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inhabitants, excluding aliens and persons of color not taxed ; and shall remain unaltered until the return of another enumeration, and shall at all times consist of contiguous territory ; and no county shall be di- vided in the formation of a senate district except such county shall be equitably entitled to two or more senators.
SEC. 5. The members of assembly shall be apportioned among the several counties of this State, by the Legislature, as nearly as may be according to the number of their respective inhabitants, excluding aliens and persons of color not taxed, and shall be chosen by single distriets.
The several boards of supervisors in such counties of this State as are now entitled to more than one member of Assembly, shall assem- ble on the first Tuesday of January next, and divide their respective counties into Assembly districts equal to the number of members of Assembly to which such counties are now severally entitled by law. and shall cause to be filed in the offices of the Secretary of State and the clerks of their respective counties a description of such Assembly districts, specifying the number of each district and the population thereof, according to the last preceding State enumeration, as near as can be ascertained. Each Assembly district shall contain, as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants, excluding aliens and persons of color not taxed, and shall consist of convenient and con- tiguous territory ; but no town shall be divided in the formation of Assembly districts.
The Legislature, at its first session after the return of every enu- meration, shall reapportion the members of Assembly among the sev- jeral counties of this State, in manner aforesaid, and the boards of supervisors in such counties as may be entitled, under such reappor- tionment, to more than one member, shall assemble at such time as the Legislature making such reapportionment shall prescribe, and divide such counties into Assembly distriets, in the manner herein directed ; and the apportionment and districts so to be made shall remain unaltered until another enumeration shall be taken under the provisions of the preceding section.
Every county heretofore established and separately organized, ex- cept the county of Hamilton, shall always be entitled to one member of the Assembly, and no new county shall be hereafter erected unless its population shall entitle it to a member.
The county of Hamilton shall elect with the county of Fulton, until the population of the county of Hamilton shall, according to the ratio, be entitled to a member.
SEC. 6. The members of the Legislature shall receive for their ser- vices a sum not exceeding three dollars a day, from the commence- ment of the session; but such pay shall not exceed in the aggregate
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three hundred dollars for per diem allowance, except in proceedings for impeachment. The limitation as to the aggregate compensation shall not take effect until the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight. When convened in extra session by the Governor, they shall receive three dollars per day. They shall also receive the sum of one dollar for every ten miles they shall travel, in going to and re- turning from their place of meeting, on the most usual route. The Speaker of the Assembly shall, in virtue of his office, receive an ad- ditional compensation equal to one third of his per diem allowance as a member.
SEC. 7. No member of the Legislature shall receive any civil ap- pointment within this State. or to the Senate of the United States, from the Governor, the Governor and Senate, or from the Legislature during the time for which he shall have been elected; and all such appointments and all votes given for any such member, for any such office or appointment, shall be void.
SEC. 8. No person being a member of Congress, or holding any judicial or military office under the United States, shall hold a seut in the Legislature. And if any person shall, after his election as a member of the Legislature, be elected to Congress, or appointed to any office, civil or military, under the government of the United States, his acceptance thereof shall vacate his seat.
SEC. 9. The election of senators and members of Assembly, pur- suant to the provisions of this Constitution, shall be held on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of November, unless otherwise directed by the Legislature.
SEC. 10. A majority of each House shall constitute a quorum to do business. Each House shall determine the rules of its own proceed- ings, and be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, shall choose its own officers; and the Senate shall choose a temporary President, when the Lieutenant-Governor shall not attend as President, or shall act as Governor.
SEC. 11. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish the same, except such parts as may require secrecy. The doors of each House shall be kept open, except when the public wel- fare shall require secrecy. Neither House shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than two days.
SEC. 12. For any speech or debate in either House of the Legisla- ture, the members shall not be questioned in any other place.
SEC. 13. Any bill may originate in either House of the Legislature, and all bills passed by one House may be amended by the other.
SEC. 14. The enacting elause of all bills shall be "The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows," and no law shall be enacted except by bill.
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SEC. 15. No bill shall be passed unless by the assent of a majority of all the members elected to each branch of the Legislature, and the question upon the final passage shall be taken immediately upon its last reading, and the yeas and nays entered on the journal.
SEC. 16. No private or local bill, which may be passed by the Legis- lature, shall embrace more than one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title.
SEC. 17. The Legislature may confer upon the boards of supervisors of the several counties of the State such further powers of local legis- lation and administration as they shall from time to time prescribe.
ARTICLE IV.
SECTION 1. The executive power shall be vested in a Governor, who shall hold his office for two years; a Lieutenant-Governor shall be chosen at the same time and for the same term.
SEC. 2. No person except a citizen of the United States shall be eligible to the office of Governor, nor shall any person be eligible to that office, who shall not have attained the age of thirty years, and who shall not have been five years next preceding his election a resi- dent within this State.
SEC. 3. The Governor and Lieutenant- Governor shall be elected at the times and places of choosing members of the Assembly. The persons respectively having the highest number of votes for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor shall be elected; but in case two or more shall have an equal and the highest number of votes for Governor, or for Lieutenant-Governor, the two Houses of the Legislature, at its next annual session, shall, forthwith, by joint ballot, choose one of the said persons so having an equal and the highest number of votes for Gov- ernor or Lieutenant-Governor.
SEC. 4. The Governor shall be Commander-in-Chief of the military and naval forces of the State. He shall have power to convene the Legislature (or the Senate only) on extraordinary occasions. He shall communicate by message to the Legislature, at every session, the con- dition of the State, and recommend sucht matters to them as he shall judge expedient. He shall transact all necessary business with the officers of government, civil and military. He shall expedite all such measures as may be resolved upon by the Legislature, and shall taite care that the laws are faithfully executed. He shall, at stated tinies, receive for his services a compensation to be established by law, which shall neither be increased nor diminished after his election or during his continuance in office.
SEC. 5. The Governor shall have the power to grant reprieves, ยท commutations, and pardons, after conviction, for all offences except
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treason and cases of impeachment, upon such conditions and with such restrictions and limitations, as he may think proper, subjeet to such regulation as may be provided by law relative to the manner of applying for pardons. Upon conviction for treason, he shall have power to suspend the execution of the sentence until the case shall be reported to the Legislature at its next meeting, when the Legisla- ture shall either pardon, or commute the sentence, direct the exeeu- tion of the sentence, or grant a further reprieve. He shall annually communicate to the Legislature each case of reprieve, commutation, or pardon granted; stating the name of the convict, the crime of which he was convicted, the sentence and its date, and the date of the commutation, pardon, or reprieve.
SEC. 6. In case of the impeachment of the Governor, or his removal from office, death, inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, resignation or absence from the State, the powers and du- ties of the office shall devolve upon the Lieutenant-Governor for the residue of the term, or until the disability shall cease. But when the Governor shall, with the consent of the Legislature, be out of the State in time of war, at the head of a military force thereof. he shall continue Commander-in-Chief of all the military force of the State.
SEC. 7. The Lieutenant-Governor shall possess the same qualifica- tions of eligibility for office as the Governor. He shall be President of the Senate, but shall have only a casting vote therein. If during a vacaney of the office of Governor, the Lieutenant-Governor shall be impeached, displaced, resign, die, or become incapable of performing the duties of his office, or he be absent from the State, the President of the Senate shall act as Governor until the vacaney be filled, or the disability shall cease.
SEC. 8. The Lieutenant- Governor shall, while acting as such, receive a compensation which shall be fixed by law, and which shall not be increased or diminished during his continuance in office.
SEC. 9. Every bill which shall have passed the Senate and Assem- bly, shall, before it becomes 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 recon- sider it. If, after such consideration, two thirds of the members present shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be recon- sidered ; and if approved by two thirds of all the members present it shall become a law, notwithstanding the objections of the Governor. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House re-
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spectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Legislature shall, by their adjournment, prevent its return ; in which case it shall not be a law.
ARTICLE V.
SECTION 1. The Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, and At- torney-General shall be chosen at a general election, and shall hold their offices for two years. Each of the officers in this article named (except the Speaker of the Assembly) shall at stated times, during his continuance in office, receive for his services a compensation, which shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which he shall have been elected ; nor shall he receive, to his use, any fees or perquisites of office, or other compensation.
SEC. 2. A State Engineer and Surveyor shall be chosen at a general election, and shall hold his office two years, but no person shall be elected to said office who is not a practical engineer.
SEC. 3. Three Canal Commissioners shall be chosen at the general election which shall be held next after the adoption of this Constitu- tion, one of whom shall hold his office for one year, one for two years, and one for three years. The Commissioners of the Canal Fund shall meet at the capitol on the first Monday of January next after such election, and determine by lot which of said Commissioners shall hold his office for one year, which for two, and which for three years; and there shall be elected annually, thereafter, one Canal Commissioner, who shall hold his office for three years."
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SEC. 4. Three Inspectors of State Prisons shall be elected at the general election which shall be held next after the adoption of this Constitution, one of whom shall hold his office for one year, one for two years, and one for three years. The Governor, Secretary of State, and Comptroller shall meet at the capitol on the first Monday of Janu- ary next succeeding such election, and determine by lot which of said Inspectors shall hold his office for one year, which for two, and which for three years: and there shall be elected annually thereafter, one Inspector of State Prisons, who shall hold his office for three years ; said inspectors shall have the charge and superintendence of the State prisons, and shall appoint all the officers therein. All vacan- cies in the office of such Inspector shall be filled by the Governor till the next election.
SEC. 5. The Lieutenant-Governor, Speaker of the Assembly, Secre- tary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, Attorney-General, and State Engineer and Surveyor, shall be the Commissioners of the Lund Office.
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The Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, and Attorney-General shall be the Commissioners of the Canal Fund. The Canal Board shall consist of the Commissioners of the Canal Fund, the State Engineer and Surveyor, and the Canal Commis- sioners.
SEC. 6. The powers and duties of the respective boards, and of the several officers in this article mentioned, shall be such as now are or hereafter may be prescribed by law.
SEC. 7. The Treasurer may be suspended from office by the Gov- ernor, during the recess of the Legislature, and until thirty days after the commencement of the next session of the Legislature, whenever it shall appear to him that such Treasurer has, in any particular, vio- lated his duty. The Governor shall appoint a competent person to discharge the duties of the office during such suspension of the Treas- urer.
SEC. 8. All offices for the weighing, gauging, measuring, culling, or inspecting any merchandise, produce, manufacture, or commodity whatever, are hereby abolished, and no such office shall hereafter be created by law ; but nothing in this section contained shall abrogate any office created for the purpose of protecting the public health or the interests of the State in its property, revenue, tolls, or purchases, or of supplying the people with correct standards of weights and measures, or shall prevent the creation of any office for such purposes hereafter.
ARTICLE VI.
[As modified by constitutional Amendment adopted by the people in November, 1860.]
SECTION 1. The Assembly shall have the power of impeachment, by a vote of the majority of all the members elected. The court for the trial of impeachments shall be composed of the President of the Senate, the Senators, or a major part of them, and the judges of the Court of Appeals, or the major part of them. On the trial of an im- peachment against the Governor, the Lieutenant-Governor shall not act as a member of the court. No judicial officer shall exercise his office, after articles of impeachment against him shall have been pre- ferred to the Senate, until he shall have been acquitted. Before the trial of an impeachment, the members of the court shall take an oath or affirmation, truly and impartially to try the impeachment accord- ing to evidence ; and no person shall be convicted without the con- currence of two thirds of the members present. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, or removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any
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office of honor, trust, or profit, under this State; but the party im- peached shall be liable to indictment and punishment aeeording to law.
SEC. 2. There shall be a Court of Appeals composed of a Chief Judge and six Associate Judges, who shall be chosen by the electors of the State, and shall hold their office for a term of fourteen years from and including the first day of January next after their eleetion. At the first election of judges, under this Constitution, every eleetor may vote for the Chief and only four of the Associate Judges. Any five members of the court shall form a quorum, and the coneurrenee of four shall be necessary to a decision. The court shall have the appointment, with the power of removal, of its Reporter and Clerk, and of such attendants as may be necessary.
SEC. 3. When a vacancy shall oceur, otherwise than by expiration of term, in the office of Chief or Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, the same shall be filled, for a full term, at the next general election happening not less than three months after sueh vacaney oceurs ; and until the vaeancy shall be so filled, the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, if the Senate shall be in session, or if not the Governor alone, may appoint to fill such va- cancy. If any such appointment of Chief Judge shall be made from among the Associate Judges, a temporary appointment of Associate Judge shall be made in like manner; but in such ease the person appointed Chief Judge shall not be deemed to vacate his office of Associate Judge any longer than until the expiration of his appoint- ment as Chief Judge. The powers and jurisdiction of the court shall not be suspended for want of appointment or eleetion, when the number of judges is sufficient to constitute a quorum. All appoint- ments under this seetion shall continue until and including the last day of December next after the election at which the vaeaney shall be filled.
SEC. 4. Upon the organization of the Court of Appeals, under this article, the causes then pending in the present Court of Appeals shall become vested in the Court of Appeals hereby established. Such of said causes as are pending on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, shall be heard and determined by a Commission, to be composed of five Commissioners of Appeals, four of whom shall be necessary to constitute a quorum. But the Court of Appeals hereby established may order any of said causes to be heard therein. Such Commission shall be composed of the Judges of the present Court of Appeals, eleeted or appointed thereto, and a fifth Commissioner who shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate ; or, if the Senate be not in ses- sion, by the Governor ; but in such ease the appointment shall expire at the end of the next session.
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SEC. 5. If any vacancy shall occur in the office of the said Commis- sioners, it shall be filled by appointment by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; or, if the Senate is not in ses- sion, by the Governor ; but in such case the appointment shall expire at the end of the next session. The Commissioners shall appoint, from their number, a Chief Commissioner, and may appoint and re- move such attendants as may be necessary. The Reporter of the Court of Appeals shall be the Reporter of said Commission. The decisions of the Commission shall be certified to, and entered and enforced, as the judgments of the Court of Appeals. The Commis- sion shall continue until the causes committed to it are determined, but not exceeding three years; and all causes then undetermined shall be heard by the Court of Appeals.
SEC. 6. There shall be the existing Supreme Court, with general jurisdiction in law and equity, subject to such appellate jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals as now is or may be preseribed by law ; and it shall be composed of the justices now in office, who shall be con- tinued during their respective terms, and of their successors. The existing judicial districts of the State are continued until changed pursuant to this section. Five of the justices shall reside in the dis- trict in which is the city of New York, and four in each of the other districts.
The Legislature may alter the districts without increasing the num- ber, once after every cnumeration, under this Constitution, of the inhabitants of this State.
SEC. 7. At the first session of the Legislature after the adoption of this article, and from time to time thereafter as may be necessary, but not oftener than once in five years, provision shall be made for or- ganizing, in the Supreme Court, not more than four General Terms thereof, each to be composed of a presiding justice and not more than three other justices, who shall be designated, according to law, from the whole number of justices. Each presiding justice shall continue to act as such during his term of office. Provision shall be made by law for holding the General Terms in each Judicial District. Any Justice of the Supreme Court may hold Special Terms and Circuit Courts, and may preside in Courts of Oyer and Terminer, in any county.
SEC. 8. No judge or justice shall sit at a General Term of any court, or in the Court of Appeals, in review of a decision made by him or by any court of which he was at the time a sitting member. The testimony in equity cases shall be taken in like manner as in cases at law; and, except as herein otherwise provided, the Legislature shall have the same power to alter and regulate the jurisdiction and pro- ceedings in law and equity as they have heretofore exercised.
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SEC. 9. When a vacancy shall occur, otherwise than by expiration of term, in the office of Justice of the Supreme Court, the same shall be filled for a full term, at the next general election, happening not less than three months after such vacancy occurs; and until any va- cancy shall be so filled, the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, if the Senate shall be in session, or, if not in session, the Governor may appoint to fill such vacancy. Any such appointment shall continue until and including the last day of Decem- ber next after the election at which the vacancy shall be filled.
SEC. 10. The judges of the Court of Appeals, and the justices of the Supreme Court, shall not hold any other office of public trust. All votes for any of them, for any other than a judicial office, given by the Legislature or the people, shall be void.
SEC. 11. Judges of the Court of Appeals and justices of the Su- preme Court may be removed by concurrent resolution of both Houses of the Legislature, if two thirds of all the members elected to each House concur therein. All judicial officers, except those mentioned in this section, and except Justices of the Peace and judges and justices of the inferior courts not of record, may be removed by the Senate on the recommendation of the Governor, if two thirds of all the members elected to the Senate concur therein. But no re- moval shall be made, by virtue of this section, unless the cause thereof be entered on the journals, nor unless the party complained of shall have been served with a copy of the charges against him, and shall have had an opportunity of being heard. On the question of removal the ycas and nays shall be entered on the journal.
SEC. 12. The Superior Court of the city of New York, the Court of Common Pleas for the city and county of New York, the Superior Court of Buffalo, and the City Court of Brooklyn, are continued with the powers and jurisdiction they now severally have, and such fur- ther civil and criminal jurisdiction as may be conferred by law. The Superior Court of New York shall be composed of the six judges in office at the adoption of this article, and their successors; the Court of Common Pleas of New York, of the three judges then in office, and their successors, and three additional judges; the Superior Court of Buffalo, of the judges now in office and their successors; and the City Court of Brooklyn, and such number of judges, not exceeding three, as may be provided by law. The judges of said courts, in office at the adoption of this article, are continued until.the expira- tion of their terms. A Chief Judge shall be appointed by the judges of each of said courts, from their own number, who shall aet as such during his official term. Vacancies in the office of the judges named in this section, occurring otherwise than by expiration of term, shall be filled in the same manner as vacancies in the Supreme Court. The
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