Perry v. Bank of Commerce

77 So. 812, 116 Miss. 838
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 15, 1917
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 77 So. 812 (Perry v. Bank of Commerce) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Perry v. Bank of Commerce, 77 So. 812, 116 Miss. 838 (Mich. 1917).

Opinion

Holden, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

This is an appeal from a decree of the chancery court overruling the demurrer to the complainant’s bill, and presents for our consideration one proposition of law which is, to state it in the simplest language: Can an organized state bank with an authorized capital .stock of thirty-five thousand dollars reduce its capital stock by charter amendment to twenty-five thousand dollars, by a majority vote of the stockholders, it having-adopted a by-law.by the stockholders at the time its charter was accepted providing expressly that any and all amendments to the charter might be made whenever a majority of the stockholders may so declare to have the charter amended in any particular? The contention of appellant is that no such amendment to a charter reducing the amount of the capital stock can be validly made except by unanimous vote of all the stockholders of the corporation; and that the right to amend is limited and circumscribed, and can be exercised only by the legislature, when the public interest demands it and not for the benefit of private gain, and upon the express condition that no injustice shall be done the shareholders.

The charter of the appellee bank and amendment' thereto provided that the capital stock of the bank should be thirty-five thousand dollars. At the-time the charter was accepted and the bank organized, the following by-law was duly and regularly adopted by the stockholders under authority of section 901, Code 1906 (section 4073, Hemingway’s Code):

[852]*852“An increase in the capital stock of the bank may be made whenever a majority of the stockholders may so declare, and any and all amendments to the charter may be made whenever a majority of the stockholders may so declare, and thereupon permission to the state may be applied for, to increase the capital stock, or to have the charter amended in any particular.”

Section 899, Code 1906 (section 4071, Hemingway’s Code), in force now and at the time the charter was granted, provides as follows:

“Renewals and Amendments. — Every corporation created under the provisions of this chapter, and every corporation heretofore created, whether by special act of the legislature or under the general law, ‘except railroads other than street railroads and insurance companies,’ desiring a renewal or amendment of its charter, shall make publication as above, if the original charter were required to be published, setting forth at length in such publication, the nature and extent of the amendment or amendments desired, and the Governor, with the advice of the attorney-general, may grant the same. But in case of renewal merely it shall be sufficient for the Governor to give a certificate thát the original charter is renewed, under the great seal of the state.”

See, also, Acts 1914, page 123, section 32.

Section 88 of our Constitution reads: “The legislature shall pass general laws, under which local and private interests shall be provided for and protected, and under which cities and towns may be chartered, and their charters amended, and under which- corporations may be created, organized, and their acts of incorporation altered; and all such laws shall be subject to repeal or amendment.”

After the resolution was passed and adopted by a majority of the stockholders of the bank, which resolution is here quoted:

“Resolved by the stockholders of the Bank of Commerce, of Grenada, Miss., that the present capital [853]*853stock be reduced from thirty-five thousand dollars to twenty-five thousand dollars; that application be made to the state of Mississippi, so as to authorize this decrease in capital after compliance with the laws of said state; and, further, that when said capital is reduced that the certificates of stock now outstanding be called in and new certificates be issued in lien of said old certificates in proportion to the amount of stock now held by each stockholder' — the new certificates to be issued upon the said reduced capital — which said resolntipn after being discussed was unanimously adopted by all of the stockholders”- — the amendment to the charter authorizing the reduction of the capital stock to twenty-five thousand dollars was duly published as required by section 899, Code 1906 (section 4071, Hemingway’s Code), and was granted by the Governor with the advice of the attorney-general — all of which was regular and in accordance with the statute.

We are unable to see any merit in the contention of the appellant that the amendment to the charter of appellee was not in all respects legal and valid. The question is presented as to whether this change in the amount of the Capital stock from thirty-five thousand dollars to twenty-five thousand dollars is a radical or fundamental change in the purpose and character of the original charter necessitating a unanimous vote of the stockholders to make such change, or whether such change in the capital stock was merely auxiliary or incidental to the original purpose or plans of the corporation and might be made by a majority of the stockholders. But we consider it unnecessary to pass upon this question, although we think the better rule is that such a reasonable change in the amount of the capital stock is riot a fundamental or radical change, but is auxiliary and incidental to the main purpose of the corporation. However, under either view it appears certain to us that under the Constitution and statutes of our state the amendment to the charter here in question was contemplated [854]*854and permissible, and was authorized by a resolution passed by a majority of the stockholders of the bank under the statute (section 899, Code 1906; section 4071, Hemingway’s Code), which permits such amendments, and more especially was it proper since, under section 901, Code 1906, a by-law was duly passed and in force authorizing* any and all amendments to the charter by a majority of stockholders at the time the appellant, who seems to be the only objecting stockholder, became or was a stockholder in the bank (Commonwealth v. Vandegrift, 232 Pa. 53, 81 Atl. 153, 36 L. R. A. [N. S.] 45 Ann. Cas. 1912C, 1269).

In other words, under Constitution, section 88, the right is given to the legislature- to create corporations and amend or change charters of corporations, and where the charter of the corporation itself provides that it may be amended, as it does here by reading into it section 899, Code 1906, and the corporation so provides ,by its by-laws,’ and where the majority of the- stockholders pass a resolution for the amendment, properly petition for the same under the law, and the amendment is granted as authorized by the statute, such amendment is legal and valid. 7 R. C. L. section 174.

“An amendment may be said to be auxiliary and incidental when it merely grants new powers or authorizes new methods and new plans for the purpose of carrying out the original plan and effecting the real object of that plan.” 2 Cook on Corporations (6 Ed.), section m499.

“Amendments, which do not change the nature, purpose, or character of a corporation or its enterprise, but which are designed to enable the corporation to conduct its authorized business with greater facility, more beneficially, or more wisely, are auxiliary to the original object.” Mower v. Staples, 32 Minn. 284, 20 N. W. 225.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Perry v. Bank of Commerce
80 So. 332 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1918)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
77 So. 812, 116 Miss. 838, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/perry-v-bank-of-commerce-miss-1917.