USA > Rhode Island > The Dorr war; or, The constitutional struggle in Rhode Island > Part 26
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profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion ; and that the same shall in nowise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil ca- pacities; and that all other religious rights and privileges of the people of this State, as now enjoyed, shall remain inviolate and inviolable.
23. No witness shall be called in question before thic legislature, nor any court of this State, nor before any magistrate or other person authorized to
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administer an oath or affirmation, for his or her religious belief, or opinions, or any part thereof ; and no objection to a witness, on the ground of his or her religious opinions, shall be entertained or received.
24. The citizens shall continue to enjoy and freely exereise all the rights of fishery, and privileges of the shore, to which they have been heretofore entitled under the eharter and usages of this State.
25. The enumeration of the foregoing riglits shall not be construed to · impair nor deny others retained by the people.
ARTICLE II.
Of Electors and the Right of Suffrage.
I. Every white male citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty- one years, who has resided in this State for one year, and in any town, eity, or district of the same for six monthis, next preeeding the election at whiel he offers to vote, shall be an eleetor of all officers who are elected, or may hereafter be made eligible by the people. But persons in the military, naval or marine service of the United States, shall not be considered as having sueh establislied residence, by being stationed in any garrison, barraek, or military place in any town or eity in this State.
2. Paupers and persons under guardianship, insane, or lunatic, are ex- cluded from the electoral right; and the same shall be forfeited on eonvic- tion of bribery, forgery, perjury, theft, or other infamous erime, and shall not be restored unless by an act of the General Assembly.
3. No person who is excluded from voting, for want of the qualification first named in section first of this artiele, shall be taxed, or be liable to do military duty ; provided that nothing in said first article shall be so construed as to exempt from taxation any property or persons now liable to be taxed.
4. No elector who is not possessed of, and assessed for, ratable property in his own right, to the amount of one hundred and fifty dollars, or wlio shall have niegleeted or refused to pay any tax assessed upon him, in any town, city, or district, for one year preceding the town, eity, ward, or distriet meeting at which he shall offer to vote, shall be entitled to vote on any question of taxation, or the expenditure of public moneys in such town, city or distriet, until the same be paid.
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5. In the city of Providence, and other cities, no person shall be eligible to the office of mayor, alderman, or common councilman, who is not taxed, or who shall have neglected or refused to pay his tax, as provided in the preceding section.
6. The voting for all officers chosen by the people, except town or city officers, shall be by ballot ; that is to say, by depositing a written or printed ticket in the ballot -box, without the name of the voter written thereon. Town or city officers shall be chosen by ballot, on the demand of any two persons entitled to vote for the same.
7. There shall be a strict registration of all qualified voters in the towns and cities of the State; and no person shall be permitted to vote, whose name has not been entered upon the list of voters before the polls are opened.
8. The General Assembly shall pass all necessary laws for the preven- tion of fraudulent voting by persons not having an actual, permanent resi- dence, or home, in the State, or otherwise disqualified according to this constitution ; for the careful registration of all voters, previously to the time of voting ; for the prevention of frauds upon the ballot - box; for the preser- vation of the purity of elections; and for the safe-keeping and accurate counting of votes; to the end that the will of the people may be freely and fully expressed, truly ascertained, and effectually exerted, without intimida- tion, suppression, or unnecessary delay.
9. The electors shall be exempted from arrest on days of election, and one day before, and one day after the same, except in cases of treason, felony, or breach of the peace.
IO. No person shall be eligible to any office by the votes of the people, who does not possess the qualifications of an elector.
ARTICLE III. Of the Distribution of Powers.
I. The powers of the government shall be distributed into three depart- ments-the legislative, the executive, and the judicial.
2. No person or persons connected with one of these departments shall exercise any of the powers belonging to either of the others, except in cases herein directed or permitted.
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ARTICLE IV.
Of the Legislative Department.
I. The legislative power shall be vested in two distinct Houses: the one to be called the House of Representatives, the other the Senate, and both together the General Assembly. The concurrent votes of the two Houses shall be necessary to the enactment of laws; and the style of their laws shall be: Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follows.
2. No member of the General Assembly shall be eligible to any civil office under the authority of the State, during the term for which he shall have been elected.
3. If any Representative, or Senator, in the General Assembly of this State, shall be appointed to any office under the government of the United States, and shall accept the same, after his election as such Senator or Rep- resentative, his seat shall thereby become vacant.
1. Any person who holds an office under the government of the United States may be elected a member of the General Assembly, and may hold his seat therein, if, at the time of his taking his seat, he shall have resigned said office, and shall declare the same on oath, or affirmation, if required.
5. No member of the General Assembly shall take any fees, be of counsel or act as advocate in any case pending before either branch of the General Assembly, under penalty of forfeiting his seat, upon due proof thereof.
6. Each House shall judge of the election and qualifications of its men- bers; and a majority of all the members of each House, whom the towns and the Senatorial districts are entitled to elect, shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties, as each House may have previously prescribed.
7. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of the members elected, expel a member; but not a second time for the same cause.
8. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish the same when required by one-fifth of its members. The yeas and nays of the
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APPENDIX B.
members of either House shall, at the desire of any five members present, be entered on the journal.
9. Neither House shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than two days, nor to any other place than that at which the General Assembly is holding its session.
10. The Senators and Representatives shall, in all cases of civil process, be privileged from arrest during the session of the General Assembly, and for two days before the commencement, and two days after the termination of any session thercof. For any speech in debate in either House, 110 11e11- ber shall be called in question in any other place.
II. The civil and military officers, heretofore elected in grand committee, sliall hereafter be elected annually by the General Assembly, in joint com- mittee, composed of the two Houses of the General Assembly, excepting as is otherwise provided in this constitution; and excepting the captains and subalterns of the militia, who shall be elected by the ballots of the members composing their respective companies, in such manner as the General Assem- bly may prescribe; and such officers, so elected, shall be approved of and commissioned by the Governor, who shall determine their rank; and, if said companies shall neglect or refuse to make such elections, after being duly notified, then the Governor shall appoint suitable persons to fill such offices.
12. Every bill and every resolution requiring the concurrence of the two Houses (votes of adjournment excepted), which shall have passed both Houses of the General Assembly, shall be presented to the Governor for his revision. If he approve of it, lie shall sign and transmit the same to the Secretary of State; but, if not, he shall return it to the House in which it shall have originated, with his objections thereto, which shall be entered at large on their journal. The House shall then proceed to reconsider the bill; and if, after such reconsideration, that House shall pass it by a majority of all the members elected, it shall be sent with the objections to the other House, which shall also reconsider it; and, if approved by that House, by a majority of all the members elected, it shall become a law. If the bill shall not be returned by the Governor within forty-eight hours (Sundays excepted), after it shall have been presented to hiim, the same shall become a law, in like
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manner as if lie had signed it, unless the General Assembly by their adjourn- ment, prevent its return; in which case, it shall not be a law.
13. There shall be two sessions of the General Assembly in every year ; one session to be held at Newport, on the first Tuesday of June, for the organization of the government, the election of officers, and for other business ; and one other session on the first Tuesday of January, to be held at Provi- dence, in the first year after the adoption of this constitution, and in every second year thereafter. In the intermediate years, the January session shall be forever hereafter held in the counties of Washington, Kent, or Bristol, as the General Assembly may determine before their adjournment in June.
ARTICLE V. Of the House of Representatives.
I. The House of Representatives shall consist of members chosen by the electors in the several towns and cities, in their respective town and ward meetings, annually.
2. The towns and cities shall severally be entitled to elect members ac- cording to the apportionment which follows, viz .: Newport to elect five ; Warwick, four; Smithfield, five; Cumberland, North Providence, and Scituate, three; Portsmouth, Westerly, New Shoreham, North Kingstown, South Kings- town, East Greenwich, Glocester, West Greenwich, Coventry, Exeter, Bristol, Tiverton, Little Compton, Warren, Richmond, Cranston, Charlestown, Hop- kinton, Johnston, Foster, and Burrillville to elect two; and Jamestown, Middletown1, and Barrington to elect one.
3. In the city of Providence there shall be six representative districts, which shall be the six wards of said city; and the electors resident in said districts, for the term of three months next preceding the election at which they offer to vote, shall be entitled to elect two Representatives for each district.
4. The General Assembly, in case of great inequality in the population of the wards of the city of Providence, may cause the boundaries of the six representative districts tlierein to be so altered as to include in each district, as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants.
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APPENDIX B.
5. The House of Representatives shall have authority to elect their own Speaker, clerks, and other officers. The oath of office shall be administered to the Speaker by the Secretary of State, or, in his absence, by the Attor- ney- General.
6. Whenever the seat of a member of the House of Representatives shall be vacated by deatlı, resignation, or otherwise, the vacancy may be filled by a new election.
ARTICLE VI. Of the Senate.
I. The State shall be divided into twelve senatorial districts; and each district shall be entitled to one Senator, who shall be annually chosen by the elcetors in his district.
2. The first, second, and third representative districts in the city of Prov- idence shall constitute the first senatorial district; the fourth, fifthi, and sixth representative districts in said city, the second district; the town of Smithfield, the third district ; the towns of North Providence and Cumberland, the fourth district ; the towns of Scituate, Glocester, Burrillville, and Johnston, the fifth district ; the towns of Warwick and Cranston, the sixth district; the towns of East Greenwich, West Greenwich, Coventry, and Foster, the seventh dis- trict ; the towns of Newport, Jamestown, and New Shoreham, the eighth district; the towns of Portsmouth, Middletown, Tiverton, and Little Compton, the ninth district ; the towns of North Kingstown and South Kingstown, the tenth district; the towns of Westerly, Charlestown, Exeter, Richmond, and Hopkinton, the eleventh district; the towns of Bristol, Warren, and Barrington, the twelfth district.
3. The Lieutenant - Governor shall be, by virtue of his office, President of the Senate; and shall have a right, in case of an equal division, to vote in the same; and also to vote in joint committee of the two Houses.
4. When the government shall be administered by the Lieutenant - Gov- ernor, or he shall be unable to attend as President of the Senate, the Senate shall elect one of their own members President of the same.
5. Vacancies in the Senate, occasioned by death, resignation, or other- wise, may be filled by a new election.
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6. The Seeretary of State sliall be, by virtue of liis offiee, Seeretary of the Senate.
ARTICLE VII. Of Impeachments.
I. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeaeh- ment.
2. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate; and when sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oatlı or affirmation. No person shall be con- vieted, except by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected. When the Governor is impeached, the chief justice of the supreme court sliall preside, with a casting vote in all preliminary questions.
3. The Governor, and all other executive and judicial offieers, shall be liable to impeaeliment; but judgments, in sueh eases, shall not extend further than to removal from offiee. The party eonvieted shall, nevertheless, be liable to indietment, trial, and punishment aeeording to law.
ARTICLE VIII. Of the Executive Department.
I. The chief executive power of this State shall be vested in a Governor, who shall be chosen by the eleetors, and shall hold his office for one year, and until his steeessor be duly qualified.
2. No person holding any offiee or plaee under the United States, this State, any other of the United States, or any foreign power, shall exercise the office of Governor.
3. He shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed.
4. He shall be commander -in-chief of the military and naval forees of the State, exeept wlien ealled into the actual serviee of the United States; but he shall not inareh nor eonvey any of the eitizens out of the State, without their eonsent, or that of tlie General Assembly, unless it shall beeome necessary in order to mareh or transport them from one part of the State to another, for the defenee thereof.
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APPENDIX B.
· 5. He shall appoint all civil and military officers whose appointment is not by this constitution, or shall not by law, be otherwise provided for.
6. He shall, from time to time, inform the General Assembly of the condition of the State, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he may deem expcdient.
7. He may require from any military officer, or any officer in the execu- tive department, information upon any subject relating to the duties of his office.
8. He shall have power to remit forfeitures and penalties, and to grant reprieves, commutation of punishments, and pardons after conviction, except in cases of impeachment.
9. The Governor shall, at stated times, receive for his services a com- pensation which shall not be increased nor diminished during his continuance in office.
IO. There shall be elected, in the same manner as is provided for the election of Governor, a Lieutenant - Governor, who shall continue in office for the same term of time. Whenever the office of Governor shall become vacant by death, resignation, removal from office, or otherwise, the Lieutenant - Governor shall exercise the office of Governor until another Governor shall be duly qualified.
II. Whenever the offices of Governor and Lieutenant - Governor shall both become vacant, by death, resignation, removal from office, or other- wise, the President of the Senate shall exercise the office of Governor until a Governor be duly qualified ; and should such vacancies occur during a recess of the General Assembly, and there be no President of the Senate, the Secretary of State shall, by proclamation, convene the Senate, that a President may be chosen to exercise the office of Governor.
12. Whenever the Lieutenant - Governor or President of the Senate shall exercise the office of Governor, he shall receive the compensation of Gov- ernor only ; and his duties as President of the Senate shall cease while he shall continue to act as Governor; and the Senate shall fill the vacancy by an election from their own body.
13. In case of a disagreement between the two Houses of the General Assembly respecting the time or place of adjournment, the person exercis-
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ing the office of Governor may adjourn them to such time or place as he shall think proper ; provided that the time of adjournment shall not be ex- tended beyond the first day of the next stated session.
14. The person exercising the office of Governor may, in cases of special necessity, convene the General Assembly at any town or city in this State, at any other time than hereinbefore provided. And, in case of danger from the prevalence of epidemic or contagious diseases, or from other circum- stances, in the place in which the General Assembly are next to meet, he may, by proclamation, convene the Assembly at any other place within the State.
15. A Secretary of State, a General Treasurer, and an Attorney - General, shall also be chosen annually, in the same manner, and for the same time, as is lierein provided respecting the Governor. The duties of these officers shall be the same as now, or may be hereafter be, prescribed by law. Should there be a failure to choose either of them, or should a vacancy occur in either of their offices, the General Assembly shall fill the placc by an elec- tion in joint committee.
16. The electors in each county shall, at the annual elections, vote for an inhabitant of the county to be sheriff of said county, for one year, and until a successor be duly qualified. In case no person shall have a majority of tlie electoral votes of his county for sheriff, the General Assembly, in joint committee, shall elect a sheriff from the two candidates who shall have the greatest number of votes in such county.
17. All commissions shall be in the name of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, sealed with the seal of the State, and attested by the Secretary.
ARTICLE IX. General Provisions.
I. This constitution shall be the supreme law of the State; and all laws contrary to, or inconsistent with the same, which may be passed by the Gen- eral Assembly, shall be null and void.
2. The General Assembly shall pass all necessary laws for carrying this constitution into effect.
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APPENDIX B.
3. The judges of all the courts, and all other officers, both civil and military, shall be bound by oatlı or affirmation to the due observance of this constitution, and of the constitution of the United States.
4. No jurisdiction shall, hereafter, be entertained by the General Assem- bly in cases of insolvency, divorce, sale of real estate of minors, or appeal from judicial decisions, nor in any other matters appertaining to the juris- diction of judges and courts of law. But the General Assembly shall confer upon the courts of the State all necessary powers for affording relief in the cases herein named ; and the General Assembly shall exercise all other juris- diction and authority which they have heretofore entertained, and which is not prohibited by, nor repugnant to, this constitution.
5. The General Assembly shall, from time to time, cause estimates to be made of the ratable property of the State, in order to the equitable apportion- ment of State taxes.
6. Whenever a direct tax is laid by the State, one-sixth part thereof shall be assessed on the polls of the qualified electors: provided that the tax upon a poll shall never exceed the sum of fifty cents; and that all persons who actually perform military duty, or duty in the fire department, shall be exempted from said poll tax.
7. The General Assembly shall have no power hereafter to incur State debts to an amount exceeding the sum of fifty thousand dollars, except in time of war, or in case of invasion, without the express consent of the people. Every proposition for such increase shall be submitted to the clectors at tlie next annual election, or on some day to be set apart for that purpose ; and shall not be farther entertained by the General Assembly, unless it receive the votes of a majority of all the persons voting. This section shall not be construed to refer to any money that now is, or hereafter may be, deposited with this State by the General Government.
8. The assent of two- thirds of the members elected to cachi House of the General Assembly shall be requisite to every bill appropriating the public moneys, or property, for local or private purposes ; or for creating, continuing, altering, or renewing any body politic or corporate, banking corporations ex- cepted.
9. Hereafter, when any bill creating, continuing, altering, or renewing any banking corporation, authorized to issue its promissory notes for circula-
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tion, shall pass the two Houses of the General Assembly, instead of being sent to the Governor, it shall be referred to the electors for their considera- tion, at the next annual clection, or on some day to be set apart for that purpose, with printed tickets containing the question-Shall said bill (with a brief description of it) be approved or not ? and if a majority of the elec- tors voting shall vote to approve said bill, it shall become a law; otherwise not.
10. All grants of incorporation shall be subject to future acts of tlie General Assembly, in amendment or repeal thereof, or in anywise affecting the same; and this provision shall be inserted in all acts of incorporation hereafter granted.
II. The General Assembly shall exercise, as heretofore, a visitatorial power over corporations. Three bank commissioners shall be chosen at the June session for one year, to carry out the powers of the General Assembly in this respect. And commissioners for the visitation of other corporations, as the General Assembly may deem expedient, shall be chosen at the June session, for the saine term of office.
12. No city council, or other government, in any city, shall have power . to vote any tax upon the inhabitants thereof, excepting the amount neces- sary to meet the ordinary public expenses of the same, without first sub- mitting the question of an additional tax, or taxes, to the electors of said city ; and a majority of all who vote shall determine the question. But 110 elector shall be entitled to vote, in any city, upon any question of taxation thus submitted, unless he shall be qualified by the possession, in his own right, of ratable property to the amount of one hundred and fifty dollars, and shall have been assessed thereon to pay a city tax, and shall have paid the same, as provided in section fourth of article two. Nothing in that article sliall be so construed as to prevent any elector from voting for town officers, and, in the city of Providence, and other cities, for mayor, aldermen, and members of the common council.
13. Thic General Assembly shall not pass any law, nor cause any act or thing to be done, in any way to disturb any of the owners or occupants of land in any territory now under the jurisdiction of any other State or States, the jurisdiction whereof may be ceded to or decreed to belong to,
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this State ; and the inhabitants of snell territory shall continue in the full, quiet, and undisturbed enjoyment of their titles to the same, without inter- ferenee in any way on the part of this State.
ARTICLE X. Of Elections.
I. The election of the Governor, Lieutenant - Governor, Seeretary of State, General Treasurer, Attorney - General, and also of Senators and Representa- tives to the General Assembly, and of sheriffs of the counties, shall be held on the third Wednesday of April annually.
2. The names of the persons voted for as Governor, Lieutenant - Governor, Seeretary of State, General Treasurer, Attorney - General, and sheriffs of the respective counties, shall be put upon one tieket; and the tiekets shall be. deposited by the eleetors in a box by themselves. The names of the per- sons voted for as Senators and as Representatives shall be put upon separate tiekets, and the tiekets shall be deposited in separate boxes. The polls for all the officers named in this seetion shall be opened at the same time.
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