And the State shall be divided into the following senatorial districts: All that portion of the parish of Orleans lying on the east side of the Mississippi River shall compose one senatorial district, and shall elect four senators; the parishes of Plaquemines, Saint Bernard, and that part of the parish of Orleans on the right bank of the river, shall compose one district, with one senator; the parish of Jefferson shall compose one district, with one senator; the parishes of Saint Charles and Saint John the Baptist shall compose one district, with one senator; the parish of Saint James shall compose one district, with one senator; the parish of Ascension shall compose one district, with one senator; the parishes of Assumption, La Fourche Interior, and Terre Bonne, shall compose one district, with two senators; the parishes of Iberville and West Baton Rouge shall compose one district, with one senator; the parish of East Baton Rouge shall compose one district, with one senator; the parish of Point Coupee shall compose one district, with one senator; the parish of Avoyelles shall compose one district, with one senator; the parish of Saint Mary shall compose one district, with one senator; the parish of Saint Martin shall compose one district, with one senator; the parishes of La Fayette and Vermillion shall compose one district, with one senator; the parishes of Saint Landry and Calcasieu shall compose one district, with two senators; the parish of West Feliciana shall compose one district, with one senator; the parish of East Feliciana shall compose one district, with one senator; the parishes of Saint Helena and Livingston shall compose one district, with one senator; the parishes of Washington and Saint Tammany shall compose one district, with one senator; the parishes of Concordia and Tensas shall compose one district, with one senator; the parishes of Carroll and Madison shall compose one district, with one senator; the parishes of Jackson, Union, Morehouse, and Ouachita shall compose one district, with one senator; the parishes of Caldwell, Franklin, and Catahoula shall compose one district, with one senator; the parish of Rapides shall compose one district, with one senator; the parishes of Bossier and Claiborne shall compose one district, with one senator; the parish of Natchitoches shall compose one district, with one senator; the parishes of Sabine, De Soto, and Caddo shall compose one district, with one senator.

ART. 144. In order that no inconvenience may result to the public service from the taking effect of this constitution, no office shall be superseded thereby, but the laws of the State relative to the duties of the several officers, executive, judicial, and military, shall remain in full force, though the same be contrary to this constitution, and the several duties shall be performed by the respective officers of the State, according to the existing laws, until the organization of the government under this constitution, and the entering into office of the new officers, to be appointed under said government, and no longer.

ART. 145. Appointments to office by the executive under this constitution shall be made by the governor to be elected under its authority.

ART. 146. The provisions of article twenty-eight, concerning the inability of members of the legislature to hold certain offices therein mentioned, shall not be held to apply to the members of the first legislature elected under this constitution.

ART. 147. The time of service of all officers chosen by the people, at the first election under this constitution, shall terminate as though the election had been holden on the first Monday of November, 1845, and they had entered on the discharge of their duties at the time designated therein.

ART. 148. The legislature shall provide for the removal of all causes now pending in the supreme or other courts of the State, under the constitution of 1812, to courts created by this constitution.

ART. 149. Appeals to the supreme court from the parishes of Jackson, Union, Morehouse, Catahoula, Caldwell, Ouachita, Franklin, Carroll, Madison, Tensas, and Concordia, shall, until otherwise provided for, be returnable to New Orleans.

TITLE X.

ORDINANCE.

ART. 150. Immediately after the adjournment of the convention, the governor shall issue his proclamation, directing the several officers of this State, authorized by

law to hold elections for members of the general assembly, to open and hold a poll in every parish of the State, at the places designated by law, upon the first Monday of November next, for the purpose of taking the sense of the good people of this State in regard to the adoption or rejection of this constitution; and it shall be the duty of the said officers to receive the votes of all persons entitled to vote under the old constitution, and under this constitution. Each voter shall express his opinion by depositing in the ballot-box a ticket whereon shall be written "The constitution accepted," or "The constitution rejected," or some such words as will distinctly convey the intention of the voter. At the conclusion of the said election, which shall be conducted in every respect as the general State election is now conducted, the parish judges and commissioners designated to preside over the same shall carefully examine and count each ballot so deposited, and shall forthwith make due returns thereof to the secretary of state, in conformity to the provisions of the existing law upon the subject of elections.

ART. 151. Upon the receipt of the said returns, or on the first Monday of December, if the returns be not sooner received, it shall be the duty of the governor, the secretary of state, the attorney-general, and the State treasurer, in the presence of all such persons as may choose to attend, to compare the votes given at the said poll, for the ratification and rejection of this constitution, and if it shall appear from said returns that a majority of all the votes given are for ratifying this constitution, then it shall be the duty of the governor to make proclamation of that fact, and thenceforth this constitution shall be ordained and established as the constitution of the State of Louisiana. But whether this constitution be accepted or rejected, it shall be the duty of the governor to cause to be published in the State paper the result of the polls, showing the number of votes cast in each parish for and against the said constitution.

ART. 152. Should this constitution be accepted by the people, it shall also be the duty of the governor forthwith to issue his proclamation, declaring the present legislature, elected under the old constitution, to be dissolved, and directing the several officers of the State, authorized by law to hold elections for members of the general assembly, to hold an election at the places designated by law, upon the third Monday in January next, (1846,) for governor, lieutenant-governor, members of the general assembly, and all other officers whose election is provided for pursuant to the provisions of this constitution. And the said election shall be conducted, and the returns thereof made, in conformity with the existing laws upon the subject of State elections. ART. 153. The general assembly elected under this constitution shall convene at the State-house, in the city of New Orleans, upon the second Monday of February next (1846) after the elections; and that the governor and lieutenant-governor, elected at the same time, shall be duly installed in office during the first week of their session, and before it shall be competent for the said general assembly to proceed with the transaction of business.

HORATIO DAVIS, Secretary.

JOSEPH WALKER, President.

CONSTITUTION OF LOUISIANA-1852.*

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

*This constitution was framed by a convention which met at Baton Rouge July 5, 1852, and completed its labors July 31, 1852. It was submitted to the people and ratified November 1, 1852.

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 enumeration, the legislature shall apportion the representation among the several parishes and election-districts on the basis of the total population as aforesaid. A representative number shall be fixed, and each parish and election-district shall have as many representatives as its aggregate population shall entitle it to, and an additional representative for any fraction exceeding one-half the representative number. The number of representatives shall not be more than one hundred nor less than seventy.

Until an apportionment shall be made, and elections held under the same, in accordance with the first enumeration to be made as directed in this article, the representation in the senate and house of representatives shall be and remain as at present established by law.

The limits of the parish of Orleans are hereby extended, so as to embrace the whole of the present city of New Orleans, including that part of the parish of Jefferson formerly known as the city of La Fayette.

All that part of the parish of Orleans which is situated on the left bank of the Mississippi River, shall be divided by the legislature into not more than ten representative districts, and until a new apportionment shall be made according to the first census to be taken under this constitution, that part of the city of New Orleans which was comprised within the former limits of the city of La Fayette shall vote for senators from the parish of Orleans, and form the tenth representative district, and shall elect two out of the three representatives now apportioned by law to the

parish of Jefferson; the other representative districts shall remain as they are now established.

ART. 9. The house of representatives shall choose its speaker and other officers. ART. 10. Every free white male who has attained the age of twenty-one years, and who has been a resident of the State twelve months next preceding the election, and the last six months thereof in the parish in which he offers to vote, and who shall be a citizen of the United States, shall have the right of voting, but no voter, on removing from one parish to another within the State, shall lose the right of voting in the former until he shall have acquired it in the latter. Electors shall in all cases, except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest, during their attendance at, going to, or returning from elections.

ART. 11. The legislature shall provide by law that the names and residence of all qualified electors of the city of New Orleans shall be registered, in order to entitle them to vote; but the registry shall be free of cost to the elector.

ART. 12. No soldier, seaman, or marine in the Army or Navy of the United States, no pauper, no person under interdiction, nor under conviction of any crime punishable with hard labor, shall be entitled to vote at any election in this State.

ART. 13. No person shall be entitled to vote at any election held in this State except in the parish of his residence, and in cities and towns divided into electionprecincts, in the election-precinct in which he resides.

ART. 14. The members of the senate shall be chosen for the term of four years. The senate, when assembled, shall have the power to choose its officers.

ART. 15. The legislature, in every year in which they shall apportion representation in the house of representatives, shall divide the State into senatorial districts. No parish shall be divided in the formation of a senatorial district, the parish of Orleans excepted. And whenever a new parish shall be created, it shall be attached to the senatorial district from which most of its territory was taken, or to another contiguous district, at the discretion of the legislature; but shall not be attached to more than one district. The number of senators shall be thirty-two, and they shall be apportioned among the senatorial districts according to the total population contained in the several districts: Provided, That no parish shall be entitled to more than five

senators.

ART. 16. In all apportionments of the senate, the population of the city of New Orleans shall be deducted from the population of the whole State, and the remainder of the population divided by the number twenty-seven, and the result produced by this division shall be the senatorial ratio entitling a senatorial district to a senator. Single or contiguous parishes shall be formed into districts, having a population the nearest possible to the number entitling a district to a senator; and if, in the apportionment to be made, a parish or district fall short of or exceed the ratio one-fifth, then a district may be formed having not more than two senators, but not otherwise. No new apportionment shall have the effect of abridging the term of service of any senator already elected at the time of making the apportionment. After an enumeration has been made as directed in the eighth article, the legislature shall not pass any law until an apportionment of representation in both houses of the general assembly be made.

ART. 17. At the first session of the general assembly after this constitution takes effect, the senators shall be equally divided by lot into two classes; the seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year; of the second class, at the expiration of the fourth year; so that one-half shall be chosen every two years, and a rotation thereby kept up perpetually. In case any district shall have elected two or more senators, said senators shall vacate their seats respectively at the end of two and four years, and lots shall be drawn between them.

ART. 18. The first election for senators shall be general throughout the State, and at the same time that the general election for representatives is held; and thereafter there shall be biennial elections to fill the places of those whose time of service may have expired.

ART. 19. Not less than a majority of the members of each house of the general assembly shall form a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn

from day to day, and shall be authorized by law to compel the attendance of absent 'members.

ART. 20. Each house of the general assembly shall judge of the qualification, election, and returns of its members; but a contested election shall be determined in such manner as shall be directed by law.

ART. 21. Each house of the general assembly may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish a member for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of twothirds, expel a member, but not a second time for the same offence.

ART. 22. Each house of the general assembly shall keep and publish a weekly journal of its proceedings, and the yeas and nays of the members on any question shall, at the desire of any two of them, be entered on the journal.

ART. 23. Each house may punish by imprisonment any person, not a member, for disrespectful and disorderly behavior in its presence, or for obstructing any of its proceedings. Such imprisonment shall not exceed ten days for any one offence.

ART. 24. Neither house, during the sessions of the general assembly, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which they may be sitting.

ART. 25. The members of the general assembly shall receive from the public treasury a compensation for their services, which shall be four dollars per day during their attendance, going to and returning from the session of their respective houses. The compensation may be increased or diminished by law; but no alteration shall take effect during the period of service of the members of the house of representatives by whom such alteration shall have been made. No session shall extend to a period beyond sixty days, to date from its commencement, and any legislative action had after the expiration of the said sixty days shall be null and void. This provision shall not apply to the first legislature which is to convene after the adoption of this constitution.

ART. 26. The members of the general assembly shall in all cases, except treason, felony, breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the sessions of their respective houses, and going to or returning from the same, and for any speech or debate in either house they shall not be questioned in any other place.

ART. 27. No senator or representative shall, during the term for which he was elected, nor for one year thereafter, be appointed or elected to any civil office of profit under this State, which shall have been created or the emoluments of which shall have been increased during the time such senator or representative was in office, except to such offices or appointments as may be filled by the elections of the people.

ART. 28. No person who at any time may have been a collector of taxes, whether State, parish, or municipal, or who may have been otherwise intrusted with public money, shall be eligible to the general assembly, or to any office of profit or trust under the State government, until he shall have obtained a discharge for the amount of such collections, and for all public moneys with which he may have been intrusted. ART. 29. No bill shall have the force of a law until, on three several days, it be read over in each house of the general assembly, and free discussion allowed thereon, unless, in case of urgency, four-fifths of the house where the bill shall be pending may deem it expedient to dispense with this rule.

ART. 30. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the house of representatives, but the senate may propose amendments as in other bills, provided they shall not introduce any new matter under color of an amendment which does not relate to raising revenue.

ART. 31. The general assembly shall regulate by law by whom and in what manner writs of elections shall be issued to fil the vacancies which may happen in either branch thereof.

ART. 32. The senate shall vote on the confirmation or rejection of officers, to be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, by yeas and nays, and the names of the senators voting for and against the appointments, respect