Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

SEC. 2. The term “corporation" as used in this article shall be construed to include all associations and joint stock companies having any of the powers or privileges of corporations not possessed by individuals or partnerships. All corporations shall have the right to sue and be subject to be sued in all courts in like cases as natural persons.

SEC. 3. No corporation shall be created for a longer period than thirty years, except for municipal, railroad, insurance, canal or cemetery purposes or corporations organized without any capital stock for religious, benevolent social or fraternal purposes; but the legislature may provide by general lawi applicable to any corporations, for one or more extensions of the term of sud corporations, while such term is running, not exceeding thirty years for eac extension, on the consent of not less than two-thirds of the capital stock ( the corporation; and by like general laws for the corporate reorganization fo a further period, not exceeding thirty years, of such corporations whose term have expired by limitation, on the consent of not less than four-fifths of t capital stock.

SEC. 4. The stockholders of every corporation and joint stock associatic shall be individually liable for all labor performed for such corporation or ass ciation.

SEC. 5. No corporation shall hold any real estate for a longer period the ten years, except such real estate as shall be actually occupied by such corp ration in the exercise of its franchises.

SEC. 6. The legislature shall pass no law renewing or extending any speci act of incorporation heretofore granted.

SEC. 7. The legislature may, from time to time, pass laws establishing rẻ sonable maximum rates of charges for the transportation of passengers & freight on different railroads in this state, and may pass laws establishing re sonable maximum rates of charges for the transportation of property by e press companies in this state, and may delegate such power to fix reasonal maximum rates of charges for the transportation of freight by railroad com panies and for the transportation of property by express companies to a coi mission created by law; and shall prohibit running contracts between such ra road companies whereby discrimination is made in favor of either of such co panies as against other companies owning connecting or intersecting lines railroad.

SEC. 8. No railroad corporation shall consolidate its stock, property franchises with any other railroad corporation owning a parallel or competir line; and in no case shall any consolidation take place except upon at lea sixty days' public notice to all stockholders in such manner as shall be pr vided by law.

SEC. 9. No general law providing for the incorporation of trust compani or corporations for banking purposes, or regulating the business thereof, sha be adopted. amended or repealed except by a vote of two-thirds of the member elected to each house of the legislature. Such laws shall not authorize the iss of bank notes or paper credit to circulate as money.

ARTICLE XIII.

EMINENT DOMAIN.

SECTION 1. Private property shall not be taken by the public nor by an corporation for public use, without the necessity therefor being first determine and just compensation therefor being first made or secured in such manner : shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 2. When private property is taken for the use or benefit of the publi the necessity for using such property and the just compensation to be mad therefor, except when to be made by the state, shall be ascertained by a ju of twelve freeholders residing in the vicinity of such property, or by not le than three commissioners appointed by a court of record, as shall be prescribe by law: Provided, That the foregoing provision shall not be construed to app to the action of commissioners of highways or road commissioners in the offici discharge of their duties.

SEC. 3. Private roads may be opened in the manner prescribed by law; but every case the necessity for the road and the amount of all damages to be stained by the opening thereof shall be first determined by a jury of six eholders or by not less than three commissioners, and such amount, together th the expense of proceedings, shall be paid by the person or persons to be efited.

SEC. 4. The regents of the university of Michigan shall have power to te private property for the use of the university, in the manner prescribed law.

ARTICLE XIV.

EXEMPTIONS.

SECTION 1. The personal property of every resident of this state, to conof such property only as shall be designated by law, shall be exempted to amount of not less than five hundred dollars from sale on execution or er final process of any court.

SEC. 2. Every homestead of not exceeding forty acres of land and the elling house thereon and the appurtenances to be selected by the owner reof and not included in any town plat, city or village; or instead thereof, the option of the owner, any lot in any city, village or recorded town plat, such parts of lots as shall be equal thereto, and the dwelling house thereon its appurtenances, owned and occupied by any resident of the state, not eeding in value fifteen hundred dollars, shall be exempt from forced sale execution or any other final process from a court. Such exemption shall not end to any mortgage thereon lawfully obtained, but such mortgage or other enation of such land by the owner thereof, if a married man, shall not be d without the signature of his wife to the same.

SEC. 3. The homestead of a family, after the death of the owner thereof, all be exempt from the payment of his debts in all cases during the minority as children.

SEC. 4. If the owner of a homestead die, leaving a widow but no children, homestead shall be exempt, and the rents and profits thereof shall accrue ber benefit during the time of her widowhood, unless she be the owner of a nestead in her own right.

ARTICLE XV.

MILITIA.

SECTION 1. The militia shall be composed of all able-bodied male citizens ween the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, except such as are exempted the laws of the United States or of this state; but all such citizens of any igious denomination, who, from scruples of conscience, may be averse to bear[ arms, shall be excused therefrom upon such conditions as shall be preibed by law.

SEC. 2. The legislature shall provide by law for organizing, equipping and ciplining the militia in such manner as it shall deem expedient, not incomtible with the laws of the United States.

SEC. 3. Officers of the militia shall be elected or appointed and be comssioned in such manner as may be prescribed by law.

ARTICLE XVI.
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

SECTION 1. The terms of office of all elective state officers and of all judges courts of record shall begin on the first day of January next succeeding their rtion, except as otherwise prescribed in this constitution. The terms of ice of all county officers shall begin on the first day of January next suceding their election, except as otherwise prescribed by law.

SEC. 2. Members of the legislature and all officers, executive and judicial, cept such officers as may by law be exempted, shall, before they enter on the ities of their respective offices, take and subscribe the following oath or affiration: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the constitution

of the United States and the constitution of this state, and that I will faithfull discharge the duties of the office of according to the best of m ability." No other oath, declaration or test shall be required as a qualificatio for any office or public trust.

SEC. 3. Neither the legislature nor any municipal authority shall grant authorize extra compensation to any public officer, agent, employee or contract after the service has been rendered or the contract entered into. Salaries public officers, except circuit judges, shall not be increased, nor shall the sala of any public officer be decreased, after election or appointment.

SEC. 4. In case two or more persons have an equal and the highest num of votes for any office, as canvassed by the board of state canvassers, the leg lature in joint convention shall choose one of said persons to fill such off When the determination of the board of state canvassers is contested, the le lature in joint convention shall decide which person is elected.

SEC. 5. The legislature may provide by law the cases in which any of shall be deemed vacant and the manner of filling vacancies, where no pr sion is made in this constitution.

SEC. 6. The laws, public records and the written judicial and legislat proceedings of the state shall be conducted, promulgated and preserved in English language.

SEC. 7. The legislature may establish courts of conciliation with s powers and duties as shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 8. The real and personal estate of every woman, acquired before i riage, and all property to which she may afterwards become entitled by { grant, inheritance or devise shall be and remain the estate and property of i woman, and shall not be liable for the debts, obligations or engagements of husband, and may be devised or bequeathed by her as if she were unmarrie SEC. 9. Aliens, who are or who may hereafter become bona fide resid of this state, shall enjoy the same rights in respect to the possession, enjoyr and inheritance of property as native born citizens.

SEC. 10. No lease or grant of agricultural land for agricultural purp for a longer period than twelve years, reserving any rent or service of kind, shall be valid.

SEC. 11. The manufacture, sale, keeping for sale, giving away, barte or furnishing of any vinous, malt, brewed, fermented, spirituous or intoxica liquors, except for medicinal, mechanical, chemical, scientific or sacrame purposes shall be after April 30, 1918, prohibited in the state forever. legislature shall by law provide regulations for the sale of such liquors medicinal, mechanical, chemical, scientific and sacramental purposes.9

ARTICLE XVII.

AMENDMENT AND REVISION.

SECTION 1. Any amendment or amendments to this constitution may proposed in the senate or house of representatives. If the same shall be ag to by two-thirds of the members elected to each house, such amendment amendments shall be entered on the journals, respectively, with the yeas nays taken thereon; and the same shall be submitted to the electors at the spring or autumn election thereafter, as the legislature shall direct; and. majority of electors qualified to vote for members of the legislature vo thereon shall ratify and approve such amendment or amendments the same s become part of the constitution.

SEC. 2. Amendments may also be proposed to this constitution by peti of the qualified voters of this state. Every such petition shall include the text of the amendment so proposed and be signed by not less than ten per of the legal voters of the state. Initiative petitions proposing an amendmer this constitution shall be filed with the secretary of state at least four mo before the election at which such proposed amendment is to be voted upon. I receipt of such petition by the secretary of state, he shall canvass the san ascertain if such petition has been signed by the requisite number of qual 'Amendment proposed by the initiative and ratified on November 7, 1916.

se.

ectors, and if the same has been so signed, the proposed amendment shall be bmitted to the electors at the next regular election at which any state officer to be elected. Any constitutional amendment initiated by the people as herein ovided, shall take effect and become a part of the constitution if the same all be approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon and not otherEvery amendment shall take effect thirty days after the election at hich it is approved. The total number of votes cast for governor at the regar election last preceding the filing of any petition proposing an amendment the constitution, shall be the basis upon which the number of legal voters cessary to sign such a petition shall be computed. The secretary of state shall bmit all proposed amendments to the constitution initiated by the people for option or rejection in compliance herewith. The petition shall consist of eets in such form and having printed or written at the top thereof such headg as shall be designated or prescribed by the secretary of state. Such petition all be signed by qualified voters in person only, with the residence address such persons and the date of signing the same. To each of said petitions, ich may consist of one or more sheets, shall be attached the affidavit of the etor circulating the same, stating that each signature thereto is the genuine mature of the person signing the same, and that to the best knowledge and lief of the affiant each person signing the petition was at the time of signing qualified elector. Such petition so verified shall be prima facie evidence that e signatures thereon are genuine, and that the persons signing the same are alified electors. The text of all amendments to be submitted shall be pubhed as constitutional amendments are now required to be published.10 SEC. 3. All proposed amendments to the constitution submitted to the tors shall be published in full, with any existing provisions of the constituwhich would be altered or abrogated thereby, and a copy thereof shall be ted at each registration and election place. Proposed amendments shall also printed in full on a ballot or ballots separate from the ballot containing the es of nominees for public office.

Amendment proposed by the legislature of 1913 and ratified at the election of ril 7, 1913. The text of the original section is as follows: Section 2. Amendnts may also be proposed to this constitution by petition of the qualified electors this state, but no proposed amendment shall be submitted to the electors unless e number of petitioners therefor shall exceed twenty per cent of the total number electors voting for secretary of state at the preceding election of such officer. All titions shall contain the full text of any proposed amendment, together with any isting provisions of the constitution which would be altered or abrogated thereby. ch petitions shall be signed at the regular registration or election places at a qular registration or election under the supervision of the officials thereof, who all verify the genuineness of the signatures and certify the fact that the signers è registered electors of the respective townships and cities in which they reside, d shall forthwith forward the petitions to the secretary of state. All petitions amendments filed with the secretary of state shall be certified by that officer the legislature at the opening of its next regular session; and, when such petitions any one proposed amendment shall be signed by not less than the required number petitioners, he shall also submit the proposed amendment to the electors at the st regular election thereafter, unless the legislature in joint convention shall disprove of the proposed amendment by a majority vote of the members elected. The islature may, by a like vote, submit an alternative or a substitute proposal on e same subject. The action of the legislature shall be entered on the journal each house, with the yeas and nays taken thereon. But no amendment to this tion may be proposed in the manner herein prescribed.

If a majority of the electors qualified to vote for members of the legislature ting thereon, shall ratify and approve any such amendment or amendments, the shall become a part of the constitution: Provided, That for any amendment prounder this section, the affirmative vote shall be not less than one-third of the ghest number of votes cast at the said election for any office. In case alternative posed amendments on the same subject are submitted at the same election, the vote all be for one of such alternatives or against such proposed amendments as a whole. the affirmative vote for one proposed amendment is the required majority of all e votes cast for and against such proposed amendments, it shall become a part of constitution. If the total affirmative vote for such alternative proposed amendents is the required majority of all the votes for and against them, but no oposed amendment receives such majority, then the proposed amendment which ives the largest number of affirmative votes shall be submitted at the next regular ction, and if it then receives the required majority of all the votes cast thereon it all become a part of the. constitution. The legislature shall enact appropriate laws ■carry out the provisions of this section.

one

SEC. 4. At the general election to be held in the year nineteen hundre twenty-six, in each sixteenth year thereafter and at such other times as ma be provided by law, the question of a general revision of the constitution sha be submitted to the electors qualified to vote for members of the legislatur In case a majority of such electors voting at such election shall decide in fav of a convention for such purpose, at the next biennial spring election the electo of each senatorial district of the state as then organized shall elect three del gates. The delegates so elected shall convene at the state capitol on the fir Tuesday in September next succeeding such election, and shall continue the sessions until the business of the convention shall be completed. A majori of the delegates elected shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of bi ness. The convention shall choose its own officers, determine the rules of proceedings and judge of the qualifications, elections and returns of its me bers. In case of a vacancy by death, resignation or otherwise, of any delega such vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the governor of a qualified r dent of the same district. The convention shall have power to appoint st officers, employees and assistants as it may deem necessary and to fix th compensation, and to provide for the printing and distribution of its docume journals and proceedings. Each delegate shall receive for his services the $ of one thousand dollars and the same mileage as shall then be payable members of the legislature, but such compensation may be increased by law. proposed constitution or amendment adopted by such convention shall be mitted to the electors for approval as hereinafter provided unless by the ast of a majority of all the delegates elected to the convention, the yeas and being entered on the journal. Any proposed constitution or amendm adopted by such convention shall be submitted to the qualified electors in manner provided by such convention on the first Monday in April following final adjournment of the convention; but, in case an interval of at least ni days shall not intervene between such final adjournment and the date of § election, then it shall be submitted at the next general election. Upon the proval of such constitution or amendments by a majority of the qualified el ors voting thereon such constitution or amendments shall take effect on first day of January following the approval thereof.

SCHEDULE.

That no inconvenience may arise from the changes in the constitution this state, and in order to carry the same into complete operation, it is her declared that:

SECTION 1. The common law and the statute laws now in force, not rep nant to this constitution, shall remain in force until they expire by their limitations, or are altered or repealed.

SEC. 2. All writs, actions, causes of action, prosecutions and rights of in viduals, and of bodies corporate, and of the state, and all charters of inco ration which shall not have been heretofore forfeited or become subject to feiture shall continue; and all complaints, informations or indictments wh shall have been made, filed or found or which may hereafter be made, filed found for any crime or offense committed before the adoption of this const tion, may be proceeded upon as if no change had taken place. The sev courts shall continue with the same powers and jurisdiction, both at law in equity, as heretofore, until otherwise provided by law.

SEC. 3. All fines, taxes, penalties, forfeitures and escheats, accruing to state or any municipal corporation under the existing constitution and la shall accrue to the use of the state or such municipal corporation under constitution.

SEC. 4. All recognizances, bonds, obligations and all other instrum entered into or executed before the adoption of this constitution to the pe of this state, or to any municipal corporation, or to any public officer or pu body, or which may be entered into or executed under existing laws to people of this state or to any such officer or public body shall remain bing and valid, and rights and liabilities upon the same shall continue and may

« AnteriorContinuar »