SEC. 44. Laws shall be passed by the General Assembly to
protect from execution a reasonable amount of the property
of the debtor, not exceeding in value the sum of five hundred
dollars.

+SEC. 45. The General Assembly shall provide a simple and
uniform system of charges in the offices of Clerks of Courts
and Registers of Wills, in the Counties of this State and
the City of Baltimore, and for the collection thereof, provided,
the amount of compensation to any of the said officers in the
various Counties and in the City of Baltimore shall be such as
may be prescribed by law. (1)

SEC. 46. The General Assembly shall have power to re-
ceive from the United States any grant or donation of land,
money or securities for any purpose designated by the United
States, and shall administer or distribute the same accord-
ing to the conditions of the said grant.

SEC. 47. The General Assembly shall make provisions for
all cases of contested elections of any of the officers, not herein
provided for.

SEC. 48. Corporations may be formed under general laws,
but shall not be created by special act, except for municipal
purposes and except in cases where no general laws exist,
providing for the creation of corporations of the some gen-
eral character as the corporation proposed to be created, and
any act of incorporation passed in violation of this section
shall be void; all charters granted or adopted in pursuance of
this section, and all charters, heretofore granted and created sub-
ject to repeal or modification, may be altered from time to time,
or be repealed; provided, nothing herein contained shall be
construed to extend to banks or the incorporation thereof;
the General Assembly shall not alter or amend the charter of
any corporation existing at the time of the adoption of this
Article, or pass any other general or special law for the benefit
of such corporation except upon the condition that such cor-
poration shall surrender all claim to exemption from taxation
or from the repeal or modification of its charter, and that such
corporation shall thereafter hold its charter subject to the
provisions of this Constitution; and any corporation chartered
by this State which shall accept, use, enjoy or in any wise avail
itself of any rights, privileges, or advantages that may here-
after be granted or conferred by any general or special Act, shall
be conclusively presumed to have thereby surrendered any ex-
emption from taxation to which it may be entitled under its
charter, and shall be thereafter subject to taxation as if no
such exemption has been granted by its charter.*

* Thus amended by Act of 1890, Chapter 195, ratified by the people November 3, 1891.
+ Thus amended by Chapter 509—Acts of 1941 ratified by the people November 3, 1942.