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"It doesn't matter." Sarah shook her head. "Grantville corporate law is West Virginia corporate law
without so much as a period changed. Maybe we should forget about incorporating."
"Maybe not," said David. That moved everyone's stares from Sarah to him. "I was listening to some of
the people at the party yesterday. They were worried about leaving the Higgins Sewing Machine
Company in our hands. When we actually built a sewing machine, some of the grownups that were never
too keen on the kids running a company started paying attention again. Incorporation may be a way to
satisfy them, without having them take over. Sarah, are there any other jobs in a corporation that a minor
can't hold, like say Chief Engineer, CEO, CFO, any of that stuff?"
"I don't think so. In fact there almost can't be. What jobs there are in a corporation changes from
corporation to corporation. How could they make it illegal when all the corporation had to do to get
around the law is change the name of the job?"
"Is there a law against a minor owning stock or voting stock?"
"Not owning, I'm pretty sure. Voting I don't know. I think it would be like other stuff kids own. Their
parents could probably veto their selling it, and vote the stock for them, or maybe not. It could be
something determined in the corporation's bylaws. I can probably find out."
"We can incorporate and select the people on the board of directors, and the people that don't like the
idea of kids running a company can look and see that the board of directors is made up of responsible
grownups. 'We ain't running things, just doing our jobs the way the board tells us to'." David grinned. "Of
course, since the four of us and Grandma hold the biggest chunk of stock, we elect the board. Which will
be Grandma, and a few other people. Maybe Mr. Marcantonio, and maybe your parents?"
"I don't know," mused Trent, a bit dubiously. "Mom and Dad are all right, but they take their
responsibilities really seriously. So far, they have looked at this as your Grandma's company, with us
helping out. We get the occasional lecture about listening to Mrs. Higgins, and the great opportunity she
is giving us. I think they have sort of assumed she has been making the decisions right along."
"It's the same with my parents," said Sarah. "There may even be some truth to it. She lets us make the
decisions, but she is sorta there. You do the same thing, David. When we get into a fight, you start
bringing up stuff that we've forgotten then. I don't know, we're agreeing again, and we have a plan."
This came as a revelation to David. He hadn't realized the others knew what he was doing, and he hadn't
realized that Grandma was doing the same thing. He wasn't sure he liked it.
Brent looked at David and started laughing. Then Trent and Sarah joined him. All this time, David had
thought he was getting away with something, and all the time, the others had been letting him do it.
"Anyway," David said as much to change the subject as anything, "now that we have a sewing machine,
what do we do with it? And the next one, and the one after that. How do we sell them?"
"Rent with an option to buy," said Sarah. "Layaway, and in-store credit, first in nearby towns, then
through dealerships. If someone wants to pay cash up front we'll take it, but I don't expect that to happen
often. They are just too expensive. I figure we're gonna have to charge about four months wages for a
journeyman tailor for each machine, or more. I don't think we'll sell many in Grantville. The big plus for
our sewing machines is they don't need electricity, that's no big deal here."
"What about the laws restricting who can sew what?" asked Trent.
"Not our problem. If someone wants to buy or rent one, we assume that they are only going to use it to
sew in legal ways. Stupid laws anyway."
"I don't know," said David. Then, seeing Sarah's look, he held up his hands before him; fingers in the
sign of the Cross, as if to ward off a vampire. "Not about the 'stupid law' part. About the 'not our
problem' part. I figure the tailors' guilds will do everything they can to make it our problem. Making
clothing is big business. It employs a lot of people. Some of them are going to lose their jobs. A lot of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]