USA > Oklahoma > A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I > Part 73
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Wagoner County :- Beginning on the township line between townships nineteen (19) and twenty (20) North, at its intersection with the range line between ranges fourteen (14) and fifteen (15) East; thence east along said township line to its intersection with the center line of Verdigris River; thence down along the center line of said river to its intersection with the township line be- tween townships eighteen (18) and nineteen (19) North; thence east along said township line to its intersection with the center line of the Grand River; thence down along the center line of said Grand River to its intersection with the township line between townships fifteen (15) and sixteen (16) North; thence west along said township line to its intersection with the center line of the Ar- kansas River in range eighteen (18) East, to cor- respond with the description of Muskogee county; thence up along the center line of said Arkansas River to its intersection with the east and west center section line across township sixteen (16) North, range fifteen (15) East; thence west along said center section line to its intersection with the range line between ranges thirteen (13) and fourteen (14) East; thence north along said range line to its intersection with the township line between townships seventeen (17) and eight-
een (18) North; thence east along said township line to its intersection with the range line be- tween ranges fourteen (14) and fifteen (15) East; thence north along said range line to the point of beginning. Wagoner is hereby designated the County Seat of Wagoner county.
Washington County :- Beginning on the state line between Kansas and Oklahoma at its inter- section with the east boundary line of the Osage nation; thence eastward along said state line to its intersection with the north and south center section line across range fourteen (14) East; thence south along said center section line to its intersection with the township line between town- ships twenty-two (22) and twenty-three (23) North; thence west along said township line to its intersection with the east boundary line of the Osage nation; thence northward along said boun- dary line to the point of beginning. Bartlesville is hereby designated the County Seat of Wash- ington county.
Washita County :- Said county shall be and re- main as it now exists under the Territory of Oklahoma, until hereafter changed under the pro- visions of this Constitution. Cordell is hereby designated the County Seat of Washita county.
Woods County :- Beginning on the state line between Kansas and Oklahoma at its intersection with the center line of the Cimarron River in range twenty-one (21) West; thence eastward along said state line to its intersection with the range line between ranges twelve (12) and thirteen (13) West; thence south along said range line to its intersection with the center line of the Cimar- ron River; thence up along the center line of said Cimarron River to its intersection with the town- ship line between townships twenty-three (23) and twenty-four (24) North; thence west along said township line to its intersection with the range line between ranges sixteen (16) and seven- teen (17) West; thence north along said range line to its intersection with the center line of the Cimarron River; thence up along the center line of said Cimarron River to the point of begin- ning. Alva is hereby designated the County Seat of Woods county.
Woodward County :- Beginning on the center line of the Cimarron River at its intersection with the range line between ranges nineteen (19) and twenty (20) West; thence southeastwardly along the center line of said Cimarron River to its in- tersection with the range line between ranges six- teen (16) and seventeen (17) West; thence south along said range line to its intersection with the south boundary line of said county, as it now ex- ists under the Territory of Oklahoma; thence west- ward along said line to its intersection with the range line between ranges twenty-two (22) and twenty-three (23) West; thence north along said
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range line to its intersection with the township line between townships twenty-four (24) and twenty-five (25) North; thence east along said township line to its intersection with the range line between ranges nineteen (19) and twenty (20) West; thence north along said range line to the point of beginning. Woodward is hereby designated the County Seat of Woodward county.
ARTICLE XVIII. Municipal Corporations.
SECTION 1. Municipal corporations shall not be created by special laws, but the legislature by gen- eral laws, shall provide for the incorporation and organization of cities and towns and the classifi- cation of same in proportion to population, subject to the provisions of this article.
SEc. 2. Every municipal corporation now exist- ing within this state shall continue with all of its present rights and powers until otherwise pro- vided by law, and shall always have the additional rights and powers conferred by this constitution.
Szc. 3. (a) Any city containing a population of more than two thousand inhabitants may frame a charter for its own government, consistent with and subject to the constitution and laws of this state, by causing a board of freeholders, composed of two from each ward, who shall be qualified electors of said city, to be elected by the qualified electors of said city, at any general or special election, whose duty it shall be, within nineteen days after such election, to prepare and propose a charter for such city, which shall be signed in duplicate by the members of such board, or a majority of them, and returned, one copy of said charter to the chief executive officer of such city, and the other to the register of deeds of the county in which said city shall be situated. Such proposed charter shall then be published in one or more newspapers published and of general circulation within said city, for at least twenty- one days, if in a daily paper, or in three con- secutive issues, if in a weekly paper, and the first publication shall be made within twenty days after the completion of the charter; and within thirty days, and not earlier than twenty days after such publication it shall be submitted to the qualified electors of said city at a general or special elec- tion, and if a majority of such qualified electors voting thereon shall ratify the same, it shall there- after be submitted to the governor for his ap- proval, and the governor shall approve the same, if it shall not be in conflict with the constitution and laws of this state. Upon such approval, it shall become the organic law of such city and supersede any existing charter and all amendments thereof and all ordinances inconsistent with it. A copy of such charter, certified by the chief executive officer, and authenticated by the seal
of such city, setting forth the submission of such charter to the electors and its ratification by them shall, after the approval of such charter by the governor, be made in duplicate and deposited, one in the office of the secretary of state, and the other, after being recorded in the office of said register of deeds, shall be deposited in the archives of the city and thereafter all courts shall take judicial notice of said charter. The charter 80 ratified may be amended by proposals therefor, submitted by the legislative authority of the city to the qualified electors thereof (or by petition as hereinafter provided) at a general or special election, and ratified by a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon, and approved by the gov- ernor as herein provided for the approval of the charter.
SEC. 3. (b) An election of such board of free- holders may be called at any time by the legis lative authority of any such city, and such an election shall be called by the chief executive officer of any such city within ten days after there shall have been filed with him a petition demand- ing the same, signed by a number of qualified electors residing within such city, equal to twenty- five per centum of the total number of votes cast at the next preceding general municipal election; and such election shall be held not later than thirty days after the call therefor. At such elec- tion a vote shall be taken upon the question of whether or not further proceedings toward adopt- ing a charter shall be had, in pursuance to the call, and unless a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon shall vote to proceed further, no further proceeding shall be had, and all proceed- ings up to that time shall be of no effect.
SEC. 4. (a) The powers of the initiative and referendum, reserved by this constitution to the people of the state and the respective counties and districts therein, are hereby reserved to the people of every municipal corporation now existing or which shall hereafter be created within this state, with reference to all legislative authority which it may exercise, and amendments to charters for its own government in accordance with the provi- sions of this constitution.
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SEC. 4. (b) Every petition for either the ini- tiative or referendum in the government of a municipal corporation shall be signed by a num- ber of qualified electors residing within the ter- ritorial limits of such corporation equal to 25 per centum of the total number of votes cast at the next preceding election, and every such petition shall be filed with the chief executive officer of such municipal corporation.
SEC. 4. (c) When such petition demands the enactment of an ordinance or other legal act other than the grant, extension or renewal of a fran- chise, the chief executive officer shall present the
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same to the legislative body of such corporation at its next meeting, and unless the said petition shall be granted more than 30 days before the next election at which any city officers are to be elected, the chief executive officer shall submit the said ordinance or act so petitioned for to the qualified electors at said election; and if a majority of said electors voting thereon shall vote for the same, it shall thereupon become in full force and effect.
SEC. 4. (d) When such petition demands a ref- erendum. vote upon any ordinance or any other legal act other than the grant, extension or re newal of a franchise, the chief executive officer shall submit said ordinance or act to the qualified electors of said corporation at the next suc- ceeding general municipal election, and if at said election a majority of the electors voting thereon shall not vote for the same, it shall thereupon stand repealed.
SEC. 4. (e) When such petition demands an amendment to a charter, the chief executive officer shall submit such amendment to the qualified electors of said municipal corporation at the next election of any officers of said corporation, and if at said election a majority of said electors voting thereon shall vote for such amendment, the same shall thereupon become an amendment to and a part of said charter, when approved by the governor and filed in the same manner and form as an original charter is required by the provisions of this article to be approved and filed.
SEC. 5. (a) No municipal corporation shall ever grant, extend or renew a franchise, without the approval of a majority of the qualified electors residing within its corporate limits, who shall vote thereon at a general or special election; and the legislative body of any such corporation may submit any such matter for approval or disap- proval to such electors at any general municipal election, or call a special election for such pur- pose at any time upon 30 days' notice; and no franchise shall be granted, extended or renewed for a longer term than twenty-five years.
SEC. 5. (b) Whenever a petition signed by a number of qualified electors of any municipal cor- poration equal to twenty-five percentum of the total number of votes cast at the next preceding general municipal election, demanding that a fran- chise be granted, extended, or renewed, shall be filed with the chief executive officer of said cor- poration, the chief executive officer shall, within ten days thereafter, call a special election, at which he shall submit the question of whether or not such franchise shall be granted, extended, or renewed, and if, at said election, a majority of the said electors voting thereon shall vote for the grant, extension, or renewal of such franchise, the sama shall be granted by the proper authorities at
the next succeding regular meeting of the legis- lative body of the city.
Szo. 6. Every municipal corporation within this state shall have the right to engage in any busi- ness or enterprise which may be engaged in by a person, firm or corporation by virtue of a fran- chise from said corporation.
SEC. 7. No grant, extension or renewal of any franchise or other use of the streets, alleys, or other public grounds or ways of any municipality shall divest the state, or any of its subordinate subdivisions, of their control and regulation of such use and enjoyment.
Nor shall the power to regulate the charges for public services be surrendered; and no exclusive franchise shall ever be granted.
ARTICLE XIX.
Insurance.
SECTION 1. No foreign insurance company shall be granted a license or permitted to do business in this State until it shall have complied with the laws of the State, including the deposit of such collateral or indemnity for the protection of its patrons within this State as may be prescribed by law, and shall agree to pay all such taxes and fees as may at any time be imposed by law or act of the Legislature, on foreign insurance com- panies, and a refusal to pay such taxes or fees shall work a forfeiture of such license.
SEC. 2. Until otherwise provided by law, all foreign insurance companies, including surety and bond companies, doing business in the State, ex- cept fraternal insurance companies, shall pay to the Insurance Commissioner for the use of the State, an entrance fee as follows:
Each Foreign Life Insurance Company, per an- num, two hundred dollars; each Foreign Fire In- surance Company, per annum, one hundred dol- lars; each Foreign Accident and Health Insur- ance Company, jointly, per annum, one hundred dollars; each Surety and Bond Company, per an- num, one hundred and fifty dollars; each Plate Glass Insurance Company (not accident), per an- num, twenty-five dollars; each Foreign Live Stock Insurance Company, per annum, twenty-five dol- lars.
Until otherwise provided by law, domestic com- panies excepted, each insurance company, including surety and bond companies, doing business in this State, shall pay an annual tax of two per cent on all premiums collected in the States, after all cancellations are deducted, and a tax of three dollars on each local agent.
Szc. 3. The revenue and tax provisions of this Constitution shall not include, but the State shall provide for, the following classes of Insurance organizations not conducted for profit, and insur- ing only their own members:
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First, Farm Companies insuring farm property and products thereon; second, Trades Insurance Companies insuring the property and interest of one line of business; third, Fraternal Life, Health, and Accident Insurance in Fraternal and Civic Orders, and in all of which the interests of the members of each respectively shall be uniform and mutual.
SEC. 4. All fees collected by the Insurance Com- missioner shall be paid to the State Treasurer monthly.
ARTICLE XX. Manufacture and Commerce.
SECTION 1. Nothing herein shall prevent the manufacture or sale of denaturized alcohol under such regulations as may be prescribed by law.
SEC. 2. Until changed by the Legislature, the flash test provided for under the laws of Oklahoma Territory for all kerosene oil for illuminating pur- poses shall be one hundred and fifteen degrees Fahrenheit; and the specific gravity test for all such oil, shall be forty degrees Baume.
ARTICLE XXI. Public Institutions.
SECTION 1. Educational, reformatory, and penal institutions and those for the benefit of the in- sane, blind, deaf, and mute, and such other insti- tutions as the public good may require, shall be established and supported by the State in such manner as may be prescribed by law.
ARTICLE XXII. Alien and Corporate Ownership of Lands.
SECTION 1. No alien or person who is not a citizen of the United States, shall acquire title to or own land in this State, and the Legislature shall enact laws whereby all persons not citizens of the United States and their heirs, who may here- after acquire real estate in this State by devise, descent, or otherwise, shall dispose of the same within five years upon condition of escheat or forfeiture to the State: Provided, This shall not apply to Indians born within the United States, nor to aliens or persons not citizens of the United States who may become bona fide residents of this State: And provided further, That this sec- tion shall not apply to lands now owned by aliens in this State.
SEC. 2. No corporation shall be created or li- censed in this State for the purpose of buying, acquiring, trading, or dealing in real estate other than real estate located in incorporated cities and towns and as additions thereto; nor shall any cor- poration doing business in this State buy, acquire, trade, or deal in real estate for any purpose ex- cept such as may be located in such towns and cities and as additions to such towns and cities,
and further except such as shall be necessary and proper for carrying on the business for which it was chartered or licensed; nor shall any corpo- ration be created or licensed to do business in this State for the purpose of acting as agent in buying and selling land: Provided, however, That corporations shall not be precluded from taking mortgages on real estate for debt and acquiring title thereto in the collection of debts, conditioned that such corporation or corporations shall not hold such real estate for a longer period than seven years after acquiring such title: And pro- vided further, That this section shall not apply to trust companies taking only the naked title to real estate or other property in this State as a trustee, solely for the execution of a trust or security for indebtedness pursuant to such trust: And provided further, That no public service cor- poration shall hold any land, or the title thereof, in any way whatever in this state, except as the same shall be necessary for the transaction and operation of its business as such Public Service Corporation.
ARTICLE XXIII. Miscellaneous.
SECTION 1. Eight hours shall constitute a day's work in all cases of employment by and on be- half of the State or any county or municipality.
SEC. 2. The contracting of convict labor is hereby prohibited.
SEC. 3. The employment of children, under the age of fifteen years, in any occupation, injurious to health or morals or especially hazardous to life or limb is hereby prohibited.
SEC. 4. Boys under the age of sixteen years, and women and girls, shall not be employed, under- ground, in the operation of mines; and, except in cases of emergency, eight hours shall constitute a day's work underground in all mines in the State.
SEC. 5. The Legislature shall pass laws to pro- tect the health and safety of employees in fac- tories, in mines, and on railroads.
SEC. 6. The defense of contributory negligence or of assumption of risk shall, in all cases whatso- ever, be a question of fact, and shall, at all times, be left to the jury.
SEC. 7. The right of action to recover damages for injuries resulting in death shall never be abrogated, and the amount recoverable shall not be subject to any statutory limitation.
SEC. 8. Any provision of a contract, express or implied, made by any person, by which any of the benefits of this Constitution, or of any law made in accordance therewith, is sought to be waived, shall be null and void.
SEC. 9. Any provision of any contract or agree- ment, express or implied, stipulating for notice or demand other than such as may be provided
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by law, as a condition precedent to establish any claim, demand, or liability, shall be null and void.
SEC. 10. Except wherein otherwise provided in this constitution, in no case shall the salary or emoluments of any public official be changed after his election or appointment, or during his term of office unless by operation of law enacted prior to such election or appointment; nor shall the term of any public official be extended beyond the period for which he was elected or appointed: Provided, That all officers within this State shall continue to perform the duties of their offices until their successors shall be duly qualified.
SEC. 11. Wherever in this Constitution and laws of this State, the word or words, "colored" or "col- ored race," "negro" or "negro race," are used, the same shall be construed to mean or apply to all persons of African descent. The term "white race" shall include all other persons.
ARTICLE XXIV. Constitutional Amendments.
SECTION 1. Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution may be proposed in either branch of the Legislature, and if the same shall be agreed to by a majority of all the members elected to each of the two houses, such proposed amendment or amendments shall, with the yeas and nays thereon, be entered in their journals and referred by the Secretary of State to the people for their approval or rejection, at the next regu- lar general election, except when the Legislature, by a two-thirds vote of each house, shall order a special election for that purpose. If a majority of all the electors voting at such election shall vote in favor of any amendment thereto, it shall thereby become a part of this Constitution. If two or more amendments are proposed they shall be submitted in such manner that electors may vote for or against them separately.
SEC. 2. No convention shall be called by the Legislature to propose alterations, revisions, or amendments to this Constitution, or to propose a new Constitution, unless the law providing for such convention shall first be approved by the people on a referendum vote at a regular or spe- cial election, and any amendments, alterations, revisions, or new Constitution, proposed by such convention, shall be submitted to the electors of the State at a general or special election and be approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon, before the same shall become effective: Provided, That the question of such proposed con- vention shall be submitted to the people at least once in every twenty years.
SEC. 3. This article shall not impair the right of the people to amend this Constitution by a vote upon an initiative petition therefor.
Schedule.
In order that no inconvenience may arise by reason of a change from the forms of governmen. now existing in the Indian Territory and in the Territory of Oklahoma, it is hereby declared as follows :
SECTION 1. No existing rights, actions, suits, proceedings, contracts, or claims shall be affected , by the change in the forms of government, but all shall continue as if no change in the forms of government had taken place. And all processes which may have been issued previous to the ad- mission of the State into the Union under the authority of the Territory of Oklahoma or under the authority of the laws in force in the Indian Territory shall be as valid as if issued in the name of the State.
SEC. 2. All laws in force in the Territory of Oklahoma at the time of the admission of the State into the Union, which are not repugnant to this Constitution and which are not locally in- applicable, shall be extended to and remain in force in the State of Oklahoma until they expire by their own limitation or are altered or repealed by law.
SEC. 3. All debts, fines, penalties, and for- feitures which have accrued or may hereafter accrue to the Territory of Oklahoma shall inure to the State of Oklahoma and may be sued for and recovered by the State.
SEC. 4. This Constitution shall take effect and be in full force immediately upon the admission of the State into the Union.
SEC. 5. Until otherwise provided by law, notaries public appointed under the laws of the Territory. of Oklahoma, or under the authority of the laws heretofore in force in the Indian Territory, may continue to exercise and perform the duties of the office of notary public until the expiration of their commissions: Provided, That any notary pub- lic appointed in the Indian Territory for any district, or in the Territory of Oklahoma for any county, shall, after this Constitution takes effect, exercise the powers, privileges, and rights of a notary public only of the county formed in whole or in part out of the district or county for which such person is a notary public, and in which such person resides at the time the State is admitted into the Union, but before any such notary public, except notaries public for those counties in the Territory of Oklahoma, the boundaries of which have not been changed by the Constitution, shall exercise the powers, privileges, and rights of a notary public of such county, he shall have filed in the office of the county clerk of the county in which he resides his commission as notary public and an affidavit stating that he is a resident of such county, whereupon he shall become a notary public for such county.
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