520 



MISSOURI. 



required, and designated the maximum rates 

 of charges. Railroads were classified into class 

 A, including through or trunk lines ; class B, 

 including branch roads owned, leased, or occu- 

 pied, by the trunk-line companies ; and class 

 0, including all other railroads or parts of rail- 

 roads owned, leased, or occupied in the State. 

 Freight was divided into seven special classes 

 and four general classes, the latter including 

 all merchandise not comprised in the special 

 classes. The special classes were as follows : 



Class D All grain in car-loads. 



Class E Flour in lots of 50 barrels or more, and 

 lime in lots of 24 barrels or more. 



Class F Salt in lots of 60 barrels or more, and ce- 

 ment, water-lime, and stucco, in lots of 24 barrels or 

 more. 



Class G Lumber, lath, and shingles, in car-loads. 



Class H Live-stock in car-loads. 



Class I Agricultural implements, furniture, and 

 wagons. 



Class J Coal, brick, sand, stone, railroad-ties, 

 and cordwood, and all heavy fourth-class articles, in 

 car-loads. 



The rates for passengers were limited to 

 three cents a mile on roads of class A, and 

 four cents a mile on roads of classes B and 0, 

 with half-price for children twelve years old 

 and under. The table of freight-charges fixed 

 upon for the seven special classes was as fol- 

 lows : 



When rates are not shown in the above ta- 

 ble for the exact distances, the rates given for 

 the next greater distance should be used. In 

 fixing rates the distance is to be computed 

 from the point where the freight is received in 

 this State, notwithstanding it may pass from 

 one road to another. 



The law provides penalties in case of its vio- 

 lation, and gives justices of the peace concur- 

 rent jurisdiction with the Circuit Court in all 



cases of prosecution for a violation of this act, 

 with full power and authority to impose fines, 

 and to the same extent as the Circuit Court in 

 all cases where the amount claimed does not 

 exceed two hundred dollars. 



In 1874 the question of holding a convention 

 to revise the constitution of the State was sub- 

 mitted to a vote of the people, and decided in 

 the affirmative. During the spring of this 

 year delegates to this convention were, elected 

 in all the counties. They assembled at Jeffer- 

 son City on the 5th of May, and Waldo P. 

 Johnson was chosen to preside over their de- 

 liberations. The following standing commit- 

 tees were appointed : on executive and minis- 

 terial department; officers of the county and 

 municipal government ; judicial department ; 

 boundaries and political subdivisions; repre- 

 sentation ; organization of the militia ; legis- 

 lative department ; printing and binding ; edu- 

 cation ; banks and corporations ; preamble and 

 Bill of Rights, and future mode of amendment. 

 The work proceeded very harmoniously, and 

 was completed on the 2d of August. The 

 only important subject which the convention 

 took occasion to investigate was one which 

 had previously been brought up in the Legisla- 

 ture regarding 1,918 $1,000 bonds which were 

 alleged to have disappeared from the Treasury, 

 but had not been duly canceled or destroyed 

 after payment. The committee reached the 

 conclusion that these bonds were probably in 

 existence somewhere, and submitted an ordi- 

 nance prohibiting the Legislature from ever 

 providing for their payment the numbers and 

 dates of issue being designated on the ground 

 that they had " been redeemed by the State 

 of Missouri, deposited as securities available to 

 the State in dealing with the Pacific Railroad in 

 the vault of the Treasury, and while the same 

 were in said vault, withdrawn from circula- 

 tion as negotiable instruments, were criminally 

 taken therefrom." 



Provision was made for submitting the con- 

 stitution to the people for ratification on the 

 30th of October. The result was its adoption 

 by a vote of about six to one. 



The preamble is as follows : 



We, the people of Missouri, with profound rever- 

 ence for the bupreme Kuler of tbe Universe, and 

 grateful for his goodness, do, for the better govern- 

 ment of the State, establish this constitution. 



Article I. confirms the boundaries of the 

 State as previously established, and declares 

 that the Mississippi River and the navigable 

 waters leading to it shall be a free highway for 

 the citizens of the State and the United States ' 

 without tax or toll. Article II. is the Bill of 

 Rights, and comprises thirty-two sections. All 

 the proscriptive features of the old Bill of 

 Pvights were abolished. On the subject of State 

 rights the following declarations were made : 



SEC. 2. That the people of this State have the in- 

 herent, sole, and exclusive right to regulate the in- 

 ternal government and police thereof, and to alter 

 and abolish their constitution and form, of govern- 



