company or of such receiver, after the unlawful running or operating of such train or the unlawful employment of such person has been brought to his knowledge; nor shall any such employee be held to have contributed to his death or injury in any case where such railroad company or such receiver shall have violated any of the provisions of Section 331 when such violation contributed to the death or injury of such employee; and all questions of negligence, or either or both, arising in cases brought under or by virtue of said section shall be for the jury. 1908, ch. 724, sec. 300P. 335. The invalidity of any portion of Sections 331-335 shall not affect the validity of any portion thereof which can be given effect without such invalid part. 1906, ch. 4722. 336. On and after April 15, 1906, no common carrier shall charge for performing the acts of receiving, hauling, icing, or delivery between any two stations, wharves or other regular stopping places on its line or branch line, for a distance not exceeding thirty (30) miles, a total rate greater than two (2) cents per gallon for milk or cream, or one and one-half (11⁄2) cents per gallon for buttermilk or skim-milk, or two and onehalf (22) cents per gallon for milk or cream, and two (2) cents per gallon for buttermilk or skim-milk, for a distance not exceeding fifty (50) miles. 1906, ch. 472%. 337. On and after April 15, 1906, no common carrier shall refuse to receive at any station, wharf or stopping place, a quantity of milk, cream, buttermilk or skim-milk in a unit of two (2) gallons, three (3) gallons, five (5) gallons, seven (7) gallons, or ten (10) gallons, or groups of these units. 1906, ch. 4722. 338. Any breach of Sections 336 and 337 shall be deemed a misdemeanor and the common carrier shall be fined fifty (50) dollars for the first offense and one hundred (100) dollars for each succeeding offense. Religious Corporations.* 1904, art. 23, sec. 301. 1888, art. 23, sec. 205. 1868, ch. 471, sec. 156. 339. In every church, religious society or congregation, of whatever sect, order or denomination, or which shall at any time hereafter be known and acknowledged in the State, and protected in the free and full exercise of its religion by the constitution and the laws thereof, there shall be sufficient power and authority in all persons above twenty-one years of age belonging to any such church, society or congregation, to elect, at their discretion, certain, sober and discreet persons, not less than four, nor more than twelve, which persons so elected, upon being registered, as hereinafter directed, shall be constituted a body politic or corporate to act as trustees in the name and behalf of the particular church society or congregation for which they are respectively chosen, and to manage the estate, property, interest and inheritance of the same.* 1904, art. 23, sec. 302. 1888, art. 23, sec. 206. 1868, ch. 471, sec. 157. 340. The trustees so elected shall have perpetual succession by their name of incorporation, and shall be capable in law to purchase, take and hold to them and their successors in fee, or for a less estate, any lands, tenements or hereditaments, rents or annuities, goods or chattels within this State, by the gift, bargain, sale or devise of any person, body politic or corporate capable of making the same, and to use or lease, mortgage or sell and convey the same in such manner as they may judge most conducive to the interest of their respective churches, societies or congregations; provided, that nothing herein shall authorize any sale, mortgage or other disposition of any prop * See Article 38 of Declaration of Rights. Boyce vs. Trustees, 46 Md. 369; Baltzell vs. Church Home, 110 Md. 262. See Vestry Act of 1798, ch. 24, and the Religious Corporations Act of 1802, ch. 111, and the Act of 1892, ch. 702. Reference is made to the first two statutes by sec. 217 in the Code of 1888, Art. 23, which was the law of the State, but for reasons unknown to the writer it was omitted in the Codes of 1904 and 1912, which are only evidence of the law. For authority of churches to incorporate under the Vestry Act, see Stubbs vs. Vestry of St. John's, 96 Md. 267; Tartar vs. Gibbs, 24 Md. 323; Bethel Church vs. Carmack, 2 Md. ch. 143. * Bartlett vs. Hipkins, 76 Md. 5; Shaeffer vs. Klee, 100 Md. 269; Doan vs. Ascension Parish, 103 Md. 668; Baltzell vs. Church Home, 110 Md. 262; Starr vs. Church, 112 Mu. 171; Phillips vs. Insley, 113 Md. 349. erty held by such corporation under any instrument prohibiting such sale; and provided, the clear yearly income from the estate of any church, society or congregation, exclusive of the rents of pews, collections in churches, funeral charges and the like shall not exceed the sum of twenty thousand dollars.† 1904, art. 23, sec. 303. 1888, art. 23, sec. 207. 1868, ch. 471, sec. 158. 341. Every such body politic shall be chosen and the succession kept up at such times and places as are ordinarily used for public meetings of the said church, society or congregation, and by such persons as are allowed to have a voice in the management and direction of congregational or temporal concerns, according to the known custom and usage of their respective denominations; or the said body politic or corporate shall be chosen, and the succession kept up, according to the rules, regulations and practice that may have been heretofore adopted and agreed upon, or that shall be, at the first time of electing, agreed upon and adopted by any particular church, society or congregation for directing or managing their congregational or temporal affairs. Ibid, sec. 304. 1888, art. 23, sec. 208. 1868, ch. 471, sec. 160. 342. The minister for the time being, or senior minister, where there are more than one settled in any church, society or congregation, shall always, in virtue of his ministry, be a member of the body politic or corporate belonging to the same, exclusive of the number heretofore prescribed in Section 339. Ibid, sec. 305. 1888, art. 23, sec. 209. 1868, ch. 471, sec. 161. 343. If any contest shall arise in any church, society or congregation about the right of voting, or whether the election has been fairly conducted, agreeably to the true intent and meaning of this Article, the parties contending shall each of them choose one discreet and reputable person from amongst the members or trustees of some neighboring congregation or society of the same religious persuasion, if any such there be, and if none † Starr vs. Starr Church, 112 Md. 171. See Article 38 of Declaration of Rights. The fact that a religious corporation has power generally to receive and hold property does not give it capacity to take a devise without legislative sanction. Church Extension Society vs. Smith, 56 Md. 365. such, then of any other religious society, which two persons shall choose a third, qualified in like manner, and the said three persons shall meet at the place where the difference has arisen, and hear and determine upon the matter; and their judgment or award, or the judgment or award of a majority of them, certified under their hands and seals to the contending parties, shall be final. 1904, art. 23, sec. 306. 1888, art. 23, sec. 210. 1868, ch. 471, sec. 162. 344. At the first election or appointment of every politic or corporate aforesaid, every church, society or corporation assembled as already directed, shall determine on their plan, agreement or regulation, specifying distinctly the time and manner of electing trustees, and the manner in which the suc cession shall be perpetuated, and containing an exact description of the qualifications of the persons severally electing and elected, and to elect and to be elected thereafter, and also the name, style or title of the corporation by which it shall thereafter be known, and the name of the church, society or congregation choosing the same. Ibid, sec. 307. 1888, art. 23, sec. 211. 1868, ch. 471, sec. 163. 345. The said plan, agreement or regulation shall be entered in the book hereinafter required by Section 348 to be kept by every such corporation, and the same shall be acknowledged by the trustees, or a majority of them, before a justice of the peace, a notary public, or a judge of the Circuit Court in the counties, or a judge of the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City; and such justice, notary, or judge shall append to said instrument a certificate of such acknowledgment, and in all cases where through inadvertence or mistake such plan, agreement or regulation has been heretofore before one justice of the peace instead of two, such acknowledgment shall be and is hereby made, to all intents and purposes, good and sufficient for the incorporation of the church, society or congregation named therein. Ibid, sec. 308. 1888, art. 23, sec. 212. 1868, ch. 471, sec. 164. 346. The plan or agreement, so acknowledged and certified, shall be filed by the said trustees with the clerk of the Circuit Court for the county where the said church, society or congregation, or the greater part of the members thereof reside, or the Clerk of the Superior Court of Baltimore City, if they or the greater part of the members reside in the City of Baltimore, within six months after such acknowledgment shall be made; and the same shall be recorded at the expense of the corporation, in a book to be kept for that special purpose. 1904, art. 23, sec. 309. 1888, art. 23, sec. 213. 1868, ch. 471, sec. 165. 347. If any change shall be made in the original plan, by authority of the congregation, such change shall, in the same manner, be acknowledged and recorded. Ibid, sec. 310. 1888, art. 23, sec. 214. 1868, ch. 471, sec. 166. 348. Every such corporation may appoint the times and places of the meeting of its members, and the number necessary to constitute a quorum, and shall provide and keep a good and sufficient record book, and cause therein to be registered all its proceedings, subject at all times to the inspection of the several members of the church, society or congregation; and the same shall be laid before a public meeting when required by any five or more of the members; and the said trustees, or a majority of them, shall have full power to frame such rules and ordinances for conducting their concerns as may be necessary and convenient for accomplishing the end of their institution. Ibid, sec. 311. 1888, art. 23, sec. 215. 1868, ch. 471, sec. 167. 349. When any number of persons belonging to any church or congregation, sufficient to build a church or house of worship, and to maintain a minister, shall choose to separate from the church or congregation of which they have hitherto been a part, and to erect a house of worship, and employ a minister for themselves, it shall be lawful for them to do so; and they shall by their respective name or style be entitled to all the benefits of this Article relating to their incorporation; provided only, that all arrearages, debts and engagements contracted, due or becoming due, while members of the former society, shall be discharged. |