Chapter 242. For the incorporation of the Grand Army of the Republic
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CHAP. 242.— An Act For the incorporation of the Grand Army of the Republic. June 3, 1924.[[H. R. 1869](/us/bill/68/hr/1869).][[Public, No. 184](/us/pl/68/184).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, * District of Columbia.Grand Army of the Republic incorporated. That the organization known as the Grand Army of the Republic, with a membership 359limited to persons who served as soldiers and sailors of the United Membership qualifications.States Army and Navy or Marine Corps and Revenue-Cutter Service between April 12, 1861, and April 9, 1865, and of such State regiments as were called into active service and subject to the orders of the United States general officers between the dates mentioned, and have been honorably discharged therefrom after such service, is hereby created a body corporate and politic of the District of Columbia, by the name of “The Grand Army of the Republic,” by which name it shall be a person in law, capable of suing and being sued, and of having and exercising all incidental powers as a litigant or otherwise as if it were a natural person, with power to acquire by purchase, gift, devise, or bequest, and to hold, convey, or otherwise dispose of property, real or personal, as may be necessary or calculated to carry into effect the patriotic, fraternal, and charitable purposes of its organization.
Sec. 2. The object and purpose of this corporation shall be to Object and purpose.perpetuate the name of “The Grand Army of the Republic ” and to preserve in corporate form said organization as now and hereafter maintained and conducted, and to thus provide and continue an agency and instrumentality through and by which its members, for and during the remainder of their natural lives, may assemble and meet for the promotion of comradeship and social intercourse. The corporation shall not at any time engage in any business for pecuniary profit and gain.
The principal office of this corporation shall be kept and maintained Office and meetings.in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, but annual, or other meetings, of its governing body and members may be held in any State or Territory of the Union, and the corporation shall have the power to possess and hold property needful or desirable for its objects and purposes anywhere in the United States or any of its territories or dependencies, consistently with the provisions of local laws pertaining thereto.
Sec. 3. That the supreme governing and controlling authority National encampment the governing authority.in said organization shall be the national encampment thereof, composed of representatives from the several department encampments as are now or may hereafter be organized: *Provided*, That there shall *Proviso*.Restriction on change of plan, etc.never be any change in the plan of organization of said national encampment that shall materially change its present representative form of government or render possible the concentration of the control thereof in the hands of a limited number, or in a self-perpetuating body not representative of the membership at large.
Sec. 4. That the qualifications for membership in said organization, Qualifications, rights, and privileges.except as they are limited by the provisions of section 1 of this Act, and the rights and privileges of the members thereof, shall be such as are fixed by the ordinances, rules, and regulations adopted by said national encampment. Sec. 5. That the activities of said corporation shall be exercised Activities regulated by designated agencies.through and by the following agencies, in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations now in force, or such as may be hereafter enacted by the national encapment thereof, namely:
First. Through the national encampment, its officers and committees. National encampment. Second. Through such department encampments as may have been Department encampments.heretofore, or as may be hereafter, organized, their officers and committees. Third. Through such posts as may have been heretofore, or may Posts.be hereafter, organized, their officers and committees. Such department encampments shall be subject and subordinate in Authority of agencies.authority to the national encampment, and such posts shall be also subject to such control, exercised through the department encamp-360ment and department officers of the particular department to which it belongs.
Sec. 6. Termination of corporation on death of last member. That the corporate existence of the Grand Army of the Republic, and the exclusive rights of its surviving members to wear the insignia of membership therein, shall terminate only when the *Provisos*.Corporate powers continued if annual encampments no longer held.last of its members dies: *Provided, however*, That if at any national encampment hereafter held a memorial shall be adopted by the vote of three-fourths of the members present, reciting that because of the decrease in its membership, or because of the age and infirmity of its surviving members, it is no longer advisable and practicable to hold future national annual encampments, such action shall not operate to deprive said organization of any of its corporate powers, but the government thereof may be modified to provide for such contingency, Property rights of posts or departments not affected.subject to the restrictions contained in section 3 of this Act: *Provided*, That nothing in this Act shall in any manner affect the right or the power of such posts or departments to dispose of, or otherwise affect the ownership of, property held by any post or department in its own name, nor affect the right of such posts or departments to organize corporations under State laws for the purpose of caring for and disposing of such property.
Sec. 7. Disposition and future ownership of property. That the national encampment may, by resolution, provide for the disposition and future ownership of its property and archives, and may declare the event in which such disposition shall become effective and such ownership vested, and a duly authenticated copy of such resolution shall be filed in the office of the Supreme Court of Jurisdiction of District supreme court to vest title, etc.the District of Columbia. Upon the happening of the event thus declared, and upon the filing of a petition in said Supreme Court reciting said facts, said court shall take jurisdiction thereof, and upon due proof being made the court shall enter a decree which shall be effectual to vest title and ownership in accordance with the provisions of such resolution.
Approved, June 3, 1924.