8 IO/Maryland Manual
SEC. 44." Laws shall be passed by the Gener-
al Assembly, to protect from execution a reason-
able amount of the property of the debtor.
SEC. 45.^ The General Assembly shall pro-
vide 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; pro-
vided, 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 pre-
scribed by law.
SEC. 46. The General Assembly shall have
power to receive 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 ac-
cording to the conditions of the said grant.
SEC. 47."' Vacant.
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 same general
character, as the corporation proposed to be cre-
ated; and any act of incorporation passed in viola-
tion of this section shall be void. All charters
granted, or adopted in pursuance of this section,
and all charters heretofore granted and created,
subject to repeal or modification, may be altered,
from time to time, or be repealed; Provided, noth-
ing herein contained shall be construed to extend
to Banks, or the incorporation thereof. The Gen-
eral Assembly shall not alter or amend the char-
ter, 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 corporation
shall surrender all claim to exemption from taxa-
tion 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
" Thus amended by Chapter 549, Acts of 1976, ratified No-
vember 2,1976.
™ Thus amended by Chapter 509, Acts of 1941, ratified No-
vember ">, \W.
^ Transferred to Article 1, sec. 8, by Chapter 681, Acts of
1977, ratified November 7, 1978.
"" Thus amended by Chapter 195, Acts of 1890, ratified No-
vember 3,1891.

Article III
advantages that may hereafter be granted or con-
ferred by any general or special Act, shall be con-
clusively presumed to have thereby surrendered
any exemption 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.
SEC. 49. The General Assembly shall have
power to regulate by Law, not inconsistent with
this Constitution, all matters which relate to the
Judges of election, time, place and manner of
holding elections in this State, and of making
returns thereof.
SEC. 50. It shall be the duty of the General As-
sembly, at its first session, held after the adoption
of this Constitution, to provide by Law for the
punishment, by fine, or imprisonment in the Peni-
tentiary, or both, in the discretion of the Court, of
any person, who shall bribe, or attempt to bribe,
any Executive, or Judicial officer of the State of
Maryland, or any member, or officer, of the Gener-
al Assembly of the State of Maryland, or of any
Municipal corporation in the State of Maryland, or
any Executive officer of such corporation, in order
to influence him in the performance of any of his
official duties; and, also, to provide by Law for the
punishment, by fine, or imprisonment in the Peni-
tentiary, or both, in the discretion of the Court, of
any of said officers, or members, who shall de-
mand, or receive any bribe, fee, reward, or testimo-
nial, for the performance of his official duties, or
for neglecting, or failing to perform the same; and,
also, to provide by Law for compelling any person,
so bribing, or attempting to bribe, or so demand-
ing, or receiving a bribe, fee, reward, or testimoni-
al, to testify against any person, or persons, who
may have committed any of said oftenses; provid-
ed, that any person, so compelled to testify, shall
be exempted from trial and punishment for the of-
fense, of which he may have been guilty; and any
person, convicted of such offence, shall, as part of
the punishment thereof, be forever disfranchised
and disqualified from holding any office of trust, or
profit, in this State.
SEC. 51." The personal property of residents of
this State, shall be subject to taxation in the Coun-
ty or City where the resident bona fide resides for
the greater part of the year for which the tax may
or shall be levied, and not elsewhere, except goods
and chattels permanently located, which shall be
taxed in the City or County where they are so lo-
cated, but the General Assembly may by law pro-
vide for the taxation of mortgages upon property in
" Thus amended by Chapter 426, Acts of 1890, ratified No-
vember 3,1891.