LEGAL PHASES OF COOPEKATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 7 
ANTIQUITY OF CORPORATIONS 
The idea of a corporation is an old one. It is said to have been 
originated by the Romans, although there is not entire agreement 
among law writers on this point. Corporations were known to the 
Greeks and Romans centuries before the Christian era. Before the 
Norman conquest (1066) there existed in England organizations 
having many of the elements of corporations. Churches were among 
the first of these organizations. It was not until the middle of the 
seventeenth century that the large trading corporations of England 
came into existence. Chief among these was the Hudson Bay Co., 
which continued, it is said, until 1867. 
POWER TO CREATE CORPORATIONS 
The power of creating corporations resides in the sovereign. In 
England they were originally created by the king; later they were 
created by acts of Parliament with the express or implied assent of 
the king. 23 
In this country the power to create corporations belongs to each 
State and the Federal Government. A State legislature may create 
a corporation or provide for its creation for any proper purpose and 
may confer upon it such powers as it sees fit, subject only to such re- 
strictions as are found in the State and Federal Constitutions. 24 
Congress may create corporations whenever they are necessary or 
proper agencies for carrying into execution any of the powers con- 
ferred by the Constitution upon the Government of the United 
States. 25 Congress, because it has exclusive jurisdiction over the 
District of Columbia, has the same power to create corporations 
within the District that a State has to create corporations within its 
borders. 26 
Formerly all corporations in this country were created by special 
enactments; that is, a special act was passed by the legislature of 
the State every time a corporation was created. It was believed 
that this practice led to favoritism and unjust discrimination, 27 and 
gradually it has come to pass that practically all of the States now 
have provisions in their constitutions prohibiting, with certain ex- 
ceptions in some States, the creation of corporations by special acts. 
Every State now has general statutes which authorize and pro- 
vide for the formation of corporations. The statutes of some States 
are broad and comprehensive and permit the formation under them 
of corporations to engage in practically every form of lawful activ- 
ity. Sometimes the statutes permit only the incorporation of par- 
ticular types of corporations, or of corporations to engage in cer- 
tain lines of business. Even though a business is lawful, if pro- 
vision is not made for the formation of corporations to engage in 
that business they can not be incorporated in that State. 
Those who wish to form a corporation must meet the terms and 
conditions prescribed by the State. The power of the State in this 
23 Blackstone's Commentaries, v. 1, Book 1, p. 472. 
2* New Orleans Gas Co. v. La. Light Co., 115 U. S. 650; Northern Securities Co. v. 
United States, 193 U. S. 197. 
25 McCulloch v. The State of Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316, 4 L. Ed. 314. 
26 City of Georgetown v. Alexandria Canal Co., 12 Pet. 91. 
27 Wells, Fargo & Co. v. Northern Pac. Ry. Co., 23 F. 469, 
