650/Maryland Manual

taken immediately upon payment therefor by the con-
demning authority to the owner or owners thereof or into
the Court to the use of the person or persons entitled
thereto, such amount as the condemning authority shall
estimate to be the fair value of said property, provided such
legislation requires that the condemning authority's esti-
mate be not less than the appraised value of the property
being taken as evaluated by at least one qualified appraiser,
whose qualifications have been accepted by a Court of
Record of this State, and also requires the payment of any
further sum that may subsequently be awarded by a jury,
and provided such legislation limits the condemning
authority's utilization of the acquisition procedures speci-
fied in this section to occasions where it has acquired or is
acquiring by purchase or other procedures one-half or more
of the several takings of land or interests in land necessary
for any given water supply, sewerage or drainage extension
or construction project.

SEC. 40D." Vacant.
SEC. 41.70 Vacant.
SEC. 42.71 Vacant.

SEC. 43. The property of the wife shall be protected
from the debts of her husband.

SEC. 44.72 Laws shall be passed by the General
Assembly to protect from execution a reasonable amount
of the property of the debtor.

SEC. 4S.73 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.

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 according to the conditions of the said grant.

SEC. 47.7* Vacant.

SEC. 48. Coiporations may be formed under gen-
eral laws, but shall not be created by Special Act, except
for municipal purposes and except in cases where no gen-
eral laws exist, providing for the creation of coiporations
of the same general character, as the coiporation 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, subject to repeal or modi-
fication, 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

ArticleIII

benefit of such 0)^^00^ except upon the condition that
such corporation 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 coiporation chartered by this State which shall accept,
use, enjoy, or in any wise avail itself of any rights, privileges,
or advantages that may hereafter be granted or conferred
by any general or special Act, shall be conclusively pre-
sumed 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 exemp-
tion 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. SO. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly,
at its first session, held after the adoption of this Constitu-
tion, to provide by Law for the punishment, by fine, or
imprisonment in the Penitentiary, 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 General As-
sembly of the State of Maryland, or of any Municipal
coiporation in the State of Maryland, or any Executive
officer of such ^^^0^ 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 imprison-
ment in the Penitentiary, or both, in the discretion of the
Court, of any of said officers, or members, who shall
demand, or receive any bribe, fee, reward, or testimonial,
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 demanding, or receiving a bribe, fee, reward,
or testimonial, to testify against any person, or persons,
who may have committed any of said offenses; provided,
that any person, so compelled to testify, shall be exempted
from trial and punishment for the offense, of which he may
have been guilty; and any person, convicted of such of-
fence, shall, as part of the punishment thereof, be forever
disfranchised and disqualified from holding any office of
trust, or profit, in this State.

SEC. 51.76 The personal property of residents of this
State, shall be subject to taxation in the County or City
where the resident bonafide 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 located, but the General Assembly may by law provide
for the taxation of mortgages upon property in this State
and the debts secured thereby, in the County or City where
such property is situated.