without leaving a will or heir; and all moneys which may be paid as an equivalent for exemption from military duty, shall be and remain a perpetual fund, which may be increased, but not diminished; and the interest and income which, together with the rents of all such lands as may remain unsold, and such other means as the general assembly may provide, shall be inviolably appropriated to educational purposes, and to no other purpose what ever. §11. In addition to the amount accruing from the above sources, one-fifth of the aggregate annual revenue of the State shall be devoted exclusively to the maintenance of public schools. §12. The general assembly may give power to the authorities of the school districts to levy a poll-tax on the inhabitants of the district in aid of the general school fund, and for no other purpose. §13. The general assembly shall levy a specific annual tax upon all railroad, navigation, banking, and insurance corporations, and upon all insurance and foreign bank and exchange agencies, and upon the profits of foreign bank-bills issued in this State, by any corporation, partnership, or persons, which shall be exclusively devoted to the maintenance of public schools. §14. The general assembly shall, as soon as practicable, provide for the establishment of an agricultural college, and shall appropriate the two hundred and forty thousand acres of land donated to this State for the support of such a college, by the act of congress passed July 2, 1862, or the money or scrip, as the case may be, arising from the sale of said land, or any lands which may hereafter be granted, or appropriated for such purpose, for the support and maintenance of such college or schools, and may make the same a branch of the University of Alabama for instruction in agriculture, in the mechanic arts, and the natural sciences connected therewith, and place the same under the supervision of the regents of the University. ARTICLE XII. INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES. §1. A bureau of industrial resources shall be established, to be under the management of a commissioner, who shall be elected at the first general election, and shall hold his office for the term of four years. $2. The commissioner of industrial resources shall collect and condense statistical information concerning the productive industries of the State; and shall make, or cause to be made, a careful, accurate and thorough report upon the agriculture and geology of the State, and annually report such additions as the progress of scientific development and extended explorations may require. He shall, from time to time, disseminate among the people of the State such knowledge as he may deem important, concerning improved machinery and production, and for the promotion of their agricul; tural, manufacturing, and mining interests; and shall send out to the people of the United States and foreign countries, such reports concerning the industrial resources of Alabama, as may best make known the advantages offered by the State to emigrants; and shall perform such other duties as the general assembly may require. §3. It shall be the duty of the general assembly, at the first session after the adoption of this Constitution, to pass such laws and regulations as may be necessary for the government and protection of this bureau, and also to fix and provide for the compensation of the commissioner. §4. This bureau shall be located, and the commissioner shall reside at the capital of the State, and he shall annually make a written or printed report to the governor of the State, to be laid before the general assembly at each session. $5. In case of the death, removal or resignation of the commissioner, the governor, with the approval of the senate, shall have power to appoint a commissioner for the unexpired term. ARTICLE XIII. CORPORATIONS. $1. Corporations may be formed under general laws, but shall not be created by special act, except for municipal purposes. All general laws and special acts passed pursuant to this section, may be altered, amended or repealed. $2. Dues from corporations shall be secured by such individual liabilities of the corporators or other means as may be prescribed by law. $3. Each stockholder in any corporation shall be liable to the amount of stock held or owned by him. §4. The property of corporations now existing, or hereafter created, shall forever be subject to taxation, the same as property of individuals, except corporations for educational and charitable purposes. $5. No right of way shall be appropriated to the use of any corporation, until full compensation therefor be first made in money or secured by a deposit of money to the owner, irrespective of any benefit from any improvement proposed by such corporation, which compensation shall be ascertained by a jury of twelve men, in a court of record, as shall be prescribed by law. §6. The general assembly shall not have power to establish or incorporate any bank or banking company, or moneyed institution, for the purpose of issuing bills of credit or bills payable to order or bearer, except under the conditions prescribed in this Constitution. $7. No bank shall be established, otherwise than under a general banking law, as provided in the first section of this article. $8. The general assembly may enact a general banking law, which law shall provide for the registry and countersigning by the governor of the State, of all paper credit designed to be created as money; and ample collateral security, convertible into specie, or the redemption of the same in gold or silver, shall be required, and such collateral security shall be under the control of such officer or officers as may be prescribed by law. $9. All bills or notes issued as money, shall be, at all times, redeemable in gold or silver, and no law shall be passed, sanctioning, directly or indirectly, the suspension, by any bank or banking, company, of specie payment. $10. Holders of bank-notes shall be entitled, in case of insolvency, to preference of payment over all other creditors. $11. Every bank or banking company shall be required to cease all banking operations within twenty years from the time of its organization, and promptly thereafter close its business. $12. No bank shall receive directly or indirectly, a greater rate of interest than shall be allowed by law to individuals for lending money. §13. The State shall not be a stockholder in any bank, nor shall the credit of the State ever be given or lent to any banking company, association or corporation, except for the purpose of expediting the construction of railroads, or works of internal improvement, within this State, and the credit of the State shall, in no case, be given or lent without the approval of two-thirds of both houses of the general assembly. §14. All corporations shall have the right to sue and shall be subject to be sued, in all courts, in like cases as natural persons. $15. It shall be the duty of the general assembly to provide for the organization of cities, and incorporated towns, and to restrict their power of taxation, assessment and contracting of debt. ARTICLE XIV. EXEMPTED PROPERTY. §1. The personal property of any resident of this State to the value of one thousand dollars, to be selected by such resident, shall be exempted from sale on execution, or other final process of any court, issued for the collection of any debt contracted after the adoption of this Constitution. §2. Every homestead, not exceeding eighty acres of land, and the dwelling and appurtenances thereon, to be selected by the owner thereof, and not in any town, city, or village, or in lieu thereof, at the option of the owner, any lot in the city, town, or village, with the dwelling and appurtenances thereon, owned and occupied by any resident of this State, and not exceeding the value of two thousand dollars, shall be exempted from sale, on execution, or any other final process from a court, from any debt contracted after the adoption of this Constitution. Such exemption, however, shall not extend to any mortgage lawfully obtained, but such mortgage or other alienation of such homestead, by the owner thereof, if a married man, shall not be valid without the voluntary signature and assent of the wife of the same. §3. The homestead of a family, after the death of the owner thereof, shall be exempt from the payment of any debts contracted after the adoption of this Constitution, in all cases during the minority of the children. §4. The provisions of sections one and two of this article shall not be so construed as to prevent a laborer's lien for work done and performed for the person claiming such exemption, or a mechanic's lien for work done on the premises. §5. If the owner of a homestead die, leaving a widow, but no children, the same shall be exempt, and the rents and profits thereof shall enure to her benefit. §6. The real and personal property of any female in this State, acquired before marriage, and all property, real and personal, to which she may afterwards be entitled by gift, grant, inheritance, or devise, shall be and remain the separate estate and property of such female, and shall not be liable for any debts, obligations, and engagements of her husband, and may be devised or bequeathed by her, the same as if she were a femme sole. ARTICLE XV. OATH OF OFFICE. §1. All civil officers of this State, legislative, executive and judicial, before they enter upon the execution of the duties of their respective offices, shall take the following oath: "I, —, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am not disfranchised by the Constitution of Alabama, or by the Constitution or laws of the United States; that I will honestly and faithfully support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States, the union of the states, and the Constitution and laws of the State of Alabama, so long as I remain a citizen thereof; and that I will honestly and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter to the best of my ability. So help me God." ARTICLE XVI. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. $1. The general assembly, whenever two-thirds of each house shall deem it necessary, may propose amendments to this Constitution, which proposed amendments shall be duly published in print, at least three months before the next general election of representatives, for the consideration of the people, and it shall be the duty of the several returning-officers, at the next general election which shall be held for representatives, to open a poll for, and make a return to the secretary of state for the time being, of the names of all those voting for representatives who have voted on such proposed amendments, and if thereupon it shall appear that a majority of all the citizens of the State, voting for representatives, have voted in favor of such proposed amendments, and two-thirds of each house of the next general assembly shall, after such an election, and before another, ratify the same amendments by yeas and nays, they shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as parts of the Constitution; Provided, that the said proposed amendments shall, at each of the said sessions, have been read three times, on three several days, in each house. After the expiration of three months from the adoption of this Constitution, no convention shall be held for the purpose of altering or amending the Constitution of this State, unless the question of convention or no convention shall be first submitted to a vote of all the electors, twenty one years of age and upwards, and approved by a majority of the electors voting at said election. ROBERT BARBER, Secretary. A. J. APPLEGATE, W. A. AUSTIN, J. H. DAVIS, G. J. DYKES, J. M. HATCHER, W. JOHNSON, S F. KENNAMER, D. LQRE, J. MAHAN, B. O. MASTERSON, J. F. MORTON, T. M. PETERS, H. C. RUSSELL, J. SILSBY, L. R. SMITH, E. W. PECK, President. H. J. SPRINGFIELD, J. P. STOW, W. A. WALKER, THOMAS ADAMS, A. W. JONES, J R. WALKER, J. W. WILHITE, J. A. YORDY, Vote for the Constitution, 70,812; against it, 79,566. R. M. REYNOLDS, "I deem it only necessary to say here that, from all the evidence I could procureand I caused the most thorough investigation to be made-the Constitution was fairly rejected by the people, under the law requiring a majority of the registered voters to cast their ballots for or against.”—Major-General Meade's Report, October 31, 1868. "In Alabama, the Constitution was submitted to the people, and although, in the opinion of General Meade, it was rejected by the people, it was adopted by Congress."Report of Secretary of War, November 20, 1868. What is called the Constitution of 1868, became operative June 25, 1868.—Irwin, Ex'r, . Mayor, Aldermen and Common Council of Mobile, December Term of Supreme Court of Alabama, 1876, 57 Ala. 6. The Constitutional Convention of 1875 fixed the time at the 13th July, 1868, the day of usurpation; and it seems to be true that the validity of a de facto government cannot antedate the time of its becoming de facto. [Note from Code of 1876.] CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF ALABAMA. PREAMBLE. WE, THE PEOPLE of the State of Alabama, in order to establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure to ourselves and to our posterity life, liberty, and property; profoundly grateful to Almighty God for this inestimable right, and invoking His favor and guidance, do ordain and establish the following Constitution and form of government for the State of Alabama. ARTICLE I. DECLARATION OF RIGHTS. That the great, general, and essential principles of liberty and free government may be recognized and established, we declare: Effect and office of the declaration of rights.-Ex parte Dorsey, 7 Port. 293. §1. That all men are equally free and independent; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A guarantee to each citizen of all the rights and privileges enjoyed or possessed by any other citizen.—Ex parte Dorsey, 7 Port. 293. Free egress from, or transit through the State may be regulated but not prevented.-Joseph v. Randolph, 71 Ala. 499. §2. That all persons resident in this State, born in the United States, or naturalized, or who shall have legally declared their intention to become citizens of the United States, are hereby declared citizens of the State of Alabama, possessing equal civil and political rights. Effect is to place all persons, natural and artificial, on a basis of equality in the courts.-S. & N. R. Co. v. Morris, 65 Ala. 193; Smith v. L. & N. R. Co., 75 Ala. 449; L. & N. R. Co. v. Baldwin, 85 Ala. 619; Brown v. A. G. S. R. Co., 87 Ala. 370; Randolph v. B. & P. Supply Co., 106 Ala. 501. See also citations to Art. I., Sec. 14; Art. XIV., Sec. 12. There can be no discriminative advantage bestowed by law between the parties to the same suit.-S. & N. R. Co. v. Morris, 65 Ala. 193; Randolph v. B. & P. Supply Co., 106 Ala. 501. The statute against miscegenation is not a denial of equal civil and political rights to the races.-Ford v. State, 53 Ala. 150: Green v. State, 58 Ala. 190 (overruling Burns v. State, 48 Ala. 195); Hoover v. State, 59 Ala. 57; Pace v. State, 69 Ala. 231 (affirmed 106 U. S. 583). §3. That all political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their benefit; and that therefore they have, at all times, an inalienable and indefeasible right to change their form of government, in such manner as they may deem expedient. The elective franchise is a privilege rather than a right.-Washington v. State, 75 Ala. 582. §4. That no religion shall be established by law; that no preference shall be given by law to any religious sect, society, denomination, or mode of worship; that no one shall be compelled by law to attend any place of worship, nor to pay any tithes, taxes, or other rate, for building or repairing any place of worship, or for maintaining any minister or ministry; that no *Became operative December 6th, 1875. |