USA > New Hampshire > History of New Hampshire, Volume IV > Part 29
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ART. 5. And, further, full power and authority are hereby given and granted to the said general court, from time to time to make, ordain, and establish all manner of wholesome and reasonable orders, laws, statutes, ordinances, directions, and instructions, either with penalties or without, so as the same be not repugnant or contrary to this constitution, as they may judge for the benefit and welfare of this state and for the governing and ordering thereof and of the subjects of the same, for the necessary support and defense of the government thereof; and to name and settle biennially, or provide by fixed laws for the naming and settling all civil officers within this state, such officers excepted the election and appointment of whom are hereafter in this form of government otherwise provided for; and to set forth the several duties, powers, and limits of the several civil and military officers of this state, and the forms of such oaths or affirmations as shall be respectively administered unto them for the execution of their several offices and places, so as the same be not repugnant or contrary to this con- stitution; and, also, to impose fines, mulcts, imprisonments, and other punish- ments; and to impose and levy proportional and reasonable assessments, rates, and taxes upon all the inhabitants of, and residents within, the said state, and upon all estates within the same, to be issued and disposed of by warrant, under the hand of the governor of this state for the time being, with the advice and consent of the council, for the public service, in the necessary defense and support of the government of this state and the pro- tection and preservation of the subjects thereof, according to such acts as are or shall be in force within the same. Provided, that the general court shall not authorize any town to loan or give its money or credit, directly or indirectly, for the benefit of any corporation having for its object a dividend of profits, or in any way aid the same by taking its stock or bonds.
ART. 6. The public charges of government or any part thereof may be raised by taxation upon polls, estates, and other classes of property, including franchises and property when passing by will or inheritance; and 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.
ART. 7. No member of the general court shall take fees, be of counsel or act as advocate in anv cause before either branch of the legislature; and, upon due proof thereof, such member shall forfeit his seat in the legislature.
ART. 8. The doors of the galleries of each house of the legislature shall be kept open to all persons who behave decently, except when the welfare of the state, in the opinion of either branch, shall require secrecy.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ART. 9. There shall be, in the legislature of this state, a representation of the people, biennially elected, and founded upon principles of equality, and, in order that such representation may be as equal as circumstances will admit, every town, or place entitled to town privileges, and wards of cities having six hundred inhabitants bv the last general census of the state, taken by
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authority of the United States, or of this state, may elect one representative ; if eighteen hundred such inhabitants, may elect two representatives; and so proceeding in that proportion, making twelve hundred such inhabitants the mean increasing number for any additional representative; provided, that no town shall be divided or the boundaries of the wards of any city so altered as to increase the number of representatives to which such town or city may be entitled by the next preceding census; and provided, further, that, to those towns and cities which since the last census have been divided or had their boundaries or ward lines changed, the general court, in ses- sion next before these amendments shall take effect, shall equitably appor- tion representation in such manner that the number shall not be greater than it would have been had no such division or alteration been made.
ART. IO. Whenever any town, place, or city ward shall have less than six hundred such inhabitants, the general court shall authorize such towns, place or ward to elect and send to the general court a representative such proportionate part of the time as the number of its inhabitants shall bear to six hundred; but the general court shall not authorize any such town, place or ward to elect and send such representative, except as herein provided.
ART. II. The members of the house of representatives shall be chosen biennially, in the month of November, and shall be the second branch of the legislature.
ART. 12. All persons qualified to vote in the election of senators shall be entitled to vote, within the district where they dwell, in the choice of representatives.
ART. 13. 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 be, at the time of his election, an inhabitant of the town, parish, or place he may be chosen to represent; and shall cease to represent such town, parish, or place immediately on his ceas- ing to be qualified as aforesaid.
ART. 14. The presiding officers of both houses of the legislature shall severally receive out of the state treasury as compensation in full for their services, for the term elected, the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, and all other members thereof seasonably attending and not departing with- out license, the sum of two hundred dollars, exclusive of mileage; provided, however, that when a special session shall be called by the governor, such officers and members shall receive for attendance an additional compensa- tion of three dollars per day for a period not exceeding fifteen days, and the usual mileage.
ART. 15. All intermediate vacancies in the house of representatives may be filled up from time to time in the same manner as biennial elections are made.
ART. 16. 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.
ART. 17. All money bills shall originate in the house of representatives, but the senate may propose or concur with amendments, as on other bills.
ART. 18. The house of representatives shall have power to adjourn themselves, but no longer than two days at a time.
ART. 19. 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 representatives elected shall be present, the assent of two thirds of those members shall be necessary to render their acts and proceedings valid.
ART. 20. No member of the house of representatives or senate shall be arrested or held to bail on mesne process during his going to, returning from, or attendance upon, the court.
ART. 21. The house of representatives shall choose their own speaker, appoint their own officers, and settle the rules of proceedings in their own
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house, and shall be judge of the returns, elections, and qualifications of its members, as pointed out in this constitution. They shall have 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.
ART. 22. The senate, governor, and council shall have the same powers in like cases, provided, that no imprisonment by either for any offense exceed ten days.
ART. 23. The journals of the proceedings and all public acts of both houses of the legislature shall be printed and published immediately after every adjournment of prorogation, and, upon motion made by any one mem- ber, the yeas and nays upon any question shall be entered on the journal, and any member of the senate or house of representatives shall have a right, on motion made at the time for that purpose, to have his protest or dissent, with the reasons, against any vote, resolve, or bill passed, entered on the journal.
SENATE
ART. 24. The senate shall consist of twenty-four members, who shall hold their office for two years from the first Wednesday of January next ensuing their election.
ART. 25. And, that the state may be equally represented in the senate, the legislature shall, from time to time, divide the state into twenty-four districts, as nearly equal as may be without dividing towns and unincor- porated places; and, in making this division, they shall govern themselves by the proportion of direct taxes paid by the said districts, and timely make known to the inhabitants of the state the limits of each district.
ART. 26. The free holders and other inhabitants of each district quali- fied as in this constitution is provided, shall biennially give in their votes for a senator at some meeting holden in the month of November.
ART. 27. The senate shall be the first branch of the legislature, and the senators shall be chosen in the following manner, viz .: Every male in- habitant of each town, and parish with town privileges, and places unin- corporated, in this state, of twenty-one years of age and upward, excepting paupers and persons excused from paying taxes at their own request, shall have a right at the biennial or other meetings of the inhabitants of said towns and parishes, to be duly warned and holden biennially, forever, in the month of November, to vote, in the town or parish wherein he dwells, for the senator in the district whereof he is a member.
ART. 28. Provided, nevertheless, that no person shall be capable of being elected a senator who is not of the age of thirty years, and who shall not have been an inhabitant of this state for seven years immediately pre- ceding his election ; and, at the time thereof, he shall be an inhabitant of this state for seven years immediately preceding his election; and, at the time thereof, he shall be an inhabitant of the district for which he shall be chosen.
ART. 29. And every person qualified as the constitution provides shall be considered an inhabitant, for the purpose of electing and being elected into any office or place within this state, in the town, parish, and plantation where he dwelleth and hath his home.
ART. 30. And the inhabitants of plantations and places unincorporated,
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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 therefor, shall have the same privilege of voting for senators, in the planta- tions 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 biennially in the month of November, at such places respectively therein as the assessors thereof shall direct; which assessors shall have like authority for notifying the electors, collecting and returning the votes, as the selectmen and town clerks have in their several towns by this constitution.
ART. 31. The meetings for the choice of governor, council, and senators shall be warned by warrant from the selectmen, and governed by a mod- erator, who shall, in the presence of the selectmen (whose duty it shall be to attend), in open meeting, receive the votes of all the inhabitants of such towns and parishes present and qualified to vote for senators; and shall, in said meetings, in presence of the said selectmen and of the town clerk in said meetings, sort and count the said votes, and make a public declaration thereof, with the name of every person voted for and the number of votes for each person; and the town clerk shall make a fair record of the same, at large, in the town book, and shall make out a fair attested copy thereof, to be by him sealed up and directed to the secretary of the state, with a super- scription expressing the purport thereof; and the said town clerk shall cause such attested copy to be delivered to the sheriff of the countv in which said town or parish shall lie thirty days, at least, before the first Wednesday of January, or to the secretary of the state at least twenty days before the said first Wednesday of January; and the sheriff of each county or his deputy shall deliver all such certificates by him received into the secretary's office at least twenty days before the first Wednesday of January.
ART. 32. And, that there may be a due meeting of senators on the first Wednesday of January, bienniallv the governor and a majority of the council for the time being shall, as soon as may be, examine the returned copies of such records, and, fourteen days before the first Wednesday of January, he shall issue his summons to such persons as appear to be chosen senators by a plurality of votes to attend and take their seats on that day : provided, nevertheless, that, for the first year, the said returned copies shall be ex- amined by the president and a majority of the council then in office; and the said president shall, in like manner, notify the persons elected to attend and take their seats accordingly.
ART. 33. And in case there shall not appear to be a senator elected by a plurality of votes for any district, the deficiency shall be supplied in the following manner, viz .: the members of the house of representatives and such senators as shall be declared elected shall take the names of the two persons having the highest number of votes in the district, and out of them shall elect, by joint ballot, the senator wanted for such district; and, in this manner, all such vacancies shall be filled up in every district of the state; all vacancies in the senate arising by death, removal out of the state, or otherwise, except from failure to elect, shall be filled by a new election by the people of the district, upon the requisition of the governor, as soon as may be after such vacancies shall happen.
ART. 34. The senate shall be final judges of the elections, returns and qualifications of their own members, as pointed out in this constitution.
ART. 35. The senate shall have power to adjourn themselves, provided such adjournment do not exceed two days at a time; provided, nevertheless, that, whenever they shall sit on the trial of any impeachment, they may adjourn to such time and place as they may think proper, although the legislature be not assembled on such day or at such place.
ART. 36. The senate shall appoint their president and other officers, and determine their own rules of proceedings. And not less than thirteen mem-
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bers of the senate shall make a quorum for doing business; and, when less than sixteen senators shall be present, the assent of ten, at least, shall be necessary to render their acts and proceedings valid.
ART. 37. The senate shall be a court, with full power and authority to hear, try and determine all impeachments made by the house of representatives against any officer or officers of the state, for bribery, corruption, malpractice or maladministration in office, with full power to issue summons or compulsory process for convening witnesses before them; 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. And every officer impeached for bribery, corruption, malpractice or maladministration in office shall be served with an attested copy of the impeachment and order of senate thereon, with such citation as the senate may direct, setting forth the time and place of their sitting to try the impeachment; which service shall be made by the sheriff or such other sworn officer as the senate may appoint, at least fourteen days previous to the time of trial; and, such citation being duly served and returned, the senate may proceed in the hearing of the impeachment, giving the person impeached, if he shall appear, full liberty of producing witnesses and proofs and of making his defense by himself and counsel; and may also, upon his refusing or neglecting to appear, hear the proofs in support of the impeach- ment, and render judgment thereon, his non-appearance notwithstanding; and such judgment shall have the same force and effect as if the person impeached had appeared and pleaded in the trial.
ART. 38. Their judgment, however, shall not extend further 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 the laws of the land.
ART. 39. Whenever the governor shall be impeached, the chief justice of the supreme judicial court shall, during the trial, preside in the senate, but have no vote therein.
EXECUTIVE POWER-GOVERNOR
ART. 40. There shall be a supreme executive magistrate, who shall be styled Governor of the State of New Hampshire, and whose title shall be His Excellency.
ART. 4I. The governor shall be chosen biennially in the month of November, and the votes for governor shall be received, sorted, counted, certified and returned in the same manner as the votes for senators; and the secretary shall lay the same before the senate and house of representa- tives on the first Wednesday of January, to be by them examined; and, in case of an election by a plurality of votes through the state, the choice shall be by them declared and published; and the qualifications of electors of the governor shall be the same as those for senators; and, if no person shall have a plurality of votes, the senate and house of representatives shall, by a joint ballot, elect one of the two persons having the highest number of votes, who shall be declared governor. And no person shall be eligible to this office unless, at the time of his election, he shall have been an inhabitant of this state for seven years next preceding, and unless he shall be of the age of thirty years.
ART. 42. In cases of disagreement between the two houses with regard to the time or place of adjournment or prorogation, the governor, with advice of council, shall have the 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 January. And, in case of any infectious dis- temper prevailing in the place where the said court at any time is to con-
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vene, or any other cause whereby dangers may arise to the health or lives of the members from their attendance the governor may direct the session to be holden at some other, the most convenient, place within the state.
ART. 43. Every bill which shall have passed both houses of the general court shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the governor; if he approves, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such re- consideration, two thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with such objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered; and, if approved by two thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But, in all such cases, the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for or against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within five 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 legislature, by their adjourn- ment, prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.
ART. 44. Every resolve shall be presented to the governor, and, before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or, being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by the senate and house of representatives, accord- ing to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
ART. 45. All judicial officers, the attorney-general, coroners, and all officers of the navy and general and field officers of the militia, shall be nominated and appointed by the governor and council; and every such nomination shall be made at least three days prior to such appointment; and no appointment shall take place unless a majority of the council agree thereto.
ART. 46. The governor and council shall have a negative on each other, both in the nominations and appointments. Every nomination and appoint- ment shall be signed by the governor and council, and every negative shall be also signed by the governor or council who made the same.
ART. 47. The captains and subalterns in the respective regiments shall be nominated and recommended by the field officers to the governor, who is to issue their commissions immediately on receipt of such recommenda- tion; provided, that no person shall be so nominated and recommended until he shall have been examined and found duly qualified by an examining board appointed by the governor.
ART. 48. Whenever the chair of the governor shall become vacant, by reason of his death, absence from the state, or otherwise, the president of the senate shall, during such vacancy, have, and exercise all the powers and authorities, which, by this constitution, the governor is vested with when personally present; but, when the president of the senate shall exercise the office of governor, he shall not hold his office in the senate. Whenever the chair both of the governor and of the president of the senate shall become vacant, by reason of their death, absence from the state or otherwise, the speaker of the house shall, during such vacancies, have and exercise all the powers and authorities which, by this constitution, the governor is vested with when personally present; but when the speaker of the house shall exercise the office of governor, he shall not hold his office in the house.
ART. 49. The governor, with advice of council, shall have full power and authority, in 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, during the sessions 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 of the state should require the same.
ART. 50. The governor of this state, for the time being, shall be com- mander-in-chief of the army and navy and all the military forces of the
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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 defense and safety of this state, to assemble in martial array and put in warlike posture the inhabitants thereof and to lead and conduct them, and with them to encounter, repulse, 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, detri- ment or annoyance 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 or persons, with their ships, arms, ammunition, and other goods, as shall, in a hostile manner, invade, or attempt the invading, conquering, or annoying this state: and, in fine, the governor hereby is in- trusted 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 laws of the land, provided, that the governor 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.
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