perjury, solicitation of bribery, or subornation of perjury, shall be eligible to the general assembly, or capable of holding any office of trust or profit in this State.

SEC. 5. The district court of each county shall, at each term thereof, specially give in charge to the grand jury, if there be one, the laws regulating the accountability of the county treasurer, and shall appoint a committee of such grand jury, or of other reputable persons, not exceeding five, to investigate the official accounts and affairs of the treasurer of such county, and report to the court the condition thereof. The judge of the district court may appoint a like committee in vacation at any time, but not oftener than once in every three months. The district court of the county wherein the seat of government may be shall have the like power to appoint committees to investigate the official accounts and affairs of the State treasurer and the auditor of State.

SEC. 6. Any civil officer or member of the general assembly who shall solicit, demand, or receive, or consent to receive, directly or indirectly, for himself or for another, from any company, corporation, or person, any money, office, appointment, employment, testimonial, reward, thing of value or enjoyment, or of personal advantage or promise thereof, for his vote, official influence, or action, or for withholding the same, or with an understanding that his official influence or action shall be in any way influenced thereby, or who shall solicit or demand any such money or advantage, matter, or thing aforesaid for another, as the consideration of his vote, official influence, or action, or for withholding the same, or shall give or withhold his vote, official influence, or action in consideration of the payment or promise of such money, advantage, matter, or thing to another, shall be held guilty of bribery, or solicitation. of bribery, as the case may be, within the meaning of this constitution, and shall incur the disabilities provided thereby for such offence, and such additional punishment as is or shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 7. Every member of the general assembly shall, before he enters upon his official duties, take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Colorado, and to faithfully perform the duties of his office according to the best of his ability. This oath, or affirmation, shall be administered in the hall of the house to which the member shall have been elected.

SEC. 8. Every civil officer, except members of the general assembly and such inferior officers as may be by law exempted, shall, before he enters upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States and the State of Colorado, and to faithfully perform the duties of the office upon which he shall be about to enter.

SEC. 9. Officers of the executive department and judges of the supreme and districts courts, and district attorneys, shall file their oaths of office with the secretary of state; every other officer shall file his oath of office with the county clerk of the county wherein he shall have been elected.

SEC. 10. If any person elected or appointed to any office shall refuse or neglect to qualify therein within the time prescribed by law, such office shall be deemed vacant. SEC. 11. The term of office of any officer elected to fill a vacancy shall terminate at the expiration of the term during which the vacancy occurred.

SEC. 12. No person who shall hereafter fight a duel, or assist in the same as a second, or send, accept, or knowingly carry a challenge therefor, or agree to go out of the State to fight a duel, shall hold any office in the State.

ARTICLE XIII.

IMPEACHMENTS.

SECTION 1. The house of representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment. The concurrence of a majority of all the members shall be necessary to an impeachment. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate, and, when sitting for that purpose, the senators shall be upon oath or affirmation to do justice according to law and evidence. When the governor or lieutenant governor is on trial, the chiefjustice of the supreme court shall preside. No person shall be convicted without a concurrence of two-thirds of the senators clected.

SEC. 2. The governor and other State and judicial officers, except county judges and justices of the peace, shall be liable to impeachment for high crimes or misdemeanors, or malfeasance in office, but judgment in such cases shall only extend to removal from office and disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit in the State. The party, whether convicted or acquitted, shall, nevertheless, be liable to prosecution, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law.

SEC. 3. All officers not liable to impeachment shall be subject to removal for misconduct or malfeasance in office, in such manner as may be provided by law.

ARTICLE XIV.

COUNTIES.

SECTION 1. The several counties of the Territory of Colorado, as they now exist, are hereby declared to be counties of the State.

SEC. 2. The general assembly shall have no power to remove the county-seat of any county, but the removal of county-seats shall be provided for by general law, and no county-seat shall be removed unless a majority of the qualified electors of the county, voting on the proposition at a general election, vote therefor; and no such proposition shall be submitted oftener than once in four years, and no person shall vote on such proposition who shall not have resided in the county six months and in the election-precinct ninety days next preceding such election.

SEC. 3. No part of the territory of any county shall be stricken off and added to an adjoining county without first submitting the question to the qualified voters of the county from which the territory is proposed to be stricken off; nor unless a majority of all the qualified voters of said county voting on the question shall vote therefor.

SEC. 4. In all cases of the establishment of any new county, the new county shall be held to pay its ratable proportion of all then existing liabilities of the county or counties from which such new county shall be formed.

SEC. 5. When any part of a county is stricken off and attached to another county, the part stricken off shall be held to pay its ratable proportion of all then existing liabilities of the county from which it is taken.

COUNTY OFFICERS.

SEC. 6. In each county there shall be elected for the term of three years three county commissioners, who shall hold sessions for the transaction of county business as provided by law, any two of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. One of said commissioners shall be elected on the first Tuesday of October, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, and every year thereafter one such officer shall be elected in each county, at the general election, for the term of three years: Provided, That when the population of any county shall exceed ten thousand, the board of county commissioners may consist of five members, who shall be elected as provided by law, any three of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

SEC. 7. The compensation of all county and precinct officers shall be as provided by law.

SEC. 8. There shall be elected in each county, on the first Tuesday of October, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven, and every alternate year forever thereafter, one county clerk, who shall be ex officio recorder of deeds and clerk of the board of county commissioners; one sheriff; one coroner; one treasurer, who shall be collector of taxes; one county superintendent of schools; one county surveyor, and one county assesssor.

SEC. 9. In case of a vacancy occurring in the office of county commissioner, the governor shall fill the same by appointment; and in the case of a vacancy in any other county office, or in any precinct office, the board of county commissioners shall fill the same by appointment; and the person appointed shall hold the office until the next general election, or until the vacancy be filled by election according to law. SEC. 10. No person shall be eligible to any county office unless he be a qualified elector; nor unless he shall have resided in the county one year preceding his election.

SEC. 11. There shall, at the first election at which county officers are chosen, and annually thereafter, be elected in each precinct one justice of the peace and one constable, who shall each hold his office for the term of two years: Provided, That in precincts containing five thousand or more inhabitants, the number or justices and constables may be increased as provided by law.

SEC. 12. The general assembly shall provide for the election or appointment of such other county, township, precinct, and municipal officers as public convenience may require; and their terms of office shall be as prescribed by law, not in any case to exceed two years.

SEC. 13. The general assembly shall provide, by general laws, for the organization and classification of cities and towns. The number of such classes shall not exceed four, and the powers of each class shall be defined by general laws, so that all municipal corporations of the same class shall possess the same powers, and be subject to the same restrictions.

SEC. 14. The general assembly shall also make provision, by general law, whereby any city, town, or village, incorporated by any special or local law, may elect to become subject to, and be governed by, the general law relating to such corporations. SEC. 15. For the purpose of providing for and regulating the compensation of county and precinct officers, the general assembly shall, by law, classify the several counties of the State according to population, and shall grade and fix the compensation of the officers within the respective classes according to the population thereof. Such law shall establish scales of fees to be charged and collected by such of the county and precinct officers as may be designated therein, for services to be performed by them respectively; and where salaries are provided the same shall be payable only out of the fees actually collected in all cases where fees are prescribed. All fees, perquisites, and emoluments, above the amount of such salaries, shall be paid into the county treasury.

ARTICLE XV.

CORPORATIONS.

SECTION 1. All existing charters or grants of special or exclusive privileges, under which the corporators or grantees shall not have organized and commenced business in good faith at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall thereafter have no validity.

SEC. 2. No charter of incorporations shall be granted, extended, changed, or amended by special law, except for such municipal, charitable, educational, penal, or reformatory corporations as are or may be under the control of the State; but the general assembly shall provide by general laws for the organization of corporations hereafter to be created.

SEC. 3. The general assembly shall have the power to alter, revoke, or annul any charter of incorporation now existing and revocable at the adoption of this constitution, or any that may hereafter be created, whenever in their opinion it may be injurious to the citizens of the State, in such manner, however, that no injustice shall be done to the corporators.

SEC. 4. All railroads shall be public highways, and all railroad companies shall be common carriers. Any association or corporation organized for the purpose shall have the right to construct and operate a railroad between any designated points within this State, and to connect at the State line with railroads of other States and Territories. Every railroad company shall have the right with its road to intersect, connect with, or cross any other railroad.

SEC. 5. No railroad corporation, or the lessees or managers thereof, shall consolidate its stock, property, or franchises with any other railroad corporation owning or having under its control a parallel or competing line.

SEC. 6. All individuals, associations, and corporations shall have equal rights to have persons and property transported over any railroad in this State, and no undue or unreasonable discrimination shall be made in charges or in facilities for transportation of freight or passengers within the State, and no railroad company, nor any lessee, manager, or employé thereof, shall give any preference to individuals, associations, or corporations in furnishing cars or motive-power.

SEC. 7. No railroad or other transportation company in existence at the time of the adoption of this constitution shall have the benefit of any future legislation without first filing in the office of the secretary of state an acceptance of the provisions of this constitution in binding form.

SEC. 8. The right of eminent domain shall never be abridged, nor so construed as to prevent the general assembly from taking the property and franchises of incorporated companies and subjecting them to public use, the same as the property of individuals; and the police powers of the State shall never be abridged, or so construed as to permit corporations to conduct their business in such manner as to infringe the equal rights of individuals or the general well-being of the State.

SEC. 9. No corporation shall issue stocks or bonds, except for labor done, services performed, or money or property actually received, and all fictitious increase of stock and indebtedness shall be void. The stock of corporations shall not be increased except in pursuance of general law, nor without the consent of the persons holding a majority of the stock, first obtained at a meeting held after at least thirty days' notice given in pursuance of law.

SEC. 10. No foreign corporation shall do any business in this State without having one or more known places of business, and an authorized agent or agents in the same upon whom process may be served.

SEC. 11. No street railroad shall be constructed within any city, town, or incorporated village without the consent of the local authorities having the control of the street or highway proposed to be occupied by such street-railroad.

SEC. 12. The general assembly shall pass no law for the benefit of a railroad or other corporation, or any individual or association of individuals, retrospective in its operation, or which imposes on the people of any county or municipal subdivision of the State a new liability in respect to transactions or considerations already past.

SEC. 13. Any association or corporation, or the lessees or managers thereof, organized for the purpose, or any individual, shall have the right to construct and maintain lines of telegraph within this State, and to connect the same with other lines; and the general assembly shall, by general law of uniform operation, provide reasonable regulations to give full effect to this section. No telegraph company shall consolidate with, or hold a controlling interest in, the stock or bonds of any other telegraph company owning or having the control of a competing line, or acquire, by purchase or otherwise, any other competing line of telegraph.

SEC. 14. If any railroad, telegraph, express, or other corporation organized under any of the laws of this State shall consolidate, by sale or otherwise, with any railroad, telegraph, express, or other corporation organized under any laws of any other State or Territory, or of the United States, the same shall not thereby become a foreign corporation, but the courts of this State shall retain jurisdiction over that part of the corporate property within the limits of the State in all matters which may arise, as if said consolidation had not taken place.

SEC. 15. It shall be unlawful for any person, company, or corporation to require of its servants or employés, as a condition of their employment or otherwise, any contract or agreement whereby such person, company, or corporation shall be released or discharged from liability or responsibility on account of personal injuries received by such servants or employés while in the service of such person, company, or corporation by reason of the negligence of such person, company, or corporation, or the agents or employés thereof; and such contracts shall be absolutely null and void.

ARTICLE XVI.

MINING AND IRRIGATION.

Mining.

SECTION 1. There shall be established and maintained the office of commissioner of mines, the duties and salary of which shall be prescribed by law. When said office shall be established the governor shall, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint thereto a person known to be competent, whose term of office shall be four years.

SEC. 2. The general assembly shall provide by law for the proper ventilation of mines, the construction of escapement-shafts, and such other appliances as may be necessary to protect the health and secure the safety of the workmen therein, and shall prohibit the employment in the mines of children under twelve years of age.

SEC. 3. The general assembly may make such regulations from time to time as may be necessary for the proper and equitable drainage of mines.

SEC. 4. The general assembly may provide that the science of mining and metallurgy be taught in one or more of the institutions of learning under the patronage of the State.

Irrigation.

SEC. 5. The water of every natural stream not heretofore appropriated within the State of Colorado is hereby declared to be the property of the public; and the same is dedicated to the use of the people of the State, subject to appropriation as hereinafter provided.

SEC. 6. The right to divert the unappropriated waters of any natural stream to beneficial uses shall never be denied. Priority of appropriation shall give the better right as between those using the water for the same purpose; but when the waters of any natural stream are not sufficient for the service of all those desiring the use of the same, those using the water for domestic purposes shall have the preference over those claiming for any other purpose, and those using the water for agricultural purposes shall have preference over those using the same for manufacturing purposes. SEC. 7. All persons and corporations shall have the right of way across public, private, and corporate lands for the construction of ditches, canals, and flumes for the purpose of conveying water for domestic purposes, for the irrigation of agricultural lands, and for mining and manufacturing purposes, and for drainage, upon payment of just compensation.

SEC. 8. The general assembly shall provide by law that the board of county commissioners, in their respective counties, shall have power, when application is made to them by either party interested, to establish reasonable maximum rates to be charged for the use of water, whether furnished by individuals or corporations.

ARTICLE XVII.

MILITIA.

SECTION 1. The militia of the State shall consist of all able-bodied male residents of the State between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, except such persons as may be exempted by the laws of the United States or of the State.

SEC. 2. The organization, equipment, and discipline of the militia shall conform, as nearly as practicable, to the regulations for the government of the armies of the United States.

SEC. 3. The governor shall appoint all general, field, and staff officers, and commission them. Each company shall elect its own officers, who shall be commissioned by the governor; but if any company shall fail to elect such officers within the time prescribed by law, they may be appointed by the governor.

SEC. 4. The general assembly shall provide for the safe-keeping of the public arms, military records, relics, and banners of the State.

SEC. 5. No person having conscientious scruples against bearing arms shall be compelled to do militia duty in time of peace: Provided, Such person shall pay an equivalent for such exemption.

ARTICLE XVIII.

MISCELLANEOUS.

SECTION 1. The general assembly shall pass liberal homestead and exemption laws. SEC. 2. The general assembly shall have no power to authorize lotteries or gift enterprises for any purpose, and shall pass laws to prohibit the sale of lottery or giftenterprise tickets in this State.