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3. The principal of the common school fund shall remain a perpetual fund, which may be increased, but shall never be diminished; and the income thereof shall be inviolably appropriated to the support of common schools, and to no other purpose whatever.

4. The general assembly shall invest, in some safe and profitable manner, all such portions of the common school fund as have not heretofore been intrusted to the several counties; and shall make provision by law for the distribution among the several counties of the interest thereof.

5. If any county shall fail to demand its proportion of such interest for common school purposes, the same shall be reinvested for the benefit of such county.

6. The several counties shall be held liable for the preservation of so much of the said fund as may be intrusted to them, and for the payment of the annual interest thereon.

7. All trust funds held by the state shall remain inviolate, and be faithfully and exclusively applied to the purposes for which the trust was created.

8. The general assembly shall provide for the election, by the voters of the state, of a state superintendent of public instruction, who shall hold his office for two years, and whose duties and compensation shall be prescribed by law.

ARTICLE IX.-State Institutions.

21. It shall be the duty of the general assembly to provide by law for the support of institutions for the education of the deaf and dumb, and of the blind, and also for the treatment of the insane.

2. The general assembly shall provide houses of refuge for the correction and reformation of juvenile offenders.

3. The county boards shall have power to provide farms, as an asylum for those persons who, by reason of age, infirmity, or other misfortune, may have claims upon the sympathies and aid of society.

ARTICLE X.-Finance.

21. The general assembly shall provide by law for a uniform and equal rate of assessment and taxation, and shall prescribe such regulations as shall secure a just valuation for taxation of all property, both real and personal, excepting such only for municipal, educational, literary, scientfic, religious, or charitable purposes, as may be specially exempted by law.

2. All the revenues derived from the sale of any of the public works belonging to the state, and from the net annual income thereof, and any surplus that may at any time remain in the treasury derived from taxation for general state purposes, after the payment of the ordinary expenses of the government, and of the interest on bonds of the state, other than bank bonds, shall be annually applied, under the direction of the general assembly, to the payment of the principal of the public debt.

3. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in pursuance of appropriations made by law.

4. An accurate statement of the receipts and expenditures of the public money shall be published with the laws of each regular session of the general assembly. 5. No law shall authorize any debt to be contracted on behalf of the state, except in the following cases: To meet casual deficits in the revenue, to pay the interest on the state debt, to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or if hostilities be threatened, provide for the public defence.

6. No county shall subscribe for stock in any incorporated company, unless the same be paid for at the time of such subscription; nor shall any county loan its credit to any incorporated company, nor borrow money for the purpose of taking stock in any such company; nor shall the general assembly ever on behalf of the state assume the debts of any county, city, town, or township, nor of any corpora tion whatever.

ARTICLE XI.-Corporations.

21. The general assembly shall not have power to establish or incorporate any bank or banking company, or moneyed institution, for the purpose of issuing bills of credit, or bills payable to order or bearer, except under the conditions prescribed in this constitution.

2. No banks shall be established otherwise than under a general banking law, except as provided in the fourth section of this article.

3. If the general assembly shall enact a general banking law, such law shall provide for the registry and countersigning by an officer of state of all paper credit de signed to be circulated as money, and ample collateral security, readily convertible

into specie, or the redemption of the same in gold or silver, shall be required, which collateral security shall be under the control of the proper officer or officers of state. 4. The general assembly may also charter a bank with branches without collateral security, as required in the preceding section.

5. If the general assembly shall establish a bank with branches, the branches shall be mutually responsible for each other's liabilities upon all paper credit issued as money.

6. The stockholders in every bank or banking company shall be individually responsible to an amount over and above their stock, equal to their respective shares of stock, for all debts or liabilities of said bank or banking company.

7. All bills or notes issued as money shall be at all times redeemable in gold or silver; and no law shall be passed sanctioning, directly or indirectly, the suspension by any bank or banking company of specie payments.

8. Holders of bank notes shall be entitled, in case of insolvency, to preference of payment over all other creditors.

9. No bank shall receive, directly or indirectly, a greater rate of interest than shall be allowed by law to individuals loaning money.

10. Every bank or banking company shall be required to cease all banking operations within twenty years from the time of its organization, and promptly thereafter to close its business.

11. The general assembly is not prohibited from investing the trust funds in a bank with branches; but in case of such investment, the safety of the same shall be guarantied by unquestionable security.

12. The state shall not be a stockholder in any bank after the expiration of the present bank charter; nor shall the credit of the state ever be given or loaned in aid of any person, association, or corporation:, nor shall the state hereafter become a stockholder in any corporation or association.

13. Corporations, other than banking, shall not be created by special act, but may be formed under general law.

14. Dues from corporations, other than banking, shall be secured by such individual liability of the corporators, or other means, as may be prescribed by law.

ARTICLE XII.-Militia.

21. The militia shall consist of all able-bodied white male persons, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, except such as may be exempted by the laws of the United States, or of this state; and shall be organized, officered, armed, equipped, and trained, in such manner as may be provided by law.

2. The governor shall appoint the adjutant, quartermaster, and commissary-generals.

3. All militia officers shall be commissioned by the governor, and shall hold their offices not longer than six years.

4. The general assembly shall determine the method of dividing the militia into divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions, and companies, and fix the rank of all staff officers.

5. The militia may be divided into classes of sedentary and active militia, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.

6. No person conscientiously opposed to bearing arms shall be compelled to do militia duty; but such person shall pay an equivalent for exemption, the amount to be prescribed by law.

ARTICLE XIII.-Negroes and Mulattoes.

21 No negro or mulatto shall come into, or settle in the state, after the adoption of this constitution.

2. All contracts made with any negro or mulatto coming into the state, contrary to the provision of the foregoing section, shall be void; and any person who shall employ such negro or mulatto, or otherwise encourage him to remain in the state, shall be fined in any sum not less than ten dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars.

3. All fines which may be collected for a violation of the provisions of this article, or of any law which may hereafter be passed for the purpose of carrying the same into execution, shall be set apart and appropriated for the colonization of such negroes and mulattoes, and their descendants, as may be in the state at the adoption of this constitution, and may be willing to emigrate.

4. The general assembly 'shall pass laws to carry out the provisions of this article.

ARTICLE XIV.-Boundaries.

1. In order that the boundaries of the state may be known and established, it is

hereby ordained and declared, that the state of Indiana is bounded on the east by the meridian line which forms the western boundary of the state of Ohio; on the south by the Ohio river, from the mouth of the Great Miami river to the mouth of the Wabash river; on the west by a line drawn along the middle of the Wabash river from its mouth, to a point where a due north line drawn from the town of Vincennes would last touch the north-western shore of said Wabash river; and thence by a due north line until the same shall intersect an east and west line drawn through a point ten miles north of the southern extreme of Lake Michigan; on the north by said east and west line until the same shall intersect the firstmentioned meridian line, which forms the western boundary of the state of Ohio.

2. The state of Indiana shall possess jurisdiction and sovereignty co-extensive with the boundaries declared in the preceding section; and shall have concurrent jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases with the state of Kentucky on the Ohio river, and with the state of Illinois on the Wabash river, so far as said rivers form the common boundary between this state and said states respectively.

ARTICLE XV.-Miscellaneous.

21. All officers whose appointment is not otherwise provided for in this constitution, shall be chosen in such manner as now is, or may hereafter be, prescribed by law.

2. When the duration of any office is not provided for by this constitution, it may be declared by law; and if not so declared, such office shall be held during the pleasure of the authority making the appointment. But the general assembly shall not create any office, the tenure of which shall be longer than four years.

3. Whenever it is provided in this constitution, or in any law which may be hereafter passed, that any officer, other than a member of the general assembly, shall hold his office for any given term, the same shall be construed to mean that such officer shall hold his office for such term, and until his successor shall have been elected and qualified.

4. Every person elected or appointed to any office under this constitution shall, before entering on the duties thereof, take an oath or affirmation to support the constitution of this state and of the United States, and also an oath of office.

5. There shall be a seal of state kept by the governor for official shall be called the seal of the state of Indiana.

purposes, which 6. All commissions shall issue in the name of the state, shall be signed by the governor, sealed with the state seal, and attested by the secretary of state.

7. No county shall be reduced to an area less than four hundred square miles; nor shall any county under that area be further reduced.

8. No lottery shall be authorized, nor shall the sale of lottery tickets be allowed. 9. The following grounds, owned by the state in Indianapolis, namely: The State House Square, the Governor's Circle, and so much of out-lot numbered one hundred and forty-seven as lies north of the arm of the central canal, shall not be sold or leased.

10. It shall be the duty of the general assembly to provide for the permanent enclosure and preservation of the Tippecanoe battle ground.

ARTICLE XVI.-Amendments.

1. Any amendment or amendments to this constitution may be proposed in either branch of the general assembly, 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 amendments shall, with the yeas and nays thereon, be entered on their journals, and referred to the general assembly to be chosen at the next general election; and if in the general assembly 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 general assembly to submit such amendment or amendments to the electors of the state; and if a majority of said electors shall ratify the same, such amendment or amendments shall become a part of this constitution.

2. If two or more amendments shall be submitted at the same time, they shall be submitted in such manner that the electors shall vote for or against each of such amendments separately; and while an amendment or amendments which shall have been agreed upon by one general assembly shall be awaiting the action of a succeeding general assembly, or of the electors, no additional amendment or amendments shall be proposed.

2F2.

SCHEDULE.

THIS Constitution, if adopted, shall take effect on the first day of November, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, and shall supersede the constitution adopted in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixteen. That no inconvenience may arise from the change in the government, it is hereby ordained as follows:

1. All laws now in force, and not inconsistent with this constitution, shall remain in force until they shall expire or be repealed.

2. All indictments, prosecutions, suits, pleas, plaints, and other proceedings pending in any of the courts, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution; and all appeals, writs of error, certiorari, and injunctions, shall be carried on in the several courts in the same manner as is now provided by law.

3. All fines, penalties, and forfeitures due or accruing to the state, or to any county therein, shall inure to the state, or to such county, in the manner prescribed by law. All bonds executed to the state, or to any officer in his official capacity, shall remain in force, and inure to the use of those concerned.

4. All acts of incorporation for municipal purposes shall continue in force under this constitution, until such time as the general assembly shall, in its discretion, modify or repeal the same.

5. The governor, at the expiration of the present official term, shall continue to act until his successor shall have been sworn into office.

6. There shall be a session of the general assembly, commencing on the first Monday of December, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.

7. Senators now in office and holding over under the existing constitution, and such as may be elected at the next general election, and the representatives then elected, shall continue in office until the first general election under this constitution.

8. The first general election under this constitution shall be held in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.

9. The first election for governor, lieutenant-governor, judges of the supreme court and circuit courts, clerk of the supreme court, prosecuting attorney, secretary, auditor, and treasurer of state, and state superintendent of public instruction, under this constitution, shall be held at the general election in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two; and such of said officers as may be in office when this constitution shall go into effect, shall continue in their respective offices, until their successors shall have been elected and qualified.

10. Every person elected by popular vote, and now in any office which is continued by this constitution, and every person who shall be so elected to any such office before the taking effect of this constitution (except as in this constitution otherwise provided), shall continue in office until the term for which such person has been, or may be elected, shall expire: Provided, that no such person shall continue in office after the taking effect of this constitution for a longer period than the term of such office in this constitution prescribed.

11. On the taking effect of this constitution, all officers thereby continued in office shall, before proceeding in the further discharge of their duties, take an oath or affirmation to support this constitution.

12. All vacancies that may occur in existing offices prior to the first general election under this constitution, shall be filled in the manner now prescribed by law.

13. At the time of submitting this constitution to the electors for their approval or disapproval, the article numbered thirteen, in relation to negroes and mulattoes, shall be submitted as a distinct proposition, in the following form: "Exclusion and colonization of negroes and mulattoes," "Aye" or "No." And if a majority of the votes cast shall be in favour of said article, then the same shall form a part of this constitution, otherwise it shall be void, and form no part thereof.

14. No article or section of this constitution shall be submitted as a distinct proposition to a vote of the electors, otherwise than is herein provided.

15. Whenever a portion of the citizens of the counties of Perry and Spencer shall deem it expedient to form of the contiguous territory of said counties a new county, it shall be the duty of those interested in the organization of such new county to lay off the same by proper metes and bounds, of equal portions as nearly as praeticable, not to exceed one-third of the territory of each of said counties. The proposal to create such new county shall be submitted to the voters of said counties at a general election, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. And if a majority of all the votes given at said election shall be in favour of the organization of said

new county, it shall be the duty of the general assembly to organize the same out of the territory thus designated.

16. The general assembly may alter or amend the charter of Clarksville, and make such regulations as may be necessary for carrying into effect the objects contemplated in granting the same; and the funds belonging to said town shall be applied according to the intention of the grantor.

Done in convention, at Indianapolis, the tenth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, and of the independence of the United States the seventy-fifth.

GEORGE WHITFIELD CARR, President.

CONSTITUTION OF LOUISIANA.

PREAMBLE.

WE, the people of the state of Louisiana, do ordain and establish this constitution.

TITLE I.

Distribution of Powers.

Article 1. The powers of the government of the state of Louisiana shall be divided into three distinct departments, and each of them be confided to a separate body of magistracy, to wit: those which are legislative to one; those which are executive to another, and those which are judicial to another.

Art. 2. No one of these departments, nor any person holding office in one of them, shall exercise power properly belonging to either of the others, except in the instances hereinafter expressly directed or permitted.

TITLE II.

Legislative Department.

Art. 3. The legislative power of the state shall be vested in two distinct branches, the one to be styled "the House of Representatives," the other "the Senate," and both "the General Assembly of the state of Louisiana."

Art. 4. The members of the house of representatives shall continue in service for the term of two years from the day of the closing of the general elections.

Art. 5. Representatives shall be chosen on the first Monday in November, every two years; and the election shall be completed in one day. The general assembly shall meet annually, on the third Monday in January, unless a different day be appointed by law, and their sessions shall be held at the seat of government.

Art. 6. Every duly qualified elector under this constitution shall be eligible to a seat in the general assembly; provided, that no person shall be a representative or senator, unless he be, at the time of his election, a duly qualified voter of the representative or senatorial district from which he is elected.

Art. 7. Elections for members of the general assembly shall be held at the several election precincts established by law. The legislature may delegate the power of establishing election precincts to the parochial or municipal authorities.

Art. 8. Representation in the house of representatives shall be equal and uniform, and shall be regulated and ascertained by the total population of each of the several parishes of the state. Each parish shall have at least one representative. No new parish shall be created with a territory less than six hundred and twenty-five square miles, nor with a population less than the full number entitling it to a representative, nor when the creation of such new parish would leave any other parish without the said extent of territory and amount of population.

The first enumeration by the state authorities under this constitution shall be made in the year 1853, the second in the year 1858, the third in the year 1865; after which time the general assembly shall direct in what manner the census shall be taken, so that it be made at least once in every period of ten years, for the purpose of ascertaining the total population in each parish and election district.

At the first regular session of the legislature after the making of each enumera

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