JOINT STOCK COMPANY. 



assignments, or pretended transfers or 

 assignments of such stock, not intended 

 or designed by such charter to be raised 

 or transferred, and all acting, or pretend- 

 ing to act, under any obsolete charter, be- 

 come or voidable by non-user or abuser, 

 or for want of making lawful elections, 

 which were necessary to continue the 

 corporation thereby intended, shall (as to 

 all or any such acts, matters and things, 

 as shall be acted, done, attempted, or en- 

 deavoured, or proceeded upon, after the 

 said four-and-twentieth day of June, one 

 thousand seven hundred and twenty) for 

 ever, be deemed to be illegal and void, 

 and shall not be practised, or, in anywise, 

 put in execution. And further, the par- 

 ties offending, by committing any of the 

 acts above enumerated,and,more particu- 

 larly, the presuming or pretending to act 

 as a corporate body, or to raise a transfer- 

 rable stock or stocks, or to make transfers 

 or assignments of any share or shares 

 therein, without such legal authority as 

 aforesaid, &c. shall be deemed to be a 

 public nuisance and nuisances : and all 

 offenders therein, being thereof lawfully 

 convicted, shall be liable to such fines and 

 penalties as persons convicted for public 

 nuisances are ; and, moreover, shall incur 

 any further pains, penalties, and forfei- 

 tures provided by the statute of provi- 

 sions and prsernunire, made in the six- 

 teenth year of the reign King Richard 

 the second. 



If any merchant or trader, at any time 

 after the said four-and-twentieth day of 

 June, one thousand seven hundred and 

 twenty, hall suffer any particular da- 

 mage in his, her, ortheirtrade,commerce, 

 or other lawful affairs, by occasion or 

 means of any undertaking or attempt, 

 matter or thing, by this act declared to 

 be unlawful, as aforesaid, and will sue 

 to be relieved therein, then, and in every 

 such case, such merchant or trader shall 

 and may have his and their remedy for 

 the same, by an action or actions to be 

 grounded upon this statute, against the 

 persons, societies or partnerships, or 

 any of them, who, contrary to this act, 

 shall be engaged or interested in any such 

 unlawful undertaking or attempt : and 

 in every such action, the plaintiff shall or 

 may recover treble damages, with full 

 costs of suit. 



By s. 21, if any broker, or person act- 

 ing as a broker, shall bargain, sell, buy, 

 or purchase, or contract or agree for the 

 bargaining, &c. of any share or interest 

 in any of the undertakings by the act de- 



clared illegal, he shall be rendered inca- 

 pable of acting as a broker, and forfeit 

 500/., one moiety to the King, and the 

 other to the informer. 



S. 25, this act is not to prohibit the car- 

 rying on of any home or foreign trade in 

 partnership, in such manner as has been 

 usually and may be legally done, except 

 in insurances, &.c. 



These enactments have for many years 

 since the passing of them, in 1721, not 

 been enforced, except in the instance of 

 one Cafwood, Michaelmas, 8 George 1., 

 Strange Rep. 472, and Lord Raymond, 

 1361, who was fined 51. and imprisoned 

 during his majesty's pleasure, for being 

 the projector of an unlawful undertaking 

 to trade to the North Sea. In the inter- 

 val between that time and the present, 

 (1808) many institutions have been form- 

 ed and carried on in direct violation of 

 the act, such as fire and life insurance 

 companies, which are all beneficial to the 

 community, as they necessarily would 

 be, if carried on with regularity and 

 good faith. The success of these insti- 

 tutions has given rise to many specula- 

 tions in more recent times, which were 

 not of such obvious utility ; and a Mr. 

 Dodd, having projected a distillery, by 

 a joint-stock company, became an object 

 of jealousy to some private distillers, 

 who applied to the court of King's Bench 

 for leave to file a criminal information 

 against him ; upon which the court pro- 

 nounced him within the words of the 

 act, which prohibit the raising of joint 

 stock shares; but refused to interfere, 

 on account of the length of the time 

 during which the statute had lain dor- 

 mant. 



The words of this statute are so clear, 

 that, to the writer of this article, it ap- 

 pears strange that they could ever be 

 misunderstood. They prohibit all com- 

 binations in trade, except partnerships 

 and lawful corporations established by 

 act of parliament, or royal charter ; and 

 when the nature of mercantile contracts 

 is considered, the law could not safely 

 do otherwise ; for it would leave the 

 unwary open to the grossest frauds, and 

 the most ruinous self-delusion. A cor- 

 poration is not the mere fanciful essence 

 which it is ignorantly deemed to be : it 

 is a combination, formed upon a strict 

 view of legal principle, and the com- 

 merce of mankind ; upon the only plan 

 on which large bodies of men can be 

 enabled to contract with individuals. In 

 trusting to a corporation, there must be 



