Too Long; Didn't Read

THE CORPORATION The study that we have thus far made of the various kinds of businesses would be incomplete did we not briefly outline the different types of organization by which modern business is conducted. This will naturally lead us to a discussion of stocks and bonds, which are of great importance in every big business and of interest to individuals as means of investment. However, as the subjects are probably outside the experience of most students, we shall treat them as simply as possible, letting the chapter stand rather for the information it contains than for its application to the study of English expression. Business to-day is carried on in three different ways; viz., by individuals, by partnerships, and by corporations. The grocer, the butcher, the baker, or any one man who carries on a business is an example of the first. If, however, the grocer and the butcher, or the grocer and the baker, combine their businesses for the good of both, they form a partnership. When the amount of capital necessary for carrying on the business becomes so large that the money of many people is needed, a corporation is formed. The amount of money which any one individual invests in the company is represented by a certain number of shares of the capital stock of the company, entitling him to his portion of the dividends, or interest on the money he has invested. These shares of the capital stock are transferable and can be bought and sold like an automobile or a house. Since there is no time limit as to how long a corporation may do business, a change in the ownership of part of the stock, or the death of a stockholder, is not accompanied by the same result as in a partnership, where the death of one of the partners sometimes breaks up the business. Furthermore, in a partnership each one of the partners is personally liable for any debts made by any of the partners in behalf of the business, whereas the personal possessions of a stockholder in a corporation cannot be held as security for any debts incurred by the corporation. These are two of the more important advantages of corporate organization over partnership.