elective under this State or the United States: Provided, that no soldier, seaman, or marine in the army or navy of the United States, shall be entitled to vote at any election within this State.

Time of choosing Representatives.

2. The House of Representatives shall consist of members to be chosen every second year by the qualified electors of the several counties.

Qualifications of a Representative.

4. No person shall be a member of the House of Representatives, who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years; who shall not be a free white male citizen of the United States; who shall not, at the time of his election, have an actual residence in the county he may be chosen to represent.

Qualifications of a Senator.

5. The Senate shall consist of members to be chosen every four years by the qualified electors of the several districts.

6. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained the age of thirty years; who shall not be a free white male citizen of the United States; who shall not have been an inhabitant of this State one year; and who shall not, at the time of his election, have an actual residence in the district he may be chosen to represent.

Meeting of the General Assembly.

7. The General Assembly shall meet every two years, on the first Monday of November, at the seat of government, until altered by law.

The Mode of Election, and Time, and Privilege of Electors.

8. All general elections shall be rira voce, until otherwise directed by law, and shall commence and be holden every two years, on the first Monday in October, until altered by law; and the electors in all cases, except in cases of treason, felony, and breach of the peace, shall be privileged from arrest during their attendance on elections, and in going to and returning therefrom.

Duty of Governor.

9. The Governor shall issue writs of election, to fill such vacancies as shall occur in either house of the General Assembly.

10. No judge of the Supreme, Circuit, or inferior courts of law or equity, Secretary of State, Attorney for the United States, State auditor or treasurer, register or recorder, clerk of any court of record, sheriff, coroner, member of Congress, nor any other person holding any lucrative office under the United States, or this State, (militia officers, justices of the peace, postmasters, and judges of the county courts, excepted,) shall be eligible to a seat in either house of the General Assembly.

11. No person who now is, or shall be hereafter, a collector, or holder of public money, nor any assistant or deputy of such holder or collector of public money, shall be eligible to a seat in either house of the General Assembly, nor to any office of profit or trust, until he shall have accounted for and paid over all sums for which he may have been liable.

12. The General Assembly shall exclude from every office of trust and profit, and from the right of suffrage within this State, all persons convicted of bribery, perjury, or other infamous crime.

13. Every person who shall have been convicted of directly or indirectly giving or offering any bribe, to procure his election or appointment, shall be disqualified from holding any office of trust or profit in this State; and any person who shall give or offer any bribe to procure the election or appointment of any person, shall, on conviction thereof, be disqualified from being an elector, or from holding any office of trust or profit under this State.

14. No senator nor representative shall, during the term for which he shall have been elected, be appointed to any civil office under this State, which shall

have been created, or the emoluments of which shall have been increased, durin his continuance in office; except such offices as shall be filled by the electia of the people.

15. Each house shall appoint its own officers, and shall judge of the qualifications, returns, and elections of its own members. Two-thirds of each house shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each house shall provide.

16. Each house may determine rules for its own proceedings, punish its own members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of the members elected, expel a member; but no member shall be expelled a second time for the same offence. They shall each, from time to time, publish a journal of their proceedings, except such parts as may, in their opinion, require secrecy and the yeas and nays on any question shall be entered on the jour nal at the desire of any five members.

17. The door of each house, when in session, or in committee of the whole, shall be kept open, except in cases which may require secrecy: and each house may punish, by fine and imprisonment, any person, not a member, who shall be guilty of disrespect to the house, by any disorderly or contemptuous behavior in their presence during their session; but such imprisonment shall not extend beyond the final adjournment of that session.

18. Bills may originate in either house, and be amended or rejected in the other; and every bill shall be read on three different days in each house, unless two-thirds of the house where the same is pending shall dispense with the rules; and every bill having passed both houses shall be signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

19. Whenever an officer, civil or military, shall be appointed by the joint or concurrent vote of both houses, or by the separate vote of either house of the General Assembly, the vote shall be given viva voce, and entered on the journal.

20. The senators and representatives shall, in all cases except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of the General Assembly, and for fifteen days before the commencement and after the termination of each session; and for any speech or debate in either house they shall not be questioned in any other place.

21. The members of the General Assembly shall severally receive from the public treasury compensation for their services, which may be increased or diminished; but no alteration of such compensation of members shall take effect during the session at which it is made.

The manner of bringing Suits against the State.

22. The General Assembly shall direct, by law, in what courts and in what manner suits may be commenced against the State.

23. They shall have power to pass all laws that are necessary to prohibit the introduction in this State of any slave or slaves who may have committed any high crime in any other State or Territory.

24. The General Assembly shall not have power to pass any bill of divorce; but may prescribe by law the manner in which such cases shall be investigated in the courts of justice, and divorces granted.

25. The General Assembly shall have power to prohibit the introduction of any slave or slaves for the purpose of speculation, or as an article of trade and merchandise; to oblige the owners of any slave or slaves to treat them with humanity; and in the prosecution of slaves for any crime, they shall not be deprived of an impartial jury; and any slave who shall be convicted of a capital offence shall suffer the same degree of punishment as would be inflicted on a free white person, and no other; and courts of justice, before whom slaves shall be tried, shall assign them counsel for their defense.

26. The Governor, Secretary of State, auditor, treasurer, and all the judges of the Supreme, Circuit, and inferior courts of law and equity, and the prose cuting attorney for the State, shall be liable to impeachment for any malprac

tice or misdemeanor in office; but judgment in such cases shall not extend farther than removal from office, and disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit, under this State. The party impeached, whether convicted or acquitted, shall nevertheless be liable to be indicted, tried, and punished according to law.

27. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment; and all impeachments shall be tried by the Senate; and when sitting for that purpose, the senators shall be on oath or affirmation to do justice according to law and evidence. When the Governor shall be tried, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the senators elected; and for reasonable cause, which shall not be sufficient ground of impeachment, the Governor shall, on the joint address of two-thirds of each branch of the General Assembly, remove from office the judges of the Supreme and inferior courts: Provided, the cause or causes of removal be spread on the journals, and the party charged be notified of the same, heard by himself and counsel, before the vote is finally taken and decided.

28. The appointment of all officers not otherwise directed by this Constitution, shall be made in such manner as may be prescribed by law; and all officers, both civil and military, acting under the authority of this State, shall before entry on the duties of their respective offices, take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States, and of this State, and to demean themselves faithfully in office.

29. No county now established by law shall ever be reduced, by the establishment of any new county or counties, to less than nine hundred square miles, nor to a less population than its ratio of representation in the House of Representatives; nor shall any county be hereafter established which shall contain less than nine hundred square miles, (except Washington county, which may be reduced to six hundred square miles,) or a less population than would entitle such county to a member in the House of Representatives.

30. The style of the laws of the State shall be, "Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas."

31. The State shall, from time to time, be divided into convenient districts in such manner that the Senate shall be based upon the free white male inhabitants of the State, each senator representing an equal number, as nearly as practicable.

And the Senate shall never consist of less than seventeen nor more than thirty-three members; and as soon as the Senate shall meet after the first election to be held under the Constitution, they shall cause the senators to be divided by lot, into two classes, nine of the first class and eight of the second class; and the seats of the first class shall be vacated at the end of two years from the time of their election, and the seats of the second class at the end of four years from the time of their election; in order that one class of the senators may be elected every two years.

32. An enumeration of the inhabitants of the State shall be taken under the direction of the General Assembly, on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, and at the end of every four years thereafter; and the General Assembly shall, at the first session after the return of every enumeration, so alter and arrange the senatorial districts, that each district shall contain, as nearly as practicable, an equal number of free white male inhabitants: Provided, that Washington county, as long as the population shall justify the same, may, according to its numbers, elect more than one senator; and such districts shall then remain unaltered, until the return of another enumeration; and shall, at all times, consist of contiguous territory, and no county shall be divided in the formation of a senatorial district.

33. The ratio of representation in the Senate shall be fifteen hundred free white male inhabitants to each senator, until the senators amount to twentyfive in number; and then they shall be equally apportioned upon the same basis throughout the State, in such ratio as the increased numbers of free white male inhabitants may require, without increasing the senators to a greater number

than twenty-five, until the population of the State amounts to five hundred thousand souls; and when an increase of senators takes place, they shall, from time to time, be divided by lot, and classed as prescribed above.

34. The House of Representatives shall consist of not less than fifty-four nor more than one hundred representatives, to be apportioned among the several counties in this State, according to the number of free white male inhabitants therein, taking five hundred as the ratio, until the number of representatives amount to seventy-five; and when they amount to seventy-five, they shall not be farther increased until the population of the State amounts to five hundred thousand souls: Provided, that each county now organized shall, although its population may not give the existing ratio, always be entitled to one representative.

Mode of amending the Constitution.

35. The General Assembly may at any time propose such amendments to this Constitution as two-thirds of each house shall deem expedient, which shall be published in all the newspapers published in this State, three several times, at least twelve months before the next general election; and if, at the first session of the General Assembly, after such general election, two-thirds of each house shall, by yeas and nays, ratify such proposed amendments, they shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as parts of this Constitution: Provided, that such proposed amendments shall be read on three several days in each house, as well when the same are proposed as when they are finally ratified.

ARTICLE V.-Executive Department.

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

2. The Governor shall be elected by the qualified electors, at the time and places where they shall respectively vote for representatives.

3. The returns of every election for Governor shall be sealed up and transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall, during the first week of the session, open and publish them, in the presence of both houses of the General Assembly. The person having the highest number of votes shall be Governor; but if two or more shall be equal and highest in votes, one of them shall be chosen Governor by the joint vote of both houses. Contested elections for Governor shall be determined by both houses of the General Assembly, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.

4. The Governor shall hold his office for the term of four years from the time of his installation, and until his successor shall be duly qualified; but shall not be eligible for more than eight years in any term of twelve years. He shall be at least thirty years of age, a native-born citizen of Arkansas, or a native-born citizen of the United States, or a resident of Arkansas ten years previous to the adoption of the Constitution, if not a native of the United States; and shall have been a resident of the same at least four years next before his election.

5. He shall at stated times receive a compensation for his services, which shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which he shall have been elected: nor shall he receive within that period, any other emolument from the United States, or any one of them, or from any foreign power.

6. He shall be commander-in-chief of the army of this State, and of the militia thereof, except when they shall be called into the service of the United States.

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

8. He may, by proclamation, on extraordinary occasions, convene the General Assembly at the seat of government, or at a different place if that shall have become, since their last adjournment, dangerous from an enemy or from contagious diseases. In case of disagreement between the two houses with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper, not beyond the day of the next meeting of the General Assembly.

9. He shall, from time to time, give the General Assembly information of the state of the government, and recommend to their consideration, such measures as he may deem expedient.

10. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

11. In all criminal and penal cases, except in those of treason and impeachment, he shall have power to grant pardons after convictions, and remit fines and forfeitures, under such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by law. In cases of treason, he shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to grant reprieves and pardons; and he may, in the recess of the Senate, respite the sentence until the end of the next session of the General Assembly.

12. There shall be a seal of this State, which shall be kept by the Governor, and used by him officially; and the present seal of the territory shall be the seal of the State, until otherwise directed by the General Assembly.

13. All commissions shall be in the name and by the authority of the State of Arkansas; be sealed with the seal of the State, signed by the Governor, and attested by the Secretary of State.

14. There shall be a Secretary of State elected by a joint vote of both houses of the General Assembly, who shall continue in office during the term of four years, and until his successor in office be duly qualified. He shall keep a fair register of all the official acts and proceedings of the Governor, and shall, when required, lay the same, and all papers, minutes, and vouchers relative thereto, before the General Assembly; and shall perform such other duties as may be required by law.

15. Vacancies that may happen in offices, the election to which is vested in the General Assembly, shall be filled by the Governor during the recess of the General Assembly, by granting commissions, which shall expire at the end of the next session.

16. Every bill which shall have passed both houses shall be presented to the Governor; if he approve, he shall sign it; but if he shall not approve it, he shall return it, with his objections, to the house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter his objections at large upon their journals and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, a majority of the whole number elected to that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent with the objections to the other house, by which, likewise, it shall be reconsidered; and, if approved by a majority of the whole number 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 persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within three days, Sundays excepted, after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the General Assembly, by their adjournment, prevent its return; in such cases it shall not be a law.

17: Every order or resolution to which the concurrence of both houses may be necessary, except on questions of adjournment, shall be presented to the Governor, and before it shall take effect, be approved by him, or, being disapproved, shall be repassed by both houses, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.

18. 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 authority appertaining to the office of Governor, until another Governor shall have been elected and qualified, or until the Governor absent or impeached, return or be acquitted.

19. If, during the vacancy of the office of Governor, the President of the Senate shall be impeached, removed from office, refuse to qualify, resign, die, or be absent from the State, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall in like manner administer the Government.

20. The President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representa tives, during the time they respectively administer the government, shall re