USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin: comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form: > Part 9
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fer Probate powers upon such inferior courts as may be estab- lished in said county.
Section 15. The electors of the several towns, at their annual town meeting, and the electors of cities and villages, at their char- ter elections, shall in such manner as the Legislature may direct, elect justices of the peace, whose term of office shall be for two years, and until their successors in office shall be elected and quali- fied. In case of an election to fill a vacancy, occurring before the expiration of a full term, the justice elected shall hold for the residue of the unexpired term. Their number and classification shall be regulated by law. And the tenure of two years shall in no wise interfere with the classification in the first instance. The jus- tices, thus elected, shall have such civil and criminal jurisdiction as shall be prescribed by law.
Section 16. The legislature shall pass laws for the regulation of tribunals of conciliation, defining their powers and duties. Such tribunals may be established in and for any township, and shall have power to render judgment to be obligatory on the parties, when they shall voluntarily submit their matter in difference to arbitration, and agree to abide the judgment, or assent thereto in writing.
Section 17. The style of all writs and process shall be, "The State of Wisconsin"; all criminal prosecutions shall be carried on in the name and by the authority of the same ; and all indictments shall conclude against the peace and dignity of the State.
Section 18. The Legislature shall impose a tax on all civil suits commenced. or prosecuted in the municipal, inferior, or circuit courts, which shall constitute a fund to be applied toward the pay- ment of the salary of judges.
Section 19. The testimony in causes in equity shall be taken in like manner as in cases at law, and the office of master in chancery is hereby prohibited.
Section 20. Any suitor, in any court of this State, shall have the right to prosecute or defend his suit either in his own proper person, or by an Attorney or agent of his choice.
Section 21. The Legislature shall provide by law for the speedy
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publication of all statute laws, and of such judicial decisions, made within the State, as may be deemed expedient. And no general law shall be in force until published.
Section 22. The Legislature at its first session, after the adop- tion of this Constitution, shall provide for the appointment of three commissioners, whose duty it shall be to inquire into, revise, and simplify the rules of practice, pleadings, forms and proceedings, and arrange a system, adapted to the courts of record of this State, and report the same to the Legislature, subject to their modification and adoption ; and such commission shall terminate upon the ren- dering of the report, unless otherwise provided by law.
Section 23. The Legislature may provide for the appointment of one or more persons in each organized county, and may vest in such persons such judicial powers as shall be prescribed by law. Pro- vided, that said power shall not exceed that of a judge of a circuit court at chambers.
'Article VIII .- Finance.
Section 1. The rule of taxation shall be uniform, and taxes shall be levied upon such property as the Legislature shall prescribe.
Section 2. No money shall be paid out of the treasury, except in pursuance of an appropriation by law.
Section 3. The credit of the State shall never be given, or loaned, in aid of any individual, association, or corporation.
Section 4. The State shall never contract any public debt, except in the cases and manner herein provided.
Section 5. The Legislature shall provide for an annual tax suffi- cient to defray the estimated expenses of the State for each year ; and whenever the expenses of any year shall exceed the income, the Legislature shall provide for levying a tax for the ensuing year, sufficient, with other sources of income, to pay the deficiency as well as the estimated expenses of such ensuing year. .
Section 6. For the purpose of defraying extraordinary expendi- tures, the State may contract public debts (but such debts shall never in the aggregate exceed one hundred thousand dollars). Every such debt shall be authorized by law, for some purpose or
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purposes to be distinctly specified therein; and the vote of a ma- jority of all the members elected to each house, to be taken by yeas and nays, shall be necessary to the passage of such law; and every such law shall provide for levying an annual tax sufficient to pay the annual interest of such debt, and the principal within five years from the passage of such law, and shall specially appropriate the proceeds of such taxes to the payment of such principal and interest; and such appropriation shall not be repealed, nor the taxes be postponed, or diminished, until the principal and interest of such debt shall have been wholly paid.
Section 7. The Legislature may also borrow money to repel in- vasion, suppress insurrection, or defend the State in time of war; but the money thus raised shall be applied exclusively to the ob- ject for which the loan was authorized, or to the repayment of the debe thereby created.
Section 8. On the passage in either house of the Legislature, of any law which imposes, continues or renews a tax, or creates a debt, or charge, or makes, continues, or renews an appropriation of pub- fic, or trust money, or releases, discharges, or commutes a claim, or demand of the State, the question shall be taken by yeas and nays, which shall be duly entered on the journal; and three-fifths of all the members elected to such house shall in all such cases be required to constitute a quorum therein.
Section 9. No scrip, certificate, or other evidence of State debt, whatsoever, shall be issued, except for such debts as are authorized by the sixth and seventh sections of this Article.
Section 10. The State shall never contract any debt for works of Internal Improvement, or be a party in carrying on such works, but whenever grants of land or other property shall have been made to the State, especially dedicated by the grant to particular works of Internal Improvement, the State may carry on such par- ticular works, and shall devote thereto the avails of such grants, and may pledge or appropriate the revenues derived from such works in aid of their completion. 8
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'Article IX .- Eminent Domain and Property of the State.
Section 1. The State shall have concurrent jurisdiction on all rivers and lakes bordering on this State, so far as such rivers or lakes shall form a common boundary to the State, and any other State, or Territory, now or hereafter to be formed, and bounded by the same: And the river Mississippi and the navigable waters lead- ing into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same shall be common highways and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the State, as to the citizens of the United States, without any tax. impost or duty therefor.
Section 2. The title to ail lands and other property which have accrued to the Territory of Wisconsin by grant. gift, purchase, for- feiture, escheat, or otherwise, shall vest in the State of Wisconsin.
Section 3. The people of the State, in their right of sovereignty, are declared to possess the ultimate property, in and to all lands within the jurisdiction of the State, and all lands the title to which shall fail from a defect of heirs, shall revert or escheat to the peo- ple.
Article X .- Education.
Section 1. The supervision of public instruction shall be vested in a State Superintendent, and such other officers as the Legislature shall direct. The State Superintendent shall be chosen by the qualified electors of the State, in such manner as the Legislature shall provide; his powers, duties and compensation shall be pre- scribed by law, provided that his compensation shall not exceed the sum of twelve hundred dollars annually.
Section 2. The proceeds of all lands, that have been or hereafter may be granted by the United States to this State for educational purposes (except the lands heretofore granted for the purposes of a University) and all moneys, and the clear proceeds of all prop- erty that may accrue to the State by forfeiture or escheat, and all moneys which may be paid as an equivalent for exemption from military duty ; and the clear proceeds of all fines collected, in the several counties for any breach of the penal laws, and all moneys arising from any grant to the State where the purposes of such grant are not specified, and the five hundred thousand acres of
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land, to which the State is entitled by the provisions of an act of Congress entitled "An act to appropriate the proceeds of the sales of the public lands, and to grant pre-emption rights," approved the fourth day of September, one thousand eight hundred and forty- one; and also the five per-centum of the net proceeds of the public lands to which the State shall become entitled on her admission into the Union (if Congress shall consent to such appropriation of the two grants last mentioned) shall be set apart as a separate fund, to be called "The School Fund," the interest of which and all other revenues derived from the school lands, shall be exclusively applied to the following objects, to-wit :
First. To the support and maintenance of common schools, in each school district, and the purchase of suitable libraries and ap- paratus therefor.
Second. The residue shall be appropriated to the support and maintenance of Academies and Normal Schools, and suitable libra- ries and apparatus therefor.
Section 3. The Legislature shall provide by law for the estab- lishment of District Schools, which shall be as nearly uniform as practicable; and such schools shall be tree and without charge for tuition, to all children between the ages of four and twenty years; and no sectarian instruction shall be allowed therein.
Section 4. Each town and city shall be required to raise, by tax, annually, for the support of common schools therein, a sum not less than one-half the amount received by such town or city re- spectively for school purposes from the income of the school fund.
Section 5. Provision shall be made by law, for the distribution of the income of the school fund among the several towns and cities of the State, for the support of common schools therein, in some just proportion to the number of children and youth resident therein, between the ages of four and twenty years, and no appropriation shall be made from the school fund to any city, or town, for the year in which said city or town shall fail to raise such tax; nor to any. school district for the year in which a school shall not be maintained at least three months.
Section 6. Provision shall be made by law for the establishment
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of a State University, at or near the seat of State government, and for connecting with the same, from time to time, such colleges in different parts of the State, as the interests of education may re- quire. The proceeds of all lands that have been, or may hereafter be granted by the United States to the State for the support of a University, shall be and remain a perpetual fund, to be called "The University Fund," the interest of which shall be appropriated to the support of the State University, and no sectarian instruction shall be allowed in such University.
Section 7. The Secretary of State, Treasurer and Attorney Gen- eral, shall constitute a board of commissioners for the sale of the School and University lands, and for the investment of the funds arising therefrom. Any two of said commissioners shall be a quorum for the transaction of all business pertaining to the duties of their office.
Section 8. Provision shall be made by law for the sale of all School and University lands, after they shall have been appraised ; and when any portion of such lands shall be sold and the purchase money shall not be paid at the time of the sale, the commissioners shall take security by mortgage upon the land sold for the sum re- maining unpaid, with seven per cent. interest thereon, payable an- nually at the office of the Treasurer. The commissioners shall be authorized to execute a good and sufficient conveyance to all pur- chasers of such lands, and to discharge any mortgages taken as security, when the sum due thereon shall have been paid. The commissioners shall have power to withhold from sale any portion of such lands, when they shall deem it expedient, and shall invest all moneys arising from the sale of such lands, as well as all other University and School funds, in such manner as the Legislature shall provide, and shall give such security for the faithful perform- ance of their duties as may be required by law.
'Article XI .- Corporations.
Section 1. Corporations without banking powers or privileges may be formed under general laws, but shall not be created by special act, except for municipal purposes, and in cases where ir
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the judgment of the Legislature, the objects of the corporation cannot be attained under general laws. All general laws or special acts, enacted under the provisions of this section, may be altered or repealed by the Legislature at any time after their passage.
Section 2. No municipal corporation shall take private property for public use, against the consent of the owner, without the neces- sity thereof being first established by the verdict of a jury.
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 debts by such municipal corporations.
Section 4. The Legislature shall not have power to create, au- thorize or incorporate, by any general, or special law, any bank, or banking power or privilege, or any institution or corporation hav- ing any banking power or privilege whatever, except as provided in this article.
Section 5. The Legislature may submit to the voters, at any general election, the question of "Bank," or "No Bank," and if at any such election a number of votes equal to a majority of all the votes cast at such election on that subject shall be in favor of Banks, then the Legislature shall have power to grant Bank charters, or to pass a general banking law, with such restrictions and under such regu- lations as they may deem expedient and proper for the security of the bill holders. Provided, that no such grant or law shall have any force or effect until the same shall have been submitted to a vote of the electors of the State, at some general election, and been approved by a majority of the votes cast on that subject at such election.
'Article XII .- Amendments.
Section 1. Any amendment, or amendments to this Constitution may be proposed in either house of the Legislature, and if the same shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each of the two houses, such proposed amendment, or amend- ments, shall be entered on their journals, with the yeas and nays
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taken thereon, and referred to the Legislature to be chosen at the next general election ; and shall be published for three months pre- vions to the time of holding such election, and if, in the Legislature so next chosen, such proposed amendment, or amendments, shall be agreed to by a majority of all the members elected to each house, then it shall be the duty of the Legislature to submit such proposed amendment, or amendments to the people in such manner, and at such time, as the Legislature shall prescribe; and if the people shall approve and ratify such amendment, or amendments by a majority of the electors voting thereon, such amendment, or amend- ments, shall become part of the Constitution; Provided, that if more than one amendment be submitted, they shall be submitted in such manner that the people may vote for or against such amend- ments separately.
Section 2. If at any time a majority of the Senate and Assembly shall deem it necessary to call a convention to revise or change this Constitution, they shall recommend to the electors to vote for or against a convention at the next election for members of the Legislature. And if it shall appear that a majority of the electors voting thereon, have voted for a convention, the Legislature shall, at its next session, provide for calling such convention.
Article XIII .- Miscellaneous Provisions.
Section 1. The political year for the State of Wisconsin shall commence on the first Monday in January in each year, and the general election shall be holden on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November in each year.
Section 2. Any inhabitant of this State who may hereafter be engaged, either directly or indirectly in a duel, either as principal or accessory, shall forever be disqualified as an elector, and from holding any office under the Constitution and laws of this State, and may be punished in such other manner as shall be prescribed by law.
Section 3. No member of Congress, nor any person holding any office of profit or trust under the United States ( Postinasters ex- cepted) or under any foreign power; no person convicted of any
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infamous crime in any court within the United States ; and no per- son being a defaulter to the United States, or to this State, or to any county, or town therein, or to any State, or Territory within the United States, shall be eligible to any office of trust, profit, or honor in this State.
Section 4. It shall be the duty of the Legislature to provide a great seal for the State, which shall be kept by the Secretary of State, and all official acts of the Governor, his approbation of the laws excepted, shall be thereby authenticated.
Section 5. All persons residing upon Indian lands, within any county of the State, and qualified to exercise the right of suffrage under this Constitution, shall be entitled to vote at the polls which may be held nearest their residence, for State, United States or County officers. Provided, that no person shall vote for county officers out of the county in which he resides.
Section 6. The elective officers of the Legislature, other than the presiding officers, shall be a chief clerk and a sergeant-at-arms, to be elected by each house.
Section 7. No county with an area of nine hundred square miles, or less, shall be divided, or have any part stricken therefrom, with- out submitting the question to a vote of the people of the county, nor unless a majority of all the legal voters of the county, voting on the question, shall vote for the same.
Section 8. No county seat shall be removed until the point to which it is proposed to be removed shall be fixed by law, and a ma- jority of the voters of the county, voting on the question, shall have voted in favor of its removal to such point.
Section 9. All county officers whose election, or appointment is not provided for by this Constitution, shall be elected by the elec- tors of the respective counties, or appointed by the boards of sup- ervisors, or other county authorities, as the Legislature shall direct. All city, town and village officers, whose election or appointment is not provided for by this Constitution, shall be elected by the electors of such cities, towns and villages, or of some division thereof, or appointed by such authorities thereof, as the Legislature shall designate for that purpose. All other officers whose election or
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appointment is not provided for by this Constitution, and all offi- cers whose offices may hereafter be created by law, shall be elected by the people, or appointed, as the Legislature may direct.
Section 10. The Legislature may declare the cases in which any office shall be deemed vacant, and also the manner of filling the vacancy, where no provision is made for that purpose in this Con- stitution.
'Article XIV .- Schedule.
Section 1. That no inconvenience may arise by reason of a change from a Territorial to a permanent State government, it is declared, that all rights, actions, prosecutions, judgments, claims and contract, as well of individuals, as of bodies corporate, shall continue as if no such change had taken place ; and all process which may be issued under the authority of the Territory of Wisconsin previous to its admission into the Union of the United States, shall be as valid as if issued in the name of the State.
Section 2. All laws now in force, in the Territory of Wisconsin, which are not repugnant to this Constitution, shall remain in force until they expire by their own limitation, or be altered or repealed by the Legislature.
Section 3. All fines, penalties, or forfeitures, accruing to the Territory of Wisconsin, shall inure to the use of the State.
Section 4. All recognizances heretofore taken, or which may be taken before the change from Territorial to a permanent State gov- ernment, shall remain valid, and shall pass to, and may be prose- cuted in the name of the State; and all bonds executed to the Gov- ernor of the Territory, or to any other officer, or court, in his, or their official capacity, shall pass to the Governor or State authority, and their successors in office, for the uses therein respectively ex- pressed, and may be sted for and recovered accordingly ; and all the estate, or property, real, personal, or mixed, and all judgments, bonds, specialties, choses in action, and claims or debts of whatso- ever description, of the Territory of Wisconsin, shall inure to and vest in the State of Wisconsin, and may be sued for and recovered, in the same manner and to the same extent by the State of Wis- consin, as the same could have been by the Territory of Wisconsin.
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All criminal prosecutions and penal actions which may have arisen, or which may arise, before the change from a Territorial to a State government, and which shall then be pending, shall be prosecuted to judgment and execution in the name of the State. All offences committed against the laws of the Territory of Wisconsin, before the change from a Territorial to a State government, and which shall not be prosecuted before such change, may be prosecuted in the name and by the authority of the State of Wisconsin, with like effect as though such change had not taken place; and all penalties incurred, shall remain the same as if this Constitution had not been adopted. All actions at law and suits in equity, which may be pending in any of the courts of the Territory of Wisconsin, at the time of the change from a Territorial to a State government, may be continued and transferred to any court of the State, which shall have jurisdiction of the subject matter thereof.
Section 5. All officers, civil and military, now holding their offices under the authority of the United States, or of the Territory of Wisconsin, shall continue to hold and exercise their respective offices until they shall be superseded by the authority of the State.
Section 6. The first session of the Legislature of the State of Wisconsin shall commence on the first Monday in June next, and shall be held at the village of Madison, which shall be and remain the seat of government, until otherwise provided by law.
Section 7. All county, precinct and township officers shall con- tinue to hold their respective offices, unless removed by the compe- tent anthority, until the Legislature shall in conformity with the provisions of this Constitution, provide for the holding of elections to fill such offices respectively.
Section 8. The President of this convention shall, immediately after its adjournment, cause a fair copy of this Constitution, to- gether with a copy of the act of the Legislature of this Territory, entitled "An act in relation to the formation of a State government in Wisconsin, and to change the time of holding the annual session of the Legislature," approved October 27th, 1847, providing for the calling of this Convention, and also a copy of so much of the last census of this Territory, as exhibits the number of its inhabitants,
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to be forwarded to the President of the United States, to be laid before the Congress of the United States, at its present session.
Section 9. This Constitution shall be submitted at an election to be held on the second Monday in March next, for ratification or re- jection, to all white male persons of the age of twenty-one years or upwards, who shall then be residents of this Territory, and citizens of the United States, or shall have declared their intention to become such in conformity with the laws of Congress on the subject of naturalization, and all persons having such qualification shall be entitled to vote for, or against the adoption of this Constitution, and for all officers first elected under it. And if the Constitution be ratified by the said electors, it shall become the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin. On such of the ballots as are for the Constitu- tion, shall be written or printed the yord "yes" and on such as are against the Constitution, the word "no." The election shall be con- ducted in the manner now prescribed by law, and the returns made by the clerks of the boards of supervisors or county commissioners (as the case may be) to the Governor of the Territory, at any time before the tenth day of April next. And in the event of the ratifica- tion of this Constitution, by a majority of all the votes given, it shall be the duty of the Governor of this Territory to make proclamation of the same, and to transmit a digest of the returns to the Senate and Assembly of the State, on the first day of their session. An election shall be held, for Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Treas- urer, Attorney General, members of the State Legislature, and mem- bers of Congress, on the second Monday of May next; and no other or further notice of such election shall be required.
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