4 BULLETIN 1106, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
the Greeks and Romans centuries before the Christian era. Before 
the Norman con,uest (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.’ 
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 restrictions as are found in the State and Federal constitu- 
tions... Congress may create corporations whenever they are neces- 
sary, or proper agencies for carrying into execution any of the 
powers conferred by the Constitution upon the Government of the 
United States. Congress, because it has exclusive jurisdiction 
over the District of Columbia, has the same power to create cor- 
porations within the District that a State has to create corporations 
within its borders.*° 
Formerly all corporations in this country were created by special 
acts; 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," and gradually 
it has come to pass that practically all of the States have adopted 
constitutional provisions prohibiting, with certain exceptions 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 of 
the States are broad and comprehensive and permit the incorpora- 
tion under them of corporations to engage in practically every form 
of lawful activity. Sometimes the statutes permit only the incor- 
poration of particular types of corporations, or of corporations to 
engage in certain lines of business. Even though a business is law- 
ful, if provision is not made in the statute for the formation of 
7 Blackstone’s Commentaries, Book 1—472. 
§ New Orleans Gas Co. v. La, Light Co., 115 Us S. 650; Northern Securities Co. v. 9 
United States, 193 U. S. 197. 
® McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316. 
10 Georgetown v. Alexandria Canal Co., 12 Pet. 91. 
11 Wells Fargo & Co. v. Northern Pacific Ry. Co., 23 Fed. 469. 
