USA > New Hampshire > New Hampshire as it is. In three parts. Part I. A historical sketch of New hampshire. Part II. A gazetter of New Hampshire. Part III. A general view of New Hampshire. Together with the constitution of the State > Part 40
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bolden in the name of the state, for the hearing, trying, and determining all manner of crimes, offences, pleas, processes, plaints, actions, causes, matters and things whatsoever arising or happening within this state, or between or concerning persons inhabiting or residing or brought within the same, whether the same be eriminal or eivil, or whether the crimes be capital or not capital, and whether the said pleas be real, personal, or mixed, and for the awarding and issuing execution thereon. To which courts and judica- tories are hereby given and granted full power and authority, from time to time, to administer oaths or affirmations, for the better discovery of truth in any matter in controversy, or depending before them.
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 there- of, and of the subjects of the same, for the necessary support and defence of the government thereof; and to name and settle annually, or provide by fixed laws, for the naming and settling, all eivil 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 eivil and military officers of this state, and the forms of sueli oaths or affirmations, as shall be respec- tively administered unto them for the execution of their several offices and places, so as the same be not repugnant or contrary to this constitution ; and also to impose fines, mulets, imprisonments, and other punishments ; 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 publie service, in the necessary defence and support of the government of this state, and the protection and pres- ervation of the subjects thereof, according to such acts as are or shall be in force within the same.
6. And while the publie charges of government, or any part thereof, . shall be assessed on polls and estates in the manner that has heretofore been practised, 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.
7. No member of the General Court shall take fees, be of counsel, or act
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as advocate in any cause before either branch of the legislature ; and npon due proof thereof, such member shall forfeit his seat in the legislature.
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.
9. 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.
10. Such towns, parishes, or places as have less than one hundred and fifty ratable polls, shall be classed by the General Court 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 highest number, and so on annually by rotation, through the several towns, parishes, or places form- ing the district.
11. Whenever any town, parish, or place entitled to town privileges as aforesaid, shall not have one hundred and fifty ratable polls, and be so sit- nated as to render the classing thereof with any other town, parish, or place very inconvenient, the General Court may, upon application of a majority of the voters iu such town, parish, or place, issue a writ for their electing and sending a representative to the General Court.
12. The members of the House of Representatives shall be chosen an- nually, in the month of March, and shall be the second branch of the legislature.
13. 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 repre- sentatives.
14. 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 district
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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 ceas- ing to be qualified as aforesaid.
15. The members of both houses of the legislature shall be compen- sated for their services out of the treasury of the state, by a law made for that purpose; such members attending seasonably, and not departing with- out license.
16. All intermediate vacancies in the House of Representatives may be filled up from time to time, in the same manner as annual elections are made.
17. 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.
18. All money bills shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.
19. The House of Representatives shall have power to adjourn them- selves, but no longer than two days at a time.
20. 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 rep- resentatives elected shall be present, the assent of two thirds of those mem- bers shall be necessary to render their acts and proceedings valid.
21. 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.
22. The House of Representatives shall choose their own speaker, ap- point their own officers, and settle the rules of proceedings in their own honse, and shall be judge of the returns, elections, and qualifications of Its members, as pointed out in this constitution. They shall have au- thority to punish by imprisonment every person who shall be guilty of dis- respect to the House in its presence, by any disorderly and contemptnous behavior, or by threatening or ill treating any of its members ; or by ob- structing its deliberations ; every person guilty of a breach of its privileges in making arrests for debt, or by assaulting any member during his attend- ance at any session ; in assaulting or disturbing any one of its officers in
* See Amendments.
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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, know- ing them to be such.
23. The Senate, governor, and council shall have the same powers in like cases ; provided that no imprisonment by either, for any offence, ex- ceed ten days.
24. The journals of the proceedings, and all public acts of both houses of the legislature, 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 entered on the journal ; and any member of the Senate or House of Representatives shall have a right, on motion made at the same 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.
25. The Senate shall consist of twelve members, who shall hold their office for one year from the first Wednesday of June next ensuing their election.
26. And that the state may be equally represented in the Senate, the legislature shall, from time to time, divide the state into twelve districts, as nearly equal as may be, without dividing towns and unincorporated places ; and in making this division they shall govern themselves by the propor- tion of direct taxes paid by the said districts, and timely make known to the inhabitants of the state the limits of each district.
27. The freeholders and other inhabitants of each district, qualified as in this constitution is provided, shall annually give in their votes for a sena- tor, at some meeting holden in the month of March.
28. The Senate shall be the first branch of the legislature ; and the sena- tors shall be chosen in the following manner, viz .: every male inhabitant of each town and parish with town privileges, and places unincorporated, in this state, of twenty-one years of age and upwards, excepting paupers and persons excused from paying taxes at their own request, shall have a right, at the annual or other meetings of the inhabitants of said towns and par- ishes, 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 senator in the district whereof he is a member :
29. Provided, nevertheless, That no person shall be capable of being
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elected a senator who is not of the Protestant religion [and seized of a free- hold estate in his own rights of the value of [a] 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 election, and at the time thereof he shall be an inhabitant of the district for which he shall be chosen.
30. And every person qualified as the constitution provides shall be con- sidered 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.
31. And the inhabitants of plantations and places unincorporated, qual- ified as this constitution provides, who are or shall be required to assess taxes npon 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 aforcsaid 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 di- rect ; which assessors shall have like authority for notifying the electors, col- lecting and returning the votes, as the selectmen and town clerks have in their several towns by this constitution.
32. The meetings for the choice of governor, council, and senators shall be warned by warrant from the selectmen, and governed by a moderator, 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 meet- ings, in presence of the said selectmen, and of the town clerk, in said meet- ings, 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 superscrip- tion expressing the purport thereof: and the said town clerk shall cause such attested copy to be delivered to the sheriff of the county in which said town or parish shall lie thirty days at least before the first Wednesday of June, or to the secretary of the state at least twenty days before the said 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, at least twenty days before the first Wednesday of June.
"* Boe' Amendments.
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33. And that there may be a due meeting of senators on the first Wednes- day of June, annually, 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 June, he shall is- sue his summons to such persons as appear to be chosen senators by a ma- jority of votes, to attend and take their seats on that day : provided, never- theless, that for the first year the said returned copies shall be examined by the president and a majority of the council then in office ; and the said pres- ident shall in like manner notify the persons elected to attend and take their seats accordingly.
34. And in case there shall not appear to be a senator elected by a ma- jority of votes for any district, the deficiency shall be supplied in the follow- ing manner, viz .: the members of the House of Representatives, and such senators as shall be declared elected, shall take the names of the two per- sons 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; and in like manner all vacancies in the Senate, arising by death, removal out of the state, or otherwise, shall be supplied as soon as may be after such vacancies happen.
35. The Senate shall be final judges of the elections, returns, and quali- fications of their own members, as pointed out in this constitution.
36. 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.
37. The Senate shall appoint their president and other officers, and de- , termine 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 neces- sary to render their acts and proceedings valid.
38. 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, malprac- tice, 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 respec- tively be sworn truly and impartially to try and determine the charge in
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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 four- teen 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 appcar, full liberty of producing witnesses and proofs, and of making his defence, by himself and counsel, aud may also, upon his refusing or neglecting to appear, hear the proofs in support of the impeachment, and render judgment thereon, his non-appear- ance notwithstanding ; and such judgment shall have the same force and effect as if the person impeached had appearcd and pleaded in the trial
39. 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 lia- ble to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to the laws of the land.
40. 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.
41. There shall be a supreme executive magistrate, who shall be styled governor of the State of New Hampshire, and whose title shall be his ex- cellency.
42. The governor shall be chosen annually in the month of March ; 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 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. And the qualifications of electors of the governor shall be the same as those for senators ; and if no person shall have a majority of votes, the Senate and House of Representatives shall by joint ballot elect one of the two per- sons 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 elec- tion he shall have been an inhabitant of this state for seven years next pro-
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ceding, 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 this state ;] * and unless he shall be of the Protestant religion.
43. 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 a right to adjourn or prorogue the General Court, not ex- ceeding 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 prevail- ing in the place where the said court at any time is to convene, or any other cause whereby dangers may arise to the health or lives of the mem- bers, from their attendance, the governor may direct the session to be holden at some other, the most convenient place within the state.
44. Every bill which shall have passed both houses of the General Court shall, before it become a law, be presented to the governor; if he approve, he shall sign it ; but if not, he shall return it with his objections to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal and proceed to reconsider it ; if after such reconsideration 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 recon- sidered, and if approved by two thirds of that honse, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both honses 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 adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.
45. 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.
46. All judicial officers, the attorney general, solicitors, all sheriffs, cor- oners, registers of probate, and all officers of the navy, and general and field officers of the militia, shall be nominated and appointed by the gov- ernor and council; and every snch 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.
* See Amendments.
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47. The governor and council shall have a negative on each other, both "in the nominations and appointments. Every nomination and appointment shall be signed by the governor and council, and every negative shall be also signed by the governor or council who made the same.
48. The captains and subalterns in the respective regiments shall be nom- inated and recommended by the field officers to the governor, who is to is- sue their commissions immediately on the receipt of such recommendation.
49. 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 the vacancy, have and exercise all the powers and authorities which by this constitution the governor is vested with, when personally pres- ent ; but when the president of the Senate shall exercise the office of gov ernor, he shall not hold his office in the Senate.
50. The governor, with the 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.
51. The governor 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 com- mander, 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 postnre 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 "sca 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 here- after, in a hostile manner attempt or enterprise the destruction, invasion, detriment, or annoyance of this state ; and to use and exercise over the ar- my 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, am- munition, and other goods, as shall in a hostile manner invade, or attempt the invading, conquering, or annoying this state : And, in fine, the gov- ernor hereby is intrusted with all other powers incident to the office of cap- tain-general and commander-in-chief, and admiral, to be exercised agreea-
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bly to the rules and regulations of the constitution, and the 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 volun- tary consent, or the consent of the General Conrt, nor grant commissions for exercising the law martial in any case, without the advice and consent of the council.
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