394 



ILLINOIS. 



books, in which shall be recorded the amount of capi- 

 tal stock subscribed, and by whom ; the names of the 

 owners of its stock, and the amounts owned by them 

 respectively ; the amount of stock paid in, and by 

 wltom ; the transfers of said stock ; the amounts of 

 its liabilities, and the names and place of residence 

 of its-officers. The directors of every railroad corpo- 

 ration shall annually make a report, under oath, to the 

 Auditor of Public Accounts, or some officer to be des- 

 ignated by law, of all their acts and doings, which 

 report shall include such matters relating to railroads 

 as may be prescribed by law. And the General As- 

 sembly shall pass laws enforcing by suitable penal- 

 ties the provisions of this section. 



SEC. 10. The rolling-stock, and all other movable 

 property belonging to any railroad company or cor- 

 poration in this State, shall be considered personal 

 property, and shall be liable to execution and sale 

 in the same manner as the personal property of indi- 

 viduals, and the General Assembly shall pass no law 

 exempting any such property from execution and sale. 

 SEC. 11. No railroad corporation shall consolidate 

 its stock, property, or franchises with any other rail- 

 road_corporation owning a parallel or competing line ; 

 and in no case shall any consolidation take place ex- 

 cept upon public notice given, of at least sixty days, to 

 all stockholders, in such manner as may be provided 

 by law. _ A majority of the directors of any railroad 

 corporation now incorporated, or hereafter to be in- 

 corporated by the laws of this State, shall be citizens 

 and residents of this State. 



SEC. 12. Eailways heretofore constructed or that 

 may hereafter be constructed in this State are here- 

 by declared public highways, and shall be free to all 

 persons for the transportation of their persons and 

 property thereon, under such regulations as may be 

 prescribed by law. And the General Assembly shall 

 from time to time pass laws establishing reasonable 

 maximum rates of charges for the transportation of 

 passengers and freight on the different railroads in 

 this State. 



SEC. 13. No railroad corporation shall issue any 

 stock or bonds, except for money, labor, or property 

 actually received and applied to the purposes for which 

 such corporation was created ; and all stock dividends, 

 and other fictitious increase of the capital stock or in- 

 debtedness of any such corporation, shall be void. 

 The capital stock of no railroad corporation shall be 



The thirteenth article has reference to 

 warehouses, and declares that all elevators or 

 store-houses, where grain or other property is 

 stored for a compensation, shall be public 

 warehouses. The duty of the owners or mana- 

 gers is fixed by the following sections : 



SECTION 2. The owner, lessee, or manager, of each 

 and every public warehouse situated in any town or 

 city of not less than one hundred thousand inhabit- 

 ants, shall make weekly statements under oath, be- 

 fore some officer to be designated by law, and keep 

 the same posted in some conspicuous place in the 

 office of such warehouse, and shall also file a copy 

 for public examination in such place as shall be des- 

 ignated by law, which statement shall correctlv set 

 forth the amount and grade of each and every kind 

 of grain in such warehouse, together with such other 

 property as may be stored therein, and what ware- 

 house receipts have been issued, and are, at the time 

 of making such statement, outstanding therefor; 

 and shall, on the copy posted in the warehouse, note 

 daily such changes as may be made in the quantity 

 and grade of gram in such warehouse ; and the dif- 

 ferent grades of grain shipped in separate lots shall 

 not be mixed with inferior or superior grades without 

 the consent of the owner or consignee thereof. 



SEC. 3. The owners of property stored in any ware- 

 house, or holder of a receipt lor the same, shall always 

 be at liberty to examine such property stored, and all 

 the books and records of the warehouse in regard to 

 such property. 



increased for any purpose, except upon giving sixty 

 days' public notice, in such manner as may be pro- 

 vided by law. 



SEC. 14. The exercise of the power and the right 

 of eminent domain shall never be so construed or 

 abridged as to prevent the taking, by the General 

 Assembly, of the property and franchises of incor- 

 porated companies already organized, and subjecting 

 them to the public necessity the same as of individuals. 

 The right of trial by jury shall be held inviolate in 

 all trials of claims for compensation, when, in the ex- 

 ercise of the said right of eminent domain, any in- 

 corporated company shall be interested either for or 

 against the exercise of said right. 



SEC. 15. The General Assembly shall pass laws to 

 correct abuses and prevent unjust discrimination and 

 extortion in the rates of freight and passenger tariffs 

 on the different railroads in this State, and enforce 

 such laws by adequate penalties to the extent, if ne- 

 cessary for that purpose, of forfeiture of their property 

 and franchises. . 



Article twelve authorizes the organization 

 and equipment of a militia composed of " all 

 able-bodied male persons resident in the State, 

 between the ages of eighteen and forty-five," 

 except such as are exempted by law. Those 

 having conscientious scruples against bearing 

 arms cannot be compelled to do militia duty 

 "in time of peace," provided they "pay an 

 equivalent " for their exemption. 



All railroad companies are made responsible 

 to the owner for the delivery of property 

 shipped, at its destination, and required to 

 give receipts for the amount, and, in all cases 

 to make, or allow to be made, connections 

 with their track, so that the " consignee, pub- 

 lic warehouse, and any coal-bank or coal-yard 

 may be reached by the cars of said railroad." 

 It is made the duty of the General Assembly 

 to pass laws to prevent the issue of fraudulent 

 receipts, and to give full effect to this article 

 of the constitution, "which shall be liberally 

 construed, so as to protect producers and 

 shippers." The occasion for careful provisions 

 relating to warehouses is set forth in the fol- 

 lowing resolution, by which the subject was 

 first introduced to the attention of the con- 

 vention : 



Jtesolved, That the facility with which our markets 

 are manipulated, and perverted, by reason of fictiti- 

 ous and spurious receipts issued by storehouse men 

 all over our State, calls for prompt and radical re- 

 form, and, unless something be done to prohibit this 

 growing evil, the dignity that has heretofore charac- 

 terized that department of trade (the commerce of 

 our country) will have sunk to the humiliating level 

 of the professional gambler. It is now a very com- 

 mon transaction for warehousmen to issue receipts 

 representing grain in store, when, in fact, such re- 

 ceipts have no intrinsic value. Frauds of such magni- 

 tude cannot safely be tolerated in the light of our 

 civilization. 



Without admitting too much, therefore, let a clause 

 be inserted in our constitution making it obligatory 

 on the General Assembly to abate the nuisance by 

 appropriate legislation. 



The fourteenth and last article of the con- 

 stitution relates to its future amendment. The 

 Legislature may, by a two-thirds vote, submit 

 to a popular ballot the question of holding a 

 convention for the revision of that instrument, 



