Oath of office. Private property for public use. 14 Mich. 276; 20 Mich. 57. 1 Pick. 418; 7 Pick. 344; SECTION 1. Members of the Legislature, and all officers, executive and judicial, except such officers as may by law be exempted, shall, before they enter on the duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: "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 faithfully discharge the duties of the office of according to the best of my ability." And no other oath, declaration, or test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust. SEC. 2. When private property is taken for the use or benefit of the public, the necessity for using such property, and the just com2 Mich. R. 560. pensation to be made therefor, except when to be made by the State, shall be ascertained by a jury of twelve freeholders, residing in the vicinity of such property, or by not less than three commissioners, appointed by a court of record, as shall be prescribed by law; 18 Pick. 501; 23 Mechanical trades in State Prison. 4 Mich. 187. Navigable streams. 18. Mich. 196. Public moneys. Laws, etc., to be in English language. Right to bear arms. "Provided, The foregoing provision shall in no case be construed to apply to the action of commissioners of highways in the official discharge of their duty as highway commissioners." 1 SEC. 3. No mechanical trade shall hereafter be taught to convicts in the State Prison of this State, except the manufacture of those articles of which the chief supply for home consumption is imported from other States or countries. SEC. 4. No navigable stream in this State shall be either abridged or dammed without authority from the board of supervisors of the proper county, under the provisions of law. No such law shall prejudice the right of individuals to the free navigation of such streams, or preclude the State from the further improvement of the navigation of such streams. SEC. 5. An accurate statement of the receipts and expenditures of the public moneys shall be attached to and published with the laws at every regular session of the Legislature. SEC. 6. The laws, public records, and the written judicial and legislative proceedings of the State, shall be conducted, promulgated, and preserved in the English language. SEC. 7. Every person has a right to bear arms for the defense of himself and the State. 1 Amendment adding proviso, agreed to by the Legislature of 1859, approved by the people in 1860. SEC. 8. The military shall, in all cases and at all times, be in Military, etc. strict subordination to the civil power. be quartered in SEC. 9. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any Soldiers not to house without the consent of the owner or occupant, nor in time private house. of war except in a manner prescribed by law. SEC. 10. The people have the right peaceably to assemble Right of petition together, to consult for the common good, to instruct their Representatives, and to petition the Legislature for redress of grievances. SEC. 11. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, unless for Slavery prohibthe punishment of crime, shall ever be tolerated in this State. ited. SEC. 12. No lease or grant hereafter, of agricultural land, for a Leases. longer period than twelve years, reserving any rent or service of any kind, shall be valid. property. SEC. 13. Aliens who are, or who may hereafter become, bona Aliens may hold fide residents of this State, shall enjoy the same rights in respect to the possession, enjoyment, and inheritance of property, as native-born citizens. 2 Mich. Rep. 560 SEC. 14. The property of no person shall be taken for public Private property use, without just compensation therefor. Private roads may be 21 Barbour, 518; opened in the manner to be prescribed by law; but in every case the necessities of the road and the amount of all damage to be Private roads. sustained by the opening thereof, shall be first determined by a jury of freeholders; and such amount, together with the expenses of proceedings, shall be paid by the person or persons to be benefited. SEC. 15. No general revision of the laws shall hereafter be made. Revision of laws When a reprint thereof becomes necessary, the Legislature, in joint convention, shall appoint a suitable person to collect together such acts and parts of acts as are in force, and, without alteration, arrange them under appropriate heads and titles. The laws so arranged shall be submitted to two commissioners appointed by the Governor, for examination, and if certified by them to be a correct compilation of all general laws in force, shall be printed in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. ARTICLE XIX. UPPER PENINSULA. SECTION 1. The counties of Mackinac, Chippewa, Delta, Mar- Upper Peninsula Schedule, Sec. 26 quette, Schoolcraft, Houghton, and Ontonagon, and the islands and territory thereunto attached, the islands of Lake Superior, Huron, and Michigan, and in Green Bay, and the Straits of Mack District judge. Attorney. Senators and Compensation of Election; when to take place Taxes. State Prison may be removed Mining companies. inac and the River Ste. Marie, shall constitute a separate judicial district, and be entitled to a district judge and district attorney. SEC. 2. The district judge shall be elected by the electors of such district, and shall perform the same duties and possess the same powers as a circuit judge in his circuit, and shall hold his office for the same period. SEC. 3. The district attorney shall be elected every two years by the electors of the district, shall perform the duties of prosecuting attorney throughout the entire district, and may issue warrants for the arrest of offenders in cases of felony, to be proceeded with as shall be prescribed by law. SEC. 4. Such judicial district shall be entitled at all times to at least one Senator, and, until entitled to more by its population, it shall have three members of the House of Representatives, to be apportioned among the several counties by the Legislature. SEC. 5. The Legislature may provide for the payment of the district judge a salary not exceeding one thousand dollars a year, and of the district attorney not exceeding seven hundred dollars a year; and may allow extra compensation to the members of the Legislature from such territory, not exceeding two dollars a day during any session. SEC. 6. That elections for all district or county officers, State Senators, or Representatives, within the boundaries defined in this article, shall take place on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of November in the respective years in which they may be required; the county canvass shall be held on the first Monday thereafter, and the district canvass on the third Monday of said November.' SEC. 7. One half of the taxes received into the Treasury from mining corporations in the Upper Peninsula, paying an annual State tax of one per cent, shall be paid to the treasurers of the counties from which it is received, to be applied for township and county purposes, as provided by law. The Legislature shall have power, after the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, to reduce the amount to be refunded. SEC. 8. The Legislature may change the location of the State Prison from Jackson to the Upper Peninsula. SEC. 9. The charters of the several mining corporations may be modified by the Legislature, in regard to the term limited for subscribing to stock, and in relation to the quantity of land which a corporation shall hold; but the capital shall not be increased, nor 1 Amendment agreed to by the Legislature of 1861, approved by the people in 1862. the time for the existence of charters extended. No such corporation shall be permitted to purchase or hold any real estate, except such as shall be necessary for the exercise of its corporate franchises. ARTICLE XIX-A. RAILROADS. establish rates of SECTION 1. The Legislature may, from time to time, pass laws Legislature may establishing reasonable maximum rates of charges for the trans- charges. portation of passengers and freight on different railroads in this State, and shall prohibit running contracts between such railroad Running concompanies whereby discrimination is made in favor of either of such companies as against other companies owning connecting or intersecting lines of railroad. tracts prohibited. date. SEC. 2. No railroad corporation shall consolidate its stock, prop- Not to consolierty, or franchises with any other railroad corporation owning a parallel or competing line; and in no case shall any consolidation Notice to stocktake place except upon public notice given of at least sixty days to all stockholders, in such manner as shall be provided by law. ARTICLE XX. AMENDMENT AND REVISION OF THE CONSTI- holders. SECTION 1. Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution Amendment. may be proposed in the Senate or House of Representatives. If the same shall be agreed to by two-thirds of the members elected to each house, such amendment or amendments shall be entered on their journals respectively, with the yeas and nays taken thereon; and the same shall be submitted to the electors at the next general election thereafter, and if a majority of electors qualified to vote. for members of the Legislature, voting thereon, shall ratify and approve such amendment or amendments, the same shall become part of the Constitution. SEC. 2. At the general election to be held in the year one thou- Revision of the sand eight hundred and sixty-six, and in each sixteenth year there- Constitution. after, and also at such other times as the Legislature may by law provide, the question of the general revision of the Constitution. shall be submitted to the electors qualified to vote for members of the Legislature; and in case a majority of the electors so qualified, voting at such election, shall decide in favor of a convention 1 Amendment agreed to by the Legislature of 1870, in extra session, approved by the people in 1970. for such purpose, the Legislature, at the next session, shall provide by law for the election of such delegates to such convention. All the amendments shall take effect at the commencement of the year after their adoption.' Common and statute law to SCHEDULE. That no inconvenience may arise from the changes in the Constitution of this State, and in order to carry the same into complete operation, it is hereby declared, that SECTION 1. The common law and the statute laws now in force, remain in force. not repugnant to this Constitution, shall remain in force until they expire by their own limitations, or are altered or repealed by the Legislature. SEC. 2. All writs, actions, causes of action, prosecutions, and rights of individuals and of bodies corporate, and of the State, and all charters of incorporation, shall continue; and all indictments which shall have been found, or which may hereafter be found, for any crime or offense committed before the adoption of this Constitution, may be proceeded upon as if no change had taken place. The several courts, except as herein otherwise provided, shall continue, with the like powers and jurisdiction, both at law and in equity, as if this Constitution had not been adopted, and until the organization of the. judicial department under this Constitution. SEC. 3. That all fines, penalties, forfeitures, and escheats accruing to the State of Michigan under the present Constitution and laws, shall accrue to the use of the State under this Constitution. SEC. 4. That all recognizances, bonds, obligations, and all other instruments entered into or executed before the adoption of this Constitution, to the people of the State of Michigan, to any State, county, or township, or any public officer or public body, or which may be entered into or executed under existing laws, "to the people of the State of Michigan," to any such officer, or public body, before the complete organization of the departments of Goyernment under this Constitution, shall remain binding and valid; and rights and liabilities upon the same shall continue, and may be prosecuted as provided by law. And all crimes and misdemean 1 Amendment agreed to by the Legislature of 1861, approved by the people in 1862. |