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Senators divided into classes.

And as soon as the senate shall meet, after the first election to be held in pursuance of this constitution, they shall cause the senators, to be divided, by lot, into four classes, of eight in each, so that eyeFy district shall have one senator of each class; the classes to be numbered, one, two, three, and four. And the seats of the first class, shall be vacated at the end of the first year; of the second class, at the end of the second year; of the third class, at the end of the third year; of the fourth class, at the end of the fourth year; in order that one senator be annually elected in each senate district.

Census to be taken every ten years.

SEC. 6. An enumeration of the inhabitants of the state, shall be taken, under the direction of the legislature, in the year one thousand, eight hundred and twenty-five, and at the end of every ton years thereafter; and the said districts shall be so altered by the legislature, at the first session after the return of every enumeration, that each senate district shall contain, as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants, excluding aliens, paupers, and persons of colour not taxed; and shall 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 senate district.

Members of assembly, how apportioned.

SEC. 7. The members of the assembly shall be chosen by counties, and shall be apportioned among the several counties of the state, as nearly as may be, according to the numbers of their respective inhabitants, excluding aliens, paupers, and persons of colour not taxed. An apportionment of members of assembly shall be made by the Legislature, at its first session after the return of every enumeration; and when made, shall remain unaltered until another enumeration shall have been taken. But an apportionment of members of the assembly, shall be made by the present legislature, according to the last enumeration, taken under the authority of the United States, as nearly as may be. Every county hereto established, and separately organized shall always be entitled to one member of the assembly, and no new county shall hereafter be erected, unless its population shall entitle it to a member.

Bills may originate in either House.

SEC. 8. Any bill may originate in either house of the legislature, and all bills passed by one house, may be amended by the other.

Compensation.

SEC. 9. The members of the legislature shall receive for their servíces a compensation to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the public treasury, but no increase of the compensation shall take effect, during the year in which it shall have been made. And no law shall be passed, increasing the compensation of the members of the legislature beyond the sum of three dollars a day.

Members to receive no civil appointment.

SEC. 10. No member of the legislature shall receive any sivil appointment from the governor and senate, or from the legislature, daring the term for which he shall have been elected.

SEC. 11. No person, being a member of congress, or holding any judicial or military office under the United States, shall hold a seat in the legislature. And if any person shall, while a member of the legislature, be elected to congress, or appointed to any office, civil or military, under the government of the United States, his acceptance thereof shall vacate his seat.

Bills to be sent to the Governor for his approbation.

SEC. 12. Every bill which shall have passed the senate and assembly, shall, before it become 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 on their 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 persons voting for, and against the bill, shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within ten 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 legislature shall, by their adjournment, prevent its return; in which case it shall not be a law.

Certain officers removable by the Legislature.

SEC. 13. All officers holding their offices during good behaviour, may be removed by joint resolution of the two houses, of the legislature, if two thirds of all the members elected to the assembly, and a majority of all the members elected to the senate, concur therein."

Political Year.

SEC. 14. The political year shall begin on the first day of January; and the legislature shall every year assemble on the first Tuesday of January, unless a different day shall be appointed by law.

SEC. 15. The next election for governor, lieutenant governor, senators, and members of assembly, shall commence on the first Monday of November, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two; and all subsequent elections shall be held at such time in the month of October or November, as the legislature shall by law provide.

SEC. 16. The governor, lieutenant governor, senators, and members of assembly, first elected under this constitution, shall enter on the duties of their respective offices on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three; and the governor, lieutenant governor, senators, and members of assembly, now in office, shall continue to hold the same, until the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, and no longer.

ARTICLE SECOND.

Qualifications of Voters.

SEC. 1. Every male citizen, of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been an inhabitant of this state one year preceding any elec tion, and for the last six months a resident of the town or county where he may offer his vote; and shall have, within the year next preceding the

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clection, paid a tax to the state or county, assessed upon his real or per sonal property; or shall by law be exempted from taxation; or being armed and equipped according to law, shall have performed within that year military duty in the militia of this state; or who shall be exempted from performing militia duty in consequence of being a fireman in any city, town or village in this state: And also, every male citizen of the age twenty-one years, who shall have been, for three years next preceding such election, an inhabitant of this state, and for the last year a resident of the town or county where he may offer his vote; and shall have been, within the last year, assessed to labour upon the public highways, and shall have performed the labour, or paid an equivalent therefor, according to law; shall be entitled to vote in the town or ward where he aactually resides, and not elsewhere, for all officers that now are or hereafter may be elected by the people: But no man of colour, unless he shall have been for three years a citizen of this state, and for one year next preceding any election, shall be siezed and possessed of a freehold estate of the value of two hundred and fifty dollars, over and above all debts and incumbrances charged thereon, and shall have been actually rated and paid a tax thereon, shall be entitled to vote at any such election. And no person of colour shall be subject to direct taxation, unless he shall be siezed and possessed of such real estate as aforesaid.

SEC. 2. Laws may be passed, excluding from the right of suffrage, persons who have been or may be convicted of infamous crimes.

SEC. 3. Laws shall be made for ascertaining by proper proofs, the citizens who shall be entitled to the right of suffrage hereby established. SEC. 4. All elections by the citizens, shall be by ballot, except for such town officers as may by law be directed to be otherwise chosen.

ARTICLE THIRD.

Executive Power.

He shall

SEC. 1. The executive power shall be vested in a governor. hold his office for two years, and a lieutenant governor shall be chosen at the same time, and for the same term.

SEC. 2. No person except a native citizen of the United States, shall be eligible to the office of governor; nor shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not be a freeholder, and shall not have attained the age of thirty years, and have been five years a resident within this state; unless he shall have been absent during that time, on public business of the United States, or of this state.

SEC. 3. The governor and lieutenant governor shall be elected 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 for lieutenant governor, the two houses of the legislature shall, by joint ballot, choose one of the said persons so having an equal and the highest number of votes for governor or licutenant-governor.

SEC. 4. The governor shall be general and commander in chief of all the militia, and admiral of the navy of the state. He shall have power to convene the legislature, (or the senate only,) on extraordinary occasions. He shall communicate by message to the legislature, at every session, the condition of the state; and recommend such matters to them as he shall judge expedient. He shall transact all necessary business with

the officers of government, civil or military. He shall expedite all such measures as may be resolved upon by the legislature, and shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed. He shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished, during the term for which he shall have been elected.

SEC. 5. The governor shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons after conviction, for all offences, except treason and cases of impeachment. Upon convictions for treason, he shall have 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 direct the execution of the criminal, or grant a farther reprieve.

SEC. 6. In case of the impeachment of the governor, or his removal from office, death, 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 return or be acquitted. But when the governor shall, with the consent of the legislature, be out of the state in time of war, at the head of a military force thereof, he shall still continue commander in chief of all the military force of the state.

SEC. 7. The lieutenant governor shall be president of the senate, but shall have only a casting vote therein. If during a vacancy of the office of governor, the lieutenant-governor shall be impeached, displaced, resign, die, or be absent from the state, the president of the senate shall act as governor, until the vacancy shall be filled, or the disability shall

cease.

ARTICLE FOURTH.

Appointment and Election of Military Officers.

SEC. 1. Militia officers shall be chosen, or appointed, as follows: captains, subalterns, and non-commissioned officers, shall be chosen by the written votes of the members of their respective companies. Field officers of regiments, and separate battalions, by the written votes of the commissioned officers of the respective regiments, and separate battalions. Brigadier generals, by the field officers of their respective brigades. Major generals, brigadier generals, and commanding officers of regiments or separate battalions, shall appoint the staff officers of their respective divisions, brigades, regiments, and separate battalions.

Snc. 2. The governor shall nominate, and with the consent of the senate, appoint all major generals, brigade inspectors, and chiefs of the staff departments, except the adjutant general, and commissary general. The adjutant general shall be appointed by the governor.

SEC. 3. The legislature shall, by law, direct the time and manner of electing militia officers and of certifying their elections to the governor. SEC. 4. The commissioned officers of the militia, shall be commissioned by the governor; and no commissioned officer shall be removed from office, unless by the senate, on the recommendation of the governor, stating the grounds on which such removal is recommended, or by the decision of a court-martial, pursuant to law. The present officers of the nilitia shall hold their commissions, subject to removal as before provided.

The above mode may be altered by the Legislature.

SEC. 5. In case the mode of election and appointment of militia officers hereby directed, shall not be found conducive to the improvement

of the militia, the legislature may abolish the same, and provide by law for their appointment, and removal, if two thirds of the members present In each house, shall concur therein.

Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, Attorney General, and Commisary General, to be appointed by the Legislature.

SEC. 6. The secretary of state, comptroller, treasurer, attorney general, surveyor general, and commissary general, shall be appointed as follows: The senate and assembly shall each openly nominate one person for the said offices respectively: after w ich, they shall meet together, and if they shall agree in their nominations, the person so nominated shall be appointed to the office for which he shall be nominated. If they shall disagree, the appointment shall be made by the joint ballot of the senators and members of assembly. The treasurer shall be chosen annually. The secretary of state, comptroller, attorney general, surveyor general, and commissary general, shall hold their offices for three years, unless sooner removed by concurrent resolution of the senate and assembly.

Judicial Officers, how appointed.

SEC. 7. The governor shall nominate, by message, in writing, and with the consent of the senate, shall appoint all judicial officers, except justices of the peace, who shall be appointed in manner following-that is to say: The board of supervisors in every county in this state shall, at such times as the legislature may direct, meet together; and they, or a majority of them so assembled, shall nominate so many persons as shall be equal to the number of justices of the peace, to be appointed in the several towns in the respective counties. And the judges of the respective county courts, or a majority of them, shall also meet and nominate a like number of persons; and it shall be the duty of the said board of supervisors, and judges of county courts, to compare such nominations, at such time and place as the legislature may direct: And if on such comparisons, the said boards of supervisors and judges of county courts, shall agree in their nominations, in all, or in part, they shall file a certificate of the nominations in which they shall agree, in the office of the clerk of the county; and the person or persons named in such certificates, shall be justices of the peace: And in case of disagreement in whole, or in part, it shall be the farther duty of the said hoards ef supervisors and judges respectively, to transmit their said nominations, so far as they disagree in the same, to the governor, who shall select from the said nominations, and appoint, so many justices of the peace as shall be requisite to fill the vacancies. Every person appointed a justice of the peace, shall hold his office four years, unless removed by the county court, for causes particularly assigned by the judges of the said court. And no justice of the peace shall be removed, until he shall have notice of the charges made against him, and an opportunity of being heard in his defence.

Sheriffs and county clerks to be elected once in three years. SEC. 8. Sheriffs and clerks of counties, including the register and clerk of the city and county of New-York, shall be chosen by the electors of the respective counties, once in every three years, and as often as vacancies shall happen. Sheriffs shall hold no other office, and be ineligible for the next three years after 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:

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