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Statutes of the European-American Colonization Society in Texas

Brussels / Paris, 1855. English translation of french.txt (the complete text re-transcribed from the Gallica / BnF facsimile).

Translator's conventions. The Society is a société en commandite par actions — a limited partnership with shares: three gérants (managing partners) are personally and jointly liable; all other investors are commanditaires (limited partners), liable only up to their subscription. Key recurring terms: plus-value-dividende → appreciation-dividend (the dividend representing the company's annual increase in net worth); Titres de plus-value → Appreciation Certificates; Bons de plus-value → Appreciation Warrants; amortissement → redemption (of premium shares); remboursement → reimbursement (of dividend shares); Gérance → the Management; Agence exécutive → executive Agency; Conseil de surveillance → Supervisory Council; exercice → financial year; Fondateur → Founder (Considerant). Figures should be checked against the facsimile before citation.

The undersigned:

1. Mr. VICTOR PROSPER CONSIDERANT, residing at present in the commune of St.-Josse-ten-Noode, near Brussels, Rue de la Machine Hydraulique no. 32 — acting as Founder of the Society governed by the Statutes below, of the one part;

And 2. Messrs. ALLYRE BUREAU, residing at present in Paris, Rue du Bac no. 36;

CHARLES FRANÇOIS FERDINAND GUILLON, residing in Paris, Rue Bourbon-Villeneuve no. 23;

And JEAN-BAPTISTE ANDRÉ GODIN-LEMAIRE, residing at Guise (Aisne);

All three acting as together forming the Management of the said Society, of the other part;

Have settled as follows the clauses and conditions of the Society agreed between them.

TITLE I. — Nature and object of the Society; its name, style, duration, seat.

Art. 1. Between the above-named and all persons who shall adhere to these Statutes, whether as owners of Shares or as taking part in the appreciation-dividends spoken of below, there is formed a limited partnership with shares under the name of European-American Colonization Society in Texas.

Messrs. Allyre Bureau, Ferdinand Guillon, and Godin-Lemaire are the responsible managing partners, jointly and severally liable for the Society. All the other associates are mere limited partners and, as such, are bound and liable for the Society's debts only up to the amount of their subscription.

The company style is BUREAU, GUILLON, GODIN & Co.

Art. 2. The purpose of the Society is to gather the means necessary to realize the plan of Colonization proposed and described in Mr. Victor Considérant's book entitled Au Texas, published in Paris in May 1854 by the Librairie Sociétaire.

Consequently the Society constitutes itself as a Colonization Agency.

It has, in America, on the ground of its operations, an executive Agency, spoken of in Title XIV.

It has a central Agency in Paris.

It establishes, at all points it deems suitable, particular agencies intended to assist it in its operations and to organize and direct immigration.

It undertakes the transport of the colonists with whom it shall have contracted for that object.

With a view to resale — but without forbidding itself temporary leases — it acquires real property by way of concessions or purchases, the said property being able to lie in any part of Texas and even outside that State.

It carries out — whether on its own lands and with a view to resale, or on behalf of the colonists, on lands belonging to them, and as a contractor — the works, preparations, constructions, clearings and agricultural operations, factories, industrial establishments, etc., suitable to facilitate settlement and colonization.

For the same end, and always with a view to resale, it makes provision of foodstuffs, purchases of livestock, working implements, etc.

It may also buy and sell, on behalf of third parties and for a commission, lands or products native or exotic, but without advances on its part.

Art. 3. Colonization being intended to develop freely, by the very power of the individual or collective activities that come to take part in it, the present Society cannot propose to place these activities under the dependence of a more or less imposed direction.

Consequently it forbids itself any permanent exploitation, on its own account, of the lands it acquires or of any other branch of industry or commerce.

But it may take an interest, as a limited partner or as a lender, in individual or collective establishments — agricultural, industrial, financial, commercial, educational — and generally in all works or enterprises formed or to be formed with a view to the development and prosperity of the Colonization.

Art. 4. The Management shall publish, whenever it deems it useful and at least four times a year, a Bulletin intended to give an account of its operations and to provide all notices and information that might interest the shareholders and the persons disposed to take part in the Colonization.

Art. 5. The general meeting of shareholders may later, on the report of the Management, convert the present Society into a joint-stock company (société anonyme) or one approaching the anonymous form.

Art. 6. The duration of the Society shall be twenty-one financial years, ending on 31 December 1875.

Each financial year is of one year and begins on 1 January.

However, the first financial year, ending on 31 December 1855, will begin on the day of the Society's constitution.

Each financial year is divided, for the needs of various services, into two administrative half-years.

The first part of the first financial year, beginning on the day of the Society's constitution and ending on 30 June 1855, will count as one half-year.

Art. 7. The Society has its original seat at Brussels, Rue de la Régence no. 16. The Management may, after consulting the general meeting, transfer it either to any other city in Europe or to the United States.

Nevertheless, the registered seat may not be changed without the formal consent of the Founder or his heirs.

TITLE II. — Share capital; dividend Shares, premium Shares; issues, payments; interest and other financial rights.

Art. 8. The share capital is fixed at one million dollars, United States currency, that is, five million four hundred thousand francs.

Art. 9. Subscription may always remain open. But the issue of Shares may be halted by a resolution of the Management.

Payments shall be made at the seat of the Society and at all points where the Society has agents accredited to receive them.

Art. 10. The corporate fund is represented by Shares of the three following values:

Five dollars, that is 27 francs;

Twenty-five dollars, that is 135 francs;

One hundred twenty-five dollars, that is 675 francs.

The number of Shares of each value will be subordinated to the demands and convenience of the takers, who must add to the price of the share the cost of the legal stamp (1).

(1) The cost of the stamp is, in Belgium, 50 centimes for Shares of 500 fr. and below, and 1 fr. for those from 500 fr. to 1,000 fr.

Art. 11. The Shares are to bearer.

They are taken from counterfoil registers, bearing the company signature and struck with the Society's embossed stamp.

There are two counterfoils for each nominal value: one in Europe, the other in America.

The Shares may, at the bearer's request, be registered in name, upon prior deposit of the bearer certificate, in exchange for which the Management delivers to the shareholder a certificate of registration in name, bearing the designation and amount of the Shares deposited with the number of the account opened to the registered shareholder.

The certificate of registration may always be exchanged for the original bearer Share(s).

The transmission of bearer Shares is effected by simple delivery.

The transmission of registration certificates is effected by simple transfers signed by the shareholder and by one of the managing partners on a special register.

If no opposition has been notified, the transfer is valid by means of the transferor's declaration signed on the said register, either by him or by his authorized agent provided with an authentic deed or accepted as sufficient by the Management.

In case of loss of the registration certificate in name, a duplicate shall be delivered upon the shareholder's written request.

Annotation of the duplicate shall be made on the special register.

Art. 12. The payments of every kind hereinafter stipulated, relating to a registered certificate, shall be made on presentation of the registration certificate.

For bearer Shares, payments of interest shall be made on presentation of the interest coupons, and the delivery of appreciation dividends on presentation of the dividend coupons. All other payments shall take place on presentation of the certificate.

All these payments are made at the place where rests the counterfoil from which the certificate comes.

However, owners of bearer Shares as well as registered shareholders shall obtain the transfer of payment from one place to another by fulfilling the formalities settled by the Management.

Art. 13. The monetary unit of the Society being the American dollar, when payment of sums due on certificates issued by it is claimed in any other currency, it makes it at the average rate of exchange calculated, at the place of payment, over the fifteen days elapsed before that of maturity.

Art. 14. Funds paid for the taking of Shares bear interest from the day of payment.

All sums due on the Shares — for interest, redemption, premium, reimbursement — and in general for any payment of shares of any kind in the corporate assets, are barred by prescription after five years from the day when their exigibility shall have been declared in general meeting. This declaration shall be published in the next Bulletin of the Society. — The same five-year prescription applies to the delivery of all securities created by the Society.

Art. 15. The ownership of each Share is indivisible with respect to the Society. Consequently, those entitled, for whatever cause, to the ownership of a Share, shall be bound, vis-à-vis the Society, to have themselves represented by an authorized agent.

The heirs or representatives of a shareholder may not, for any reason, cause any seals to be affixed, form any opposition, demand any inventory, or provoke any forced sale.

Art. 16. Every possessor of a Share is, by that fact alone, deemed to have adhered to these Statutes, and bound to the execution of all the conditions they contain.

Art. 17. The Shares are of two orders: dividend Shares and premium Shares.

FIRST SECTION. — DIVIDEND SHARES.

Art. 18. The dividend Shares, or shares properly so called, alone participate in the aleatory chances of the Society.

They are divided into series.

The numbering will be settled on the last counterfoil at the close of each series.

Art. 19. Subscription to the first series is open until 31 December 1854. — The Management may extend it until 31 March 1855, save that the shareholder who pays within this interval shall have deducted in advance the interest accrued from 1 January 1855 to the day of payment. — The first series, even should its issue have been thus extended, shall nonetheless be regarded as issued entirely prior to the first half-year of 1855.

The second series comprises the Shares issued from the close of the first series until 30 June 1855.

The third series comprises the Shares issued during the second half-year of 1855. — And each following half-year produces a new series.

Art. 20. The dividend Shares produce interest at four per cent a year, payable on the first of January each year.

They give right, each according to its nominal value in the series to which it belongs, to the appreciation-dividend units attributed to that series, as stated in Title VII.

They are reimbursed in full before payment of the appreciation-dividends can be begun, save the exception provided in the 3rd paragraph of Art. 48.

Art. 21. Each Share bears interest coupons intended to be detached and returned to the Society against payment of the said interest.

The shareholder shall be credited, at the delivery of the Share, with interest from the payment up to the first day of the following financial year.

Each Share further bears dividend coupons intended to be detached and returned to the Society against the delivery of the appreciation dividends.

Art. 22. The dividend Shares are payable in cash, and the shareholder immediately receives his fully-paid certificate(s).

Art. 23. Nevertheless, for the first series, the Management may accept, in settlement of subscriptions, promissory notes falling due at the latest on 31 December 1856.

These notes count, for their amount, in the capital of the first series.

In exchange for these notes, the Management will give Receipts which will have the same rights as the fully-paid Shares of the first series, except that they will produce no interest and that, until the opening of the half-year following payment of the said notes, they will count only for half the sums they represent in the sharing of the appreciation-dividends attributed to the first series. — These notes not being intended to be put into circulation, the subscriber may always anticipate their payment, and thus obtain fully-paid Shares.

At the moment of payment in full, the shareholder will receive, besides his Share certificate, the appreciation dividends already attributed to the said Share in consequence of the stipulations of the preceding paragraph.

In case of non-payment of a note at maturity, the Management may declare the subscriber forfeit of all rights that payment of that note would have assured him; and in case of payment upon proceedings, that payment gives right only to share certificates of the series currently being issued.

The appreciation units which, after being credited to the Receipts, should cease to belong to the subscriber for want of payment of his notes, shall revert to the participating parties who would have been entitled to them had these notes not existed.

Art. 24. The rights of the dividend Shares in the appreciation, the modes and order of their reimbursement, etc., are settled in Titles VII and VIII.

SECOND SECTION. — PREMIUM SHARES.

Art. 25. A part of the share capital may be issued in premium Shares.

However, the capital issued in premium Shares may not exceed half the capital issued in dividend Shares.

Art. 26. The premium Shares are payable in cash.

They do not participate in the aleatory chances of the dividend Shares.

They produce interest at six per cent a year, payable on 1 January and 1 July each year, and by preference over the dividend Shares.

They are redeemed only by receiving, in addition to their capital, a premium of twenty per cent.

Art. 27. Each Share bears interest coupons intended to be detached and returned to the Society against payment of the said interest.

The shareholder shall be credited, at the delivery of the Share, with interest from the payment up to the first day of the following half-year.

Art. 28. During the whole period of the issue of the share capital, the premium Shares may be converted into dividend Shares of the same nominal value. In that case, they take rank in the series currently being issued, to enjoy there all the rights and faculties of dividend Shares, including the faculty of anticipated reimbursement as set out in Art. 48.

They retain this faculty of conversion for six months more after the close of the issue has been pronounced by the general meeting and published in a Bulletin of the Society; in that case, they take rank in the last series issued.

Art. 29. When the liquid proceeds have covered the interest account, the remainder — save the deduction of the sums attributed to the reserve and working funds — is devoted to the redemption of the premium Shares, and this redemption must be entirely completed before the reimbursement of the dividend Shares can begin, save the cases provided in Art. 48.

Art. 30. The certificates to be redeemed are designated in general meeting by drawing lots.

As soon as a certificate has been designated by lot to be redeemed, it can no longer be converted into dividend Shares.

The Management makes known, at the moment of the drawing, the precise date from which, the payment of the certificates designated by lot being exigible, these certificates cease to produce any interest.

The redeemed certificates are returned to the Society and cancelled.

The interest coupons belonging to periods later than the redemption, which had been detached and are not presented, shall be deducted from the capital.

TITLE III. — Constitution of the Society.

Art. 31. The Society shall be declared constituted as soon as the subscription, of both premium Shares and dividend Shares, rises to one hundred thousand dollars, that is five hundred forty thousand francs.

As soon as this sum is reached, the Management makes the declaration of constitution of the Society, and gives notice of it to each subscriber with an invitation to effect the payment or settlement of his subscription. — It convokes him at the same time for a first general meeting, which must take place within three months from the day of the declaration of constitution, and which is spoken of in Art. 76.

TITLE IV. — Increase of the share capital.

Art. 32. The general meeting may, on the report of the Management, decide a later increase of the share capital and determine the conditions of issue of the new shares.

TITLE V. — Of Bonds.

Art. 33. Bonds may be issued after decision of the general meeting, taken on the report of the Management.

The amount, conditions of issue, and form of these Bonds will be voted at the same time as their issue.

TITLE VI. — Books, inventories, annual ascertainment of products and appreciation.

Art. 34. The Society's books are kept by double entry, with all the special accounts proper to facilitate the reports and statistics that the Society must publish in its Bulletin, to enlighten its shareholders and the persons disposed to become such or to take part in the colonization.

Art. 35. The books are closed at the end of each year, and a general inventory of the Society's Assets and Liabilities is drawn up.

This inventory must be submitted to the general meeting of shareholders within the first eight months of the following financial year.

It contains the detailed statement of all movable and immovable property belonging to the Society, and of all the items of its Liabilities.

The value of each item of the Assets will be established as in an expert's appraisal. The prices of sales of real property effected during the financial year on the various parts of the Society's territory and on the surrounding zones will serve as a first element in the valuation of the lands, constructions and factories appearing in the said Assets.

The Assets comprise: the funds in cash; the securities in portfolio; the Society's claims and the share certificates or others it might hold in establishments external to it; the values of all movable or immovable items established as just stated.

The Liabilities comprise: the unredeemed capital of the Bonds, if any have been created, and the interest due on them; the unredeemed capital of the premium Shares and the interest due on them; the unpaid amount of the premiums stipulated in favor of the said Shares; the unreimbursed capital of the dividend Shares and the interest due on them; the unpaid amount of the appreciation-dividends distributed in previous financial years; all other creditor accounts.

The excess of the Assets over the Liabilities gives the estimated figure of the appreciation of the financial year.

Art. 36. In view of the inventory thus established, and in consideration of the various motives set out in the Management's report on the situation and interests of the Society, the general meeting settles a figure which from then on constitutes the ascertained appreciation-dividend of the financial year.

However, this figure may not exceed that whose fixing shall have been proposed to it by the Management; and the latter must itself be lower than the estimated figure.

TITLE VII. — Distribution of the appreciation-dividends.

FIRST SECTION. — SETTLEMENT OF THE ANNUAL APPRECIATIONS UNTIL THE CLOSE OF THE ISSUE OF DIVIDEND SHARES; APPRECIATION CERTIFICATES.

Art. 37. On the figure of the appreciation-dividend, ascertained as just stated, there is first made a deduction intended to fulfill the engagements that the Management or the executive Agency may have contracted toward all employees, agents and workers, stipulating in their favor, for their services during the elapsed financial year, a remuneration or part of remuneration of an aleatory kind in the form of an appreciation-dividend.

Art. 38. After this deduction, if any, the remaining figure is regarded as the net total of the appreciation-dividend of the financial year, and is distributed in the proportions and among the participating parties indicated below:

TWO THIRDS are attributed, jointly, to the dividend shares and to the appreciation units previously produced — whatever the origin of these units — the said two thirds to be distributed according to the following rule:

The first third, regarded as produced during the first half-year of the financial year, is distributed exclusively to the shares of the series issued prior to that half-year and to the appreciation units acquired by all those entitled in all previous financial years, each share and each unit counting, in this distribution, for its nominal figure.

The second third, regarded as produced in the second half-year, is distributed among the same elements, counting for the same figures as in the preceding paragraph, but adjoining to them — each counting for its nominal figure — the shares issued during the first half-year of the financial year.

So that each dividend share enters into participation in the appreciation-dividends from the half-year following its issue, while the acquired appreciation units enter into participation in the new appreciation-dividends only from one financial year to the next, and not from the first half-year to the second half-year of each financial year.

The THIRD THIRD is attributed, jointly, to the Management, to the executive Agency, and to the Founder, to be divided among them as follows:

Art. 39. The distribution of the ascertained appreciation-dividend of the financial year being entirely established as just regulated by Arts. 37 and 38, all the participating parties are credited with the respective shares falling to them in this distribution.

The appreciation units, although creating — like the dividend shares — rights to later appreciations, produce no interest; they are delivered to those entitled in the form of Appreciation Certificates, under the following conditions:

As soon as the appreciation credited to a Share, or to an Appreciation Certificate previously created, reaches a figure equal to that of that Share or Certificate, a new Appreciation Certificate is delivered to that Share or Certificate.

When the said appreciation exceeds the nominal figure of the Share or Certificate, the excess is carried half to the credit of the producing Share or Certificate, and half to that of the newly produced Certificate, without losing, of course, any of its rights to later distributions.

The Appreciation Certificates to be distributed directly to persons, in consequence of the deduction provided in Art. 37, or to the Management, the executive Agency, and the Founder, shall be exchanged against regular receipts.

Art. 40. The Appreciation Certificates thus delivered are to bearer, taken from special counterfoil registers, and in the three nominal values of the Shares. They bear the company signature and the Society's stamp.

They may be registered in name, as stated for the Shares, Art. 11.

They bear, like the dividend Shares, dividend coupons intended to be detached and returned to the Society against the delivery of the appreciation dividends.

Art. 41. When the general meeting has settled the figure of the appreciation-dividend of the financial year during which the issue of dividend Shares is closed, the Management will distribute to those entitled the last certificates of all the acquired appreciation-dividends; and the creation of appreciation units giving right in later appreciations will also be closed, and may be reopened only in case of an increase of the share capital, provided in Title IV.

Fractions of appreciation-dividends below five dollars will be combined into a total sum, which will be divided into five-dollar Certificates, distributed by lot among the owners of these fractions, in proportion to each one's right in the drawing.

SECOND SECTION. — SETTLEMENT OF THE ANNUAL APPRECIATIONS PRODUCED AFTER THE CLOSE OF THE ISSUE OF DIVIDEND SHARES; COMMON ACCOUNT OF SECOND-CLASS APPRECIATIONS, AND APPRECIATION WARRANTS.

Art. 42. After the double close spoken of in Art. 41, the appreciation-dividend will continue to be ascertained, as before, for each financial year, until entry into final liquidation, provided in Title XVIII; but these appreciations and the units made of them, as will be stated, will cease to produce any right in the appreciations of the following financial years and will moreover produce no interest. — They are distinguished from the appreciations prior to the said close by the designation of second-class appreciations.

Art. 43. The deduction authorized by Art. 37 may always be made on the general figure of the ascertained appreciation of the financial year.

Art. 44. After this deduction, if any, the remaining figure, still regarded as the net total of the appreciation-dividend of the financial year, is divided into TWO EQUAL PORTIONS:

The first half is attributed, jointly, to the dividend Shares and the Appreciation Certificates, to count for them in proportion to their respective nominal figures;

The other half is attributed, jointly, to the Management, the executive Agency, and the Founder, to be divided among these three elements in the proportions indicated in the third paragraph of Art. 38 (Management 10%; executive Agency 6%; Founder 84%).

Art. 45. The figure of the aforesaid first half is carried to the credit of the dividend Shares and the Appreciation Certificates, in an account called the Common Account of second-class appreciations.

The figure of the second half is represented by simple Appreciation Warrants, the said Warrants to be immediately distributed to those entitled against their regular receipts.

Art. 46. From entry into final liquidation, although the annual appreciation-dividends can no longer be ascertained, all the values realized until exhaustion of the share capital are nonetheless second-class appreciations, the devolution of which is consequently governed by Art. 44.

TITLE VIII. — Reimbursement of the dividend Shares; payment of the Appreciation Certificates; payment of all second-class appreciations, and distribution of the remainder of the corporate assets.

Art. 47. When the redemption of the premium Shares is entirely complete and the interest served, all the liquid product remaining after deduction of the sums attributed to the reserve and working funds is devoted to reimbursing the dividend Shares, each according to its rank in its series, and following the order of series, unless the general meeting, on the Management's proposal, has adopted a different order.

The general meeting fixes the sum to be reimbursed to the dividend Shares, and the Management makes known the precise date from which, this reimbursement becoming exigible, the shares to be reimbursed cease to produce interest.

Art. 48. Every immigrant or association of immigrants holding dividend Shares, or registration certificates of dividend Shares, has the faculty of having them entirely reimbursed in advance by applying them, at their nominal value, to the payment of the goods, movable or immovable, that they acquire from the Society.

The Management or the executive Agency may, to the extent it deems justified by the interest of the colonization, grant the shareholder the application of the anticipated reimbursement of his shares to the payment, in whole or part: 1° of his transport and immigration costs; 2° of the constructions, industrial or other establishments, clearings, etc., made by him, or on his account by the Society, on lands belonging to the Society or already owned by the shareholder; 3° of the materials, working implements, furniture, foodstuffs, seeds, raw materials, etc., bought by the shareholder or on his account by the Society, and used in establishments judged useful to the Society's purpose.

The Management or the executive Agency may, but only in a proportion and for periods of time limited by the general meeting, apply, in discharge of the sales and costs just spoken of, anticipated payments of appreciation-dividends.

Art. 49. The reimbursement of the dividend Shares, whether in cash or in kind, will be recorded on the certificate and on its counterfoil.

The interest coupons to which the bearer no longer has right by the fact of this reimbursement are detached from the certificate and returned to the Management.

Those of these coupons which had been detached and are not presented will be deducted from the capital.

The certificate thus modified is returned to the bearer; it retains all the rights stipulated in its favor, with the sole exception of the right to reimbursement and to interest.

Art. 50. When the reimbursement of the dividend Shares is entirely complete, all the liquid product remaining after deduction of the sums attributed to the reserve and working funds is applied, by lot and at their nominal value, to the payment of the Appreciation Certificates not already paid under the 3rd paragraph of Art. 48.

The payment of the Appreciation Certificates, whether in cash or in kind, will be recorded on the certificate and its counterfoil.

The certificate thus modified is returned to the bearer; it retains all the rights stipulated in its favor, with the sole exception of the right to the said payment.

Art. 51. When the payment of the Appreciation Certificates is complete, all the liquid products remaining after the same deductions as in the preceding article are applied to the payment of the Common Account of second-class appreciations and of the Appreciation Warrants.

These products are, to this effect, divided into two proportional parts — one to the current total Credit of the Common Account, the other to the current total sum of the Warrants — the first being distributed among the Shares and the Appreciation Certificates pro rata to their nominal values; the second applied to the payment of the Warrants by lot.

The Warrants drawn by lot are paid in full and destroyed by the Management, and the Credit of the Common Account is reduced by the whole sum placed at the disposal of the Shares and Appreciation Certificates.

Art. 52. When the liquidation operations have allowed the payment of the Common Account and of all the Warrants just spoken of to be completed, all the values realized until complete exhaustion of the corporate assets will be distributed in accordance with the principle laid down in Art. 46, as the realizations permit.

TITLE IX. — Reserve fund.

Art. 53. When the liquid products have covered the interest account, a reserve fund will be created by a deduction of ten per cent on the remaining sum, intended to meet unforeseen events, disasters, etc.

In the investments the Management may make of the reserve fund, it must have above all in view the safety of the investment and the prompt availability of the invested fund.

Art. 54. The distribution of the reserve fund will take place only on the final liquidation of the Society, unless decided otherwise by the general meeting, but on the Management's proposal.

TITLE X. — Working fund.

Art. 55. In the same circumstances as above (Art. 53), a working fund will be created by a deduction of ten per cent on the liquid products, principally intended to extend the application of the faculties stipulated in the last paragraph of Art. 3.

The general meeting may increase this working fund, whether in view of that destination or to give the Management the means to develop the other operations comprised in the Society's purpose.

TITLE XI. — Relief fund.

Art. 56. A relief fund will be created, intended to aid poor colonists, whether in case of illness or in case of repatriation judged necessary.

This fund may also be employed by the Society to contribute to mutual-aid institutions established outside it on the territory of the colony.

The sum to be applied to the relief fund will be determined annually by the general meeting. The relief fund will receive the gifts and contributions of every kind offered to the Society for this destination.

TITLE XII. — Summary of the distribution of the liquid products of sales.

Art. 57. In accordance with the dispositions established above, the liquid products are distributed in the following order:

1. Payment of the Interest of the premium Shares; 2. Payment of the Interest of the dividend Shares; 3. Deduction of 10% for the reserve fund, and of 10% (or such higher quota as voted by the general meeting) for the working fund; 4. Redemption of the premium Shares; 5. Reimbursement of the capital of the dividend Shares; 6. Payment of the Appreciation Certificates; 7. Parallel and progressive payment of the Common Account of second-class appreciations and of the Appreciation Warrants; 8. Distribution, until exhaustion, of the remainder of the corporate assets.

Art. 58. Whenever, after deduction of the reserve and working funds, the Management has cash on hand destined for the redemption of the premium Shares, the reimbursement of the dividend Shares, the payment of the Appreciation Certificates, or the simultaneous payment of the Common Account and the Appreciation Warrants, it may propose to the general meeting that its distribution be authorized; and this distribution must take place whenever this cash on hand has reached a tenth of the capital remaining to be redeemed, reimbursed, or paid.

Art. 59. Every sum duly paid by the Society to those entitled to any share in the corporate assets remains definitively acquired by them, and cannot be reclaimed, whatever event may occur.

In case, owing to disasters or any events, there is occasion, in view of the annual inventory, to ascertain a depreciation (moins-value) instead of an appreciation, the figure of this depreciation would be charged not only to the units of the ascertained appreciation of the preceding financial year, but indeed, jointly and proportionally, to all the units remaining to be paid of the class of appreciations to which the said units of the preceding financial year belong. — In that state, the net total of the ascertained appreciation of each following financial year could give rise to new distributions of units only after the open debit had been entirely filled.

In case the debit just spoken of should affect the second class of appreciations, even should it be foreseeable that the final liquidation of the Society would not suffice to pay the Appreciation Warrants in full, the drawing by lot and the integral payment of the Warrants designated by lot would nonetheless continue to be the mode of liquidating the general account of the said Warrants.

In consequence of what is recalled and laid down in the present summary title, and save the exceptions mentioned in Art. 48:

The assets remaining at the final liquidation form a guarantee for the whole of the attributed second-class appreciations, up to their integral payment;

These, in turn, form a guarantee for the whole of the Appreciation Certificates;

And so on, from these Certificates to the dividend Shares; from these to the premium Shares; and finally from these to the Bonds, if any have been created.

TITLE XIII. — The Management, its functions, its rights.

Art. 60. The Management is composed of three members, each having the company signature.

The company signature can be engaged only for the Society's affairs, and the Management cannot bind the Society beyond the share capital.

Art. 61. The mandate of the three managing partners above named expires on the day of the general meeting following 31 December 1860.

In case of cessation of function of one of the first managing partners, for any cause, his replacement is provided by the other two.

Art. 62. The succeeding managements are at the choice of the general meeting and appointed for five years.

The outgoing members may always be re-elected.

In case of cessation of function, for any cause, of one of the managing partners appointed by the general meeting, the two remaining members elect a new member whom they present for the acceptance of the next meeting.

Art. 63. The Management performs all acts of management, directs the operations and the personnel assigned to them, executes the present Statutes, and represents the Society both actively and passively in all circumstances and affairs to arise.

It appoints and dismisses its executive Agent in Texas, as well as the other agents and employees of every order in the Society's different branches of service, and fixes their emoluments, gratifications, or shares in the appreciation-dividends.

It has all the books and accounts constituting the Society's bookkeeping kept regularly.

Art. 64. The Management convokes the general meetings of shareholders in the forms prescribed in Title XVI.

It submits to the annual meeting the accounts of each financial year, the corporate inventory, its report on the Society's operations, and, if there is occasion to determine appreciation-dividends, it makes the proposal to the meeting; it submits to it the other proposals on the agenda.

The minutes of the deliberations of the general meetings are kept in the Society's Archives, in the Management's keeping.

Art. 65. A fixed annual salary of eighteen hundred dollars is attributed collectively to the Management, chargeable to the Society's general expenses.

This figure may be increased later by the general meeting on the report of the Supervisory Council.

Art. 66. The functions of managing partner are essentially personal. In no case will the heirs or assigns of a member of the Management be admitted to contest the account presented to them by the surviving members.

The cessation of functions of a member of the Management, for any cause, entails by right the cessation of his salary and of his participation in the appreciations, which, for that participation, will be calculated as having been produced uniformly during the financial year.

Any responsibility of a member of the Management leaving by resignation, death, non-re-election, or otherwise, will cease after the meeting's approval of the accounts of the last financial year in which he cooperated.

TITLE XIV. — Executive Agency in Texas, its functions.

Art. 67. The Management has, in America, on the ground of the Society's operations, an executive Agency.

This Agency is at the appointment and dismissal of the Management, and responsible to it.

The Management furnishes its executive Agency with the powers necessary to execute the mandate the Agency holds from it.

Any responsibility of an executive Agent ceases after the recognition and acceptance of his accounts by the Management.

Art. 68. Mr. V. Considerant accepts the functions of executive Agent of the Society and undertakes to serve it in this capacity for a period comprising the first five financial years.

He nonetheless remains, even during this engagement, dismissible by the Management.

He undertakes, for the whole duration of his mandate, to invest the Society — and that without any reserve — with all the land concessions and advantages of any kind that he might obtain, even in a personal capacity, from the States of North America, by virtue of his position as Founder or as executive Agent.

From this day and by the present Statutes, all powers are given to him to — in the name and on behalf of the Society — receive in America the payment of subscriptions, deliver the share certificates, accomplish the formalities of registration, transfer, etc., provided in Art. 11; effect the anticipated reimbursements provided in Art. 48; acquire, pay for, sell, rent or lease movables and immovables, contribute them to particular Societies, lend, act as limited partner, receive payment and give receipt, act at law, compromise, treat with the States for concessions on whatever title and condition, and, in general, perform in America all the acts and stipulations that the Management itself would perform.

Mr. Considérant will enjoy, for the whole duration of his mandate, a personal salary whose annual figure may not be less than twelve hundred dollars.

TITLE XV. — Supervisory Council; appointment, deliberations, attributions.

Art. 69. A Supervisory Council will be formed, composed of five members elected by the general meeting of shareholders.

Each year one member will leave the Council.

For the first four years, lot will designate the name of the outgoing member. After the first rotation, the duration of each member's functions will be five years.

Outgoing members may be re-elected.

Any holder of Shares or Appreciation Certificates representing one hundred twenty-five dollars may be elected a member of the Supervisory Council.

Each member of the Council deposits at the corporate Treasury the representation of this sum in securities of the Society, which remain there for the whole duration of his mandate.

In case of death, resignation, impediment, or prolonged absence of a member of the Council, his colleagues may, if they judge it useful, provide for his replacement. The member thus elected will hold validly until the first general meeting.

The functions of the Supervisory Council are unpaid; nevertheless, each member receives an attendance token for each Session he attends.

The value of this token will be two dollars for ordinary members, three dollars for the Secretary, and four dollars for the President.

Art. 70. The Supervisory Council meets in ordinary session at least once every two months, and in extraordinary session whenever convoked by its President, whether at the corporate seat or at the seat of one of the Society's agencies.

It elects by secret ballot its President and Secretary. This election takes place each year at the first meeting of the Council following the annual general meeting.

The outgoing President and Secretary may always be re-elected.

Deliberations are taken by majority of the votes present; in case of a tie the President's vote is decisive.

Deliberations are valid only if at least three members take part.

The Secretary draws up minutes of each session of the Council; the minutes are transcribed in a special register and signed by the President and the Secretary.

Art. 71. The Supervisory Council must in no circumstance interfere in the management of the Society's affairs. Its attributions consist principally in supervising the Management's acts from the point of view of the strict execution of the Statutes, and in verifying, whenever it deems suitable, the treasury and the books, to ensure they are regularly kept.

The treasury, the portfolio, and the counterfoil registers of the shares and others will be verified by it at least four times a year and at indeterminate times.

Minutes will be drawn up of these various verifications.

The Supervisory Council will take cognizance, at least ten days before the annual general meeting, of the inventories, statements of situation, and all the documents the Management must present to the said meeting.

The President will make a report to the general meeting on the whole of the elapsed financial year and, if there is occasion, on the particular facts that have drawn the Council's attention.

Art. 72. The Supervisory Council may ask the Management to convoke a general meeting of shareholders if it appears urgent to it.

In case of refusal by the Management, the president of the Supervisory Council could make this convocation ex officio, recording the Management's refusal in the register of the Council's deliberations.

Whenever the Supervisory Council convokes a general meeting of shareholders ex officio, it must, if the Management so requests, submit to a general re-election by the said meeting; this re-election will take place after the reading of its report and that of the Management, and before any other deliberation.

The Supervisory Council may, whenever it judges suitable, appoint a delegate charged with verifying the state of operations, whether on the ground of the Colonization or at the seat of the agencies, and reporting to it on his mission.

This delegate may be taken from within the Council or from outside.

TITLE XVI. — General meeting of shareholders; convocation, formation, attributions, deliberations.

Art. 73. The ordinary or extraordinary general meetings represent the whole body of holders of Shares, Receipts, and Appreciation Certificates.

However, the premium Shares may not intervene in the vote on the figure of the appreciation-dividend.

The ordinary general meetings will be convoked by the Management within the eight months following the close of each financial year.

The extraordinary meetings will take place whenever the Management deems it necessary and in the case provided in Art. 72.

The meetings will be convoked either at the seat of the Society or in any other locality that appears to be more within reach of the greatest number of shareholders.

All convocations of general meetings must be made at least two months in advance, in a Bulletin of the Society and in three newspapers chosen among the most widely read — one in Belgium, one in France, and the third in the United States.

Art. 74. To be part of a general meeting, one must hold Shares, Appreciation Certificates, or Receipts representing at least one hundred twenty-five dollars.

This minimum figure gives right to one vote, and each member of the meeting has as many votes as the securities he holds represent multiples of one hundred twenty-five dollars.

Art. 75. Any shareholder unable to attend the meeting and wishing to be represented there may deposit his securities against a deposit certificate, whether in Europe or in America, in the hands of a notary or of such agents or correspondents of the Society as the Management designates for this purpose.

The securities thus deposited may be withdrawn only on the 16th day following the one indicated for the meeting at which the holder wished to be represented. The latter will send his deposit certificate to the proxy he has chosen. The presentation of this certificate will be equivalent to the presentation of the securities.

Any holder of Shares, Appreciation Certificates, Receipts, or deposit certificates wishing to attend the general meeting must, at least four days before the day fixed for the meeting, deposit his securities in the hands of the Society's Cashier, who will deliver him in their place a receipt mentioning the nature and number of the securities deposited.

Art. 76. The convocation of the first general meeting will be by name, and, by exception to the 6th paragraph of Art. 73, published only in two newspapers, one of Brussels, the other of Paris, at least fifteen days before the one fixed for the meeting. The Management will moreover address to each subscriber of Shares a letter of convocation mentioning the number and nature of the Shares he has subscribed. These letters will record the number of votes to which the subscriber is entitled by virtue of his subscription.

Any subscriber wishing to be represented at this first meeting may do so by a simple private proxy, which the proxy-holder must deliver into the hands of the Management at least 24 hours before the meeting.

Art. 77. The Management fixes the agenda of the ordinary and extraordinary general meetings.

The Supervisory Council has the questions it judges suitable entered on the agenda.

However, the Management and the Supervisory Council are formally forbidden to introduce onto the agenda any question whose discussion — being, under the laws and the present Statutes, outside the meeting's competence — could engage the responsibility of the members present.

Shareholders wishing to introduce a question onto the agenda must arrange it, before the opening of the session, either with the Management or with the Supervisory Council.

The Management attends and takes part in the discussions of the general meetings.

The general meeting appoints its bureau, composed of a President, a Secretary, and four Scrutineers.

Deliberations are valid only if the figure of the Shares represented forms at least half the total amount of the Shares issued and of the Appreciation Certificates.

In case this figure is not reached, a second meeting will take place in a fortnight, and this second meeting will deliberate whatever the figure represented. The convocation of this second meeting will be published in one or more newspapers of the locality where the first was held.

Art. 78. The first general meeting, designated in Art. 76, will be valid whatever the number of subscribers present or represented. It will appoint by majority of votes the Supervisory Council.

The subsequent annual meetings will provide for the replacement or re-election of the members of the Supervisory Council, and, when there is occasion, for that of the Management.

They hear, discuss, and settle the Management's accounts.

The approval of the said accounts entails the definitive ratification of all prior operations, and discharges the Management of all responsibility in this regard toward the Society.

The general meetings also hear the report of the Supervisory Council and deliberate on all the objects comprised in the agenda settled by the Management and published by its care.

The minutes of the sessions of the general meetings, signed by the President and the Secretary, will likewise be published by the Management's care in a Bulletin of the Society.

TITLE XVII. — Modifications to the present Statutes.

Art. 79. No modification to the present Statutes may be proposed to the general meeting except by the Management or the President of the Supervisory Council.

The proposed modifications will be adopted only if they have had the approval of two thirds of the votes present.

No modification touching any of the essential clauses of the present contract — and capable, notably, of affecting those that regulate shares, establish or measure relations between different interests, recognize or concede rights to parties, etc. — may be put to discussion in the meeting unless the wording of the proposal has been inserted in the Bulletin of the Society, in the very convocation imposed on that Bulletin by the last paragraph of Art. 73; or if any of the said parties signifies to the Management or the meeting its opposition to this discussion. And in the case where a modification of this nature should be validly discussed and regularly voted by the meeting, it would nonetheless remain null so long as it had not the formal consent of all the parties whose rights would be affected by it.

TITLE XVIII. — Dissolution, liquidation, prolongation.

Art. 80. The Society will be dissolved by right on 31 December 1875, unless the general meeting of shareholders has decided its prolongation.

Art. 81. The general meeting may, after hearing the Management and the Supervisory Council, pronounce an anticipated dissolution of the Society, but only by a majority of two thirds of the votes present.

Art. 82. In all cases of dissolution of the Society, the final liquidation will be made by the care of the Management, to which a Commission of three members, elected by the meeting, may be adjoined.

Art. 83. In the annual general meeting preceding the term of the Society fixed above, the Management may propose the prolongation of the Society.

The said prolongation will be valid if adopted by two thirds of the votes present at the meeting.

However, in case all the premium or dividend Shares have not been redeemed or reimbursed, the holders of the said securities will have the right to require that the redemption or reimbursement be effected within a delay not exceeding the six months following this deliberation.

TITLE XIX. — Disputes.

Art. 84. All difficulties or disputes that may arise between the parties during the course of the present Society, or relative to its liquidation, will be judged by an arbitral tribunal composed of three arbitrators named by the president of the tribunal of commerce, at the request of the most diligent party, if the parties could not agree on an amicable appointment.

The decisions of this tribunal will be sovereign, in last resort, without appeal, civil petition, or cassation. The arbitrators will moreover judge as amiable compositors.

TITLE XX. — Transitional provisions.

Art. 85. A sum of three thousand two hundred dollars will be deducted, both as indemnity and to cover the costs incurred from 27 November 1852 to this day, whether by Mr. Considérant or by the other signatories of the present Statutes.

Art. 86. Subscriptions are received from now on at the seat of the Society, Rue de la Régence no. 16, Brussels, and at the central Agency, Rue de Beaune no. 2, Paris.

Art. 87. During the first three financial years, expiring on 31 December 1857, subscribers have, at the moment they pay their Shares, the faculty of having delivered to them in advance — in premium Shares, or in dividend Shares of the series currently being issued — the totality of the interest stipulated up to 31 December 1857 in favor of the Shares they pay.

Fractions below 5 dollars will, for each series, be combined into a total sum divided into five-dollar dividend Shares, distributed by lot among the owners of these fractions, in proportion to each one's right in the drawing.

The interest coupons corresponding to the first three financial years are detached from all the Shares spoken of in the two preceding paragraphs.

The Shares to be issued for the anticipated payment of interest under the present article will be counted, as share capital, in addition to the original figure of one million dollars stated in Art. 8.

Done in quadruple copy, at Brussels, 26 September 1854. (Signed:) V. CONSIDERANT, A. BUREAU, FERD. GUILLON, GODIN.

And the same day, the three managing partners above named,

Having regard to the agreement entered into this day between Mr. Victor Considerant, of the one part, and Messrs. E.J.B. Bourdon, Allyre Bureau, F.J. Cantagrel, J.B.A. Godin-Lemaire, Ch. F.F. Guillon, Just Muiron, and G. Tandon, of the other part, to the effect of instituting a Committee called administrative and distributive — an agreement of which they acknowledge having received notification;

Whereas, by this agreement, Mr. Considerant contributes to the said Committee five-sixths of the share attributed to him, as Founder, by Arts. 38, 44, 45, and 46 of the foregoing Statutes, in the distributions of the appreciation-dividends;

Decide that two accounts will be opened on the Society's books to receive the inscription of the said founder's share — one in the name of Mr. Victor Considérant, for the sixth; the other in the name of the Committee designated above, for the other five-sixths of that share.

Done at Brussels, in quadruple copy, 26 September 1854. (Signed:) A. BUREAU, FERD. GUILLON, GODIN, V. CONSIDERANT.

And the same day, in the presence of the promises made by various persons, both in Europe and in America — notably by Mr. Albert Brisbane, who has authorized Mr. V. Considérant to inscribe him for twenty thousand dollars as a first subscription, and by Mr. Godin-Lemaire, who subscribes for the same sum and on the same title; the said promises covering and exceeding the sum of one hundred thousand dollars required by Art. 31 of the above statutes for the constitution of the Society — Mr. Considerant declared that he would stand surety (se porter fort) for this latter sum.

Consequently the Society is declared constituted.

Done at Brussels, in quadruple copy, this 26 September 1854. (Signed:) V. CONSIDERANT, A. BUREAU, FERD. GUILLON, GODIN.

[Agreement instituting the administrative and distributive Committee]

BETWEEN THE UNDERSIGNED,

1. Mr. Victor Prosper CONSIDERANT, residing at Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, near Brussels, Rue de la Machine Hydraulique no. 32, of the one part;

And 2. Messrs. Émile Jean-Baptiste BOURDON, residing Rue de Beaune no. 2, Paris, Manager of the Society of 10 June 1843 mentioned below;

Allyre BUREAU, residing Rue du Bac no. 36, Paris, one of the Managers of the new Society to be spoken of;

François Jean CANTAGREL, residing Rue Saxe-Cobourg no. 31, at Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, former Manager of the Society of 15 June 1840;

Jean-Baptiste André GODIN-LEMAIRE, residing at Guise (Aisne), one of the Managers of the new Society;

Charles François Ferdinand GUILLON, residing Rue Bourbon-Villeneuve no. 23, Paris, one of the Managers of the same Society;

Jean Claude Just MUIRON, residing at Besançon, designated Manager of the Society of 15 June 1840;

And Gustave TANDON, residing Rue Bellefonds no. 20, Paris, Manager of the Society of 10 June 1843 mentioned below; of the other part.

It has been stated and agreed as follows:

Having regard to the Statutes of the European-American Colonization Society in Texas, founded this day at Brussels under the company style Bureau, Guillon, Godin & Co., by deed deposited with Me Heetveld, notary in this city — which Society will be designated simply below by the name of new Society;

Having regard to Arts. 38, 44, 45, and 46 of the said Statutes, which determine the share of appreciation attributed to Mr. Considérant as Founder of the said Society;

Having regard to the Statutes of the Society Considérant, Paget & Co., founded at Paris by deed of 15 June 1840, before Me J.C. Perret and his colleague, notaries in this city;

Having regard to the Statutes of the Society Considérant & Co., founded at Paris by deed of 10 June 1843, before Me Bonnaire and his colleague, notaries in this city;

Having regard to the preambles attached to the Statutes of these Societies of 1840 and 1843, in publications printed by the founders — notably as concerns the facts and works prior to the existence of the said Societies and the contributions in the form of which these prior facts were represented in them;

Considering that analogous works have been carried out in North America;

The Undersigned recognize, together and each, that the facts represented in the aforesaid contributions, and the operations of the Societies of 1840 and 1843, have for the most part created the dispositions and prepared the elements whose concurrence, already manifested, has facilitated the founding of the new Society and promises it a prompt constitution;

That the development of this concurrence would be of a nature to bring the new Society growing resources and considerable forces;

And that the works carried out in North America have prepared in that latter country elements that could likewise profit the new Society;

Mr. Victor Considerant declares:

1. That he holds it a duty of conscience and honor, out of the share reserved to him as Founder by the Statutes of the new Society (the articles cited above), to arrange henceforth such compensations as convenience and possibility allow, to the persons who — whether by sacrifices of money, as shareholders, annuitants, lenders, or donors, etc., or by contributions or works of every kind — have contributed to the founding, existence, and service of the Societies of 1840 and 1843; and also to the persons whose analogous sacrifices and works, in America, created the elements mentioned above, in so far as these elements will profit the new Society;

2. That he considers the accomplishment of this duty toward past services as eminently useful to the new Society, in that it is of a nature to increase, in its favor, the support of all kinds on the part of the persons in view of whom this accomplishment would be prepared, and to inspire in all the sentiment of solidarity and the strength it imparts.

The Undersigned of the second part fully associate themselves with the views expressed in the two preceding paragraphs by the Undersigned of the first part, and recognize their spirit and objects as just and legitimate.

Moreover, the Undersigned, all together, propose to pursue in common, as soon as circumstances permit, the double aim defined in Art. 1 of the Statutes of the Society of 1840 — whether by treating with the Society of 1840 or 1843, notably to facilitate its liquidation and take over its affairs, or by creating anew some society having the aim just recalled, or by any other means judged opportune, the various means being employable separately or cumulatively.

Consequently:

Art. 1. The undersigned declare that they constitute themselves, for a duration of 30 years from this day, into a Committee called administrative and distributive, whose purpose is the accomplishment of the views, objects, and intentions expressed by all that has been said above.

Art. 2. Mr. V. Considerant contributes to the said Committee, for the benefit and in the interest of the common work as defined in the preceding article, five-sixths of the share attributed to him as Founder in the appreciations of the new Society.

Art. 3. The Committee is invested with the right to receive directly from the new Society, in securities or in cash, and without need of the personal signature of Mr. Considérant, the appreciation units ceded by him in the preceding article.

Art. 4. The Committee will elect a president, a treasurer, and a secretary.

Art. 5. The Committee will exercise the right stipulated in Art. 3 by means of receipts given to the Management of the new Society, signed by its president and treasurer in office, or by any other person commissioned for this purpose by the said president and treasurer and furnished with a regular power from them.

Art. 6. Any notification made by the present Committee to the Management of the new Society, having for object to make known to it the names of the president and treasurer in office, or the changes occurring within the Committee — notably in its personnel — will be valid for the said Management and will cover it by full right, the said notification being regular and collectively signed by three members of the Committee.

Art. 7. The undersigned undertake among themselves to contribute, by their care, to the good administration of the funds and values that may come to the Committee, and to carry out or direct the researches, studies, and works necessary to attain the Committee's constitutive purpose.

Art. 8. A deduction of 5% on all the values entered into the Committee's treasury or portfolio, after deduction of administration costs, will be allocated to the constitution of a fund destined to remunerate the care and works that the Committee's members devote to the direction of its affairs, by virtue of their engagement.

Art. 9. The Committee establishes its internal regulation and the mode of its votes and deliberations. It administers, employs, or distributes in full liberty and independence — without any control or impediment from third parties claiming to be assigns of Mr. Considérant, or from any other persons external to the Committee — the values and securities of any kind resulting from the contribution mentioned in Art. 2.

Art. 10. The Committee may at any time add new members, who will have the same rights and obligations as the old.

The functions and attributions of the Committee's members are essentially personal.

In no case will the heirs or assigns of a member be admitted to claim any account from the Committee, or to contest the one presented to them by the treasurer. Nor may they, for any reason, cause any seals to be affixed, form any opposition, demand any inventory, or provoke any forced sale.

Art. 11. All these clauses must take effect, notwithstanding the incapacity, arrest, interdiction, resignation, absence, or death of any member of the Committee, the affixing of seals or sequestration of papers, as well as despite any event of force majeure that might be invoked.

Art. 12. Each of the undersigned undertakes toward the others the scrupulous observation of the foregoing conventions.

Art. 13. For the execution of the present, the undersigned elect domicile Rue de la Régence 16, Brussels; it being understood that this domicile may be transferred to such other locality as the Committee shall decide.

Done in duplicate, at Brussels, 26 September 1854. (Signed:) V. CONSIDERANT, E. BOURDON, A. BUREAU, CANTAGREL, GODIN, FERD. GUILLON, J. MUIRON, G. TANDON.

These acts, registered, were deposited in the office of Me Heetveld, notary at Brussels, by deed of 4 October 1854. An extract of the deed of Society was moreover deposited at the registry of the tribunal of commerce of Brussels and published in accordance with Articles 42 and 43 of the Belgian Commercial Code.

NOTE. — By decision dated 26 December 1854, the Management, using the faculty reserved in Art. 19, extended until 31 March 1855 the subscription to the first series. Although this measure had chiefly in view our friends in America — who could scarcely, at that date, have had knowledge of the translation of the Statutes into English — it is nonetheless applicable to European subscriptions.

PRINTING-HOUSE OF J. H. BRIARD, Rue aux Laines 4, Brussels.

[Advertisement carried over from the earlier transcription — not present in the digitized BnF facsimile:]

The second edition of Au Texas, by Mr. Victor Considerant, containing: 1. a Report to my Friends; 2. the Bases and Statutes of the European-American Colonization Society in Texas; 3. a final chapter comprising, under the title Provisional Convention, the bases of a first associative establishment — is for sale at the seat of the European-American Colonization Society in Texas, 16 Rue de la Régence, Brussels, and at the Librairie Phalanstérienne, 6 Rue de Beaune, Paris.

— Price: 2 fr., and by post: in France and Switzerland, 2 fr. 50c; in Belgium, 2 fr. 10c.

The Statutes of the Society will be sent to persons requesting them by prepaid letter, to one of the addresses above.