Chapter LX. to incorporate the Washington National Monument Society
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Chap. LX.— An Act to incorporate the Washington National Monument Society.Feb. 26, 1859. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That, for the purpose of completingPurpose of incorporation.Corporators. the erection, now in progress, of “a great national monument to the memory of Washington, at the seat of the federal government,” Winfield Scott, Walter Jones, John J. Abert, James Kearney, Thomas Carbery, Peter Force, William A.
Bradley, Philip R. Kendall, Walter Lenox, Matthew F. Maury, and Thomas Blagden (being the survivors of the persons mentioned in a certain grant bearing date on the twelfth day of April in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, by James K. Polk, then President of the said United States, in virtue of a joint resolution of Congress, approved on the thirty-first day of January in theVol. ix. p. 333. same year, of an authority to erect a monument to the memory of George Washington, on reservation numbered three in the said city of Washington) and, also, Jonathan B.
H. Smith, William W. Seaton, Elisha Whittlesey, Benjamin Ogle Tayloe, Thomas H. Crawford, William W. Corcoran, and John Carroll Brent, and their successors to be elected in the manner hereinafter directed, shall be, and [they] are hereby, created a corporation, and body politic, by the name and style of “The Washington NationalName and style. Monument Society.” Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* That the easement, and all, andRights, privileges, and property. highly singular the rights and privileges, conveyed in the aforesaid grant, shall be, and the same hereby are, vested in, and confirmed to, the corporation and body politic hereinbefore created; and that any and all property and right of property of any and every kind and description whatsoever, whether in possession, or in action, or in expectancy, which may at any time before the passing of this act have been acquired by the voluntary association heretofore known by the name of the Washington National Monument Society, or which may hereafter be acquired by the corporation and body politic hereinbefore created, shall be, and the same hereby are, vested in, and confirmed to, the corporation and body politic hereinbefore created; and that the said corporation and body politic may apply to its uses, and for the purpose of completing the erection of the monument aforesaid, according to such by-laws, rules, and regulations, as itBy-laws, &c. may, from time to time, hereafter, make and ordain, any and all property, of any and every kind, and description whatsoever, which is now appertaining to said monument, or which the corporation and body politic hereby created may hereafter acquire, by purchase, gift, or other lawful means.
Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted,* That it shall be competent for the persons hereinbefore named and described as constituting the corporation and body politic hereby created, and their successors, to remove, by aAny member may be removed by a four-fifths’ vote.Proviso. Quorum.Proviso. Notices of meetings not provided for in by-laws. vote of four fifths of the said persons, any of their number; and the person so removed shall no longer be a member of said corporation and body politic, nor have any authority therein: *Provided,* That for any other act within the legitimate objects of this corporation a quorum of five shall be sufficient for the transaction of business: *Provided,* That notice of all meetings, which may not be provided for in the by-laws and ordinances of the corporation shall be given to all members thereof residing within the District of Columbia.
Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted,* That when any vacancy shall happenVacancies in membership to be filled within ten days. in the said corporation and body politic, from death or resignation, or otherwise, the remaining members thereof shall elect and appoint a successor to fill the same, within ten days after the happening of such vacancy; and that on failure to fill the same within thirty days, it shall be the duty of the attorney of the United States for the District of Columbia to proceed against the said corporation and body politic, by a writ ofProceedings in case of neglect to fill vacancies within 30 days. *scire facias,* for a forfeiture of the charter hereby granted before the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia and the adjudication of that court 387THIRTY-FIFTH CONGRESS.
Sess. II. Ch. 60, 64. 1859. thereon shall be conclusive. And should this charter be so adjudgedIf charter is forfeited. forfeited, the monument and other improvements and property held under the same shall be placed by the President of the United States under the care and custody of the Commissioner of Public Buildings, or such other officer of the United States as he may designate or appoint for the time being. Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted,* That the said corporation and bodyPowers of corporation. politic, hereinbefore created, shall, by the name and style of the “Washington National Monument Society,” have perpetual succession; shall beMay sue and be sued.Common seal. capable to sue or to be sued, to plead or be impleaded in any court of law or equity in the United States; may have and use a common seal, and the same may destroy, alter, and renew at pleasure, and shall have power to purchase, take, receive, and enjoy, to them and their successors, any and all property, of any kind and description whatsoever, for the purposeProperty. of completing the erection of said monument; to dispose of the same as they shall deem most conducive to the object of completing the erection, now in progress, of the monument aforesaid; to elect, so soon after the passage of this act as may be convenient, such officers as they may deem proper, and to make and ordain such constitution, by-laws, ordinances,Officers and by-laws. and regulations consonant to the objects of this charter as they may deem expedient and proper, and which shall not be repugnant to the constitution and laws of the United States; and to repeal, alter, andProviso.
President of the United States to be ex officio president, and governors of States, vice-presidents.Place of meetings, &c. amend the same: *Provided, always,* That the President of the United States, for the time being, shall be *ex officio* president; and the governors, for the time being of the several States of the United States shall be respectively *ex officio* vice-presidents of the said society, corporation, and body politic, and that all meetings thereof shall be held, and all records and papers thereof kept at the said city of Washington.
Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted,* That this act may at any time beAct may be amended or repealed. altered, amended, or repealed by the Congress of the United States. Sec. 7. *And be it further enacted,* That all laws, acts, or resolutions, orInconsistent provisions of law repealed. any part of any law, act, or resolution, inconsistent with this act, shall be, and the same are hereby, repealed. Sec. 8. *And be it further enacted,* That this act shall be in force fromTo take effect from its passage. and after the passing thereof.
Sec. 9. *And be it further enacted,* That nothing in this act shall be soCannot issue notes, &c. as currency. construed as to authorize this said corporation to issue any note, token, device, scrip, or other evidence of debt to be used as a currency. Sec. 10. *And be it further enacted,* That each of the corporators inCorporators individually liable for debts contracted since October 20, 1858. said corporation shall be held liable, in his individual capacity, for all the debts and liabilities of said corporation, however contracted or incurred, to be recovered by suit, as other debts or liabilities, before any court of competent jurisdiction. *Provided, however,* That nothing herein containedProviso. shall be so construed as to render said corporators in said corporation individually liable for any debt or liability contracted in the name, or behalf of, the Washington National Monument Society at any time prior to the twentieth day of October, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Approved, February 26, 1859.