Madison County, Illinois - Biographical sketches (2 of 2 so headed), 1882 (part 12 of 12)

I 23. TIic county of Cook shall be one judicial circuit. The circuit court of Cook county shall consist of five judges, until their number shall be increased, as herein provided. The present judge of the recorder's court of the city of Chicago, and the present judge of the circuit court of Cook county, shall be two_ of said judges, and shall remain in office for the terms for which they were respectively elected, and until their successors shall be elected and qualified. The superior court of Chicago shall be continued, and called the superior court of Cook county. The general assembly may increase the number of said judges by adding one to either of said courts for every additional 50,000 inhabitants in said county, over and above a population of 400,000. The terms of office of the judges of said courts hereafter elected, shall be six years.

^ 24. The judge having the shortest unexpired term shall be chief justice of the court of which he is judge. In case there are two or more whose terms expire at the same time, it may be determined by lot which shall be chief justice. Any judge of either of .said courts shall have all the powers of a circuit judge, and m.ay hold the court of which he is a member. Each of them may hold a different branch thereof at the same time.

§ 25. The judges of the superior and circuit courts, and the State's attorney, in said county, shall receive the same salaries, payable out of the State treasury, as is or may be paid from said treasury to the circuit judges and State's attorneys of the State, and such further compensation, to be paid by the county of Cook, as is or may be provided by law ; such compensation shall not be changed during their continuance in office.

^ 26. The recorder's court of the city of Chicago shall be continued, and shall be called the " criminal court of Cook county." It shall have the jurisdiction of a circuit court, in all cases of criminal and yiw.si criminal nature, arising in the county of Cook, or that may be brought before said court pursuant to law ; and all recognizances and appeals taken insaid county, in criminal and quasi criminal cases shall be returnjible and taken to said court. It shall have no jurisdiction in civil eases, except in those on behalf of the people, and incident to such criminal or quasi criminal matters, and to dispose of unfinished business. The terms of said criminal court of Cook county shall be held by one or more of the judges of the circuit or superior court of Cook county, as nearly as may be in alternation, as may be determined by said judges, or provided by law. Said judges shall be exofficio judges of said court.

I 27. The present clerk of the recorder's court of the city of Chicago, shall be the clerk of the criminal court of Cook county, during the term for which he was elected. The present clerks of the superior court of Chicago, and the present clerk of the circuit court of Cook county, shall continue in office during the terms for which they were respectively elected ; and thereafter there shall be but oiie clerk of the superior court, to be elected by the qualified electors of said county, who shall hold his office for the term of four years, and until his successor is elected and qualified.

I 28. All justices of the peace in the city of Chicago shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, (but only upon the recommendation of a majority (if the judges of the circuit, superior and county courts,) and for such districts as are now or sh.all hereafter be provided by law. They shall hold their offices for four years, and until their successsors have been commissioned and qualified, but they may be removed by summary proceedings in the circuit or superior court, for extortion or other malfeasance. Existing justices of the peace and police magistrates may hold their offices until the expiration of their respective terms.

General Provisions

I 29. All judicial officers shall be commissioned by the governor. All laws relating to courts shall be general, and of uniform operation ; and the organization, jurisdiction, power, proceedings and practice of all courts, of the same class or grade, so far as regulated by law, and the force and effect of the process, judgments and decrees of such courts, severally shall be uniform.

^ 30. The general assembly may, for cause entered on the journals, upon due notice and opportunity of defense, remove "from oflice any judge, upon concurrence of three-fourths of all the members elected, of each house. All other officers in this article mentioned, shall be removed from office on prosecution and final conviction, for misdemeanor in office.

I 31. All judges of courts of record, inferior to the supreme court, shall, on or before the first day of June, of each year, report in writing to the judges of the supreme court, such defects and omissions in the laws as their experience may suggest ; and the judges of the supreme court shall, on or before the first day of January of each year, report in writing to the governor such defects and omissions in the constitution and laws as they mav find to exist, together with appropriate forms of bills to cure such defects and omissions in the law.s. And the judges of the several circuit courts shall report to the next general assembly the number of days they have held court in the several counties composing their respective circuits, the preceding two years.

?-32. All officers provided for in this article shall hold their offices until their successors shall be qualified, and thev shall, respectively, reside in the division, circuit, county or district for which they may be elected or appointed. The terms of office of all such officers, wdiere not otherwise prescribed in this article, shall be four years. All officers, where not otherwise provided for in this article, shall perform such duties and receive _ such compensation as is or mav be provided by law. Vacancies in such elective offices shall "be filled by election; but where the unexpired term does not exceed one year, the vacancy shall be filled bv appointment, as follows : Of judges, by the governor ; of clerks of courts, by the court to which the office appertains, or by the judge or judges thereof; and of .all such other officers, by the board of supervisors or board of county commissioners in the countv where the vacancy occurs.

? 33. All process shall run : In the name of the People nf the State of Illinois : and all prosecutions shall be carried on : In the name and by the authprity of the People of the State if Illinois; and conclude; Against the peace and dignity of the same. "Population," wherever used in this article, shall be determined by the next preceding census of this State or of the United States.

Article Vii Suffrage

county 90 days, and in the election district 30 days next preceding any election tliereiii, who was an elector in this State on the first day of April, in the year of our Lord 184S, or obtained a certificate of naturalization before any court of record in this State prior to the first day of January, in the year of our Lord 1870, or who shall be a male citizen of the United States, above the age of 21 years, shall be entitled to vote at such election.

\ 3. Electors shall, in all" cases except treason, felony, or breaih of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at elections, and in going to and returning from the same. And no elector shall be obliged to do military duty on the days of election, except in time of war or public danger.

? 4. No elector shall be deemed to have lost his residence in this State by reason of his absence on business of the United States, or of this State, or in the military or naval services of the United States.

i 0. No soldier, seaman or marine in the army or navy of the United States shall be deemed a resident of this State in consequence of being stationed therein.

i 6. No person shall be elected or appointed to any office in this State, civil or military, who is not a citizen of the United States, and who shall not have resided in this State one year next preceding the election or appointment.

Article Viii

? 1. The general assembly shall provide a thorough and efficient system of free schools, whereby all the chiltlreu of this State may receive a good common school education.

I 2. Ail lands, moneys or other properties, donated, granted or received for school, college, seminary or university jiurposes, and the proceeds thereof, shall be faithfully applied to the objects for which such gifts or grants were made.

I 'i. Neither the general assembly nor any county, city, town, township, school district, or other public corporation, shall ever make any appropriation or pay from any public fund whatever, anything in aid of any church of sectarian purpose, or to help support or sustain any school, academy, seminary, college, university, or other literary or scientific institution, controlled by any church or sectarian demomin.ation whatever ; nor shall any grant or donation of land, money, or other personal projierty ever be made by the State or any such public corporation, to any church, or for any sectarian purpose.

I 4. is'o teacher, State, county, township, or district school officer shall be interested in the sale, proceeds or profits of any book, apparatus or furniture, used or to be used, in any school in this State, with which such officer or teacher may be connected, under such penalties as may be provided by the general assembly.

? 5. There may be a county superintendent of schools in each county, whose qualifications, powers, duties, compensation and time "and manner of election, and terra of office, shall be prescribed by law.

Article Tx Revenue

? 1. Principles of TnX'tion Slated. i 2. Other and further Taxation. I :). Property Exempt from Taxation. i 4. Sale of Real Property for Ta.Kes. i .5. Right of Redemption therefrom. I r., Relca'<e from Taxation Forbidden. \ 7. Taxes paid into State Treasury.

^ 8. Limitation on County Taxes. i n. Local Municipal Improvemeuts g 10, Taxation of Municipal Corporations. 3 11. Defaulter not to he t^lifirible. g 12. Limitation on Municipal Indehtl 1. The general assembly shall provide such revenue as may be leedful by levying a tax, by valuation, so that every person and corporation shall pay a tax in proportion to the value of his, her or its property - such value to be ascertained by some person or persons, to be elected or appointed in such manner as the general assembly shall direct, and not otherwise; but the general assembly shall have power to tax peddlers, auctioneers, brokers, hawkera, merchants, commission merchants, showmen, jugglers, innkeeper-i, grocery keepers liquor dealers, toll bridges, ferries, insurance, telegraph and express interests or business, venders of patents, and persons or corporations owning or using franchises and privileges, in such manner as it shall from tinietutime direct by general law, uniform as to the chtss upon which it operates.

l 2. The specifications of the objects and subjects of taxation shall not deprive the general assembly of the power to require other subjects or objects to be taxed in such a manner as nuiy be consistent with the principles of taxation fixed in this constitution.

'i 3. The properties of this State, counties and other municipal corporations, both real and personal, and such other property as may be used exclusively for agricultural and horticultural societies, for school, religiou.s, cemetery and charitable purposes, may be exempted from taxation ; but such exemption shall be only by general law. In the assessment of real estate encumbered ty public easement, any depreciation occasioned by such easement may he deducted inthe valuation of such property.

? 4. The general assembly shall provide, in all cases where it may be necessary to sell real estate for the non-payment of taxes or special assessments for State, county, municipal or other purposes, that a return of such unpaid taxes or assessments shall be to some general officer of the county having authority to receive State and county taxes ; and there s'hall be no sale of said property for any of said taxes or assessments but by said officer, upon the order or judgment of some court of record.

I 5. The right of redemption from all sales of real estate for the non-payment of taxes or special assessments of any character whatever, shall exist in favor of owners and per.sons interested in such real estate, for a period of not less than two years from such sales thereof And the general assembly shall provide by law for reasonable notice to be given to the owners or parties interested, by publication or otherwise, of the fact of the sale of the property for such taxes or assessments, and when the time of redemption shall expire : Provided, that occupants shall in all cases be served with personal notice before the time of redemption expires.

I 6. The general assembly shall have no power to release or discharge any county, city, township, town or district whatever, or the inhabitants thereof or the property therein, from their or its proportionate share of taxes to be levied for State purposes, nor shall commutation for such taxes be authorized in any form whatever.

I 8. County authorities shall never assess taxes the aggregate of which shall exceed 75 cents per $100 valuation, except for the p.aymcntof indebtedness existing at the adoption of this constitution, unless authorized by a vote of the people of the county.

? 9. The general assembly may vest the corporate authorities of cities, towns, villages, with power to make local improvements by special assessment or by special taxation of contiguous property or otherwise. For all other corporate purposes, all municipal corporations may he vested with authority to assess and collect taxes; but such" taxes shall be uniform in respect to persons and property, with the jurisdiction of the body imposing the same.

I 10. The general assembly shall not impose taxes upon municipal corporations, or the inhabitants or property thereof, for corporate purposes, but shall require that all the taxable ])roperty within the limits of municipal corporations shall be taxed for the payment of debts contracted under authority of Law, such taxes to be uniform in respect to persons and property, within the jurisdiction of the body imposing the same. Private property shall mt be liable to he" taken or sold for the payment of the corporate debts of a municipal corporation.

? 11. No person who. is in default, as a collector or custodian of money or property belonging to a municipal corporation, shall be eligible to any office in or under such corporation. The fees, salarv or compensation of no municipal officer who is elected or appointed for a definite term of office, shall be increased or diminished during such term.

i. 12. No county, city, township, school district, or other_ municipal corporation, .shall be allowed to become indebted in any manner or for any purpose, to an amount, including existing indebtedness, in the aggregate exceeding five per centum on the value of the taxable property therein, to be ascertained by the last assessment for State and county taxes, previous to the incurring of such indebtedne.ss. Any county, city, school district, or other municipal corporation, incurring any indebtedness, as aforesaid, shall before, or at the time of doing so, provide for the collection of a direct annual tax sufficient to pay the interest on ouch debt as it falls due, and also to pay and discharge the principal thereof within twenty years from the time of contracting the same. This section shall no't he construed to prevent any county, city, township, school district, or other municipal corporation from issuing their bonds in compliance with any vote of the lieople which may have been had prior to the adoption of this constitution in pursuance of any law providing therefor.

! 8. County Officer? - Terms of Offic J i>. Sal:iries and Fees in Cook Count 1 10. Sahiries fixed by County Board, i 11. Township Officers - Special Law ! 12. AH Futare Fees Uniform. I l;i. Sworn Reports of all Fees.

i I. Formation of New Counties. \ i. Division of any County. \ ;i. Territory stricken from a County. 3 4. Removal of a County Seat. 3 S. Method of County Government. I n. Board of County Commissioners. I -. County affairs in Cook County.

I 1. No new county shall be formed or established by the general assembly, which will reduce the county or counties, or either of them, from which it shall be taken, to less contents than 400 Brpiare miles; nor shall any county be formed of less contents ; nor shall any line thereof pass within less than ten miles of any county seat of the county, or counties proposed to be divided.

I 2. No county shall be divided, or have any part stricken therefrom, without submitting the question to a vote of the people of the county, nor unless a majority of all the legal voters of the county, voting on the question, shall vote for the same.

? 3. There shall be no teiritory stricken from any county, iiniess a majority of the voters living in such territory shall petition for such division ; and no territory shall be added to any county without the consent of the majority of the voters of the county to which it is proposed to be added. But the portion so stricken off and added to another county, or formed in whole or in part into a new county, shall be bolden for, and obliged to pav its proportion of indebtedness of the county from which it lias been taken.

County Seats

? 4. No county seat shall be removed until the point to which it is proposed to be removed shall bo fixed in pursuance of law, and three-fifths of the voters of the county, to be ascertained in such manner as sliall be jirovidcd by general law, shall have voted in favor of its removal to such point ; and no person shall vote on such question who has not resided in the county six months, and in the election precinct ninety days next preceding such election. The question of removal of a county seat shall not be oftener submitted than once in ten years, to a vote of the people. But when an attempt is made to remove the county seat to a point nearer to the centre of a county, then a majority vote only shall be necessary.

County Government

? 5. The general assembly shall provide, by gener;;l law, for township organization, under which any county may organize whenever a majority of the legal voters of such county, voting at any general election, shall so determine, and whenever any county sh.all adopt township organization, so much of this constitution as provides for the management of the fiscal concerns of the said county by the board of county commissioners, may be dispensed with, and the affairs of said county maybe transacted in such manner as the general assembly may provide. And in any county that shall have adopted a township organization, the question of continuing the same may be submitted to a vote of the electors of such county, at a general election, in the manner that now is or may be provided by law; and if a majority of all the votes cast upon that question shall be against township organization, then such organization .'^hall cease in said county ; and all laws in force in relatii m to counties not having township organizations, shall immediately take elTect and be in force in such county. No two townships shall have the same name, and the day of holding the annual township meeting shall be uniform throughout the State. I

I 6. At the first election of county judges under this constitution, three shall be elected in each of the counties in this State, not under township organization, three oflicers, who shall be styled " The Board of County Commissioners," who shall hold sessions for the transaction of county business as shall be provided by law. One of said commissioners shall hold his office for one year, one for two years, and one for three years, to be determined iiy lot ; and every year thereafter one such officer shall be elected in each of said counties for the term of three years.

? 7 The county affairs of Cook county shall be managed by a board of commissioners of fifteen persons, ten of whom .shall be elected from the city of Chicago, and five from towns outside of said city, in such manner as may be provided by law.

County Officers And Theib. Compensations

I 8. In each county there shall be elected the following county officers : County judge, sheriff, county clerk, clerk of the circuit court, (who may be ex-officio recorder of deeds, except in counties having CO,0(in and more inhabitants, in which counties a recorder of deeds sliall be elected at the general election in the year of our Lord lS7:i,) treasurer, surveyor, and coroner, each of whom shall enter upon the duties of his office, respectively, on the first ]\Ioaday of December after their election ; and they shall hold their respective offices for the term of four years, except the treasurer, sheriff and coroner, who shall hold their office for two years, and until their successors shall be elected and qualified.

I 9. The clerks of all the courts of record, the treasurer, sheriff, coroner and recorder of deeds of Cook county, shall receive as their only compensation for their services, salaries to be fixed by law, which shall in no casebe as much as the lawful compensation of a judge of the circuit court of said county, and shall be paid respectively, only out of the fees of the ofliee actually collected. All fees, perquisites and emoluments (above the amount of said s-.ilaries) shall be paid into the county treasury. The number of the deputies and assistants of such oflicers shall be determined by rule of the circuit court, to be entered of record and their compensation shall be determined by the county board.

I 10. The county board, except as provided in | 9 of this article, shall fix the compensation of all county oflicers, with the amount of their necessary clerk hire, stationery, fuel and other expenses, and in all cases where fees are ])rovidcd for, said compensation shall be paid only out of, and shall in no instance exceed, the fees actually collected ; they shall not allow either of them more per annum than $1,500, in counties not exceeding 20,000 inhabitants ; $2,000 in counties containing 20,000 and not exceeding 3'>,000 inhabitants ; $2,500 in counties containing 30,- 000 and not exceeding 50,003 inhabitants; $3,000 in counties containing 50,000 and not exceeding 70,000 inhabitants ; J 3,500 in counties containing 70,000 and not exceeding 100,000 inhabitants; and $4,000 in counties containing over 100,000 and not exceeding 250,000 inhabitants; and not more than $1,000 additional compensation for each additionod 100,000 inhabitants: Provided, that the compensation of no officer shall be increased or diminished during his term of office. All fees or allowances by them received, in excess of their said compensation, shall be paid into the county treasury.

I 11. The fees of "township oflicers, and of each-class of county officers, shall be uniform in the class of count'es to which they respectively belong. The compensation herein provided for shall apply only "to officers hereafter elected, but all fees established by special laws shall cease at the adoption of this constitution, and such oflicers shall receive only such fees as are provided by general law.

? 12. All laws fixing the fees of State, county and township officers, shall terminate with the terms, respectively, of those who may be in office at the meeting of the first general assembly after the adoption of this constitution ; and the general assembly shall by general law, uniform in its operation, provide for and regulate the fees of said oflicers and their successors, so as to redifce the same to a reasonable compensation for services actually rendered. But the general assembly may, by general law, classify tlie counties by population into not more than three classes, and regulate the fees according to class. This article shall not be construed as depriving the'gencral assembly of the power to reduce the fees of existing officers.

5 13. Every person who is elected or appointed to any office in this State, who shall be paid in whole or in part by fees, shall be required by law to make a semi-annual report, under oath to some ofticei- to be designated by law, of all his fees and emoluments.

Article Xj

Established only by General L.iws. ! . Existing Charters - How Forfeited.! . Election of Directors or Managers. [ . Construction of Street Railroads. . State Banks Forbidden- General |

Consolidations Forbidden. , Railroads deemed Highways- Rates Fixed. , Stocks, Bonds and Dividends. . Power over existing Comp.Tnies. Freight and Passenger TaritTre.gulated.

educational, penal or reformatory purposes, which are to be and remain under the patronage and control of the State, but the general assembly shall provide, by general law, for the organizations of all corporations hereafter created.

i 2. All existing charters or grants of special or exclusive privileges, under which organization shall not have taken place, or which shall not have been in operation within ten days from the time this constitution takes elfect, shall thereafter have no validity or oll'oct whatever.

I 3. The gcncr.il as-serably shall provide, by law, that in all elections for directors or managers of corporated companies, every stockholdcrshall have the right to vote, in person or by proxy, fir the number of shares of stock owned by him, for as many persons as there arc directors or managers to be elected, or to cumulate said shares, and give one candidate as many votes as the number of directors muUiidicd by the number of his shares of stock, shall equal, or to distriliutc them on the same principle among as many candidates as he shall think fit; and no such directors or managers shall be elected in any other manner.

I 4. No laws shall be passed by the general assembly, granting the right to construct and operate a street railroad within any citv, town, or incorporated village, without requiring the consent of "the local authorities having the control of the street or highway proposed to be occupied by such street railroad.

I 5. Xo State bank shall hereafter be created, nor shall the State own or be liable for any stock in any corporation or joint stock company or association for banking purposes, now created, or to be h.^reAfter created. No act of the general assembly authorizing or creating corporations or associations, with banking powers, whether of issue, deposit or discount, nor amendments thereto, shall go into effect or in any manner be in force unless the same shall be submitted to a vote of the people at the general election next succeeding the passage of the same, and be approved by a majority of all the votes cast at such election for or against such law.

I G. Every stockholder in a banking corporation or institution shall be individually responsible and liable to its creditors over and above the amount of stock by him or her held, to an amount e:iual to his or her respective shares so held, for all its liabilities accruing while he or she remains such a stockholder.

§ 7. The suspension of specie payments by bankin ; institutions, or their circulation, created by the laws of this State, shall never be permitted or sanctioned. Every banking association now, or which may hereafter be, organized under the laws of this State, shall make and publish a full and accurate quarterly statement of its affiiirs, (which shall be certified to, under oath, by one or mire of its offi.ers,) as may be provided by law.

? 8. if a general banking law shall be enacted, it shall provide for the registry and countersigning, by an officer of state, of all bills or p.iper credit, designed to circulate as money, and require s2curity,to the full amount thereof, to be deposited with the State treasurer, in United States or Illinois State stocks, to be ratedat ten per ce:it. below their par value; and in case of a depreciation of said st')cks to the amount of ten per cent, below par, the bank or banks owning said stocks shall be required to make up Slid detijiency, by depositing additional stocks. And said law shall also provide for the recording of the names of all stockholders in such corporations, the amount of stock held by each, the tima of any transfer thereof, and to whom such transfer is made.

I 0. Every railroad corporation organized or doing business in this State, u ider the laws or authority thereof", .shall have and maintain a public office or place in this State, for the transaction of its business, where transfers of stock shall be made, and In which shall be kept for public inspection, books, in which shall be recorded the amount of capital stock subscribed, and by whom ; the names of the owners of stock and amount by them respectively, the amount of stock paid in and by wiiom, the transfers of said stock; the amount of its assets and liabilities, and the names and place of residence of its officers. The directors of every railroad corporation .shall, annually, make a report, under oath, to the auditor of public accounts, or some officer to be designated by law, of all their acts and doings, which report shall include such matters relating to railroads as may be prescribed by law. And the general assembly shall pass laws enforcing by suitable penaltiei the provisions of this section.

J 10. The rolling stock, and all other movable property belonging to any railroad company or corporation in this State, shall be considered personal property, and shall be liable to execution and sale in the same manner as the ))ersonal property of individuals, and the general assembly shall pass no law exempting any such property from execution and sale.

J 11. No railroad corporation shall consolidate its stock, property or franchises with any other railroad corporation owning a parallel or competing line; and in no case shall any consolidation take place except upon public notice given, of at least sixty days, to all stockholders, in such manner as may be provided by law. A majority of the directors of any railroad corporation, now incorporated orhereafterto be incorporated by thelaws of the State, shall be citizens and residents of this State.

§ 12. Eailwavs heretofore constructed, or that may hereafter be constructed in this State, are hereby declared public highway.s, and shall be free to all persons for the transportation of their persons and property thereon, under such regulations as maybe prescribed by law. And the general assembly shall, from time to time, pasi laws establishing reasonable maximum rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freight on the different railroads in this State.

I 13. No railroad corporation shall issue any stock or bonds, except for money, labor or property actually received, and applied to the purposes for which such corporation was created ; and all stock dividends, and other fictitious increase of the capital stick or indebtedness of any such corporation, shall be void. The capital stock of m railroad corporation shall be increased for any purpose, except upon giving sixty days' public notice, in such manner as may he provided by law.

§ 14. The exercise of the power, and the right of eminent domain shall never be so construed or abridged as to prevent the taking, by the general assembly, of the property and franchises of incorporated companies already organized, and subjecting them to the public necessity the same as of individuals. The right of trial by jury shall be held inviolate in all trials of claims for compensation, when, in the exercise of said right of eminent domain, any incorporated company shall be interested either for or against the exercise of said right.

I 15. The general assembly shall pass laws to correct abuses and prevent unjust discrimination and extortion in the rates of freight and passenger tariffs on different railroads in this State, and enforce such laws, by adequate penalties, to the extent, if necc-ssary for that purpose, of forfeiture of their property and franchises.

Article Xii

? 1. The militia of the State of Illinois shall consist of all ablebodied male persons, resident in the 8tate, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, except such persons as now are, or hereaf"ter may be, exempted by the laws of the United States, or of this State.

§ 2. The general assembly, in providing for the organization, equipment and discipline of the militia, shall conform as nearly &i practicable to the regulations for the government of the armies of the United States.

g 3. All militia oflicers shall be commissioned by the governor, and may hold their commissions for such time as the general assembly mav provide.

I 4. The militia shall, in all cases, except treason, feloiiy or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at musters and elections, and in going to and returning from the same.

'i, .5. The military records, banners and relics of the State, shall be preserved as an enduring memorial of the patriotism and valor of Illinois, audit shall be the duty of the general assembly to provide by law for the safe keeping of the same.

I C. No ptirson having conscientious scruples against bearing arms, shall be compelled to do militia duty in time of peace : Provided, such person shall pay an equivilent for such exemption.

Article Xiii

? 1. All elevators or storehouses where grain or other property is stored for a compensation, whether die property stored be kept separate or not, are declared to be -public warehouses.

I 2. The owner, lessee or manager of each and every public warehouse situated in any town or city of not less than 100,000 inhabitants, shall make weekly statements under oath, before some officer to be designated by law, and keep the same posted in some conspicuous place in the otlice of such warehouse, and shall also file a copy for public examination in such place as shall be designated by law, which statement shall correctly set forth the amount and grade of each and every kind of grain in such warehouse, together with such other property as may be stored therein, and what warehouse receipts have been issued, and are, at the time of making such statement, outstanding therefor ; and shall, on the copy posted in the warehouse, note daily such changes as may be made in the quantity and grade of grain in such warehouse;" and the different grades of grain shipi^ed in separate lots, shall not be mixed with inferior or superior grades, without the consent of the owner or consignee thereof.

I 3. The owners of property stored in any warehouse, or holder of a receipt for the same, shall always be at liberty to examine such property stored, and all the books and records of the warehouse in regard to such property.

? 4. All railroad companies and other common carriers on railroads shall weigh or measure grain at points where it is shipped, and receipt for the full amount, and shall be responsible for the delivery of such amount to the owner cr consignee thereof, at the place of destination.

g 5. All railroad companies receiving and transporting grain in bulk or otherwise, shall deliver the same to any consignee thereof, or any elevator or public warehouse to which it may be consigned, provided such consignee, or the elevator or public warehouse can be reached by any track owned, leased or used, or which can be used, by such railroad companies ; and all railroad companies shall permit connections to be made with their track, so that any such consignee, and any public warehouse, coal bank or coal yard, may be reached by the cars on said railroad.

? 6. It shall be the duty of the general assembly to pass all necessary laws to prevent the issue of false and fraudulent warehouse receipts, and to give full effect to this article of the constitution, which shall be liberally construed so as to protect producers and shippers. And the enumeration of the remedies iierein named shall not be construed to deny to the general assembly the power to prescribe by law sucli other and further remedies as may be found expedient, or to deprive any person of existing common law remedies.

I 7. The general assembly shall pass laws for the inspection of grain, for the jirotection of producers, shippers and receivers of grain and produce.

Amexdments To The Coxstitutiox

I 1. Whenever two-thirds of the members of each house of the general assembly shall, by a vote entered upon the journals thereof, concur that a convention is necessary to revise, alter or amend the constitution, the question shall be submitted to the electors at the next general election. If a majority voting at tlie election vote for a convention, the general assembly shall, at the next session, provide for a convention, to consist of double the number of the members of the senate, to be elected in the same manner, at the same places, and in the same districts. The general assembly shall, in the act calling the convention, designate the day, hour and place of its meeting, fix the pay of its members and officers, and provide for the payment of the same, together with expenses necessarily incurred by the conventicn in the performance of its duties. Before proceeding, the members sljall take an oath to support the constitution of the United States, and of the State of Illinois, and to faithfully discharge their duties as members of the conventi(m. The qualification of members shall be the same as that of members of the senate, and vacancies occurring shall be filled in the manner provided for filling vacancies in the general assembly. Said convention shall meet within three months after such election, and prepare such revisions, alterations or amendments of the constitution as shall be deemed necessary, which shall be submitted to the electors for their ratification or rejection, at an election appointed by the convention for that purpose, not less than or more than six months after the adjournment thereof; and unless so submitted

? 2. Amendmenti to this constitution may be proposed in either house of the general assembly, and if the same shall be voted for by two-thirds of all the members elected to each of the two houses, such proposed amendments, together with the yeas and nays of each house thereon, shall be entered in full on their respective journals, and said amendments shall be submitted to the electors of this State for adoption or rejection, at the next election of members of the general assembly, in such manner as may be prescribed by law. The proposed amendments shall be j ublished in full at least three months preceding the election, and if a majority of electors voting at said election shall vote for the proposed aniendments, they shall become part of this constitution. But the general assembly shall have no power to propose amendments to more than one article of this constitution at the same session, nor to the same article oftener than once in four years.

Separate Sections

No contract, obligation or liability whatever, of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, to pay any money into the State treasury, nor any lien of the State upon, or right to tax property of said" company, in accordance with the provisions of the charter of said company, approved Feb. 10, in the year of our Lord 1851, shall ever be released, suspended, modified, altered, remitted, or in any manner diminished or impaired by legislative or other authority ; and all moneys derived from said company, after the payment of the State debt, shall be appropriated and set apart for the payment of the ordinary expenses of the State government, and for no other purposes whatever.

No county, city, town, township or other municipality shall ever become subscriber to the capital stock of any railroad or private corporation, or make donation to, or loan its credit in aid of such corporation : Provided however, that the adoption of this article shal not be construed as affecting the right of any such municipalitv ti make such subscriptions where the same have been authori"zel, under existing laws, by a vote of the people of such municipalities prior to such adoption.

The Illinois and Michigan Canal shall never be sold or leased until the specific proposition for the sale of lease thereof shall have first been submitted to a vote of the ]ieople of the State, at a general election, and have been approved by a majority of all the votes polled at such election. The general assembly shall never loan the credit of the Slate, or make appropriations from the treasury thereof,' in aid of railroads or canals : Provided, that any surplus earnings of any canal may be appropriated for its enlargement or extension.

Schedule

That no inconvenience mav arise from the alterations and amendments made in the constitution of this State and to carry the same into complete eflect. it is liereby ordained and declared :

? 1. That all laws in force at the adoption of this constitution, not inconsistent therewith, and all rights, actions, prosecutions, claims, and contracts of this State, individuals or bodies corporate, shall continue to be as valid as if this constitution had not been adopted.

S 2. That all fines, taxes, penalties and forfeitures, due and owing to the State of Illinois under the present constitution and laws, shall inure to the use of the people of the State of Illinois under this constitution.

I 3. Recognizances, bonds, obligations, and all other instriinients entered into or executed before the adoption of this constitution, to the people of the State of Illinois, to any State or county officer or public bodv, shall remain binding and valid; and rights and liabilities upo'n the same shall continue, and all crimes and misdemeanors shall be tried and punished as though no change had been made in the constitution of this State.

I 4. County couns for the transaction of county business in I counlies not having adopted township organization, shall continue in existence and exercise their present jurisdiction until the board of county commissioners provided ia this constitution is organized in pursuance of an act of tlie general assembly; and the county courts in all other counties shall have the same power and jurisdiction they now possess until otlicrwise provided by general law.

I 5. All existing courts which are not in this constitution specially enumerated, shall continue in existence and exercise their preseat jurisdiction until otherwise provided by law.

§ G. All persons now filling any olEce or appointment shall continue in the exercise of the duties thereof according to the^r respective commissions or appointments, unless by this constitution it is otherwise directed.

I IS. All laws of the State of Illinois, and all official writings, aud the executive, legislative and judicial proceedings, shall be conducted, preserved and published in no other than the English language.

§ 20. The circuit clerks of the diflforent counties having a population over sixty thousand, shall continue to be recorders (exofficio) for their respective counties, under this constitution, until the expiration of their respective terms.

I 21. The judges of all courtsof records in Cook County shall, in lieu of any salary provided for in this constitution, receive the compensation now provided by law until the adjournment of the first session of general assembly after the adoption of this constitution.

§ 22. The present judge of the circuit court of Cook county shall continue to hold "the circuit court of Lake county until otherwise provided by law.

? 23. When this constitution shall be adopted, and take effect as the supreme law of the State of Illinois, the two-mill tax provided to be annually assessed and collected upon each dollar's worth of taxable property, in addition to all other taxes, as set forth in article fifteen of the now existing constitution, shall cease to be assessed after the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy.

I 24. Nothing contained in this constitmtion shall be so construed as to deprive the general assembly ot the power to authorize the city of Quincy to create any indebtedness for railroad or municipal purposes, for which the people of said city shall have voted, and to which they shall have given, by such vote, their assent, prior to the thirteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine: Provided, that no such indebtedness, so created, shall in any part thereof be paid by the State, or from any State revenue, tax or fund, but the same shall be paid, if at all, by the said city of Quincy alone, and by taxes to he levie<l upon the taxable property thereof: And provided, further, that the general assembly shall have no power in the premises that it could not exercise under the present constitution of this State.

§ 2o. In case this constitution and the articles and sections submitted separately be adopted, the existing constitution shall cease in all its provisions ; and in case this constitution be adopted, any one or more of its articles or sections submitted separately be defeated, the provisions of the existing constitution (if any) on the same subject shall remain in force.

§ 26. The provisions of this constitution required to be executed prior to the adoption or rejection thereof shall take effect aud be in force immediately.

Done in convention at the capital, in the city of Springfield, on the thirteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy, and of the independence of the United States of America the ninety-fourth.

I George H. Hahlow, Secretary of the State of Illinois, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the constitution of the State of Illinois adopted ia convention the 13th dav of May, 187ii, ratified by a vote of the people the 2nd day of July, 1870, and in force on the Sth day of August, 1870, and now on file in this office. In testimony whereof I hereto set my nana and aflSx the Great Seal of State, at the city of Springfield, the 31st day of JIarch, A. D. 1873.

Amendments To The Constitution

Amending section 31, article 4. Proposed by the General Assembly, 1877, ratified by a vote of the people November 5, 1878, proclaimed adopted by the Governor November 2D, 1878.

The General Assembly may pass laws permitting the owners of lands to construct drain?, ditches, and levees for agricultural, sanitary and mining purposes across the lands of others, and provide for the organization of drainage districts, and vest the corporate authorities thereof with power to construct and mainiain levees, drains and ditches, and to keep in repair all drains, ditches and levees heretofore constructed under the laws of this State, by special assessments upon the property benefited thereby.

Amending section 8, article 10. Proposed by the General Assembly, 1879, ratified by a vote of the people November 2, 1880, proclaimed adopted by the Governor' November 22, 1880;

Section 8, Aeticlk 10. In each county (here shall be elected the following county officers, at the general election to he held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, A. D. 1882: A county judge, county clerk, sheriff, and treasurer ; and at the election to be held on the Tuesday after the first Jlonday in November, A. D. 1884, a coroner and clerk of the circuit court, (who may be er-officio recorder of deeds, except in counties having nn.nno and more inhabitants, in which counties a recorder of deeds shall be elected at the general election in 1884). Each of saiil officers shall enter upon the duties of his office, respectively, on the first Monday of December after his election, and they shall hold their respective offices for the term of four years, and until their successors are elected and qualified : Provided, that no person having once been elected to the office of sheriff, or treasurer, shall be eligible to re-election to said office for four years after the expiration of the term for which he shall have been elected.

Declaration Of Independence

AVlien, in the course of luiinan events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve tlie political bands wbicli have connected them with another, and to assume among the jiowers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable right? ; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happines^i. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers Irom the consent of the governed ; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of the:ie ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers i^n such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such hus been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this let facts be submitted to a candid world :

He has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained ; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature ; a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together leglislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and "distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance his measures.

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolution, to cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the State remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the danger of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States ; for that purpose, obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; retusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has combined, with others, to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation.

For abolishing the free system of English law in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies :

He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the work of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has eiideavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiere, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.

In every stage of these opjiressions, we have petitioned for redress, in the most humble terms ; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in our attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time, of attempts made by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in w-ar, in peace, friends.

John Hancock

We, therefore the representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the AVorld for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonics, solemnly publish and declare. That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES ; that they arc absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totallv di-ssolved ; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, and a firm reliance on the protection of DIVINE PROVIDENCE, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. JOHN HANCOCK.

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall bo vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature.

No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States,' and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that StiUe in which he .shall be chosen.

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective "numbers, which shall he dctermiiud by adding to the whole number of free persons including those bound toservice for a term of years, and excluding Indians not tiixed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one Representative ; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New- Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rliode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, and Genrsria three.

When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the Executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.

Section 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two .Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six years ; and each Senator shall have one vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every second year ; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United .St >tcs, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

The Senate shall choose their other ofiicers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence f>f the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the L'nited States.

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief .Tuitice shall preside. And no person shall lie convicted without the concurrenee of two- thirds of the members present.

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment aci^'ording to law.

Section 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each Stat J bv the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law, niake or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.

The Congress shall iissemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a diflerent day.

Section 5. Each house shall be the judge of the election, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business ; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members in such manner, and under such penalties as each house may provide.

Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behaviour, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.

sitting. Section 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all eases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to and returning froni the same ; and for any speech or debate in either house they shall not be questioned in any other place.

No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increa-sed during such time ; and no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either house during his continuance in office.

Section 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives ; hut the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.

Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President of the United States ; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it with his objections to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. "if after such recon-sideration two-thirds of that IIou.se shall .agree to pa.ss the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined bv yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for anrl asainst the bill" shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted), after it shall have been presented to him, "the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.

Everv order, resolution or vote to which the concurrence of Senate "and House of Representatives may be necessarv (cxceiDt on a question of adiournment), shall be presented to the Prcsidjnt of the United States ; and before the same shall take effect, shall bo approved bv him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.

Section 8. The Congress shall have power - To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United Slates ; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States ;

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors anc" inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the S3rvice of the United States, reserving to the States, respectively the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia aci^ording to the discipline prescribed by Congress.

To exercise legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such districts (not exceeding ten miles square), as may by the cession of particular States and the acceptance of Congress become the seat of the g wernment of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which tlie same shall be, for tlie erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards and other needful buildings; - and

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or to any department or officer thereof

Section' 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States nowcsisting shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.

The privileges of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another ; nor shall vessels bound to, or from one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.

No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations niaile by law ; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.

No title of nobility sliall be granted by the United States ; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall without the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State.

Section 10. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation ; grant letters of marque or reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, tc^o.'i! facto law, or law impairing the obligation of conti'acts, or grant any title of nobility.

No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws, and the net produce of all duties and imposts laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress.

No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any duty on tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.

Section 1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President chosen for the same term, be elected as follows :

Each State shall appoint, in sucli a manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress ; but no Senator or Eepresentative, or ])erson holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.

[*The electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And ihcy shall make a list of all persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each ; which list they .shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed to the seat of the government of the United Slates, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if thai'c be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President ; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the vote shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose, shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes;'the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice President.]

The Congress may determimc the time of choosing the electors, and the day on "which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of Prcsiclcnt; neither shall any pers m be eligible to that office who shall not have attained (he age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.

In case of the removal of the President from offic?, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer .'hall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disabilitv be removed, or a President shall be elected.

The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them.

" I do solemnlv swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of mv ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Sectiox 2. The Presiileiit shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the .United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each" of the Executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for ofience-s against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make tre.ities, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur ; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers,^ consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law ; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

Tlie President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the ind of their weyA sessions.

Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measui'cs as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws be faithiully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States.

Section 4. The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

Article Hi

Section 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court and such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

Section 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under tliis Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; - to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls ; - to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; - to controversies to which the United States shall be a party ; - to controversies between two or more States ; - bctwe:'n a State and citizens of another state; - between citizens of different States; - between citizens of the same State claiming Ian Is under grants of different States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens or subjects.

In all cases affe.ting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction.

In all the other cases before mentioned the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury ; and such trial shall be held in the State where_ the said crimes shall have been committed ; but when not committed within any State the trial shall be at such place or places, as the Congress may by law have directed.

Section 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only of levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted.

Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State And the Congress may by general law prescribe the mani

A person charged in any State with treason, felony or other crime, who shall flee from justice and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the Executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.

No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on the claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.

Section 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ; but no new State" shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State ; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned, as well as of the Congress.

The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shallbe so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican form of government and shall protect each of them against invasion, and on application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Co nstitution, or on the application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as a part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by conventions in threefourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification niay be proposed by the Congress. Provided that no amendment which may be madeprior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner 'affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article ; and that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.

All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of anv State notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several State Legislatures, and all Executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to sujiport this Constitution : but no religious test shall ever be n-quired^ as a qualification to any oflice of public trust under the United States.

The ratification of the Convention of nine States shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same.

Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the States present, the seventeenth clay of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independen"e of the United States of America, the twelfth. In Witness Whereof, We have hereunto subscribed our names. .

Congress shall make no law respecting an establisliment of rcli:;ion, or prohibiting tho free exercise thereof; or abridging the'^frcc:lom of speech, or of the press ; or the right of the people peacefully to as.?cmble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Ko soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

The right the of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirm.ation, and particularly describing the place to bo searched, and the person or things to be soizc'l.

No person shall be hold to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment by a Grand Jury, except in cases arising ill the laud or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall anv person be subject for the s.ame offence to be twice put in jeopardy of lifa or limb ; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprivcfl of life, libertv or property, without due process of law ; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

In all criminal prosecutions, tho accused shall enioy the right to a speedy and public tri.al, by an impartial jury of the State and district wlieroin the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cau^e of tho accusation ; to bo confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

exceed twenty dollars, the right of tri.al by jury shall be preserved, .and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States", than according to the rules of the common law.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to tlie States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Article Xl

The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against one of the LTnited States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State.

The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for President .and Vice President, one of whom at least shall not bo an inhabitant of the same State with themselves ; they shall name in their ballot the person to be voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for .as President, and all persons voted for as Vice President, and of the number of votes for each, which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majoritv of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if no person h.ive such majoritv, tlien from tlic persons having tlie highest number not exceeding three on tho list of those voted for .as President, the House of Representafives sh.all choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the" vote shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall con- sist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the Hoiise of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next followin<;, then the Vice President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other Constitutional disability of the President. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice President, shall be the Vice President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no parson have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of twothirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice 'President of the United States.

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Article Xiv

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities nf citizens of the United States ; nor shall any . State deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Section 2. Representatives shall be appointed among the several States according, to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of themale inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United States, or in any way .abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crimes, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proijortion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office civil or military, under the United States or under any State who, having previously taken oath as Member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions .and bounties for suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt of obligation incurred in the aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any loss for emancipation of any slave, but such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

Article Xv

Section 1. The rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.