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 accounts 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 employé 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 rates, 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 Legislature 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.

56 Cal. 102; 79 Cal. 163; 105 Cal. 320, 544, 555; 132 Cal. 678, 684, 687, 689, 690; 133 Cal. 26, 27, 28; 142 Cal. 225.

Railroad districts.

SEC. 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.

132 Cal. 679; 142 Cal. 225.

Legislature to enforce this article.

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

ARTICLE XIII.

REVENUE AND TAXATION.

Property to be taxed according to value-Exemptions.

SECTION 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 "property," as used in this article and section, is hereby declared to include moneys, credits, bonds, stocks, dues, franchises, and all other matters and things, real, personal, and mixed, capable of private ownership; provided, that property used for free public libraries and free museums, growing crops, property used exclusively for public schools, and such as may belong to the United States, this State, or to any county or municipal corporation within this State, shall be exempt from taxation. The Legislature may provide, except in case of credits secured by mortgage or trust deed, for a deduction from credits of debts due to bona

fide residents of this State.

1894.]

[Amendment adopted November 6,

[Original Section.] SECTION 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 "property," as used in this article and section, is hereby declared to include moneys, credits, bonds, stocks, dues, franchises, and all other matters and things, real, personal, and mixed, capable of private ownership; provided, that growing crops, property used exclusively for public schools, and such as may belong to the United States, this State, or to any county or municipal corporation within this State, shall be exempt from taxation. The Legislature may provide, except in the case of credits secured by mortgage or trust deed, for a deduction from credits of debts due to bona fide residents of this State.

[Constitution of 1849, Art. XI, § 13.]

54 Cal. 353, 360, 361; 56 Cal. 202; 57 Cal. 594, 600, 603, 616; 58 Cal. 137, 138; 59 Cal. 336; 62 Cal. 108, 112, 114; 64 Cal. 507; 65 Cal. 271, 457; 66 Cal. 603; 77 Cal. 138; 83 Cal. 406; 97 Cal. 220, 324; 103 Cal. 70; 108 Cal. 192, 193; 111 Cal. 86; 113 Cal. 397; 116 Cal. 23, 24; 117 Cal. 86; 119 Cal. 521, 522; 128 Cal. 592, 612; 131 Cal. 362, 613; 132 Cal. 268, 600; 134 Cal. 478; 137 Cal. 518, 519, 524, 525; 139 Cal. 210; 142 Cal. 225, 284, 290; 148 Cal. 85; 149 Cal. 583; 152 Cal. 767; 153 Cal. 778; 2 Cal. App. 68, 595; XXXVII Cal. Dec. 159.

Churches exempt from taxation.

SEC. 12. All buildings, and so much of the real property on which they are situated as may be required for the convenient use and occupation of said buildings, when the same are used solely and exclusively for religious worship, shall be free from taxation; provided, that no building so used which may be rented for religious purposes and rent received by the owner therefor, shall be exempt from taxation. [New section; adopted November 6, 1900.]

State, county, city and district bonds exempt from taxation.

SEC. 14. All bonds hereafter issued by the State of California, or by any county, city and county, municipal corporation, or district (including school, reclamation, and irrigation districts) within said State, shall be free and exempt from taxation. [New section; adopted November 4, 1902.]

Assessment and improvements to be separately assessed.

SEC. 2. Land, and the improvements thereon, shall be separately assessed. Cultivated and uncultivated land, of the same quality, and similarly situated, shall be assessed at the same value.

104 Cal. 621, 622; 137 Cal. 525; 149 Cal. 87.

Assessment of tracts of land.

SEC. 3. Every tract of land containing more than six hundred and forty acres, and which has been sectionized by the United States Government, shall be assessed, for the purposes of taxation, by sections or fractions of sections. The Legislature shall provide by law for the assessment, in small tracts, of all lands not sectionized by the United States Government.

140 Cal. 582.

Taxation of mortgages and securities.

SEC. 4. A mortgage, deed of trust, contract, or other obligation by which a debt is secured, shall, for the purpose of assessment and taxation, be deemed and treated as an interest in the property affected thereby. Except as to railroad and other quasi-public corporations, in case of debt so secured, the value of the property affected by such mortgage, deed of trust, contract, or obligation, less the value of such security, shall be assessed and taxed to the owner of the property, and the value of such security shall be assessed and taxed to the owner thereof, in the county, city, or district in which the property affected thereby is situate. The taxes so levied shall be a lien upon the property and security, and may be paid by either party to such security; if paid by the owner of the security, the tax so levied upon the property affected thereby shall become a part of the debt so secured; if the owner of the property shall pay the tax so levied on such security, it shall constitute a payment thereon, and to the extent of such payment, a full discharge thereof; provided, that if any such security or indebtedness shall be paid by any such debtor or debtors, after assessment and before the tax levy, the amount of such levy may likewise be retained by such debtor or debtors, and shall be computed according to the tax levy for the preceding year.

57 Cal. 600; 59 Cal. 543, 544; 60 Cal. 36, 37, 58, 371; 65 Cal. 383, 384; 66 Cal. 213; 72 Cal. 36; 76 Cal. 293; 77 Cal. 137, 138; 83 Cal. 396; 84 Cal. 301; 89 Cal. 202; 91

Cal. 11; 96 Cal. 625, 627, 635, 637; 99 Cal. 609; 113 Cal. 397; 118 Cal. 492, 493; 121 Cal. 343; 123 Cal. 355; 128 Cal. 592, 593, 594, 595, 597, 598, 610, 611; 129 Cal. 298; 131 Cal. 361; 134 Cal. 86, 87; 144 Cal. 435, 436; 145 Cal. 55; 153 Cal. 615.

Contract to pay tax on borrowed money, void.

SEC. 5. [Repealed November 6, 1906.]

[Original Section.] SEC. 5. Every contract hereafter made, by which a debtor is obligated to pay any tax or assessment on money loaned, or on any mortgage, deed of trust, or other lien, shall, as to any interest specified therein, and as to such tax or assessment, be null and void.

59 Cal. 544; 76 Cal. 292, 293; 91 Cal. 11; 96 Cal. 626; 99 Cal. 495, 608, 609, 611; 103 Cal. 376; 104 Cal. 107, 110; 110 Cal. 541; 123 Cal. 218; 131 Cal. 604; 140 Cal. 579; VII Cal. App. Dec. 216.

Power of taxation not to be impaired.

SEC. 6. The power of taxation shall never be surrendered or suspended by any grant or contract to which the State shall be a party.

Payment of taxes by installments.

SEC. 7. The Legislature shall have the power to provide by law for the payment of all taxes on real property by installments.

Taxpayer to make statement to County Assessor.

SEC. 8. The Legislature shall by law require each taxpayer in this State to make and deliver to the County Assessor, annually, a statement, under oath, setting forth specifically all the real and personal property owned by such taxpayer, or in his possession, or under his control, at twelve o'clock meridian on the first Monday of March.

56 Cal. 206; 61 Cal. 103; 73 Cal. 622, 623, 624; 96 Cal. 626; 131 Cal. 39; VII Cal. App. Dec. 34.

State and County Boards of Equalization.

SEC. 9. A State Board of Equalization, consisting of one member from each congressional district in this State, as the same existed in eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, shall be elected by the qualified electors of their respective districts, at the general election to be held in the year one thousand eight