USA > Georgia > The Confederate records of the State of Georgia, Vol 4 > Part 21
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5. A person once rejected by the Senate shall not be re-appointed by the Governor to the same office during the same session or the recess thereafter.
6. The Governor shall have the revision of all bills passed by both Houses, before the same shall become laws, but two-thirds of each House. may pass a law not- withstanding his dissent; and if any bill should not be returned by the Governor within five days (Sundays excepted) after it has been presented to him the same shall be law, unless the General Assembly, by their adjournment, shall prevent its return. He may approve any appropriation and disapprove any other appropria- tion in the same bill, and the latter shall not be effectual unless passed by two-thirds of each House.
7. Every vote, resolution or order, to which the con- currence of both Houses may be necessary, except on a question of election or adjournment, shall be presented to the Governor; and before it shall take effect, be approved by him, or being disapproved, shall be re-
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passed by two-thirds of each House, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in case of a bill.
8. There shall be a Secretary of State, a Comp- troller-General, a Treasurer, and Surveyor-General, elected by the General Assembly, and they shall hold their offices for the like period as the Governor, and shall have a competent salary, which shall not be increased or diminished during the period for which they shall have been elected. The General Assembly may at any time consolidate any two of these offices, and require all the duties to be discharged by one officer.
9. The great seal of the State shall be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State, and shall not be affixed to any instrument of writing, but by order of the Governor or General Assembly; and that used previ- ously to the year 1861, shall be the great seal of the State.
ARTICLE IV.
SECTION I.
1. The judicial powers of this State shall be vested in a Supreme Court for the correction of errors, a Supe- rior, Inferior, Ordinary and Justices Courts, and in such other Courts as have been, or may be, established by law.
2. The Supreme Court shall consist of three Judges, who shall be elected by the General Assembly, for such term of years-not less than six-as shall be prescribed by law, and shall continue in office until their successors shall be elected and qualified; removable by the Gov- ernor on the address of two-thirds of each branch of the
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..
General Assembly, or by impeachment and conviction thereon.
3. The said Court shall have no original jurisdic- tion, but shall be a Court alone for the trial and cor- rection of errors in law and equity from the Superior Courts of the several circuits, and from the City Courts of the cities of Savannah and Augusta, and such other like Courts as may be hereafter established in other cities; and shall sit "at the Seat of Government" at such time or times in each year, as the General Assem- bly shall prescribe, for the trial and determination of writs of error from said Courts.
4. The said Court shall dispose of and finally de- termine every case on the docket of such Court, at the first or second term after such writ of error brought; and in case the plaintiff in error shall not be prepared at the first term of such Court, after error brought, to prosecute the case, unless precluded by some providen- tial cause from such prosecution, it shall be stricken from the docket and the judgment below affirmed. And in any case that may occur, the Court may, in its discretion, withhold its judgment until the term next after the argument thereon.
SECTION 2.
1. The Judges of the Superior Courts shall be elected on the first Wednesday in January, until the Legislature shall otherwise direct, immediately before the expiration of the term for which they or either of them may have been appointed or elected, from the cir- cuits in which they are to serve, by a majority vote of the people of the circuit qualified to vote for members
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of the General Assembly, for the term of four years- vacancies to be filled as is provided by the laws of force prior to January 1st, 1861-and shall continue in office until their successors shall be elected and qualified; re- movable by the Governor on the address of two-thirds of each branch of the General Assembly, or by impeach- ment and conviction thereon.
2. The Superior Court shall have exclusive juris- diction in all cases of divorce, both total and partial; but . no total divorce shall be granted except on the concur- rent verdicts of two special juries. In each divorce case, the Court shall regulate the rights and disabilities of the parties.
3. The Superior Court shall also have exclusive jurisdiction in all criminal cases, except as relates to fines for neglect of duty, contempts of Court, violation of road laws, obstruction of water courses, and in all othe minor offences which do not subject the offender or offenders to loss of life, limb or member, or to con- finement in the penitentiary; 'jurisdiction of all such cases shall be vested in such County or Corporation Courts, or such other Courts, judicatures, or tribunals as now exist, or may hereafter be constituted, under such rules and regulations as the Legislature may have directed or may hereafter by law direct.
4. All criminal cases shall be tried in the county where the crime was committed, except in cases where a jury cannot be obtained.
5. The Superior Court shall have exclusive jurisdic- tion in all cases respecting titles to land, which shall be tried in the county where the land lies; and also in all equity causes which shall be tried in the county where
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one or more of the defendants reside against whom sub- stantial relief is prayed.
6. It shall have appellate jurisdiction in all such cases as may be provided by law.
7. It shall have power to correct errors in inferior judicatories by writ of certiorari, and to grant new trials in the Superior Court on proper and legal grounds.
8. It shall have power to issue writs of mandamus, prohibition, scire facias, and all other writs which may be necessary for carrying its powers fully into effect.
9. The Superior Court shall have jurisdiction in all other civil cases, and in them the General Assembly may give concurrent jurisdiction to the Inferior Court, or such other County Courts as they may hereafter create, which cases shall be tried in the county where the de- fendant resides.
10. In cases of joint obligors, or joint promissors or co-partners, or joint trespassers residing in the different counties the suit may be brought in either county.
11. In case of a maker and indorser, or indorsers of promissory notes residing in different counties in this State, the same may be sued in the county where the maker resides.
12. The Superior Court shall sit in each county not less than twice in every year, at such stated times as have been or may be appointed by the General Assembly, and the Inferior and County Court at such times as the General Assembly may direct.
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SECTION 3.
1. The judges shall have salaries adequate to their services fixed by law, which shall not be diminished nor increased during their continuance in office; but shall not receive any other perquisites or emoluments what- ever, from parties or others, on account of any duty re- quired of them.
2. There shall be a State's Attorney and Solicitors elected in the same manner as the Judges of the Superior Court, and commissioned by the Governor, who shall hold their offices for the term of four years, or until their successors shall be appointed and qualified, unless re- moved by sentence on impeachment, or by the Governor, on the address of two-thirds of each branch of the Gen- eral Assembly. They shall have salaries adequate to their services fixed by law, which shall not be increased or diminished during their continuance in office.
3. The Justice or Justices of the Inferior Court, and the Judge of such other County Court as may by law be created, shall be elected in each county by the persons entitled to vote for members of the General Assembly.
4. The Justices of the Peace shall be elected in each district by the persons entitled to vote for members of the General Assembly.
5. The powers of a Court of Ordinary and of Pro- bate, shall be vested in an Ordinary for each county, from whose decisions there may be an appeal to the Superior Court, under regulations prescribed by law. The Ordinary shall be ex-officio clerk of said Court, and may appoint a deputy clerk. The Ordinary, as Clerk, or his deputy, may issue citations, and grant temporary
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letters of administration, to hold until permanent letters are granted; and said Ordinary, as Clerk, or his deputy, may grant marriage licenses. The Ordinaries in and for the respective counties shall be elected, as other county officers are, on the first Wednesday in January, 1868, and every fourth year thereafter, and shall be commissioned by the Governor for the term of four years. In case of any vacancy of said office of Ordinary, from any cause, the same shall be filled by election, as is provided in relation to other county officers, and until the same is filled, the Clerk of the Superior Court for the time being, shall act as Clerk of said Court of Ordinary.
ARTICLE V.
SECTION 1.
1. The electors of members of the General Assembly shall be free white male citizens of this State, and shall have attained the age of twenty-one years, and have paid all taxes which may have been required of them, and which they have had an opportunity of paying agreeable to law, for the year preceding the election, shall be citi- zens of the United States, and shall have resided six months either in the district or county and two years within this State, and no person who is not qualified to vote for members of the General Assembly, shall hold any office in this State.
2. All elections by the General Assembly shall be viva voce and the vote shall always appear on the Jour- nal of the House of Representatives, and where the Senate and House of Representatives unite for the pur- pose of electing, they shall meet in the Representative
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chamber, and the President of the Senate shall in such cases preside, and declare the person or persons elected.
3. In all elections by the people the electors shall vote by ballot until the General Assembly shall other- wise direct.
4. All civil officers heretofore commissioned by the Governor, or who have been duly appointed, or elected, since the first day of January last, but who have not received their commission and who have not resigned, nor been removed from office, and whose terms of office shall not have expired, shall continue in the exercise of the duties of their respective offices during the periods for which they were duly appointed or duly elected as aforesaid, and commissioned, and until their successors shall be appointed under the provisions of this Consti- tution; unless removed from office as herein provided.
5. Laws of general operation now of force, in this State, are, 1st, as the supreme law, the Constitution of the United States; the laws of the United States in pur- suance thereof, and all treaties made under the authority of the United States; 2nd, as next in authority thereto, this Constitution; 3rd, in subordination to the foregoing, all laws declared of force by an act of the General Assem- bly of this State, assented to December the 19th, A. D., 1860, entitled, "An Act to approve, adopt, and make of force, in the State of Georgia, a revised code of laws, prepared under the direction and by authority of the General Assembly thereof, and for other purposes there- with connected," an act of the General Assembly afore- said, assented to December 16th, A. D., 1861, amendatory of the foregoing, and an act of the General Assembly aforesaid assented to December 13th, A. D., 1862, enti- tled "An Act to settle the conflicts between the code and
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the Legislation of this General Assembly;" also all acts of the General Assembly aforesaid, passed since the date last written, altering, amending, repealing, or adding to any portion of law hereinbefore mentioned (the latter enactments having preference in case of conflict), and also so much of the common and statute law of England. and of the statute law of this State of force in Georgia. in the year eighteen hundred and sixty, as is not ex- pressly superseded by, nor inconsistent with said Codes, though not embodied therein; except so much of the law aforesaid as may violate the supreme law, herein recog- nized, or may conflict with this Constitution, and except so much thereof as refers to persons held in slavery. which excepted laws shall henceforth be inoperative and void, and any future General Assembly of this State. shall be competent to alter, amend, or repeal any portion of the law declared to be of force in this third specifica- tion of the fifth clause of this fifth article. If in any statute law herein declared of force, the word "Con- federate" occurs before the word States, such law is hereby amended by substituting the word "United" for the word "Confederate."
6. Local and private statutes heretofore passed intended for the benefit of counties, cities, towns, cor- porations, and private persons not inconsistent with the supreme law, nor with this Constitution, and which have neither expired by their own limitations nor been re- pealed, shall have the force of statute laws subject to judicial decision, as to their validity when enacted, and to any limitations imposed by their own terms.
7. All judgments, decrees, orders, and other pro- ceedings of the several courts of this State heretofore made, within the limits of their several jurisdictions, are
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hereby ratified and affirmed, subject only to past and future reversal, by motion for new trial, appeal, bill of review, or other proceedings, in conformity with the law of force when they were made.
8. All rights, privileges and immunities which may have vested in, or accrued to any person or persons, in his, her, or their own right, or any fiduciary capacity, under and in virtue of any act of the General Assembly, or of any judgment, decree, or order, or other proceeding of any court of competent jurisdiction in this State, since the first day of January, A. D., eighteen hundred and sixty-one, shall be held inviolate by all courts before which they may be brought in question, unless attacked for fraud.
9. The marriage relation between white persons and persons of African descent is forever prohibited, and such marriage shall be null and void; and it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to enact laws for the pun- ishment of any officer who shall knowingly issue a license for the celebration of such marriage, or any officer or minister of the Gospel who shall marry such persons together.
10. All militia and county officers shall be elected by the people, under such regulations as have been or may be prescribed by law.
11. This Constitution shall be altered or amended only by a convention of the people, called for that pur- pose by act of the General Assembly.
Signed November 7th, 1865.
HERSCHEL V. JOHNSON, President.
Attest:
J. D. WADDELL, Secretary.
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ORDINANCES.
AN ORDINANCE
To repeal certain ordinances and resolutions therein mentioned, heretofore passed by the people of the State of Georgia in Convention.
We, the people of the State of Georgia in Convention, at our Seat of Government, do declare and ordain, That an ordinance adopted by the same people, in convention, on the nineteenth day of January, A. D., eighteen hun- dred and sixty-one, entitled "An ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Georgia and other States united with her under a compact of government entitled 'The Constitution of the United States of America;'" also, an ordinance, adopted by the same on the sixteenth day of March in the year last aforesaid, entitled "An ordinance to adopt and ratify the Constitution of the Confederate States of America;" and also all ordinances and resolutions of the same, adopted between the six- teenth day of January and the twenty-fourth day of March, in the year aforesaid, subversive of, or antago- nistic to the civil and military authority of the govern- ment of the United States of America, under the Con- stitution thereof, be, and the same are, hereby repealed.
Signed October 30th, 1865.
HERSCHEL V. JOHNSON, President.
Attest :
J. D. WADDELL, Secretary.
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CONFEDERATE RECORDS :
AN ORDINANCE
To establish Congressional Districts, and to provide for certain elections.
The people of Georgia in Convention assembled, do ordain, That conforming to the last apportionment of members of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, there shall be in the State of Georgia seven Congressional Districts, constituted as follows, until changed by act of the General Assembly, viz. :
The first district shall include the counties of Chat- ham, Bryan, Liberty, McIntosh, Wayne, Glynn, Camden, Charlton, Ware, Pierce, Appling, Tatnall, Bulloch, Effingham, Screven, Emanuel, Montgomery, Telfair, Coffee, Clinch, Echols, Lowndes, Berrien, Irwin, Lau- rens, Johnson, Brooks, Colquitt and Thomas.
The second district shall include the counties of De- catur, Early, Miller, Baker, Mitchell, Worth, Dooly, Wilcox, Pulaski, Houston, Macon, Marion, Chattahoo- chee, Sumter, Webster, Stewart, Quitman, Clay, Calhoun, Randolph, Terrell, Lee and Dougherty.
The third district shall include the counties of Mus- cogee, Schley, Taylor, Talbot, Harris, Troup, Meri- wether, Heard, Coweta, Fayette, Clayton, Carroll, Camp- bell, Haralson and Paulding.
The fourth district shall include the counties of Upson, Pike, Spalding, Henry, Newton, Butts, Monroe, Crawford, Bibb, Twiggs, Wilkinson, Baldwin, Jones, Jasper and Putnam.
The fifth district shall include the counties of Wash- ington, Jefferson, Burke, Richmond, Glascock, Hancock,
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Warren, Columbia, Lincoln, Wilkes, Taliaferro, Greene, Morgan, Oglethorpe and Elbert.
The sixth district shall include the counties of Milton, Gwinnett, Walton, Clarke, Jackson, Madison, Hart, Franklin, Banks, Hall, Forsyth, Pickens, Dawson, Lump- kin, White, Habersham, Rabun, Towns, Union, Fannin and Gilmer.
The seventh district shall include the counties of DeKalb, Fulton, Cobb, Polk, Floyd, Bartow, Cherokee, Gordon, Chattooga, Walker, Whitfield, Murray, Catoosa and Dade.
SEC. 2. There shall be held on the fifteenth day of November next, a general election in the several counties and election districts of this State for Governor, Sena- tors (by Senatorial districts) and Representatives (by counties) to the General Assembly, in conformity to the Constitution, which this Convention may adopt, and of members of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, by districts as herein before arranged, one member for each district.
SEC. 3. The election herein ordered shall be con- ducted and returns thereof made, as is now by the Code of Georgia provided.
SEC. 4. And the Convention do further ordain, That the election for Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Savannah, shall be held on the first Wednesday in Decem- ber, in the present year, and that at such election all laws appertaining thereto shall be in force, except the law requiring the registry of voters.
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CONFEDERATE RECORDS
No. Counties. Rep. Population.
First District
29
123,483
Second District
23
124,034
Third District
15
124,522
Fourth District
15
123,127
Fifth District
15
125,539
Sixth District
21
123,640
Seventh District
14
124,856
132
869,201
Signed October 30th, 1865.
HERSCHEL V. JOHNSON, President.
Attest :
J. D. WADDELL, Secretary.
AN ORDINANCE
To prevent the levy and sale of the property of debtors under execution, until the adjournment of the first session of the next Legislature, or until the Legisla- ture shall otherwise direct, if before that time.
Be it ordained by the people of Georgia, in Conven- tion assembled, That there shall be no levy or sale of property of defendants in this State under execution, founded on any judgment, order or decree, except execu- tions for cost or rules against officers for money, and except in cases where defendants reside without the State
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have absconded, are absconding, or are about to remove their property without the limits of any county in this State, until the adjournment of the first session of the next Legislature or until the Legislature shall otherwise direct, if before that time.
Be it further ordained, That any officer or other per- son violating this ordinance, shall be guilty of trespass and liable to be sued in any court of this State having proper jurisdiction; and the measure of damages shall be the injury resulting to the injured party by reason of said trespass.
Be it further ordained, That the statutes of limitation now of force in this State, be, and the same are hereby suspended in all cases affected by this ordinance until the adjournment of the first session of the next Legisla- ture, or until the Legislature shall otherwise direct, if before that time.
And be it further ordained, That the statutes of limi- tations in all cases, civil and criminal, be, and the same are hereby, declared to be and to have been suspended from the 19th day of January, 1861, and shall so continue until civil government is fully restored, or until the Ley- islature shall otherwise direct.
Signed November 1st, 1865.
HERSCHEL V. JOHNSON, President.
Attest :
J. D. WADDELL, Secretary.
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CONFEDERATE RECORDS
AN ORDINANCE
To request and authorize the Provisional Governor of Georgia to borrow on the credit of the State a suffi- cient sum of money to pay what may be due on the civil list, and what may become due thereon, until by the collection of taxes the State may dispense with loans; and to extend the power to the Governor to be elected by the people in a certain contingency.
The people of Georgia by their delegates in Conven- tion assembled, do hereby declare and ordain, That the Provisional Governor of this State be, and he is hereby respectfully requested and authorized, upon the faith and credit of the State of Georgia, to negotiate a loan or loans of money, or United States currency, sufficient in amount to repay the temporary loans made by him as reported to the Convention, and to pay whatever is due on the civil list of the political year 1865, as also to pay whatever may become due on the civil list for the political year 1866, inclusive of appropriations for the support of the Lunatic Asylum and other government pur- poses, until the State of Georgia, by the collection of taxes to be imposed hereafter by the Legislature, and other resources of the State, shall be enabled, without embarrassment, to dispense with a resort to temporary loans-the money so borrowed to be deposited in the treasury, and to be paid out by executive warrant as is provided by existing laws.
And be it further ordained by the authority afore- said, That should the Provisional Governor, from any cause, fail to make a sufficient loan or loans to effectuate the intention of this ordinance-that then the Governor to be elected by the people as his successor to all the ex-
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ecutive powers of the State Government, be, and he is hereby empowered to make from time to time, such loan or loans for the service of the State of Georgia as is herein contemplated, and that the bonds whereon such may be loaned shall be countersigned by the Governor.
And be it further ordained, That to facilitate the negotiation of such loan, in such sums and at such times as the wants of the State may require for the purposes aforesaid, the Governor is hereby authorized and required to sign and issue such drafts, notes or bonds, counter- signed by the Treasurer and payable at such times and on such terms, and in such currency as may be deemed by him most conducive to the convenience and interest of the State. Provided, That no obligation shall be contracted by him for a less time to run than twelve months, or for a longer time than five years; and pro- vided, also, that on short securities not longer than twelve months to run, not exceeding a rate of ten (10) per cent. per annum shall be allowed; and provided further, that if said loan, or any part of it, be raised on bonds of more than one year to run, said bonds shall bear interest at the rate of seven (7) per cent., payable half yearly, which shall not exceed in the whole the sum of $500,000, and shall not be sold at a discount on the par value of more than ten per cent. And it is further provided, That this ordinance shall not be construed to restrict or control the Legislature in the exercise of a sound discretion in making any loan for the foregoing purposes, or any other want of the State.
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