of all gifts, devises, and bequests, made by any person Feb. 14, 1859. to the state for common-school purposes; the proceeds of all property granted to the state, when the purposes of such grant shall not be stated; all the proceeds of the five hundred thousand acres of land to which this state is entitled by the provisions of an act of Congress, entitled "An act to appropriate the proceeds of the sales of the public lands, and to grant pre-emption rights, approved September 4, 1841," and also the five per centum. of the net proceeds of the sales of the public lands, to which this state shall become entitled on her admission into the Union (if Congress shall consent to such appropriation of the two grants last mentioned) shall be set apart as a separate and irreducible fund, to be called the common-school fund, the interest of which, together with all other revenues derived from the school land mentioned in this section, shall be exclusively applied to the support and maintenance of common schools in each school district, and the purchase of suitable libraries and apparatus therefor. mon schools. § 3. The legislative assembly shall provide by law for System of comthe establishment of a uniform and general system of common schools. school fund. § 4. Provision shall be made by law for the distribu- Distribution of tion of the income of the common-school fund among the several counties of the state, in proportion to the number of children resident therein, between the ages of four and twenty years. lands. 5. The governor, secretary of state, and state treas- Sale of school urer shall constitute a board of commissioners for the sale of school and university lands, and for the investment of the funds arising therefrom, and their powers and duties shall be such as may be prescribed by law; provided, that no part of the university funds, or of the interest arising therefrom, shall be expended until the period of ten years from the adoption of this constitution, unless the same shall be otherwise disposed of by the consent of Congress for common-school purposes. Feb. 14, 1859. Control of funds by the board of commissioners. The legislature cannot take from the board of commissioners created by this section of the constitution the control of the funds arising from the sale of school and university lands, and vest it in the treasurers of the counties where the land lies: Fleischner v. Chadwick, 5 Or. 152. ARTICLE IX. FINANCE. § 1. The legislative assembly shall provide by law for uniform and equal rate of assessment and taxation; and shall prescribe such regulations as shall secure a just valuation for taxation of all property, both real and personal, excepting such only for municipal, educational, literary, scientific, religious, or charitable purposes, as may be specially exempted by law. property within the purview of this section, and are therefore subject to taxation: Poppleton v. Yamhill County, 8 Or. 337. Mortgages upon land in the state may be taxed as property, irrespective of where the owner of debt thereby secured resides: Mumford v. Sewell, 11 Or. 67. No class of property not falling within the exceptions specified in the constitution can be exempted by legis lation from taxation: Crawford v. Linn County, 11 Or. 482; Dundee Mortgage etc. Co. v. School District, 10 Saw. 52. § 2. The legislative assembly shall provide for raising revenue sufficient to defray the expenses of the state for each fiscal year, and also a sufficient sum to pay the interest on the state debt, if there be any. § 3. No tax shall be levied except in pursuance of law, and every law imposing a tax shall state distinctly the object of the same, to which only it shall be applied. § 4. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in pursuance of appropriations made by law. § 5. An accurate statement of the receipts and expenditures of the public money shall be published with the laws of each regular session of the legislative assembly. § 6. Whenever the expenses of any fiscal year shall exceed the income, the legislative assembly shall provide for levying a tax for the ensuing fiscal year, sufficient, Feb. 14, 1859. with other sources of income, to pay the deficiency, as well as the estimated expense of the ensuing fiscal year. tions. § 7. Laws making appropriations for the salaries of Appropria public officers and other current expenses of the state shall contain provisions upon no other subject. unpaid. The phrase "current ex- 14 Or. 314. how fur Current expenses of the state. Laws making appropriations for salaries of officers, and "current expenses of the state" may embrace appropriations for expenses incurred in the past and remaining § 8. All stationery required for the use of the state Stationery, shall be furnished by the lowest responsible bidder, nished. under such regulations as may be prescribed by law. But no state officer, or member of the legislative assembly, shall be interested in any bid or contract for furnishing such stationery. ARTICLE X. MILITIA. § 1. The militia of this state shall consist of all able- Militia bodied male citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, except such persons as now are or hereafter may be exempted by the laws of the United States. or of this state. § 2. Persons, whose religious tenets or conscientious Who exempt. scruples forbid them to bear arms, shall not be compelled to do so in time of peace, but shall pay an equivalent for personal service. § 3. The governor shall appoint the adjutant-general officers. and the other chief officers of the general staff, and his own staff, and all officers of the line shall be elected by the persons subject to military duty in their respective districts. § 4. The majors-general, brigadiers-general, colonels Staff-officers. or commandants of regiments, battalions, or squadrons, shall severally appoint their staff-officers, and the gov commission. ernor shall commission all officers of the line and staff Governor to ranking as such. Feb. 14, 1859. make regula tions for militia. § 5. The legislative assembly shall fix by law the Legislature to method of dividing the militia into divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions, and companies, and make all other needful rules and regulations in such manner as they may deem expedient, not incompatible with the constitution or laws of the United States, or of the constitution of this state, and shall fix the rank of all staff-officers. Prohibition of banks. ARTICLE XI. CORPORATIONS AND INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. § 1. The legislative assembly shall not have the power to establish or incorporate any bank, or banking company, or moneyed institution whatever; nor shall any bank, company, or institution exist in the state with the privilege of making, issuing, or putting into circulation. any bill, check, certificate, promissory note, or other paper, or the paper of any bank, company, or person, to circulate as money. Limitation of power to estab- called attention to the fact that this section of the constitution, as engrossed, is without punctuation. The semicolon which appears after the word 'whatever,' as printed in former compilations of the laws, is considered by the supreme court a clerical error. A comma is inserted in this compilation, in place of the semicolon, as the natural punctuation. § 2. Corporations may be formed under general laws, but shall not be created by special laws, except for municorporation. cipal purposes. All laws passed pursuant to this section may be altered, amended, or repealed, but not so as to impair or destroy any vested corporate rights. Corporations to be formed under general laws. Municipal Liability of stockholders. 12 Or. 324. § 3. The stockholders of all corporations and jointstock companies shall be liable for the indebtedness of said corporation to the amount of their stock subscribed and unpaid, and no more. Stockholder's liability.-The individual liability of stockholders for the debts of the corporation is limited by this section to the amount of their stock subscribed and unpaid. When their stock subscriptions are paid up, they are discharged from all personal liability: Bush v. Cartwright, 7 Or. 329; Hodges et al. v. Silver Hill Mining Co., 9 Id. 200. § 4. No person's property shall be taken by any cor- Feb. 14, 1859. poration, under authority of law, without compensation compensation being first made or secured in such manner as may be taken by cor. prescribed by law. Appropriation of land by railway company. -The legislature cannot authorize by any process a private corporation to appropriate the property of an individual without just compensation first assessed and tendered: 0. R. Co. v. Hill, 9 Or. 377. Compensation for property appro- for property poration. 18 Or. 249. Measure of compensation. § 5. Acts of legislative assembly incorporating towns Restrictions and cities shall restrict their powers of taxation, borrow- pal corporaing money, contracting debts, and loaning their credit. Contracting debts. - Entering into an agreement by a municipal corporation to pay certain sums in the future in installments is "contracting debts' to the aggregate amount of the payments agreed to be made, notwithstanding the municipality has the power to raise a sufficient sum by taxation to meet the payments as they fall due; and if the amount exceed that to which the corporation is limited by its charter, the agreement is void: Salem Water Co. v. Salem, 5 Or. 29. An ordinance upon municitions. stockholder in § 6. The state shall not subscribe to or be interested State not to be in the stock of any company, association, or corpora- company. tion. not to be upon power of debts. § 7. The legislative assembly shall not loan the credit Credit of state of the state, nor in any manner create any debts or lia- loaned. bilities which shall singly or in the aggregate with pre- Limitation vious debts or liabilities exceed the sum of fifty thousand contracting dollars, except in case of war, or to repel invasion or suppress insurrection; and every contract of indebtedness entered into or assumed by or on behalf of the state, when all its liabilities and debts amount to said sum, shall be void and of no effect. sume county § 8. The state shall never assume the debts of any State not to ascounty, town, or other corporation whatever, unless debts, unless. such debts shall have been created to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or defend the state in war. |