Incorporation Fees. 
177 
corporations, by making the incorporation fee very small, often 
merely nominal in amount. 1 
C. INSURANCE COMPANIES. 
In course of time, incorporation laws have gradually been 
adjusted to new and ever changing conditions. A comparison 
of the laws of the present with those of the “ Sixties, ” shows 
that the latter have tended to differentiate. New classes of 
corporations have sprung up which alone receive more legisla¬ 
tive attention at present, than the whole subject did a few years 
ago. One of the most striking examples of this is the insurance 
legislation which has been enacted during the last thirty years. 
All who have been at all connected with insurance companies 
for any length of time, will remember the lack of special regu- 
tion and the enormous opportunities for fraud, which the early 
insurance laws offered. That these opportunities were not neg¬ 
lected, is abundantly exemplified by the large number of insur¬ 
ance companies which obtained charters, solicited insurance as 
_ong as possible, and then, after having pocketed the premiums, 
became insolvent. Many of these were notorious as the most 
gigantic swindles of the age. After a few experiences of this 
sort, public opinion became aroused, and schemes were devised 
to prevent their recurrence. Thus special insurance legislation 
began, in which the legislators had few if any precedents to go 
by. We therefore see the beginning of the tentative period in 
insurance regulations, out of which but few states have as yet 
emerged. One of the first attempts to accomplish this purpose 
was by changing the method of formation or incorporation of 
insurance companies. Special qualifications were required, 
apart from the usual requirements of the general incorporation 
laws, and a distinct category of fees was established for insur¬ 
ance corporations. 2 
For filing the charter or articles of incorporation, the fees 
range from $6 to $50. Eight states charge $25 for this service; 
1 North Carolina charges only one-fifth of one mill per dollar of stock of 
loan associations, while banks have to pay one-half mill. Illinois charges 
$30 for original application for charter for loan associations. 
2 See table of incorporation fees in the appendix. 
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