Which corporations are declared by the Constitution to be common carriers?

• A. All corporations engaged in the transportation of persons, property, mineral oils, and mineral products, including railroad, telegraph, express, pipeline and telephone companies.
• B. Only railroad and telegraph companies.
• C. Only railroad and pipeline companies.
• D. All corporations regardless of industry.

Answer: (A)

The key idea is identifying which types of businesses the Wyoming Constitution designates as common carriers. A common carrier is a company that transports people or property for the public and for compensation, and the constitutional text extends that designation beyond just traditional railroads to any entity engaged in transportation of certain goods or communications-related services.

The correct option reflects this broader scope: it covers all corporations that are involved in transporting persons or property, including transportation of mineral oils and mineral products, and it explicitly names railroad, telegraph, express, pipeline, and telephone companies. This shows the constitutional intent to treat these diverse transportation or transit services as common carriers, subject to public oversight and nondiscriminatory duties.

The other choices fall short because they either limit the category to only a subset (e.g., railroads and telegraph), omit other real carriers (like pipelines, express, or telephone), or overgeneralize to all corporations regardless of industry.