STATE AND LOCAL INDEBTEDNESS 49 
debt history that ended a short time prior to the adoption of 
the constitution of 1875. During that period the credit of 
the state had been loaned to private corporations, and not 
without good reason. After the Civil War, however, the 
industries of the state were in a disorganized condition, and 
the indebtedness of the state seemed relatively much larger 
than it did in the more favorable pre-war days. Since this 
indebtedness had been incurred in aiding private corpora- 
tions, those who drew up the Constitutions of 1865! and 
1875, recognizing the changed sentiment toward indebted- 
ness, decided to include such a provision. Section 45 has 
been amended only once. In November, 1900, the electorate 
authorized the General Assembly to appropriate an amount 
of not more than one million dollars from funds? in the state 
sinking fund for the exhibition of Missouri’s resources, prod- 
ucts, and industries at the Louisiana Purchase Centennial 
in St. Louis. 
The last limitation that can be construed as affecting the 
indebtedness of the state is found in Section 46,® which pro- 
vides that “the General Assembly shall have no power to 
make any grant, or to authorize the making of any grant of 
public money or thing of value to any individual, association 
of individuals, municipal or other corporation whatsoever.” 
An added proviso prohibits this section from being construed 
in such a way as to prevent the grant of aid in case of a 
public calamity. While this section does not specifically 
refer to indebtedness, it represents an extension of the theory 
of limitation followed in Section 45, and it is included here 
primarily for this reason. 
Amendments Authorizing Additional State Indebtedness 
With the exception of the amendment to Section 45, there 
were no amendments to the debt limitation sections of the 
constitution of 1875 before 1920. In that year two amend- 
ments to Section 44 were approved by the electorate. The 
first amendment provided for the issuance of state bonds in 
t The section quoted from the Constitution of 1875 is Section 13, Article XI, of 
the Constitution of 1865, modified to some extent. 
2 Proceeds of tax authorized by Section 14, Article X, of the Constitution, 
3 Article IV.