USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin: comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form: > Part 10
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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 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34
Section 10. Two members of Congress shall also be elected, on the second Monday of May next; and until otherwise provided by law, the counties of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Jefferson, Racine, Wal- worth, Rock and Green, shall constitute the first congressional dis- trict and elect one member. And the counties of Washington, She- boygan, Manitowoc, Calumet, Brown, Winnebago, Fond du Lac, Marquette, Sauk, Portage, Columbia, Dodge, Dane, Iowa, La Fayette, Grant, Richland, Crawford, Chippewa, St. Croix and La
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Pointe, shall constitute the second congressional district, and shall elect one member.
Section 11. The several elections, provided for in this article shall be conducted according to the existing laws of the Territory, provided that no elector shall be entitled to vote except in the town, ward or precinct where he resides. The returns of election for Senators and Members of Assembly, shall be transmitted to the clerk of the Board of Supervisors, or County Commissioners, as the case may be; and the votes shall be canvassed, and certificates of election issued as now provided by law. In the first senatorial district, the returns of the election for Senator shall be made to the proper officer in the county of Brown; in the second senatorial dis- trict, to the proper officer in the county of Columbia; in the third senatorial district, to the proper officer in the county of Crawford; in the fourth senatorial district, to the proper officer in the county of Fond du Lac ; and in the fifth senatorial district, to the proper officer in the county of Iowa. The returns of election for State officers and members of Congress, shall be certified and transmitted to the Speaker of the Assembly, at the seat of government, in the same manner as the votes for delegate to Congress are required to be certified and returned by the laws of the Territory of Wisconsin, to the Secretary of said Territory, and in such time, that they may be received on the first Monday in June next; and as soon as the Legislature shall be organized, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of both houses, examine the returns, and declare who are duly elected to fill the several offices hereinbefore mentioned; and give to each of the persons elected, a certificate of his election.
Section 12. Until there shall be a new apportionment, the Sena- tors and Members of the Assembly, shall be apportioned among the several districts, as hereinafter mentioned; and each district shall be entitled to elect one Senator, or member of the Assembly, as the case may be. (Here follows the first apportionment.) 1
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Constitution, Amendments to the .-
Article I.
Section 8. No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense without due process of law, and no person, for the same offense, shall be put twice in jeopardy of punishment, nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself. All persons shall before conviction be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital offenses when the proof is evident or the pre- sumption great; and the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when in case of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.
Article III.
Section 1. Every male person of the age of twenty-one years or upwards belonging to cither of the following classes who shall have resided within the State for one year next preceding any election, and in the election district where he offers to vote, such time as may be prescribed by the Legislature, not exceeding thirty days, shall be deemed a qualified elector at such election.
1. Citizens of the United States.
2. Persons of foreign birth who shall have declared their inten- tion to become citizens conformably to the laws of the United States on the subject of naturalization.
3. Person of Indian blood who have once been declared by law of congress to be citizens of the United States, any subsequent law of congress to the contrary notwithstanding.
4. Civilized persons of Indian descent not members of any tribe ; provided, that the legislature may at any time extend by law the right of suffrage to persons not herein enumerated: but no such law shall be in force until the same shall have been submitted to a vote of the people at a general election, and approved by a majority of all the votes cast at such election; and provided further, that in incorporated cities and villages, the legislature may provide for the registration of electors and prescribe proper rules and regulations therefor.
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'Article IV.
Section 4. The members of the assembly shall be chosen bi- ennially, by single districts, on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of November after the adoption of this amendment, by the qualified electors of the several districts; such districts to be bounded by county, precinct, twon or ward lines to consist of cont- iguous territory, and be in as compact form s practicable.
Section 5. The senators shall be elected by single districts of convenient contiguous territory, at the same time and in the same manner as members of the assembly are required to be chosen, and no assembly district shall be divided in the formation of a senate dis- trict. The senate districts shall be numbered in the regular series, and the senators shall be chosen alternately from the odd and even- numbered districts. The Senators elected, or holding over at the time of the adoption of this amendment, shall continue in office till their successors are duly elected and qualified; and after the adop- tion of this amendment, all senators shall be chosen for the term of four years.
Section 11. The legislature shall meet at the seat of government at such time as shall be provided by law, once in two years and no oftener, unless convened by the governor in special session, and when so convened no business shall be transacted except as shall be necessary to accomplish the special purposes for which it was convened.
Section 21. Each member of the legislature shall receive for his services, for and during a regular session, the sum of five hun- dred dollars, and ten cents for every mile he shall travel in going to and returning from the place of meeting of the legislature on the most usual route. In case of an extra session of the legislature, no additional compensation shall be allowed to any member thereof, either directly or indirectly, except for mileage, to be computed at the same rate as for a regular session. No stationery, newspapers, postage or other requisite, except the salary and mileage above pro- vided, shall be received from the state by any member of the legis- lature for liis services, or in any other manner as such member.
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[ Scctions 31 and 32, as amended by a vote of the people at the General Election, November 7, 1871, and amendment to section 31, adopted November 8, 1892.]
Section 31. The Legislature is prohibited from enacting any special or private laws in the following cases: 1st. For changing the name of persons or constituting one person the heir-at-law of another. 2d. For laying out, opening or altering highways except in cases of State roads extending into more than one county, and military roads, to aid in the construction of which lands may be granted by Congress. 3d. For authorizing persons to keep ferries across streams, at points wholly within this state. 4th. For authorizing the sale or mortgage of real or personal property of minors or others under disability. 5th. For locating or changing any county seat. 6th. For assessment or collection of taxes or for extending the time for collection thereof. "th. For granting cor- porate powers or privileges, except to cities. 8th. For authoriz- ing the apportionment of any part of the school fund. 9th. For incorporating any city, town or village, or to amend the charter thereof.
Article V.
[Sections 5 and 9, as amended by a vote of the people at the General Election, November 2, 1869.]
Section 5. The Governor shall receive, during his continuance in office, an annual compensation of five thousand dollars which shall be in full for all traveling or other expenses incident to his duties.
Section 9. The Lieutenant Governor shall receive, during his continuance in office, an annual compensation of one thousand dol- lars.
Article VI.
[Section 4, as amended by a vote of the people at the General Election November 7, 1882.]
Section 4. Sheriffs, coroners, registers of deeds, district attor- neys, and all other county officers except judicial officers, shall be chosen by the electors of the respective counties, once in every two years. Sheriffs shall hold no other office, and be ineligible for two
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years next succeeding the termination of their offices; they may be required by law to renew their security from time to time, and in default of giving such new security their office shall be deemed vacant; but the county shall never be made responsible for the acts of the sheriff. The Governor may remove any officer in this section mentioned, giving to such a copy of the charges against him and an opportunity of being heard in his defense. All vacancies shall be filled by appointment ; and the person appointed to fill a vacancy shall hold only for the unexpired portion of the term to which he shall be appointed and until his successor shall be elected and qualified.
Article VII.
[Section 4, as amended by a vote of the people at the General Election, November 6, 1877.]
Section 4. The supreme court shall consist of one chief justice and four associate justices to be elected by the qualified electors of the State. The Legislature shall, at its first session after the adop- tion of this amendment, provide by law for the election of two as- sociate justices of said court, to hold their offices for terms ending two and four years respectively, after the end of the term of the justice of the said court then last to expire. And thereafter the chief justice and associate justices of the said court shall be elected and hold their offices respectively for the term of ten years.
[Section 4, as amended by a vote of the people at an election held April 2, 1889.]
Section 4. The chief justice and associate justices of the su- preme court shall be severally known as justices of said court with the same terms of office, respectively, as now provided. The su- preme court shall consist of five justices (any three of whom shall be a quorum), to be elected as now provided. The justice having been longest a continuous member of the court (or in case of two or more of such senior justices having served for the same length of time, then the one whose commission first expires), shall be ex7 officio the chief justice.
[Section 7, as amended by a vote of the people at an election held April 6, 1897.]
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Section 7. For each circuit there shall be chosen by the qualif.d electors thereof, one circuit judge, except that in any circuit com- posed of one county only, which county shall contain a population according to the last state or United States census, of one hundred thousand inhabitants or over, the Legislature may, from time to time, authorize additional circuit judges to be chosen. Every cir- cuit judge shall reside in the circuit from which he is elected, and shall hold his office for such term and receive such compensation as the Legislature shall prescribe.
[Section 12, as amended by a vote of the people at the General Election, November 7, 1882.]
Section 12. There shall be a clerk of the circuit court chosen in each county organized for judicial purposes by the qualified electors thereof, who shall hold his office for two years, subject to removal as shall be provided by law ; in case of a vacancy the judge of the circuit court shall have power to appoint a clerk until the vacancy shall be filled by an election; the clerk thus elected or appointed shall give such security as the Legislature may require. The su- preme court shall appoint its own clerk; and a clerk of the circuit court may be appointed a clerk of the supreme court.
Article VIII.
[Section 2, as amended by a vote of the people at the General Election, November 6, 1877.]
Section 2. No money shall be paid out of the treasury, except in pursuance of an appropriation by law. No appropriation shall be made for the payment of any claim against the State, except claims of the United States, and judgments, unless filed within six years after the claim accrued.
Article X.
[Section 1, as amended by vote of the people at the General Election, November 4, 1902.]
Section 1. The supervision of public instruction shall be vested in a state superintendent and such other officers as the legislature shall direct ; and their qualifications, powers, duties and compensa- tion shall be prescribed by law. The state superintendent shall be
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chosen by the qualified electors of the state at the same time and in the same manner as members of the supreme court, and shall hold his office for four years from the succeeding first Monday in July. The state superintendent chosen at the general election in November, 1902, shall hold and continue in his office until the first Monday in July, 1905, and his successor shall be chosen at the time of the judicial election in April, 1905. The term of office, time and manner of electing or appointing all other officers of supervision of public instruction shall be fixed by law.
Article XI.
[Section 3, as amended by a vote of the people at the General Election, November 3, 1874.]
Section 3. It shall be the duty of the Legislature, and they are hereby empowered, to provide for the organization of cities and in- corporated villages, and to restrict their power of taxation, assess- ment, borrowing money, contracting debts, and loaning their credit, so as to prevent abuses in assessments and taxation, and in contract- ing by such municipal corporations. No county, city, town, vil- lage, school district, or other municipal corporation, shall be allowed to become indebted in any manner or for any purpose, to any amount, including existing indebtedness, in the aggregate exceed- ing five per centum on the value of the taxable property therein, to be ascertained by the last assessment for state and county taxes, previous to the incurring of such indebtedness. Any county, city, town, village, school district, or other municipal corporation, in- curring any indebtedness as aforesaid, shall, before or at the time of doing so, provide for the collection of a direct annual tax suffi- cient to pay the interest on said debt as it falls due, and also to pay and discharge the principal thereof within twenty years from the time of contracting the same.
[Section 4, and 5, as amended by a vote of the people at a Gen- eral Election, November 4, 1902.]
Section 4. The legislature shall have power to enact a general banking law for the creation of banks, and for the regulation and 9
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supervision of the banking business; provided that the vote of two- thirds of all the members elected to each house, to be taken by yeas and nays, be in favor of the passage of such law.
Article XIII.
[Section 1, as amended by a vote of the people at the General Election, November 7, 1882.]
Section 1. The political year for the State of Wisconsin shall commence on the first Monday in January in each year, and the general elections shall be holden on the Tuesday next succeeding the first Monday in November. The first general election for all state and county officers, except judicial officers, after the adoption of this amendment, shall be holden in the year A. D. 1884, and there- after the general election shall be held biennially. All state, county or other officers elected at the general election in the year 1881, and whose term of office would otherwise expire on the first Monday of January in the year 1884, shall hold and continue in such office respectively, until the first Monday in January in the year 1885.
[Article XIII, as amended by addition of Section 2, by a vote of the people at the General Election, November 4, 1902.]
Section II. No person, association, co-partnership or corpora- tion, shall promise, offer, or give, for any purpose, to any political committee, or any member or employee thereof, to any candidate for, or incumbent of any office or position under the constitution or laws, or under any ordinance of any town or municipality of this state, or to any person at the request or for the advantage of all, or any of them, any free pass or frank, or any privilege withheld from any person, for the traveling accommodation or transportation of any person or property, or the transmission of any message or communication. No political committee, and no member or em- ployee thereof, no candidate for, and no incumbent of any office or position under the constitution or laws, or under any ordinance of any town or municipality of this state, shall ask for, or accept, from any person, association, co-partnership, or corporation, or use, in any manner, or for any purpose, any free pass or frank, or any privilege withheld from any person, for the traveling accommodation
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or transportation of any person or property, or the transmission of any message or communication. Any violation of any of the above provisions shall be bribery and be punished as provided by law, and if any officer or any member of the legislature be guilty thereof, his office shall become vacant. No person within the pur- view of this act shall be privileged from testifying in relation to any- thing therein prohibited; and no person having so testified shall be liable to any prosecution or punishment for any offense concerning which he was required to give his testimony or produce any docu- mentary evidence. The railroad commissioner and his deputy in the discharge of duty are excepted from the provisions of this amendment.
Constitution, Rejection of .- The constitution framed by the con- vention of 1846 was rejected by the people of the territory at an election in April, 1847. The chief grounds for its rejection were: (1) It omitted to give the legislature power to repeal the charters of corporations; (2) It prohibited banks of issue in the state; (3) The boundary lines established proposed to give Minnesota a large portion of what is now the northwest corner of the state; (4) It permitted too large a membership in the legislature; (5) It fixed the salaries of state officers, thus preventing the legislature from changing; (6) It established a rotary system of courts; (7) It gave rights of separate property to women, which was deemed outside the province of the constitution ; and (8) it limited the value of homestead exemptions to $1,000. .
Contingent Fund, Governor's .- Each session of the legislature enacts a measure appropriating a certain sum (of late years it has been uniformly $2,000 a year) to the governor's contingent fund. The governor makes a report of the expenditures of this fund to each session of the legislature. It is meant to defray incidental expenses of the governor which cannot well be catalogued in ad- vance and for which the law fixing his salary does not provide. Such for instance as the expenses incident to the visit of the presi- dent of the United States to the Wisconsin capital.
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Convict Labor .- It is the policy of the state to keep its convicts employed in useful and profitable labor. In the state prison cloth- ing is manufactured, but the majority of the prisoners are em- ployed under contract by a firm which manufactures knit goods, the work being carried on at the prison. At the reformatory at Green Bay clothing is manufactured. The question of abolishing the contract system has frequently been agitated, but no worthy substitute has ever been offered. hence the system has been main- tained for many years. In 1887 a legislative commission was ap- pointed to investigate the subject with a view of substituting some other method of employing the prisoners, and report. The report recommended the retention of the contract system until some bet- ter method could be discovered.
Coomer, a country postoffice in Burnett county, 27 miles east of Grantsburg, the county scat.
Coon Valley, a postoffice of 60 people on Coon creek in Vernon county, 15 miles northwest of Viroqua, the county seat.
Cooper, Henry Allen, was born at Spring Prairie, Walworth county, this state, Sept. 8, 1850; was graduated from Northwestern University in 1873 and the Chicago Union College of law two years later; was district attorney of Racine county for several years after 1880; state senator in 1886; and since 1892 has represented continuously the first district in congress. His home is in Racine.
Cooperstown, a post town of 250 in Manitowoc county, 18 miles northwest of Manitowoc, the county seat.
Copper Mines, Prehistoric .- There are numerous evidences of copper mining having been carried on along the shores of Lake Superior. Judging by the forest growths in the abandoned pits the work was done upwards of 500 years ago. Much controversy has been indulged in as to whether the Indians did the mining or a more advanced race which preceded them. The majority opinion is that the work was done by the Indians. Heat and water were used to disintegrate the rock bearing the copper. The latter was shaped into weapons and instruments by heat.
Corinth, a country postoffice on the A. & N. E. Ry. in Marathon county, 29 miles west of Wausau, the county seat.
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Corliss, a post village on the C., M. & St. P. Ry. in Racine county, 71/2 miles west of Racine, the county seat. Up to three years ago this place was simply a railroad crossing, and today it has 200 people engaged in the factories recently erected. It was for- merly called Western Union Junction.
Corrupt Practices Act .- The legislature of 1897 enacted what is known as the Corrupt Practices Act. This law is aimed at bribery in elections and specifies that to pay or promise to pay to secure support, or to prevent support, is bribery. It also requires that every candidate for office shall within 30 days after election in which he was a candidate file with the official empowered to issue the certificate of election, and a duplicate with the register of deeds in the county in which he resides, a sworn statement in writing of the money he may have expended, the purposes for which spent; and also what others within his knowledge spent for him. Every political committee, also, through its treasurer must file a similar statement of expenses, of all moneys received and expended, to whom and for what paid, within 30 days succeeding such election.
Corwin, a discontinued postoffice in Richland county
Cota, a postoffice in Marinette county, recently established.
Cottage Grove, a post village in Dane county, on the line of the C. & N. W. Ry. It has a population of 250 and is 12 miles east of Madison, the county seat.
Cotter, a post town on the C., M. & St. P. Ry. in Lincoln county, 8 miles from Merrill, the county seat.
Cotton Cloth, Manufacture of .- In 1875 a cotton factory was opened at Janesville for the manufacture of cotton cloth. The first bolt was made on April 28, 1875.
Couderay, a post town on the C., St. P., M. & O. Ry. in Sawyer county, 35 miles southeast of Hayward, the county seat. The population is 250.
Court Oreilles, Lake, is situated in Sawyer county. It is almost entirely within the Court Oreilles Indian reservation. Reserve vil- lage is at the southern end. Hayward is the nearest railroad sta- tion.
Courts, Circuit .- See Judicial System.
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Courts, Juvenile .- The laws of 1901 authorized the establishment in counties of 150,000 or over, of juvenile courts to make proper provision for dependent children, under the age of 16, who are desti- tute, abandoned, homeless or who are vagrants. The next legisla- ture, that of 1903, authorized counties of 65,000 population to estab- lish similar courts.
Courts, U. S .- See Judicial System.
Cousins .- See Fall Creek.
Coutume de Paris .- Prior to the passing of what is now Wiscon- sin from French control under British jurisdiction the only law enforced, and that only in a few settlements, was the Coutume de Paris, the ordinances of Paris. This was enforced by the only civil officer located at the posts, a notary commissioned by the governor. He was supposed to be conversant with the provisions of the Coutume, but those to whom it was applied were not.
Cox, a postoffice with 50 people on the Yellow river in Chippewa county, 35 miles northeast of Chippewa Falls, the county seat.
Coyne, a postoffice in Douglas county, 16 miles from Superior, the county seat.
Crab Lake, in Vilas county, is on the state line. The nearest railroad station is Mercer, Iron county.
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