Taylorville Township (part 2 of 2)

Article Xiv Amendments To The Constitution

\ I. Whenever two-thirds of the members of each house of the general assembly shall, by a vote enleied upon ine journals ihercof, concir that a convention is necessary to revise, alter or amend the conslitution, the question shall be submitted to the electors at the next general election. If a majority voting at the 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 tne 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 d.iy, hour and place of its meeting, fix the pay of its members and officers, aifd provide for the payment of the same, together with e.xpenses necessarily incurred by the convention in the performance of its duties. Before proceeding, the members shall take an oath to support the constituiion of the United Slates, and of the State of Illinois, and to faithfully discharge their duties as members of the convention. 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 withm 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 elector;, for their ratificuion or rejection, at an election appoinied by the convention for that purpo.e, not less than or more than six months after the adjournment thereof; and unless so submitted and approved by a ma;ority of the electors voting at the election, no such revisions, alterations or amendments shall take effect.

2. Amendments to this conslitution 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 eich 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 ol members of the general assembly, in such manner as m.ay be prescribe.l by law. The proposed amendments shall be published in full at least three months preceeding the election, and if a majority of electors voting at said election shall vote for the proposed amendments, they shall become a 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 oftner than once in four years.

Separate Sections

No contract, obligation or liability whatever, of the Illinois Centr.al Railroad Company, to ]i.ay any money into the Stale treasury, nor any lien of the Slate upon, or right to tax properly of said company, in accordance with the provisi...ns of Ihe charter of said company, approved Feb. 10, in the year of our Lord 1S51, 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 anil set apart for the payment of the ordinaiy 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, hoxvever, that the adoption of this article shall not be construed as affecting the right of any such municipality to make such subscriptions where the same have been authorized, under existing laws, by a vote of the people of such municipalities prior to such adoption.

Canal

The Illinois .and Michigan Canal shall never be sold or leased until the specific proposition for the sale or lease thereof shall have first been submitlcdto a vote of the people 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 State, or make appropriations from the treasury thereol, in aid of railroads or canals : Proz'ided, that any surplus earnings of any canal may be appropriated for Us enlargement or extension.

Schedule

5 I. Th.at all I.aws in force at the adoption of this constitution, not inconsistent therewith, and all rights, actions, prosecutions, claims, and contracts of th's State, individuals, or bodies corporate, shall continue to be as valid as if this constitution had not been adopted.

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

^ 3. Recognizances, bonds, obligations, and all other instruments entered into or executed before the adoption of this constitution, to the people of the State of Illinois, to any St.ate or county officer or public body, shall remain binding and valid; and rights and liabilities upon 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.

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

§ 5. All existing courts which are not in this conslitution specially enumerated, shall continue in existence and exercise their ]iresent jurisdiction until otherwise provided by law.

§ 6. All persons now filling any office or appointment shall continue in the exercise of the duties thereof according to their respective commissions or appointments, uirless by this constitution it is otherwise directed.

§ iS. All laws of the St.ate of Illinois, and all official wrilings.and the executive, legislative and judicial j.roceedings, shall be conducted, preserved and published in no other than the English language.

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

§ 21. The jurlges of all courts of record in Cook County shall, in lieu of any salary provided for in this constitution, receive the compensation now provided by law uniil the adjournment of the first session of generil assembly after the adoption of this conslitution.

^ 22. The present judge of the circuit court of Cooic 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 properly, 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 eijht hundred and seventy.

§ 24. Nothing contained in this constitution shall be so construed as to deprive the genera assembly of the power to authorize the city of Quincy to create any inlebtedness 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 be levied 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 Slate.

\ 25. 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, and 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 and 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. In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names :

\RLow. Secretary of ihe St: llionofthe State of Illinois : the 2tl\ day of July, 1S70, .i mony whereof I hereto 'iet ii day of March, A. D. 1873.

Lte of Illinois, do hereby certify that the forej^ing is a true adopted in conveifion the 13th day of May, 1S70. ratified by nd in force on the 3th 'iiy of Aug tst, 1373, and now on tile in my hand and afSx the Great Seal of Sute, at the city of

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume amon^ the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station lo which the lawi of nitare and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the 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 end >wed by their Creatur with certain unalienable rights ; that amonjthcise are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, d;:riving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and lo institute a new g jver^ment, laying its foundation on such principles, and nr^inizmg its p.jwers in such form, as to th^m shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiiie-,s Pru lence, indeed, will dictate tint governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; an^i, accordln'^Iy, all experience hath shown that mankmd are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when along train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariaMy 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 has 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 iniuries and usurpations, all havin^ ja direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over thde 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 legislative bodie-- at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the dep 'sitt)ry of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolution, to cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative p)wers, incapable of annihilatic.i, have returne I to the people at large for their exercise; the State remaining, in the meanume, 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; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

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

For abolishing the free system of English laws 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 i"ircumstanres of cruelly 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 executi )ners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

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

In every stage of these oppressions, 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 attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time, of attempts made by their kgiblature 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, which would inevitablv interrupt our connections and corre-.pondence. 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 war, in peace, friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and d^el ire, That the>e United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, FREE AN'D IXDEPEXDEXT STATES; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the Siate of Great Britain, is, and oaght to be, totally dissolved ; and that, as FREE AND INDEPENDENT S r.-VTES, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which INDEPENDENT STATES miy of right do. And. for the support of this declaration, and a firm reliance on the protection of DIVINE PRr)VIDENC£, 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 lo form a more perfect Union, establish juslicc, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, proniule the general welfare, and 'ecure the 1 lesMiig^ of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish tnis CONSTITLIION lor ihe United States of America.

Si;cT10N 2. The House of Representatives shall be cc mpo=ed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite lor 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 ; ears a citizen of the United Stales, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State 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 lo their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding lo the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years and excluding Indians not taxed, 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 .Mates, and within every subsequent tcnn 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 Slate of New Ilamphsire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Provid. nee Plantations one, Connecticut live, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia, ten. North Carolina five, and Georgia 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.

Immediatelv after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as iqually as may be into three classes. The scats of the Senators of the fir t class shall be vacated i.t the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiratioa of the fouith year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that onethird may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during tlie 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 per -on shall lie a Senate r who shall not" have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the Uniied Slates, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the Uniteil States.

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose Ihey shall le on oath or affirmation. When the President of the Uniied Slates is tried, the Chief justice shall preside. And no person shall be convicted without ihe concurrence of two-thirds of the men.bers present.

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than lo removal from office, and disqualification to ho'd and enjoy any oflice of honor, trust or profit under the Uniied States: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishnunt according to law.

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

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in Dcctmher, unless they shall by haw appoint a dilfcrent day.

Section 5. Each house shall be the judge of the election, returns and qualifications of its own membtrs, and a majority of each .shall constiuite 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 niannir, 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.

Each house shall keep a journal of its pioceedings, and from lime to time publish the same, excepting such pails as m.iy in their judgment require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of cither house on any question shall, at ihe desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on Ihe journal.

Neither house, during Ihe session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, rd;ourn for more than three days, nor lo any olhcr place than that in which the two houses shall be silling.

Section 6. The Senators and ReprescnLatives sh.all receive a compensation for their ser- to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasuiy of Ihe Uniied States, 1 hey shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective loupes, and in going 10 and returning frim the same ; and for any speech or debate in either house they shall not be questioned in any other place.

No Senaior . r Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil t ffice under the authority cf the United States, which shall have been created, or the emclumcnts whereof shall have beer increased during such time; and no person

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

E\eiy lull 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 be 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 reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsiderecl, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a law. Put in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined bv yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the j( urnal 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 rase it shall not be a law.

Every order, resolution or vote lo which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except iot a question of adjournment), shall be presented t.i the President of the United States ; and before the sace shall take effect, shall be approved by 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.

To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts an I provide fir the common defense and general welfare of the United Slates ; but all elulies, 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 and inventors the exclusive right to iheir respective writings anel discoveries;

To provide lor organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States, respectively the appointment of the oflicers, and the authority of training the milita according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.

To exercise legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square), as may by the cession of particular States and the acceptance of Congress, become Ihe seat of the government of the Uniied States, and to exercise like authority over all places ]airchased by the consent of Ihe Legislature of the State in which the same shall be, lor the 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 fire going powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government e-f the Uniied .Slates, or in any department or officer thereof.

Section 9. The migration or importation of .such persons as any of the Slates now existing shall think proper to .admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to ihe )err one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such imporialion, not exceeding ten dollars feir each persons.

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 eommcrce 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 maele 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 nobihty shall be granted by the L'nited States; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall without the consent of the Ceuigress, accept of ai y present, emolument, oflice, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State.

Sectictn 10. No Slate shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation ; grant letters of marque or reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of credit; make anything but goM and silver

I n tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder.ex post facto law or law im- ;n;:j the obli-raiion of contracts, or grant any title of nobility. - State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports \ports, except what may be absolutely necessar\- for executing its inspection laws, and net produce of all duties- and imposts laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be he u->e of the Treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the ;iou and control of the Congress.

> State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty on tonnage, keep troops ,e of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State,

^r-CTloN I. The Executive power shall he 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 \ u c President chosen for the same term, be elected as follows :

I'-icli State shall appoint, m such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number <->( electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State niny be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an ohice of trust or profit under the United Stales, shall be appointed an elector.

[The electors shall meet in their respective Stales and vote by ballot for two persons of whom one at leasi shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they s!i,,ll make a list of all persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each ; which list i'. V shall sign and certily, and transmit, sealed to the seat of the government of the United S: ,;t-, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the j'rL-.L'nce 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 there be HKire than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the I b luse of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President ; and if no person have a majoriiy, then fr^m 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-lhirds of the States, and a majority of all the Slates 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 liallot the Vice President.]

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

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

In case of the removal of the President from ofTice, or of his death, resignation or inability to discharge the power;^ and duties of the said ofilce, 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 shall then act a-i President, and such officer shall act accordingly, un;il the disability 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 solemnly swear (or affirm) that I wUl faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preser\'e, protect and defend the Constitution of the Uniied States."

Section 2. The President shaU bs 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 sulject relating to ihe duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences 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 treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators preseut concur ; and he shall nominate, and by and wiih the advice of the Senate, shall appoint amiiassadors, ohter pu'.dic ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided lor, and which shall be established bylaw; 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 depariments.

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happei during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next 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 measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or ehher of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the t me of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive ambas^adors and other public ministers; he sha'l take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United Stales.

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

Section ". The judicial power of the L'nited Stales shall be vested in one Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as the Con:5ress may from time to time o-dain and eslaldish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour, and shall, at slated times;, receive fur their services a compensation, which shall not be dimit>i->hed during their continuance in office.

Section 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising tmder this Consiilution, the laws of the Unifed Stales, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; - to all cises affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consul.; - to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; - to controversies to which the United States shall be a party ; - to controversies between two ormore States; - between a State and citizens of another State; - between citizens of different States; - between citizens of the same Slate claiming lands under grants of ditTerent States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens or sulijecls.

In all coses affecting ambassadors, olher public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction.

=l,Ti''? "'if' °f.=l' "imes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jun'; and such trial shall be held m the State where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not commuted w,thm any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Con-ress may by law have directed. a j

Sectios 3. Trexson against the United States shall consist only in levying war a-^ainst them, or m adhenng 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 au^nted corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person

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 iurisdiction of the crime. ^ ^

Ko person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, e^capiuT into another, shall, m consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged fronrsuch ' 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. Xew 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 Stale: nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the LegisLaturcs of the States concerned, as well as of the Congress.

The Congress shall hive power to dispose of and maUe'al! lieedfnl rules and re.»uIations respecting the territory or other properly belonging to the United St.ates ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any particular State. '

Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to evcrv State in this Union a Republican form of government, and shall protect each of t'um agiinst 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 Constituiion, 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 part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several St.ates, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof as the one or the other mode of raiilication may be proposed by the Congress. Provideii aendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and I in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first d that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage m the

Article Vl

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 Slate shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

The Sen.ators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the scvei.al State Legislatures, and all Executive and judicial ofliccrs, both of the United Slates and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or aflirmation, to support this Constitution - hut no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or pubUc trust under the United States.

The ratification of the Conventions of nine States shall be sufiicient for the establishn Constitution between the States so ratifying the same.

Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the States present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United Stales of America, the twelfth. l.N Wit.ness Whereof, We have hereunto subscribed our names.

ARTICLE I. Cotifp-ess shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

ARTICLE II. 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.

ARTICLE III. No 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 of the 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 affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment by a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any per son be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelledin any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to ha\e compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury ^hall 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 U.iited States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the Slates respectively, or to the peple.

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

distinct ballots the persons voted for as Vice President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all jjersons 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 jiresence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes sh.ill then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a m.ajorily of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest number not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immedkately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or member» from two-th rds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth d.ay of March next following, then the Vice President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other Constiutional 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 person have a maorily, then f.om the two highes; numbers on the list, the Sen.ite shall choose the Vice President; a quorum for the [lurpose shall consist of two-thirds 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.

ARTICLE XIII. Section l. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punish whereof the party shall have been duly con ny place subject to th

Section i. All persons born or naturalized in the United Stales 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 privil.gcs or immunities of citizens of, the United St.ates ; 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 amang the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed ; but when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Cjngress, the executive and judici.al officers of a State or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age and cilizens of the United States, or in any way abridged except for participation in rebelliju or other crimes, the basis of represent.ation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bjir 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 militiry, under the United States or under any State who, having previously taken an oath as a Mjmber of Congress, or as an, officer of the United States, or .is a member of any State LegisLture, 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 r.nd bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. Cut neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in the aid of insurrection or rebellion .against the United States, or any loss or emancipation of any slave, bu. such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

Article Xv

ARTICLE XV. Section i. The rights of cilizens of the United States to vote sh.all not be denied or abridggdby the United States on account of r.ace, color, or previous condition of servitude. !p|^ccT»N 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.