The State of Michigan

“ The property of no person shall be taken for public use without just compensation therefor. Private roads may be opened in the manner to be prescribed by law; but in every case the necessity of the road and the amount of all damages to be sustained by the opening thereof, shall be first determined by a jury of freeholders; and such amount, together with the expenses of proceedings, shall be paid by the person or persons to be benefited. ”

“ Government is instituted for the protection, security, and benefit of the people; and they have the right at all times to alter or reform the same, and to abolish one form of government and establish another, whenever the public good requires it. ”

“ The militia shall be composed of all able bodied male citizens between the age of eighteen and forty-five years, except such as are exempted by the laws of the United States, or of this State; but all such citizens, of any religious denomination whatever, who, from scruples of conscience, may be averse to bearing arms, shall be excused therefrom, upon such conditions as shall be prescribed by law. ”

“ That no inconvenience may arise from a change of the territorial government to a permanent state government, it is declared that all writs, actions, prosecutions, contracts, claims, and rights, of individuals and of bodies corporate, shall continue as if no change had taken place in this government; and all process which may, before the organization of the judicial department under this constitution, be issued under the authority of the territory of Michigan, shall be as valid as if issued in the name of the state. ”

“ No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense, unless on the presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases of impeachment, or in cases cognizable by justices of the peace, or arising in the army or militia when in actual service in the time of war or public danger. ”

“ On the first day of January, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, the jurisdiction of all suits and proceedings then pending in the present supreme courts shall become vested in the supreme court established by this constitution, and shall be finally adjudicated by the court where the same may be pending. The jurisdiction of all suits and proceedings at law and equity, then pending in the circuit courts and county courts for the several counties, shall become vested in the circuit courts of the said counties and District Court for the Upper Peninsula. ”

“ During a vacancy in the office of Governor, if the Lieutenant Governor die, resign, or be impeached, displaced, be incapable of performing the duties of his office, or absent from the State, the President pro tempore of the Senate shall act as Governor until the vacancy be filled, or the disability cease. ”

“ The proceeds of all lands that have been, or hereafter may be, granted by the United States to this state, for the support of schools, which shall hereafter be sold or disposed of, shall be and remain a perpetual fund; the interest of which, together with the rents of all such unsold lands, shall be inviolably appropriated to the support of schools throughout the State.
Common school system, yearly term. 3. The legislature shall provide for a system of Common Schools, by which a school shall be kept up and supported in each school district, at least three months in every year ”

“ All laws now in force in the territory of Michigan, which are not repugnant to this constitution, shall remain in force until they expire by their own limitations, or be altered or repealed by the legislature. ”

“ The charters of the several mining corporations may be modified by the legislature, in regard to the term limited for subscribing to stock, and in relation to the quantity of land which a corporation shall hold; but the capital shall not be increased, nor the time for the existence of charters extended. No such corporation shall be permitted to purchase or hold any real estate, except such as shall be necessary for the exercise of its corporate franchises. ”

“ At the election aforesaid, on such of the ballots as are for the said constitution, shall be written or printed the word "yes" and on those which are against the ratification of said constitution, the word "no." And the returns of the votes on the question of ratification or rejection of said constitution shall be made to the President of this convention at any time before the first Monday in November next, and a digest of the same communicated by him to the Senate and House of Representatives on that day. ”

“ Any member of either house shall have liberty to dissent from and protest against, any act or resolution which he may think injurious to the public or an individual, and have the reasons of his dissent entered on the journal. ”

“ The Legislature shall pass no law to prevent any person from worshipping Almighty God according to the dictates of his own conscience, or to compel any person to attend, erect, or support any place of religious worship, or to pay tithes, taxes or other rates for the support of any minister of the gospel or teacher of religion. ”

“ Aliens who are, or who may hereafter become, bona fide residents of this state, shall enjoy the same rights in respect to the possession, enjoyment, and inheritance of property, as native born citizens. ”

“ Each organized county shall be entitled to at least one representative; but no county hereafter organized shall be entitled to a separate representative until it shall have attained a population equal to the ratio of representation hereafter established.
Same; senator. 5. The Senators shall be chosen for two years, at the same time and in the same manner as the representatives are required to be chosen. At the first session of the legislature under this constitution, they shall be divided by lot from their respective districts, as nearly as may be, into equal classes. ”

“ All specific state taxes, except those received from the mining companies of the upper peninsula, shall be applied in paying the interest upon the primary school, university and other educational funds, and the interest and principal of the state debt, in the order herein recited, until the extinguishment of the state debt, other than the amounts due to educational funds, when such specific taxes shall be added to, and constitute a part of the primary school interest fund. ”

“ The Legislature may, from time to time, pass laws establishing reasonable maximum rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freight on different railroads in this State, and shall prohibit running contracts between such railroad companies whereby discrimination is made in favor of either of such companies as against other companies owning connecting or intersecting lines of railroad. ”