removal at pleasure by the commissioner, and who shall possess all the
powers and perform all the duties attached by law to the office of com-
missioner during a vacancy in such office, and during the absence, inability
or suspension of his principal. The commissioner shall be responsible for
the acts of his deputy, fix his salary, and require him to perform the
duties of chief clerk of the department. The deputy shall, before enter-
ing upon the duties of his office, take the oath prescribed in this section,
and the commissioner may require him to execute a bond, conditioned for
the faithful performance of his duties, in the sum of five thousand
dollars. The commissioner of insurance shall appoint such other clerical
force as may be found necessary for the proper execution of the work of
the bureau of insurance. In case of vacancy in the offices of both the
commissioner of insurance and of his deputy, during the recess of the
veneral assembly, because of death, resignation or removal from office, or
for other cause, the State corporation commission shall appoint some
person to fill such vacancy in the office of commissioner of insurance.
such appointee shall hold office under the said appointment until thirty
days after the convening of the general assembly, either in extra or regu-
lar session, and until the vacancy shall be filled by the joint vote of the
two houses of the general assembly, and the successor of such appointec
shall have been duly commissioned and qualified.

4. The term of office of the commissioner of insurance first elected
under the provisions of this act shall commence on the first day of July,
nineteen hundred and six, and expire on the thirty-first day of January,
nineteen hundred and ten, and the regular terms of his successors shall
commence on the first day of February next succeeding their election.
‘The commissioner of insurance or his subordinates shall not in any way be
connected with the agency, management or control of any company, cor-
poration, association or socicty affected by this act.

5. The salaries and expenses of the bureau of insurance, unless herein-
af ter otherwise provided. shall be paid out of the public treasury, upon
the order of the State corporation commission, and all necessary printing
for the said bureau shall be done by and under the direction of the super-
intendent of public printing, upon the order of the said commission.

6. The commissioner of insurance, under the supervision and contro!
of the State corporation commission, shall, unless otherwise specifically
provided, in addition to such duties as may be imposed upon him by this
act, discharge all the dutics of every character now imposed upon the
auditor of public accounts under the insurance laws of this State, and the
laws relating to insurance, guaranty, trust, indemnity, fidelity, security.
and other like companies, and all papers, blanks, reports, documents, and
records relating to insurance, guaranty, trust, indemnity, fidelity, security,
and other like companies, now in the possession of the auditor of public
accounts shall be transferred to the bureau of insurance, and thereafter
remain in the charge and custody of the said bureau. and wherever in the
laws of this State relating to insurance companies, or to the business of
insurance, or to guaranty, trust, indemnity, fidelity. security, and other
like companies, the name “auditor,” or “auditor of public accounts,” is
used, reference shall, unless otherwise specifically provided, be deemed to
be made to the State corporation commission, in all matters pertaining to
the bureau of insurance, and the duties of its officers and agents, as pre-
scribed by this act.

7. The commissioner of insurance, with the approval of the State cur-
poration commission, shal] devise a seal, with a suitable inscription of his
office, and a description of said seal, with the certificate of approval of the
State corporation commission, shall be filed and preserved in the office of
the secretary of the Commonwealth, with an impression thereof, which
seal shall thereupon be and become the seal of the bureau of insurance
of Virginia.

8. Every certificate executed by the commissioner of insurance in pur-
suance of any authority conferred upon him by law, and sealed with said
seal of office, shall be received as evidence, and all copies of records or
papers, in the office of the bureau of insurance, certified by him, authen-
ticated by the said seal, shall in all cases be evidence equally and in like
manner as the originals.- For all copies furnished by the commissioner
of insurance from the records and files of his office, he shall charge like
fees as are by law allowed to be charged by the clerks of the courts of
record of this State, and for each impression of the seal of the bureau of
insurance, he shall collect a tax of one dollar.

9. All licenses to foreign or alien companies, and certificates of au-
thority to domestic companies, to transact business in this State, shall be
granted and issued by the State corporation commission, through the
bureau of insurance, and under the seal of the said bureau. All such
licenses and certificates shall be signed by the commissioner of insurance.
The commissioner of insurance, in addition to the taxes and other fecs
and charges imposed by law upon the granting of licenses or certificates
of authority to such companies to do business in this State shall be en-
titled to charge and demand a fee of five dollars on each and every license
or certificate of authority aforesaid issued by the bureau of insurance.

10. The State corporation commission, before granting a license or cer-
tificate of authority to any insurance company, foreign, alien, or domes-
tic, to commence or transact business in this State, or to issue policies, or
to make contracts of insurance, or to any guaranty, trust, indemnity,
fidelity, security, or other like company to become security for the faithful
performance of any trust, duty, contract, agreement, or bond, public or
private, official or otherwise, or to assume any debt or obligation of like
nature, or otherwise, or to become a fiduciary, shall be satisfied from
such evidence as it may require under such uniform rules and regulations
as shall he prescribed by the said commission, suitable to the several
classes of companies, and applying equally to each company, that such
company has complied with the laws of this State relating to insurance,
and insurance, guaranty, trust, indemnity, fidelity, security, and other
like companies, is solvent, and is in other respects duly qualified under
the laws of this State to transact business therein, and that such com-
pany, its agents and attorneys, have paid the annual registration fee, the
license fee or tax, and such other taxes, fees and charges as may be pre-
scribed by law.
11. Whenever the State corporation commission shall deem it neces-
ary for the protection of the policy-holders of this State, or of persons
vho may have become policy-holders, in any foreign, alien, or domestic
nsurance company, doing business in this State, or for the protection of
he State, or of any incorporated city or town therein, or of any corpo-
ation chartered or doing business therein, or of any person or persons, or
yartnership, in this State, in any wise secured or indemnified, or to be
ecured or indemnified, by any guaranty, trust, indemnity, fidelity, se-
‘urity, or other like company, either foreign, alien, or domestic, doing
wusiness in this State, the said commission may direct an examination of
the affairs and financial condition of any such company by the commis-
sioner of insurance, or his assistants, or such other person as the com-
missioner may think proper, and for the purpose of such examination, the
commissioner of insurance, or his assistants, or the person making such
-xamination, shall have free.access to the books and papers of any such
company that relate to its business, and to the books and papers kept by
iny of its agents, and may summon and qualify as witnesses, under oath,
and examine the directors, officers, agents, or trustees of any such com-
pany, or any other person, in relation to its affairs, transactions and con-
dition. .

12. Before ordering or making the examination provided for in the
preceding section of any foreign or alien company, the State corporation
commission, through the bureau of insurance, shall first inquire of the
insurance department of the State or country (if there be any.such de-
partment therein), in which is located the principal office of such com-
pany, as to the financial and business standing and solvency of such com-
pany. If, upon such inquiry, it shall appear that such company is of
good financial and business standing, and is solvent, and it be certified, in
writing, attested by the seal (if any) of the insurance department of the
State or country wherein is located the principal office of such company,
that it has been examined by the insurance department of such State or
country in the manner prescribed by the laws thereof, and was by such
«examination found to be in sound condition, that there is no reason to
doubt its solvency, and that it is still permitted, under the laws of such
State or country, to do business therein, then in the discretion of the
State corporation commission, further examination may be dispensed
with, and the information so obtained, and such certificate so furnished,
may be accepted as sufficient evidence of the solvency of such company.

13. If the commissioner of insurance is of the opinion from any such
«xamination, or from any other evidence or information coming to his
knowledge, that any foreign, alien or domestic insurance company, or
that any foreign, alien or domestic guaranty, trust, indemnity, fidelity,
security, or other like company, doing business in this State, is in an in-
solvent condition, or that it has failed to comply with the law; or, if any
such company, or its officers, or agents, refuses to submit to the examina-
tion in this act provided, or to furnish satisfactory evidence of its finan-
cial and business standing, or solvency, or refuses to perform any lawful
requirement imposed by the laws of this State, he shall immediately re-
port the same to the State corporation commission, who, if such com-
pany is a foreign or alien company. and an applicant for a license tc
transact business in this State, or if a domestic company, and an appli-
cant for a certificate of authority to commence or transact business in
this State, shall refuse such license or certificate of authority, as the case
may be; and if it be a foreign or alien company already licensed and
permitted to do business in this State, or a domestic company already
authorized to commence and transact business in this State, the State
corporation commission, through its bureau of insurance, shall give ten
days’ notice to any such company to appear before the said commission
to be heard upon the subject matter of the said report, and shall be
afforded an opportunity to introduce evidence and to be heard in refer-
ence thereto; and, if upon such hearing the State corporation commission
shall be of the opinion that the subject matter of the said report is sus-
tained, it shall revoke or suspend, as may seem to the commission proper
under the circumstances of the case if a foreign or alien company, its
license, and if a domestic company, its certificate of authority, to transact
business in this State, and shall on final judgment, unless an appeal be
taken in sixty days, cause notification thereof to be published in one or
more newspapers published in this State, and no new business shall there-
after be done by any such company, or its agents, while such order revok-
ing or suspending its license or certificate of authority to do business in
this State, shall be in force, nor until its license or authority to do busi-
ness is restored by the State corporation commission. The report here-
inbefore directed to be made by the commissioner of insurance to the
State corporation commission shall not be divulged or disclosed except by
the order of the commission. From the action of the commission re-
fusing, revoking or suspending the license or certificate of authority to do
business in this State of any company of the classes mentioned in this
section, there shall be an appeal to the supreme court of appeals of this
State, as provided in section thirty-four of the act entitled “an act to put
into effective operation the provisions of the Constitution relating to the
creation, appointment and organization of the State corporation commis-
sion, its jurisdiction, and so forth,” approved April fifteenth, nineteen
hundred and three.

14. Whenever it shall appear that any company of the classes referred
to in this chapter, has paid the annual registration fee, the license fee or
tax, and such other taxes, fees or charges as may be required by law, and
has been granted a license or certificate of authority by the State corpora-
tion commission to do business in this State, then such company shall be
permitted to carry on its business during the period covered by said
license or certificate of authority: provided, the commissioner of insur-
ance shall be satisfied that such company is qualified to conduct business
in this State, and has, in all respects, complied with the laws thereof
relating to such companies: and provided, further, that such company
shall comply with the laws of this State during the period of such license
or certificate of authority to transact business therein.

15. The commissioner of insurance shall keep on file in his office, for
the inspection of the public, all reports received by him from such com-
panies, which are required by law. He shall keep and preserve in a per-
manent form a report of his proceedings, including a precise statement
of the result of all official examinations; an exhibit of the financial con-
dition and business methods of all corporations under his supervision as
disclosed by official examination of the same, or by their several state-
ments or reports, and such other information and comments in relation to
these subjects and the public interest therein, as he may deem proper to
preserve.

16. The commissioner of insurance shall annually submit, and at such
other times as may be required by the commission, to the State corpora-
tion commission a report of his official acts and of the condition of all
companies, associations or orders under the control and supervision of the
lureau of insurance, and doing business in this State, with a condensed
statement of their reports made to him, arranged in proper form, together
with a statement of the licenses and certificates of authority issued to all
foreign, alien and domestic companies, and of all taxes and fees collected
hy him from all sources, and paid by him into the State treasury. He
shall furnish each company, association or order, under the contro] and
supervision of the bureau of insurance, with printed forms for all state-
ments required by law, and shall furnish free of charge such certificates
to domestic companies, associations or orders as may be necessary for them
to file in other States or countries in order to entitle them to do business
therein.

17. The commissioner of insurance shall keep in his office a record of
all examinations hereinbefore provided for, and of all fires occurring in
the State, together with all facts, statistics and circumstances, including
the origin of the fires, which may be determined by the investigations
provided for in this act. And all records relating to investigations of
tires shall at all times be open to public inspection.

18. It shall be the duty of the chief or other head officer of the fire
department of each city or town, within five days after the occurrence of
any fire within their jurisdiction, and of the sheriff of each county within
five days after it shall come to his knowledge that a fire has occurred
within his county, in which property has been destroyed or damaged, to
make report thereof, in writing, to the commissioner of insurance, stating
therein the location and character of the property destroyed or damaged :
the date of the fire; the name of the reputed owner of the property, and
such other information as the officer furnishing said report shall deem per-
tinent. The commissioner of insurance shall prepare, have printed and
furnish to such officers the necessary blanks for making such reports, and
for the purpose of the said reports, shall obtain and keep in his office a
register of the said officers, which he shall revise and correct annually.
The officer making such report shall be entitled to a fee of one dollar for
each report, to be paid out of the public treasury upon the certificate of
the commissioner of insurance: provided, that only one fee shall be al-
lowed for a report upon the same fire, irrespective of the number of prop-
erties destroyed or damaged.

19. The commissioner of insurance shall examine, or cause examination
to be made, into the origin and circumstances of all fires occurring in this
State, which may be brought to his attention bv official report, or other-
wise, and for that purpose shall have authority to call for and demand of
the chief or other head officer of the fire department, and the chief, or
other head officer of the police department, of any city or town, and the
sheriff, coroner, or any constable of any county, for any information or
assistance he may require in making or furthering such examination:
provided, that when such examination is made on the application of any
fire insurance company, the necessary expenses attending the same shall
be paid by such company.

20. The commissioner of insurance, and such person or persons as he
may appoint, shall have authority at all times of the day, in the perform-
ance of the duties imposed by the provisions of the preceding section, to
enter upon and examine any building or premises where any fire has
occurred, and any other buildings or premises immediately adjoining the
same: provided, such adjoining building be not at the time occupied and
used as a dwelling house.

21. If the commissioner of insurance shall be of opinion after investi-
gation as to the cause or origin of any fire, that there is sufficient evidence
to charge any person with the crime of arson, or with incendiary burning
of property, he shall cause such person to be arrested and charged with
such offence, and shall furnish to the Commonwealth’s attorney of the
city or county all such evidence, together with the names of witnesses, and
all information obtained by him, including a copy of all pertinent and
material testimony taken by him touching such offense.

22. The commissioner of insurance shall have the power of a trial jus-
tice for the purpose of summoning and compelling the attendance of wit-
nesses to testify in relation to any matter which is, by the provisions of
this chapter, a subject of inquiry and investigation. He may also ad-
minister oaths and affirmations to said witnesses, and false swearing in
any such matter shall be deemed perjury, and shall be punished as such.
He may in his discretion take or cause to be taken the testimony on oath
of all persons supposed to be cognizant of any facts or to have means of
knowledge in relation to the matters as to which any examination is, in
this chapter, required to be made, and shall cause the same to be reduced
to writing. Investigations held by or under the direction of the commis-
sioner of insurance may, in his discretion, be private, and persons other
than those required to be present by the provisions of this chapter, may
te excluded from the place where such examination is held, and witnesses
may be kept separate and apart from each other, and not allowed to com-
municate with each other until they have been examined.

23. Upon complaint, in writing, the commissioner of insurance, or the
chief or other head of the fire department of any city or town, shall have
the right, at all reasonable hours, for the purpose of examination, to
enter into and upon any building or premises not at the time occupied
and used as a dwelling house, within their jurisdiction, for examination
as to combustible material or inflammable conditions in any such build-
ing or upon any such premises. Whenever any of the said officers shall
tind in any such building or upon any premises combustible or inflam-
mable conditions, dangerous to the safety of such building or premises,
or other property, they shall order the same to be removed, or remedied,
and such order shall within a reasonable time, to be fixed by said com-
missioner of insurance, be complied with by the owner or occupant of
said buildings or premises: provided, however, that if the said owner or
oceupant shall feel aggrieved by such order, he or she may within five
daye after notice of such order, appeal to the State corporation commis-
sion, and the cause of his complaint shall be at once investigated by the
direction of the said commission, and unless by its authority such order is
revoked, the same shall remain in force and be complied with by said
owner or occupant. The commissioner of insurance, or the chief or other
head of the fire department of any city or town, shall make an immediate
investigation as to the presence of any combustible materials or the ex-
istence of inflammable conditions in any building or upon any premises
within their jurisdiction, upon complaint of any person having an interest
in the said building or premises; or property adjacent thereto. Any
owner or occupant of any building or premises failing to comply with any
final order made or given under the authority of this section, shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and punished by a fine of not less than
five dollars nor more than twenty-five dollars for each offense.

24. The chief or other head of the fire department, or other authorized
officer, in charge of a fire, and his subordinates, upon his order or direc-
tion, shall have the right at any time of the day or night to enter any
huilding or upon any premises where a fire is in progress, or any building
or premises adjacent thereto, for the purpose of extinguishing the same.

25. The commissioner of insurance, in addition to the powers con-
ferred and duties imposed by this chapter shall, under the supervision of
the State corporation commission, exercise all other powers conferred and
perform all other duties imposed by this act and by any act of the gen-
eral assembly amendatory thereof, or supplementary thereto, or which
may be required of him by said commission.

26. Any city, town or county officer referred to in this chapter who
wilfully neglects or refuses to comply with any of the requirements of
this chapter shall. upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not
less than twenty-five dollars, nor more than one hundred dollars.

2%. The annual salary of the commissioner of insurance shall be thirty-
five hundred dollars. The salaries of his clerical force, together with the
expenses incident and necessary to the maintenance of the bureau of
insurance, shall not exceed the sum provided under section twenty-eight
ef this chapter. The salaries of the commissioner and clerks shall be
paid monthly.

28. The expenses of maintaining the said bureau of insurance shall be
assessed annually against the companies, foreign, alien, and domestic, of
the classes mentioned in this chapter, doing business in this State, except
fraternal benefit orders, associations or socicties, as defined and regulated
in chapter five of this act, in proportion to their respective gross pre-
miume, assessments or dues, on business done in this State, not exceeding
one-tenth of one per centum on the gross amount of the premiums, assess-
ments or dues of each of such companies, to be apportioned and assessed
against such companies and by them to be paid as prescribed in the next
succeeding section of this chapter.

29. The commissioner of insurance shall, under the supervision and
direction of the State corporation commission, upon assuming the duties
of his office and thereafter, on or before the first day of May in each year,
assess upon each of said companies its just share of such expenses, in
proportion to its gross premiums, assessments or dues from business done

17
in this State for the year next preceding that in which the assessment is
made, and shall give notice of such assessment to the respective companies,
which shall, within thirty days after such notice, pay the amount 60 as-
sessed into the treasury of the Commonwealth; and if the same be not
paid into the treasury of the Commonwealth within thirty days after
notice of such assessment, the amount thereof may be recovered against
any such defaulting company in the circuit court of the city of Rich-
mond, after ten days’ notice, on the motion of the commissioner of insur-
ance, and in his name, for the use of the Commonwealth. The license or
certificate of authority of any such defaulting company to transact busi-
ness in this State may be revoked or suspended by the State corporation
commission until it shall comply with the provisions of this section: pro-
vided, any corporation, company, or association aggrieved by the assess-
ment and ascertainment made under this section, may, within ten days
after receiving notice thereof, appeal to the supreme court of appeals.
The court, if of the opinion that the assessment is excessive, shall reduce
the same, but if of opinion that it is insufficient, shall increase the same.
Unless the appellant paid the assessment under protest when due, the
court, if it affirms the action of the commission, shall give judgment
against the appellant for damages cqual to interest at the rate of one-half
of one per centum per month, upon the amount of the assessment from
the time the same was payable. If relief be granted in whole or in part.
judgment shall be rendered against the Commonwealth for any excess
that may have been paid, with legal interest thereon.

30. All companies of the classes mentioned in this chapter, foreign.
alien or domestic shall, on or before the thirty-first day of March in each
year, make report to the bureau of insurance upon forms to be furnished
by the commissioner of insurance, of the amount of their gross pre-
miums, assessments or dues for the preceding calendar year, and such
other information as the bureau of insurance may require, in order to
make such assessment.

31. The commissioner of insurance shall keep a just and true account
of all moneys received and expended under the provisions of this act, and
shall include the same in his annual report, together with the amount of
the assessment against each company for the purposes aforesaid ; and shall
also keep a true and accurate account of all fees, tax on seals, and other
moneys received by him, and shall make report thereof to the auditor of
public accounts, and pay the amount of his collections into the treasury
of the Commonwealth, at least once in every thirty days.

32. The state corporation commission may, for misfeasance or mal-
feasance, remove the commissioner of insurance or his deputy from office.
Before such removal, the said commissioner of insurance, or his deputy.
as the case may be, shall have reasonable notice of the charges against
him, and of the time and place for hearing the same, and opportunity to
he heard in his defense.

33. It shall be the duty of the commissioner of insurance to investigate
complaints as to excessive rates for insurance, and he shall make detailed
reports of all such investigations to each general assembly, with such
recommendations as in his judgment may be necessary to correct any
existing evils, as also he shall make such other recommendations which in
his judgment he may deem necessary as to legislation governing, con-
trolling and regulating the classes of corporations placed by the pro-
visions of this act under the supervision and control of the department of
insurance.

Chapter II.

General Provisions.

1. The words “insurance company” or “insurance companies” as used
in this act shall be held to mean and include any association, society,
company, corporation, joint stock company, individual, partnership,
trustee, or receiver engaged in the business of assuming insurance risks
upon persons or property in this State, except fraternal benefit orders, as-
sociations or societies, as defined and regulated in chapter five of this
act; and any bond investment company, association, or society, conducting
a business including any of the features or piinciples pe ole ~~
the words “guaranty,” “trust,” “indemnity,” “fidelity,” or “security” o
any combination of these words coupled with the word ‘ ‘company, ” “cor.
poration,” “incorporated,” “association,” or “society,” as used in this act,
shall be held to mean and include any association, company, society, cor-
poration or joint stock company, partnership, trustee, or receiver, having
for its purpose to become surety for the faithful performance of any
trust, duty, contract, agreement, or bond, public or private, official or
otherwise, or to assume any debt or obligation of a like nature, as prin-
cipal or otherwise, or to become fiduciary, and other like companies; and
the word “domestic,” as used in this act, shall be held to apply to corpo-
rations, companies, associations, societies or orders, incorporated under
the laws of the State of Virginia. The word “foreign,” as used in this
act, shall be held to apply to corporations, companies, associations, so-
cieties, or orders incorporated by any other State or Territory of the
United States; and the word “alien,” as used in this act, shall be held to
apply to corporations, companies, associations, societies or orders incorpo-
rated by any country other than the United States, or some State or Ter-
ritory thereof.

2. Insurance companies, associations, societies, and orders and guar-
anty, trust, indemnity, fidelity, security, and other like companies, may
be incorporated under the provision of chapter one of the act entitled “an
act concerning corporations,” which became a law May twenty-first, nine-
teen hundred and three, and shall be subject to all the general restrictions
and shall have all the general powers imposed and conferred upon such
corporations by the laws of the State: provided, that no charter shall be
granted to any life or fire insurance company with a capital stock until
the incorporators shall present to the State corporation commission the
certificate of the treasurer of the Commonwealth, that bonds to the
amount of ten thousand dollars of the description mentioned in section
fourteen of this chapter, have been deposited with him to be held by him
under the provisions and upon the terms and conditions in this chapter
hereinatter set forth.

The certificate for the incorporation of any company of the class
mentioned 1 in the preceding section, shall set forth, if an insurance com-
pany with a capital stock, the class or classes of insurance the company
proposes to undertake; and if a mutual, co-operative or assessment com-
pany, in licu of a capital stock, the number and amount of agreements
for insurance with which it proposes to commence business, and the terri-
tory to which its operations are to be confined; and if a guaranty, trust,
indemnity, fidelity, security, or other like company, the class or classes of
business it proposes to undertake and conduct.

4. No foreign or alien insurance, guaranty, trust, indemnity, fidelity.
security or other like company, shall make any contracts of insurance.
indemnity, surety, or other like contracts, or become a trustee or fiduciary
within this State, until such company shall have obtained a license from
the State corporation commission so to do, and shall in other respects have
complied with the laws of this State; and no such domestic company shall
make any such contracts, or become a trustee or fiduciary, until it shall
have obtained from the State corporation commission a certificate of au-
thority so to do, and shall have, in other respects, complied with the laws
of this State. If, however, any such company shall make any such con-
tract as aforesaid, without conforming to the requirements of the laws of
this State, the contract shall be valid and may be enforced against such
company.

5. The minimum capital stock of every insurance company hereafter
incorporated under the laws of this State, on the stock plan, shall not be
less than one-tenth of its maximum capital stock, and in no case shall the
minimum capital stock be less than twenty-five thousand dollars.

6. No insurance company incorporated on the stock plan under the laws
of this State, shall be authorized to commence business until the minimum
amount of the capital stock named in the certificate of incorporation has
been subscribed and actually paid in, according to the subscription agree-
ment, nor if a mutual, co-operative or assessment company, until it has
received and is in actual possession of bona fide engagements or agree-
ments of insurance, to the extent and value required to commence busi-
ness; and, for the purpose of making examination, the commissioner of
insurance may demand the production before him of the securities and
agreements of any such company, and such other evidence of the bona
fides of such company as he may deem necessary, and shall require the.
incorporators, or the officers and directors, to certify, under oath, that the
money securities or agreements exhibited to him are the bona fide prop-
erty of the corporation; and a written report of such examination shall be
filed with the State corporation commission. Any wilful false swearing
as to any material fact in any such certificate by any officer, director or in-
corporator of such company shall be deemed perjury, and shall be pun-
ished as such.

7. Every foreign or alien insurance, guaranty, trust, indemnity, fidel-
ity, security, or other like company, shall, by a written power of attorney,
appoint a citizen of this State, residing in the city of Richmond, its
agent, upon whom shall be served all lawful process or notice against
such company, and who shall be authorized to enter an appearance in its
hehalf. A copy of such power of attorney, duly certified and authenti-
cated, shall be filed with the bureau of insurance, and copies thereof duly
certified by the commissioner of insurance shall be received as evidence
in all courts of this State.

8. If any such agent shall be removed, resign, die, become insane, or
otherwise incapable of acting, it shall be the duty of the company to ap-
point another agent in his place, as hereinafter prescribed and until such
appointment is made, or during the absence of such agent of such com-
pany from the State, or if no such agent be appointed as heretofore pre-
scribed, service of process or notice may be upon the commissioner of
insurance with like effect as upon an agent appointed by the company.
The officer serving such process or notice upon the commissioner of insur-
ance shall immediately mail a copy thereof, addressed to its principal
office, to the company, and state such fact in his return. A judgment,
decree, or order of a court entered or made against any such company
after service of process or notice as aforesaid, shall be as valid and bind-
ing on said company as if it had been incorporated under the laws of this
State and served with process or notice therein.

9. Before license and authority is granted to any foreign or alien in-
surance, guaranty, trust, indemnity, fidelity, security, or other like com-
pany, to transact business in this State, it shall file with the commissioner
of insurance a resolution adopted by its hoard of directors, consenting
that service of process or notice upon the agent of such company in this
State, as hereinbefore provided, or upon the commissioner of insurance
of this State, if there be no such agent, in any action brought or pending
in this State, shall be valid service of such process or notice upon said
company.

10. Every foreign and every alien insurance, guaranty, trust, indem-
nity, fidelity. security, and other like company, through its agent shall,
before making or procuring to be made any contract of insurance, or in-
demnity or other like contract, give bond payable to the Commonwealth,
with one or more sureties, or a surety company, to be approved by the
commissioner of insurance, in the sum of not less than ene thousand nor
more than five thousand dollars, at the discretion of the commissioner of
insurance, with condition to make the returns and pay the taxes and all
other fees and charges required hy law.

11. Every foreign and every alien insurance, guaranty, trust, in-
demnity, fidelity, security, and other like company, before transacting any
business in this State. if it has not already done so, shall file with the com-
missioner of insurance a copy of its charter, articles of association, or deed
of settlement, by whatever name its organic law may be called.

12. Any insurance, guaranty, trust, indemnity,. fidelity, security, or
other like company. that shall fail to pay the taxes, fees and charges due
by it or its agents shall cease to transact business in this State; and any
agent or employee of such company who shall, while the company he is
transacting business for is in default in the payment of its taxes, fees or
charges, engage in or solicit. in any manner, business for such company,
shall upon conviction thereof be punished by a fine of not less than fifty
nor more than two hundred dollars and by imprisonment in jail for not
less than thirty nor more than fifty days, in the discretion of the jury.

13. Every such insurance, guaranty, trust, indemnity, fiedelitv, security
or other like company, whether foreign, alien or domestic, shall obtain
annually from the State corporation commission a renewal of its license or
certificate of authority to transact business in this State. Upon the is-
suance of such renewal the commission shall collect a fee of five dollars
in addition to the other taxes, fees and charges imposed by law: pro-
vided, that this section shall not apply to mutual fire insurance com-
panies conducting business exclusively in this State, and on a strictly
mutual plan, and that pays its losses wholly from assessments upon its
members, and that makes no division or distribution of its earnings or
profits among its members.

14. Unless otherwise provided in this chapter, every insurance com-
pany shall, by an agent employed to superintend or manage the business
of such company in this State, or through some authorized officer, deliver
under oath to the treasurer of this State a statement of the amount of
capital stock of said company, unless it be a mutual company, and
deposit with him bonds of the United States, or of the State of Virginia,
or of the cities or counties of this State, to an amount equal to five per
centum on the said capital stock, or not less than ten thousand nor more
than fifty thousand dollars, and the treasurer shall thereupon give the
agent a receipt for the same: provided, that the cash value of the securi-
ties so deposited need not be more than fifty thousand dollars, nor shall
it be less than ten thousand dollars, and no single bond so deposited shall
exceed in amount the sum of ten thousand dollars; if a mutual company,
it shall make a deposit of not less than ten thousand dollars nor more
than fifty thousand dollars, the exact amount to be determined by the
State corporation commission, as may scem equitable upon comparison
with the deposit required by stock companies. And upon the face value
of such deposits the treasurer of the Commonwealth shall be authorized
to make an annual assessment of one-twentieth of one per centum, to be
by him collected of the general agent of such company for the State of
Virginia, or if there be no general agent, then of any local agent doing
business for said company in this State, to defray the expenses of his
office in the safe-keeping and handling of such securities; and after the
payment of said expenses, whatever remains shall be retained as a compen-
sation to himself for his care and labor in connection with said securi-
ties, a detailed statement of which shall be furnished by him to each
session of the general assembly. ‘The treasurer shall collect for the year
nineteen hundred and six, in the month of January, and annually there-
after in the month of January. If the bonds so deposited be registered
bonds, the company shall at the same time deliver to the treasurer a
power of attorney authorizing him to transfer said bonds, or any part
thereof, for the purpose of paying any of the liabilities provided for in
this act. Upon the exhibition of a license and authority from the State
corporation commission to such company to do business in this State, or
of a duly certified copy thereof, to the commissioner of the revenue of the
county, district or city in which an office of any such company in this
State is, or is to be located, and the payment of the specific license tax
which may be imposed thereon, a license shall be issued in the manner
prescribed by law to said company to carry on its business, and all re-
newals of such licenses shall be obtained and issued in the same manner.
The treasurer shall require any such company to make good any deprecia-
ten ur reduction in value of the said securities; and he shall, in the
menth of December in every year, examine all securities so deposited with
him for the purpose of ascertaining whether any of them have depreciated
«> been reduced in value. Any insurance company incorporated by this
State, making a deposit of bonds with the treasurer, shall be required to
pay the assessment required by this section: provided, this section shall
not be construed as requiring any deposit of bonds by any company trans-
acting business upon a basis and under a form of contract which gives to
the patrons of said company in advance all that will ever be due them
from said company, so that nothing is left to be secured to said patron.
The State shal] be responsible for the safe-keeping of all bonds or other
securities deposited with the treasurer of the State, and in case that said
bonds or any part thereof shall be lost, destroyed or misappropriated, the
State shall make good such loss to the insurance company making the
deposit. Bonds or other securities deposited with the State treasurer
by any insurance, fidelity, guaranty, trust, or indemnity company shall
not be subject to taxation, but shall be held by the treasurer exclusively
and solely for the protection of policy-holders: provided, that nothing
contained in this act shall be construed to relieve any agent of any such
company from the payment of any license imposed by the ordinances of
any city or town in this Commonwealth: provided, that this section shall
not apply to mutual fire insurance companies conducting business ex-
clusively in this State, and on a strictly mutual plan, and that pays its
‘osses wholly from assessments upon its members, and that makes no
division or distribution of its earnings or profits among its members, or
to fraternal benefit companies, societies or orders.

15. The treasurer at the time of recciving said bonds shall give to the
company authority to draw the interest thereon as the same may become
due and payable, for the use of the company, which authority shall con-
tinue in force until the company fails to pay any of its liabilities upon its
insurance policies made in favor of any citizen or inhabitant of this
State, in which case the party charged with the payment of such interest
shall be forthwith notified of such failure, and thereafter such interest
shall be payable to the treasurer, to be applied, if necessary, to the pay-
ment of such liabilities.

16. If the said company fail to pay any of its liabilities on said poli-
cies, according to the terms of the policies, after the said liabilities shall
have been adjusted between the parties in the mode prescribed by the
policies, if a mode be prescribed thereby, or after the same shall have been
ascertained in any mode agreed upon by the parties, or by the judgment,
order or decree of a court having jurisdiction of the subject the treasurer
shall, upon the application of the party to whom the debt or money is due
proceed to sell at auction such an amount of the said bonds as, with the
interest in his hands, will pay the sum due and expenses of sale, and out
of the proceeds of sale pay said sums and expenses: provided, that the
party making application shall give to the company, or to the agent of the
company in this State, twenty days’ notice of his intention to make the
same: and provided, further, that such company shall be required forth-
with to make good any deficit in the amount of its deposit caused by such
sale.
17. Upon the bonds deposited as aforesaid, with the treasurer, by any
such insurance company, the holders of all policies of said company made
with residents of this State shall have a lien for the amounts due them
respectively under, or in consequence of such policies for losses, equitable
values, return premiums, or otherwise, and shall be entitled to be paid
ratably out of the proceeds of said bonds, if such proceeds be not sufficient
to pay all of said policy-holders; and whenever any such company, de-
positing bonds as aforesaid, shall have become insolvent or bankrupt, or
shall have made an assignment for the benefit of its creditors, any holder
of such policy shall have the right to file a bill in the circuit court of the
city of Richmond to enforce the said lien for the benefit of all the holders
of such policies. ‘The treasurer shall be a party to the suit, and the fund
shall be distributed by the court. .

18. Where the principal of any said bonds so deposited is paid to the
treasurer, he shall notify the company, or its agent in this State, and pay
the money so received to the said company upon receiving other bonds, of
the character named in section fourteen of this chapter, to an equal
amount; or upon the failure of the company, for thirty days after receiv-
ing said notice, to deliver such bonds to an equal amount to the treasurer.
he may invest the said money in any such bonds, and hold the same as he
held those which were paid off.

19. If such company cease to carry on business. in this State, and its
liabilities, whether fixed or contingent, upon its policies, to persons resid-
ing In this State, shall have been satisfied, or shall have terminated, upon
satisfactory evidence of the fact to the State corporation commission, it
may direct the treasurer to deliver to such company the bonds in his
possession belonging to it or such of them as remain after paying the
liabilities aforesaid: or, if such company shall reduce the amount of its
liabilities, both fixed and contingent, upon its policies to persons residing
in this State, below the value of the bonds in the possession of the treas-
urer, he may, on the order of the State corporation commission, deliver
to such company a part of such bonds, taking care, however, that the
honds in his possession shall always be equal in value to the liabilities of
said company upon its policies to persons residing in this State; or, if
such company cease to carry on business in this State, and its fixed liabili-
ties for losses and for taxes, fees and other charges shall have been gatis-
fied, and the contingent liabilities under its policies shall have been as-
sumed by another company doing business in this State, in case such rein-
suring company, if non-resident, has deposited with the treasurer bonds
not less in value than those of the company proposing to retire, the State
corporation commission, upon being satisfied of these facts, shall, upon
receiving a duly attested copy of the contract between the two companies
by which the risks of the retiring company are assumed by the other
company, direct the treasurer to deliver to such company proposing to
withdraw, the bonds in his possession belonging to it.

20. If the treasurer shall dispose of the bonds deposited with him by
any insurance company under the provisions of this chapter, or any part
of said bonds, otherwise than is provided in this chapter, he shall be
deemed guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished
hy a fine double the amount of the honds so disposed of, and by confine-
ment m the penitentiary for a period of not less than five years nor more
than fifteen years.

21. Every alien casualty insurance company shall have a deposit of not
less than two hundred thousand dollars in the United States dedicated to
its business and liabilities in the United States. No casualty insurance
company, incorporated or associated under the laws of any government or
State other than the United States, or one of the United States, shall be
licensed to do business in this State until, besides complying with the
provisions of the laws relating to the admission of companies of other
States, it has in the hands of trustees who shall be citizens and residents
of the United States, or with the treasurer of this State, or with the
financial officer or insurance commissioner of some one of the other of the
United States, a deposit of not less than two hundred thousand dollars;
such deposit must be in exclusive trust for the benefit and security of all
of the policy-holders and creditors of such company in the United States,
and may be in securities under the same restrictions as the investments of
companies of other States. When such deposit shall have been made in
same one of the other States, other than this State, the deposit so made
shall be deemed and treated as the capital stock of such alien casualty in-
surance company, on which the treasurer shall estimate the five per cen-
tum deposit required to be made by section fourteen of this chapter.

22. Any life insurance company, or any association for life insurance
on the co-operative or assessment plan, incorporated under the laws of
Virginia, and doing business therein, having hy the terms of its charter
or by-laws, or by the laws of this State, any part of its assets set apart
either in its own hands or in the hands of others under any trust: or a
reserve fund for policy-holders, or any of them, may at its election, or the
holder thereof, may deposit the same or any part thereof with the treas-
urer of this Commonwealth: provided, such deposit be not Jess than ten
thousand dollars, and be invested at the time of such deposit in any of the
following securities—namely, first, in bonds or notes secured by mort-
gage or deed of trust on unencumbered ae estate, assessed in each case
at not less than double the amount loaned ; or, second, in the bonds of the
United States: or, third, in the bonds of ihe State of Virginia, or in the
bends of other States, or of incorporated cities and towns therein, at
their cash market value, or such other securities as may be approved by
the State corporation commission at their cash market value. The com-
pany making such deposit shall be entitled to the income thereof, and
may from time to time change, in whole or in part. the securities which
compose the deposit for other competent securities of equal par value.
Upon the request of any insurance company mentioned in this section,
the said treasurer may, on the order of the State corporation commission,
return to such company the whole or any portion of the securities of such
company held by him on deposit, when the said commission shall be satis-
fied that the securities so asked to be returned are subject to no liability
and not required to be longer held for any provision of law, or purpose of
its original deposit. ‘The said deposit may, from time to time, he changed
hy the substitution, either in whole or in part, for other securities of at
least equal value of the classes herein enumerated.

23. Any corporation or association organized under the laws of this or
any other State of the United States, for the purpose of furnishing life
or accident, indemnity, insurance, either upon the assessment plan or by
periodical premium payments, fixed in amount, to meet death losses in
accordance with American experience tables of mortality, or that is carry-
ing on the business of life or accident insurance upon either the assess-
ment or periodical premium payment plan, shall deposit with the State
corporation commission of this State a certified copy of its charter or
articles of association, a copy of its statement of business for the year
ending the thirty-first day of the next preceding December, sworn to by
the president and secretary, or like officers thereof, setting forth the
number and amount of certificates of membership or policies in force, and
a detailed account of its expenditures, income, assets and liabilities, and
also a certificate sworn to by the president and secretary, or like officers
thereof, setting forth that it has paid, and has the ability to pay, its
certificates or policies to the full amount named therein; that its certifi-
cates or policies are payable only to beneficiaries having a legal insurable
interest in the life of the member or insured; that an ordinary assessment
upon, or the periodical premium collections from, its memebrs is sufficient
to pay its maximum certificate of membership or policy issued therefor,
if any, or thereafter to be issued to residents of this State to the full
amount or limit named therein; and if a foreign corporation or associa-
tion, a certificate from the auditor or other officer charged with the duty
of executing or enforcing the execution of the insurance laws of its home
State, certifying that it is legally entitled to do business in its home
State; a copy of the application for membership for insurance, and of each
form there of, if more than one form is used; a copy of the form of cer-
tificate of membership or policy, and of each form thereof, if more than
one form is used, and a copy of the constitution and by-laws, and of each
and every edition thereof. Any such company or association for furnish-
ing life or accident, indemnity insurance that shall show by the above
described papers that all indemnities to beneficiaries are in the main
provided for either by assessments upon members made when needed by
said company or association, or by payments at a fixed date or dates, but
with the right reserved by such company or association to make additional
call or calls; or, if definite periodical premiums, without the right to
make such additional call or calls, are used, such premiums must show
that they are sufficient to pay average death losses in accordance with the
American experience tables of mortality, and that its mortuary surplus
fund is sufficient to meet death losses in accordance with said tables of
mortality, shall all or either of them be held to be a company or associa-
tion doing business upon the assessment plan: provided, that said periodi-
cal premiums do not include the reserve element of the legal reserve
systems of life insurance, defined in section twenty-four of this chapter.
When said company or association has complied with the provisions of
this act, it shall receive a license and certificate of authority to do business
in this State: provided, however, that this section shall not apply to
fraternal benefit orders, associations or societies as defined and regulated
in chapter five of this act.

24. Any foreign, alien, or domestic life insurance company, association
or society, any of whose policies or certificates contain any provision to the
effect that a person insured shall, upon surrender of such policy during
his or her lifetime, receive a surrender value therefor, either in cash,
paid in insurance, or extended insurance, shall be regarded as a regular,
or “legal reserve company,” and shall be required to maintain a reserve
sufficient to purchase said surrender values, calculating according to the
American table of mortality, with four per centum interest, and strictly
in accordance with the terms and provisions of said policies or certificates.
The calculation shall be made on the net premium basis, and the gross
premium shall not be considered, except when it is in deficit, as com-
vared with the net premium, for the benefit derived by such premium, in
which case the value of the policy shall be increased by the present value
of all such deficit and future gross premiums: provided, that nothing in
this section shall be construed to apply to industrial sick benefit com-
panies chartered in this State, and having its capital and surplus invested
in this State, nor to fraternal benefit orders, associations or societies, as
defined and regulated in chapter five of this act.

25. The commissioner of insurance is directed, and he is hereby re-
quired, at the request of any life insurance company chartered under the
laws of this State, to make or cause to be made, a valuation of all policies
of such company, in force on the thirty-first day of December of the
preceding year, at the expense of said company, and shall keep a record
of the same in his office, and certify the same at the request of such com-
pany. The said valuation shall be made on the basis of the American
experience table of mortality, and at four per centum interest.

26. No life insurance company chartered under the laws of any other
State, whose insurance department refuses to receive as valid the valuation
of the policies of any life insurance company of this State, made under
the preceding section, or upon such basis as the laws of that State require
for its own companies, shall do business in this State until there shall
have been made, at the expense of such foreign life insurance company,
under the direction of the commissioner of insurance, a special valuation
of its policies in force.

27. That the payments in weekly or monthly installments to the holder
of any policy of insurance in any accident company, sick benefit com-
pany, or any company of like kind, shall not be subject to the lien of any
attachment, garnishment procecdings, writ of fieri facias, or to levy or
distress in any manner, for any debt due by the holder of such policy.

28. All statements or descriptions in any application for a policy of
insurance shall be deemed representations and not warranties, and no
answer to interrogatories made by an applicant for a policy of insurance
shall bar the right to recover upon any policy issued upon such applica-
tion, by reason of any warranty in said application or policy contained,
unless it be clearly proved that such answer was wilfully false or fraudu-
lently made, or that it was material.

29. Whenever any losses or damage is sustained by reason of any peril
insured against, and notice thereof has been given to the insurer or any
agent of such insurer, then upon the written application made to the
insurer by the insured or the person to whom the insurance money is pay-
able under the policy or other contract of insurance, it shall be the duty of
such insurer, within ten days after said application shall have been made
to the insurer, to deliver to the insured or to the person to whom the
insurance money is payable under the policy or other contract of insur-
ance, forms for such preliminary proof of such loss or damage as may he
properly required under the policy or other contract of insurance; and
unless such forms shall be so delivered, it shall not be necessary for the
insured, or any person to whom the insurance money is payable as afore-
said, to furnish the insurer with any preliminary proof whatever of such
loss or damage, anything in the policy or other contract of insurance to
the contrary, notwithstanding; and the failure or refusal of such insurer
or agent of such insurer to deliver said forms within ten days shall be
deemed a waiver of any condition, stipulation or provision in the policy
or other contract of insurance requiring such preliminary proof. Such
written application and such delivery of forms may be made through
mail, as well as otherwise: provided, that if made through the mail, it
shall be registered according to the postal laws of the United States.

30. In all cases where policies of insurance have been issued or are
hereafter issued by fire insurance companies doing business in this State
containing a provision that in case of loss by fire or otherwise, less than
the amount stated on the face of the policy upon which the premium is
paid, or only a certain portion of the value of the property at the time of
the loss, shall be paid under the provisions of said policy, and the amount
ascertained to be due in accordance with the provisions of the policy after
the loss occurs shall he less than the amount upon which the premium
was paid, it shall be the duty of the company that issued said policies to
refund to, and said company is hereby required to refund to, the policy-
holder or holders the premium paid on the amount which constitutes the
difference between the amount stated on the policy upon which the pre-
mium was paid and the amount paid thereunder, with interest thereon
from the time of payment of such premium; but this section shall not
apply to cases in which there is a partial loss by fire and the policy is con-
tinued in force as to the residue of the amount named in the policy.
When several policies are issued by different companies on the same
property, the amount of premium required to be refunded under this
section shall be apportioned, and may be recovered from the several com-
panies in proportion to the several amounts of said policies. The amounts
required to be vefunded by fire insurance companies under this section
may be recovered by the policy-holder or holders in the same manner and
by the saine proceedings as are now provided by Jaw for the recovery of
the amount ascertained to be due under the poliey. Any provision which
may be inserted in a policy or in any condition attached thereto by any
fire insurance company, doing business in this State for the purpose of
providing against the enforcement of the provisions of this section shall
he void. The provisions of this section shall not apply to a purely
mutual fire insurance company or association organized and doing busi-
ness in this State, and paying its losses solely from assessments upon its
members.

31. No fire insurance company chartered or incorporated under the
laws of this State, nor any foreign or alien fire insurance company licensed
to do business in this State, shall carry at its own risk a policy or policies
of insurance on any single risk for an amount in excess of ten per centum
of the capital stock or assets of such company, or if a mutual company,
for an amount in excess of five per centum of its cash assets: provided,
that a mutual fire insurance company or association organized and doing
business in any county or counties, or city or cities in this State, and
paying its losses solely from assessments upon its members without dis-
tributing any portion of its profits among its policy-holders, shall not be
liable to the provisions of this section, nor affected thereby : provided, that
if such a policy in excess of ten per centum of its capital stock shall be
written, then the said company shall be required to reinsure such excess
in some company legally authorized to do business in this State. Upon a
complaint of a violation of this section, it shall be the duty of the com-
missioner of insurance (and he is hereby empowered and required to ex-
amine the books of such company, if the company is incorporated by this
State, or the books of the agency of such company, if a foreign or alien
company duly licensed to do business in this State), to ascertain if such
company has violated the provisions of this section; and, if so, the com-
missioner of insurance shall report the same to the State corporation com-
mission, who shall, after giving notice to such company to appear before
the commission and an opportunity to introduce evidence and be heard,
as provided in section thirteen of chapter one of this act, revoke the
license or certificate of authority, as the case may be, to do business in
this State, and publish such revocation as in said section and chapter
directed. Such company shall have the right of appeal to the supreme
court of appeals as provided in said section of said chapter.

32. That the arbitrators and umpire sclected to ascertain the loss sus-
tained by any claimant upon any policy of insurance on any property in
the State of Virginia shall be citizens and actual residents of the State
of Virginia, unless otherwise agreed between the parties.

33. The said arbitrators and umpire, before acting as such, shall take
an oath to faithfully discharge their duties, and that they are not in any
manner in the employment of nor related to any individual affected
thereby, or in the employment of any insurance company.

34. That fire, accident, health, employers’ liability, steam boiler, plate
«lass, surety, burglary or other insurance companies not incorporated by
the laws of the State of Virginia, but legally authorized to do business
in this State, shall not make contracts of insurance on persons or prop-
erty herein save through regularly constituted agents of such companies
residing in the State of Virginia: provided, however, that this act shall
not apply to railroad companies and other common carriers engaged in
interstate commerce ; and the writing, placing, or causing to be written or
placed. any policy of fire. accident, health, employers’ liability, steam
hoiler, plate glass, surety, burglary, or other insurance in contravention
of this section, is hereby declared to be a violation of the laws of this
State providing for the payment of taxes by foreign and alien insurance
companies permitted to do business in Virginia. No life insurance cor-
poration doing business in this State shall make any discrimination in
favor of individuals of the same class, or of the same expectation of life,
vither in the amount of premium charged or in any return of premium,
dividends or other advantages. No agent of any such corporation shall
make any contract for insurance or agreement as to such contract other
than that which is plainly expressed in the policy issued. No such corpo-
ration or agent thereof shall pay, or allow or offer to pay, or allow as ar
inducement to any person to insure any rebate of premium or any specia
favor or advantage whatever in the dividends to accrue thereon, or amy
inducement whatever not specified in the policy. If it shall appear to the
satisfaction of the commissioner of insurance, after hearing by him, upor
due notice, that any corporation is issuing policies or making contract:
that are directly or indirectly in violation of this section, he shall, upor
the written approval of the corporation commission, require such corpo-
ration, and its officers and agents, to refrain within twenty days from
making any such policy or contract.

35. Any company, or officer, or agent of any such company, legally ac-
mitted to do business in Virginia, violating any of the provisions of sec-
tion thirty-four of this chapter, shall be punished by a fine of not less
than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars for each
offence; and when any such company shall have been found to have so
violated said section, upon the first offense, its license to do business in
this State shall also, after proceeding in the manner prescribed by sec-
tion thirteen of chapter one of this act, be revoked by the State corporation
commission for a period of ninety days, subject to the right of appeal by
such company as in said section of said chapter provided; and the com-
missioner of insurance of this State shall, after final judgment, or unless
an appeal be taken in thirty days, be required to cause a notice-of such
revocation of authority to do business in the State to be published in any
paper of general circulation published in the city of Richmond, and after
the publication of such notice, it shall be unlawful for any person, agent.
firm or corporation or any such insurance company or companies, to pro-
cure any new applications for insurance in such company or companies, or
to issue any policies therein, pending the reinstatement of such company
or companies’ authority to do business in this State. And any company or
companies whose license may be so revoked by the State corporation com-
mission shall not be again permitted to do business in Virginia until all
taxes and penalties, due on said conviction, shall have been paid, together
with any expenses that may be due under the provisions of section thirtyv-
seven of this chapter, to the commissioner of insurance.

36. Whenever the commissioner of insurance of this State shall re-
ceive information of any violation of section thirty-four of this chapter,
whether such information shall be by an exhibition of the policy or poli-
cies about which complaint is made, or upon affidavit of the party or
parties preferring the charge, it shall be his duty, in person, or by assist-
ant, to forthwith cause an investigation of the correctness of such charge
or charges of violation of section thirty-four of this chapter, and when
necessary to obtain .conclusive information, shall, when directed by the
State corporation commission, visit such company or companies’ offices
where such contract may have been written, made, or recorded, and ex-
amine the books and records of the same: provided, the expenses of the
said insurance commissioner shall be paid in advance by the person or
persons making the charge, to be refunded to said person or persons
should the char; ge be sustained. Any company or companies refusing to
exhibit its or their books and records for his inspection shall be deemed
guilty of violating the provisions of section thirty-four of this chapter.
and the penalties provided by section thirty-five of this chapter shall be
enforced against such company or companies by the State corporation
commission, as in said section provided.

37. The commissioner of insurance, or his assistant, shall receive as a
compensation for the services rendered under section thirty-six of this
chapter, his necessary travelling expenses and all reasonable expenses in-
curred, which sum shall be charged against the company or companies so
found guilty by him, and collected from such company or companies.
Tn case such company or companies be found not guilty, the necessary
travelling expenses and other expenses incurred by him shall be retained
out of the moneys paid in advance by the person or persons preferring
such charges.

38. Renewal of privilege to transact the business of fire, accident,
health, employers’ liability, steam boiler, plate glass, surety, burglar or
other insurance in this State by companies not incorporated by the laws
thereof shall only issue after the secretary or manager of such company or
companies so desiring to renew license to do business in Virginia shall
first have made oath that no policy or policies of insurance covering per-
sons or property in this State has been issued during the twelve months
preceding, except by resident agents of such company in Virginia duly
commissioned, and until and after such company or companies shall have
complied with the other laws of this State in respect to the admission of
companies of other States and countries.

39. No condition in, or endorsed on, any policy of insurance, nor any
restrictive provision thereof, shall be valid unless such condition or re-
strictive provision is printed in type as large as long primer or ten point
type, or is written in pen and ink or typewriter, in or on the policy, and
no provision in any policy of insurance limiting the time within which a
suit or action may he brought to less than one year after loss shall be
valid.

40. Every insurance company or association of whatever description
doing business in this State shall make a report annually, between the first
day of January and the thirty-first day of March, to the State corporation
commission, according to the form prescribed and published by it, show-
ing the condition of such company or association as of the last day of the
preceding year, which shall be verified by the oath of the president and
secretary, or two other officers of the association or company, but no pub-
lication thereof shall be required.

41. If the company or association be a fire, marine, or fire and marine
insurance company or association, the report shall show the amount of its
capital stock subscribed, the amount paid up in cash, the amount paid by
stock notes, and the amount unpaid; its assets, with a statement in detail
of the investments thereof; its income during the year, and the source
from which it was derived; its liabilities, and its expenditures in detail
for the year.

42. If it be any other insurance company or association than such as
are mentioned in the preceding section, the report shall show the number
of its policies issued during the year, the amount of insurance effected
thereby, the amount of premiums received during the vear, the amount
of interest received, and all other receipts; the amount of losses paid
«uring the vear, the amount of losses unpaid, and the amount of ex-
penses; the whole number of policies in force, the amount of liabilities or
risks thereon, and al] other liabilities ; the amount of capital stock, if any.
the amount of assets and how invested, and the amount of dividends.

43. If any company, association, society or order of the classes men-
tioned in this chapter, doing business in this State, shall fail to make anv
report required by law, and within the time required by law, and within
the time prescribed, it shall, for every such failure, be fined not less than
one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars; and it shall,
moreover, be the duty of the commissioner of insurance to publish such
failure as soon as it occurs, at the expense of such company, or associa-
tion, in such newspaper and for such length of time as he may prescribe:
unless the time for the making such report shall have been extended by
the State corporation commission.

44. If any president, secretary, agent, attorney, or other person whose
duty it is to make or file any annual or other statement, report or other
instrument in writing, required by the provisions of this law, shall know-
ingly or wilfully make or file any false or fraudulent statement, report or
other instrument, he shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and, upon con-
viction thereof, shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary for a period of not
less than two nor more than ten years.

45. The State corporation commission is authorized to revise and
amend the forms of annual or other statements prescribed by law, and to
propose such additional inquiries as are, in its opinion, necessary to elicit
a full exhibit of the business standing of the various insurance companies
dloing business in this Commonwealth; and it may address to any officer
of any insurance company inquiries relating to its doings and conditions,
and it shall be the duty of the officer so addressed to promptly answer
under oath, the inquiry propounded. The time prescribed for filing an-
nual or other statements of insurance companies may be extended by the
commission in favor of any company for good cause shown, but not be-
yond sixty days after such specified time. Any new business done by any
company or its avents in this State, after neglect to make the prescribed
returns, shall be deemed to be done in violation of law; and every insur-
ance company failing, by its officers, to make report, shall be subject to a
fine of not exceeding five hundred dollars for each failure: and to an
additional fine of five hundred dollars for every month that such com-
pany shall continue, after such failure, to transact any business of in-
surance.

46. Any company, association, society, partnership or person violating
any of the provisions of this act, if not otherwise provided in this act.
shall be fined not less than twenty nor more than two hundred dollars.

47. All fines and penalties recovered for violation of this act shall be
covered into the treasury of the Commonwealth to the credit of the
literary fund.

48. “Tf, by the existing or future laws of anv State an insurance cor-
poration of this State having agencies in such other State, or the agents
thereof, shall be required to make any deposit of securities in such other
State for the protection of policy-holders or otherwise, or to make pay-
ment for taxes, fines, penalties, certificates of authority, license fees or
otherwise, greater than the amount required by this chapter from similar
corporations of such other State by the then existing laws of this State,
then and in every such case, all insurance corporations of such State
established or heretofore having established an agency or agencies in this
State, shall be, and they are hereby, required to make the like deposit for
the like purposes with the treasurer of this State, and to pay the commis-
sioner of insurance for taxes, fines, penalties, certificates of authority,
license fees and otherwise, an amount equal to the amount of such
charges and payments imposed by the laws of such other State upon the
insurance corporations of this State and the agents thereof.

49. The State corporation commission may impose, enter judgment
for. and enforce, by its process, any fine or other penalty denounced
against any company for violating any of provisions of this act: provided,
that in all cases the company shall have an opportunity to introduce evi-
dence, and to be heard, and the right of appeal, as provided in section
thirteen of chapter one of this act.

50. Any agent, physician, or other person who shall knowingly ¢ secure
or cause to be secured a policy of life insurance on any person without
his knowledge or consent, or by means of misrepresentations, false,
fraudulent, or untrue statements be instrumental in securing a policy of
life insurance on any person, not in an insurable condition, shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be
fined in a sum not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one
thousand dollars, or be imprisoned in a county jail not less than thirty
davs nor more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court; and
said certificate or renewal so secured shall be absolutely void.

Chapter III.
Life Insurance Companies.

1. Before any life insurance company, incorporated in this State to be
organized on the stock plan, or with a capital stock divided into shares,
shall commence business, the full amount of its minimum capital stock
must be subscribed and actually paid into its treasury, or invested in
solvent securities of equivalent cash value, and such company shall fur-
nish to the commissioner of insurance a statement, under its seal, veri-
fied by the oaths of the president and secretary, or two of its directors,
showing the amount invested in securities, with a list of such securities
and their actual cash value; and shall have obtained a license or certifi-
cate of authority to transact business as required by this act, and shall
have. in all respect, complied with the provisions of the laws of this
State.

2. Before any mutual life insurance company shall commence busi-
ness, it shall have entered into bona fide agreements for insurance with
not Jess than one hundred persons, and shall have received therefrom not
less than ten thousand dollars in premiums. The company shall, in all
other respects, be subject to the same requirements as are prescribed for
companies referred to in section one of this chapter, and by the laws of
this State relating to insurance companies.

3. Domestic life insurance companies which do business upon the
principle of mutual insurance, or the members of which are entitled to
share in the surplus fund thereof, may make distribution annually or
every two or more years of so much thereof, after retaining the reserve
required by law, as the company may determine.

4. When the actual funds of any life insurance company, doing busi-
ness in this Commonwealth, are not of a net cash value equal to its lia-
bilities, counting as such the net value of its policies, which shall be
valued according to the American experience table of mortality, with
interest at four per centum, it shall be the duty of the commissioner of
insurance to give ten days’ notice to such company to appear before the
State corporation commission and show cause why its license or certificate
of authority, as the case may be, to transact business in this State, should
not be suspended or revoked, until such time as its funds become equal to
its liabilities, valuing its policies in manner aforesaid. After proceeding
in the manner prescribed by section thirteen of chapter one of this act,
the said commission may cither suspend or revoke the license or certificate
of authority of such company to transact business in this State, subject,
however, to the right of appeal by such company to the supreme court of
appeals as in said section of said chapter provided. The action of the
said State corporation commission, either suspending or revoking the
license or certificate of authority of any such company shall, upon final
judgment, or unless it shall appeal from the action of the commission in
sixty days, be published in like manner as provided by said section thir-
teen of chapter one. Any such company or any officer or agent thereof,
who, after such suspension or revocation of its license or certificate of
authority to do business in this State, issues a new policy for or on be-
half of such company, before its said license or certificate of authority to
do business is restored, shall be subject to a fine for each offense of not
less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars.

5. Any corporation incorporated as a mutual life insurance company
under the laws of this State is hereby authorized to reincorporate as a
stock company under its existing corporate name.

6. Before the State corporation commission shall issue a certificate of
such reincorporation it shall be satisfied that the application for such re-
incorporation has been approved by a majority of votes of the members of
the company, in person or by proxy, at a meeting of the insured called to
consider the same, of which a written or printed notice shall have been
mailed to each member, who shall have been such for thirty days, directed
to his address, appearing on the company’s books, at least fifteen davs
hefore the day fixed for such meeting.

7. Upon such reincorporation said company shall be entitled to all
the assets, and shall be subject to all the existing liabilities of the present
company, including all contracts, policies or certificates with its mem-
bers, and agreements between such members and the subscribers to any
guaranty or any reserve fund heretofore made or approved at an annual
meeting of the members, or which may be ratified at the meeting called to
consider such reincorporation. ;
8. Any such company reincorporating under this act shall, upon appli-
cation for license to do business in this State, be allowed, as a credit upon
its license for the residue of the current year, an amount on account of
license already paid for the year, proportionate to the unexpired portion
of the year for which such license has been paid.

9. Any company availing itself of the provisions of the four preceding
sections shall deposit with the treasurer of the State not less than fifty
thousand dollars of solvent bonds of the character required by this act:
provided, companies availing themselves of the provisions of the four
preceding sections may deposit solvent bonds to the amount of one hun-
dred thousand dollars.

Chapter IV.

assessment or co-operative life and casually companies.

1. No life or casualty company, organized under the laws of this State,
on the assessment or co-operative plan, shall commence business with a
membership of less than two hundred insurable persons, who have sub-
scribed to become insured therein in the aggregate sum of not less than
fifty thousand dollars, and have each paid into its treasury not less than
tive per centum on the amount of insurance severally subscribed for, in
cash, to be held in trust as an emergency fund for the beneficiaries; nor
until the said company shall have furnished the commissioner of insur-
ance a statement, under the seal of the company, verified by the oath of
its president and secretary or two of its directors, showing the number
and names of subscribers for insurance in such company, and the amount
paid into its treasury by each subscriber; the amount of actual cash in
its treasury, and the amount invested in securities, with a list of such
securities, and their actual cash value; nor until the said company shall
have obtained a license or certificate of authority to transact business as
required by this act, and has otherwise complied with the laws of this
State.

2. Every such corporation shall provide in its contracts with policy or
certificate holders for the accumulation of an emergency fund, which shall
he at all times not less than two per centum of the amount of its maxi-
mum policies or certificates issued and in force: provided, that this shall
net apply to industrial sick benefit companies, doing business on the
assessment plan, which companies shall reserve not less than ten per
centum of their gross collections to meet death losses; said fund, together
with the income thereon, shall be a trust for the payment of death and
disability claims, when the amount realized from assessments upon mem-
hers shall be insufficient for that purpose: provided, that whenever said
emergency fund is in excess of the amount of the maximum policies or
certificates issued and in force by the corporation, it may apply such
excess, or any portion thereof in reduction of assessments upon policy or
certificate holders, or in such other equitable division or apportionment
thereof as its rules or contracts may provide. When any such corpora-
tion shall discontinue business, any circuit court judge, in vacation or in
term of court, may appoint a receiver to administer any unexhausted por-
tion of said fund, which shall be used, less such compensation, not to
exceed five per centum thereof, when the assets exceed five thousand
dollars, as such court may allow the receiver; first, in the payment of
accrued claims upon certificates or policies, or if insufficient to pay such
claims in full, they shall be paid pro rata; second, if a balance remain, in
the payment of like claims thereafter accruing in the order of their oc-
currence.

3. The officers or directors of any such corporation who shall refuse or
neglect, for a space of sixty days after the filing of satisfactory proof of
the death of any certificate or policy-holder, where the claim so arising
is not disputed on account of fraud or want of validity, and where the
death or emergency fund is not sufficient to pay said claims, to levy an
assessment to provide for the same, shall thereby become liable to the
beneficiary under said certificate or policy in a sum not exceeding the
face of said claim.

4. Any such corporation, association or society which issues any certifi-
cate, policy or other evidence of interest to, or makes any promise or agree-
ment with, its members, whereby, upon the decease of a member, any
money or other benefit, relief or aid is to be paid, provided or rendered
by such corporation, association or society, to the legal representatives of
such member, or to the beneficiary designated by such member, which
money, benefit, relief or aid is derived from fees, dues or assessments col-
lected, or to be collected, from the members thereof, or members of a class
therein, and interest and accretions thereon, or rebates from amounts pay-
able to the beneficiaries or heirs, and wherein the paying, providing or ren-
dering of such money or other benefit, relief, or aid is conditioned upon
the same being realized in the manner aforesaid, and wherein the money or
other benefit or aid so realized is applied to the uses and purposes of such
corporation, association or society, and the expenses of the management
and prosecution of its business, shall be deemed to be engaged in the
business of life insurance upon the co-operative or assessment plan, and
shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter: provided, this section
shall not apply to fraternal benefit associations, as defined in chapter
five of this act.

5. Any such corporation, association or society which issues any cer-
tificate, policy or other evidence of interest to, or makes any promise or
agreement with its members, whereby, upon the sickness or other phy-
sical disability of a member, and not by reason of having attained a
certain age, any money or other benefit, relief or aid is to be paid, pro-
vided or rendered by such corporation, association or society to such
member, or beneficiary designated by him, which money, benefit, relief
or aid is derived from fees, dues, and assessments, or any of them, col-
lected or to be collected from the members thereof, or members of a class
therein, and interest and accretions thereon, and wherein the paying,
rendering or providing of such money, or other benefit, or aid is con-
ditioned upon the same being realized in the manner aforesaid, and
wherein the money, or other benefit, relief or aid is applied to the uses
and purposes of such corporation, association or society, and the expenses
of the management and prosecution of its business, shall be deemed to be
engaged in the business of casualty insurance upon the co-operative or
assessment plan, and shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter:
provided, this section shall not apply to fraternal benefit associations as
defined by chapter five of this act.

6. All corporations, companies, societies, organizations or associations
of this State, transacting the business of life or casualty insurance on the
co-operative or assessment plan referred to in this chapter, shall hold,
within the city or county in which the principal office is located in this
State. a stated annual meeting of their members and policy-holders, or
representatives of local boards or subordinate bodies, in such manner and
subject to such regulations, restrictions and provisions as the constitution
or by-laws of the same may provide. Every such association, corporation
or society, now authorized to do business in this State, must hereafter,
before the adoption of any by-law or amendment thereto, cause the same
to be mailed to the members and directors of such association, society or
corporation, together with a notice of the time and place when the same
will be considered. which notice shall be the same as hereinbefore re-
quired for a stated meeting. ‘The books and papers of such association
shall, at all reasonable times, be open for examination by members or
their representatives. But nothing in this section shall apply to indus-
trial sick benefit companies now or hereafter licensed and doing business
in this State, according to the general insurance law. All associations,
societies, companies, corporations or organizations now transacting or
hereafter desiring to transact the business of life or casualty insurance
in this State, upon any other plan than that defined in and by this chap-
ter, shall comply with the provisions of the general laws applicable to
life and casualty companies, except as provided in chapter five of this act,
relating to fraternal benefit orders, associations or societies, which shall
be governed by said chapter.

7. No such corporation organized under the laws of this State, unless
it be an industrial company or association, shall transfer its risks to or
reinsure them in any other corporation, unless the said contract of trans-
fer or reinsurance is first submitted to and approved by a two-thirds vote
of a meeting of the insured, called to consider the same, of which meeting
a written or printed notice shall be mailed to each member, certificate-
holder or policy-holder, at least thirty days before the day fixed for said
meeting: and in case said transfer or reinsurance shall be approved, every
member, certificate-holder or policy-holder of the said corporation who
shall file with the secretary thereof, within ten days after said meeting,
written notice of his preference to be transferred to some other corpora-
tion than that named in the contract, shall be accorded all the rights and
privileges, if any, in aid of such transfer as would have been accorded
under the terms of said contract had he been transferred to the corpora-
tion named therein. No such corporation, association or society organ-
ized under the laws of this State, shall transfer its risks, or assets, or any
part thereof, to or reinsure its risks, or any part thereof, in any insurance
corporation or association of another State or country, which is not at
the time of such transfer or reinsurance authorized to do business in this
State under the laws thereof. And any such corporation or association,
or officer, manager, director or agent of any such corporation or associa-
tion of this State, who shall consent to aid or promote any such transfer
or reingurance, shall be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars: pro-
vided, however, that as to fraternal benefit orders, associations or socie-
ties, such transfer of risks, assets and membership shall be governed
solely in accordance with section ten of chapter five of this act.

8. Each notice of assessment made by any corporation, association or
society transacting the business of life or casualty insurance, or both, upon
the co-operative or assessment plan, made upon its members, or any of
them, shall truly state the cause and purpose of such assessment, and shall
also state the amount paid on the last death claim, the cause of death and
character of disease, the name of the deceased member, and the maximum
face value of the certificate or policy, and if not paid in full, the reason
therefor.

9. Nothing in this chapter contained shall be construed to prevent the
creation of a reserve fund by any corporation, association or society trans-
acting the business of life or casualty insurance, or both, upon the co-
operative or assessment plan, which funds or its accretions, or both, are
to be used for the payment of assessments or death losses, or for the bene-
fits in case of physical disability only.

10. Any solicitor, agent, examining physician or other person, who shall
knowingly or wilfully make any false or fraudulent statement or mis-
representation in, or with reference to, any application for insurance, or
for the purpose of obtaining any money or benefit in any corporation
transacting business under this chapter, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor,
and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hun-
dred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or imprisonment in jail
for not less than thirty days nor more than one year, or both, at the dis-
cretion of the court or jury; and any person who shall wilfully make a
false statement of any material fact or thing in a sworn statement as to
the death or disability of a policy or certificate-holder in any such corpo-
ration, for the purpose of procuring payment of a benefit named in the
certificate of such holder, shall be guilty of perjury.

11. Every policy or certificate hereafter issued by any such corporation
shall specify the sum of money which it promises to pay upon the con-
tingency insured against, which shall not be larger than the amount of
one assessment upon the entire membership, and the number of days
after satisfactory proof of the happening of such contingency at which
such payment shall be made; and upon the occurrence of such contin-
gency, unless the contract shall have been voided by fraud or for want
of validity, the corporation shall be obligated to the beneficiary for such
payment at the time and to the amount specified in the policy or cer-
tificate; and this indebtedness shall be a lien upon all the property, ef-
fects and bills receivable of the corporation, with priority over all in-
debtedness thereafter incurred, except as herein provided in the case of
the distribution of assets of an insolvent corporation, and as to rights of
third parties. If the commissioner of insurance shall be satisfied, on
investigation, that any such corporation has refused or failed to make
such payment for thirty days after it became due, and after proper de-
mand, he shall notify the State corporation commission, which may sus-
pend or revoke its license or authority to do business, unless such in-
debtedness shall be fully paid and publish its action after proceeding in
the manner provided by section thirteen of chapter one of this act; and
while such revocation or suspension is in force no officer or agent of the
corporation shall make, sign or issue any certificate of insurance, nor
issue any notice of, nor call upon the members for payment of an assess-
ment; and all moneys received from any source by the corporation, its
agents, or officers, shall be forthwith deposited in some bank or trust
company to wait a final decision as provided in the following section:

12. Whenever the commissioner of insurance shall have given the
notice required by the foregoing section, he shall proceed without delay
to investigate the condition of the corporation, and shall have full power
in person or by assistant, to examine its books, papers and accounts, and
to examine, under oath, its officers, agents, clerks and certificate-holders,
or other persons having knowledge of its business; and if it shall appear
to him that its liabilities exceed its resources, and that it cannot within
a reasonable time, not more than three months from the date of the
original default, pay its accrued indebtedness in full, he shall report
the facts to the attorney-general, who shall, upon such report, apply to
the circuit court of the city of Richmond, or to the judge thereof in
vacation, for an order closing the business of the corporation, and ap-
pointing a receiver for the distribution of its assets among creditors.
No such order shall be made until the corporation shall have had ten days’
notice of the application, and an opportunity to be heard. And upon
hearing the matter, the court shall have power to make any order which
the interest of the corporation and the public may require.

Chapter V.

Defining and regulating fraternal beneficiary associations. orders or
societies.

1. A fraternal beneficiary association, order or society is hereby de-
clared to be a corporation, society, order or voluntary association which is
formed or organized for the purpose of providing benefits, charity, relief
or insurance for its members and their beneficiaries, such insurance being
issued in the form of certificates of membership therein which provide
for the payment of a specified or other sum of money to the beneficiary
on the death of the member in consideration of the payment by the mem-
her of fixed sums at fixed periods, or of any sums in the form of dues or
other assessments as may be provided in its constitution and by-laws:
provided, such corporation, society, or voluntary association shall have no
capital stock, and has a representative form of government and a lodge
system, with ritualistic form of work for the meetings of its lodges,
chapters, councils, or other designated subordinate bodies, and the benefits,
charity, relief and insurance shall be payable by a grand or supreme body
of the same, excepting sick benefits, which may also be paid by local or
subordinate bodies of such order: and provided, further, that every such
association may provide in its constitution or by-laws that if such regular
payments are insufficient to pay all matured death and disability claims
in full and to provide for the creation and maintenance of the funds re-
sured by its constitution and by-laws, extra assessments .or other pay-
ments may be levied upon the members: provided, further, that orders or
societies operating upon the plan of levying and collecting post-mortem
assessments shall indicate this provision on the face of the certificate.
Such grand or supreme bodies may be composed of its officers, incorpo-
rators, representatives elected by local, district or grand bodies, past
officers and standing committees. Such orders or associations may make
a constitution and hy-laws, alter and amend the same from time to time,
and adopt such other rules and regulations consistent with the existing
laws of the State, for the government of all under its authority, for the
management of its properties and the due and orderly conduct of its
affairs. Said constitution and by-laws when so made, or as changed.
altered or amended, shall be the law governing the said association and its
officers, and subordinate branches or lodges, and all members and bene-
ficiaries in their beneficial, financial and social relations to such associa-
tion. Except as provided in section eleven of this act, no such associa-
tion or order shall admit to beneficial membership any person less than
sixteen nor more than sixty years of age. Such orders or associations
shall make provision for the payment of benefits in case of death. and
may make provision for the payment of benefits in case of sickness, and
temporary or permanent physical disability, either as a result of disease,
accident or old age: provided, the period of life at which the payment for
old age commences shall not be under seventy years. Any such order or
association may also accumulate, maintain, apply and disburse amon: its
membership, or their beneficiaries, a reserve or surplus fund as mav be
provided in its constitution and laws.

The funds from which the payment of benefits shall be made, and the
fund from which the expenses shall be defrayed, shall be derived from
assessments, dues or other payments collected from its members, as may
be provided by the constitution or by-laws of such order or association.
Payment of death benefits shall be to families, heirs, blood relatives,
affianced husband or affianced wife of, or to persons dependent upon the
member, as may be designated by the member, or to such other bene-
ficiaries as may be permitted by the laws of the State or province in
which such order or association is chartered.

Each member shall have the right to designate his beneficiary. and
from time to time have the same changed in accordance with the by-
laws, rules or regulations of the order or associations, and no beneficiary
shall have any vested interest in the said benefit until the same has he-
come due and payable upon the death of the member.

All such fraternal beneficiary orders, associations or societies shall be
subject to the supervision and direction of the bureau of insurance, within
the department and subject to the supervision and control of the State
corporation commission, as provided by law, and all such fraternal orders,
associations or societies shall be governed by this chapter, and shall be
exempt from the provisions of section twelve hundred and seventy-one
of the Code, relating to securities to be deposited with the treasurer of
this State, and shall be exempt from all other laws of this State relating
to corporations organized and doing business under the svstem of life or
casualty insurance known as either the old line or legal reserve plan or
the co-operative or assessment plan: provided, however, that nothing in
this section shall be construed to exempt such orders, associations or so-
cieties from the operation of any laws governing pleading and eviden
the jurisdiction of courts and the limitations of actions, in suits or actio
oa insurance policies or certificates.

2. Any fraternal beneficiary order, association or society of this,
any other State, district, provinee, or Territory, now having members,
any lodge, chapter, council, or subordinate branch duly established a
erganized in this State, may continue its operations and business in tl
State: provided, that it hereafter complies with the provisions of tl
sect, and provided it is solvent.

3. Any fraternal beneficiary order, association or socicty coming with
the description as set forth in section one of this act, organized under t
laws of any other State, province, district or Territory, not now havi
lodges. councils or other subordinate bodies, or members in this Sta’
shall be permitted to do business within this State in accordance with tl
chapter when it shall have filed with the commissioner of insurance
certificate from the official in charge of insurance matters in its hor
State of incorporation that it is authorized to transact business therein
a fraternal beneficiary order, society or association, also a duly certifi
copy of its charter and articles of association, and a copy of its constit
tion and laws, certified to by its secretary or coresponding officer, togeth
with an appointment of the commissioner of insurance as the person up
whom legal process may be served, as hereinafter provided: and provide
such order, association or society is solvent.

4+. Each such corporation, society, order or association doing businc
in this State, shall, on or before the first day of March of each year, mal
and file with the State corporation commission a report of its affairs a1
operations during the year ending the thirty-first day of December in
mediately preceeding. Such report shall be made on blanks provided |
the State corporation commission, under oath by the duly authori
officers of any such order or association, and shall be published, or t!
substance thereof, in the annual report of the commissioner of insuranc
and shall be in the following form:

Annual Statement

For the year ending December 31, 19

Of the condition and affairs of the , orgam zc
under the laws of the State of . made to the auditor «
mublic accounts of —————, president, or corresponding title
first vice-president, or corresponding title —-——— secretary, or corr
sponding title ———_——, treasurer, or corresponding title (state wh:
law), —————. Incorporated —————,, nineteen hundred and ——
under —————, approved —————,, nineteen hundred and » cha)
ter ; organized —————, nineteen hundred and ; voluntai
association ————— ; commenced business, 190-——-: home office (git
street and number),

Amount of net ledger assets, December thirty-one, of previo
$
Two. Income during the year

As shown by the books at the home office at close of business
her thirty-one, nineteen hundred and . Gross amount
members to the society as follows:

One. Dues for expenses, per capita tax, ete., $———.

Two. Assessments: Mortuary, $—————; reserve, $————
penses, $————_.

Three. Total received from members, $

Four. Interest, $-———_; rent, $___..

Five. From all other sourees—viz. :

Total income during the year.
Sum of both amounts rrr reerr rer ae He Maw We wees fH

Three. Disbursements during the year.
As shown by the books at home office at close of business.
December 31, 190——.

One. Death claims, $———-; permanent disability claims,
Two. Temporary disability, $———; old age benefits, $———_ $-
Three. Payments returned to applicants or members........ $-
Total paid to members and beneficiaries............ 4-

Four. Commissions, fees, salaries paid or allowed to agents

for organization of subordinate bodies and upbuilding of

SAMC Loe. cc cece eee ee eee )& Fa veal Fa SE fea Sissi sat els . §
Five. Salaries paid to Officers. oo. e eevee eeceees eee . &
Six. Salaries paid to office emploves..... nie BER ew eww vee fe
a en. Salaries or fees paid supreme or medical supervisors. . $-

Fight. Rent, $————; taxes, $———; advertising. official

publication and printing, $——- ............... . $
Nine. Postage, express and telegraph, $———; legal ex-
penses, $————; governing bodies, $-————; insurance

departments, $———; miscellaneous, $——— ......._ $-

Ten. All other items, viz.:

(‘Total expenses, footings of items four to ten, $——). Total

disbursements ............. ime

Balance ........... Scene eee seca
Invested as follows:
As shown by the books at home office at close of business.

December 31, 190——.

yne. Book value of real estate, unencumbered, $———; en-
cumbered, $———— ......... Swen e eee wee cee e se Bd
Two. Mortgage loans on real estate, first liens, $-—— ; other
than first, a
Three. Loans secured by pledge of bonds, ‘stotks, or other col-
lateral casacems antes amie wise oi m eR HERMES HERES
Four. Book value of bonds (excluding interest) and stocks
owned absolutely 2.0.0.0... 0c c eee eee eee ees

Five. Personal agents’ debit balances, -—~—3 bills receiv-
able, $——@€__ 6. ccc cece eee e eee enone
Six. Cash in office, $——_: deposited i in bask (name banks

and amounts), $——— ... 0. cee eee cee eee ‘

Seven. Total ...........00. oni wae news aT rere .

Deduct ledger liabilities.

Fight. Personal or agents’ credit balances, $——— ; horrowed

money, $———; all other, $#———_. .............. aiemews
Nine. Total net ledger assets as per balance on page ——,

comprised under the following funds.................
Ten. Mortuary ......... 2G Ge LG a ee rere ee ae
Eleven. Reserve 2.0... cece cece cece ee eee ee sence eeee
Twelve. Emergency .....0 0.0.6 c eee ees eee mew eee yews
Thirteen. Expense ........ pense ub ed fle on ed ee ee o8 aw

Five. Non-ledger assets.

Feurteen. Interest due, $——;3 acerued. —* on
mortgages, $—@§ ocr ccc cenccnccncesceecees
Fifteen. Interest due, $#———-; accrued, -—: on other
assets, $———— ... cee wee eee eee ee eee eens
Sixteen. Rents due, $——-; ‘accrued, ¢——; on ‘property
or lease, $———_. ...... Lecce eee ee ewes sae eee eee

Seventeen, Market value of real estate over book value. .

Eighteen. Market value of bonds (not including interest) ‘and
stocks over book value ........... 2c eee eee eee e eens

Nineteen. Assessments due on last call, made within sixty
days, on certificates in force.............4- ay ones a encase

$-
Twenty. Assessments to become due on certificates not ex-
ceeding one assessment, nor the amount of claims not

assessed for per item two of liabilities... ... cece ee aae $-
Twenty-one. Other items ............. oe WE MER Iw REREw HE $-
Total non-ledger assets .............645 nea Bawa aas $-

Gross assets ...........0000. eee cee e ee eee ees $-

(Deduct assets not admitted.)

One. Furniture, fixtures and safes, supplies, printed matter,

stationery, etc. ...... PETE er Cre ree ere eee $
Two. Personal or agents’ debts debit balances unsecured,
$———__; bills receivable unsecured, #——— ........... §-
Three. Excess of items seventeen and eighteen over charges
- in liabilities on same account.................00008- $-
Four. Depreciation of ledger assets to bring same to market
Value ... cc cece eee ee eee Sec e eee eee ees $-
Real estate, $————:: bonds and stocks, $———_. ........... §-

Five. Other items:

ee $-
Total non-admitted assets 2.0... 0.0.00. eee eee eee $
Total admitted assets ..... 0.2.00 cee eee eee eens §-

Non-ledger liabilities.

One. Losses on certificates due and unpaid, $———: ad-
justed, not due, $—— ...... eee eee eee eee eee $-
Two. Instalment of annuity benefits not due........... er

Three. Losses on certificates not adjusted, #—-——: re-
sisted, $———_ ............. Lecce cece cee e eee $-

Four. Salaries, rents, expenses, taxes, bills, accounts, fees,
etc., due and accrued ............ See eee eee eee ee $-
Five. Advanced assessments ....... rrrrrrirree re rrr $-

All other liabilities—viz. :

cece eee ee te ener e eee e ene e teens $-
Total liabilities ....... errr rr Se eee eect eee eee $-
Balance to protect contracts ............ 0000. eee $-

Seven. Exhibit of certificates.
Total business during year. Business in Virginia durin
Number, ————: amount, ————; number, ————; amount,
Certificates in force December thirty-one (beginning of year), -

Certificates written or increased during the calendar year, —
No, Amount. No. Ar
Losses and claims unpaid December

thirty-one (beginning of year), — —«-———- ——_
Losses and claims incurred during
che calendar year, —— FS
Total, — t—— — #-
Losses and claims paid during the
vear, — -— «s s——-_ ——_
Losses and claims unpaid (December
thirty-one, end of year), — —¢-——_—_ _ ——_

Disabilty losses and claims.

Lesses and claims unpaid December

thirty-one (beginning of year), — $—— —
Losses and claims incurred during the
calendar vear, — %—— —
Total, — s—— — &
Losses and claims paid during the year, —— §——-— —— $-
Losses and claims unpaid December
thirty-one (end of year), — *— — $-
State of ———————., county of ——-———__-s:

——_—_—. president (or chief executive officer), and
secretary (or similar officer), of the ————_——— society, being
sworn. each for himself deposes and says, that thev are the abo
scribed officers of the said society, and that on the thirty-first
December last all the above-described assets were the absolute pr
of the said society free and clear from any liens or claims thereon,
as above stated; and that the foregoing statement of the assets, liab
income and disbursements, and of the condition and affairs of th
society on the said thirty-first day of December last, and for th
ending on that date, according to the best of their information, }
edge and belief, respectively, are true and correct.

Subscribed and sworn to hefore me this
A.D. 19 ,

day of ———

5. The commissioner of insurance, or any person or persons app
by him, shall, at the request of any fraternal beneficiary order or a
tion. or he may of his own volition, examine the hooks, accounts a
sets of anv fraternal beneficiary association, order or society operat
this State. for the purpose of verifying the annual report submitte
all expenses incident thereto, as may be deemed reasonable by the a
ef public accounts, shall be paid by such association, order or sc
provided. however, that in case of fraternal beneficiary associatio1
ders or societies organized under the laws of another State, the co
sioner of insurance may accept in lieu of such examination, the examina-
tion of the insurance official of said State, Territory or province, under
the laws of which such association, order or society is organized and in
which it has its home office. In the event of examination, the commis-
sioner of insurance shall furnish to such association, order or society a
certificate as to the result of his examination, and he shall furnish to
domestic fraternal associations, orders or societies such certificates as
may be required by the insurance officials of other States in relation to
their business with fraternal beneficiary associations or orders chartered
under the laws of this State.

6. Each such corporation, society, or association now doing, or here-
after admitted to do business within this State, and not having its prin-
cipal office within this State, and not being organized under the laws of
this State, shall appoint, in writing, the insurance commissioner, or his
successors in office, to be its true and lawful attorney, upon whom all
lawful process in any action or proceeding against it may be served, and
in such writing shall agree that any lawful process against it, which is
served on said attorney, shall be of the same legal force and validity as
if served upon the order or association, and that the authority shall con-
tinue in force so long as any liability remains outstanding in this State,
and such service in this State shall alone be a legal service. Copies of
such appointment, certified by said commissioner of insurance, shall be
deemed sufficient evidence thereof, and shall be admitted in evidence with
the same force and effect as the original thereof might be admitted.
Service upon such attorney shall be deemed sufficient service upon such
association. When legal process against any such order is served upon
the said commissioner of insurance, he shall immediately notify the order
of such service by letter, prepaid and directed to its secretary or corre-
sponding officer, and he shall, within two days after such service, forward
in the same manner a copy of the process served on him to such officer.
The plaintiff in such process shall pay to the commissioner of insurance,
at the time of such service, a fee of two dollars and fifty cents, which shall
he recovered by him as a part of the taxable costs, if he finally prevail in
the suit. The commissioner of insurance shall keep a record of all pro-
cesses served upon him, which record shall show the day and hour when
such service was made and by whom made.

7. The commissioner of insurance shall, upon the application of any
order, society or association having the right to do business in this State,
as provided by this act, issue a permit in writing, authorizing it to do
business in this State, for which certificate and all proceedings in connec-
tion therewith such order or association shall pay to the said commis-
sioner of insurance a fee of twenty dollars, which shall be in lieu of all
fees and license taxes, whether State, county or municipal. This fee
shall be paid annually thereafter in advance.

8. It shall be unlawful for any such order, association or society to do
business in this State while it is in default in making said report to the
State corporation commission. The insurance commissioner shall, within
sixty days after failure to make such report, and shall, in case any such
order, association or society conduct its business fraudulently, or in any.
manner fail to comply with this act, give notice of the same, in writing,
to the attorney-general, who shall immediately notify such order, associa-
tion or society of such complaint and afford it reasonable opportunity on
a day named in such notice to show cause why proceedings to exclude it
from doing business in this State should not be instituted. If, upon
such hearing before him, the attorney-general be of the opinion that such
proceedings should be instituted, he shall forthwith institute the same.
And if the court, upon hearing, ‘shall be of the opinion that such order,
association or society has violated the provisions of this chapter, or has
conducted its business fraudulently, the court shall enjoin it from doing
business in this State or may make any other order which the court may
deem proper in the premises.

Any officer, agent or person attempting to secure new members for any
order, association or society which has been excluded from doing business
in this State, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon convic-
tion thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred
dollars; and each act in violation of this provision shall be constituted a
separate offense.

9. Any person who shall act within this State as an officer, agent or
otherwise, for any such fraternal beneficiary order or association in
soliciting members, which shall have neglected or refused to comply with
this act, shall be subject to the penalty provided in the last preceding
section for the misdemeanor therein specified.

10. No domestic fraternal beneficiary associdtion, order or society shall
transfer its membership and assets to any association, order or society or
insurance corporation not licensed to do business in this State; nor shall
such transfer be made to any licensed society, order, association or corpo-
ration unless the agreement to so transfer has heen approved by a two-
thirds vote of the members of the supreme body, or any other body com-
petent to act during recess of the supreme body of such association, order
or society whose membership is proposed to be transferred; and by a
two-thirds vote of the supreme body or any other body competent to act
during recess of supreme body of such order, association or society pro-
posing to accept such membership and assets. Any domestic fraternal
beneficiary association, order or society may accept the membership and
assets of any other such organization upon such terms and conditions as
may be agreed upon by said governing body or bodies authorized to act
under the constitution and laws of such order, association or society.

11. Any agent, physician or other person who shall-knowingly seeure or
cause to be secured a certificate of membership on any person without his
knowledge or consent, or by means of misrepresentation, false, fraudu-
lent or untrue statements be instrumental in securing a certificate of
membership on any aged or infirm person, or in restoring to membership
any person not in an insurable condition, shall be deemed guilty of a
misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum not
less than one hundred dollars, nor more than one thousand dollars, or te
be imprisoned in a jail not less than thirty days nor more than one year.
or both, and the said certificate or renewal so secured shall be absolutely
void.

12. And nothing in this act shall be held to affect or to apply te
grand or subordinate lodges of masons, knights of pythias (endowmen'
rank excepted), odd fellows, red men, junior order of American me-
chanics, or similar orders that do not insure the lives of their members.

Chapter VI.
Fire. Marine. Casually and Indemnity Insurance Companies.

1. No company incorporated in this State on the stock plan, to transact
any insurance business mentioned in section two of this chapter, shall
commence business until there has begn subscribed and paid into its treas-
ury in cash the full amount of its minimum capital stock, or has the same
invested in solvent securities of equivalent cash value; nor until it has
furnished to the commissioner of insurance a statement under the seal
of the company, verified by the oaths of its president and secretary, or
two of its directors, showing the amount of stock subscribed and paid in;
the amount of actual cash in its treasury, and the amount invested in
securities, with a list of such securities and their actual cash value; and
has obtained license or certificate of authority to transact business as
required by this act; and has, in all respects, complied with the laws of
this State.

2. It shall be lawful for any insurance company, chartered by this
State, or by any other State or country, to-make insurance of the class or
classes mentioned in this section:

First. To insure houses, buildings, and all other kinds of property
against loss or damage by fire, lightning, or storm, and to make all kinds
of insurance on goods, merchandise or other property in course of trans-
portation, whether on land or water, or any vessel or boat, wherever the
same may be.

Second. To make any of the following kinds of insurance: (a) Upon
the health of persons, or against injury, disablement or death of persons
resulting from travelling or general accidents by land or water, and
against liability of the assured for injuries to employees or other persons ;
(b) upon the lives of horses, cattle or other live stock; (c) upon plate-
glass against breakage; (d) upon steam boilers against explosion, and
against loss or damage to life or property resulting therefrom, and against
loss or damage resulting from the hreakage of machinery ; (e) against loss
by burglary or theft, or both; (f) to examine titles to real property and
chattels real, and to procure and furnish information in relation thereto,
and make and guarantee the correctness of searches for all instruments.
liens or charges affecting the same, and guarantee or insure bonds and
mortgages, and the owners of property and chattels real, and others in-
terested therein against loss by reason of defective titles thereto, and other
encumbrances thereon; (g) to guarantee and indemnify merchants.
traders and those engaged in business and giving credit, from loss and
‘lamage by reason of giving and extending credit to their customers and
those dealing with them, and to cause itself to be insured in some other
solvent company against any loss or risk it may have incurred in the
course of its business, and upon the interest which it may have in any
property by means of any loans which it may have made on mortgage, to
guarantee the fidelity of persons holding places of public or private trust,
and generally to do and perform all other matters and things proper to
premote these objects. No company doing business in this State, save an
industrial life insurance company doing a sick benefit business, shall un-
dertake to do more than one of the several kinds of insurance named in
this section, unless said company shall first have a paid-up capital, either
in cash or invested in solvent securities permitted by this act, of one
hundred thousand dollars. Any company doing more than one kind of
business, as in this section provided, shall be required to make a report
and sworn statement for each kind of business done, such as is required
of companies doing but one kind of business in this State; and no com-
pany referred to in this chapter, transacting business in this State under
this section, shall expose itself to loss on any one risk or hazard to an
amount exceeding ten per centum on its paid-up capital and surplus, ex-
clusive of the amount of any such risk secured by collateral, unless the
excess shall be reinsured by the same in some good and reliable company
having authority to transact business in this State. But this limitation
shail not apply to any bonds or sureties furnished to the United States,
or to any court or officer thereof. If a company is insolvent, and the presi-
dent and directors, knowing it, make or assent to further insurance, they
shall be personally liable for any loss under such insurance.

3. No such company organized under this or any law of this State
shall make distribution of its assets among its stockholders until all risks
have ceased, by cancellation or expiration, or have been replaced by the
policies of some other solvent company authorized to do business in this
Suate, and all claims against the company have been settled; and no com-
pany shall contract to reinsure its risk for the aforesaid purposes without
first obtaining the consent and approval of the commissioner of insurance
thereto. But nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the
payment of dividends.

4. To determine the liability on the contracts of insurance of any such
insurance company organized under this chapter or under any law of this
State. whenever such company renders an annual statement to the bureau
of insurance, or when an investigation of the company is made by the
commissioner, there shall be reserved on all risks in force on any cargo,
or on any goods, merchandise, or other property in course of transporta-
tion, the insurance on which shall cease upon the arrival of such cargo,
goods, merchandise or other property at its destination, the whole amount
of original premiums charged for such risks. On all risks written for a
fixed time, not exceeding one year, there shall be reserved fifty per cen-
tum of the whole origina] premiums charged for such risks. On all risks
written for a fixed time, and for a time exceeding one year, there shall be
reserved the pro rata unearned portion of the whole original premiums
charged for such risks; and in calculating the pro rata unearned portion
of such premiums, it shall be assumed that the policies date from the
middle of the year in which they were issued.
Mutual, Assessment and Co-operative Fire, Lightning and Storms Insur-
ance Companies.

1. A mutual fire, lightning or storm company or association is hereby
declared to be a corporation or association, which has no capital stock, but
is organized and carried on for the benefit of its members, and which pays
its losses solely from assessments upon its members without distributing
any portion of its profits among its policy-holders or members in the
shape of dividends, and which confines its business to this State. Such
companies or associations may be incorporated under the provisions of
the act entitled “an act concerning corporations,’ which became a law
May twenty-first, nineteen hundred and three, except that such corpora-
tions or associations shall not’ be required to have any capital stock, and
shall be subject to all the general restrictions and shall have all the gen-
eral powers imposed and conferred upon such corporations by the Jaws
of the State, but such companies or associations shall not be required to
make any deposit of bonds or other securities with the treasurer of this
State.

2. No fire insurance company, hereafter chartered by this State, to be
organized on the mutual, assessment or co-operative plan, shall com-
mence business with a membership of less than twenty-five persons, who
shall collectively own property of the value of fifty thousand dollars, or
more, and shall have subscribed and agreed to become insured therein ;
nor until the said company shall have furnished to the commissioner of
insurance a statement, under the seal of the company, verified by the
oaths of its president and secretary, or two of its directors, showing the
number and names of the subscribers for insurance therein; that each
subscriber is solvent; the amount of insurance subscribed for by each; and
the particular territory to which the business of the company is to be con-
fined ; nor until such company shall have obtained a license or certificate
of authority to transact business as required by this act, and has other-
wise complied with the laws of this State.

3. The directors of every such corporation shall issue policies of in-
surance, signed by their president and secretary, agreeing in the name of
the corporation to pay all damages, not exceeding the amount insured,
done to dwelling houses, barns, and their contents, growing crops, and
other property not more hazardous, and buildings not more hazardous in
cities or villages, detached at such distances as the by-laws of the corpo-
ration may prescribe, and their contents and live stock owned on the
premises, and while in barns or stables insured, caused by fire, storm or
lightning, during the time mentioned in the policy. Every such corpo-
ration may issue more than one policy: provided, however, that any such
policy may provide for the payment of losses of live stock by lightning
occurring at any place to one person, firm or corporation having sepa-
rate or detached buildings, which it is not prohibited from insuring by
this chapter or by its by-laws. Every policy issued shall have attached
thereto a printed copy of the by-laws and regulations of the corporation.

4. Every person insured in and by any such corporation shall give his
undertaking in such form as the corporation may prescribe, which form
shall be unifor m, between and by all the insured, to pay his pro rata share
of all losses or damages sustained by any member thereof, from any
cause specified in the policy, to the corporation. He shall also pay such
reasonable sum for expenses as the by-laws may require. Every policy-
holder sustaining a loss or damage from any cause specified in the policy,
shall notify the ‘president or secretary of the corporation within ten days
after such loss or damage, and the proper officers of the corporation shall
at once proceed to ascertain and adjust such loss or damage in the man-
ner provided for by the charter and by-laws of the corporation and the
provisions of this act.

5. Every such corporation may classify the property or buildings in-
sured therein at the time of insurance, and issue policies under different
rates, according to the risk to which they may be subject.

6. Should the amount of any loss or damage exceed the amount of

money on hand, such of its officers as may be authorized by the by-laws
to do so shall convene the directors or executive committee, who may
horrow money on the credit of the corporation sufficient to pay the loss,
lmt no more, and shall make an assessment upon all the property insured
pro rata according to its classification, and according to the amount in-
sured, sufficient to pay what the cash in hand falls short of paying or for
the whole loss or damage, as the directors or executive committee may
devide to be for the best interest of the corporation. If the directors or
executive committee deem it to be for the best interest of the corporation,
they may, with the authority of the majority in value of the insurance
held by members of the corporation, conferred by resolution, by-law, or
otherwise previously given, make an estimate of such sums as in their
judgment will be necessary to pay all losses, damages and expenses for the
current year, and supply any deficiency in the preceding year, and pro-
ceed to assess, levy and collect the same of the members of the corpora-
tion at such times as, in their discretion, will be most advantageous to the
corporation. Such assessment shall be made pro rata upon all the prop-
erty at such time insured, according to its classification, or according to
the amount insured, sufficient to pay the amount so estimated. Not
more than one such general assessment shall be made in any one year,
nor shall any such such assessment be made if more than ten per centum
of any previous assessment shall be in the treasury of the corporation, and
not at the time required for losses actually suffered. No assessment shall
be invalid made in whole or in part for the purpose of paying any money
borrowed by the directors or executive committee, which has been used in
the payment of any claim for loss or damage against the corporation.

7. The officers of such corporation shall not enter into any contract or
asreement. or make any debt of any kind, except for payment of losses
or damages and necessary expenses of conducting the affairs of such cor-
poration, as aforesaid, that will require an assessment of more than fifty
vents on each one hundred dollars of insurance in foree. Neither shall
the officers of any such company use for current expenses any money as-
sssed for losses or damages, and all money for such expenses raised by
assessment must be so stated in the notices calling for the same.

& The secretary shall, within thirty davs after any assessment has
been made, notify every member of the corporation, by written or printed
notice, siened by him, stating the amount due the corporation from the
members, the time when and to whom it shall be naid, and the use to be
made of the money collected. Such time shall not be less than thirty
days nor more than sixty days from the service of the notice, which
notice may be served personally or by mail, and, if by mail, service shall
he deemed complete when deposited in the post-office at the place where
the principal office of the corporation is located, directed to each member
at his place of residence or business, and postage prepaid. The expense
and cost of collection of the assessment shall be regulated by the by-laws.

9. An action may be brought by the corporation against any member
thereof to recover all assessments which he may neglect or refuse to pay,
made upon him under the provisions of this act, or by the by-laws of the
corporation. If the corporation is compelled to bring any such action
in order to collect any such assessment, it may recover “the amount so as-
sessed, with fifty per centum thereof to be added thereto in addition to
the lawful interest, as a penalty for such neglect and refusal to pay within
the time required. Any member who neglects or refuses to pay his as-
sessment may, for such reason, or for any other reason satisfactory to the
directors or executive committee, be excluded by a majority of the direc-
tors or executive committee, or as the by-laws may prescribe, from the
corporation; and, when thus excluded, the secretary shall cancel or with-
draw his policy or policies, and notify him of the fact, which shall pre-
vent him recovering for any loss or damage sustained after such exclusion.
Such member shall remain liable for the payment of any assessment made
prior to his exclusion, and the penalty above provided, in case action has
heen or shall be brought against him therefor, within twelve months after
the time it was due. The officers of every such corporation shall pro-
ceed to collect any assessment, when due and unpaid for thirty days; and
refusal and neglect on their part to collect such assessment, or to perform
any of the duties imposed by this chapter, shall render them liable indi-
vidually, for the amount lost by any person who loses by their neglect or
refusal, and an action for the same may be maintained against them for
such loss. If any member of the corporation shall be excluded there-
from, as herein provided, and the policy issued to him cancelled, the
sceretary shall at once enter the same, with the date thereof, upon the
records of the association, and either inform, in person, or by mail the
member of such exclusion, and if by mail the postage shall be prepaid.
and the notice be addressed to the post-office given in the application or
policy; and from and after such personal notice, or five days after mail-
ing said notice as herein required, such policy or policies shall be can-
celled. and all liability for such policy or policies shall cease; but the
owner shall be entitled to receive from the corporation a repayment of an
equitable portion of all unearned money to which he has contributed,
if any.

10. No corporation formed for the purpose specified in this chapter
shall insure any buildings or property outside of the limits of the terri-
tory comprised in its certificate of incorporation, except when members
living on or near the boundary line, and having property both within and
without. the prescribed boundary, that portion thereof without mav be
insured; nor shall any such corporation insure any property other than
dwelling houses, barns ‘and their contents, and live stock owned on such
property, growing crops, and other property, not more hazardous, and
buildings in villages or cities detached from other buildings such dis-
tances as the by-laws of the corporation may prescribe, and their con-
tents, or live stock owned on such premises.

11. The directors of every corporation formed for the purpose specified
in this chapter shall be chosen by the members, or the insured, at the
regular meeting of the corporation prescribed in the by-laws, which meet-
ing, if not otherwise provided for, shall be held on the second Tuesday
in January each year. At such meetings each person insured shall have
one vote, and shall be entitled to vote by proxy under such rules and regu-
lations as may be prescribed by the by-laws, unless prohibited by such
hy-laws.

12. The president and secretary of any such corporation, whether or-
ganized in accordance with this chapter or not, shall make a statement,
under oath, to the State corporation commission showing the condition of
the corporation on the thirty-first day of December in each year, which
shall contain the amount and kind of property insured, the number of
policies issued from the time of organization of the corporation up to the
time of making the statement; the number insured during the year last
past; the amount of insurance accepted, and amount withdrawn, expired
and cancelled during the year; the whole amount of insurance in force on
December thirty-first: the amount of moneys received during the year
bv the corporation; the amount of disbursements, specifying the amount
paid for fees, salaries, commissions, and all other matters of interest to
the corporation or members, that the said commission may require.

13. Any member of any such corporation may withdraw therefrom at
any time, by giving thirty days’ written notice to the secretary of same,
and paying his share of all claims existing against the corporation, and
surrendering his policy or policies to the company. Members may be
admitted who reside or own property within the territorial limits, upon
the same terms and conditions as the original members, subject to the
by-laws of the corporation; but non-residents owning property insured in
such corporation shall not be eligible to office in the corporation.

14. No such corporation shall insure against any losses except as
specified in this chapter; and any officer violating this law shall be fined
not less than ten dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, and shall be
jersonally liable for any losses caused by any such violation, either to the
association or any member. The provisions of this chapter shall not
apply to any purely mutual fire insurance company heretofore chartered
and organized and operating on the assessment plan.

Chapter VIII.
Guaranty, Trust. Indemnity, Fidelity and Security Companies.
1. No guaranty, trust, indemnity, fidelity, security or other like com-

pany, chartered by this State, shall commence business until the full
amount of its minimum capital stock, which shall not in any case be less
than {fifty thousand dollars, shall have been subscribed and paid in cash
into its treasury, or invested in solvent securities of equivalent cash value ;
nor until it shall have furnished to the commissioner of insurance a state-
ment, under the seal of the company, verified by the oaths of its president
and treasurer, or two of its directors, showing the amount of stock sub-
scribed and paid in; the amount of actual cash in its treasury; the
amount invested in securities, with a list of such securities, and their cash
value; and containing such other information as the commissioner of in-
surance shall require; nor until it has obtained license or certificate of
authority to transact business as by this act required; and has, in all re-
spects, complied with the laws of this State.

2. Although any such company may become surety for the faithful
performance of any trust, duty, contract, agreement, or bond, public or
private, official or otherwise, or have assumed any duty or obligation of
like nature, as principal or otherwise, or qualified as fiduciary, without
conforming to the requirements of this act, and of the laws relating to
the same, the undertaking or obligation shall be valid, whether said com-
pany was incorporated by the laws of this State or not.

3. Every such company not incorporated by the laws of this State
shall, before conducting any business as aforesaid, give bond to the com-
missioner of insurance, payable to the Commonwealth, with two or more
suretics, to be approved by him, in a sum of not less than one thousand nor
more than five thousand dollars, at the discretion of such commissioner,
with condition to make the returns and pay the tax required by law.

4. Every such company, whether incorporated by the laws of this State
or not, shall, by an agent employed to superintend or manage its busi-
ness in this State, deliver a statement, under oath, to the treasurer of this
State of the amount of capital stock of said company; and deposit with
him bonds of the State of Virginia, or of the United States, or bonds of
the cities or counties of this State to an amount equal to five per centum
of its capital stock; and the treasurer shall thereupon give the agent a
receipt for the same: provided, that the cash value of the securities so
deposited shall not be less than ten thousand dollars, and shall not be
more than twenty-five thousand dollars. Said securities shall be assigned
to said treasurer and his successors in office in trust for the purposes of
this act.

Upon the exhibition of the license from the State corporation com-
mission required by this act, or a certified copy thereof to the commis-
sioner of the revenue of the county, city or district in which an office of
the said company in this State is, or is intended to be located, and the
payment of the specific license tax which may be imposed thereon, a
license shall be issued in the manner prescribed by law to the said com-
pany to carry on its business. And if, at the end of the period for which
a license is given, the said company desire another license, it shall only
be given on compliance with the above requirements and the certificate
of the treasurer that the bonds required by this section to be deposited
with him are in his possession. The treasurer shall require any such
company to make good any depreciation or reduction in value of said
securities, and he shall, in the month of December of every year, examine
all securities deposited with him for the purpose of ascertaining whether
any of them have depreciated or have been reduced in value.

5. The treasurer, at the time of receiving said bonds, shall give to the
company authority to draw the interest thereon as the same may become
due and payable, for the use of the company, which authority shall con-
tinue in force until the company fails to pay any of its liabilities in this
State by reason of its becoming security as aforesaid, or by reason of its
assuming any duty or obligation of like nature, as principal or otherwise,
or becoming fiduciary, and which failure has been ascertained by agree-
ment of the parties binding on such company, or by judgment, order, or
decree of a court of competent jurisdiction against such company, not
appealed from, superseded, or stayed; and, in case of such failure so
ascertained, the party charged with the payment of such interest shall
he notified of such failure, and thereafter such interest shall be payable to
the treasurer, to be applied, if necessary, to the payment of such lia-
bilities.

6. If the said company fail to pay any of its liabilities after the same
shall have been ascertained by any agreement of the parties, binding on
such company, or by judgment, order or decree of a court of competent
jurisdiction, against such company, not appealed from, superseded or
stayed, the treasurer shall, upon the application of the party to whom the’
debt or money is duc, proceed to sell at auction such an amount of said
bonds as, with the interest in his hands, will pay the sum due and ex-
penses of sale, and out of the proceeds of sale pay said sums and ex-
penses: provided, the treasurer shall give the said company, or its agent
in this State, ten days’ notice, by mail or personally, of the time and
place of said application. Any such sale shall be advertised daily for
ten days in some newspaper published in the city of Richmond. Such
company shall be required to make good any deficit in the amount of its
deposit caused by such sale.

7. Upon the bonds deposited as aforesaid with the treasurer, any citizen
of this State who may be interested in the faithful performance of any
such undertakings or obligations of such company, whether as principal
or surety, shall have a lien for the amounts due or to become due in con-
sequence of any failure in the performance, and shall be entitled to be
paid ratably out of the proceeds of such bonds, if such proceeds be not
sufficient to pay all of the liabilities of such company. Whenever any
such company depositing bonds, as aforesaid, shall have become insolvent
or bankrupt, or shall have made an assignment for the benefit of its
creditors, it shall be the duty of the attorney-general to file a bill in the
circuit court of Richmond in the name of any party or person interested
in securing the payment or the enforcement of such liabilities, and to
convene all parties in interest, and to enforce the said lien. The treas-
urer shall be made a party and the funds distributed by the court.

8. When the principal of any of the said bonds so deposited is paid to
the treasurer, he shall notify, by mail, the company, or its agent in this
State, and may pay the money so received by the said company upon re-
ceiving like bonds to an equal amount; upon failure of thirty days after
receiving said bonds to deliver like bonds to an equal amount to the
treasurer, he may invest the said money in such bonds and hold the same
as he held those which were paid off.

9, If such company cease to carry on business in this State, and its
liability, whether fixed or contingent, shall have been satisfied or shal]
have been terminated, upon satisfactory evidence of the fact, to the State
corporation commission, it shall order the treasurer to deliver to such
company the bonds in his possession belonging to it, or such of them as
may remain after paying the liabilities aforesaid; or, if such company
shall reduce the amount of its liabilities, both fixed and contingent, below
the value of the bonds in possession of the treasurer, on the order of said
commission, he shall deliver to such company a part of such bonds.

10. If the treasurer shall dispose of the bonds deposited with him by
any such company under the provisions of this chapter, or any part of said
bonds otherwise than is provided in this chapter, he shall be deemed
guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in the
penitentiary for not less than five nor more than fifteen years.

11. Every person who shall so far represent any surety company es-
tablished in any other State or country, as to receive or transmit applica-
tions for suretyship, or to receive for delivery, bonds founded on applica-
tions forwarded from this State, or otherwise to procure suretyship to he
effected by such company upon the bonds of persons or corporations in
this State, shall be deemed as acting as agent for said company, and shall
be subject to the restrictions and liable to the penalties herein made appli-
cable to agents of such companies.

12. Every such agent, before transacting business as aforesaid, shall
deposit with the State corporation commission a copy of the charter of
the company or corporation for which he is agent, as aforesaid, unless a
copy thereof has already been deposited with the commission; and every
such agent shall also, before transacting any business as aforesaid, deposit
with the said commission a statement, signed and sworn to by the presi-
dent and secretary of the company for which he acts, stating the amount
of its capital and the manner of its investments, designating the amount
invested in mortgages, in public securities, in stock of incorporated com-
panies (stating what companies) ; and also the amount invested in other
securities, particularizing cach item of investment, the amount of existing
honds upon which such company is surety, stating what portion thereof is
secured by the deposit with such company, or collateral security. the
amount of premium thereon, and the amount of liabilities, specifying
therein the amount of outstanding claims, adjusted or unadjusted, due or
not due: provided, however, that not more than one such statement need
be filed on behalf of such company.

13. Every such agent shall annually, between the first day of January
and the thirty-first day of March, also deposit with the State corporation
commission a similar statement of the capital of the company which he
represents and the investments and risks as aforesaid, showing the actual
condition of such company on the last day of the preceding year, signed
and sworn to as above directed.

14. The commissioner of insurance shall examine the statements and
returns required to be made by the companies and agents, as aforesaid,
and if in his opinion any return shall be obscure, defective or unsatisfac-
tory, he shall immediately require answers, under oath, from the agent by:
whom such obscure, defective or unsatisfactorv return shall have been
made to such interrogatories as he may deem necessary or proper to be
answered in order to explain such return, and exhibit a full and accurate.
view of the business and resources of the company represented by such
agent. Every agent who shall refuse or neglect to answer such interroga-.
tories for the space of thirty days, and continue to act as agent aforesaid,
shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars.

15. The commissioner of insurance, either personally or by a committee
appointed by him, consisting of one or more persons not directors, officers
or agents of any company mentioned herein doing business in this State,
may at any time examine into the affairs of any company incorporated
by or doing business in this State. The officers or agents of such com-
pany shall exhibit its books to said commissioner or committee, and other-
wise facilitate such examination, and the said commissioner or committee
may examine, under oath, the officer and agents of any such company in
relation to its affairs; and said officer shall, if he deems it best so to do,
publish the results of such investigation in one or more newspapers pub-
lished in this State. Whenever it shall appear to the commissioner of in-
surance from the statement, or from an examination of the affairs of any
surety company, that such company is insolvent, or is conducting its busi-
ness fraudulently, or refuses or neglects to comply with the laws of the
State relating to surety companies, it shall be the duty of the said com-
missioner to report the facts to the State corporation commission, and
the said commission, after proceeding in the manner prescribed by section
thirteen of chapter one of this act, shall revoke the license granted to such
company, or its agents; and the said commissioner shall, after final judg-
ment, or unless an appeal be taken, within thirty days cause a noticc
thereof to be published in one or more newspapers published in this State,
and the agent or agents of such company, after such notice, shall trans-
act no new business in this State. All expenses of an examination made
ee provisions of this section shall be paid by the corporation ex-
amined.

16. The commissioner of insurance shall annually, in the month of
April in each year, furnish to the clerk of each court in this State a list o!
the names of all corporations allowed to do business in this State under
the provisions of this chapter, together with a statement of the assets and
uabilities of each of said corporations; and the said clerk shall file the
same in his office, and whenever the State corporation commission revokes
the authority of any corporation said commissioner of insurance shall
immediately notify the clerk of each court in this State.

17. The commissioner of insurance shall report to the attorney-genera
any violation of the provisions of this chapter which shall come to hi:
knowledge, and the attorney-general shall cause to be instituted the
proper legal proceedings against any person violating any such pro-
visions.

18. If any company mentioned in this act, whether chartered by th
laws of this State or not, doing business in this State, fail to make an:
report required by this chapter, it shall, for every such failure, be fine:
not less than one hun¢re nor more than one thousand dollars.

ho
19. If the persons verifying any report mentioned in sections twel\
and thirteen of this chapter knowingly make any false statement, the
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fine
not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars.

20. In any criminal prosecution under the two preceding sections th
circuit court or corporation court of the county, or corporation wherei
the company became security or wherein it qualified as fiduciary or a
sumed any duty or obligation as principal or otherwise, shall have juri:
diction.

21. Any suit or other civil proceeding may be instituted against an
such company in the place in which it has becom: surety, qualified a
fiduciary, or assumed any duty or obligation as principal or otherwise
which may be the subject of suit or other civil proceeding, or such sui
or proceeding may be instituted in the place in which the principa
obligor, for whom it has become surety, may be sued: provided, how
ever, when the State is a party, plaintiff or defendant, it shall be in th
circuit court of the city of Richmond. Process shall be served upon |
non-resident company as provided in chapter two of this act, and upon
resident company in the manner prescribed by the general law for th
service of notice to or process against a corporation.

22. Civil proceedings against any such company may be institute
in the same manner and form as provided by the laws of this State fo
proceedings against other corporations.

23. That any company with a paid-up cash capital of not less than tw:
hundred and. fifty thousand dollars, incorporated and organized unde:
the laws of any State of the United States or foreign country, for th:
purpose of transacting business as surety on obligations of persons «1
corporations, and which has complied with all the requirements of law
regulating the admission of such companies to transact business in thi:
State, shall, upon production of evidence of solvency and credit satis-
factory to the court or judge, or other officer authorized to approve such
bond, be accepted as surety upon the bond of any person or corporation
required by the laws of this State, or by any court, judge, or other public
officer, or board, or organization, to execute a bond, with surety or sure-
ties, and if such surety company shall furnish satisfactory evidence of its
ability to provide all the security required as aforesaid, no additions!
surety shall be exacted. Such surety shall be released from its liability
on the same terms and conditions as are by law prescribed for the release
of individuals, and shall have all the rights, remedies and reliefs of an
individual guarantor, indemnitor, or surety, it being the true intent and
meaning of this section to enable corporations created for that purpose to
become the surety on bonds required as aforesaid, subject to all the rights
and liabilities of private parties.

24. Any court, judge or other officer whose duty it is to pass upon the
account of any person or corporation required to execute a bond with
surety or sureties as in section twenty-three of this chapter provided.
shall, whenever any such person or corporation has given any such surety
company as surety upon said bond, allow in the settlement of such account
a reasonable sum for the expense of securing such surety: provided.
however, that this allowance shall not be made to any State, county or
municipal officer.
25. Any such company which shall execute any bond as surety under
the provisions of this chapter, shall be estopped, in any proceedings to
enforce the liability which it shall have assumed to incur, to deny its
corporate power to execute such instrument or assume such liability.

26. That when any company organized and incorporated under the
laws of this State, or of any other State in the United States or foreign
country, for the purpose of transacting business as surety on obligations
for persons, and having complied with the requirements of law regulating
the admission of such companies in this State, shall have heretofore
given. or hereafter shall give, any power of attorney, general or special,
under its regular corporate seal, to any agent or attorney in fact to sign
its Corporate name as surety to any obligation, official or otherwise, re-
quired by the laws of this State, or any judge or other public officer, or-
ganization, or board, and such power of attorney, stating that such sign-
ing by such agent or attorney in fact, without the seal of such corporation,
shall have the same force and effect as if the corporate seal of such corpo-
ration was affixed to such obligations; then, any and all such obligations,
heretofore or hereafter, so signed by such agent or attorney in fact, with-
out the seal of such corporation, whether the said agent or attorney in
fact has used a seroll by way of a instrument or not, shall, for all pur-
poses. have the same force and effect, and be as binding in all respects
upon such corporation as if the seal of such corporation had been duly
and regularly affixed thereto.

27. Nothing in any section from sections two to twenty-two inclusive, °
in this chapter contained, shall be construed to apply to any such com-
pany until it shall hegin to exercise the powers in reference to which a
deposit of securities or reports are by this chapter required to be made,
notwithstanding such company under its charter have the right to exer-
cise such powers.

28. Whenever any person or corporation who now, or hereafter may be
required or permitted to give a bond, applies for the approval thereof, any
officer or body who is now or shall hereafter be required to approve the
sufficiency of such bonds, shall accept and approve the same whenever
its conditions are guaranteed by a company or corporation duly organ-
veed or incorporated under the laws of this State or authorized to do
business therein, and which company shall have the certificate of the
insurance commissioner of the State authorizing it to do business there-
in: provided, however, that no securities shall he accepted on any bond for
an amount in excess of ten per centum of the paid-up capital plus the
surplus and undivided profits of such surety company or corporation,
unless the surety shall be secured from the loss thereon beyond that
amount by suitable and sufficient collateral agreements of indemnity other
than the principal on said bond or by deposit with it in pledge or con-
veyance to it in trust for its protection of property equal in value to the
excess of its liability over such limit, or if such liability is incurred in
behalf of or on account of any fiduciary holding property in a trust ca-
pacity, by such deposit or other disposition of a suitable and sufficient
portion of the estate so held that no further sale, mortgage, pledge or
other disposition can be made thereof without such surety’s approval:
and provided, further, that by the execution of such bond that the surety
shall not thereby incur in the aggregate on behalf or on account of any
yne person, partnership, association or corporation a liability for an
umount larger than one-tenth of its paid-up capital plus its surplus and
individed profits, unless it shall be secured from loss thereon beyond tha’
mount by suitable and sufficient collateral agreements of indemnity o1
other protection, as hereinbefore provided.

29. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are repealed.