Chapter XII: Section 1: That Victor Prosper Considerant, Allyre Bureau, Charles

Francois Guillion, Jean Baptiste Andre, Godin Lemaire and their associates, successors be, and they are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name of the European and American Colonization Society in Texas, with power and authority in said corporate name to have succession, to make contracts, to have and use a seal, to acquire by purchase, donation or otherwise, and to own, manage and alienate property real, mixed and personal, to sue and be sued, to plead and be impleaded in law and equity in like manner and as fully as natural persons, to carry on, conduct and manage any kind of manufacturing, mechanical or agricultural business, to issue shares and negotiate them, to borrow money by mortgage on its property or otherwise; to have a President, Directors, Secretaries and Treasurers, and all such officers and agents as the company may deem necessary, and to prescribe their powers and duties; to make such by-laws, rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of this State or of the United States, as they may deem necessary and proper for the government of said company and the management of its affairs and interests, and to possess generally all the powers, rights, immunities and privileges necessary to carry into effect the provisions and objects of the said association.

Provided, that a majority of the Directors of said Company and the President thereof shall be residents of Texas, and that the principal office shall be kept in this State, where all writs and citations shall be served. And further provided, that this act shall not be so construed as to entitle said company to the benefits of any law granting lands or money to any railroad, manufacturing or colonization company, nor shall it authorize said company to prohibit slavery in any Territory occupied by it.

Section 2. The capital stock issued by the said Company shall not exceed one million dollars, to be divided into shares of such values and entitling the share holders thereof to vote in such manner as shall be prescribed by the by-laws of said company; the duration of which shall not exceed twenty years from the passage of this act.