Page:California State Constitution of 1879.djvu/16

 shared by the other not doing the carrying. And whenever a railroad corporation shall, for the purpose of competing with any other common carrier, lower its rates for transportation of passengers or freight from one point to another, such reduced rates shall not be again raised or increased from such a standard without the consent of the governmental authority in which shall be vested the power to regulate fares and freights.

. 21. No discrimination in charges or facilities for transportation shall be made by any railroad or other transportation company between places or persons, or in the facilities for the transportation of the same classes of freight or passengers within this State, or coming from or going to any other State. Persons and property transported over any railroad, or by any other transportation company or individual, shall be delivered at any Station, landing, or port, at charges not exceeding the charges for the transportation of persons and property of the same class, in the same direction, to any more distant station, port, or landing. Excursion and commutation tickets may be issued at special rates.

. 22. The State shall be divided into three districts as nearly equal in population as practicable, in each of which one Railroad Commissioner shall be elected by the qualified electors thereof at the regular gubernatorial elections, whose salary shall be fixed by law, and whose term of office shall be four years, commencing on the first Monday after the first day of January next succeeding their election. Said Commissioners shall be qualified electors of this State and of the district from which they are elected, and shall not be interested in any railroad corporation, or other transportation company, as stockholder, creditor, agent, attorney, or employe; and the act of a majority of said Commissioners shall be deemed the act of said Commission. Said Commissioners shall have the power, and it shall be their duty, to establish rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freight by railroad or other transportation companies, and publish the same from time to time, with such changes as they may make; to examine the books, records, and papers of all railroad and other transportation companies, and for this purpose they shall have power to issue subpoenas and all other necessary process; to hear and determine complaints against railroad and other transportation companies, to send for persons and papers, to administer oaths, take testimony, and punish for contempt of their orders and processes, in the same manner and to the same extent as Courts of record, and enforce their decisions and correct abuses through the medium of the Courts. Said Commissioners shall prescribe a uniform system of amounts to be kept by all such corporations and companies. Any railroad corporation or transportation company which shall fail or refuse to conform to such rates as shall be established by such Commissioners, or shall charge rates in excess thereof, or Shall fail to keep their accounts in accordance with the system prescribed by the Commission, shall be fined not exceeding twenty thousand dollars for each offense, and every officer, agent, or employe of any such corporation or company, who shall demand or receive rates in excess thereof, or who shall in any manner violate the provisions of this Section, shall be fined not exceeding five thousand dollars, or be imprisoned in the county jail not exceeding one year. In all controversies, civil or criminal, the rates of fares and freights established by said Commission shall be deemed conclusively just and reasonable, and in any action against such corporation or company for damages sustained by charging excessive rate, the plaintiff, in addition to the actual damage, may in the discretion of the Judge or jury, recover exemplary damages. Said Commission shall report to the Governor, annually, their proceedings, and such other facts as may be deemed important. Nothing in this Section shall prevent individuals from maintaining actions against any of such companies. The Legislature may, in addition to any penalties herein prescribed, enforce this article by forfeiture of charter or otherwise, and may confer such further powers on the Commissioners as shall be necessary to enable them to perform the duties enjoined on them in this and the foregoing Section. The Legistature shall have power, by a two thirds vote of all the members elected to each House, to remove any one or more of said Commissioners from office, for dereliction of duty, or corruption, or incompetency; and whenever, from any cause, a vacancy in office shall occur in said Commission, the Governor shall fill the same by the appointment of a qualified person thereto, who Shall hold office for the residue of the unexpired term, and until his successor shall have been elected and qualified.

. 23. Until the Legislature shall district the State, the following shall be the railroad districts: The First District shall be composed of the Counties of Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo, and Yuba, from which one Railroad Commissioner shall be elected. The Second District shall be composed of the Counties of Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo, from which one Railroad Commissioner shall be elected. The Third District shall be composed of the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, Monterey, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus, Tulare, Tuolumne, and Ventura, from which one Railroad Commissioner shall be elected.

. 24. The Legislature shall pass all laws necessary for the enforcement of the provisions of this article.

1. All property in the State, not exempt under the laws of the United States, shall be taxed in proportion to its value, to be ascertained as provided by law. The word "