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. [Funding indebtedness.]-The legislature at its first session shall provide by 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. [Claims upon treasury.j-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 district court.

ARTICLE [x.]-COUNTIES.

SECTION 1. [Area.]-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. [Division.]-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. [Same.]-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 has been taken.

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

SEC. 5. [Township organization.]—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. [Public office.-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. [Property liable to sale on execution.]-The rolling stock

SEC. 8. 6 Neb. 512. SEC. 9. 14 Neb. 444. Art. X. SEC. I. 11 Neb. 2.

SEC. 5. 6 Neb. 482.

and all other movable 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. [Consolidation of stock.]-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 public notice of at least sixty days to all stockholders in such manner as may be provided by law.

SEC. 4. [Rates of charges.]-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 transportation 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. [Increase of stock and bonds.]—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 increase 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 for sixty days, in such manner as may be provided by law.

SEC. 6. [Eminent domain.]-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. [Abuses to be regulated by law.]-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, and enforce such laws by adequate penalties to the extent, if necessary for that purpose, of forfeiture of their property and franchises.

SEC. 8. [Railroads organized in other states.]-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 exercise 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. [Subscriptions.]-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. [Incorporations to be by general law.]-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. [Street railroads.]-No such general law shall be passed by the

Miscellaneous Corporations. 5 Neb. 127, 427. 8 Id. 179, 518.

legislature 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. [Suits.]-All corporations may sue and be sued in like cases as natural persons.

SEC. 4. [Liabilities of subscribers to stock.]-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. [Elections.]—The legislature shall provide by law that in all elections for directors or managers of incorporated companies, every stockholder shall [have] the right to vote in person or 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; and such directors or managers shall 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. [Stockholders in banks.]-Every stockholder in a banking corporation or institution shall be individually 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. [Debts.]-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. [Donations.]-No city, county, town, precinct, municipality, or other subdivision of the state, shall ever make donations to any railroad or other works 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 subdivisions in the 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 loaned 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.

SEC. 4. 8 Neb. 118.

ART. [XII.] SEC. 1. 2 Neb. 399. SEC. 2. 2 Neb. 423. 6 Id. 215. 7 Id. 311. 12 Id. 186. 13 Id. 129. 14 Id. 294. 16 Id. 110.

ARTICLE [XIV.]-MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

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SECTION 1. [Oath of officers.]-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 the state of Nebraska, and will faithfully discharge the duties of cording 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.

Sac. 2. [Who ineligible to office.]-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. [How made.-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 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. [Convention to revise.]-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.

ARTICLE [XVI.-SCHEDULE.

SECTION 1. [Rights preserved.]-That no inconvenience may arise from the revisions and changes made in the constitution of this state, and to carry the same into effect, it is hereby ordained and declared that all laws in force at the time of the adoption of this constitution, not inconsistent therewith, and all rights,

actions, prosecutions, claims, and contracts of this state, individuals, or bodies. corporate, shall continue to be as valid as if this constitution had not been adopted.

SEC. 2. All fines, taxes, penalties and forfeitures owing to the state of Nebraska, or to the people thereof, under the present constitution and laws, shall inure to the use of the people of the state of Nebraska under this constitution.

SEC. 3. Recognizances, bonds, obligations, and all other instruments entered into or executed upon the adoption of this constitution, to the people of the state of Nebraska, to the state of Nebraska, to any state or county officer, or public body, shall remain binding and valid, and rights and liabilities upon the same shall continue, and all crimes and misdemeanors shall be tried and punished as though no change had been made in the constitution of this state.

SEC.4. [Jurisdiction of courts.]-All existing courts which are not in this constitution specifically enumerated, and concerning which no other provision is herein made, shall continue in existence, and exercise their present jurisdiction until otherwise provided by law.

SEC. 5. [Persons to continue in office.]-All persons now filling any office or appointment, shall continue in the exercise of the duties thereof, according to their respective commissions, elections, or appointments, unless by this constitution it is otherwise directed.

SEC. 6. The district attorneys now in office shall continue during their unexpired terms to hold and exercise the duties of their respective offices in the judicial districts herein created, in which they severally reside. In each of the remaining districts one such officer shall be elected at the first general election, and hold his office until the expiration of the terms of those now in office.

SEC. 7. This constitution shall be submitted to the people of the state of Nebraska, for adoption or rejection, at an election to be held on the second Tuesday of October, A. D. 1875, and there shall be separately submitted at the same time, for adoption or rejection, the independent article relating to "Seat of government," and the independent article "Allowing electors to express their preference for United States senator."

SEC. 8. [Election.]—At said election the qualified voters shall vote at the usual places of voting, and the said election shall be conducted and the returns thereof made according to the laws now in force regulating general elections, except as herein otherwise provided.

SEC. 9. The secretary of state shall, at least twenty days before said election, cause to be delivered to the county clerk of each county, blank pollbooks, tally lists, and forms of return, and twice as many of properly prepared printed ballots for the said election as there are voters in such county, the expense whereof shall be audited and paid as other public printing ordered by the secretary is by law required to be audited and paid; and the several county clerks shall, at least five days before said election, cause to be distributed to the judges of election, in each election precinct in their respective counties, said blank pollbooks, tally lists, forms of return, and tickets.

SEC. 10. [Forms of ballot.]-At the said election the ballots shall be of the following form:

For the new constitution.

Against the new constitution.

For the article relating to "Seat of government."

Against the article relating to "Seat of government."

For the article "Allowing electors to express their preference for United States senator."

Against the article "Allowing electors to express their preference for United States senator.'

SEC. 11. [Returns of election.]-The returns of the whole vote cast, and of the votes for the adoption or rejection of this constitution, and for or against the articles respectively submitted shall be made by the several county clerks to the

SEC. 5. 7 Neb. 48.