USA > New Hampshire > History of New Hampshire, Volume III > Part 30
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And while the public charges of government, or any part thereof, shall be assessed on polls and estates in the manner that has heretofore been prac- ticed, in order that such assessments may be made with equality there shall be a valuation of the estates within the state taken anew once in every five years at least, and as much oftener as the General Court shall order.
SENATE.
There shall be annually elected by the freeholders and other inhabitants of this state, qualified as in this constitution is provided, twelve persons, to be Senators for the year ensuing their election, to be chosen in and by the inhabitants of the districts into which the state may from time to time be divided by the General Court for that purpose; and the General Court, in assigning the number to be elected by the respective districts, shall govern
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themselves by the proportion of public taxes paid by the said districts, and timely make known to the inhabitants of the state the limits of each district and the number of Senators to be elected therein, provided the number of such districts shall never be more than ten nor less than five.
And the several counties in this state shall, until the General Court shall order otherwise, be districts for the election of Senators, and shall elect the following number, viz .: Rockingham, five; Strafford, two; Hills- borough, two; Cheshire, two; Grafton, one.
The Senate shall be the first branch of the legislature, and the Senators shall be chosen in the following manner, viz .: every male inhabitant of each town and parish with town privileges in the several counties in this state, of twenty-one years of age and upwards, paying for himself a poll tax, shall have a right, at the annual or other meetings of the inhabitants of said towns and parishes to be duly warned and holden annually forever in the month of March, to vote in the town or parish wherein he dwells for the Senators in the county or district whereof he is a member.
And every person qualified as the constitution provides shall be consid- ered an inhabitant for the purpose of electing and being elected into any office or place within this state, in that town, parish, and plantation wherein he dwelleth and hath his home.
The selectmen of the several towns and parishes aforesaid shall. during the choice of Senators, preside at such meetings impartially, and shall receive the votes of all the inhabitants of such towns and parishes present and qualified to vote for Senators, and shall sort and count the same in the meet- ing, and in the presence of the town clerk, who shall make a fair record in presence of the selectmen and in open meeting, of the name of every per- son voted for, and the number of votes against his name; and a fair copy of this record shall be attested by the selectmen and town clerk, and shall be be sealed up and directed to the Secretary of the State, with a subscription expressing the purport thereof, and delivered by said clerk to the sheriff of the county in which such town or parish lies thirty days at least before the first Wednesday of June; and the sheriff of each county, or his deputy, shall deliver all such certificates by him received into the Secretary's office seventeen days at least before the first Wednesday of June.
And the inhabitants of plantations and places unincorporated, qualified as this constitution provides, who are or shall be required to assess taxes upon themselves towards the support of government, or shall be taxed there- for, shall have the same privilege of voting for Senators in the plantations and places wherein they reside as the inhabitants of the respective towns and parishes aforesaid have.
And the meetings of such plantations and places for that purpose shall be holden annually in the month of March at such places respectively therein as the assessors thereof shall direct; which assessors shall have like author- ity for notifying the electors, collecting and returning the votes, as the select- men and town clerks have in their several towns by this constitution. And, that there may be a due meeting of Senators on the first Wednesday of June annually, the President and three of the Council for the time being shall, as soon as may be, examine the returned copies of such records; and four- teen days before the said first Wednesday in June he shall issue his sum- mons to such persons as appear to be chosen Senators by a majority of votes to attend and take their seats on that day; provided nevertheless, that for the first year the said returned copies shall be examined by the President and five of the Council of the former constitution of government; and the said President shall in like manner notify the persons elected to attend and take their seats accordingly.
The Senate shall be final judges of the elections, returns, and qualifica- tions of their own members as pointed out in this constitution, and shall, on
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the said first Wednesday of June annually, determine and declare who are elected by each district to be Senators by a majority of votes, and in case there shall not appear to be the full number returned elected by a majority of votes for any district, the deficiency shall be supplied in the following manner, viz .: the members of the House of Representatives, and such Sena- tors as shall be declared elected, shall take the names of such persons as shall be found to have the highest number of votes in each district, and not elected, amounting to twice the number of Senators wanting, if there be so many voted for, and out of these shall elect by joint ballot the number of Senators wanted for such district; and in this manner all such vacancies shall be filled up in every district of the state, and in like manner all vacancies in the Senate arising by death, removal out of the state, or other- wise shall be supplied as soon as may be after such vacancies happen.
Provided, nevertheless, that no person shall be capable of being elected Senator who is not of the Protestant religion, and seized of a free- hold estate in his own right of the value of two hundred pounds lying within this state, who is not of the age of thirty years, and who shall not have been an inhabitant of this state for seven years immediately preceding his elec- tion; and at the time thereof he shall be an inhabitant of the district for which he shall be chosen.
The Senate shall have power to adjourn themselves, provided such ad- journment do not exceed two days at a time.
The Senate shall appoint their own officers and determine their own rules of proceedings; and not less than seven members of the Senate shall make a quorum for doing business; and when less than eight Senators shall be present the assent of five at least shall be necessary to render their acts and proceedings valid.
The Senate shall be a court with full power and authority to hear and determine all impeachments made by the House of Representatives against any officer or officers of the state for misconduct or maladministration in their offices; but previous to the trial of any such impeachment the members of the Senate shall respectively be sworn truly and impartially to try and determine the charge in question according to evidence.
Their judgment, however, shall not extend farther than removal from office, disqualification to hold or enjoy any place of honor, trust, or profit under this state; but the party so convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to laws of the land.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
There shall be in the legislature of this state a representation of the people, annually elected and founded upon principles of equality ; and, in order that such representation may be as equal as circumstances will admit, every town, parish, or place entitled to town privileges, having one hundred and fifty ratable male polls of twenty-one years of age and upwards, may elect one Representative; if four hundred and fifty ratable polls, may elect two Representatives; and so proceeding in that proportion, making three hundred such ratable polls the mean increasing number for every additional Representative.
Such towns, parishes, or places as have less than one hundred and fifty ratable polls shall be classed by the General Assembly for the purpose of choosing a Representative, and seasonably notified thereof.
And in every class formed for the above-mentioned purpose the first annual meeting shall be held in the town, parish, or place wherein most of the ratable polls reside, and afterwards in that which has the next high- est number, and so on, annually, by rotation, through the several towns, parishes, or places forming the district.
Whenever any town, parish, or place entitled to town privileges as afore- said shall not have one hundred and fifty ratable polls, and be so situated as
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to render the classing thereof with any other town, parish, or place very in- convenient, the General Assembly may, upon application of a majority of the voters in such town, parish, or place, issue a writ for their electing and sending a Representative to the General Court.
The members of the House of Representatives shall be chosen annually in the month of March, and shall be the second branch of legislature.
All persons qualified to vote in the election of Senators shall be entitled to vote within the town, district, parish, or place where they dwell in the choice of Representatives. Every member of the House of Representatives shall be chosen by ballot; and for two years, at least, next preceding his election shall have been an inhabitant of this state, shall have an estate within the town, parish, or place which he may be chosen to represent of the value of one hundred pounds, one-half of which to be a freehold whereof he is seized in his own right; shall be at the time of his election an inhabitant of the town, parish, or place he may be chosen to represent; shall be of the Protestant religion; and shall cease to represent such town, parish, or place immediately on his ceasing to be qualified as aforesaid.
The travel of each Representative to the General Assembly, and return- ing home once in every session and no more, shall be at the expense of the state, and the wages for his attendance at the expense of the town, parish, or places he represents ; such members attending seasonably, and not depart- ing without license. All intermediate vacancies in the House of Represnta- tives may be filled up from time to time in the same manner as annual elec- tions are made.
The House of Representatives shall be the grand inquest of the state, and all impeachments made by them shall be heard and tried by the Senate. All money bills shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.
The House of Representatives shall have power to adjourn themselves, but no longer than for two days at a time.
A majority of the members of the House of Representatives shall be a quorum for doing business; but when less than two thirds of the Represnta- tives elected shall be present the assent of two thirds of those members shall be necessary to render their acts and proceedings valid.
No member of the House of Representatives or Senate shall be arrested or held bail on mesne process during his going to, returning from, or attendance upon the Court.
The House of Representatives shall choose their own speaker, appoint their own officers, and settle the rules of proceedings in their own House. They shall have the authority to punish by imprisonment every person who shall be guilty of disrespect to the House, in its presence, by any disorderly and contemptuous behavior, or by threatening or ill-treating any of its members, or by obstructing its deliberations ; every person guilty of a breach of its privileges in making arrests for debt, or by assaulting any member during his attendance at any session, in assaulting or disturbing any one of its officers in the execution of any order or procedure of the house, in assaulting any witness or other person ordered to attend, by and during his attendance of the House, or in rescuing any person arrested by order of the House, knowing them to be such. The Senate, President, and Council shall have the same powers in like cases, provided that no imprisonment by either for any offense exceed ten days.
The journals of the proceedings of both houses of the General Court shall be printed and published immediately after every adjournment or prorogation ; and, upon motion made by any one member, the yeas and nays upon any question shall be taken and entered in the journals.
EXECUTIVE POWER-PRESIDENT.
There shall be a supreme executive magistrate who shall be styled The
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President of the State of New Hampshire, and whose title shall be His Excellency.
The President shall be chosen annually; and no person shall be eligible to this office unless at the time of his election he shall have been an inhabi- tant of this state for seven years next preceding; and unless he shall be of the age of thirty years; and unless he shall, at the same time, have an estate of the value of five hundred pounds, one half of which shall consist of a freehold in his own right within the state; and unless he shall be of the Protestant religion.
Those persons qualified to vote for Senators and Representatives shall, within the several towns, parishes, or places where they dwell, at a meeting to be called for the purpose some day in the month of March annually, give in their votes for a President to the selectmen who shall preside at such meeting; and the clerk, in the presence and with the assistance of the select- men, shall in open meeting sort and count the votes and form a list of persons voted for, with the number of votes for each person against his name, and shall make a fair record of the same in the town books, and a public declara- tion thereof in the said meeting; and shall, in the presence of said inhabi- tants, seal up a copy of said list, attested by him and the selectmen, and transmit the same to the sheriff of the county thirty days, at least, before the first Wednesday of June, or shall cause returns of the same to be made to the office of the Secretary of State seventeen days, at least before said day, who shall lay the same before the Senate and House of Representatives on the first Wednesday of June, to be by them examined; and, in case of an election by a majority of votes through the state, the choice shall be by them declared and published; but if no person shall have a majority of votes the House of Representatives shall by ballot elect two out of the four persons who had the highest number of votes, if so many shall have been voted for, but, if otherwise out of the number voted for, and make return to the Sen- ate of the two persons so elected, on which the Senate shall proceed by ballot to elect one of them, who shall be declared President.
The President of the state shall preside in the Senate; shall have a vote equal with any other member; and shall also have a casting vote in case of a tie.
The President, with the advice of Council, shall have full power and authority in the recess of the General Court to prorogue the same from time to time not exceeding ninety days in any one recess of said Court ; and, dur- ing the session of said Court, to adjourn or prorogue it to any time the two houses may desire; and to call it together sooner than the time to which it may be adjourned or prorogued if the welfare cf the state should require the same.
In cases of disagreement between the two houses with regard to the time of adjournment or prorogation, the President, with advice of Council, shall have a right to adjourn or prorogue the General Court, not exceeding ninety days at any one time, as he may determine the public good may require. And he shall dissolve the same seven days before the said first Wednesday of June. And in case of any infectious distemper prevailing in the place where the said Court at any time is to convene, or any other cause whereby dangers may arise to the healths or lives of the members from their attendance, the President may direct the session to be holden at some other, the most con- venient place within the state.
The President of this state for the time being shall be commander-in- chief of the army and navy, and all the military forces of the state by sea and land; and shall have full power by himself, or by any chief commander or other officer or officers, from time to time to train, instruct, exercise, and govern the militia and navy; and for the special defence and safety of this state to assemble in martial array and put in warlike posture the inhabitants
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thereof; and to lead and conduct them, and with them to encounter, ex- pulse, repel, resist, and pursue by force of arms, as well by sea as by land, within and without the limits of this state, and also to kill, slay, destroy, if necessary, and conquer by all fitting ways, enterprise, and means all and every such person and persons as shall at any time hereafter in a hostile manner attempt or enterprise the destruction, invasion, detriment or annoy- ance of this state; and to use and exercise over the army and navy, and over the militia in actual service, the law martial in time of war, invasion, and also in rebellion, declared by the legislature to exist, as occasion shall necessarily require; and surprise by all ways and means whatsoever all and every such person and persons, with their ships, arms, ammunition, and other goods, as shall in a hostile manner invade or attempt the invading, conquering, or an- noying this state; and, in fine, the President hereby is intrusted with all other powers incident to the office of captain-general, and commander-in- chief, and admiral, to be exercised agreeably to the rules and regulations of the constitution and the laws of the land; provided that the President shall not at any time hereafter, by virtue of any power by this constitution granted or hereafter to be granted to him by the legislature, transport any of the inhabitants of this state, or oblige them to march, out of the limits of the same without their free and voluntary consent or the consent of the General Court, nor grant commissions for exercising the law martial in any case without the advice and consent of the Council.
The power of pardoning offences, except such as persons may be con- victed of before the Senate by impeachment of the House, shall be in the President, by and with the advice of the Council; but no charter of pardon granted by the President, with advice of Council, before conviction, shall avail the party pleading the same, notwithstanding any general or particular expressions contained therein descriptive of the offence or offences intended to be pardoned.
All judicial officers, the attorney-general, solicitor-general, all sheriffs, coroners, registers of probate, and all officers of the navy, and general and field officers of the militia shall be nominated and appointed by the President and Council; and every such nomination shall be made at least seven days prior to such appointment, and no appointment shall take place unless three of the Council agree thereto.
The captains and subalterns in the respective regiments shall be nom- inated and recommended by the field officers to the President, who is to issue their commissions immediately on receipt of such recommendation. No officer duly commissioned to command in the militia shall be removed from his office but by the address of both houses to the President, or by fair trial in court-martial pursuant to the laws of the state for the time being.
The commanding officers of the regiments shall appoint their adjutants and quartermasters, the brigadiers their brigade-majors, the major-generals their aids, the captains and subalterns their non-commissioned officers. The President and Council shall appoint all officers of the continental army whom by the confederation of the United States it is provided that this state shall appoint, as also all officers of forts and garrisons.
The division of the militia into brigades, regiments, and companies, made in pursuance of the militia laws now in force, shall be considered as the proper division of the militia of this state until the same be altered by some future law.
No monies shall be issued out of the treasury of this state and disposed of (except such sums as may be appropriated for the redemption of bills of credit or treasurer's notes, or for the payment of interest arising thereon) but by warrant under the hand of the President for the time being, by and with the advice and consent of the Council, for the necessary support and
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defence of this state, and for the necessary protection and preservation of the inhabitants thereof, agreeably to the acts and resolves of the General Court.
All public boards, the commissary-general, all superintending officers of public magazines and stores belonging to this state, and all commanding officers of forts and garrisons within the same shall once in every three months officially, and without requisition, and at other times when required by the President, deliver to him an account of all goods, stores, provisions, ammunition, cannon with their appendages, and small arms with their accoutrements, and of all other public property under their care respectively, distinguishing the quantity and kind of each as particularly as may be, together with the condition of such forts and garrisons; and the command- ing officer shall exhibit to the President, when required by him, true and exact plans of such forts, and of the land and sea or harbor or harbors adjacent.
The President and Council shall be compensated for their services from time to time by such grants as the General Court shall think reason- able
Permanent and honorable salaries shall be established by law for the justices of the superior court.
Whenever the chair of the President shall be vacant by reason of his death, absence from the state or otherwise, the senior Senator for the time being shall, during such vacancy, have and exercise all the powers and authorities which by this constitution the President is vested with when personally present.
COUNCIL.
Annually, on the first meeting of the General Court, two members of the Senate and three from the House of Representatives shall be chosen by joint ballot of both houses as a Council, for advising the President in the executive part of government, whom the President for the time being shall have full power and authority to convene from time to time at his discretion ; and the President, with the Councillors, or three of them at least, shall and may from time to time hold and keep a Council for ordering and directing the affairs of the state according to the laws of the land. The qualifications for Councillors shall be the same as those required for Senators. The members of the Council shall not intermeddle with the making or trying impeachments, but shall themselves be impeachable by the House and triable by the Senate for mal-conduct.
The resolutions and advice of the Council shall be recorded in a register, and signed by the members present; and this record may be called for at any time by either house of the legislature, and any member of the Council may enter his opinion contrary to the resolution of the majority.
And whereas the elections appointed to be made by this constitution on the first Wednesday of June, annually, by the two houses of the legis- lature may not be completed on that day, the said elections may be adjourned from day to day until the same shall be completed.
And the order of the elections shall be as follows: the vacancies in the Senate, if any, shall first be filled up; the President shall then be elected, provided there should be no choice of him by the people; and afterwards the two houses shall proceed to the election of the Council.
SECRETARY, TREASURER, COMMISSARY-GENERAL, ETC.
The Secretary, Treasurer, and Commissary-General shall be chosen by joint ballot of the Senators and Representatives assembled in one room.
The records of the state shall be kept in the office of the Secretary, who may appoint his deputies, for whose conduct he shall be answerable; and
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he shall attend the President and Council, the Senate and Representatives, in person or by deputy, as they may require.
COUNTY TREASURER, ETC.
The county treasurers and registers of deeds shall be elected by the inhabitants of the several towns in the several counties in the state according to the method now practiced, and the present laws of the state; and, before they enter upon the business of their offices, shall be respectively sworn faithfully to discharge the duties thereof, and shall severally give bond, with sufficient sureties, in a reasonable sum for the use of the county for the punctual performance of their respective trusts.
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