ART. III] LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 63

of corporations of the same general character as the corporation pro-
posed 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 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repealed; provided, nothing herein contained shall be construed to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 corporation shall surrender all claim to exemption from taxation
or from the repeal or modification of its charter, and that such corpora-
tion 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 anywise avail itself of any rights, privileges, or
advantages that may hereafter be granted or confered by any general
or special Act, shall be conclusively presumed to have thereby, sur-
rendered 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.]*

Charters.

Under this section, it is beyond the power of the legislature to grant
to a corporation an irrepealable exemption from taxation; hence the act
of 1880, chapter 16, passed to adjust all pending controversies between
the state and the Northern Central Railroad Company, although supported
by a valuable consideration, was subject to repeal, since it undertook to
limit the taxes to be paid by the railroad company. The act of 1S80 held
to have been repealed by the act of 1890, chapter 559—see article 81, sec-
tion 167, of the Annotated Code, and notes thereto. State v. Northern
Central R. Co., 90 Md. 447 (affirmed in 187 U. S. 258). And see Wash-
ington Hospital v. Mealy. 121 Md. 282.

This section as it stood in the constitution of 1851, provided that "All
laws and special acts pursuant to this section may be altered at any time
or repealed." The act of 1898, chapter 17, changing the name of the trus-
tees of the Sheppard Asylum, etc. (chartered in 1853). was valid. The
provision above quoted was a clear and explicit limitation upon the power
of the general assembly to pass thereafter any act of incorporation not
subject to repeal or amendment. Phlnney v. Sheppard Hospital, 88 Md. 638;
Jackson v. Walsh, 75 Md. 311; State v. Northern Central R. R. Co.. 44 Md.
164. And see State v. Northern Central R. R. Co., 90 Md. 467 (affirmed
in 187 U. S. 258).

Under this section, the legislature may alter or amend a corporation's
charter, provided such amendment does not change fundamentally the
nature of the charter and the objects for which it was granted; the legis-
lature may not, however, divest property rights acquired under the legiti-
mate exercise of the powers granted. Where a school was chartered for
the education of females, an amendatory act which authorized the trus-
tees to lease such of the buildings and grounds as were not necessary for
the use of the seminary, for public school purposes, is valid. Webster v.
Cambridge Seminary, 78 Md. 202.

The act of 1882, chapter 47, amending the charter of the Baltimore
Union, etc., Railway Company, held not invalid under this section, since

*Thus amended by the act of 1890, chapter 195, ratified November 3. 1891.