PROPOSED AMENDMENT GIVING THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY LARGER CONTROL OVER CORPORATIONS, 1857

Proposed by joint resolution of the General Assembly, April 3, 1857. Submitted to electors, October 13, 1857.

RESOLVED by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, three-fifths of the members elected to each house concurring therein, that it be and hereby is proposed to the electors of this state, on the second Tuesday of October next, to approve or reject the following amendment as a substitute for the first and second sections of the thirteenth article of the Constitution:

Corporations of every description shall be created and corporate powers granted only by general laws, which shall define the powers, privileges and immunities, and prescribe duties and liabilities of each class or description of corporations, but the General Assembly may enact special laws for the relief of corporations in peculiar cases, and may make special provisions in regard to corporations in cases where from their peculiar location or interests such special provisions are required, and may from time to time alter or repeal all such laws as are authorized by this section.22

22 Not in volume of Laws of Ohio for 1857; on file in office of the secretary of state. - ED.

PROPOSED AMENDMENT MAKING BANK AND INDIVIDUAL TAXATION EQUAL, 1857

Proposed by joint resolution of the General Assembly, April

3, 1857. Submitted to electors, October 13, 1857.

RESOLVED by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, three-fifths of the members elected to each branch concurring therein, that it be and hereby is proposed to the electors of this state, to vote on the second Tuesday of October next, to approve or reject the following amendment as a substitute for the second and third sections of the twelfth article of the Constitution:

All property, personal and real, shall be subject to taxation by a uniform rule, at the true value thereof in money, but such deductions from credits may be allowed as the General Assembly may deem expedient. Provided, that burying grounds, public school houses, and all public property, and all institutions of purely public charity, and all houses used exclusively for public worship, shall be exempt from taxation; and if the total value of the personal property of any person shall not exceed fifty dollars the same shall be exempt from taxation. All property employed in banking shall always bear a burden of taxation equal to that imposed on the property of individuals.2

23

23 Not in volume of Laws of Ohio for 1857; on file in office of secretary of State. - ED.

PROPOSED AMENDMENT MAKING SINGLE

LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS, 1857

Proposed by joint resolution of the General Assembly, April 3, 1857. Submitted to electors, October 13, 1857.

Total vote cast

For amendment

Against amendment

Not adopted.

332,126

147,260

32,657

RESOLVED by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, three-fifths of the members elected to each house concurring therein, that it be and hereby is proposed to the electors of this state to vote on the second Tuesday of October next upon the approval or rejection of the following amendment as an additional section to article eleven of the Constitution:

Every county which now is or may hereafter be entitled to more than one senator or representative for the residue of the present decennial period, or for all or any portion of any subsequent decennial period, shall be divided into as many senatorial or representative districts as there may be senators or representatives elective in any year of the present, or any subsequent decennial period; which districts shall be of contiguous territory, and each district shall contain as nearly a ratio for senator or representative as is attainable without violating the rule herein given as to contiguity of territory, and without dividing any township, election precinct, or ward. If any representative or senatorial district, composed of two or more counties shall by reason of

any excess of population over a ratio, be entitled to additional representatives or senators for any portion of the present or any subsequent decennial period, the district shall be divided into two districts, for each portion of such decennial period, which shall be contiguous territory, and each shall contain as near a ratio as is attainable without dividing counties.

If by reason of annexation of one senatorial district to another there shall be any excess of population over a senatorial ratio which shall be entitled to senatorial representation for any portion of any decennial period, each district as now constituted shall elect one senator.

Counties shall be divided into districts by the county commissioners, or such other board of officers elective and resident in the proper county as may be provided by law. At least four months prior to the general election in 1858, the counties entitled to more than one member of either house shall be divided into districts for the residue of the present decennial period; and at least four months prior to the general election of the first year of each subsequent period, the counties entitled to more than one member for all, or any portion of such decen-nial period, in either or both houses, shall be divided into districts for the whole of the decennial period. A description of the districts of each county shall be published as may be directed by the county commissioners, or as may be prescribed by law.24

24 Not in volume of Laws of Ohio for 1857; on file in office of secretary of State. - ED.

PROPOSED AMENDMENT CHANGING DIS

TRICT COURT, 1857

Proposed by joint resolution of the General Assembly, April

3, 1857. Submitted to electors, October 13, 1857.

RESOLVED by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, three-fifths of the members elected to each house concurring therein, that it be and hereby is proposed to the electors of this state to vote on the second Tuesday of October next upon the approval or rejection of the following amendment as a substitute for the fifth and sixth sections of the fourth article of the Constitution:

SEC. 5. District courts shall be held in each county at least once in each year, by one or more district judges elected by the electors of separate districts to be prescribed by law, who shall hold their office for five years, and during their continuance in office shall reside in the district for which they are elected. The provisions of the fourteenth section of this article shall apply to district judges. The General Assembly may, by law, authorize the judges of the district court and courts of common pleas to fix the times of holding their respective courts. Until district judges shall have been elected and qualified, district courts shall be beld by the judges of the supreme court and of the courts of common pleas as now authorized.

SEC. 6. The district court shall have such jurisdiction as may be provided by law, and the judges thereof shall have and exercise such power and jurisdiction at chambers, and may be required to sit as judges of the courts of common pleas, as shall be directed by law.25

25 Not in Laws of Ohio for 1857; on file in office of secretary of State. - ED.