USA > Rhode Island > A short history of Rhode Island > Part 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24
SEC. 14. The assent of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly shall be required to every bill appro- priating the public money or property for local or private purposes.
SEC. 15. The General Assembly shall, from time to time, provide for making new valuations of property, for the assessment of taxes, in such manner as they may deem best. A new estimate of such prop- erty shall be taken before the first direct state tax, after the adoption of this constitution, shall be assessed.
SEC. 16. The General Assembly may provide by law for the continu- ance in office of any officers of annual election or appointment, until other persons are qualified to take their places.
SEC. 17. Hereafter, when any bill shall be presented to either house of the General Assembly, to create a corporation for any other than for religious, literary or charitable purposes, or for a military or fire company, it shall be continued until another election of members of the General Assembly shall have taken place, and such public notice of the pendency thereof shall be given as may be required by law.
SEC. 18. It shall be the duty of the two houses, upon the request of either, to join in grand committee for the purpose of electing senators in Congress, at such times and in such manner as may be prescribed by law for said elections.
310
HISTORY OF, RHODE ISLAND.
ARTICLE V.
OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
SECTION 1. The house of representatives shall never exceed seventy- two members, and shall be constituted on the basis of population, al- ways allowing one representative for a fraction exceeding half the ratio; but each town or city shall always be entitled to at least one member; and no town or city shall have more than one-sixth of the whole num- ber of members to which the house is hereby limited. The present ratio shall be one representative to every fifteen hundred and thirty inhabitants, and the General Assembly may, after any new census taken by the authority of the United States, or of this state, reapportion the representation by altering the ratio; but no town or city shall be divided into districts for the choice of representatives.
SEC. 2. The house of representatives shall have authority to elect its speaker, clerks and other officers. The senior member from the town of Newport, if any be present, shall preside in the organization of the house.
ARTICLE VI. OF THE SENATE.
SECTION 1. The senate shall consist of the lieutenant-governor and of .one senator from each town or city in the state.
SEC. 2. The governor, and, in his absence the lieutenant-governor, shall preside in the senate and in grand committee. The presiding officer of the senate and grand committee shall have a right to vote in case of equal division, but not otherwise.
SEC. 3. If, by reason of death, resignation, absence or other cause, there be no governor or lieutenant-governor present, to preside in the senate, the senate shall elect one of their own members to preside dur- ing such absence or vacancy; and until such election is made by the senate the secretary of state shall preside.
SEC. 4. The secretary of state shall, by virtue of his office, be sec- retary of the senate, unless otherwise provided by law; and the senate may elect such other officers as they may deem necessary ..
ARTICLE VII.
OF THE EXECUTIVE POWER.
SECTION 1. The chief executive power of this state shall be vested' in a governor, who, together with a lieutenant-governor, shall be annu- ally elected by the people.
SEC. 2. The governor shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
SEC. 3. He shall be captain-general and commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces of this state, except when they shall be called into the service of the United States.
SEC. 4. He shall have power to grant reprieves after conviction, in all cases except those of impeachment, until the the end of the next session of the General Assembly.
SEC. 5. He may fill vacancies in office not otherwise provided for by this constitution, or by law, until the same shall be filled by the General Assembly or by the people.
SEC. 6. In case of disagreement between the two houses of the Gen- eral Assembly, respecting the time or place of adjournment certified to him by either, he may adjourn them to such time and place as he
sh be
fo co
0
8
8
W
S
311
APPENDIX.
shall think proper: provided that the time of adjournment shall not be extended beyond the day of the next stated session.
SEC. 7. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the General Assembly at any town or city in this state, at any time not provided for by law; and in case of danger from the prevalence of epidemic or contagious disease, in the place in which the General Assembly are by law to meet, or to which they may have been adjourned; or for other urgent reasons, he may, by proclamation, convene said Assembly at any other place within this state.
SEC. 8. All commissions shall be in the name and by the authority of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations; shall be sealed with the state seal, signed by the governor, and attested by the secretary.
SEC. 9. In case of vacancy in the office of governor, or of his in- ability to serve, impeachment, or absence from the state, the lieutenant- governor shall fill the office of governor, and exercise the powers and authority appertaining thereto, until a governor is qualified to act, or until the office is filled at the next annual election.
SEC. 10. If the offices of governor and lieutenant-governor be both vacant by reason of death, resignation, impeachment, absence, or otherwise, the person entitled to preside over the senate for the time being shall in like manner fill the office of governor during the absence or vacancy.
SEC. 11. The compensation of the governor and lieutenant-governor shall be established by law and shall not be diminished during the term for which they are elected.
SEC. 12. The duties and powers of the secretary, attorney-general, and general treasurer, shall be the same under this constitution as are now established, or as from time to time may be prescribed by law.
ARTICLE VIII.
OF ELECTIONS.
SECTION 1. The governor, lieutenant-governor, senators, represen- tatives, secretary of state, attorney-general, and general treasurer, shall be elected at the town, city, or ward meetings, to be holden on the first Wednesday of April, annually; and shall severally hold their offices for one year, from the first Tuesday of May next succeeding, and until others are legally chosen, and duly qualified to fill their places. If elected or qualified after the said first Tuesday of May, they shall hold their offices for the remainder of the political year, and until their successors are qualified to act.
SEC. 2. The voting for governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, attorney-general, general treasurer, and representatives to Con- gress shall be by ballot; senators and representatives to the General Assembly, and town or city officers shall be chosen by ballot, on demand of any seven persons entitled to vote for the same; and in all cases where an election is made by ballot or paper vote, the manner of bal- loting shall be the same as is now required in voting for general officers, until otherwise prescribed by law.
SEC. 3. The names of the persons voted for as governor, lieutenant- governor, secretary of state, attorney-general, and general treasurer, shall be placed upon one ticket; and all votes for these officers shall, in open town or ward meetings, be sealed up by the moderators and. town clerks and by the wardens and ward clerks, who shall certify the same, and deliver or send them to the secretary of state; whose duty it shall be securely to keep and deliver the same to the grand com- mittee, after the organization of the two houses at the annual May
..
312
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
session; and it shall be the duty of the two houses at said session, after their organization, upon the request of either house, to join in grand committee, for the purpose of counting and declaring said votes, and of electing other officers.
SEC. 4. The town and ward clerks shall also keep a correct list or register of all persons voting for general officers, and shall transmit a copy thereof to the General Assembly, on or before the first day of said May session.
SEC. 5. The ballots for senators and representatives in the several towns shall, in each case, after the polls are declared to be closed, be counted by the moderator, who shall announce the result, and the clerk shall give certificates to the persons elected. If, in any case, there be no election, the polls may be reopened, and the like proceed- ings shall be had until an election shall take place: Provided, how- ever, that an adjournment or adjournments of the election may be made to a time not exceeding seven days from the first meeting.
SEC. 6. In the city of Providence, the polls for senator and repre- sentatives shall be kept open during the whole time of voting for the day, and the votes in the several wards shall be sealed up at the close of the meeting by the wardens and ward clerks in open ward meeting, and afterwards delivered to the city clerk. The mayor and aldermen shall proceed to count said votes within two days from the day of election; and if no election of senator and representatives or if an election of only a portion of the representatives shall have taken place, the mayor and aldermen shall order a new election, to be held not more than ten days from the day of the first election, and so on until the election shall be completed. Certificates of election shall be furnished by the city clerk to the persons chosen.
SEC. 7. If no person shall have a majority of votes for governor, it shall be the duty of the grand committee to elect one by ballot from the two persons having the highest number of votes for the office, except when such a result is produced by rejecting the entire vote of any town, city or ward for informality or illegality, in which case a new election by the electors throughout the state shall be ordered; and in case no person shall have a majority of votes for lieutenant- governor, it shall be the duty of the grand committee to elect one by ballot from the two persons having the highest number of votes for the office.
SEC. 8. In case an election of the secretary of state, attorney-gen- eral, or general treasurer, should fail to be made by the electors at the annual election, the vacancy or vacancies shall be filled by the General Assembly in grand committee from the two candidates for such office having the greatest number of the votes of the electors. Or, in case of a vacancy in either of said offices, from other causes, between the sessions of the General Assembly, the governor shall appoint some person to fill the same, until a successor elected by the General Assembly is qualified to act; and in such case, and also in all other cases of vacancies, not otherwise provided for, the General Assembly may fill the same in any manner they may deem proper.
SEC. 9. Vacancies from any cause in the senate and house of representatives, may be filled by a new election.
SEC. 10. In all elections held by the people under this constitution, a majority of all the electors voting shall be necessary to the election of the persons voted for.
P t
0
S
to of ele fo th de ST P
of otř
.
313
APPENDIX.
ARTICLE IX.
OF QUALIFICATIONS FOR OFFICE.
SECTION 1. No person shall be eligible to any civil office (except the office of school committee), unless he be a qualified elector for such office.
SEC. 2. Every person shall be disqualified from holding any office to which he may have been elected, if he be convicted of having offered, or procured any other person to offer, any bribe to secure his election, or the election of any other person.
SEC. 3. All general officers shall take the following engagement be- fore they act in their respective offices, to wit: You being by the free vote of the electors of this State of Rhode Island and Provi- dence Plantations, elected unto the place of do solemnly swear, (or affirm,) to be true and faithful unto this state, and to sup- port the constitution of this state and of the United States; that you will faithfully and impartially discharge all the duties of your afore- said office to the best of your abilities, according to law: So help you God. Or, this affirmation you make and give upon the peril of the penalty of perjury.
SEC. 4. The members of the General Assembly, the judges of all the courts, and all other officers, both civil and military, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this constitution, and the constitution of the United States.
SEC. 5. The oath or affirmation shall be administered to the gov- ernor, lieutenant-governor, senators and representatives, by the secre- tary of state, or, in his absence, by the attorney-general. The secretary of state, attorney-general and general treasurer shall be engaged by the governor, or by a justice of the supreme court.
SEC. 6. No person holding any office under the government of the United States, or of any other state or country, shall act as a general officer, or as a member of the General Assembly, unless at the time of taking his engagement he shall have resigned his office under such government; and if any general officer, senator, representative, or judge, shall after his election and engagement, accept any appoint- ment under any other government his office under this shall be im- mediately vacated; but this restriction shall not apply to any person appointed to take depositions or acknowledgment of deeds. or other legal instruments, by the authority of any other state or country.
ARTICLE X.
OF THE JUDICIAL POWER.
SECTION 1. The judicial power of this state shall be vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the General Assembly may, from time to time, ordain and establish.
SEC. 2. The several courts shall have such jurisdiction as may, from time to time, be prescribed by law. Chancery powers may be conferred on the supreme court, but on no other court to any greater extent than is now provided by law.
SEC. 3. The judges of the supreme court shall, in all trials, instruct the jury in the law. They shall also give their written opinion upon any question of law whenever requested by the governor, or by either house of the General Assembly.
SEC. 4. The judges of the supreme court shall be elected by the two houses in grand committee. Each judge shall hold his office until his
314
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
place be declared vacant by a resolution of the General Assembly to that effect; which resolution shall be voted for by a majority of all the members elected to the house in which it may originate, and be con- curred in by the same majority of the other house. Such resolutions shall not be entertained at any other than the annual session for the election of public officers; and in default of the passage thereof at said session, the judge shall hold his place as is herein provided. But a judge of any court shall be removed from office, if, upon impeachment, he shall be found guilty of any official misdemeanor.
SEC. 5. In case of vacancy by death, resignation, removal from the state or from office, refusal or inability to serve, of any judge of the supreme court, the office may be filled by the grand committee, until the next annual election, and the judge then elected shall hold his office as before provided. In cases of impeachment or temporary absence or inability, the governor may appoint a person to discharge the duties of the office during the vacancy caused thereby.
SEC. 6. The judges of the supreme court shall receive a compensa- tion for their services, which shall not be diminished during their con- tinuance in office.
SEC. 7. The towns of New Shoreham and Jamestown may con- tinue to elect their wardens as heretofore. The other towns and the city of Providence may elect such number of justices of the peace, resident therein, as they may deem proper. The jurisdiction of said justices and wardens shall be regulated by law. The justices shall be commissioned by the governor.
ARTICLE XI.
OF IMPEACHMENTS.
SECTION 1. The house of representatives shall have the sole power. of impeachment. A vote of two-thirds of all the members elected shall be required for an impeachment of the governor. Any officer impeached shall thereby be suspended from office until judgment in the case shall have been pronounced.
SEC. 2. All impeachments shall be tried by the senate; and, when sitting for that purpose, they shall be under oath or affirmation. No. person shall be convicted, except by vote of two-thirds of the members. elected. When the governor is impeached, the chief or presiding justice of the supreme court, for the time being, shall preside, with a casting vote in all preliminary questions.
SEC. 3. The governor and all other executive and judicial officers. shall be liable to impeachment; but judgment in such cases shall not extend further than to removal from office. The person convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable to indictment, trial and punishment according to law.
ARTICLE XII.
OF EDUCATION.
SECTION 1. The diffusion of knowledge, as well as of virtue among the people, being essential to the preservation of their rights and liberties, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to promote pub- lic schools, and to adopt all means which they may deem necessary and proper to secure to the people the advantages and opportunities of education.
SEC. 2. The money which now is, or which may hereafter be ap- propriated by law for the establishment of a permanent fund for the.
b
P A d
p
315
APPENDIX.
support of public schools shall be securely invested, and remain a per- petual fund for that purpose.
SEC. 3. All donations for the support of public schools, or for other purposes of education, which may be received by the General Assembly, shall be applied according to the terms prescribed by the donors.
SEC. 4. The General Assembly shall make all necessary provisions by law for carrying this article into effect. They shall not divert said money or fund from the aforesaid uses, nor borrow, appropriate, or use the same, or any part thereof, for any other purpose, under any pre- tence whatsoever.
ARTICLE XIII. ON AMENDMENTS.
The General Assembly may propose amendments to this constitu- tion by the votes of a majority of all the members elected to each house. Such propositions for amendment shall be published in the newspapers and printed copies of them shall be sent by the secretary of state, with the names of all the members who shall have voted thereon, with the yeas and nays, to all the town and city clerks in the state. The said propositions shall be, by said clerks, inserted in the warrants or notices by them issued, for warning the next annual town and ward meetings in April; and the clerks shall read said proposi- tions to the electors when thus assembled, with the names of all the representatives and senators who shall have voted thereon, with the yeas and nays, before the election of senators and representatives shall be had. If a majority of all the members elected to each house, at said annual meeting, shall approve any proposition thus made, the same shall be published and submitted to the electors in the mode provided in the act of approval; and if then approved by three-fifths of the electors of the state present, and voting thereon in town and ward meetings, it shall become a part of the constitution of the state.
ARTICLE XIV.
ON THE ADOPTION OF THIS CONSTITUTION.
SECTION 1. This constitution, if adopted, shall go into operation on the first Tuesday of May, in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-three. The first election of governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, attorney-general and general treasurer, and of sen- ators and representatives under said constitution, shall be had on the first Wednesday of April next preceding, by the electors qualified under said constitution. And the town and ward meetings therefor shall be warned and conducted as is now provided by law. All civil and military officers now elected, or who shall hereafter be elected, by the General Assembly, or other competent authority, before the said first Wednesday of April, shall hold their offices and may exercise their powers until the said first Tuesday of May, or until their succes- sors shall be qualified to act. All statutes, public and private, not repugnant to this constitution, shall continue in force until they ex- pire by their own limitation, or are repealed by the General Assembly. All charters, contracts, judgments, actions, and rights of action shall be as valid as if this constitution had not been made The present government shall exercise all the powers with which it is now clothed, until the said first Tuesday of May, one thousand eight hundred and forty-three, and until the government under this constitution is duly organized.
316
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
SEC. 2. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid against the state as if this constitution had not been adopted.
SEC. 3. The supreme court, established by this constitution, shall have the same jurisdiction as the supreme judicial court at -present established, and shall have jurisdiction of all causes which may be appealed to, or pending in the same; and shall be held at the same times and places, and in each county, as the present supreme judicial court, until otherwise prescribed by the General Assembly.
SEC. 4. The towns of New Shoreham and Jamestown shall con- tinue to enjoy the exemptions from military duty which they now enjoy, until otherwise prescribed by law.
Done in convention, at East Greenwich, this fifth day of November, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
JAMES FENNER, President. HENRY Y. CRANSTON, Vice-Pres't.
THOMAS A. JENCKES,
WALTER W. UPDIKE, Secretaries.
-
ARTICLES OF AMENDMENT.
ADOPTED NOVEMBER, 1854.
ARTICLE I.
It shall not be necessary for the town or ward clerks to keep and transmit to the General Assembly a list or register of all persons vot- ing for general officers; but the General Assembly shall have power to pass such laws on the subject as they may deem expedient.
ARTICLE II.
The governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, shall hereafter exclusively exercise the pardoning power, except in cases of impeachment, to the same extent as such power is now exer- cised by the General Assembly.
ARTICLE III.
There shall be one session of the General Assembly holden annually, commencing on the last Tuesday in May, at Newport, and an adjourn- ment from the same shall be holden annually at Providence.
ADOPTED AUGUST, 1864.
ARTICLE IV.
Electors of this state who in time of war are absent from the state, in the actual military service of the United States, being otherwise qualified, shall have a right to vote in all elections in the state for electors of president and vice-president of the United States, repre- sentatives in Congress, and general officers of the state. The General Assembly shall have full power to provide by law for carrying this article into effect ; and until such provision shall be made by law, every such absent elector on the day of such elections, may deliver a written or printed ballot, with the names of the persons voted for thereon, and his Christian and surname, and his voting residence in the state, written at length on the back thereof, to the officer com. manding the regiment or company to which he belongs; and all such ballots, certified by such commanding officer to have been given by the elector whose name is written thereon, and returned by such com- manding officer to the secretary of state within the time prescribed by law for counting the votes in such elections, shall be received and counted with the same effect as if given by such elector in open town, ward, or district meeting; and the clerk of each town or city, until otherwise provided by law, shall, within five days after any such election, transmit to the secretary of state a certified list of the names of all such electors on their respective voting lists.
t e e
1
·
re 88
-
A
sa
b
in
se
a
th
fo
t
I
S
i
[Copy of the Dorr Constitution.]
CONSTITUTION
OF THE
State of Rhode Island,
AND
rovidence Plantations,
AS FINALLY ADOPTED BY THE CONVENTION OF THE PEOPLE ASSEM- BLED AT PROVIDENCE, ON THE 18TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 1841.
WE, the PEOPLE of the STATE of RHODE ISLAND and PROVI- DENCE PLANTATIONS, grateful to Almighty God for His blessing vouch- safed to the " lively experiment " of Religious and Political Freedom here " held forth " by our venerated ancestors, and earnestly implor- ing the favor of His gracious Providence toward this our attempt to secure, upon a permanent foundation, the advantages of well ordered and rational Liberty, and to enlarge and transmit to our successors the inheritance that we have received, do ordain and establish the following CONSTITUTION of Government for this State:
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.