Detailed Comparisons of the Constitutions of 1851 and 1802 and Changes Proposed by the Constitution of 1874

COMPARISON OF THE CONSTITUTIONS OF 1851 AND 1802 SHOWING CHANGES MADE BY THE CONSTITUTION OF 1851

Preamble: reduced from one hundred and sixty-five to twentyeight words. The Constitution of 1802 contains no reference to Deity; the Constitution of 1851 does.

ARTICLE I [Constitution of 1851]

SEC. 2. Prohibits the granting of special privileges and immunities by the general assembly.

SEC. 7. Guarantees the right of any person to be a witness without regard to his religious belief.

SEC. 15. Forbids "imprisonment for debt in any civil action," unless in case of fraud.

SEC. 19. Prescribes a definite process for taking private property for public use.

ARTICLE II

SEC. 3. Provides that senators and representatives shall have resided in their respective counties or districts one year next preceding their election. All reference to age as a qualification for membership in the general assembly omitted.

SEC. 5. Prohibits persons convicted of embezzlement of public funds from holding any office in the state; also prohibits a person holding public money from having a seat in the general assembly until he shall have accounted for and paid such money into the treasury.

SEC. 6. Makes a quorum consist of a majority of the members elected to each house.

SEC. 7. Gives the general assembly the power to prescribe the method of organizing the house of representatives.

SEC. 9. Makes it necessary that, in the passage of a bill in either house, the yeas and nays shall be entered upon the journal, and that for the passage of a bill in either house, a majority of all members elected to such house shall vote for it.

SEC. 10. Allows any member the right to have a protest entered upon the journal.

SEC. 12. Provides that, in filling vacancies in either house, it shall be done in a manner prescribed by law, instead of merely authorizing the governor to issue writs of election as provided by the Constitution of 1802.

SEC. 13. Requires a two-thirds vote to make the proceedings of either house secret.

SEC. 14. Excludes Sundays in counting the two days for which either house may adjourn without the consent of the other.

SEC. 16. Requires that every bill shall be "fully and distinctly" read; that no bill shall contain more than one subject; and that no law shall be revived or amended unless the new act contain the entire act revived or the section or sections amended.

SEC. 17. Provides that the presiding officer shall "publicly in the presence of the house" sign all bills and resolutions passed by the general assembly.

SEC. 18. Extends to one year after the end of his term the time within which a senator or representative is prohibited from being appointed to any civil office under this state, the emoluments of which have been

increased during the term for which he shall have been elected.

SEC. 22. Provides that no appropriation shall be made for a longer period than two years.

SEC. 25. Provides that the general assembly shall meet the first Monday of January biennially.

SEC. 26. Makes it necessary that all laws of a general nature shall have uniform operation throughout the

state.

SEC. 27. Takes from the general assembly the power of appointing judges and other officers.

SEC. 28. Prohibits the enactment of retroactive laws. SEC. 29. Prohibits extra compensation to any officer, public agent, or contractor, after the service has been rendered or the contract entered into; also prohibits the payment of any claim, the subject-matter of which shall not have been provided for by pre-existent law, unless such compensation or claim be allowed by two-thirds of the members elected to each branch of the general assembly.

SEC. 31. Provides for a fixed compensation for members and officers of the general assembly, and that "no change in their compensation shall take effect during their term of office."

SEC. 32. It is provided that no divorce shall be granted by the general assembly, and that no judicial power shall be exercised by it except that which is expressly conferred by the Constitution.

ARTICLE III

SECTION 1. A lieutenant-governor is provided for. There was none under the Constitution of 1802. Under the Constitution of 1802 the general assembly had power