USA > Mississippi > Official and statistical register of the state of Mississippi, 1908 v. 3 > Part 30
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The section applies where the Governor has wrongfully under- taken to approve a part and veto another part of a bill and the Legislature has adjourned within five days after the bill was sent to him for approval. In such case it remains in his hands in legal contemplation. State v. Holder, 76 Miss., 158 (23 So., 643).
SEC. 73. The Governor may veto parts of any appropriation bil , and approve parts of the same, and the portions approved shall be law.
The section relates to distinct appropriations contained in general appropriation bills and separable items of special appro- priation bills, and does not authorize the veto of that part of a special appropriation bill in which, under Sec. 69, is expressed the conditions on which the money may be drawn. State v. Holder, 76 Miss., 158 (23 So., 643).
This section and Sections 63, 64, 68, 69, 116 and 123 referred to, commented upon and applied. Colbert v. State, 86 Miss., 769 (39 So., 65).
SEC. 74. No bill shall become a law until it shall have been referred to a committee of each house and returned therefrom with a recom- mendation in writing.
SEC. 75. No law of a general nature, unless therein otherwise provided, shall be enforced until sixty days after its passage.
(1832, Art. VII, Sec. 6; 1869, Art. XII, Sec. 9.)
SEC. 76. In all elections by the Legislature the members shall vote viva voce, and the votes shall be entered on the journals.
SEC. 77. The Governor shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies as may occur in either house of the Legislature, and the persons thereupon chosen shall hold their seats for the unexpired term.
INJUNCTIONS.
SEC. 78. It shall be the duty of the Legislature to regulate by law the cases in which deductions shall be made from salaries of public officers for neglect of official duty, and the amount of said deduction.
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(1817, Art. VI, Sec. 14; 1832, Art. VII, Sec. 12; 1869, Art. XII, Sec. Io:)
The section does not deprive the Legislature of power to pro- vide for reductions from salaries because of a failure to perform official duties on account of sickness and like causes. Cole v. Humphreys, 78 Miss., 163 (28 So., 808).
SEC. 79. The Legislature shall provide by law for the sale of all delinquent tax lands. The courts shall apply the same liberal principles in favor of such titles as in sale by execution. The right of redemption from all sales of real estate, for the non-payment of taxes or special assessments, of any and every character whatsoever, shall exist, on con- ditions to be prescribed by law, in favor of owners and persons interested in such real estate, for a period of not less than two years.
(1869, Art. XII, Sec. 8.)
The essential things which create authority in the tax collector to collect the taxes by sale are: A legal assessment (that con- stitutes the owner of the property a debtor to the State); and, second, a delivery of the assessment roll to the collector (that authorizes him to receive the money as therein charged against property or persons); and, third, if default is made in payment on the day appointed by law, he has power to distrain and sell. If these concur, the constitution is imperative that the courts shall regard the sale with the same indulgences and favor as it does that of a sheriff under execution. Virden v. Bowers, 55 Miss., 1; Wolfe v. Murphy, 60 Miss., I.
A sale for legal and illegal taxes jointly is not protected by the section. Gamble v. Witty, 55 Miss., 26; Capital State Bank v. Lewis, 64 Miss., 727 (2 So., 243); Peterson v. Kittridge, 65 Miss., 33 (3 So., 824).
But the legal taxes must not, by statute, be tendered before sale.
The section applies only to cases in which the power of sale exists. Caston v. Caston, 60 Miss., 475.
The section was prospective only. Under Sec. 274, continu- ing existing statutes in force until April 1, 1892, the right to redeem land sold for taxes in March, 1891, was limited to one year. Le Blanc v. Illinois, etc., R. R. Co., 72 Miss., 669 (18 So., 381).
The section did not extend the time for redemption from sales made in March, 1892; the previous statute on the subject (Code 1880, Sec. 531) having been continued in force until April I, 1892, by Section 274 constitution. Judah v. Brothers, 71 Miss., 414 (14 So., 455).
SEC. 80. Provision shall be made by general laws to prevent the abuse by cities, towns, and other municipal corporations of their powers of assessment, taxation, borrowing money, and contracting debts.
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History of legislation, constitutional and statutory, relating to the powers of the board of supervisors reviewed. Monroe County v. Strong, 78 Miss., 565 (29 So., 530).
The section is prospective only and did not repeal existing municipal charters. Lum v. Vicksburg, 72 Miss., 950 (18 So., 476).
SEC. 81. The Legislature shall never authorize the permanent obstruc- tion of any of the navigable waters of the State, but may provide for the removal of such obstructions as now exist, whenever the public welfare demands. This section shall not prevent the construction, under proper authority, of drawbridges for railroads, or other roads, nor the con- ' struction of booms "and chutes" for logs in such manner as not to prevent the safe passage of vessels, or logs, under regulations to be provided by law.
The State may authorize the diversion of streams from their old channels for the purpose of improving the navigation, and riparian owners have no cause of complaint. Commissioners v. Withers, 29 Miss., 21.
The section does not interfere with the police power of the State to grant ferry licenses. Marshall v. Grimes, 41 Miss., 27. . A riparian owner, without legislative sanction, cannot right- fully maintain a boom for the stoppage of logs. Pascagoula, etc., Co. v. Dixon, 77 Miss., 587 (28 So., 724).
SEC. 82. The Legislature shall fix the amount of the penalty of all official bonds, and may, as far as practicable, provide that the whole or a part of the security required for the faithful discharge of official duty shall be made by some guarantee company or companies.
The section has no application to bonds of officers created alone by statute. Gloster v. Harrell, 77 Miss., 793 (23 So., 520).
SEC. 83. The Legislature shall enact laws to secure the safety of persons from fires in hotels, theatres, and other public places of resort.
SEC. 84. The Legislature shall enact laws to limit, restrict, or prevent the acquiring and holding of land in this State by non-resident aliens, and may limit or restrict the acquiring or holding of lands by corporations.
SEC. 85. The Legislature shall provide by general law for the working of public roads by contract or by county prisoners, or both. Such law may be put in operation only by a vote of the board of supervisors in those counties where it may be desirable.
An indictment for failure to perform a contract to keep a road in repair must show that the law had been so put in operation in the county in which the road is situated. Gilmore v. State, 33 So., 171.
SEC. 86. It shall be the duty of the Legislature to provide by law for the treatment and care of the insane; and the Legislature may provide for the care of the indigent sick in the hospitals of the State.
(1869, Art. XII, Sec. 27.)
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LOCAL LEGISLATION.
SEC. 87. No special or local law shall be enacted for the benefit of individuals or corporations, in cases which are or can be provided for by general law, or where the relief sought can be given by any court of this State; nor shall the operation of any general law be suspended by the Legislature for the benefit of any individual or private corporation or association, and in all cases where a general law can be made applicable, and would be advantageous, no special law shall be enacted.
A railroad corporation is a private one within the meaning of this section. Yazoo R. Co. v. Southern R. Co., 83 Miss., 746 (36 So., 74).
This section is violated by Chapter 89 of the Acts of 1902. Ib.
See in this connection: Constitution 1890, § 179; charter Y. & M. V. R. Co., Laws of 1882, p. 838; Code 1892, § 3572 and § 3560 as amended by Laws 1898, Ch. 80 (Code 1906, Secs. 4057, 4073) ; Constitution 1890, § 89.
SEC. 88. The Legislature shall pass general laws, under which local and private interests shall be provided for and protected, and under which cities and towns may be chartered and their charters amended, and under which corporations may be created, organized, and their acts of incorporation altered; and all such laws shall be subject to repeal or amendment.
The section is prospective only and did not repeal existing municipal charters. Lum v. Vicksburg, 72 Miss., 950 (18 So., 476).
This section merely requires the passage of uniform general laws prescribing the mode by which municipal charters may be granted and amended, and does not require such laws to contain the entire contents of such amendments. Yazoo City v. Light- cap, 82 Miss., 148 (33 So., 949).
Neither this section nor Section 91 affected § 8, Chapter 250, of the Laws of 1890, authorizing a salary to members of the board of supervisors of Madison County, such sections being prospective. Adams v. Dendy, 82 Miss., 135 (33 So., 843).
The Act of 1894 (p. 29), authorizing the intervention of the State Revenue Agent for the assessment and collection of munic- ipal taxes on property that had escaped taxation is not unconsti- tutional on the alleged ground that it deprives the city of the right of local self-government, although the city is operating under a special charter delegating to it the power of taxation. Adams v. Kuykendall, 83 Miss., 571 (35 So., 830).
. This section does not deprive the Legislature of the right to control the taxing power previously delegated to a municipality by a special charter. Ib.
The Legislature can constitutionally confer on municipalities the power, by ordinance, to punish as an offense against the
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municipality an act which constitutes a crime against the State. Ocean Springs v. Green, 77 Miss., 472 (27 So., 743).
Section 2921 of the Code of 1892 (Code 1906, Sec. 3312), authorizing the Governor to pass upon and approve applica- tions for the incorporation of cities, towns and villages, is con- stitutional. Jackson v. Whiting, 84 Miss., 163 (36 So., 611) ._
SEC. 89. There shall be appointed in each house of the Legislature a standing committee on local and private legislation; the house committee to consist of seven Representatives, and the Senate committee of five Senators. No local or private bill shall be passed by either house until it shall have been referred to said committee thereof, and shall have been reported back with a recommendation in writing that it do pass, stating affirmatively the reasons therefor, and why the end to be accomplished should not be reached by a general law, or by a proceeding in court; or if the recommendation of the committee be that the bill do not pass, then it shall not pass the house to which it is so reported unless it be voted for by a majority of all the members elected thereto. If a bill is passed in conformity to the requirements hereof, other than such as are pro- hibited in the next section, the courts shall not, because of its local, special, or private nature, refuse to enforce it.
· Chapter 89, Laws of 1902, is violative of this section. Yazoo
R. Co. v. Southern R. Co., 83 Miss., 746 (36 So., 74).
SEC. 90. The Legislature shall not pass local, private, or special laws in any of the following enumerated cases, but such matters shall be pro- vided for only by general laws, viz .:
(a) Granting divorces.
(1817, Art. VI, Sec. 7; 1832, Art. VII, Sec. 15; 1869, Art. IV, Sec. 22.)
(b) Changing the names of persons, places, or corporations.
(c) Providing for changes of venue in civil and criminal cases.
(d) Regulating the rate of interest on money.
(e) Concerning the settlement or administration of any estate, or the sale or mortgage of any property, of any infant, or of a person of unsound mind, or of any deceased person.
(f) The removal of the disability of infancy.
(g) Granting to any person, corporation, or association the right to have any ferry, bridge, road, or fish trap.
(h) Exemption of property from taxation or from levy or sale.
(i) Providing for the adoption or legitimation of children.
(j) Changing the law of descent and distribution.
(k) Exempting any person from jury, road, or other civil duty (and no person shall be exempted therefrom by force of any local or private law).
The paragraph repealed previously existing laws the passage of which are inhibited by it. Chidsey v. Scranton, 70 Miss., 449 (12 So., 545).
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(!) Laying out, opening, altering, and working roads and highways.
(m) Vacating any road or highway, town plat, street, alley, or public grounds.
(n) Selecting, drawing, summoning, or empaneling grand or petit juries.
(o) Creating, increasing, or decreasing the fees, salary, or emolu- ments of any public officer.
Statutes authorizing the board of supervisors to provide an abstract of title to lands in the county and cause it to be kept up to date at all times and empowering the chancery clerk to charge abstract fees do not violate the section or clause. Yazoo, etc., R. R. Co. v. Edwards, 78 Miss., 950 (29 So., 770).
A law applicable only to a single county, providing that no per- son shall be liable to jury duty outside the district in which he lives, violates paragraph n of this section. Burt v. State, 86 Miss., 280 (38 So., 233).
(p) Providing for the management or support of any private or common school, incorporating the same, or granting such school any privileges. -
(q) Relating to stock laws, water courses, and fences.
(r) Conferring the power to exercise the right of eminent domain, or granting to any person, corporation, or association the right to lay down railroad tracks or street car tracks in any other manner than that prescribed by general law.
(s) Regulating the practice in courts of justice.
(t) Providing for the creation of districts for the election of justices of the peace and constables; and
(u) Granting any lands under control of the State to any person or corporation.
PROHIBITION.
SEC. 91. The Legislature shall not enact any law for one or more counties, not applicable to all the counties in the State, increasing the uniform charge for the registration of deeds, or regulating costs and charges and fees of officers.
Neither this section nor Sec. 88 affected Sec. 8, Chapter 250, Laws of 1890, authorizing a salary to members of the board of supervisors of Madison County, such sections being prospective. Adams v. Dendy, 82 Miss., 135 (33 So., 843).
SEC. 92. The Legislature shall not authorize payment to any person of the salary of a deceased officer beyond the date of his death.
SEC. 93. The Legislature shall not retire any officer on pay, or part pay, or make any grant to such retiring officer. .
SEC. 94. The Legislature shall never create by law any distinction between the rights of men and women to acquire, own, enjoy, and dispose of property of all kinds, or their power to contract in reference thereto.
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Married women are hereby fully emancipated from all disability on account of coverture. But this shall not prevent the Legislature from regulating contracts between husband and wife; nor shall the Legislature be pre- vented from regulating the sale of homesteads.
(1869, Art. I, Sec. 16.)
A contract whereby a wife relinquishes, on sufficient consider- ation, all claims on her husband's estate is authorized by this section. Wyatt v. Wyatt, 8I Miss., 219 (32 So., 317).
This section applied. Southworth v. Brownlow, 84 Miss., 405 (36 So., 522).
SEC. 95. Lands belonging to, or under the control of the State, shall never be donated directly or indirectly, to private corporations or indi- viduals, or to railroad companies. Nor shall such land be sold to cor- porations or associations for a less price than that for which it is subject to sale to individuals. This, however, shall not prevent the Legislature from granting a right of way, not exceeding one hundred feet in width, as a mere easement, to railroads across State land, and the Legislature shall never dispose of the land covered by said right of way so long as such easement exists.
SEC. 96. The Legislature shall never grant extra compensation, fee, or allowance, to any public officer, agent, servant, or contractor, after service rendered or contract made, nor authorize payment, or part pay- ment, of any claim under any contract not authorized by law; but appro- priations may be made for expenditures in repelling invasion, preventing or suppressing insurrections.
SEC. 97. The Legislature shall have no power to revive any remedy which may have become barred by lapse of time, or by any statute of limitation of this State.
The section relates alone either to an express statute of - limitations or to a lapse of time dealt with under the statute or the general law as a limitation of time. North British & Mercan- tile Ins. Co. v. Edwards, 85 Miss., 322 (37 So., 748).
This section has no application to a contract by which the parties agree that an action shall not be brought thereon after a specified time. It relates wholly to limitations prescribed by statute. Insurance Co. v. Edwards, 85 Miss., 322 (37 So., 748).
SEC. 98. No lottery shall ever be allowed, or be advertised by news- papers, or otherwise, or its tickets be sold in this State; and the Legis- lature shall provide by law for the enforcement of this provision; nor shall any lottery heretofore authorized be permitted to be drawn or its tickets sold.
(1869, Art. XII, Sec. 15.)
Lotteries being contrary to good morals, are not the subject of contract. Miss. Society of Arts v. Musgrove, 44 Miss., 820; Moore v. State, 48 Miss., 147.
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SEC. 99. The Legislature shall not elect any other than its own officers, State Librarian, and United States Senators; but this section shall not prohibit the Legislature from appointing Presidential electors.
SEC. 100. No obligation or liability of any person, association, or corporation held or owned by this State, or levee board, or any county, city, or town thereof, shall ever be remitted, released or postponed, or in any way diminished by the Legislature, nor shall such liability or obligation be extinguished except by payment thereof into the proper treasury ; nor shall such liability or obligation be exchanged or transferred except upon payment of its face value; but this shall not be construed to prevent the Legislature from providing by general law for the com- promise of doubtful claims.
The word liability in the section is used interchangeably with obligation. Adams v. Fragiacomo, 71 Miss., 417 (15 So., 798).
It is beyond the power of a municipality, under the section, to remit or release liability to it for due and unpaid taxes. Morris, etc., Co. v. Adams, 75 Miss., 410 (22 So., 944).
A municipality has no power under this section to refund money forfeited by the depositor's breach of contract for public work. Jackson Ry., etc., v. Adams, Rev. Agt., 79 Miss., 408 (30 So., 694).
SEC. 101. The seat of government of the State shall be at the city of Jackson, and shall not be removed or relocated without the assent of a majority of the electors of the State.
MISCELLANEOUS.
SEC. 102. All general elections for State and county officers shall commence and be holden every four years, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, until altered by the law; and the electors, in all cases except in cases of treason, felony, and breach of peace, shall be privileged from arrest during their attendance at elections and in going to and returning therefrom.
(1869, Art. IV, Sec. 7.)
SEC. 103. In all cases, not otherwise provided for in this constitution, the Legislature may determine the mode of filling all vacancies, in all offices, and in cases of emergency provisional appointments may be made by the Governor, to continue until the vacancy is regularly filled; and the Legislature shall provide suitable compensation for all officers, and shall define their respective powers.
(1832, Art. V, Sec. 13; 1869, Art. XII, Sec. 7.)
The mode of filling vacancies in the office of justice of the peace is committed by the section to the Legislature; but if it be not filled as prescribed by statute a case of emergency arises and the Governor may fill it provisionally. State v. Lovell, 70 Miss., 309 (12 So., 341).
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SEC. 104. Statutes of limitation in civil causes shall not run against the State, or any subdivision or municipal corporation thereof.
The section went into effect on the adoption of the constitu- tion and was not suspended by Section 274. Adams v. Illinois, etc., R. R. Co., 71 Miss., 752 (15 So., 645).
The Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee District (recognized by Art. II) is a subdivision of the State within the section. Ib.
This section suspended the statute of limitations on contracts then existing. Wayne County v. Helton, 79 Miss., 122 (29 So., 820).
SEC. 105. The Legislature shall provide for the enumeration of the whole number of inhabitants, and the qualified electors of the State, once in every ten years; and the first enumeration shall be made during the two months beginning on the first Monday of June, 1895, and the Legislature shall provide for the same by law.
(1869, Art. IV, Sec. 33.)
SEC. 106. There shall be a State Librarian, to be chosen by the Legis- lature, on joint vote of the two houses, to serve four years, whose duties and compensation shall be prescribed by law. Any woman, a resident of the State four years, and who has attained the age of twenty years, shall be eligible to said office.
SEC. 107. All stationery, printing, paper, and fuel, used by the Legis- lature, and other departments of the government, shall be furnished, and the printing and binding of the laws, journals, department reports, and other printing and binding, and the repairing and furnishing the halls and rooms used for the meeting of the Legislature and its committees shall be performed under contract, to be given to the lowest responsible bidder, below such maximum and under such regulations as may be prescribed by law. No member of the Legislature or officer of any department shall be in any way interested in such contract, and all such contracts shall be subject to the approval of the Governor and State Treasurer.
SEC. 108. Whenever the Legislature shall take away the duties per- taining to any office, then the salary of the officer shall cease.
SEC. 109. No public officer or member of the Legislature shall be interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract with the State, or any district, county, city, or town thereof, authorized by any law passed or order made by any board of which he may be or may have been a member, during the term for which he shall have been chosen, or within one year after the expiration of such term.
SEC. ITO. The Legislature may provide, by general law, for con- demning rights of way for private roads, where necessary for ingress and egress by the party applying, on due compensation being first made to the owner of the property; but such rights of way shall not be provided for in incorporated cities and towns.
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FOURTH CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI.
SEC. III. All lands comprising a single tract sold in pursuance of decree of court, or execution, shall be first offered in subdivisions not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, or one-quarter section, and then offered as an entirety, and the price bid for the latter shall control only when it shall exceed the aggregate of the bids for the same in subdivisions as aforesaid; but the chancery court, in cases before it, may decree other- wise if deemed advisable to do so.
(1869, Art. XII, Sec. 18.)
The objection that lands were sold in tracts exceeding one hundred and sixty acres must be made within time prescribed by law. Bradley v. Villere, 66 Miss., 399 (6 So., 208).
SEC. 112. Taxation shall be uniform and equal throughout the State. Property shall be taxed in proportion to its value. The Legislature may, however, impose a tax per capita upon such domestic animals as from their nature and habits are destructive of other property. Property shall be assessed for taxes under general laws, and by uniform rules, according to its true value. But the Legislature may provide for a special mode of valuation and assessment for railroads, and railroad and other corporate property, or for particular species of property belonging to persons, corporations, or associations not situated wholly in one county. But all such property shall be assessed at its true value, and no county shall be denied the right to levy county and special taxes upon such assessment as in other cases of property situated and assessed in the county.
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