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The word corpo ration defined.

Railroads and ca

ways. May be Constructed.

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.

SECTION 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.

SECTION 1. All railroads and canals shall be public highways. mas, public high- 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 Connecting roads. cars loaded or empty, without delay or discrimination.

Shall have connections and use of

Railroad and canal

SECTION 2. Every railroad and canal corporation organized in companies to keep this State shall maintain an office therein where transfers of its stock fices in the State. 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 subscribed 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.

Discriminations in

and passengers

prohibited.

SECTION 3. All individuals, associations and corporations shall harges for freight 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 the 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.

Consolidation with

Officers of compa

companies.

Common carrier

SECTION 4. No railroad, canal or other corporation, or the lessees, competing compa- purchasers or managers of any railroad or canal corporation, shall ies prohibited." 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 nies not to be offi- of such railroad or canal corporation act as an officer of any other eers of competing 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. SECTION 5. No incorporated company doing the business of a corporations not to common carrier shall, directly or indirectly, prosecute or engage in engage in mining, 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. SECTION 6. No president, director, officer, agent or employee 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.

manufacturing, &e

Exception.

Officers, &c., of companies not to pertation business.

engage in trans

SECTION 7. No discrimination in charges or facilities for trans- No discrimination portation shall be made between transportation companies and indi- in charges to transviduals, or in favor of either, by abatement, drawback or other- porters. wise, and no railroad or canal company, or any lessee, manager or employee thereof, shall make any preferences in furnishing cars or

motive power.

SECTION 8. No railroad, railway or other transportation company Free passes on railshall grant free passes, or passes at a discount, to any person except roads prohibited. officers or employees of the company.

SECTION 9. No street passenger railway shall be constructed Passenger railwithin the limits of any city, borough or township, without the constructed wit consent of its local authorities.

out consent of municipal authorities

SECTION 10. No railroad, canal or other transportation company, Acceptance of this in existence at the time of the adoption of this article, shall have the article by compabenefit of any future legislation by general or special laws, except nies. on condition of complete acceptance of all the provisions of this

article.

panies transferred

SECTION 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 Duties of Auditor Secretary of Internal Affairs, who shall have a general supervision General as to comover them, subject to such regulations and alterations as shall be to Secretary of In provided by law; and, in addition to the annual reports now re- ternal Affairs. quired 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.

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

ARTICLE XVIII.

Future Amendments.

Legislature.

SECTION 1. Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution Amendments may may be proposed in the Senate or House of Representatives; and, if he proposed by 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 amend- Amendments not ments shall become a part of the Constitution; but no amend- to be submitted ment or amendments shall be submitted oftener than once in five in five years, years. When two or more amendments shall be submitted they shall be voted upon separately.

oftener than once

SCHEDULE.

That no inconvenience may arise from the changes in the Constitution of the Commonwealth, and in order to carry the same into complete operation, it is hereby declared, that:

SECTION 1: This Constitution shall take effect on the first day of January, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, for all purposes not otherwise provided for therein.

SECTION 2. All laws in force in this Commonwealth at the time of the adoption of this Constitution not inconsistent therewith, and all rights, actions, prosecutions and contracts shall continue as if this Constitution had not been adopted. SECTION 3. At the general election in the years one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four and one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, Senators shall be elected in all districts where there shall be vacancies. Those elected in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four shall serve for two years, and those elected in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five shall serve for one year. Senators now elected and those whose terms are unexpired shall represent the districts in which they reside until the end of the terms for which they were elected.

SECTION 4. At the general election in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, Senators shall be elected from even numbered districts to serve for two years, and from odd numbered districts to serve for four years.

SECTION 5. The first election of Governor under this Constitution shall be at the general election in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, when a Governor shall be elected for three years; and the term of the Governor elected in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight and of those thereafter elected shall be for four years, according to the provisions of this Constitution. .. SECTION 6. At the general election in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, a Lieutenant Governor shall be elected according to the provisions of this Constitution.

SECTION 7. The Secretary of Internal Affairs shall be elected at the first general election after the adoption of this Constitution; and, when the said officer shall be duly elected and qualified, the office of Surveyor General shall be abolished. The Surveyor General in office at the time of the adoption of this Constitution shall continue in office until the expiration of the term for which he was elected. SECTION 8. When the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be duly qualified the office of Superintendent of Common Schools shall cease.

SECTION 9. Nothing contained in this Constitution shall be construed to render any person now holding any State office for a first official term ineligible for re-election at the end of such term.

SECTION 10. The judges of the Supreme Court in office when this Constitution shall take effect shall continue until their commissions severally expire. Two judges in addition to the number now composing the said court shall be elected at the first general election after the adoption of this Constitution.

SECTION 11. All courts of record and all existing courts which are not specified in this Constitution shall continue in existence until the first day of December, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, without abridgment of their present jurisdiction, but no longer. The court of first criminal jurisdiction for the counties of Schuylkill, Lebanon and Dauphin is hereby abolished, and all causes and proceedings pending therein in the county of Schuylkill shall be tried and disposed of in the courts of oyer and terminer and quarter sessions of the peace of said county.

SECTION 12. The register's courts now in existence shall be abolished on the first day of January next succeeding the adoption of this Constitution.

SECTION 13. The General Assembly shall, at the next session after the adoption of this Constitution, designate the several judicial districts as required by this Constitution. The judges in commission when such designation shall be made shall continue during their unexpired terms judges of the new districts in which they reside; but, when there shall be two judges residing in the same district, the president judge shall elect to which district he shall be assigned, and the additional law judge shall be assigned to the other district.

SECTION 14. The General Assembly shall, at the next succeeding session after each decennial census and not oftener, designate the several judicial districts as required by this Constitution.

SECTION 15. Judges learned in the law of any court of record holding commissions in force at the adoption of this Constitution shall hold their respective offices until the expiration of the terms for which they were commissioned, and until their successors shall be duly qualified. The Governor shall commission the president judge of the court of first criminal jurisdiction for the counties of Schuylkill, Lebanon and Dauphin as a judge of the court of common pleas of Schuylkill county, for the unexpired term of his office.

SECTION 16. After the expiration of the term of any president judge of any court of cominon pleas, in commission at the adoption of this Constitution, the judge of such court learned in the law and oldest in commission shall be the president judge thereof; and when two or more judges are elected at the same time in any judicial district they shall decide by lot which shall be president judge; but when the president judge of a court shall be re-elected he shall continue to be president judge of that court. Associate judges not learned in the law, elected after the adoption of this Constitution, shall be commissioned to hold their offices for the term of five years from the first day of January next after their election. SECTION 17. The General Assembly, at the first session after the adoption of this Constitution, shall fix and determine the compensation of the judges of the Supreme Court and of the judges of the several judicial districts of the Commonwealth and the provisions of the fifteenth section of the article on Legislation shall not be deemed inconsistent herewith. Nothing contained in this Constitution shall be held to reduce the compensation now paid to any law judge of this Commonwealth now in commisson.

SECTION 18. The courts of common pleas in the counties of Philadelphia and Allegheny shall be composed of the present judges of the district court and court of common pleas of said counties until their offices shall severally end, and of such other judges as may from time to time be selected. For the purpose of first organization in Philadelphia the judges of the court number one shall be Judges Allison, Pierce and Paxson; of the court number two, Judges Hare, Mitchell and one other judge to be elected; of the court number three, Judges Ludlow, Finletter and Lynd; and of the court number four, Judges Thayer, Briggs and one other judge to be elected. The judge first named shall be the president judge of said courts respectively, and thereafter the president judge shall be the judge oldest in commission; but any president judge, re-elected in the same court or district, shall continue to be president judge thereof. The additional judges for courts numbers two and four shall be voted for and elected at the first general election after the adoption of this Constitution, in the same manner as the two additional judges of the Supreme Court, and they shall decide by lot to which court they shall belong. Their term of oflice shall commence on the first Monday of January, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.

SECTION 19. In the county of Allegheny, for the purpose of first organization under this Constitution, the judges of the court of common pleas, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be the judges of the court number one, and the judges of the district court, at the same date, shall be the judges of the common pleas number two. The president judges of the common pleas and district court shall be president judge of said courts number one and two, respectively, until their offices shall end; and thereafter the judge oldest in commission shall he president judge; but any president judge re-elected in the same court, or district, shall continue to be president judge thereof.

SECTION 20. The organization of the courts of common pleas under this Constitution for the counties of Philadelphia and Allegheny shall take effect on the fist Monday of January, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, and existing courts in said counties shall continue with their present powers and jurisdiction

until that date, but no new suits shall be instituted in the courts of nisi prius after the adoption of this Constitution.

SECTION 21. The causes and proceedings pending in the court of nisi prius, court of common pleas, and district court in Philadelphia shall be tried and disposed of in the court of common pleas. The records and dockets of said courts shall be transferred to the prothonotary's office of said county.

SECTION 22. The causes and proceedings pending in the court of common pleas in the county of Allegheny shall be tried and disposed of in the court number one; and the causes and proceedings pending in the district court shall be tried and disposed of in the court number two.

SECTION 23. The prothonotary of the court of common pleas of Philadelphia shall be first appointed by the judges of said court on the first Monday of December. in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, and the present prothonotary of the district court in said county shall be the prothonotary of the said court of common pleas until said date when his commission shall expire, and the present clerk of the court of oyer and terminer and quarter sessions of the peace in Philadelphia shall be the clerk of such court until the expiration of his present commission on the first Monday of December, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.

SECTION 24. In cities containing over fifty thousand inhabitants, except Philadelphia, all aldermen in office at the time of the adoption of this Constitution shall continue in office until the expiration of their commissions, and at the election for city and ward officers in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five one alderman shall be elected in each ward as provided in this Constitution.

SECTION 25. In Philadelphia magistrates in lieu of aldermen shall be chosen, as required in this Constitution, at the election in said city for city and ward officers in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five; their term of office shall commence on the first Monday of April succeeding their election. The terms of office of aldermen in said city holding or entitled to commissions at the time of the adoption of this Constitution shall not be affected thereby.

SECTION 26. All persons in office in this Commonwealth at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, and at the first election under it, shall hold their respective oflices until the term for which they have been elected or appointed shall expire, and until their successors shall be duly qualified, unless otherwise provided in this Constitution.

SECTION 27. The seventh article of this Constitution prescribing an oath of office shall take effect on and after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.

SECTION 28. The terms of office of county commissioners and county auditors, chosen prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, which shall not have expired before the first Monday of January in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, shall expire on that day.

SECTION 29. All State, county, city, ward, borough and township officers in office at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, whose compensation is not provided for by salaries alone, shall continue to receive the compensation allowed them by law until the expiration of their respective terms of office.

SECTION 30. All State and judicial officers heretofore elected, sworn, affirmed, or in office when this Constitution shall take effect, shall severally, within one month after such adoption, take and subscribe an oath, or aflirmation, to support this Constitution.

SECTION 31. The General Assembly at its first session, or as soon as may be after the adoption of this Constitution, shall pass such laws as may be necessary to carry the same into full force and effect.

SECTION 32. The ordinance passed by this Convention entitled "An ordinance for submitting the amended Constitution of Pennsylvania to a vote of the electors thereof" shall be held to be valid for all the purposes thereof.

SECTION 33. The words "county commissioners," wherever used in this Constitution and in any ordinance accompanying the same, shall be held to include the commissioners for the city of Philadelphia.

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