SEC. 3. It shall be the duty of the general assembly to pass such laws as may be necessary and proper to decide differences by arbitrators, to be appointed by mutual agreement of the parties to any controversy, who may choose that mode of adjustment. The powers and duties of such arbitrators shall be as prescribed by law.

SEC. 4. The term felony, wherever it may occur in this constitution or the laws of the State, shall be construed to mean any criminal offence punishable by death or imprisonment in the penitentiary, and none other.

SEC. 5. The general assembly shall prohibit by law the importation into this State, for the purpose of sale, of any spurious, poisonous, or drugged spirituous liquors, or spirituous liquors adulterated with any poisonous or deleterious substance, mixture, or compound; and shall prohibit the compounding or manufacture within this State, except for chemical or mechanical purposes, of any of said liquors, whether they be denominated spirituous, vinous, malt, or otherwise; and shall also prohibit the sale of any such liquors to be used as a beverage; and any violation of either of said prohibitions shall be punished by fine and imprisonment. The general assembly shall provide by law for the condemnation and destruction of all spurious, poisonous, or drugged liquors herein prohibited.

SEC. 6. The general assembly shall enact laws in order to prevent the destruction. of, and to keep in good preservation, the forests upon the lands of the State, or upon lands of the public domain, the control of which shall be conferred by Congress upon

the State.

SEC. 7. The general assembly may provide that the increase in the value of private lands, caused by the planting of hedges, orchards, and forests thereon, shall not, for a limited time, to be fixed by law, be taken into account in assessing such lands for taxation.

SEC. 8. The general assembly shall provide for the publication of the laws passed at each session thereof; and, until the year 1900, they shall cause to be published in Spanish and German a sufficient number of copies of said laws to supply that portion. of the inhabitants of the State who speak those languages, and who may be unable to read and understand the English language.

ARTICLE XIX.

FUTURE AMENDMENTS.

SECTION 1. The general assembly may, at any time, by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house, recommend to the electors of the State to vote at the next general election for or against a convention to revise, alter, and amend this constitution; and if a majority of those voting on the question shall declare in favor of such convention, the general assembly shall, at its next session, provide for the calling thereof. The number of members of the convention shall be twice that of the senate, and they shall be elected in the same manner, at the same places, and in the same districts. The general assembly shall, in the act calling the convention, designate the day, hour, and place of its meeting; fix the pay of its members and officers, and provide for the payment of the same, together with the necessary expenses of the convention. Before proceeding the members shall take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Colorado, and to faithfully discharge their duties as members of the convention. The qualifications of members shall be the same as of members of the senate, and vacancies occurring shall be filled in the manner provided for filling vacancies in the general assembly. Said convention shall meet within three months after such election, and prepare such revisions, alterations, or amendments to the constitution as may be deemed necessary, which shall be submitted to electors for their ratification or rejection at an election appointed by the convention for that purpose, not less than two nor more than six months after the adjournment thereof; and unless so submitted and approved by a majority of the electors voting at the election, no such revision, alteration, or amendment shall take effect.

SEC. 2. Any amendment or amendments to this constitution may be proposed in either house of the general assembly, and if the same shall be voted for by two

thirds of all the members elected to each house, such proposed amendments, together with the ayes and noes of each house thereon, shall be entered in full on their respective journals; and the secretary of state shall cause the said amendment or amendments to be published in full in at least one newspaper in each county, (if such there be,) for three months previous to the next general election for members to the general assembly; and at said election the said amendment or amendments shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the State for their approval or rejection, and such as are approved by a majority of those voting thereon shall become part of this constitution; but the general assembly shall have no power to propose amendments to more than one article of this constitution at the same session.

SCHEDULE.

That no inconvenience may arise by reason of the change in the form of government, it is hereby ordained and declared:

SECTION 1. That all laws in force at the adoption of this constitution shall, so far as not inconsistent therewith, remain of the same force as if this constitution had not been adopted until they expire by their own limitation, or are altered or repealed by the general assembly; and all rights, actions, prosecutions, claims, and contracts of the Territory of Colorado, counties, individuals, or bodies-corporate, (not inconsistent therewith,) shall continue as if the form of government had not been changed and this constitution adopted.

SEC. 2. That all recognizances, obligations, and all other instruments entered into or executed before the admission of the State to the Territory of Colorado, or to any county, school-district, or other municipality therein, or any officer thereof, and all fines, taxes, penalties, and forfeitures due or owing to the Territory of Colorado, or any such county, school-district, or municipality, or officer, and all writs, prosecutions, actions, and causes of action, except as herein otherwise provided, shall continue and remain unaffected by the change of the form of government. All indictments which shall have been found, or may hereafter be found, and all informations which shall have been filed, or may hereafter be filed, for any crime or offence committed before this constitution takes effect, may be proceeded upon as if no change had taken place, except as otherwise provided in the constitution.

SEC. 3. That all property, real and personal, and all moneys, credits, claims, and choses in action belonging to the Territory of Colorado at the adoption of this constitution shall be vested in and become the property of the State of Colorado.

SEC. 4. The general assembly shall pass all necessary laws to carry into effect the provisions of the constitution.

SEC. 5. Whenever any two of the judges of the supreme court of the State, elected or appointed under the provisions of this constitution, shall have qualified in their office, the causes theretofore pending in the supreme court of the Territory, and the papers, records, and proceedings of said court, and the seal and other property pertaining thereto, shall pass into the jurisdiction and possession of the supreme court of the State; and, until so superseded, the supreme court of the Territory, and the judges thereof, shall continue with like powers and jurisdiction as if this constitution had not been adopted. Whenever the judge of the district court of any district, elected or appointed under the provisions of this constitution, shall have qualified in his office, the several causes theretofore pending in the district court of the Territory, within any county in such district, and the records, papers, and proceedings of said district court, and the seal and other property pertaining thereto, shall pass into the jurisdiction and possession of the district court of the State for such county, and until the district courts of the Territory shall be superseded in manner aforesaid, the said district courts and the judges thereof shall continue with the same jurisdiction and powers to be exercised in the same judicial districts respectively as heretofore constituted under the laws of the Territory.

SEC. 6. The terms of office of the several judges of the supreme and district courts and the district attorneys of the several judicial districts first elected under this con

stitution shall commence from the day of filing their respective oaths of office in the office of the secretary of state.

SEC. 7. Until otherwise provided by law, the seals now in use in the supreme and district courts of this Territory are hereby declared to be the seals of the supreme and district courts respectively of the State.

SEC. 8. Whenever this constitution shall go into effect, the books, records, papers, and proceedings of the probate court in each county, and all causes and matters of administration pending therein, shall pass into the jurisdiction and possession of the county court of the same county, and the said county court shall proceed to final decree or judgment, order, or other determination, in the said several matters and causes as the said probate court might have done if this constitution had not been adopted. And until the election of the county judges provided for in this constitution, the probate judges shall act as judges of the county courts within their respective counties, and the seal of the probate court in each county shall be the seal of the county court therein until the said court shall have procured a proper seal.

SEC. 9. The terms "probate court" or "probate judge," whenever occurring in the statutes of Colorado Territory, shall, after the adoption of this constitution, be held to apply to the county court or county judge; and all laws specially applicable to the probate court in any county shall. be construed to apply to and be in force as to the county court in the same county until repealed.

SEC. 10. All county and precinct officers who may be in office at the time of the adoption of this constitution shall hold their respective offices for the full time for which they may have been elected, and until such time as their successors may be elected and qualified, in accordance with the provisions of this constitution, and the official bonds of all such officers shall continue in full force and effect as though this constitution had not been adopted.

SEC. 11. All county offices that may become vacant during the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, by the expiration of the term of the persons elected to said offices, shall be filled at the general election on the first Tuesday in October, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, and, except county commissioners, the persons so elected shall hold their respective offices for the term of one year.

SEC. 12. The provisions of this constitution shall be in force from the day on which the President of the United States shall issue his proclamation declaring the State of Colorado admitted into the Union; and the governor, secretary, treasurer, auditor, and superintendent of public instruction of the Territory of Colorado shall continue to discharge the duties of their respective offices after the admission of the State into the Union until the qualification of the officers elected or appointed under the State government; and said officers, for the time they may serve, shall receive the same compensation as the State officers shall by law be paid for like services.

SEC. 13. In case of a contest of election between candidates, at the first general election under this constitution, for judges of the supreme, district, or county courts, or district attorneys, the evidence shall be taken in the manner prescribed by territorial law; and the testimony so taken shall be certified to the secretary of state, and said officer, together with the governor and attorney-general, shall review the testimony and determine who is entitled to the certificate of election.

SEC. 14. The votes at the first general election under this constitution for the several offices provided for in this constitution who are to be elected at the first election shall be canvassed in the manner prescribed by the territorial law for canvassing votes for like officers. The votes cast for the judges of the supreme and district courts and district attorneys shall be canvassed by the county canvassing-board in the manner prescribed by the territorial law for canvassing the votes for members of the general assembly; and the county clerk shall transmit the abstract of votes to the secretary of the Territory, acting as secretary of state, under the same regulations as are prescribed by law for sending the abstracts of votes for territorial officers; and the aforesaid acting secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, or any two of them, in the presence of the governor, shall proceed to canvass the votes, under the regulations of sections

thirty-five and thirty-six of chapter twenty-eight of the revised statutes of Colorado Territory.

SEC. 15. Senators and members of the house of representatives shall be chosen by the qualified electors of the several senatorial and representative districts, as established in this constitution, until such districts shall be changed by law, and thereafter by the qualified electors of the several districts as the same shall be established by law.

SEC. 16. The votes cast for Representatives in Congress at the first election held under this constitution shall be canvassed and the result determined in the manner provided by the laws of the Territory for the canvass of votes for Delegate in Congress. SEC. 17. The provision of the constitution that no bill, except the general appropriation bill, introduced in either house after the first twenty-five days of the session, shall become a law, shall not apply to the first session of the general assembly; but no bill, introduced in either house at the first session of the general assembly after the first fifty days thereof, shall become a law.

SEC. 18. A copy of the abstracts of the votes cast at the first general election held under this constitution shall, by the county clerks of the several counties, be returned to the secretary of the Territory immediately after the canvass of said votes in their several counties; and the secretary, auditor, and treasurer of the Territory, or any two of them, shall, on the twenty-fifth day after the election, meet at the seat of government and proceed to canvass the votes cast for members of the general assembly, and determine the result thereof.

SEC. 19. The general assembly shall, at their first session, immediately after the organization of the two houses, and after the canvass of the votes for the officers of the executive department, and before proceeding to other business, provide, by act or joint resolution, for the appointment by said general assembly of electors in the electoral college; and such joint resolution, or the bill for such enactment, may be passed without being printed, or referred to any committee, or read on more than one day in either house, and shall take effect immediately after the concurrence of the two houses therein; and the approval of the governor thereto shall not be necessary.

SEC. 20. The general assembly shall provide that after the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six the electors of the electoral college shall be chosen by direct vote of the people.

SEC. 21. The general assembly shall have power, at their first session, to provide for the payment of the expenses of this convention, if any there be then remaining unpaid.

SEC. 22. All recognizances, bail-bonds, official bonds, and other obligations or undertakings which have been, or at any time before the admission of the State shall be, made or entered into and expressed to be payable to the people of the Territory of Colorado, shall continue in full force, notwithstanding the change in the form of government; and any breach thereof, whenever occurring, may, after the admission of the State, be prosecuted in the name of the people of the State.

Done in convention, at the city of Denver, Colorado, this fourteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundredth.

In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names.

Attest:

W. W. COULSON, Secretary.

HERBERT STANLEY, First Assistant Secretary.
H. A. TERPENNING, Second Assistant Seeretary.

J. C. WILSON, President.

CONNECTICUT.*

FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT-1638-'39.†

FORASMUCH as it hath pleased the Allmighty God by the wise disposition of his diuyne pruidence so to Order and dispose of things that we the Inhabitants and Residents of Windsor, Harteford and Wethersfield are now cohabiting and dwelling in and vppon the River of Conectecotte and the Lands thereunto adioyneing; And well knowing where a people are gathered togather the word of God requires that to mayntayne the peace and vnion of such a people there should be an orderly and decent Gouerment established according to God, to order and dispose of the affayres of the people at all seasons as occation shall require; doe therefore assotiate and conioyne our selues to be as one Publike State or Comonwelth; and doe, for our selues and our Successors and such as shall be adioyned to vs att any tyme hereafter, enter into Combination and Confederation togather, to mayntayne and p'searue the liberty and purity of the gospell of our Lord Jesus wch we now prfesse, as also the disciplyne of the Churches, weh according to the truth of the said gospell is now practised amongst vs; As also in of Ciuell Affaires to be guided and gouerned according to such Lawes, Rules, Orders and decrees as shall be made, ordered & decreed, as followeth :

1. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that there shall be yerely two generall Assemblies or Courts, the on the second thursday in Aprill, the other the second thursday in September, following; the first shall be called the Courte of Election, wherein shall be yerely Chosen fro tyme to tyme soe many Magestrats and other publike Officers as shall be found requisitte: Whereof one to be chosen Gouernour for the yeare ensueing and vntill another be chosen, and noe other Magestrate to be chosen for more then one yeare; p1uided allwayes there be sixe chosen besids the Gouernour; weh being chosen and sworne according to an Oath recorded for that purpose shall haue power to administer iustice according to the Lawes here established, and for want thereof according to the rule of the word of God; wch choise shall be made by all that are admitted freemen and haue taken the Oath of Fidellity, and doe cohabitte wthin this Jurisdiction, (hauing beene admitted Inhabitants by the maior p't of the Towne wherein they lrue,‡) or the mayor p'te of such as shall be then p'sent.

2. It is Ordered, sentensed and decreed, that the Election of the aforesaid Magestrats shall be on this manner: euery p'son p'sent and quallified for choyse shall bring in (to the p❜sons deputed to receaue the) one single pap wth the name of him written in yt whom he desires to haue Gouernour, and he that hath the greatest nüber of papers shall be Gouernor for that yeare. And the rest of the Magestrats or publike Officers to be chosen in this manner: The Secretary for the tyme being shall first read the names of all that are to be put to choise and then shall seuerally nominate

A provisional government was instituted, under a commission from the General Court of Massachusetts (March 3, 1636) to eight of the persons who "had resolved to transplant themselves and their estates unto the River of Connecticut," "that commission taking rise from the desire of the people that removed, who judged it inconvenient to go away without any frame of government,-not from any claim of the Massachusetts of jurisdiction over them by virtue of Patent."

+ Springfield withdrew in 1637 from the association, and the remaining towns,-Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield,-formed this voluntary compact or constitution on the 14th of January, 1638-’29. This clause has been interlined in a different handwriting, and at a more recent period.