PREFACE. As an articled clerk reading for the "Final examination of the Incorporated Law Society, I felt the need of some small book to give the main principles of the law relating to joint stock companies; moré particularly as this important branch of mercantile law lies outside the scope of the text books ordinarily used by students. The text books on companies are so large, and the Companies Acts themselves so long, that the Student cannot gain even the most general knowledge of company law without devoting to it more time than, as a rule, he can safely spare from other subjects. With a view to meet this want, I have prepared the following pages, and have endeavoured in them, as briefly and concisely as possible, to give a general view both of the principles and practice of the law affecting companies. I also hope that this small work may be of use to the general reader, and for this purpose I have carefully given an authority for every statement I have made, in order that it may not only form an epitome of the Companies Acts, but also a ready index, showing where fuller information may be obtained on any point-either from the Acts themselves or the larger text books. T. EUSTACE SMITH. MAY, 1878. |