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§ 12. All laws fixing the fees of State, county and township officers shall terminate with the terms, respectively, of those who may be in office at the meeting of the first General Assembly after the adoption of this Constitution; and the General Assembly shall, by general law, uniform in its operation, provide for and regulate the fees of said officers and their successors, so as to reduce the same to a reasonable compensation for services actually rendered. But the General Assembly may, by general law, classify the counties by population into not more than three classes, and regulate the fees according to class.

This article shall not be construed as depriving the General Assembly of the power to reduce the fees of existing officers.

13. Every person who is elected or appointed to any office in this State, who shall be paid in whole or in part by fees, shall be required by law to make a semiannual report, under oath, to some officer to be designated by law, of all his fees and emoluments,

ARTICLE XI.

Corporations.

SECTION 1. No corporation shall be created by special laws, or 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 General Assembly shall provide, by general laws, for the organization of all corporations hereafter to be created.

§ 2. All existing charters or grants of special or exclusive privileges, under which organization shall not have taken place, or which shall not have been in operation within ten days from the time this Constitution takes effect, shall thereafter have no validity or effect whatever.

§ 3. The General Assembly 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 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 on 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.

§ 4. No law shall be passed by the General Assembly, granting the right to construct and operate a street railroad within any city, town, or incorporated village, without requiring the consent of the local authorities having the control of the street or high way proposed to be occupied by such street railroad.

Banks.

5. No State Bank shall hereafter be created, nor shall the State own or be liable for any stock in any corporation or joint stock company or association for banking purposes, now created, or to be hereafter created. No act of the General Assembly authorizing or creating corporations or associations, with banking powers, whether of issue, deposit or discount, nor amendments thereto, shall go into effect or in any manner be in force, unless the same shall be submitted to a vote of the people at the general election next succeeding the passage of the same, and be approved by a majority of all the votes cast at such election for or against such law.

6.

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 or her held, to an amount equal to his or her respective shares so held, for all its liabilities accruing while he or she remains such stockholder.

§ 7. The suspension of specie payments by banking institutions, on their circulation, created by the laws of this State, shall never be permitted or sanctioned. Every banking association, now or which may hereafter be organized under the laws of this State, shall make and publish a full and accurate quarterly statement of its affairs, (which shall be certified to, under oath, by one or more of its officers) as may be provided by law.

SS. If a general banking law shall be enacted, it shall provide for the registry and countersigning, by an officer of State, of all bills or paper credit, designed to circulate as money, and require security, to the full amount thereof, to be deposited with the State Treasurer, in United States or Illinois State Stocks, to be rated at ten per cent. below their par value; and in case of the depreciation of said stocks to the amount of ten per cent. below par, the bank or banks owning said stocks shall be required to make up said deficiency, by depositing additional stocks. And said law shall also provide for the recording of the names of all stockholders in such corporations, the amount of stock held by each, the time of any transfer thereof, and to whom such transfer is made.

Railroads.

§ 9. Every railroad corporation organized or doing business in this State under the laws or authority thereof, shall have and maintain a public office or place in this State for the transaction or 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 place of residence of its officers. The directors of every railroad corporation shall annually make a report, under oath, to the Auditor of Public Accounts, or some officer to be designated by law, of all their acts and doings, which report shall include such matters relating to railroads as may be prescribed by law. And the General Assembly shall pass laws enforcing, by suitable penalties, the provisions of this section.

§ 10. The rolling stock, and all other movable property belonging to any railroad company or corporation in this State, shall be considered personal property, and shall be liable to execution and sale in the same manner as the personal property of individuals, and the General Assembly shall pass no law exempting any such property from execution and sale.

§ II. No railroad corporation shall consolidate its stock, property or franchises with any other railroad corporation owning a parallel or competing line; and in no case shall any consolidation take place except upon public notice given, of at least sixty days, to all stockholders, in such manner as may be provided by law. A majority of the directors of any railroad corporation now incorporated or hereafter to be incorporated by the laws of this State, shall be citizens and residents of this State.

§ 12. 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 General Assembly shall, 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.

13. 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 no railroad corporation shall be increased for any purpose, except upon giving sixty days public notice, in such manner as may be provided by law.

§ 14. 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 General Assembly, of the property and franchises of incorporated companies already organized, and subjecting them to the public necessity the same as of individuals. The right of trial by jury shall be held inviolate in all trials of claims for compensation, when, in the exercise of the said right of eminent domain, any incorporated company shall be interested either for or against the exercise of said right.

§ 15. The General Assembly shall pass laws to correct abuses and prevent unjust discrimination and extortion in the rates of freight and passenger tariffs on the different railroads 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

ARTICLE XII.

Militia.

SECTION I. The militia of the State of Illinois shall consist of all able-bodied male persons, resident in the State, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, except such persons as now are or hereafter may be exempted by the laws of the United States, or of this State.

§ 2. The General Assembly in providing for the organization, equipment and discipline of the militia, shall conform as nearly as practicable to the regulations for the government of the armies of the United States.

§ 3. All militia officers shall be commissioned by the Governor, and may hold their commissions for such time as the General Assembly may provide.

§ 4. The militia shall, in all cases, except treason, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at musters and elections, and in going to and returning from the same.

§ 5. The military records, banners and relics of the State, shall be preserved as an enduring memorial of the patriotism and valor of Illinois, and it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide by law for the safe keeping of the same.

§ 6. No person having conscientious scruples against bearing arms, shall be compelled to do militia duty in the time of peace: Provided, Such person shall pay an equivalent for such exemption.

ARTICLE XIII.

Warehouses.

SECTION I. All elevators or storehouses where grain or other property is stored for a compensation, whether the property stored be kept separated or not, are declared to be public warehouses.

§ 2. The owner, lessee or manager of each and every public warehouse situated in any town or city of not less than one hundred thousand inhabitants, shall make weekly statements under oath, before some officer to be designated by law, and keep the same posted in some conspicuous place in the office of such warehouse, and shall also file a copy for public examination in such place as shall be designated by law, which statement shall correctly set forth the amount and grade of each and every kind of grain in such warehouse, together with such other property as may be stored therein, and what warehouse receipts have been issued, and are, at the time of making such statement, outstanding therefor; and shall, on the copy posted in the warehouse, note daily such changes as may be made in the quantity and grade of grain in such warehouse; and the different grades of grain shipped in separate lots, shall not be mixed with inferior or superior grades without the consent of the owner or consignee thereof.

§ 3. The owners of property stored in any warehouse, or holder of a receipt for the same, shall always be at liberty to examine such property stored, and all the books and records of the warehouse, in regard to such property.

§ 4. All railroad companies and other common carriers on railroads, shall weigh or measure grain at points where it is shipped, and receipt for the full amount, and shall be responsible for the delivery of such amount to the owner or consignee thereof, at the place of destination.

§ 5. All railroad companies receiving and transporting grain in bulk or otherwise shall deliver the same to any consignee thereof, or any elevator or public warehouse to which it may be consigned, provided such consignee or the elevator or public warehouse can be reached by any track owned, leased or used, or which can be used by such railroad companies; and all railroad companies shall permit connections to be made with their track, so that any such consignee and any public warehouse, coal bank or coal yard may be reached by the cars on said railroad.

§ 6. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to pass all necessary laws to prevent the issue of false and fraudulent warehouse receipts, and to give full effect to this Article of the Constitution, which shall be liberally construed so as to protect producers and shippers. And the enumeration of the remedies herein named shall not be construed to deny to the General Assembly the power to prescribe by law such other and further remedies as may be found expedient, or to deprive any person of existing common law remedies.

§ 7. The General Assembly shall pass laws for the inspection of grain, for the protection of producers, shippers and receivers of grain and produce.

ARTICLE XIV.

Amendments to the Constitution.

SECTION 1. Whenever two-thirds of the members of each House of the General Assembly shall, by a vote entered upon the journals thereof, concur that a Convention is necessary to revise, alter or amend the Constitution, the question shall be submitted to the electors at the next general election. If a majority voting at the election vote for a Convention, the General Assembly shall, at the next session, provide for a Convention, to consist of double the number of members of the Senate, to be elected in the same manner, at the same places, and in the same districts. The General Assembly shall, in the act calling the Convention, designate the day, hour, and place of its meeting, fix the pay of its members and officers, and provide for the payment of the same, together with the expenses necessarily incurred by the Convention in the performance of its duties. Before proceeding, the members shall take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, and of the State of Illinois, and to faithfully discharge their duties as members of the Convention. The qualification of members shall be the same as that of members of the Senate, and vacancies occurring shall be filled in the manner provided for filling vacancies in the General Assembly. Said Convention shall meet within three months after such election, and prepare such revision, alteration or amendments of the Constitution as shall be deemed necessary, which shall be submitted to the electors for their ratification or rejection, at an election appointed by the Convention for that purpose, not less than two nor more than six months after the adjournment thereof; and unless so submitted and approved by a majority of the electors voting at the election, no such revision, alterations, or amendments, shall take effect.

§ 2. Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed in either House of the General Assembly, and if the same shall be voted for by two-thirds of all the members elected to each of the two Houses, such proposed amendments, together with the yeas and nays of each House thereon, shall be entered in full on their respective journals,

and said amendments shall be submitted to the electors of this State for adoption or rejection, at the next election of members of the General Assembly, in such manner as may be prescribed by law. The proposed amendments shall be published in full at least three months preceding the election, and if a majority of the electors voting at said election shall vote for the proposed amendments, they shall become a part of this Constitution. But the General Assembly shall have no power to propose amendments to more than one Article of this Constitution at the same session, nor to the same Article oftener than once in four years.

SECTIONS SEPARATELY SUBMITTED.

Illinois Central Railroad.

No contract, obligation or liability whatever, of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, to pay any money into the State Treasury, nor any lien of the State upon or right to tax property of said Company, in accordance with the provisions of the charter of said Company, approved February 10th, A. D. 1851, shall ever be released, suspended, modified, altered, remitted, or in any manner diminished or impaired, by legislative or other authority; and all moneys derived from said Company after the payment of the State debt, shall be appropriated and set apart for the payment of the ordinary expenses of the State Government, and for no other purposes whatever.

Minority Representation.

The House of Representatives shall consist of three times the number of the members of the Senate, and the term of office shall be two years. Three Representatives shall be elected in each Senatorial District at the general election in the year of our Lord 1872, and every two years thereafter. In all elections of Representatives aforesaid, each qualified voter may cast as many votes for one candidate as there are Representatives to be elected, or may distribute the same, or equal parts thereof, among the candidates, as he shall see fit, and the candidates highest in votes shall be declared elected.

Municipal Subscriptions to Railroad or Private Corporations.

No county, city, town, township, or other municipality, shall ever become subscriber to the capital stock of any railroad or private corporation, or make donation to, or loan its credit in aid of such corporation: Provided, however, That the adoption of this Article shall not be construed as affecting the right of any such municipality to make such subscriptions where the same have been authorized, under existing laws, by a vote of the people of such municipalities prior to such adoption.

Canal.

The Illinois and Michigan Canal shall never be sold or leased until the specific proposition for the sale or lease thereof shall first have been submitted to a vote of the people of the State, at a general election, and have been approved by a majority of all the votes polled at such election.

The General Assembly shall never loan the credit of the State, or make appropriations from the Treasury thereof, in aid of railroads or canals: Provided, That any surplus earnings of any canal may be appropriated for its enlargement or extension.

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