Imperial Valley press and the Imperial press., 1906-05-19
ARTICLE XIV.
WATER AND WATER RIGHTS.

WATER AND WATER RIGHTS.
 SECTION |. The use of all water now appropriated, or that may hereafter be appropriated, for sale, rental or distri- button, is hereby declared to be public use and subject to the regulation and control of the State, in the manner to be prescribed by law provided, that the rates or compensation to be collected by any person, company or corporation Tn this State for the nse of water supplied to any city and county, or city or town, or the inhabitants thereof, shall be fixed annually by the Board of Supervisors or City and County or City or Town Coun- cil or other governing body of such city and county or city or town by ordin- ance or otherwise, in the manner that other ordinances or legislative acts or resolutions are passed by such body and shall continue in force for one year and nu longer. Such ordinances or resoln- tions shall be passed i'll the month of February of each year and take effect on the first day ofJulv thereafter. Any board or body failing to pass the neces- sary ordinances or resolutions fixing water rates, where necessary, within such time, shall be subject to peremp- tory process to compel action. at the suit of any party interested, and shall be liable to such further processes and penalties as the legislature may pre- scribe. Any person, company or cor poration collecting water rates in any city and county or city or town in this State otherwise than as so established, shall forfeit the franchises and water works of such person, company or cor poration to the city and county or city or town where the same are collected for the public use.
 SEC. 2. The right to collect rates or compensation for the use of waters sup piled to any county, city and county or town or the inhabitants thereof is a franchise and cannot be exercised ex- cept by authority of and in the manner prescribed by law.
 From this it will be seen that the use of water for irrigation and domes tic purposes in this State Is declared to be public use, and the business of supplying water 10 the inhabitants of this State Is a public franchise and cannot be exercised except in com pliance with law.
 So much for the constitutional pro- visions. They are certainly broad enough to supply base on which to erect a structure of law that will be un- mistakable. We now come to the law as pointed out to us by the Com missioner of the General Land Office in his letter of May lst Section SPA of the Civil Code of this State reads as follows:
 Sec. 324. Shares Personal Property.
 Transfer of Stock. Irrigation Stock.
 Whenever the capital stock of any corporation is divided into shares and certificates therefor are issued, such shares ot stock except as hereinafter provided are personal property and may be transferred by endorsement by sig nature of the proprietor, his agent, at torney or legal representative and the delivery of the certificate, but such transfer is not valid except as to the parties thereto until the same is so en- tered upon the books of the corporation as to show the names of the parties by whom and to whom transferred, the number of the certificate, the number