OHIO. 



607 



ditions; or two connecting lines when not 

 competing may make arrangements for their 

 common benefit. 



It also provides that no such arrangement, 

 by lease or otherwise, shall be made unless at 

 a regular meeting of the stockholders at least 

 two-thirds of the whole stock of each company 

 shall be voted for it, either in person or by 

 prosy, and that the rental received shall be 

 equal at least to the net earnings of the leased 

 road for the fiscal year next preceding the one 

 in which the lease is made. The second sec- 

 tion provides that any stockholder who shall 

 refuse his assent to the lease and give written 

 notice, within sixty days, to the lessees, must 

 be paid, before the consummation of the lease 

 or other arrangement, the average market 

 value of his stock for six months next pre- 

 ceding the day of the ratification of the lease. 

 In case of disagreement as to value, the matter 

 is to be settled by arbitration under the pro- 

 visions of the law governing arbitrations. 

 Section three also refers to details of arbitra- 

 tion. Section four prohibits the lease of one 

 railroad by another unless the lessor shall be 

 fully secured for the payment of the rental and 

 for the preservation of the leased property in 

 as good condition as when taken into posses- 

 sion. Section five provides that whatever cor- 

 poration takes any action under this law shall 

 thereafter come under the provisions of the 

 General Railroad Law, and lose all the special 

 privileges and immunities conferred by special 

 charters granted before the adoption of the 

 present constitution. 



Among the joint resolutions adopted were 

 three in relation to the law of Congress in- 

 creasing the compensation of its members. 

 One declared that " those members of Congress 

 who voted for an increase of their own salaries 

 retroactive in effect,and those who voted against 

 snch increase, but still accepted this increase 

 are deserving of censure of the people of 

 Ohio ;" another set forth that " the action of 

 the last Congress increasing the compensation 

 of the members thereof, the President of the 

 United States, and other officers, was unneces- 

 sary, uncalled for, and distasteful to the people 

 of Ohio, and, it is believed, of the whole Union," 

 and the Senators and Representatives from 

 Ohio in Congress were instructed and requested 

 " to zealously use all honorable effort to pro- 

 cure the repeal of suid law, so far as it relates 

 to snch compensation, at the earliest practi- 

 cable period ;" the third, after reciting the fact 

 that the second article of the twelve amend- 

 ments to the Constitution of the United States, 

 submitted by the First Congress which article 

 provided that "no law varying the compensa- 

 tion for the services of the Senators and Rep- 

 resentatives shall take effect until an election 

 of Representatives shall have intervened " 

 had not received the assent of the Legislatures 

 of three-fourths of the several States, and 

 therefore is still pending ; declared it ratified 

 on behalf of the State of Ohio. 



The people having at the general election in 

 October, 1871, decided in favor of a conven- 

 tion to revise, alter, or amend the constitution 

 of the State, the Legislature in January passed 

 a law ordering the election, on the first Mon- 

 day in April, of delegates to the Constitutional 

 Convention, prescribing the time for the meet- 

 ing of the convention, and ordering the sub- 

 mission of the new constitution to the people 

 for ratification. The election wss held aa 

 directed, and resulted in the choice of 106 

 delegates, of whom 50 were ranked as Re- 

 publicans, 46 as Democrats, and 9 as Liberals 

 or Independents. The convention met in 

 Columbus, May 14th, and organized by electing 

 Morrison R. Waite, of Lucas County, on the 

 sixth ballot, president of the convention, the 

 vote standing 55 for Mr. Waite, 37 for Rufus 

 King, and 12 scattering. The occupations of 

 the members as registered were as follows: 

 lawyers 62, fanners 16, merchants 8, physi- 

 cians 6, editors and printers 3, bankers 3, 

 mechanics 2, ministers 2, manufacturer 1, 

 teacher 1, civil engineer 1. The convention 

 adjourned August 8th, and reassembled at 

 Cincinnati December 2d. At the close of the 

 year they were still in session. 



The Legislature in 1872 enacted a law (com- 

 monly known as the Boesel Law, from the 

 name of its originator), which authorized 

 counties, cities, incorporated villages, and 

 townships, to build railroads, and to lease and 

 operate the same. Under this law a number 

 of railroad projects started into existence, and 

 nearly ninety counties, townships, cities, and 

 villages, voted to incur bonded debts for their 

 construction. In 1873 bonds were deposited 

 in the State Treasury, to be indorsed and is- 

 sued to contractors for this purpose to the 

 amount of $3,541,594, making a total of rail- 

 road debt incurred since the passage of the 

 act, April 23, 1872, of $6,109,644. Of this 

 amount $148,700 had been indorsed by the 

 State Treasurer and issued. In the mean time 

 suit had been brought by one Martin Eanter, 

 a tax-payer of the Duchouquet township, 

 Auglaize County, to restrain the trustees of 

 the township from issuing $75,000 of bonds 

 voted to construct a railroad. The suit was 

 carried to the Supreme Court of the State, 

 which on May 13th gave a decision, declaring 

 the law under which the bonds were issued to 

 be unconstitutional and void. The following 

 is a syllabus of the decision, delivered by Chief- 

 Justice White: 



1. Taxation can only be authorized for public pur- 

 poses. Where, therefore, a statute authorizes a coun- 

 ty, township, or municipality, to levy taxes not above 

 a pi' 



Ity: 

 as cnn 



railroad so to be built can be of no public utility un- 

 less used to accomplish an unconstitutional purpose, 

 such tax is illegal and cannot be imposed. 



2. Section 4, Article VIII. of the constitution de- 

 clares that " the General Assembly shall never au- 

 thorize any county, city, town, or township, by vote 

 of its citizens or otherwise, to become a stockholder 



