ART. XX. No person shall have the right to vote, or be eligible to office under the constitution of this commonwealth, who shall not be able to read the constitution in the English language, and write his name: provided, however, that the provisions of this amendment shall not apply to any person prevented by a physical disability from com. plying with its requisitions, nor to any person who now has the right to vote, nor to any persons who shall be sixty years of age or upwards at the time this amendment shall take effect.

ART. XXI. A census of the legal voters of each city and town, on the first day of May, shall be taken and returned into the office of the secretary of the commonwealth, on or before the last day of June, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven; and a census of the inhabitants of each city and town, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, and of every tenth year thereafter. In the census aforesaid, a special enumeration shall be made of the legal voters; and in each city, said enumeration shall specify the number of such legal voters aforesaid, residing in each ward of such city. The enumeration aforesaid shall determine the apportionment of representatives for the periods between the taking of the census.

The house of representatives shall consist of two hundred and forty members, which shall be apportioned by the legislature, at its first session after the return of each enumeration as aforesaid, to the several counties of the commonwealth, equally, as nearly as may be, according to their relative numbers of legal voters, as ascertained by the next preceding special enumeration; and the town of Cohasset, in the county of Norfolk, shall, for this purpose, as well as in the formation of districts, as hereinafter provided, be considered a part of the county of Plymouth; and it shall be the duty of the secretary of the commonwealth, to certify, as soon as may be after it is determined by the legislature, the number of representatives to which each county shall be entitled, to the board authorized to divide each county into representative districts. The mayor and aldermen of the city of Boston, the county commissioners of other counties than Suffolk, or in lieu of the mayor and aldermen of the city of Boston, or of the county commissioners in each county other than Suffolk, such board of special commissioners in each county, to be elected by the people of the county, or of the towns therein, as may for that purpose be provided by law, shall, on the first Tuesday of August next after each assignment of representatives to each county, assemble at a shire town of their respective counties, and proceed, as soon as may be, to divide the same into representative districts of contiguous territory, so as to apportion the representation assigned to each county equally, as nearly as may be, according to the relative number of legal voters in the several districts of each county; and such districts shall be so formed that no town or ward of a city shall be divided therefor, nor shall any district be made which shall be entitled to elect more than three representatives. Every representative, for one year at least next preceding his election, shall have been an inhabitant of the district for which he is chosen, and shall cease to represent such district when he shall cease to be an inhabitant of the commonwealth. The districts in each county shall be numbered by the board creating the

a For other qualifications, see amendments, Art. III. See also amendments, Art. XXIII., which was annulled by amendments, Art. XXVI.

same, and a description of each, with the numbers thereof and the number of legal voters therein, shall be returned by the board, to the secretary of the commonwealth, the county treasurer of each county, and to the clerk of every town in each district, to be filed and kept in their respective offices. The manner of calling and conducting the meetings for the choice of representatives, and of ascertaining their election, shall be prescribed by law. [Not less than one hundred members of the house of representatives shall constitute a quorum for doing business; but a less number may organize temporarily, adjourn from day to day, and compel the attendance of absent members.]

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ART. XXII. A census of the legal voters of each city and town, on the first day of May, shall be taken and returned into the office of the secretary of the commonwealth, on or before the last day of June, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven; and a census of the inhabitants of each city and town, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, and of every tenth year thereafter. In the census aforesaid, a special enumeration shall be made of the legal voters, and in each city said enumeration shall specify the number of such legal voters aforesaid, residing in each ward of such city. The enumeration aforesaid shall determine the apportionment of senators for the periods between the taking of the census. The senate shall consist of forty members. The general court shall, at its first session after each next preceding special enumeration, divide the commonwealth into forty districts of adjacent territory, each district to contain, as nearly as may be, an equal number of legal voters, according to the enumeration aforesaid: provided, however, that no town or ward of a city shall be divided therefor; and such districts shall be formed, as nearly as may be, without uniting two counties, or parts of two or more counties, into one district. Each district shall elect one senator, who shall have been an inhabitant of this commonwealth five years at least immediately preceding his election. and at the time of his election shall be an inhabitant of the district for which he is chosen; and he shall cease to represent such senatorial district when he shall cease to be an inhabitant of the commonwealth. Not less than sixteen senators shall constitute a quorum for doing business; but a less number may organize temporarily, adjourn from day to day, and compel the attendance of absent members.

ART. XXIII. [No person of foreign birth shall be entitled to vote, or shall be eligible to office, unless he shall have resided within the jurisdiction of the United States for two years subsequent to his naturalization, and shall be otherwise qualified, according to the constitution and laws of this commonwealth: provided, that this amendment shall not affect the rights which any person of foreign birth possessed at the time of the adoption thereof; and, provided, further, that it shall not affect the rights of any child of a citizen of the United States, born during the temporary absence of the parent therefrom.]

ART. XXIV. Any vacancy in the senate shall be filled by election by the people of the unrepresented district, upon the order of a majority of the senators elected.

ART. XXV. In case of a vacancy in the council, from a failure of

a Quorum, see amendments, Art. XXXIII. See amendments, Art. XXIV. c This article annulled by Art. XXVI.

election, or other cause, the senate and house of representatives shall, by concurrent vote, choose some eligible person from the people of the district wherein such vacancy occurs, to fill that office. If such vacancy shall happen when the legislature is not in session, the governor, with the advice and consent of the council, may fill the same by appointment of some eligible person.

ART. XXVI. The twenty-third article of the articles of amendment of the constitution of this commonwealth, which is as follows, to wit: "No person of foreign birth shall be entitled to vote, or shall be eligible to office, unless he shall have resided within the jurisdiction of the United States for two years subsequent to his naturalization, and shall be otherwise qualified, according to the constitution and laws of this commonwealth: provided, that this amendment shall not affect the rights which any person of foreign birth possessed at the time of the adoption thereof; and provided, further, that it shall not affect the rights of any child of a citizen of the Unitetd States, born during the temporary absence of the parent therefrom," is hereby wholly annulled.

ART. XXVII. So much of article two of chapter six of the constitution of this commonwealth as relates to persons holding the office of president, professor, or instructor of Harvard College, is hereby annulled.

ART. XXVIII. No person having served in the army or navy of the United States in time of war, and having been honorably discharged from such service, if otherwise qualified to vote, shall be disqualified therefor on account of being a pauper; or, if a pauper, because of the nonpayment of a poll-tax.

ART. XXIX. The general court shall have full power and authority to provide for the inhabitants of the towns in this Commonwealth more than one place of public meeting within the limits of each town for the election of officers under the constitution, and to prescribe the manner of calling, holding and conducting such meetings. All the provisions of the existing constitution inconsistent with the provisions herein contained are hereby annulled.

ART. XXXI. Article twenty-eight of the Amendments of the Constitution is hereby amended by striking out in the fourth line thereof the words "being a pauper," and inserting in place thereof the words: receiving or having received aid from any city or town,and also by striking out in said fourth line the words "if a pauper," so that the article as amended shall read as follows: ARTICLE XXVIII. No person having served in the army or navy of the United States in time of war, and having been honorably discharged from such service, if otherwise qualified to vote, shall be disqualified there for on account of receiving or having received aid from any city or town, or because of the non-payment of a poll tax.

ART. XXXII. So much of article three of the Amendments of the Constitution of the Commonwealth as is contained in the following words: " and who shall have paid, by himself, or his parent, master, or guardian, any state or county tax, which shall, within two years next preceding such election, have been assessed upon him, in any town or district of this Commonwealth; and also every citizen who shall be, by law, exempted from taxation, and who shall be, in all other respects, qualified as above mentioned," is hereby annulled.

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ART. XXXIII. A majority of the members of each branch of the general court shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but a less number may adjourn from day to day, and compel the attendance of absent members. All the provisions of the existing Constitution inconsistent with the provisions herein contained are hereby annulled.

ART. XXXIV. So much of article two of section one of chapter two of part the second of the Constitution of the Commonwealth as is contained in the following words: " and unless he shall at the same time, be seized in his own right, of a freehold within the Commonwealth of the value of one thousand pounds;" is hereby annulled.

ART. XXXV. So much of article two of section three of chapter one of the constitution of the commonwealth as is contained in the following words: "The expenses of travelling to the general assembly, and returning home, once in every session, and no more, shall be paid by the government, out of the public treasury, to every member who shall attend as seasonably as he can, in the judgment of the house, and does not depart without leave," is hereby annulled.

ART. XXXVI. So much of article nineteen of the articles of amendment to the constitution of the commonwealth as is contained in the following words: "commissioners of insolvency ", is hereby annulled.

The constitution of Massachusetts was agreed upon by delegates of the people, in convention, begun and held at Cambridge, on the first day of September, 1779, and continued by adjournments to the second day of March, 1780, when the convention adjourned to meet on the first Wednesday of the ensuing June. In the mean time the constitution was submitted to the people, to be adopted by them, provided two-thirds of the votes given should be in the affirmative. When the convention assembled, it was found that the constitution had been adopted by the requisite number of votes, and the convention accordingly Resolved, "That the said Constitution or Frame of Government shall take place on the last Wednesday of October next; and not before, for any purpose, save only for that of making elections, agreeable to this resolution." The first legislature assembled at Boston, on the twenty-fifth day of October, 1780.

The first nine Articles of Amendment were submitted, by delegates in convention assembled, November 15, 1820, to the people, and by them ratified and adopted April 9, 1821.

The tenth Article was adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1829-30 and 1830-31, respectively, and was approved and ratified by the people May 11, 1831.

The eleventh Article was adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1832 and 1833, respectively, and was approved and ratified by the people November 11, 1833.

The twelfth Article was adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1835 and 1836, respectively, and was approved and ratified by the people the fourteenth day of November, 1836.

The thirteenth Article was adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1839 and 1840, respectively, and was approved and ratified by the people the sixth day of April, 1840.

The fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth Articles were adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1854 and 1855, respectively, and ratified by the people the twenty-third day of May, 1855.

The twentieth, twenty-first, and twenty-second Articles were adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1856 and 1857, respectively, and ratified by the people on the first day of May, 1857.

The twenty-third Article was adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1858 and 1859, respectively, and ratified by the people on the ninth day of May, 1859, and was repealed by the twenty-sixth Amendment.

The twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth Articles were adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1859 and 1860, and ratified by the people on the seventh day of May, 1860.

The twenty-sixth Article was adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1862 and 1863, and ratified by the people on the sixth day of April, 1863.

The twenty-seventh Article was adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1876 and 1877, and was approved and ratified by the people on the sixth day of November, 1877.

The twenty-eighth Article was adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1880 and 1881, and was approved and ratified by the people on the eighth day of November, 1881.

The twenty-ninth Article was adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1884 and 1885, and was approved and ratified by the people on the third day of November, 1885.

The thirtieth and thirty-first Articles were adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1889 and 1890, and were approved and ratified by the people on the fourth day of November, 1890.

The thirty-second and thirty-third Articles were adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1890 and 1891, and were approved and ratified by the people on the third day of November, 1891.

The thirty-fourth Article was adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1891 and 1892, and was approved and ratified by the people on the eighth day of November, 1892.

The thirty-fifth Article was adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1892 and 1893, and was approved and ratified by the people on the seventh day of November, 1893.

The thirty-sixth Article was adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1893 and 1894, and was approved and ratified by the people on the sixth day of November, 1894.

[A proposed Article of Amendment, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of Intoxicating Liquor as a beverage, adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1888 and 1889, was rejected by the people on the twenty-second day of April, 1889.]

[Proposed Articles of Amendment, (1) Establishing biennial elections of state officers, and (2) Establishing biennial elections of members of the General Court, adopted by the legislatures of the political years 1895 and 1896, were rejected by the people at the annual election held on the third day of November, 1896.]

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