SECTION 11. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

SECTION 12. No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, nor any law impairing the obligation of contracts, shall ever be passed; and no conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate.

SECTION 13. The property of no person shall be taken for public use, without just compensation therefor.

SECTION 14. All lands within the State are declared to be allodial, and feudal tenures are prohibited. Leases and grants of agricultural land, for a longer term than fifteen years, in which rent or service of any kind shall be reserved, and all fines, and like restraints upon alienation, reserved in any grant of land hereafter made, are declared to be void.

SECTION 15. No distinction shall ever be made by law between resident aliens and citizens, in reference to the possesion, enjoyment or descent of property.

SECTION 16. No person shall be imprisoned for debt arising out of, or founded on, a contract, expressed or implied.

SECTION 17. The privilege of the debtor to enjoy the necessary comforts of life shall be recognized by wholesome laws, exempting a reasonable amount of property from seizure or sale for the payment of any debt or liability hereafter contracted.

SECTION 18. The right of every man to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of his own conscience shall never be infringed, nor shall any man be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry, against his consent. Nor shall any control of, or interference with, the rights of conscience be permitted, or any preference be given by law to any religious establishments or mode of worship. Nor shall any money be drawn from the treasury for the benefit of religious societies, or religious or theological seminaries.

SECTION 19. No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification for any office or public trust, under the State; and no person shall be rendered incompetent to give evidence in any court of law or equity in consequence of his opinions on the subject of religion. SECTION 20. The military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power.

SECTION 21.

Writs of error shall never be prohibited by law.

SECTION 22. The blessings of a free government can only be maintained by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.

ARTICLE II.

BOUNDARIES.

SECTION 1. It is hereby ordained and declared that the State of Wisconsin doth consent and accept of the boundaries prescribed in the act of Congress entitled "an act to enable the people of Wisconsin Territory to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the admission of such State into the Union," approved August sixth, one thousand eight hundred and forty-six, to wit: beginning at the northeast corner of the State of Illinois, that is to say, at a point in the center of Lake Michigan where the line of forty-two degrees and thirty minutes of north latitude crosses the same; thence, running with the boundary of the State of Michigan, through Lake Michigan, Green Bay, to the mouth of the Menomonee river; thence up the channel of the said river to the Brule river; thence up said last mentioned river to Lake Brule; thence along the southern shore of Lake Brule, in a direct line to the center of the channel between Middle and South Islands, in the Lake of the Desert; thence in a direct line to the head waters of the Montreal river, as marked upon the survey made by Captain Cram; thence down the main channel of the Montreal river to the middle of Lake Superior; thence through the center of Lake Superior to the mouth of the St. Louis river; thence up the main channel of said river to the fi st rapids in the same, above the Indian village, according to Nicollet's map; thence due south to the main branch of the river St. Croix; thence down the main channel of said river to the Mississippi; thence down the center of the main channel of that river to the northwest corner of the State of Illinois; thence due east with the northern boundary of the State of Illinois, to the place of beginning, as established by "an act to enable the people of the Illinois Territory to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States," approved April 18, 1818. [* Provided, however, That the following alteration of the aforesaid boundary be, and hereby is, proposed to the

Not assented to by Congress.

Congress of the United States as the preference of the State of Wisconsin, and if the same shall be assented and agreed to by the Congress of the United States, then the same shall be and forever remain obligatory on the State of Wisconsin, viz.: leaving the aforesaid boundary line at the foot of the rapids of the St. Louis river; thence, in a direct line bearing southwesterly, to the mouth of the Iskode wabo or Rum river, where the same empties into the Mississippi river, thence down the main channel of the said Mississippi river, as prescribed in the aforesaid boundary.]

SECTION 2. The propositions contained in the act of Congress are hereby accepted, ratified and confirmed, and shall remain irrevocable without the consent of the United States; and it is hereby ordained that this State shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil within the same, by the United States, nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to bona fide purchasers thereof; and no tax shall be imposed on land, the property of the United States; and in no case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. Provided, That nothing in this Constitution, or in the act of Congress aforesaid, shall in any manner prejudice or affect the right of the State of Wisconsin to five hundred thousand acres of land granted to said State, and to be hereafter selected and located, by and under the act of Congress, entit ed "an act to appropriate the proceeds of sales of tho public lands, and grant pre-emption rights," approved September fourth, one thousand eight hundred and forty-one.

ARTICLE III.

SUFFRAGE.

SECTION 1. Every male person, of the age of twenty-one years or upwards, belonging to either of the following classes, who shall have resided in the State for one year next preceding any election, shall be deemed a qualified elector at such election:

1. White citizens of the United States.

2. White persons of foreign birth, who shall have declared their intention to become citizens conformably to the laws of the United States on the subject of naturalization. 3. Persons of Indian blood, who have once been declared by law of Congress to be citizens of the United States, any subsequent law of Congress to the contrary notwithstanding.

4. Civilized persons of Indian descent, not members of any tribe. Provided, That the legislature may, at any time, extend by law the right of suffrage to persons not herein enumerated; but no such law shall be in force until the same shall have been submitted to a vote of the people at a general election, and approved by a majority of all the votes cast at such election.

SECTION 2. No person under guardianship, non compos mentis, or insane shall be qualified to vote at any election; nor shall any person convicted of treason or felony be qualified to vote at any election unless restored to civil rights.

SECTION 3. All votes shall be given by ballot, except for such township officers as may by law be directed or allowed to be otherwise chosen.

SECTION 4. No person shall be deemed to have lost his residence in this State by reason of his absence on business of the United States, or of this State.

SECTION 5. No soldier, seaman, or marine, in the army or navy of the United States shall be deemed a resident of this State in consequence of being stationed within the

same.

SECTION 6. Laws may be passed excluding from the right of suffrage all persons who have been or may be convicted of bribery or larceny, or of any infamous crime, and depriving every person who shall make, or become directly or indirectly interested in, any bet or wager depending upon the result of any election, from the right to vote at such election.

ARTICLE IV.
LEGISLATIVE.

SECTION 1. The legislative power shall be vested in a Senate and Assembly. SECTION 2. The number of the members of the Assembly shall never be less than fifty-four, nor more than one hundred. The Senate shall consist of a number not more than one-third, nor less than one-fourth, of the number of the members of the Assembly. SECTION 3. The Legislature shall provide by law for an enumeration of the inhabitants of the State, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, and at the end of every ten years thereafter; and at their first session after such enumeration, and also for each enumeration made by the authority of the United States, the Legislature shall apportion and district anew the members of the Senate and Assembly, according to the number of inhabitants, excluding Indians not taxed, and soldiers and officers of the United States army and navy.

SECTION 4. The members of the Assembly shall be chosen annually by single districts on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of November, by the qualified electors of the several districts; such districts to be bounded by county, precinct, town or ward lines, to consist of contiguous territory, and be in as compact form as practicable.

SECTION 5. The Senators shall be chosen by single districts of convenient contiguous territory, at the same time and in the same manner as members of the Assembly are required to be chosen, and no Assembly district shall be divided in the formation of a Senate district. The Senate districts shall be numbered in the regular series, and the Senators chosen by the odd numbered districts shall go out of office at the expiration of the first year, and the Senators chosen by the even numbered districts shall go out of office at the expiration of the second year, and thereafter the Senators shali be chosen for the term of two years.

SECTION 6. No person shall be eligible to the Legislature who shall not have resided one year within the State, and be a qualified elector in the district which he may be chosen to represent.

SECTION 7. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and may compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each House may provide.

SECTION 8. Each House may determine the rules of its own proceedings, punish for contempt and disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members elected, expel a member; but no member shall be expelled a second time for the

same cause.

SECTION 9. Each House shall choose its own officers, and the Senate shall choose a temporary President, when the Lieutenant Governor shall not attend as President, or shall act as Governor.

SECTION 10. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish the same, except such parts as require secrecy. The doors of each House shall be kept open except when the public welfare shall require secrecy. Neither House shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days.

SECTION 11. The Legislature shall meet at the seat of Government, at such time as shall be provided by law, once in each year, and no oftener, unless convened by the Governor.

SECTION 12. No member of the Legislature shall, during the term for which he was elected, be appointed or elected to any civil office in the State which shall have been created, or the emoluments of which shall have been increased, during the term for which he was elected.

SECTION 13. No person being a member of Congress, or holding any military or civil office under the United States, shall be eligible to a seat in the Legislature; and if any person shall, after his election as a member of the Legislature, be elected to Congress, or be appointed to any office, civil or military, under the Government of the United States, his acceptance thereof shall vacate his seat.

SECTION 14. The Governor shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies as may occur in either House of the Legislature.

SECTION 15. Members of the Legislature shall, in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest; nor shall they be subject to any civil proeess, during the session of the Legislature, nor for fifteen days next before the commencement and after the termination of each session.

SECTION 16. No member of the Legislature shall be liable in any civil action or criminal prosecution whatever, for words spoken in debate.

SECTION 17. The style of the laws of the State shall be, "The people of the State of Wisconsin, represented iu Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows," and no law shall be enacted except by bill.

SECTION 18. No private or local bill, which may be passed by the Legislature, shall embrace more than one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title.

SECTION 13. Any bill may originate in either House of the Legislature, and a bill passed by one House may be amended by the other.

SECTION 20. The yeas and nays of the members of either House, on any question, shall, at the request of one-sixth of those present, be entered on the journal.

SECTION 21. Each member of the Legislature shall receive for his services, two dollars and fifty cents for each day's attendance during the session, and ten cents for every mile he shall travel in going to and returning from the place of the meeting of the Legislature, on the most usual route.

SECTION 22. The Legislature may confer upon the Boards of Supervisors of the several

counties of the State, such powers, of a local, legislative, and administrative character, as they shall from time to time prescribe.

SECTION 23. The Legislature shall establish but one system of town and county government, which shall be as nearly uniform as practicable.

SECTION 24. The Legislature shall never authorize any lottery or grant any divorce. SECTION 25. The Legislature shall provide by law that all stationery required for the use of the State, and all printing authorized and required by them to be done for their use, or for the State, shall be let by contract to the lowest bidder; but the Legislature may establish a maximum price. No member of the Legislature, or other State officer, shall be interested, either directly or indirectly, in any such contract. SECTION 26. The Legislature shall never grant any extra compensation to any public officer, agent, servant or contractor, after the service shall have been rendered or the contract entered into. Nor shall the compensation of any public officer be increased or diminished during his term of office.

SECTION 27. The Legislature shall direct by law in what manner and in what courts suit may be brought against the state.

SECTION 28. Members of the Legislature, and all officers, executive and judicial, except such inferior officers as may be by law exempted, shall, before they enter upon the duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin, and faithfully to discharge the duties of their respective offices to the best of their ability.

SECTION 29. The Legislature shall determine what persons shall constitute the militia of the State, and may provide for organizing and disciplining the same, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.

SECTION 30. In all elections to be made by the Legislature, the members thereof shall vote viva voce, and their votes shall be entered on the journal.

ARTICLE V.
EXECUTIVE.

SECTION 1. The executive power shall be vested in a Governor who shall hold his office for two years. A Lieutenant Governor shall be elected at the same time, and for the same term.

SECTION 2. No person, except a citizen of the United States, and a qualified elector of the State shall be eligible to the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor.

SECTION 3. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be elected by the qualified electors of the State at the times and places of choosing members of the Legislature. The persons respectively having the highest number of votes for Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be elected. But in case two or more shall have an equal and the highest number of votes for Governor or Lieutenant Governor, the two Houses of the Legislature, at its next annual session, shall forthwith, by joint ballot, choose one of the persons so having an equal and the highest number of votes for Governor or Lieutenant Governor. The returns of election for Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be made in such manner as shall be provided by law.

SECTION 4. The Governor shall be Commander in-Chief of the military and naval forces of the State. He shall have the power to convene the Legislature on extraordinary occasions; and in case of invasion, or danger from the prevalence of contagious disease at the seat of the Government, he may convene them at any suitable place within the State. He shall communicate to the Legislature,at every session, the condition of the State, and recommend such matter to them for their consideration, as he may deem expedient. He shall transact all necessary business with the officers of the Government, civil and military. He shall expedite all such measures, as may be resolved upon by the Legislature, and shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

SECTION 5. The Governor shall receive during his continuance in office, an annual compensation of one thousand two hundred and fifty dollars.

SECTION 6. The Governor shall have the power to grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons, after conviction, for all offenses except treason and cases of impeachment, upon such conditions and with such restrictions and limitations as he may think proper, subject to such regulations as may be provided by law relative to the manner of applying for pardons. Upon conviction for treason, he shall have the power to suspend the execution of the sentence until the case shall be reported to the Legislature, at its next meeting, when the Legislature shall either pardon, or commute the sentence, direct the execution of the sentence or grant a further reprieve. He shall annually communicate to the Legislature each case of reprieve, commutation or pardon *

granted, stating the name of the convict, the crime of which he was convicted, the sentence and its date, and the date of the commutation, pardon, or reprieve, with his reasons for granting the same.

SECTION 7. In case of the impeachment of the Governor, or his removal from office, death, inability from mental or physical disease, resignation, or absence from the State, the powers and duties of the office shall devolve upon the Lieutenant Governor, for the residue of the term, or until the Governor, absent or impeached, shall have returned, or the disability shall cease. But when the Governor shall, with the consent of the Legislature, be out of the State in time of war, at the head of the military force thereof, he shall continue Commander-in-Chief of the military force of the State.

SECTION 8. The Lieutenant Governor shall be President of the Senate, but shall have only a casting vote therein. If, during a vacancy in the office of Governor, the Lieutenant Governor shall be impeached, displaced, resign, die, or from mental or physical disease become incapable of performing the duties of his office, or be absent from the State, the Secretary of State shall act as Governor until the vacancy shall be filled, or the disability shall cease.

SECTION 9. The Lieutenant Governor shall receive double the per diem allowance of members of the Senate, for every day's attendance as President of the Senate, and the same mileage as shall be allowed to members of the Legislature.

SECTION 10. Every bill which shall have passed the Legislature shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Governor. If he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large upon the journal and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of the members present shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of the members present, it shall become a law. But in all such cases, the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting for or against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House 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, unless the Legislature shall, by their adjournment, prevent its return; in which case it shall not be a law.

ARTICLE VI.
ADMINISTRATIVE.

SECTION 1. There shall be chosen by the qualified electors of the State, at the times and places of choosing the members of the Legislature, a Secretary of State, Treasurer, and Attorney General, who shall severally hold their offices for the term of two years. SECTION 2. The Secretary of State shall keep a fair record of the official acts of the Legislature and Executive Department of the State, and shall when required, lay the same and all matters relative thereto before either branch of the Legislature. He shall be ex officio auditor, and shall perform such other duties as shall be assigned him by law. He shall receive as a compensation for his services, yearly, such sum as shall be provided by law, and shall keep his office at the seat of government.

SECTION 3. The powers, duties and compensation of the Treasurer and Attorney General shall be prescribed by law.

SECTION 4. Sheriffs, Coroners, Registers of Deeds and District Attorneys shall be chosen by the electors of the respective counties, once in every two years, and as often as vacancies shall happen. Sheriffs shall hold no other office, and be ineligible for two years next succeeding the termination of their offices. They may be required by law to renew their security from time to time; and in default of giving such new security, their offices shall be deemed vacant. But the county shall never be made responsible for the acts of the Sheriff. The Governor may remove any officer in this section mentioned, giving to such officer a copy of the charges against him and an opportunity of being heard in his defense.

ARTICLE VII.

JUDICIARY.

SECTION 1. The court for the trial of impeachments shall be composed of the Senate. The House of Representatives shall have the power of impeaching all civil officers of this State, for corrupt conduct in office, or for crimes and misdemeanors; but a majority of all the members elected shall concur in an impeachment. On the trial of an impeachment against the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor shall not act as a member of the court. No judicial officer shall exercise his office after he shall have been impeached, until his acquit