Section 25. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose amendments, as in other bills: Provided, That they shall not introduce any new matter, under the color of an amendment, which does not relate to raising a revenue.

Section 26. The General Assembly shall regulate, by law, by whom and in what manner writs of election shall be issued to fill va cancies which may happen in either branch thereof.

ARTICLE III.

Concerning the Executive Department.

Section 1. The supreme executive power of the State shall be vested in a chief magistrate, who shall be styled the Governor of the State of Louisiana.

Section 2. The Governor shall be elected for the term of four years, in the following manner: the citizens entitled to vote for Representatives shall vote for a Governor at the time and place of voting for Representatives and Senators. Their votes shall be returned by the persons presiding over the elections to the seat of government, addressed to the President of the Senate; and on the second day of the General Assembly, the members of the two houses shall meet in the House of Representatives, and immediately after, the two candidates who shall have obtained the greatest number of votes shall be balloted for, and the one having a majority of votes shall be Governor: Provided, however, That if more than two candidates have obtained the highest number of votes, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to ballot for them in the manner above prescribed, and in case several candidates should obtain an equal number of votes, next to the candidate who has obtained the highest number, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to select in the same manner, the candidate who is to be balloted for with him who has obtained the highest number of votes.

Section 3. The Governor shall be ineligible for the succeeding four years after the expiration of the time for which be shall have been elected.

Section 4. He shall be at least thirty-five years of age, and a citizen of the United States, and have been an inhabitant of this State at least six years preceding his election, and shall hold in his own right a landed estate of five thousand dollars value, agreeably to the tax list.

Section 5. He shall commence the execution of his office on the fourth Monday succeeding the day of his election, and shall continue in the execution thereof, until the end of four weeks next succeeding the election of his successor, and until his successor shall have taken the oaths or affirmations prescribed by this Constitution.

Section 6. No member of Congress, or person holding any office under the United States, or minister of any religious society, shall be eligible to the office of Governor.

Section 7. The Governor shall, at stated times, receive for his SIG. 4.

services a compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the term for which he shall have been elected.

Section 8. He shall be Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy of this State, and of the militia thereof, except when they shall be called into the service of the United States, but he shall not command personally in the field, unless he shall be advised so to do by a resolution of the General Assembly.

Section 9. He shall nominate and appoint, with the advice and consent of the Senate, Judges, Sheriffs, and all other officers whose offices are established by this Constitution, and whicse appointments are not herein otherwise provided for: Provided, however, That the Legislature shall have a right to prescribe the mode of appointment of all other offices to be established by law.

Section 10. The Governor shall have power to fill up vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Legislature, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of the next session.

Section 11. He shall have power to remit fines and forfeitures, and, except in cases of impeachment, to grant reprieves and pardons, with the approbation of the Senate. In cases of treason he shall have power to grant reprieves until the end of the next session of the General Assembly in which the power of pardoning shall be vested.

Section 12. He may require information, in writing, from the officers in the executive department, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.

Section 13. He shall, from time to time, give to the General Assembly information respecting the situation of the State, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he may deem expedient.

Section 14. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the General Assembly at the seat of government, or at a different place if that should have become dangerous from an enemy or from contagious disorders; and in case of disagreement between two houses with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he may think proper, not excceding four months. Section 15. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

Section 16. It shall be his duty to visit the different counties at least once in every two years, to inform himself of the state of the militia and the general condition of the country.

Section 17. In case of the impeachment of the Governor, his removal from office, death, refusal to qualify, resignation, or absence from the State, the President of the Senate shall exercise all the power and authority appertaining to the office of Governor, until another be duly qualified, or the Governor absent or impeached shall return or be acquitted.

Section 18. The President of the Senate, during the time he administers the government, shall receive the same compensation which the Governor would have received had he been employed in the duties of his office.

Section 19. A Secretary of State shall be appointed and commissioned during that time for which the Governor shall have been elected, if he shall so long behave himself well; he shall keep a fair register, and attest all official acts and proceedings of the Governor, and shall, when required, lay the same, and all papers, minutes and vouchers relative thereto, before either House of the General Assəmbly, and shall perform such other duties as may be enjoined him by law.

Section 20. Every bill which shall have passed both houses shall be presented to the Governor, if he approve, he shall sign it, if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to the house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large upon their journal, and proceed to reconsider it; if, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of all the members elected to that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be scnt, with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by twothirds of all the members elected to that house, it shall be a law; but in such cases, the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house, respectively. any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within ten days, (Sundays excepted,) after it shall have been presented to him, it shall be a law in like manner as if he had sighed it, unless the General Assembly, by adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall be a law, unless sent back within three days after their next meeting.

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Section 21. Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of both houses may be necessary, except on a question of adjournment, shall be presented to the Governor, and before it shall take effect, be approved by him; or being disappoved shall be repassed by two-thirds of both houses.

Section 22. The free white men of this State shall be armed and disciplined for its defense; but those who belong to religious societies whose tenets forbid them to carry arms, shall not be compelled so to do, but shall pay an equivolent for personal services.

Section 23. The militia of this State shall be organized in such manner as may be hereafter deemed most expedient by the Legisla

ture.

ARTICLE IV.

Concerning the Judiciary Department.

Section 1. The judiciary power shall be vested in a Supreme Court and inferior Courts.

Section 2. The Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction only, which jurisdiction shall extend to all civil cases when the matter in dispute shall exceed the sum of three hundred dollars. * Section 3. The Supreme Court shall consist of not less than three judges, nor more than five; the majority of whom shall form a quorum; each of said judges shall receive a salary of five thousand

dollars, annually. The Supreme Court shall hold its sessions at the places hereinafter mentioned; and for that purpose the State is hereby divided into two districts of appellate jurisdiction, in each of which the Supreme Court shall administer justice in the manner hereinafter prescribed. The Eastern District to consist of the counties of New Orleans, German Coast, Acadia, Lafourche, Iberville and Point Coupée; the Western District to consist of the counties of Attakapas, Opelousas, Rapides, Concordia, Natchitoches and Ouachita. The Supreme Court shall hold its sessions in each year; for the Eastern District, in New Orleans, during the months of November, December, January, February, March, April, May, June and July; and for the Western District, at the Opelousas, during the months of August, September and October, for five years: Provided however, That every five years the Legislature may change the place of holding said Court in the Western District. The said Court shall appoint its own clerks.

Section 4. The Legislature is authorized to establish such inferior Courts as may be convenient to the administration of justice.

Section 5. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior; but for any reasonable cause which shall not be sufficient ground for impeachment, the Governor shall remove any of them, on the address of three-fourths of each House of the General Assembly: Provided, however, That the cause or causes for which such removal may be required, shall be stated at length in the address, and inserted on the journal of each house.

Section 6. The judges, by virtue of their offices, shall be conservators of the peace throughout the State; the style of all process shall be "the State of Louisiana." All prosecutions shall be carried on in the name and by the authority of the State of Louisiana, and conclude "against the peace and dignity of the same."

Section 7: There shall be an Attorney General for the State, and as many other prosecuting attorneys for the State as may be hereafter found necessary. The said attorneys shall be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and approbation of the Senate. Their duties shall be determined by law.

Section 8. All commissions shall be in the name and by the authority of the State of Louisiana, and sealed with the State seal, and signed by the Governor.

Section 9. The State Treasurer, and Printer or Printers of the State shall be appointed annually, by the joint vote of both houses of the General Assembly: Provided, That during the recess of the same, the Governor shall have power to fill vacancies which may happen in either of the said offices.

Section 10. The clerks of the several Courts shall be removable for beach of good behavior, by the Court of Appeals only, who shall be judge of the fact as well as of the law.

Section 11. The existing laws in this Territory, when this Constitution goes into effect, shall continue to be in force until altered or abolished by the Legislature: Provided, however, That the Legis

lature shall never adopt any system or code of laws, by a general reference to the said system or code; but in all cases, shall specify the several provisions of the laws it may enact.

Section 12. The judges of all the Courts within this State shall, as often as it may be possible so to do, in every definite judgment, refer to the particular law, in virtue of which such judgment may have been rendered; and in all cases, adduce the reasons on which their judgment is founded.

ARTICLE V.

Concerning Impeachment.

Section 1. The power of impeachment shall be vested in the House of Representatives alone.

Section 2. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate. When sitting for that purpose the Senators shall be upon oath or affirmation, and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present.

Section 3. The Governor and all civil officers shall be liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office, but judgment, in such cases, shall not extend further than to the removal from office and disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust or profit under this State; but the parties convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to indictment, trial and punishment, according to law.

ARTICLE VI.
General Provisions.

Section 1. Members of the General Assembly and all officers, executive and judicial, before they enter upon the execution of their respective offices, shall take the following oath or affirmation: "I, (A. B.,) do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me according to the best of my abilities and understanding, agreeably to the rules and regulations of the Constitution, and the laws of the State, so help me God."

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Section 2. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war against it, or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or his own confession in open Court.

Section 3. Every person shall be disqualified from serving as Governor, Senator, or Representative, for the term for which he shall have been elected, who shall have been convicted of having given or offered any bribe to procure his election.

Section 4. Laws shall be made to exclude from office and from suffrage those who shall thereafter be convicted of bribery, perjury, forgery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors. The privilege of free suffrage shall be supported by laws regulating elections, and prohibiting, under adequate penalties, all undue influence thereon, from power, bribery, tumult, or other improper practices.