ficers, as well as for the fees which may be collected by them, as for all public or municipal moneys which may be paid to them.

SEC. 7. Three county commissioners and three county auditors shall be elected in each county where such officers are chosen, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventyfive and every third year thereafter; and in the election of said officers each qualified elector shall vote for no more than two persons, and the three persons having the highest number of votes shall be elected; any casual vacancy in the office of county commissioner or county auditor shall be filled by the court of common pleas of the county in which such vacancy shall occur, by the appointment of an elector of the proper county who shall have voted for the commissioner or auditor whose place is to be filled.

ARTICLE XV.

CITIES AND CITY CHARTERS.

SEC. 1. Cities may be chartered whenever a majority of the electors of any town or borough having a population of at least ten thousand shall vote at any general election in favor of the

same.

SEC. 2. No debt shall be contracted or liability incurred by any municipal commission, except in pursuance of an appropriation previously made therefor by the municipal government. SEC. 3. Every city shall create a sinking fund, which shall be inviolably pledged for the payment of its funded debt.

ARTICLE XVI.

PRIVATE CORPORATIONS.

SEC. 1. All existing charters, or grants of special or exclusive privileges, under which a bona fide organization shall not have taken place and business been commenced in good faith, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall thereafter have no validity.

SEC. 2. The General Assembly shall not remit the forfeiture of the charter of any corporation now existing, or alter or amend the same, or pass any other general or special law for the benefit of such corporation, except upon the condition that such corporation shall thereafter hold its charter subject to the provisions of this Constitution.

SEC. 3. The exercise of the right of eminent domain shall never be abridged or so construed as to prevent the General Assembly from taking the property and franchises of incorporated companies, and subjecting them to public use, the same as the property of individuals: and the exercise of the police

power of the State shall never be abridged or so construed as to permit corporations to conduct their business in such manner as to infringe the equal rights of individuals or the general well-being of the State.

SEC. 4. In all elections for director or managers of a corporation each member or shareholder may cast the whole number of his votes for one candidate, or distribute them upon two or more candidates, as he may prefer.

SEC. 5. No foreign corporation shall do any business in this State without having one or more known places of business and an authorized agent or agents in the same upon whom process may be served.

SEC. 6. No corporation shall engage in any business other than that expressly authorized in its charter, nor shall it take or hold any real estate except such as may be necessary and proper for its legitimate business.

SEC. 7. No corporation shall issue stocks or bonds except for money, labor done, or money or property actually received; and all fictitious increase of stock or indebtedness shall be void. The stock and indebtedness of corporations shall not be increased except in pursuance of general law, nor without the consent of the persons holding the larger amount in value of the stock first obtained at a meeting to be held after sixty days notice given in pursuance of law.

SEC. 8. Municipal and other corporations and individuals invested with the privilege of taking private property for public use shall make just compensation for property taken, injured or destroyed by the construction or enlargement of their works, highways or improvements, which compensation shall be paid or secured before such taking, injury or destruction. The General Assembly is hereby prohibited from depriving any person of an appeal from any preliminary assessment of damages against any such corporations or individuals made by viewers or otherwise; and the amount of such damages in all cases of appeal shall, on the demand of either party, be determined by a jury, according to the course of the common law. SEC. 9. Every banking law shall provide for the registry and countersigning, by an officer of the State, of all notes or bills designed for circulation, and that ample security to the full amount thereof shall be deposited with the Auditor General for the redemption of such notes or bills.

SEC. 10. The General Assembly shall have the power to alter, revoke or annul any charter of incorporation now existing and revocable at the adoption of this Constitution, or any that may hereafter be created, whenever, in their opinion it may be injurious to the citizens of this Commonwealth, in such manner, however, that no injustice shall be done to the corporators. No law hereafter enacted shall create, renew or extend the charter of more than one corporation.

SEC. 11. No corporate body to possess banking and dis

counting privileges shall be created or organized in pursuance of any law without three months' previous public notice, at the place of the intended location, of the intention to apply for such privileges, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law, nor shall a charter for such privilege be granted for a longer period than twenty years.

SEC. 12. Any association or corporation, organized for the purpose, or any individual, shall have the right to construct and maintain lines of telegraph within this State, and to connect the same with other lines, and the General Assembly shall, by general law of uniform operation, provide reasonable regulations to give full effect to this section. No telegraph company shall consolidate with, or hold a controlling interest in, the stock or bonds of any other telegraph company owning a competing line or acquire, by purchase or otherwise, any other competing line of telegraph.

SEC. 13. The term "corporations," as used in this article, shall be construed to include all joint stock companies or associations having any of the powers, or privileges of corporations, not possessed by individuals or partnerships.

ARTICLE XVII.

RAILROADS AND CANALS.

SEC. 1. All railroads and canals shall be public highways, and all railroad and canal companies shall be common carriers. Any association or corporation, organized for the purpose, shall have the right to construct and operate a railroad between any points within this State, and to connect at the State line with railroads of other States. Every railroad company shall have the right with its road to intersect, connect with, or cross, any other railroad; and shall receive and transport each the other's passengers, tonnage, and cars, loaded or empty, without delay or discrimination.

SEC. 2. Every railroad and canal corporation organized in this State, shall maintain an office therein, where transfers of its stock shall be made, and where its books shall be kept for inspection by any stockholder or creditor of such corporation, in which shall be recorded the amount of capital stock sub scribed, or paid in, and by whom, the names of the owners of its stock, and the amounts owned by them, respectively, the transfers of said stock, and the names and places of residence

of its officers.

SEC. 3. All individuals, associations, and corporations shall have equal right to have persons and property transported over railroads and canals, and no undue or unreasonable discrimination shall be made in charges for, or in facilities for, transportation of freight or passengers within this State, or coming

from or going to any other State. Persons and property transported over any railroad, shall be delivered at any station, at charges not exceeding the charges for transportation of persons and property of the same class, in the same direction, to any more distant station; but excursion and commutation tickets may be issued at special rates.

SEC. 4. No railroad, canal or other corporation, or the lessees, purchasers, or managers of any railroad or canal corporation, shall consolidate the stock, property, or franchises of such corporation with, or lease or purchase the works, or franchises of, or in any way control any other railroad or canal corporation, owning, or having under its control, a parallel or competing line; nor shall any officer of such railroad or canal corporation act as an officer of any other railroad or canal corporation, owning, or having the control of a parallel or competing line; and the question whether railroads or canals are parallel or competing lines shall, when demanded by the party complainant, be decided by a jury as in other civil issues.

SEC. 5. No incorporated company doing the business of a common carrier shall, directly or indirectly, prosecute or engage in mining or manufacturing articles for transportation over its works; nor shall such company, directly or indirectly, engage in any other business than that of common carriers, or hold or acquire lands, freehold or leasehold, directly or indirectly, except such as shall be necessary for carrying on its business; but any mining or manufacturing company may carry the products of its mines and manufactories on its railroad or canal not exceeding fifty miles in length.

SEC. 6. No president, director, officer, agent, or employé of any railroad or canal company shall be interested, directly or indirectly, in the furnishing of material or supplies to such company, or in the business of transportation as a common carrier of freight or passengers over the works owned, leased, controlled, or worked by such company.

SEC. 7. No discrimination in charges or facilities for transportation shall be made between transportation companies and individuals, or in favor of either, by abatement, drawback, or otherwise, and no railroad or canal company, or any lessee, manager, or employé thereof, shall make any preferences in furnishing cars or motive power.

SEC. 8. No railroad, railway, or other transportation company shall grant free passes, or passes at a discount, to any person except officers or employés of the company.

SEC. 9. No street passenger railway shall be constructed within the limits of any city, borough or township, without the consent of its local authorities.

SEC. 10. No railroad, canal or other transportation company, in existence at the time of the adoption of this article, shall have the benefit of any future legislation by general or special

laws, except on condition of complete acceptance of all the provisions of this article.

SEC. 11. The existing powers and duties of the Auditor General in regard to railroads, canals and other transportation companies, except as to their accounts, are hereby transferred to the Secretary of Internal Affairs, who shall have a general supervision over them, subject to such regulations and alterations as shall be provided by law; and in addition to the annual reports now required to be made, said Secretary may require special reports at any time upon any subject relating to the business of said companies from any officer or officers thereof.

SEC. 12. The General Assembly shall enforce by appropriate legislation the provisions of this article.

ARTICLE XVIII.

FUTURE AMENDMENTS.

SEC. 1. Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution may be proposed in the Senate or House of Representatives; and if the same shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each House, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be entered on their journals with the yeas and nays taken thereon, and the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall cause the same to be published three months before the next general election, in at least two newspapers in every county in which such newspapers shall be published; and if, in the General Assembly next afterwards chosen, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each House, the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall cause the same again to be published in the manner aforesaid; and such proposed amendment or amendments shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the State in such manner and at such time, at least three months after being so agreed to by the two Houses, as the General Assembly shall prescribe; and, if such amendment or amendments shall be approved by a majority of those voting thereon, such amendment or amendments shall become a part of the Constitution; but no amendment or amendments shall be submitted oftener than once in five years. When two or more amendments shall be submitted they shall be voted upon separately.