FORMATION OF THE COMPANY
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Article 2. THE object of this Company is to organise credit democratically:
1. By procuring for everyone the use of the land, of buildings, machines, instruments of labour, capital, products and services of every kind, at the lowest price, and under the best possible conditions;
2. By facilitating for all the disposal of their products and the employment of their labour, under the most advantageous conditions.
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Article 9. The Company holds the following principles: That all raw materials are furnished to man by nature gratuitously.
That therefore, in the economic order, all products come from labour, and reciprocally, that all capital is unproductive.
That as every transaction of credit may be regarded as an exchange, the provision of capital and the discount of notes cannot and should not give rise to any interest.
In consequence, the Bank of the People could and should operate without capital; as it has for its base the essential gratuity of credit and of exchange; for its object, the circulation of values, not their production; for its methods, the reciprocal agreement of producers and consumers.
This end will be attained when the entire body of producers and consumers shall have become supporters of the by-laws of the Company.
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Article 28. […]
The Bank of the People, while favouring workers’ associations, maintains the freedom of commerce and emulative competition as the principle of all progress and the guaranty of good quality and low price of products.
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Article 51. Advances thus made by the Bank are not made as a joint stock company, and cannot be at all likened to redemption of shares of stock; they are, like advances on Consignments of merchandise, and like opening of accounts on real estate, simple discount transactions, and compose the proper function of the Bank.
Article 52. For this purpose there is to be established at once in the office of the Bank of the People, a special division under the name of General Syndicate of Production and Consumption.
It will be directed by Citizen Andre-Louis-Jules Lechevalier, Ex-Secretary of the West India Company. The powers of the Syndicate are for the present as follows:
1. To receive the declarations of manufacturers and dealers who desire to place themselves in relations with the supporters of the Bank of the People and to enjoy the custom of the Company, and who therefore wish to give information as to their names, occupations, addresses, their special products or services, the qualities and prices of their merchandise, and the amount of their remittances and deliveries;
2. To receive the requests of consumers, and to make sure of the chances of success for new enterprises by exact investigation of the demand;
3. To publish a bulletin of commerce, agriculture, and industry, containing, together with the Bank’s reports and the market quotations, all announcements and notices, such as demands for and offers of labour, demands for and offers of merchandise, reductions of prices, information of manufacturers and dealers newly admitted into the Company; this bulletin to be inserted in the newspaper, Le Peuple, which is appointed by these presents the official organ of the Bank of the People, in its relations with its shareholders, its supporters and the public;
4. To solicit the support of producers whose products and services are needed by the Company, and, in case of their refusal, to start, among the members, competing establishments in similar lines;
5. To begin a record of general, comparative and detailed statistics of commerce, industry and agriculture; in a word, to obtain, by every possible means, the extension and strengthening of the Company.
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ORGANISATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE BANK
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Article 63. As soon as circumstances permit, the present Company will be changed into a joint-stock company, as this form will enable it to realise, in accordance with the desire of its founders, the triple principle, 1st, of election; 2nd, the division and independence of its functions; 3rd, the individual responsibility of each employee.
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Article 66. The General Manager may be dismissed […]
His dismissal involves by law the revocation of all powers that he may have granted to his Assistant Managers.
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THE COUNCIL OF OVERSIGHT
Article 70. A council of thirty delegates will be created to supervise the administration, and to represent the sleeping partners in their relations to it.
They will be chosen by the General Assembly from among the shareholders or supporters in the various branches of production and of public service.
Article 71. The Council of Oversight will be renewed by thirds from year to year.
Departing members for the first two years will be selected by lot. A departing member may be re-elected.
In case of vacancy in the course of the year, the Council will fill it temporarily.
Article 72. The Council of Oversight will meet at least once a month, at such time and place as it may think fit. Its functions are:
1. To see that the by-laws are observed;
2. To have submitted to it, as often as it may think proper but at least once every three months, a statement of accounts by the General Manager;
3. To verify the accounts presented by him, and to make report thereon to the General Assembly;
4. To represent the shareholders, whether as plaintiff or as defendant, in all differences with the General Manager;
5. To call special meetings of the General Assembly when it thinks proper;
6. To declare that it opposes or does not oppose propositions for sale, alienation or hypothecation which may be made by the General Manager; to provide judiciously for the replacement of the General Manager in case of death, resignation or dismissal, until the General Assembly shall have named another manager.
Each of its members, moreover, has the right to examine the books and documents of the Company whenever he may choose to do so.
The Council of Oversight may delegate three of its members for a year, who shall be particularly charged with examining as often as possible, the books, the cash, and all the transactions of the administration.
Compensation for loss of time may be granted to the delegates, of which the amount shall be determined by the General Assembly.
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THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Article 74. The General Assembly shall be composed of one thousand delegates at most, named by the whole body of members and supporters;
Article 75. The election of delegates shall be made by industrial classes, and proportionally to the number of members and supporters in each class.
The bulletin of the Bank will announce before the elections the number of delegates to be named by each profession and locality.
Article 76. The Annual Meeting of the General Assembly shall take place regularly in the first month of each year.
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The General Assembly, composed as above described, represents the whole body of shareholders and supporters.
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Article 78. Decisions shall be made by a majority of votes of members present, whatever their number.
Article 79. In addition to the Annual General Assembly, there may be special General Assemblies, summoned either by the management, or by the Council of Oversight.
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Article 81. The objects of the General Assembly shall be:
1. To receive the accounts and reports of the management, and to approve them if possible, after having heard the advice of the Council of Oversight;
2. To amend, if necessary, the by-laws, upon the motion of the Manager or of his delegates, all constitutional powers for that purpose being granted to him;
3. To deliberate upon all questions submitted to it, nevertheless without interfering with the management;
4. To decide upon any increase in the capital, and to order the issue of additional shares in connection therewith;
5. To order the recall of the Manager, upon the motion of the Council of Oversight;
6. To appoint another Manager if necessary;
7. To appoint the members of the Council of Oversight and to provide every year for replacing them;
8. To determine the rate of discount for the coming year;
9. To point out the general needs of the Company, and the means of satisfying them.
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