538 



NEBKASKA. 



practicable, attend a public school supported by the 

 common-school fund, for some definite length of 

 time each year, to be fixed by law, and may establish 

 a school or schools for the safe keeping, education, 

 employment, and reformation of all children under 

 the age of sixteen years, who, for want of proper 

 parental care or other cause, are growing up in men- 

 dicancy, ignorance, idleness, or vice, which school 

 shall constitute a part of the system of common 

 schools. 



The subject of corporations and railroads 

 received special attention. Among the im- 

 portant provisions relating generally to cor- 

 porations were the following : 



Stockholders of all corporations and joint-stock 

 associations shall be individually liable for all debts 

 of such corporation or association to the full amount 

 of the par value of their stock after the corporate 

 property shall have been exhausted. 



Every stockholder in a banking corporation or in- 

 stitution shall be individually responsible and liable 

 to its creditors over and above the amount of stock 

 by him held, to an amount equal to his respective 

 stock or shares so held, for all its liabilities accruing 

 while he remains such stockholder. 



The following was drawn up, to be submit- 

 ted to a separate vote : 



Each, stockholder in a banking corporation, com- 

 pany, or association, shall be individually responsi- 

 ble and liable to its creditors, over and above the 

 amount of stock by him or her held, to an amount 

 equal to twice the entire amount of his or her respec- 

 tive stock or shares so held, for all its liabilities ac- 

 cruing while he or she remains such stockholder. 



Corporations were to be required to adopt 

 the principle of cumulative voting, the follow- 

 ing being the section relating to that point : 



The Legislature shall provide by law that, in all 

 elections ior directors or managers of incorporated 

 companies, every stockholder shall have the right to 

 vote in person or by proxy, for the number of shares 

 of stock owned by him, for as many persons as there 

 are directors or managers to be elected, or to cumu- 

 late said shares and give one candidate as many 

 votes as the number of directors multiplied by the 

 number of his shares of stock shall equal, or to dis- 

 tribute them on the same principle among as many 

 candidates as he shall think fit ; and such directors 

 or managers shall not be elected in any other man- 

 ner. 



All railroads doing business in the State 

 were required to have an office there in which 

 books should be kept containing the record 

 of stock, transfers, assets, and liabilities. The 

 directors were required to make an annual 

 report under oath, to the Auditor of Public Ac- 

 counts or some other officer to be designated 

 by law, " of the amount received from passen- 

 gers and freight, and of all their acts and 

 doings, which report shall include such mat- 

 ters relating to railroads as may be prescribed 

 by law." Consolidation of parallel or com- 

 peting lines was prohibited, and no consolida- 

 tion was to take place "except upon public 

 notice given of at least sixty days to all stock- 

 holders in such manner as may be provided 

 by law." The following section relates to aid 

 to railroads from counties, cities, and towns : 



No county, city, town, township, or other munici- 

 pal corporation, shall ever make donation to or loan 

 its credit in aid of any corporation which has re- 



ceived or may hereafter receive a grant of land from 

 the United States, or to any railroad corporation 

 which has constructed or shall hereafter construct 

 its road in whole or in part from the proceeds of 

 land-grants. 



The following was to be submitted to a 

 separate vote: 



No county, city, town, township, or other munici- 

 pality, shall ever become subscriber to the capital 

 stock of any railroad or private corporation, or make 

 donation to, or loan its credit in aid of such corpora- 

 tion : Provided, however, That the adoption of this 

 article shall not be construed as affecting the right 

 of any such municipality to make such donation, 

 where the same has been authorized under existing 

 laws by a vote of the people of such municipality 

 prior to such adoption. 



In the article on revenue and taxation it 

 was provided that "the property of the State, 

 counties, and other municipal corporations, 

 both real and personal, and such other prop- 

 erty as may be used exclusively for agricul- 

 tural and horticultural societies, for school, 

 public cemetery, and charitable purposes, the 

 building and grounds belonging to and used 

 by any religious society for religious purposes, 

 to the value of five thousand dollars, may bo 

 exempted from taxation ; but such exemptions 

 shall be only by general law." 



Many delegates urged that the property of 

 churches and religious societies should be 

 wholly exempt from taxation, but the majority 

 did not concur in this opinion. Among the 

 miscellaneous provisions of the proposed con- 

 stitution was one providing for taking the 

 census of the State once in two years till 1878, 

 and again in 1885, and once in ten years there- 

 after; one establishing annual sessions of the 

 Legislature till 1875, and biennial sessions 

 thereafter ; one fixing the State capital at Lin- 

 coln until 1880, and one declaring that all 

 debt of the State should be bonded and should 

 not exceed $250,000 without the direct ap- 

 proval of the people. A clause was to be sub- 

 mitted separately to vote, in addition to those 

 already mentioned, in the following terms: 



The Legislature shall provide by general law for 

 submitting to the electors of counties, cities, or 

 towns in the State the question of " inhibition" or 

 "license" for the sale of intoxicating liquors, and 

 shall prescribe the manner of carrying into effect the 

 will of the people so expressed. 



Provision was made for submitting this 

 constitution to the people for their approval 

 or rejection, on the third Tuesday in Septem- 

 ber. In case it was adopted, the first election 

 under it was to be held on the Tuesday after 

 the first Monday in November, and the Legis- 

 lature was to assemble on the first Tuesday in 

 January. 



Soon after the convention had completed its 

 labors, considerable dissatisfaction was ex- 

 pressed at the result, and a strong opposition 

 to the adoption of the constitution was devel- 

 oped. Fault was found in various quarters 

 with nearly all the characteristic provisions 

 mentioned above, but more especially with 

 the increase in the number of Senators and 



