CONGRESS, U. S. 



301 



or money, it shall be the duty of the Comptroller of 

 the Currency to notify the Treasurer of the United 

 States of such fact, and the payment of interest upon 

 such depreciated bonds shall be suspended, and such 

 interest shall be retained by said Treasurer until the 

 same, when added to the current market value of the 

 bonds so pledged, to be ascertained as before provid- 

 ed, shall be equal to the amount for which such bonds 

 were pledged : Provided, That it shall be the duty of 

 the Comptroller of the Currency, at the expiration of 

 every period of three months, to cause the whole of 

 the sums so retained, and then remaining in the Treas- 

 ury of the United States, to be invested in United 

 States bonds, in the name of the Comptroller of the 

 Currency, in trust for the respective associations by 

 which the bonds on which such interest shall have 

 accrued shall have been pledged ; and whenever the 

 price of such depreciated bonds at the stock exchange 

 in New York shall rise to the price at which they were 

 pledged, and so remain for four consecutive weeks, 

 such investment shall be assigned to such association ; 

 and all accruing interest on such pledged bonds shall 

 thereafter be paid to such association on demand there- 

 of. 



SEC. 32. And be it further enacted, That it shall be 

 the duty of the Comptroller of the Currency to receive 

 wbrnout or mutilated circulating notes issued by any 

 such banking association, and to deliver in place there- 

 of to such association other blank circulating notes to 

 an equal amount ; and such wornout or mutilated cir- 

 culating notes, after a memorandum shall have been 

 entered in the proper books, in accordance with such 

 regulations as may be established by the Comptroller, 

 as well as all circulating notes which shall have been 

 paid or surrendered to be cancelled, shall be burned 

 to ashes in the presence of three persons, one to be ap- 

 pointed by the Secretary of the Treasury, one by the 

 Comptroller of the Currency, and one by the Treasurer 

 of the United States, under such regulations as the 

 Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe ; and in case 

 such notes shall have been delivered to the Comptrol- 

 ler by an officer or agent of such association, then in 

 the presence also of such officer or agent ; and a certifi- 

 cate of such burning, signed by the parties so appoint- 

 ed, shall be made in the boo'ks of the Comptroller, 

 -and a duplicate thereof given to such officer or agent. 



SBC. 33. And be it further enacted, That it shall be 

 unlawful for any officer acting under the provisions of 

 this act to countersign or deliver to any such associa- 

 tion, or to any other company or person, any circulat- 

 ing notes contemplated by this act, except as herein- 

 before provided, and in accordance with the true in- 

 tent and meaning of this act ; and any officer who shall 

 violate the provisions of this section shall be deemed 

 guilty of a high misdemeanor, and on conviction there- 

 of shall be punished by fine not exceeding double the 

 amount so countersigned and delivered, and imprison- 

 ment not exceeding fifteen years, at the discretion of 

 the court in which he shall be tried. 



SEC. 34. And be it further enacted, That all fees for 

 protesting the notes issued by any such banking as- 

 sociation shall be paid by the person procuring the 

 protest to be made, and such banking association shall 

 be liable therefor ; but no part of the stock pledged by 

 such banking association, as aforesaid, shall be applied 

 to the payment of such fees ; and all expenses or any 

 preliminary or other examinations into the condition 

 of any association shall be paid by such association ; 

 and all expenses of any receivership shall be paid out 

 of the assets of such association before distribution of 

 the proceeds thereof. 



SEC. 35. And be it further enacted, That the stock- 

 holders, collectively, of any such association shall at 

 no time be liable to such association, either as princi- 

 pal debtors or sureties, or both, to an amount greater 

 than three fifths of the capital stock actually paid in 

 and remaining undiminished by losses or otherwise ; 

 nor shall the directors be so liable, except to such an 

 amount and in such manner as shall be prescribed by 

 the by-laws of such association, adopted by its stock- 

 holders to regulate such liabilities. 



SEC. 36. And be it further enacted, That the capital 

 stock of any association formed under this act shall be 

 divided into shares of one hundred dollars each, and 

 shall be assignable on the books of the association in 

 such manner as its by-laws shall prescribe ; but no 

 shareholder in any association under this act shall 

 have power to sell or transi'er any share held in hia 

 own right, so long as he shall be liable, either as prin- 

 cipal debtor, surety, or otherwise, to the association 

 for any debt which shall have become due and remain 

 unpaid, nor in any case shall such shareholder be en- 

 titled to receive any dividend, interest or profit on 

 such shares so long as such liabilities shall continue, 

 but all such dividends, interests, and profits shall bo 

 retained by the association, and applied to the dis- 

 charge of such liabilities ; and no stock shall be trans- 

 ferred without the consent of a majority of the direc- 

 tors while the holder thereof is thus indebted to the 

 association. 



SEC. 37. And be it further enacted, That no banking 

 association shall take, as security for any loan or dis- 

 count, a lien upon any part of its capital stock ; but 

 the same security, both in kind and amount, shall be 

 required of shareholders as of other persons; and no 

 such banking association shall be the purchaser or 

 holder of any portion of its capital stock, or of the cap- 

 ital stock of any other incorporated company, unless 

 such purchase shall be necessary to prevent loss upon 

 a debt previously contracted in good faith, on security 

 which, at the time, was deemed adequate to insure the 

 payment of such debt, independent of any lien upon 

 such stock, or in case of forfeiture of such stock for 

 the non-payment of instalments due thereon, and stock 

 so purchased or acquired shall in no case be held by 

 such association so purchasing for a longer period 'of 

 time than six months, if the same can, within that 

 time, be sold for what the stock cost. 



SEC. 38. And be it further enacted, That in all elec- 

 tions of directors, and in deciding all questions at 

 meetings of shareholders, each shareholder shall be en- 

 titled to one vote on each share of stock held by him ; 

 shareholders may vote by proxies duly authorized in 

 writing ; but no officer, clerk, teller or bookkeeper of 

 such association shall act as proxy; and no stock- 

 holder whose liability is past due and unpaid shall be 

 allowed to vote. 



SEC. 39. And be it further enacted, That the affairs 

 of every such association shall be managed by not less 

 than five nor more than nine directors, one of whom 

 shall be president of the association ; every director 

 shall, during his whole term of service, be a citizen of 

 the United States and a resident of the State in which 

 such association is located. At least three fourths of 

 the directors shall have resided in the State in which 

 such association is located one year next preceding 

 their election as directors ; and each director shall own 

 in his own right, at least one per centum of the capi- 

 tal stock of such association not exceeding two hundred 

 thousand dollars, and the half of one per centum of its 

 capital if over two hundred thousand dollars. Each 

 director shall take an oath that he will, so far as the 

 duty devolves on him, diligently and honestly admin- 

 ister the affairs of such association, and will not know- 

 ingly violate, or willingly permit to be violated, any 

 of the provisions of this act, and that he is the bona 

 fide owner, in his own right, of the shares of stock 

 standing in his name on the books of the association, 

 and that the same is not hypothecated, or in any 

 way pledged, as security for any loan obtained or debt 

 owing to the association of which he is a director, 

 which oath, subscribed by himself, and certified by 

 the officer before whom it is taken, shall be immedi- 

 ately transmitted to the Comptroller of the Currency, 

 and by him filed and preserved in his office. 



SEC. 40. And be it further enacted, That the direc- 

 tors of any such association first elected shall hold their 

 places until their successors shall be elected and qual- 

 ified. All subsequent elections shall be held annually, 

 on such day in the month of January- as the stock- 

 holders of said association may prescribe ; and the di- 

 rectors so elected shall hold their places for one year, 



