submitted to peo amendments thereof, shall have effect until the same shall, b after its passage, be submitted to a vote of the electors of the State, at a general election, and be approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon at such election. ity. SEC. 3. The officers and stockholders of every corporation Individual liabil or association for banking purposes, issuing bank notes or paper credits to circulate as money, shall be individually liable for all debts contracted during the time of their being officers or stockholders of such corporation or association. SEC. 4. The Legislature shall provide by law for the regis- Registry of bills. try of all bills or notes issued or put in circulation as money, and shall require security to the full amount of notes and bills so registered, in State or United States stocks, bearing interest, which shall be deposited with the State Treasurer, for the redemption of such bills or notes in specie. tled to prefer SEC. 5. In case of the insolvency of any bank or banking Bill holders entiassociation, the bill holders thereof shall be entitled to prefer-ence. ence in payment over all other creditors of such bank or association. SEC. 6. The Legislature shall pass no law authorizing or Suspension. sanctioning the suspension of specie payments by any person, association or corporation. SEC. 7. The stockholders of all corporations and joint stock Liability. associations shall be individually liable for all labor performed for such corporation or association. SEC. 8. The Legislature shall pass no law altering or amend- Amendment, eta. ing any act of incorporation heretofore granted, without the assent of two-thirds of the members elected to each house; nor shall any such act be renewed or extended. This restriction shall not apply to municipal corporations. taken. SEC. 9. The property of no person shall be taken by any Property; how corporation for public use without compensation being first made or secured, in such manner as may be prescribed by law. tion. SEC. 10. No corporation, except for municipal purposes, or Term of corporafor the construction of railroads, plank roads and canals, shall be created for a longer time than thirty years. term corpora SEC. 11. The term "corporation," as used in the preceding Construction of sections of this article, shall be construed to include all asso- tion. ciations and joint stock companies having any of the powers or privileges of corporations, not possessed by individuals or partnerships. All corporations shall have the right to sue, Limitation of term for holding real estate. Cities and villages. Election of judicial officers. Private property; how taken. and be subject to be sued in all courts, in like cases as natural persons. SEC. 12. No corporation shall hold any real estate hereafter acquired, for a longer period than ten years, except such real estate as shall be actually occupied by such corporation in the exercise of its franchises. SEC. 13. The Legislature shall provide for the incorporation and organization of cities and villages, and shall restrict their powers of taxation, borrowing money, contracting debts and loaning their credit. SEC. 14. Judicial officers of cities and villages shall be elected, and all other officers shall be elected or appointed, at such time and in such manner as the Legislature may direct. SEC. 15. Private property shall not be taken for public improvements in cities and villages without the consent of the owner, unless the compensation therefor shall first be deter2 Mich. Rep. 560. mined by a jury of freeholders, and actually paid or secured in the manner provided by law. Notice for charter. Of personal property. Of homestead. 2 Gray 384. SEC. 16. Previous notice of any application for an alteration of the charter of any corporation shall be given in such manner as may be prescribed by law. ARTICLE XVI. EXEMPTIONS. SECTION 1. The personal property of every resident of this State, to consist of such property only as shall be designated by law, shall be exempted to the amount of not less than five hundred dollars, from sale on execution or other final process of any court, issued for the collection of any debt contracted after the adoption of this Constitution. SEC. 2. Every homestead of not exceeding forty acres of land, and the dwelling house thereon, and the appurtenances to be selected by the owner thereof, and not included in any town plat, city or village; or instead thereof, at the option of the owner, any lot in any city, village, or recorded town plat, or such parts of lots as shall be equal thereto, and the dwelling house thereon, and its appurtenances, owned and occupied by any resident of the State, not exceeding in value fifteen hundred dollars, shall be exempt from forced sale on execution or any other final process from a court, for any debt contracted after the adoption of this Constitution. Such exemption shall not extend to any mortgage thereon, lawfully obtained; but such mortgage or other alienation of such land by the 2 Gray 394. owner thereof, if a married man, shall not be valid without the signature of the wife to the same. SEC. 3. The homestead of a family, after the death of the owner thereof, shall be exempt from the payment of his debts contracted after the adoption of this Constitution, in all cases, during the minority of his children. SEC. 4. If the owner of a homestead die, leaving a widow Ib. but no children, the same shall be exempt, and the rents and profits thereof shall accrue to her benefit during the time of her widowhood, unless she be the owner of a homestead in her own right. SEC. 5. The real and personal estate of every female, ac- Estate of females. quired before marriage, and all property to which she may afterwards become entitled by gift, grant, inheritance or devise, shall be and remain the estate and property of such female, and shall not be liable for the debts, obligations or engagements of her husband; and may be devised or bequeathed by her as if she were unmarried. ARTICLE XVII. MILITIA. posed. SECTION 1. The militia shall be composed of all able-bodied of whom comwhite male citizens, between the ages of eighteen and fortyfive years, except such as are exempted by the laws of the United States or of this State; but all such citizens of any religious denomination whatever who, from scruples of conscience, may be averse to bearing arms, shall be excused therefrom, upon such conditions as shall be prescribed by law. SEC. 2. The Legislature shall provide by law for organizing, Organization. equipping and disciplining the militia, in such manner as they shall deem expedient, not incompatible with the laws of the United States. elected. SEC. 3. Officers of the militia shall be elected or appointed, officers; how and be commissioned in such manner as may be provided by law. ARTICLE XVIII. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. SECTION 1. Members of the Legislature, and all officers, Ex-Oath of office ecutive 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 Private property for public use. 1 Pick. 418 7 do 344 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 compensation to be made therefor, except when to be 2 Mich. R. 560. 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 do 501; 23 do 360. Mechanical trades in State Prison. Navigable streams. Public moneys. Laws, etc., to be in English language. Right to bear arms. Military, etc. Soldiers not to be quartered in private house. Right of petition. 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 defence of himself and the State. SEC. 8. The military shall, in all cases, and at all times, be in strict subordination to the civil power. SEC. 9. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner or occupant, nor in time of war except in a manner prescribed by law. SEC. 10. The people have the right peaceably to assemble 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 the punishment of crime, shall ever be tolerated in this Slavery prohibi State. ted. 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 21 Barbour, 518 be opened in the manner to be prescribed by law; but in every case the necessities of the road and the amount of all Private roads. damage to be 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 Revision of laws. made. 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. SECTION 1. The counties of Mackinac, Chippewa, Delta, Mar- Upper Peninsula. 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 Mackinac 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 District Judge. of such district, and shall perform the same duties and pos sess 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 Attorney. years by the electors of the district, shall perform the duties |