Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1891-10-30

article of the Constitution he gets nearer
home; and when he perverts the meaning
and object of the section he quotes, heis gull
ty Of an attempted imposition upon the rank
and file of the order that should be expos
ed.
He quotes Section 10 of Article IL of the
Constitution, which reads as follows:
SIC. 10. No railroad, canal or other
transportation company, in existence az
the time of the adoption of this article
shall have the benefit Of any future iegis-
lation, By general or special laws, except
on condition Of complete acceptance of all
the provisions of this article.
And holds it up to his readers as de-
feet, % section that nullifies the whole
Article, and places the corporations that
existed previous to the adoption of the
Constitution of which it is part, "above
the law and exempt from obedience to
the requirements Of the State Constitu-
ton, whereas that section is probably the
most annoying of any in the.whole Consti-
tuition to the aforesaid corporations, and
whyf
The Supreme Court Of this State and
also that of the United States, has decid-
cd, time and again, that charter granted
By the Legislature to corporation IS
contract between the State and the corpor-
alton, that cannot be annulled or changed
without the consent of both parties to it,
unless the charter is of conditional char
acter or its provisions are Violated. There
are dozens of decisions on the subject OF
both private and public corporations, but
we will refer to but one in the State re-
ports-Ahl vs.. Rhodes "a Pa st. 319-
'The Constitution of 1874 does not affect
corporations holding under prior charter s.
until they have subjected themselves to it
by accepting the benefit of subsequent leg
islation;n-and the Constitution of the
United States in Section 10 expressly for
bids any State from passing an CT post
facto law, or law impairing the obligation
OF contracts; and if the Constitutional Con-
vention OF 1873 had attempted to annul all
the charters in existence in this State at
that time, and our State Supreme Court
had upheld them in so doing, such action
would have undoubtedly brought about
conflict between the State and National
authorities; and 50 the convention did the
next best thing; it deprived the old cor
porations of the "beneft of any future leg
islstion by general or special laws, except
on condition of complete acceptance OF all
the provisions of this article" But at the
same time every citizen of this Common
wealth and every corporation in it, is to-
day subject to the limitations and restric-
tions of its general laws, and entitled to
its protection. Were it otherwise, were
these corporations standing alone and
apart-a law unto themselves-as this
writer states, what right would any oi
them to have to call for State aid if attack
ed by mob as the P. r. r. Co. was in
Pittsburg in 1877, and what right would
they have to collect damages for the doings
Of such mobs, as the same company did
from Allegheny county. The law officers
Of the State, under such circumstances,
would say ''You are supreme, protect and
defend yourselves" and they would have
no recourse.
On the proposition to hold a Constitu-
tionsl Convention, we expressed ourselves
in as forcible language as we could COM
mand nearly four months ago, or few
weeks after Governor Pattison signed the
bill, and if the writer of the article we have
been criticising is as honest as the article
is fsllacious he would have given it to his
readers long ago.
The law creating an election for the pur-
pose of determining, whether or no, there
should be another Constitutional Conven-
tion, and also at the same time requiring
the election of delegates to the convention
10 one of the most contemplate tricks ever
played upon the people of this State by
their alleged Representatives in Assembly;
there was no necessity for it, and there
was no call for it, excepting from the labor
organizations, which in ttis matter seem
to have been duped by their leaders into
aiding the very corporations they pretend
to be anragonizing.