within sixty-days after the adjournment of each session, and distributed among the several counties in such manner as the legislature may provide.

ARTICLE IV.--LEGISLATIVE APPORTIONMENT.

   (Article IV. divided the state into legislative districts and apportioned the members of the senate and house. A now apportionment was made in 1881, hence this article is omitted.)

ARTICLE V.--EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.

   SECTION 1. The executive department shall consist of a governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, auditor of public accounts, treasurer, superintendent of public instruction, attorney-general, and commissioner of public lands and buildings, who shall each hold his office for the term of two years, from the first Thursday after the first Tuesday in January next after his election, and until his successor is elected and qualified; Provided, however that the first election of the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November, 1876, and each succeeding election shall be held at the relative time in each even year thereafter. The governor, secretary of state, auditor of public accounts, and treasurer, shall reside at the seat of government during their terms of office, and keep the public records, books, and papers there, and shall perform such duties as may be required by law.

   SEC. 2. No person shall be eligible to the office of governor, or lieutenant-governor, who shall not have attained the age of thirty years, and been for two years next preceding his election a citizen of the United States and of this state. None of the officers of the executive department shall be eligible to any other state office during the period for which they shall have been elected.

   SEC. 3. The treasurer shall be ineligible to the office of treasurer for two years next after the expiration of two consecutive terms for which he was elected.

   SEC. 4. The returns of every election for the officers of the executive department shall be sealed up and transmitted by the returning officers to the secretary of state, directed to the speaker of the house of representatives, who shall, immediately after the organization of the house, and before proceeding to other business, open and publish the same in the presence of a majority of each house of the legislature, who shall, for that purpose, assemble in the hall of the house of representatives. The person having the highest number of votes for either of said offices shall be declared duly elected; but if two or more have an equal and the highest number of votes, the legislature shall, by joint vote, choose one of such persons for said office. Contested elections for all of said offices shall be determined by both houses of the legislature, by joint vote, in such manner as may be prescribed by law.

   SEC. 5. All civil officers of this state shall be liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office.

 

   SEC. 6. The supreme executive power shall be vested in the governor, who shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

   SEC. 7. The governor shall, at the commencement of each session, and at the close of his term of office, and whenever the legislature may require, give to the legislature information by message of the condition of the state, and shall recommend such measures as he shall deem expedient. He shall account to the legislature, and accompany his message with a statement of all moneys received and paid out by him from any funds subject to his order, with vouchers, and at the commencement of each regular session, present estimates of the amount of money required to be raised by taxation for all purposes.

   SEC. 8. The governor may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the legislature by proclamation, stating therein the purpose for which they are convened, and the legislature shall enter upon no business except that for which they were called together.

   SEC. 9. In case of a disagreement between the two houses, with respect to the time of adjournment, the governor may, on the same being certified to him by the house first moving the adjournment, adjourn the legislature to such time as he thinks proper, not beyond the first day of the next regular session.

   SEC. 10. The governor shall nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of the senate (expressed by a majority of all the senators elected voting by yeas and nays), appoint all officers whose offices are established by this constitution or which may be created by law, and whose appointment and election is not otherwise by law or herein provided for; and no such officer shall be appointed or elected by the legislature.

   SEC. 11. In case of a vacancy during the recess of the senate, in any office which is not elective, the governor shall make a temporary appointment until the next meeting of the senate. when he shall nominate some person to fill such office; and any person so nominated, who is confirmed by the senate, (a majority of all the senators elected concurring by voting yeas and nays), shall hold his office during the remainder of the term, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified. No person, after being rejected by the senate, shall be again nominated for the same office at the same session, unless at request of the senate, or be appointed to the same office during the recess of the legislature.

   SEC. 12. The governor shall have power to remove any officer whom he may appoint, in case of incompetence, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office; and be may declare his office vacant, and fill the same as herein provided in other cases of vacancy.

   SEC. 13. The governor shall have the power to grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons, after conviction, for all  

offenses except treason and cases of impeachment, Upon such conditions and with such restrictions and limitations as he may think proper, subject to such regulations as may be provided by law relative to the manner of applying for pardons. Upon conviction for treason, he shall have power to suspend the execution of the sentence until the case shall be reported to the legislature at its next session, when the legislature shall either pardon or commute the sentence, direct the execution of the sentence, or grant a further reprieve. He shall communicate to the legislature, at every regular session, each case of reprieve, commutation, or pardon granted, stating the name of the convict, the crime of which he was convicted, the sentence and its date, and the date of the reprieve, commutation, or pardon.

   SEC. 14. The governor shall be commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces of the state (except when they shall be called into the service of the United States), and may call out the same to execute the laws, suppress insurrection, and repel invasion.

   SEC. 15. Every bill passed by the legislature, before it becomes a law, and every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of both houses may be necessary (except on questions of adjournment), shall be presented to the governor. If he approve, he shall sign it, and thereupon it shall become a law; but if he do not approve, he shall return it with his objections to the house in which it shall have originated, which house shall enter the objections at large upon its journal, and proceed to reconsider the bill. If then three-fifths of the members elected agree to pass the same, it shall be sent, together with the objection, to the other house by which it shall likewise be reconsidered; and it approved by three-fifths of the members elected to that house become a law, notwithstanding the objections of the governor. In all such cases, the vote of each house shall be determined by yeas and nays, to be entered upon the journal. Any bill which shall not be returned by the governor within five days (Sundays excepted), after it shall have been presented to him, shall become a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the legislature, by their adjournment, prevent its return; in which case it shall be filed, with his objections, in the office of the secretary of state, within five days after such adjournment, or become a law. The governor may disapprove any item or items of appropriation contained in bills passed by the legislature, and the item or items so disapproved shall be stricken therefrom, unless re-passed in the manner herein prescribed in cases of disapproval of bills.

   SEC. 16. In case of the death, impeachment and notice thereof to the accused, failure to qualify, resignation, absence from the state; or other disability of the governor, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office, for the residue of the term, or until the disability shall be removed, shall devolve upon the lieutenant-governor.

   SEC. 17. The lieutenant-governor shall be president of the

 

senate, and shall vote only when the senate is equally divided.

   SEC. 18. If there be no lieutenant-governor, or it the lieutenant-governor for any of the causes specified in section sixteen of this article, become incapable of performing the duties of the office, the president of the senate shall act as governor until the vacancy is filled, or the disability removed; and if the president of the senate, for any of the above named causes, shall become incapable of performing the duties of governor, the same shall devolve upon the speaker of the house of representatives.

   SEC. 19. The commissioner of public lands and buildings, the secretary of state, treasurer, and attorney-general shall form a board, which shall have general supervision and control of all the buildings, grounds, and lands of the state, the state prison, asylums, and all other institutions thereof, except those for educational purposes; and shall perform such duties and be subject to such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by law.

   SEC. 20. If the office of auditor of public accounts, treasurer, secretary of state, attorney-general, commissioner of public lands and buildings, or superintendent of public instruction, shall be vacated by death, resignation, or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the governor to fill the same by appointment; and the appointee shall hold his office until his successor shall be elected and qualified in such manner as may be provided by law.

   SEC. 21. An account shall be kept by the officers of the executive department, and of all the public institutions of the state, of all moneys received or disbursed by them severally from all sources, and for every service performed, and a semi-annual report thereof be made to the governor, under oath; and any officer who makes a false report shall be guilty of perjury and punished accordingly.

   SEC. 22. The officers of the executive department and of all the public institutions of the state, shall, at least ten days preceding each regular session of the legislature, severally report to the governor, who shall transmit such reports to the legislature, together with the reports of the judges of the supreme court, of defects in the constitution and laws, and the governor or either house of the legislature may at any time require information in writing, under oath, from the officers of the executive department, and all officers and managers of state institutions, upon any subject relating to the condition, management, and expenses of their respective offices.

   SEC. 23. There shall be a seal of the state, which shall be called the "Great Seal of the State of Nebraska," which shall be kept by the secretary of state, and used by him officially, as directed by law.

   SEC. 24. The salaries of the governor, auditor of public accounts, and treasurer, shall be two thousand five hundred dollars ($2.500) each, per annum, and of the secretary of state,

  

attorney-general, superintendent of public instruction, and commissioner of public lands and buildings, two thousand dollars ($2,000) each per annum. The lieutenant-governor shall receive twice the compensation of a senator, and after the adoption of this constitution they shall not receive to their own use any fees, costs, interest upon public moneys in their hands or under their control, perquisites of office or other compensation, and all fees that may hereafter be payable by law (or services performed by any officer, provided for in this article of the constitution, shall be paid in advance into the state treasury. There shall be no allowance for clerk hire in the offices of the superintendent of public instruction and attorney-general.

   SEC. 25. The officers mentioned in this article shall give bonds in not less than double the amount of money that may come into their hands, and in no case in less than the sum of fifty thousand dollars, with such provisions as to sureties and the approval thereof, and for the increase of the penalty of such bonds, as may be prescribed by law.

   SEC. 26. No other executive state office shall be continued or created, and the duties now devolving upon officers not provided for by this constitution shall be preformed by the officers herein created.

ARTICLE VI.--THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.

   SECTION 1. The judicial power of this state shall be vested in a supreme court, district courts, count courts, justices of the peace, police magistrates, and in such other courts inferior to the district courts as may be created by law for cities and incorporated towns.

   SEC. 2. The supreme court shall consist of three judges, a majority of whom shall be necessary to form a quorum or to pronounce a decision. It shall have original jurisdiction in cases relating to the revenue, civil cases in which the state shall be a party, mandamus, quo warranto, habeas corpus, and such appellate jurisdiction its may be provided by law.

   SEC. 3. At least two terms of the supreme court shall be held each year at the seat of government.

   SEC. 4. The judges of the supreme court shall be elected by the electors of the state at large, and their terms of office, except of those chosen at the first election, as hereinafter provided, shall be six years.

   SEC. 5. The judges of the supreme court shall, immediately after the first election under this constitution, be classified by lot, so that one shall hold his office for the term of two years, one for the term of four years, and one for the term of six years.

   SEC. 6. The judge of the supreme court having the shortest term to serve, not holding his office by appointment or election to fill a vacancy, shall be the chief justice, and as such shall preside at all terms of the supreme court; and, in case of his absence, the judge having in like manner the next shortest term to serve, shall preside in his stead.

 

   SEC. 7. No person shall be eligible to the office of judge of the supreme court unless he shall be at least thirty years of age, and a citizen of the United States; nor unless he shall have resided in this state at least three years next preceding his election.

   SEC. 8. There shall be appointed by the supreme court a reporter, who shall also act as clerk or the supreme court, and librarian of the law and miscellaneous library of the state, whose term of office shall be four years, unless sooner removed by the court, whose salary shall be fixed by law, not to exceed fifteen hundred dollars per annum. The copyright of the state reports shall forever belong to the state.

   SEC. 9. The district courts shall have both chancery and common law jurisdiction, and such other jurisdiction as tire legislature may provide, and the judges thereof may admit persons charged with felony to a plea of guilty, and pass such sentence as may be prescribed by law.

   SEC. 10. The state shall be divided into six judicial districts, in each of which shall be elected the electors thereof, one judge, who shall be judge of the district court therein, and whose term of office shall be four years. Until otherwise provided by law, said districts shall be as follows:

(This section divided the state into six judicial districts. A new division was made in 1883 hence the omission of the balance of this section.)

   SEC.11. The legislature, whenever two-thirds of the members elected to each house shall concur therein, may, in or after the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty, and not of oftener than once in every four years, increase the number of judges of the district courts, and the judicial districts of the state. Such districts shall be formed of compact territory, and bounded by county lines; and such increase, or any change in the boundaries of a district, shall not vacate the office of any judge.

   SEC.12. The judges of the district courts may hold courts for each other, and shall do so when, required by law.

   SEC. 13. The judges of the supreme and district courts shall each receive a salary of $2,500 per annum, payable quarterly.

   SEC. 14. No judge of the supreme or district courts shall receive any other compensation, perquisite, or benefit for or on account of his office in any form whatever; nor act as attorney or counsellor-at-law in any manner whatever; nor shall any salary be paid to any county judge.

   SEC. 15. There shall be elected in and for each organized county, one judge, who shall be judge of the county court of such county, and whose term of office shall be two years.

   SEC. 16. County courts shall be courts of record, and shall have original jurisdiction in all matters of probate, settlements of estates of deceased persons, appointment of guardians, and settlement of their accounts; in all matters relating to apprentices; and such other jurisdiction as  

may be given by general law. But they shall not have jurisdiction in criminal cases in which the punishment may exceed six months' imprisonment, or a fine of over five hundred dollars; nor in actions in which title to real estate is sought to be recovered, or may be drawn in question; nor in actions on mortgages or contracts for the conveyance of real estate; nor in civil actions. where the debt or sum claimed shall exceed one thousand dollars.

   SEC. 17. Appeals to the district courts from the judgments of county courts shall be allowed in all criminal cases, on application of the defendant; and in all civil cases, on application of either party, and in such other cases as may be provided by law.

   SEC. 18. Justices of the peace and police magistrates shall be elected in and for such districts, and have and exercise such jurisdiction as may be provided by law; Provided, that no justice of the peace shall have jurisdiction of any civil case where the amount in controversy shall exceed two hundred dollars; nor in a criminal case where the punishment may exceed three months' imprisonment or a fine of over one hundred dollars; nor in any matter wherein the title or boundaries of land may be in dispute.

   SEC. 19. All laws relating to courts shall be general and of uniform operation, and the organization, jurisdiction, powers, proceedings, and practice of all courts of the same class or grade, so far as regulated by law, and the force and effect of the proceedings, judgments, and decrees of such courts, severally shall be uniform.

   SEC. 20. All officers provided for in this article shall hold their offices until their successors shall be qualified, and they shall respectively reside in the district, county, or precinct for which they shall be elected or appointed. The terms of office of all such officers, when not otherwise prescribed in this article, shall be two years. All officers, when not otherwise provided for in this article, shall perform such duties and receive such compensation as may be provided by law.

   SEC. 21. In case the office of any judge of the supreme Court, or of any district court, shall become vacant before the expiration of the regular term for which he was elected, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment the governor, until a successor shall be elected and qualified and such successor shall be elected for the unexpired term at the first general election that occurs more than thirty days after the vacancy shall have happened. Vacancies in all other elective offices provided for in this article, shall be flied by election, but when the unexpired term does not exceed one year, the vacancy may be filled by appointment, in such manner as the legislature may provide.

   SEC. 22. The state may sue and be sued, and the legislature shall provide by law in what manner and in what courts suits shall be brought.

   SEC. 23. The several judges of the courts of record shall have such jurisdiction at chambers as may be provided by law.

 

   SEC. 24. All process shall run in the name of "The State of Nebraska," and all prosecutions shall be carried on in the name of "The State of Nebraska,"

ARTICLE VII.--RIGHTS OF SUFFRAGE.

   SECTION 1. Every male person of the age of twenty-one years or upwards, belonging to either of the following classes, who shall have resided in the state six months, and in the county, precinct or ward, for the term provided by law, shall be an elector:

    First--Citizens of the United States;
   Second--Persons of foreign birth who shall have declared their intention to become citizens conformably to the laws of the United States on the subject of naturalization, at least; thirty days prior to an election

   SEC. 2. No person shall be qualified to vote who is non compos mentis, or who has been convicted of treason or felony under law of the state, or of the United States, unless restored to civil rights.

   SEC. 3. Every elector in the actual military service of the United States, or of this state, and not in the regular army, may exercise the right of suffrage at such place and under such regulations as may be provided by law.

   SEC. 4. No soldier, seaman or marine in the army and navy of the United States, shall be deemed a resident of the state in consequence of being stationed therein.

   SEC. 5. Electors shall, in all cases except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at elections. and going to and returning from the same, and no elector shall be obliged to do military duty on the days of election, except in time of war and public danger.

   SEC. 6. All votes shall be by ballot.

ARTICLE VIII.--EDUCATION.

   SECTION 1. The governor, secretary of State, treasurer, attorney-general, and commissioner of public lands and buildings, shall, under the direction of the legislature constitute a board of commissioners for the sale, leasing, and general management of all lands and funds set apart for educational purposes, and for the investment of school funds in such manner as may be prescribed by law.

   SEC. 2. All lands, money or other property, granted or bequeathed, or in any manner conveyed to this state for educational purposes, shall be used and expended in accordance with the terms of such grant, bequest or conveyance

   SEC. 3. The following are hereby declared to be perpetual funds for common school purposes, of which the annual interest or income only can be appropriated, to-wit:

   First--Such per centum as has been or may hereafter be granted by congress on the sale of lands in this state;
   Second--All moneys arising from the sale or leasing of sections number sixteen and thirty-six in each township in this state, and the lands selected or that may be selected in lieu thereof;

  

   Third--The proceeds of all lands that have been or may hereafter be granted to this state, where, by the terms and conditions of such grant, the same are not to be otherwise appropriated;
   Fourth--The net proceeds of lands and other property and effects that may come to the state by escheat or forfeiture, or from unclaimed dividends or distributive shares of the estates of deceased persons;
   Fifth--All moneys, stocks, bonds, lands and other property, now belonging to the common school fund.

   SEC. 4. All other grants, gifts and devises that have been or may hereafter be made to this state, and not otherwise appropriated by the terms of the grant, gift, or devise; the interest arising from all the funds mentioned in the preceding section, together with all the rents of the unsold school lands, and such other means as the legislature may provide, shall be exclusively applied to the support and maintenance of common schools in each school district in the state.

   SEC. 5. All fines, penalties, and license moneys arising under the general laws of the state, shall belong and be paid over to the counties respectively where the same may be levied or imposed; and all fines, penalties and license moneys arising under the rules, by-laws or ordinances of cities, villages, towns, precincts, or other municipal sub-divisions less than a county shall belong and be paid over to the same respectively. All such fines, penalties, and license moneys shall be appropriated exclusively to the use and support of common schools in the respective sub-divisions where the same may accrue.

   SEC. 6. The legislature shall provide for the free instruction in the common schools of this state of all persons between the ages of five and twenty-one years.

   SEC. 7. Provisions shall be made by general law for an equitable distribution of the income of the fund set apart for the support of the common schools, among the several school districts of the state, and no appropriation shall be made from said fund to any district for the year in which school is not maintained at least three months.

   SEC. 8. University, agricultural college, common school, or other lands, which are now held or may hereafter be acquired by the state for educational purposes, shall not be sold for less than seven dollars per acre, nor less than the appraised value.

   SEC. 9. All funds belonging to the state for educational purposes, the interest and income whereof only are to be used, shall be deemed trust funds held by the state, and the state shall supply all losses thereof that may in any manner accrue, so that the same shall remain forever inviolate and undiminished; and shall not be invested or leaned except on United States or state securities, or registered county bonds of this state; and such funds, with the interest and income thereof, are hereby solemnly pledged for the purposes for which they are granted and set apart, and shall not be transferred to any other fund for other uses.

 

   SEC. 10. The general government of the university of Nebraska shall, under the direction of the legislature, be vested in a board of six regents, to be styled the board of regents of the university of Nebraska, who shall be elected by the electors of the state at large, and their term of office, except those chosen at the first election, as hereinafter provided, shall be six years. Their duties and powers shall be prescribed by law; and they shall receive no compensation, but may be reimbursed their actual expenses incurred in the discharge of their duties.

    SEC. 11. No sectarian instruction shall be allowed in any school or institution supported in whole or in part by the public funds set apart for educational purposes; nor shall the state accept any grant, conveyance, or bequest of money, lands, or other property, to be used for sectarian purposes.

   SEC. 12. The legislature may provide by law for the establishment of a school or schools for the safe keeping, education, employment, and reformation of all children under the age of sixteen years, who, for want of proper parental care, or other cause, are growing up in mendicancy or crime.

ARTICLE IX.--REVENUE AND FINANCE.

   SECTION 1. The legislature, shall provide such revenue as may be needful, by levying a tax by valuation, so that every person and corporation shall pay a tax in proportion to the value of his, her, or its property and franchises, the value to be ascertained in such manner as the legislature shall direct, and it shall have power to tax peddlers, auctioneers, brokers. hawkers, commission merchants, showmen, jugglers, innkeepers, liquor dealers, toll bridges, ferries, insurance, telegraph and express interests or business, venders of patents, in such manner as it shall direct by general law, uniform as to the class upon which it operates.

   SEC. 2 The property of the state, counties, and municipal corporations both real and personal, shall be exempt from taxation; and such other property as may be used exclusively for agricultural and horticultural societies, for school, religious, cemetery, and charitable purposes, may be exempted from taxation, but such exemption shall be only by general law. In the assessment of real estate encumbered by public easement, any depreciation occasioned by such easement maybe deducted in the valuation of such property. The legislature may provide that the increased value of lands, by reason of live fences, fruit and forest trees grown and cultivated thereon, shall not be taken into account in the assessment thereof.

   SEC. 3. The right of redemption from all sales of real estate, for the non-payment of taxes or special assessment of any character whatever, shall exist in favor of owners and persons interested in such real estate for a period of not less than two years from such sales thereof: Provided, that occupants shall be served with personal notice before the time of redemption expires.

 

  SEC. 4. The legislature shall have no power to release or discharge any county, city, township, town, or district whatever, or the inhabitants thereof, or any corporation, or the property therein, from their or its proportionate share of taxes to be levied for state purposes, or due any municipal corporation, nor shall commutation for such taxes be authorized in any form whatever.

   SEC. 5. County authorities shall never assess taxes the aggregate of which shall exceed one and a half dollars per one hundred dollars valuation, except for the payment of indebtedness existing at the adoption of this constitution, unless authorized by a vote of the people of the county.

   SEC. 6. The legislature may vest the corporate authorities of cities, towns and villages, with power to make local improvements by special assessments, or by special taxation of property benefited. For all other corporate purposes, all municipal corporations may be vested with authority to assess and collect taxes, but such taxes shall be uniform in respect to persons and property within the jurisdiction of the body imposing the same.

   SEC. 7. Private property shall not be liable to be taken or sold for the payment of the corporate debts of municipal corporations. The legislature shall not impose taxes upon municipal corporations, or the inhabitants or property thereof, for corporate purposes.

   SEC. 8. The legislature at its first session shall provide a law for the funding of all outstanding warrants and other indebtedness of the state, at a rate of interest not exceeding eight per cent. per annum.

   SEC. 9. The legislature shall provide by law that all claims upon the treasury shall be examined and adjusted by the auditor and approved by the secretary of state before any warrant for the amount allowed shall be drawn. Provided that a party aggrieved by the decision of the auditor and secretary of state may appeal to the district court.

ARTICLE X.--COUNTIES.

   SECTION 1. No new county shall be formed or established by the legislature which will reduce the county or counties, or either of them, to a less area than four hundred square miles, nor shall any county be formed of a less area.

   SEC. 2. No county shall be divided, or have any part stricken therefrom, without first submitting the question to a vote of the people of the county, nor unless a majority of all the legal voters of the county voting on the question shall vote for the same.

   SEC. 3. There shall be no territory stricken from any organized county unless a majority of the voters living in such territory shall petition for such division, and no territory shall be added to any organized county without the consent of the majority of the voters of the county to which it is proposed to be added; but the portion so stricken off and added to another county, or formed in whole, or in part, into

 

a new county, shall be holden for and obliged to pay its proportion of the indebtedness of the counties from which it as been taken.

   SEC. 4. The legislature shall provide by law for the election of such county and township officers as may be necessary.

   SEC. 5. The legislature shall provide by general law for township organization, under which any county may organize, whenever a majority of the legal voters of such county, voting at any general election, shall so determine; and, in any county that shall have adopted a township organization, the question of continuing the same may be submitted to a vote of the electors of such county at a general election in the manner that shall be provided by law.

ARTICLE XI--CORPORATIONS.

RAILROAD CORPORATIONS.

SECTION 1. Every railroad corporation organized or doing business in this state, under the laws or authority thereof, or of any other state, or of the United States shall have and maintain a public office or place in this state; for the transaction of its business, where transfers of stock shall be made, and in which shall be kept, for public inspection, books in which shall be recorded the amount of capital stock subscribed, and by whom, the names of the owners of its stock, and the amounts owned by them respectively, the amount of stock paid in, and by whom, the transfers of said stock, the amount of its assets and liabilities, and the names and places of residence of its officers. The directors of every railroad corporation, or other parties having control of its road, shall annually make a report under oath, to the auditor of public accounts, or some officer to be designated by law, of the amount received from passengers and freight, and such other matters relating to railroads as may be prescribed by law. And the legislature shall pass laws enforcing by suitable penalties the provisions of this section.

   SEC.2. The rolling stock and all other moveable property, belonging to any railroad company or corporation in this state shall be liable to execution and sale in the same manner as the personal property of individuals, and the legislature shall pass no law exempting any such property from execution and sale.

   SEC. 3. No railroad corporation or telegraph company shall consolidate its stock, property, franchises, or earnings, in whole or in part, with any other railroad corporation or telegraph company owning a parallel or competing line; and in no case shall any consolidation take place, except upon a public notice of at least sixty days to all stock holders in such manner as may be provided by law.

   SEC.4. Railways heretofore constructed, or that may hereafter be constructed in this state, are hereby declared public highways, and shall be free to all persons for the transporta-

 

tion of their persons and property thereon, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law. And the legislature may from time to time, pass laws establishing reasonable maximum rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freight on the different railroads in this state. The liability of railroad corporations as common carriers shall never be limited.

   SEC. 5. No railroad corporation shall issue any stock or bonds, except for money, labor, or property actually received and applied to the purposes for which such corporation was created, and all stock, dividends, and other fictitious increas (sic) of the capital stock or indebtedness of any such corporation shall be void, The capital stock of railroad corporations shall not be increased for any purpose, except after public notice of sixty days, in such manner as may be provided by law.

   SEC. 6. The exercise of the power and the right of eminent domain shall never be so construed or abridged as to prevent the taking, by the legislature, of the property and franchises of incorporated companies already organized or hereafter to be organized. and subjecting them to the public necessity, the same as of individuals.

   SEC. 7. The legislature shall pass laws to correct abuses and prevent unjust discrimination and extortion in all charges of express, telegraph, and railroad companies in this state, an enforce such laws by adequate penalties, to the extent, it necessary for that purpose, of forfeiture of their property and franchises.

   SEC. 8. No railroad corporation organized under the laws of any other state, or of the United States, and doing business in this state, shall be entitled to exorcise the right of eminent domain, or have power to acquire the right of way or real estate for depot or other uses until it shall have become a body corporate pursuant to and in accordance with the laws of this state.

MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.

   SECTION 1. No city, county, town, precinct, municipality, or other sub-division of the state, shall ever become a subscriber to the capital stock, or owner of such stock, or any portion or interest therein, of any railroad or private corporation or association.

MISCELLANEOUS CORPORATIONS.

   SECTION 1. No corporation shall be created by special law, nor its charter extended, changed, or amended, except those for charitable, educational, penal, or reformatory purposes, which are to be and remain under the patronage and control of the state, but the legislature shall provide by general laws for the organization of all corporations hereafter to be created. All general laws passed pursuant to this section may be. altered from time to time, or repealed.

   SEC. 2. No such general law shall be passed by the legis-

 

lature granting the right to construct and operate a street railroad within any city, town, or incorporated village, without first requiring the consent of a majority of the electors thereof.

   SEC. 3. All corporations may sue and be sued in like cases as natural persons.

   SEC. 4. In all cases of claims against corporations and joint-stock associations, the exact amount justly due shall be first ascertained, and after the corporate property shall have been exhausted, the original subscribers thereof shall be individually liable to the extent of their unpaid subscription, and the liability for the unpaid subscription shall follow the stock.

   SEC. 5. The legislature shall provide by law that in all elections for directors or managers of incorporated companies, every stock holder shall have the right to vote in person or by proxy for the number of shares of stock owned by him, for as many persons as there are directors or managers to be elected, or to cumulate said shares and give one candidate as many votes as the number of directors multiplied by the number of his shares of stock shall equal, or to distribute them upon the same principle among as many candidates as he shall think fit; an such directors or managers shalt not be elected in any other manner.

   SEC. 6. All existing charters or grants of special or exclusive privileges under which organization shall not have taken place, or which shall not be in operation within sixty days from the time this constitution takes effect, shall thereafter have no validity or effect whatever.

   SEC. 7. Every stockholder in a banking corporation or institution shall be indvidually (sic) responsible and liable to its creditors, over and above the amount of stock by him held, to an amount equal to his respective stock or shares so held for all its liabilities accruing while he remains such stockholder; and all banking corporations shall publish quarterly statements, under oath, of their assets and liabilities.

ARTICLE XII.--STATE, COUNTY, AND MUNICIPAL, INDEBTEDNESS.

   SECTION 1. The state may, to meet casual deficits or failures in the revenues, contract debts never to exceed in the aggregate one hundred thousand dollars; and no greater indebtedness shall be incurred except for the purpose of repelling invasion, suppressing insurrection, or defending the state in war, and provision shall be made for the payment of the interest annually, as it shall accrue, by a tax levied for the purpose, or from other sources of revenue, which law providing for the payment of such interest by such tax shall be irrepealable until such debt be paid.

   SEC. 2. No city, county, town, precinct, municipality, or other sub-division of the state, shall ever make donations to any railroad or other work of internal improvement, unless a proposition so to do shall have been first submitted to the qualified electors thereof at an election by authority of law;

  

Provided, that such donations of a county with the donations of such sub-divisions in tile aggregate shall not exceed ten per cent. of the assessed valuation of such county; Provided further, that any city or county may, by a two-thirds vote, increase such indebtedness five per cent. in addition to such ten per cent., and no bonds or evidences of indebtedness so issued shall be valid unless the same shall have endorsed thereon a certificate signed by the secretary and auditor of state, showing that the same is issued pursuant to law.

   SEC. 3. The credit of the state shall never be given or leaned in aid of any individual, association, or corporation.

ARTICLE XIII--MILITIA.

   SECTION 1. The legislature shall determine what persons shall constitute the militia of the state, and may provide for organizing and disciplining the same.

ARTICLE XIV--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

   SECTION 1. Executive and judicial officers and members of the legislature, before they enter upon their official duties. shall take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of tile state of Nebraska, and will faithfully discharge the duties of ----, according to the best of my ability, and that at the election at which I was chosen to fill said office I have not improperly influenced in any way the vote of any elector, and have not accepted nor will I accept or receive, directly or indirectly, any money or other valuable thing from any corporation, company, or person, or any promise of office for any official act or influence (for any vote I may give or withhold on any bill, resolution, or appropriation)." Any such officer or member of the legislature who shall refuse to take the oath herein prescribed shall forfeit his office, and any person who shall be convicted of having sworn falsely to, or of violating his said oath, shall forfeit his office, and thereafter be disqualified from holding any office of profit or trust in this state, unless he shall have been restored to civil rights.

   SEC. 2. Any person who is in default as collector and custodian of public money or property shall not be eligible to any office of trust or profit under the constitution or laws of this state; nor shall any person convicted of felony be eligible to office unless he shall have been restored to civil rights.

   SEC. 3. Drunkenness shall be cause of impeachment and removal from office.

ARTICLE XV--AMENDMENTS.

   SECTION 1. Either branch of the legislature may propose amendments to this constitution, and, if the same be agreed to by three-fifths of the members elected to each house, such proposed amendments shall be entered on the journals, with

 

the yeas and nays, and published at least once each week in at least one newspaper in each county, where a newspaper is published, for three months immediately preceding the next election of senators and representatives, at which election the same shall be submitted to the electors for approval or rejection, and if a majority of the electors voting at such election adopt such amendments, the same shall become a part of this constitution. When more than one amendment is submitted at the same election, they shall be so submitted as to enable the electors to vote on each amendment separately.

   SEC. 2. When three-fifths of the members elected to each branch of the legislature deem it necessary to call a convention to revise, amend, or change this constitution, they shall recommend to the electors to vote at the next election of members of the legislature for or against a convention, and if a majority voting at said election vote for a convention, the legislature shall, at its next session, provide by law for calling the same. The convention shall consist of as many members as the house of representatives, who shall be chosen in the same manner, and shall meet within three months after their election, for the purpose aforesaid. No amendment or change of this constitution, agreed upon by such convention, shall take effect until the same has been submitted to the electors of the state, and adopted by a majority of those voting for and against the same.

ALLOWING ELECTORS TO EXPRESS THEIR PREFERENCE FOR
UNITED STATES SENATOR.

   The legislature may provide that at the general election immediately preceding the expiration of the term of a United States senator from this state, the electors may by ballot express their preference for some person for the office of United States senator. The votes cast for such candidates shall be canvassed and returned in the same manner as for state officers.

SEAT OF GOVERNMENT.

   The seat of government of the state shall not be removed or re-located without the assent of a majority of the electors of the state, voting thereupon at a general election or elections under such rules and regulations as to the number of elections and manner of voting, and places to be voted for, as may be prescribed by law; Provided, the question of removal may be submitted at such other general elections as may be provided by law.

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   Done In convention at the capitol in the city of Lincoln, on the twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-ninth.
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