located may direct; but districts in cities of over one hundred thousand inhabitants shall be divided by the courts of Quarter Sessions, having jurisdiction therein, whenever at the next preceding election more than two hundred and fifty votes shall have been polled therein; and other election districts whenever the court of the proper county shall be of opinion that the convenience of the electors and the public interests will be promoted thereby.

Viva Voce Elections-When Used.

Section 12. All elections by persons in a representative capacity shall be viva

voce.

Residence and Right to Vote of Government Officials and Certain Other Electors.

Section 13. For the purpose of voting no person shall be deemed to have gained a residence by reason of his presence, or lost it by reason of his absence, while employed in the service, either civil or military, of this State or of the United States nor while engaged in the navigation of the waters of the State or of the United States, or on the high seas, nor while a student of any institution of learning, nor while kept in any poor house or other asylum at public expense, nor while confined in public prison.

District Election Boards-Of What Consisting-Privileges.

Section 14. District election boards shall consist of a judge and two inspectors, who shall be chosen annually by the citizens. Each elector shall have the right to vote for the judge and one inspector, and each inspector shall appoint one clerk. The first election board for any new district shall be selected, and vacancies in election boards filled, as shall be provided by law. Election officers shall be privileged from arrest upon days of election, and while engaged in making up and transmitting returns, except upon warrant of a court of record or judge thereof, for an election fraud, for felony, or for wanton breach of the peace. cities they may claim exemption from jury duty during their terms of service.

Election Officers-Qualifications of-Eligibility to Civil Office.

In

Section 15. No person shall be qualified to serve as an election officer who shall hold, or shall within two months have held any office, appointment or employment in or under the government of the United States or of this State, or of any city, or county, or of any municipal board, commission or trust in any city, save only justices of the peace and aldermen, notaries public and persons in the militia service of the State; nor shall any election officer be eligible to any civil office to be filled at an election at which he shall serve, save only to such subordinate municipal or local offices, below the grade of city or county offices, as shall be designated by general law.

Overseers of Election-How Appointed-Number of-Qualifications-Powers of.

Section 16. The courts of Common Pleas of the several counties of the Commonwealth shall have power, within their respective jurisdictions, to appoint overseers of election to supervise the proceedings of election officers and to make report to the court as may be required; such appointments to be made for any district in a city or county upon petition of five citizens, lawful voters of such election district, setting forth that such apportionment is a reasonable precaution to secure the purity and fairness of elections; overseers shall be two in number for an election district, shall be residents therein, and shall be persons qualified to serve upon election boards, and in each case members of different political parties: whenever the members of an election board shall differ in opinion the overseers, if they shall be agreed thereon, shall decide the question of difference; in appointing overseers of election all the law judges of the proper court, able to act at the time, shall concur in the appointments made.

Trial of Contested Elections-To be by Courts of Law-Legislature to Pass Laws Regulating. Section 17. The trial and determination of contested elections of electors of President and Vice-President, members of the General Assembly, and of all public officers, whether State, judicial, municipal or local, shall be by the courts of law, or by one or more of the law judges thereof; the General Assembly shall, by general law, designate the courts and judges by whom the several classes of election contests shall be tried, and regulate the manner of trial and all matters incident thereto; but no such law assigning jurisdiction, or regulating its exercise, shall apply to any contest arising out of an election held before its passage.

ARTICLE IX.

TAXATION AND FINANCE.

Uniformity of Taxation-Exemption Under General Laws.

Section 1. All taxes shall be uniform, upon the same class of subjects, within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax, and shall be levied and collected under general laws; but the General Assembly may, by general laws, exempt from taxation public property used for public purposes, actual places of religious worship, places of burial not used or held for private or corporate profit, and institutions of purely public charity.

Section 2.

Exemption from Taxation Restricted.

All laws exempting property from taxation, other than the property above enumerated, shall be void.

Taxation of Corporations.

Section 3. The power to tax corporations and corporate property shall not be surrendered or suspended by any contract or grant to which the State shall be a party.

State Debts-Creation of, Restricted.

*Section 4. No debts shall be created by or on behalf of the State, except to supply casual deficiencies of revenue. repel invasion. suppress insurrection, defend the state in war, or to pay existing debt; and the debt created to supply deficiencies in revenue shall never exceed in the aggregate, at any one time, oné million dollars: Provided, however, That the General Assembly, irrespective of any debt, may authorize the State to issue bonds to the amount of fifty millions of dollars for the purpose of improving and rebuilding the highways of the Commonwealth.

Laws Authorizing State Indebtedness Shall Specify the Purpose.

Section 5. All laws, authorizing the borrowing of money by and on behalf of the State, shall specify the purpose for which the money is to be used, and the money so borrowed shall be used for the purpose specified and no other.

Pledging of State Credit-Holding of Certain Securities Prohibited.

Section 6. The credit of the Commonwealth shall not be pledged or loaned to any individual, company, corporation or association, nor shall the Commonwealth become a joint owner or stockholder in any company, association or corporation.

Municipalities Not to Become Stockholders in Corporations.

Section 7. The General Assembly shall not authorize any county, city, borough, township or incorporated district to become a stockholder in any company, association or corporation, or to obtain or appropriate money for, or to loan its credit to, ang corporation, association, institution or individual.

*Section 4 of Article 9, as given above, is Amendment No. 1, as adopted by a vote of the people November 5, 1918. The section in the original Constitution read as follows:

Section 4. No debt shall be created by or on behalf of the State, except to supply casual deficiencies of revenue, repel invasion, suppress insurrection, defend the State in war, or to pay existing debt; and the debt created to supply deficiencies in revenue shall never exceed, in the aggregate at any one time, one million of dollars.

Municipal Debt, Amount of, Limited.

*Section 8. The debt of any county, city, borough, township, school district, or other municipality or incorporated district, except as provided herein, and in section fifteen, of this article, shall never exceed seven (7) per centum upon the assessed value of the taxable property therein, but the debt of the city of Philadelphia may be increased in such amount that the total city debt of said city shail not exceed ten per centum (10) upon the assessed value of the taxable property therein, nor shall any such municipality or district incur any new debt, or increase its indebtedness to an amount exceeding two (2) per centum upon such assessed valuation of property, without the consent of the electors thereof at a public election in such manner as shall be provided by law. In ascertaining the borrowing capacity of the city of Philadelphia, at any time, there shall be deducted from such debt so much of the debt of said city as shall have been incurred, or is about to be incurred, and the proceeds thereof expended, or about to be expended, upon any public improvement, or in the construction, purchase, or condemnation of any public utility, or part thereof, or facility therefor, if such public improvement or public utility, or part thereof, whether separaty or in connection with any other public improvement or public utility, or part thereof, may reasonably be expected to yield revenue in excess of operating expenses sufficient to pay the interest and sinking-fund charges thereon. The method of determining such amount, so to be deducted, may be prescribed by the General Assembly.

In incurring indebtedness for any purpose the city of Philadelphia may issue its obligations maturing not later than fifty (50) years from the date thereof, with provisions for a sinking-fund suflicient to retire said obligations at maturity, the payment to such sinking-fund to be in equal or graded annual or other periodical instalments. Where any indebtedness shall be or shall have been incurred by said city of Philadelphia for the purpose of the construction or improvements of public works or utilities of any character, from which income or revenue is to be derived by said city, or for the reclamation of land to be used in the construction of wharves or docks owned or to be owned by said city, such obligations may be in an amount sufficient to provide for, and may include the amount of, the interest and sinking-fund charges accruing and which may accrue thereon throughout the period of construction, and until the expiration of one year after the completion of the work for which said indebtedness shall have been incurred; and said city shall not be required to levy a tax to pay said interest and sinking-fund charges as required by section ten, article nine of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, until the expiration of said period of one year after the completion of said work.

State Not to Assume Municipal Debts-Exceptions.

Section 9. The Commonwealth shall not assume the debt, or any part thereof, of any city, county, borough or township, unless such debt shall have been contracted to enable the State to repel invasion, suppress domestic insurrection, defend itself in time of war, or to assist the State in the discharge of any portion of its present indebtedness.

Municipalities Incurring Indebtedness Must Provide for Payment by Annual Tax. Section 10. Any county, township, school district or other municipality incurring any indebtedness shall, at or before the time of so doing, provide for the collection of an annual tax sufficient to pay the interest and also the principal thereof within thirty years.

State Sinking Fund-Of what Consisting-To be Increased-How Expended. Section 11. To provide for the payment of the present State debt, and any additional debt contracted as aforesaid, the General Assembly shall continue and maintain the sinking fund, sufficient to pay the accruing interest on such debt. and annually to reduce the principal thereof by a sum not less than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars; the said sinking fund shall consist of the proceeds of the sales of the public works or any part thereof, and of the income or proceeds of the sale of any stocks owned by the Commonwealth, together with other funds and resources that may be designated by law, and shall be increased from time to time by assigning to it any part of the taxes or other revenues of the State not required for the ordinary and current expenses of government; and unless in case of war, invasion or insurrection, no part of the said sinking fund shall be used or applied otherwise than in the extinguishment of the public debt.

*Section 8 of Article 9, as given above, is amendment No. 2, as adopted by a vote of the people November 2, 1920. The section in the original Constitution read as follows: Section 8. The debt of any county, city, borough, township, school district or other municipality or incorporated district, except as herein provided, shall never exceed seven per centum upon the assessed value of the taxable property therein, nor shall any such municipality or district incur y new debt, or increase its indebtedness to an amount exceeding two per centum upon sucn assessed valuation of property, without the assent of the electors thereof at a public election in such manner as shall be provided by law; but any city, the debt of which now exceeds seven per centum of such assessed valuation, may be autorized by law to increase the same three per centum, in the aggregate at any one time upon such valuation.

Amendments were also adopted to this section by a vote of the people on November 7, 1911; November 2. 1915; and November 5, 1918.

†See also Section 15, Article 9.

Surplus Funds Applied to State Indebtedness-Sinking Fund Investments.

Section 12. The moneys of the State, over and above the necessary reserve, shall be used in the payment of the debt of the State, either directly or through the sinking fund, and the moneys of the sinking fund shall never be invested in or loaned upon the security of anything, except the bonds of the United States or of this State.

Reserve Funds Limited-Monthly Statements to be Published.

Section 13. The moneys held as necessary reserve shall be limited by law to the amount required for current expenses, and small De secured and kept as inay be provided by law. Monthly statements shall be published showing the amount of such moneys, where the same are deposited, and how secured.

Misuse of Public Moneys-Penalty for.

Section 14. The making of profit out of the public moneys or using the same for any purpose not authorized by law by any officer of the State, or member or officer of the General Assembly, shall be a misdemeanor and shall be punished as may be provided by law, but part of such punishment shall be disqualification to hold office for a period of not less than five years.

Certain Municipal Obligations not to be Considered as a Debt-Increase of Municipal Debt. *Section 15. No obligations which have been heretofore issued, or which may hereafter be issued, by any county or municipality, other than Philadelphia, to provide for the construction or acquisition of waterworks, subways, underground railways or street railways, or the appurtenances thereof, shall be considered as a debt of a municipality, within the meaning of seedon eight or article nie of the Constitution of Pennsylvania or of this amendment, if the net revenue derived from said property for a period of five years, either before or after the acquisition thereof, or, where the same is constructed by the county or municipality, after the completion thereof, shall have been sufficient to pay interest and sinking fund charges during said period upon said obligations, or if the said obligations shall be secured by liens upon the respective properties, and shall impose no municipal liability. Where municipalities or counties shall issue obligations to provide for the construction of property, as herein provided, said municipalities or counties may also issue obligations to provide for the interest and sinking tund charges accruing thereon until said properties shall have been completed and in operation for a period of one year; and said municipalities and counties shall not be required to levy a tax to pay said interest and sinking-fund charges, as required by section ten of article nine of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, until after said properties shall have been operated by said counties or municipalities during said period of one year. Any of the said municipalities or counties may incur indebtedness in excess of seven per centum, and not exceeding ten per centum, of the assessed valuation of the taxable property therein, if said increase of indebtedness shall have been assented to by three-fifths of the electors voting at a public election, in such manner as shall be provided by law.

ARTICLE X.

EDUCATION.

Public Schools Provided for.

Section 1. The General Asserably shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public schools, wherein all the children of this Commonwealth above the age of six years may be educated, and shall appropriate at least one million dollars each year for that purpose.

Sectarian Schools not to Receive Public School Money.

Section 2. No money raised for the support of the public schools of the Commonwealth shall be appropriated to or used for the support of any sectarian school.

Females Eligible as School Officers.

Section 3. Women twenty-one years of age and upwards, shall be eligible to any office of control or management under the school laws of this State.

*Section 15 of Article 9, as given above, is Amendment No. 5. as adopted by a vote of the people November 4, 1913.

ARTICLE XI.

MILITIA.

Militia to be Organized-Maintenance-Exemption from Military Service.

Section 1. The freemen of this Commonwealth shall be armed, organized and disciplined for its defence when and in such manner as may be directed by law. The General Assembly shall provide for maintaining the ia by appropriat ons from the treasury of the Commonwealth, and may exempt from military service persons having conscientious scruples against bearing arms.

ARTICLE XII.

PUBLIC OFFICERS.

Selection of Officers not Otherwise Provided for in Constitution.

*Section 1. All officers whose clection is not provided for in this Constitution, shall be elected or appointed as may be directed by law: Provided. That elections of State officers shall be held on a general election day, and elections of local officers shall be held on a municipal election day, except when, in either case, special elections may be required to fill unexpired terms.

United States Officers Cannot Hold Remunerative State Offices Incompatible Offices. Section 2. No member of Congress from this State, nor any person holding or exercising any office or appointment of trust or profit under the United States, shall at the same time hold or exercise any office in this State to which a salary, fees or perquisites shall be attached. The General Assembly may by law declare what offices are incompatible.

Dueling Disqualifies from Holding Office-Further Punishment.

Section 3. Any person who shall fight a duel or send a challenge for that purpose, or be aider or abettor in fighting a duel, shall be deprived of the right of holding any office of honor or profit in this State, and may be otherwise punished as shall be prescribed by law.

ARTICLE XIII..

NEW COUNTIES.

New Counties-Restrictions in Forming.

Section 1. No new county shall be established which shall reduce any county to less than four hundred square miles, or to less than twenty thousand inhabitants: nor shall any county be formed of less area, or containing a less population; nor shall any line thereof pass within ten miles of the county seat of any county proposed to be divided.

ARTICLE XIV.
COUNTY OFFICERS.

County Officers Enumerated-Sheriff and Treasurer Ineligible to Succeed Themselves. Section 1. County officers shall consist of sheriffs, coroners, prothonotaries, registers of wills, recorders of deeds, commissioners, treasurers, surveyors, auditors or controllers, clerks of the courts, district attorneys and such others as may from time to time be established by law; and no sheriff or treasurer shall be eng ble for the term next succeeding the one for which he may be elected.

Election of County Officers-Terms--Vacancies.

Section 2. County officers shall be elected at the municipal elections and shall hold their offices for the term of four years, beginning on the first Monday of January next after their election, and until their successors shall be duly qualified; all vacancies not otherwise provided for, shall be filled in such manner as may be provided by law.

One Year's Residence Necessary to Qualify for Appointment to a County Office. Section 3. No person shall be appointed to any office within any county who shall not have been a citizen and an inhabitant therein one year next before his appointment, if the county shall have been so long erected, but if it shall not have been so long erected, then within the limits of the county or counties out of which it shall have been taken.

*Section 1 of Article 12, as given above, is Amendment No. 8, as adopted by a vote of the people November 2, 1909. The section previously read as follows:

Section 1. All officers whose selection is not provided for in this Constitution, shall be elected or appointed as may be directed by law.

section 2 of Article 14, as given above, is Amendment No. 9, as adopted by a vote of the people November 2, 1909. The section previously read as follows:

Section 2. County officers shall be elected at the general elections and shall hold their offices for the term of three years, beginning on the first Monday of January next after their election, and until their successors shall be duly qualified; all vacancies not otherwise provided for, shall be filled in such manner as may be provided by law.