LIFE UNDER THE CONSTITUTION.--THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.--THE
CENTENARY.
With the adoption of the new Constitution business returned to its
natural channels. Party animosities lost somewhat of their bitterness
as the various forms of industry revived, and old friends were again
brought into daily communication under the healing influence of common
interests and common pleasures. The story of these calm pursuits brings
out in pleasant relief the every-day virtues of domestic life and the
higher qualities of combination and invention, but it seldom addresses
itself to the imagination, or excites and surprises by glowing appeals
to the passions. The happiest periods of history are those which are
the most barren of incident.
Meanwhile one of the great epochs of our history was at hand, and Rhode
Island was again called upon to furnish the materials for battles which
were to be fought at a distance from her own soil. The war of secession
found her, like her sisters, unprepared for the great struggle in which
humanity had so much at stake, and which soon made it manifest that
industrious peace is the best of preparations for a war of principle.
Within three days after President Lincoln issued his proclamation
calling for troops for the defence of Washington, a body of Rhode
Islanders, well armed and equipped, was on its way thither. As the war
continued she still met its increasing demands, till the sum-total
of her contributions amounted to twenty-four thousand and forty-two,
upon a population of one hundred and eighty-four thousand nine hundred
and sixty-five. Of these, two hundred and fifty-five were killed; one
thousand two hundred and sixty-three died of wounds or disease; one
thousand two hundred and forty-nine were wounded.
As some readers may wish for more detail, I give the following
statement, for which I am indebted to the politeness of
Adjutant-General Heber Le Favour:
"There went into the field from Rhode Island during the late
rebellion, twenty-four thousand and forty-two men; of which the
infantry numbered ten thousand three hundred and eighty-two; cavalry,
four thousand three hundred and ninety-four; heavy artillery, five
thousand six hundred and forty-four; light artillery, two thousand
nine hundred and seventy-seven; navy, six hundred and forty-five.
This number is in excess of the actual number of persons furnished by
the State, as many of them appear several times on the record under
the head of promotions or re-enlistments after discharge from their
three months, nine months, or three years terms of service.
Two hundred and fifty-five were killed, one thousand two hundred and
sixty-five died of wounds or disease, and one thousand two hundred
and forty-nine were wounded. There were eight regiments of infantry,
of which three were for three months and two for nine months. There
were three regiments of cavalry for three years, and one squadron
for three months. There were three regiments of heavy artillery.
There was one regiment of light artillery, composed of eight light
batteries, and there were also two light batteries for three months
service. One company of infantry was stationed at Portsmouth Grove as
Hospital Guards."
On the 4th of July, 1876, the United States of America ended the
first century of their national existence; a century of marvellous
experiences throughout the civilized world; of experiences in the
science of government, which bear directly upon the moral development
of man and experiences in the physical sciences which minister directly
and indirectly both to his material wants and to the demands of his
intellectual nature. Civilization had reached in those hundred years a
height and a completeness which it had never reached before.
Proud of what they had done, confident of what they could do, they
invited the other civilized nations, their elders by centuries, to
bring the choicest productions of their art and industry and set them
side by side with those of the young republic. In this comparison how
well Rhode Island bore her part the following list will show:
Rhode Island was conspicuous at the Exposition for the excellence of
her products in the following departments:[A]
_First_--Machinery, including new inventions.
_Second_--Cotton fabrics, including sheeting and shirting, calico, fine
muslins, jeans, drillings, etc.
_Third_--Woolen fabrics, broad cloths, cassimeres, shawls, worsteds,
etc.
_Fourth_--Wood screws. (American Screw Co., Providence.)
_Fifth_--Fire-arms, rifles, carabines chiefly. The Peabody-Martini
rifle furnished the Turkish government an arm of great excellence.
(Providence Tool Co.)
_Sixth_--Fabrics of India rubber. (The Bristol Works.)
_Seventh_--Silver and plated ware. (Gorham's.)
_Eighth_--Steam engines.
_Ninth_--Hair cloth. (Various companies in Pawtucket.)
_Tenth_--Files and mechanics' tools.
_Eleventh_--Stoves and furnaces. (Chiefly the product of the Barstow
Works.)
_Twelfth_--Chemical manufactures.
[A] For the above list I am indebted to my friend, Hon. J. R.
Bartlett, to whom Rhode Island is indebted for the preservation
and publication of her Colonial Records.
And here I stay my hand. I have spoken kindly of the State of my birth,
but mindful of the historian's first duty, I have striven in every
thing to speak truthfully. It is an unvarnished tale, and yet there
is a moral grandeur in it far beyond the grandeur of battle-fields
and thrones. By deep and earnest convictions, by unwavering faith and
unshaken resolution, Rhode Island has worked out for herself and for
mankind one of the grandest problems of civilization.
It is the privilege of history that it teaches by examples. It is
good for man that such men as Roger Williams and John Clark, should
have lived. It is for the glory of Rhode Island that men like these,
searching for a spot whereon they might build and live with unfettered
consciences, should have chosen her for their dwelling place.
AUTHOR'S NOTE.
(_Referring to Page 196._)
This is not strictly accurate. It was in honor of Nicholas, not John
Brown, and several years after its removal from Warren to Providence,
that the name of Rhode Island College was changed to Brown University.
[Illustration:
Map of
THE STATE OF
RHODE ISLAND
_PUBLISHED BY_
J. A. & R. A. REID,
IN
_A SHORT HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND_
1877.
Drawn by J. C. Thompson.]
Appendix.
The Charter,
_GRANTED BY KING CHARLES II._,
July 8, 1663, and in force until the adoption of the Constitution,
November, 1842.
Charles the Second, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland,
France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c., to all to whom these
presents shall come, greeting: Whereas, we have been informed, by the
humble petition of our trusty and well-beloved subject, John Clarke,
on the behalf of Benjamin Arnold, William Brenton, William Codington,
Nicholas Easton, William Boulston, John Porter, John Smith, Samuel
Gorton, John Weeks, Roger Williams, Thomas Olney, Gregory Dexter,
John Coggeshall, Joseph Clarke, Randall Holden, John Greene, John
Roome, Samuel Wildbore, William Field, James Barker, Richard Tew,
Thomas Harris, and William Dyre, and the rest of the purchasers and
free inhabitants of our island, called Rhode Island, and the rest
of the Colony of Providence Plantations, in the Narragansett Bay,
in New England, in America, that they, pursuing, with peaceable and
loyal minds, their sober, serious, and religious intentions, of godly
edifying themselves, and one another, in the holy Christian faith
and worship, as they were persuaded; together with the gaining over
and conversion of the poor ignorant Indian natives, in those parts
of America to the sincere profession and obedience of the same faith
and worship, did, not only by the consent and good encouragement of
our royal progenitors, transport themselves out of this kingdom of
England into America, but also, since their arrival there, after their
first settlement amongst other our subjects in those parts, for the
avoiding of discord, and those many evils which were likely to ensue
upon some of those our subjects not being able to bear, in these remote
parts, their different apprehensions in religious concernments, and in
pursuance of the aforesaid ends, did once again leave their desirable
stations and habitations, and with excessive labor and travel, hazard
and charge did transplant themselves into the midst of the Indian
natives, who, as we are informed, are the most potent princes and
people of all that country; where, by the good Providence of God,
from whom the Plantations have taken their name, upon their labor and
industry, they have not only been preserved to admiration, but have
increased and prospered, and are seized and possessed, by purchase and
consent of the said natives, to their full content, of such lands,
islands, rivers, harbors and roads, as are very convenient, both for
plantations, and also for building of ships, supply of pipe-staves, and
other merchandize; and which lie very commodious, in many respects,
for commerce, and to accommodate our southern plantations, and may
much advance the trade of this our realm, and greatly enlarge the the
territories thereof; they having by near neighborhood to and friendly
society with the great body of the Narragansett Indians, given them
encouragement of their own accord, to subject themselves, their people
and lands, unto us; whereby, as is hoped, there may, in time, by the
blessing of God upon their endeavors be laid a sure foundation of
happiness to all America: And whereas, in their humble address, they
have freely declared, that it is much on their hearts (if they may be
permitted) to hold forth a lively experiment, that a most nourishing
civil state may stand and best be maintained, and that among our
English subjects, with a full liberty in religious concernments; and
that true piety rightly grounded upon gospel principles, will give the
best and greatest security to sovereignty, and will lay in the hearts
of men the strongest obligations to true loyalty: Now, know ye, that
we, being willing to encourage the hopeful undertaking of our said
loyal and loving subjects, and to secure them in the free exercise and
enjoyment of all their civil and religious rights, appertaining to
them, as our loving subjects; and to preserve unto them that liberty,
in the true Christian faith and worship of God, which they have sought
with so much travail, and with peaceable minds, and loyal subjection
to our royal progenitors and ourselves, to enjoy; and because some of
the people and inhabitants of the same colony cannot, in their private
opinions, conform to the public exercise of religion, according to the
liturgy, forms and ceremonies of the Church of England, or take or
subscribe the oaths and articles made and established in that behalf;
and for that the same, by reason of the remote distances of those
places, will (as we hope) be no breach of the unity and uniformity
established in this nation: Have therefore thought fit, and do hereby
publish, grant, ordain and declare, That our royal will and pleasure
is, that no person within the said Colony, at any time hereafter, shall
be any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question,
for any differences in opinion in matters of religion, and do not
actually disturb the civil peace of our said Colony; but that all and
every person and persons may, from time to time, and at all times
hereafter, freely and fully have and enjoy his and their own judgments
and consciences, in matters of religious concernments, throughout
the tract of land hereafter mentioned, they behaving themselves
peaceably and quietly, and not using this liberty to licentiousness and
profaneness, nor to the civil injury or outward disturbance of others,
any law, statute, or clause therein contained, or to be contained,
usage or custom of this realm, to the contrary hereof, in any wise,
notwithstanding. And that they may be in the better capacity to defend
themselves, in their just rights and liberties, against all the enemies
of the Christian faith, and others, in all respects, we have further
thought fit, and at the humble petition of the persons aforesaid are
graciously pleased to declare, That they shall have and enjoy the
benefit of our late act of indemnity and free pardon, as the rest
of our subjects in other our dominions and territories have; and to
create and make them a body politic or corporate, with the powers and
privileges hereinafter mentioned. And accordingly our will and pleasure
is, and of our especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, we
have ordained, constituted and declared, and by these presents, for us,
our heirs and successors, do ordain, constitute and declare, That they,
the said William Brenton, William Codington, Nicholas Easton, Benedict
Arnold, William Boulston, John Porter, Samuel Gorton, John Smith, John
Weeks, Roger Williams, Thomas Olney, Gregory Dexter, John Coggeshall,
Joseph Clarke, Randall Holden, John Greene, John Roome, William Dyre,
Samuel Wildbore, Richard Tew, William Field, Thomas Harris, James
Barker, ---- Rainsborrow, ---- Williams, and John Nickson, and all
such others as now are, or hereafter shall be, admitted and made free
of the company and society of our Colony of Providence Plantations, in
the Narragansett Bay, in New England, shall be from time to time, and
forever hereafter, a body corporate and politic, in fact and name, by
the name of the Governor and Company of the English Colony of Rhode
Island and Providence Plantations, in New England, in America; and
that, by the same name, they and their successors shall and may have
perpetual succession, and shall and may be persons able and capable,
in the law, to sue and be sued, to plead and be impleaded, to answer,
and be answered unto, to defend and to be defended, in all and singular
suits, causes, quarrels, matters, actions, and things, of what kind or
nature soever; and also to have, take, possess, acquire, and purchase
lands, tenements or hereditaments, or any goods or chattels, and the
same to lease, grant, demise, aliene, bargain, sell and dispose of,
at their own will and pleasure, as other our liege people of this our
realm of England, or any corporation or body politic, within the same,
may lawfully do. And further, that they the said Governor and Company,
and their successors, shall and may, forever hereafter, have a common
seal, to serve and use for all matters, causes, things and affairs,
whatsoever, of them, and their successors; and the same seal to alter,
change, break, and make new, from time to time, at their will and
pleasure, as they shall think fit. And further, we will and ordain, and
by these presents, for us, our heirs, and successors, do declare and
appoint that, for the better ordering and managing of the affairs and
business of the said Company, and their successors, there shall be one
Governor, one Deputy-Governor and ten Assistants, to be from time to
time, constituted, elected and chosen, out of the freemen of the said
Company, for the time being, in such manner and form as is hereafter in
these presents expressed, which said officers shall apply themselves to
take care for the best disposing and ordering of the general business
and affairs of and concerning the lands, and hereditaments hereinafter
mentioned to be granted, and the plantation thereof, and the government
of the people there. And, for the better execution of our royal
pleasure herein, we do, for us, our heirs and successors, assign,
name, constitute, and appoint the aforesaid Benedict Arnold to be the
first and present Governor of the said Company, and the said William
Brenton to be the Deputy-Governor, and the said William Boulston,
John Porter, Roger Williams, Thomas Olney, John Smith, John Greene,
John Coggeshall, James Barker, William Field, and Joseph Clarke, to
be the ten present Assistants of the said Company, to continue in the
said several offices, respectively, until the first Wednesday which
shall be in the month of May now next coming. And further, we will,
and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do ordain
and grant that the Governor of the said Company, for the time being,
or, in his absence, by occasion of sickness, or otherwise, by his
leave and permission, the Deputy-Governor, for the time being, shall
and may, from time to time, upon all occasions, give order for the
assembling of the said Company, and calling them together, to consult
and advise of the business and affairs of the said Company. And that
forever hereafter, twice in every year, that is to say, on every first
Wednesday in the month of May, and on every last Wednesday in October,
or oftener, in case it shall be requisite, the Assistants and such
of the freemen of the said Company, not exceeding six persons for
Newport, four persons for each of the respective towns of Providence,
Portsmouth, and Warwick, and two persons for each other place, town or
city, who shall be, from time to time, thereunto elected or deputed by
the major part of the freemen of the respective towns or places for
which they shall be so elected or deputed, shall have a general meeting
or assembly, then and there to consult, advise and determine, in and
about the affairs and business of the said Company and Plantations.
And, further, we do, of our especial grace, certain knowledge, and
mere motion, give and grant unto the said Governor and Company of the
English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New
England, in America, and their successors, that the Governor, or, in
his absence, or, by his permission, the Deputy-Governor, of the said
Company, for the time being, the Assistants, and such of the freemen
of the said Company as shall be so as aforesaid elected or deputed, or
so many of them as shall be present at such meeting or assembly, as
aforesaid, shall be called the General Assembly; and that they, or the
greatest part of them present, whereof the Governor or Deputy-Governor,
and six of the Assistants, at least to be seven, shall have, and have
hereby given and granted unto them, full power and authority, from
time to time, and at all times hereafter, to appoint, alter and change
such days, times and places of meeting and General Assembly, as they
shall think fit; and to choose, nominate and appoint, such and so many
other persons as they shall think fit, and shall be willing to accept
the same, to be free of the said Company and body politic, and them
into the same to admit; and to elect and constitute such offices and
officers, and to grant such needful commissions, as they shall think
fit and requisite, for the ordering, managing, and dispatching of the
affairs of the said Governor and Company, and their successors; and
from time to time, to make, ordain, constitute or repeal, such laws,
statutes, orders and ordinances, forms and ceremonies of government
and magistracy, as to them shall seem meet, for the good and welfare
of the said Company, and for the government and ordering of the lands
and hereditaments, hereinafter mentioned to be granted, and of the
people that do, or at any time hereafter shall, inhabit or be within
the same; so as such laws, ordinances and constitutions, so made, be
not contrary and repugnant unto, but as near as may be, agreeable to
the laws of this our realm of England, considering the nature and
constitution of the place and people there; and also to appoint, order
and direct, erect and settle, such places and courts of jurisdiction,
for the hearing and determining of all actions, cases, matters and
things, happening within the said Colony and Plantation, and which
shall be in dispute, and depending there, as they shall think fit;
and also to distinguish and set forth the several names and titles,
duties, powers and limits, of each court, office and officer, superior
and inferior; and also to contrive and appoint such forms of oaths
and attestations, not repugnant, but as near as may be agreeable,
as aforesaid, to the laws and statutes of this our realm, as are
convenient and requisite, with respect to the due administration of
justice, and due execution and discharge of all offices and places
of trust by the persons that shall be therein concerned; and also to
regulate and order the way and manner of all elections to offices and
places of trust, and to prescribe, limit and distinguish the numbers
and bounds of all places, towns or cities, within the limits and bounds
hereinafter mentioned, and not herein particularly named, who have,
or shall have, the power of electing and sending of freemen to the
said General Assembly; and also to order, direct and authorize the
imposing of lawful and reasonable fines, mulcts, imprisonments, and
executing other punishments, pecuniary and corporal, upon offenders
and delinquents, according to the course of other corporations within
this our kingdom of England; and again to alter, revoke, annul or
pardon, under their common seal, or otherwise, such fines, mulcts,
imprisonments, sentences, judgments and condemnations, as shall be
thought fit; and to direct, rule, order and dispose of, all other
matters and things, and particularly that which relates to the making
of purchases of the native Indians, as to them shall seem meet; whereby
our said people and inhabitants in the said Plantations, may be so
religiously, peaceably and civilly governed, as that by their good life
and orderly conversation, they may win and invite the native Indians
of the country to the knowledge and obedience of the only true God and
Saviour of mankind; willing, commanding and requiring, and by these
presents, for us, our heirs and successors, ordaining and appointing,
that all such laws, statutes, orders and ordinances, instructions,
impositions and directions, as shall be so made by the Governor,
Deputy-Governor, Assistants and freemen, or such number of them as
aforesaid, and published in writing, under their common seal, shall
be carefully and duly observed, kept, performed and put in execution,
according to the true intent and meaning of the same. And these our
letters patent, or the duplicate or exemplification thereof, shall
be to all and every such officer, superior or inferior, from time to
time, for the putting of the same orders, laws, statutes, ordinances,
instructions and directions in due execution, against us, our heirs and
successors, a sufficient warrant and discharge. And further, our will
and pleasure is, and we do hereby, for us, our heirs and successors,
establish and ordain, that yearly, once in the year, forever hereafter,
namely, the aforesaid Wednesday in May, and at the town of Newport, or
elsewhere, if urgent occasion do require, the Governor, Deputy-Governor
and Assistants of the said Company, and other officers of the said
Company, or such of them as the General Assembly shall think fit, shall
be, in the said General Court or Assembly to be held from that day or
time, newly chosen for the year ensuing, by such greater part of the
said Company, for the time being, as shall be then and there present;
and if it shall happen that the present Governor, Deputy-Governor and
Assistants, by these presents appointed, or any such as shall hereafter
be newly chosen into their rooms, or any of them, or any other the
officers of the said Company, shall die or be removed from his or their
several offices or places, before the said general day of election,
(whom we do hereby declare, for any misdemeanor or default, to be
removable by the Governor, Assistants and Company, or such greater
part of them, in any of the said public courts, to be assembled as
aforesaid,) that then, and in every such case, it shall and may be
lawful to and for the said Governor, Deputy-Governor, Assistants and
Company aforesaid, or such greater part of them, so to be assembled as
is aforesaid, in any of their assemblies, to proceed to a new election
of one or more of their Company, in the room or place, rooms or places,
of such officer or officers, so dying or removed, according to their
discretions; and immediately upon and after such election or elections
made of such Governor, Deputy-Governor, Assistant or Assistants, or
any other officer of the said Company, in manner and form aforesaid,
the authority, office and power, before given to the former Governor,
Deputy-Governor, and other officer and officers, so removed, in whose
stead and place new shall be chosen, shall, as to him and them, and
every of them, respectively, cease and determine: _Provided always_,
and our will and pleasure is, that as well such as are by these
presents appointed to be the present Governor, Deputy-Governor and
Assistants of the said Company, as those that shall succeed them, and
all other officers to be appointed and chosen as aforesaid, shall,
before the undertaking the execution of the said offices and places
respectively, give their solemn engagement, by oath, or otherwise,
for the due and faithful performance of their duties in their several
offices and places, before such person or persons as are by these
presents hereafter appointed to take and receive the same, that is
to say: the said Benedict Arnold, who is hereinbefore nominated and
appointed the present Governor of the said Company, shall give the
aforesaid engagement before William Brenton, or any two of the said
Assistants of the said Company; unto whom we do by these presents
give full power and authority to require and receive the same; and the
said William Brenton, who is hereby before nominated and appointed
the present Deputy-Governor of the said Company, shall give the
aforesaid engagement before the said Benedict Arnold, or any two of
the Assistants of the said Company; unto whom we do by these presents
give full power and authority to require and receive the same; and the
said William Boulston, John Porter, Roger Williams, Thomas Olney, John
Smith, John Greene, John Coggeshall, James Barker, William Field, and
Joseph Clarke who are herein before nominated and appointed the present
Assistants of the said Company, shall give the said engagement to their
offices and places respectively belonging, before the said Benedict
Arnold and William Brenton, or one of them; to whom respectively we do
hereby give full power and authority to require, administer or receive
the same: and further, our will and pleasure is, that all and every
other future Governor or Deputy-Governor, to be elected and chosen
by virtue of these presents, shall give the said engagement before
two or more of the said Assistants of the said Company for the time
being; unto whom we do by these presents give full power and authority
to require, administer or receive the same; and the said Assistants,
and every of them, and all and every other officer or officers to be
hereafter elected and chosen by virtue of these presents, from time
to time, shall give the like engagements, to their offices and places
respectively belonging, before the Governor or Deputy-Governor for the
time being: unto which said Governor, or Deputy-Governor, we do by
these presents give full power and authority to require, administer or
receive the same accordingly. And we do likewise, for us, our heirs
and successors, give and grant unto the said Governor and Company,
and their successors, by these presents, that, for the more peaceable
and orderly government of the said Plantations, it shall and may be
lawful for the Governor, Deputy-Governor, Assistants and all other
officers and ministers of the said Company, in the administration
of justice, and exercise of government, in the said Plantations, to
use, exercise, and put in execution, such methods, rules, orders and
directions, not being contrary or repugnant to the laws and statutes
of this our realm, as have been heretofore given, used and accustomed,
in such cases respectively, to be put in practice, until at the next
or some other General Assembly, special provision shall be made and
ordained in the cases aforesaid. And we do further, for us, our heirs
and successors, give and grant unto the said Governor and Company, and
their successors, by these presents, that it shall and may be lawful
to and for the said Governor, or, in his absence, the Deputy-Governor,
and major part of the said Assistants, for the time being, at any time
when the said General Assembly is not sitting, to nominate, appoint
and constitute, such and so many commanders, governors and military
officers, as to them shall seem requisite, for the leading, conducting
and training up the inhabitants of the said Plantations in martial
affairs, and for the defence and safeguard of the said Plantations:
and that it shall and may be lawful to and for all and every such
commander, governor and military officer, that shall be so as
aforesaid, or by the Governor, or in his absence, the Deputy-Governor,
and six of the said Assistants, and major part of the freemen of the
said Company present at any General Assemblies, nominated, appointed
and constituted, according to the tenor of his and their respective
commissions and directions to assemble, exercise in arms, martial
array, and put in warlike posture, the inhabitants of the said Colony,
for their special defence and safety; and to lead and conduct the said
inhabitants, and to encounter, expulse, expel and resist, by force of
arms, as well by sea as by land, and also to kill, slay and destroy,
by all fitting ways, enterprises and means, whatsoever, all and every
such person or persons as shall, at any time hereafter, attempt or
enterprise the destruction, invasion, detriment, or annoyance of the
said inhabitants or Plantations; and to use and exercise the law
martial in such cases only as occasion shall necessarily require; and
to take or surprise, by all ways and means whatsoever, all and every
such person and persons, with their ship or ships, armor, ammunition
or other goods of such persons, as shall, in hostile manner, invade or
attempt the defeating of the said Plantation, or the hurt of the said
Company and inhabitants; and upon just causes, to invade and destroy
the native Indians, or other enemies of the said Colony. Nevertheless,
our will and pleasure is, and we do hereby declare to the rest of our
Colonies in New England, that it shall not be lawful for this our said
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in America, in
New England, to invade the natives inhabiting within the bounds and
limits of their said Colonies, without the knowledge and consent of
the said other Colonies. And it is hereby declared, that it shall not
be lawful to or for the rest of the Colonies to invade or molest the
native Indians or any other inhabitants inhabiting within the bounds
and limits hereafter mentioned, (they having subjected themselves unto
us, and being by us taken into our special protection,) without the
knowledge and consent of the Governor and Company of our Colony of
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Also our will and pleasure is,
and we do hereby declare unto all Christian Kings, Princes and States,
that if any person, which shall hereafter be of the said Company or
Plantations or any other, by appointment of the said Governor and
Company for the time being shall at any time or times hereafter, rob
or spoil, by sea or land, or do any hurt or unlawful hostility to any
of the subjects of us, our heirs or successors, or any of the subjects
of any Prince or State, being then in league with us, our heirs or
successors, upon complaint of such injury done to any such Prince or
State, or their subjects, we, our heirs and successors, will make open
proclamation within any parts of our realm of England, fit for that
purpose, that the person or persons committing any such robbery or
spoil, shall, within the time limited by such proclamation, make full
restitution, or satisfaction of all such injuries, done or committed,
so as the said Prince, or others so complaining, may be fully satisfied
and contented; and if the said person or persons who shall commit any
such robbery or spoil shall not make satisfaction, accordingly, within
such time, so to be limited, that then we, our heirs and successors,
will put such person or persons out of our allegiance and protection;
and that then it shall and may be lawful and free for all Princes or
others to prosecute with hostility, such offenders, and every of them,
their and every of their procurers, aiders, abettors, and counsellors,
in that behalf: _Provided also_, and our express will and pleasure is,
and we do, by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, ordain
and appoint that these presents, shall not, in any manner, hinder any
of our loving subjects, whatsoever, from using and exercising the trade
of fishing upon the coast of New England, in America; but that they,
and every or any of them, shall have full and free power and liberty
to continue and use the trade of fishing upon the said coast, in any
of the seas thereunto adjoining, or any arms of the seas, or salt
water, rivers and creeks, where they have been accustomed to fish:
and to build and to set upon the waste land belonging to the said
Colony and Plantations, such wharves, stages and work-houses as shall
be necessary for the salting, drying and keeping of their fish, to be
taken or gotten upon that coast. And further, for the encouragement
of the inhabitants of our said Colony of Providence Plantations to
set upon the business of taking whales, it shall be lawful for them,
or any of them having struck whale, dubertus, or other great fish, it
or them, to pursue unto any part of that coast, and into any bay,
river, cove, creek, or shore, belonging thereto, and it or them, upon
the said coast, or in the said bay, river, cove, creek, or shore,
belonging thereto, to kill and order for the best advantage, without
molestation, they making no wilful waste or spoil; anything in these
presents contained, or any other matter or thing, to the contrary,
notwithstanding. And further also, we are graciously pleased, and do
hereby declare, that if any of the inhabitants of our said Colony do
set upon the planting of vineyards (the soil and climate both seeming
naturally to concur to the production of wines) or be industrious in
the discovery of fishing banks, in or about the said Colony, we will,
from time to time, give and allow all due and fitting encouragement
therein, as to others, in cases of like nature. And further, of our
more ample grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, we have given
and granted, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors,
do give and grant unto the said Governor and Company of the English
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in the Narragansett
Bay, in New England, in America, and to every inhabitant there, and to
every person and persons, trading thither, and to every such person
or persons as are or shall be free of the said Colony, full power and
authority, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, to take,
ship, transport and carry away, out of any of our realms and dominions,
for and towards the plantation and defence of the said Colony, such and
so many of our loving subjects and strangers as shall or will willingly
accompany them in and to their said Colony and Plantation; except such
person or persons as are or shall be therein restrained by us, our
heirs and successors, or any law or statute of this realm: and also to
ship and transport all and all manner of goods, chattels, merchandizes
and other things whatsoever, that are or shall be useful or necessary
for the said Plantations, and defence thereof, and usually transported,
and not prohibited by any law or statute of this our realm; yielding
and paying unto us, our heirs and successors, such the duties, customs
and subsidies, as are or ought to be paid or payable for the same.
And further, our will and pleasure is, and we do, for us, our heirs
and successors, ordain, declare, and grant unto the said Governor and
Company, and their successors, that all and every the subjects of us,
our heirs and successors, which are already planted and settled within
our said Colony of Providence Plantations, or which shall hereafter go
to inhabit within the said Colony, and all and every of their children,
which have been born there, or which shall happen hereafter to be
born there, or on the sea, going thither, or returning from thence,
shall have and enjoy all liberties and immunities of free and natural
subjects within any the dominions of us, our heirs or successors to
all intents, constructions and purposes, whatsoever, as if they, and
every of them, were born within the realm of England. And further,
know ye, that we, of our more abundant grace, certain knowledge, and
mere motion, have given, granted and confirmed, and by these presents,
for us, our heirs and successors, do give, grant and confirm, unto the
said Governor and Company, and their successors, all that part of our
dominions in New England, in America, containing the Nahantic, and
Nanhyganset, alias Narragansett Bay, and countries and parts adjacent,
bounded on the west, or westerly, to the middle of a channel or river
there, commonly called and known by the name of Pawcatuck, alias
Pawcawtuck river, and so along the said river, as the greater or middle
stream thereof reacheth or lies up into the north country, northward,
unto the head thereof, and from thence, by a straight line drawn
due north, until it meets with the south line of the Massachusetts
Colony; and on the north, or northerly, by the aforesaid south or
southerly line of the Massachusetts Colony or Plantation, and extending
towards the east, or eastwardly, three English miles to the east and
north-east of the most eastern and north-eastern parts of the aforesaid
Narragansett Bay, as the said bay lyeth or extendeth itself from the
ocean on the south, or southwardly unto the mouth of the river which
runneth towards the town of Providence, and from thence along the
easterly side or bank of the said river (higher called by the name of
Seacunck river) up to the falls called Patuckett Falls, being the most
westwardly line of Plymouth Colony, and so from the said falls, in a
straight line, due north, until it meet with the aforesaid line of the
Massachusetts Colony; and bounded on the south by the ocean; and, in
particular, the lands belonging to the towns of Providence, Pawtuxet,
Warwick, Misquammacok, alias Pawcatuck, and the rest upon the main
land in the tract aforesaid, together with Rhode Island, Block Island,
and all the rest of the islands and banks in the Narragansett Bay, and
bordering upon the coast of the tract aforesaid, (Fisher's Island only
excepted,) together with all firm lands, soils, grounds, havens, ports,
rivers, waters, fishings, mines royal, and all other mines, minerals,
precious stones, quarries, woods, wood grounds, rocks, slates, and all
and singular other commodities, jurisdictions, royalties, privileges,
franchises, preheminancies, and hereditaments, whatsoever within the
said tract, bounds, lands and islands aforesaid, or to them or any
of them belonging, or in anywise appertaining; _to have and to hold_
the same, unto the said Governor and Company, and their successors,
forever, upon trust, for the use and benefit of themselves and their
associates freemen of the said Colony, their heirs and assigns, to
be holden of us, our heirs and successors, as of the Manor of East
Greenwich, in our county of Kent, in free and common soccage, and not
in capite, nor by knight service; yielding and paying, therefore, to
us, our heirs and successors, only the fifth part of all the ore of
gold and silver which, from time to time, and at all times hereafter,
shall be there gotten, had or obtained, in lieu and satisfaction of all
services, duties, fines, forfeitures, made or to be made, claims and
demands whatsoever, to be to us, our heirs or successors, therefor or
thereout rendered, made or paid; any grant, or clause in a late grant,
to the Governor and Company of Connecticut Colony, in America, to the
contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding; the aforesaid Pawcatuck
river having been yielded, after much debate, for the fixed and certain
bounds between these our said Colonies, by the agents thereof; who
have also agreed, that the said Pawcatuck river shall be also called
alias Norrogansett or Narrogansett river; and, to prevent future
disputes, that otherwise might arise thereby, forever hereafter shall
be construed, deemed and taken to be the Narragansett river in our late
grant to Connecticut Colony mentioned as the easterly bounds of that
Colony. And further, our will and pleasure is, that in all matters of
public controversy which may fall out between our Colony of Providence
Plantations, and the rest of our Colonies in New England, it shall and
may be lawful to and for the Governor and Company of the said Colony of
Providence Plantations to make their appeals therein to us, our heirs
and successors, for redress in such cases, within this our realm of
England: and that it shall be lawful to and for the inhabitants of the
said Colony of Providence Plantations, without let or molestation, to
pass and repass, with freedom, into and through the rest of the English
Colonies, upon their lawful and civil occasions, and to converse, and
hold commerce and trade with such of the inhabitants of our other
English Colonies as shall be willing to admit them thereunto, they
behaving themselves peaceably among them; any act, clause or sentence,
in any of the said Colonies provided, or that shall be provided, to
the contrary in anywise notwithstanding. And lastly, we do, or us,
our heirs and successors, ordain and grant unto the said Governor and
Company and their successors by these presents that these our letters
patent shall be firm, good, effectual and available in all things
in the law, to all intents, contents, constructions and purposes
whatsoever, according to our true intent and meaning hereinbefore
declared; and shall be construed, reputed and adjudged in all cases
most favorably on the behalf, and for the best benefit and behoof of
the said Governor and Company, and their successors; although express
mention of the true yearly value or certainty of the premises, or any
of them, or of any other gifts or grants, by us, or by any of our
progenitors or predecessors, heretofore made to the said Governor
of the Company of the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations, in the Narragansett Bay, New England, in America, in
these presents is not made, or any statue, act, ordinance, provision,
proclamation or restriction, heretofore had, made, enacted, ordained
or provided, or any other matter, cause or thing whatsoever, to the
contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding. In witness, whereof, we
have caused these our letters to be made patent. Witness ourself, at
Westminister, the eighth day of July, in the fifteenth year of our
reign.
_By the King_:
HOWARD.
CONSTITUTION
OF THE
State of Rhode Island,
AND
Providence Plantations.
ARTICLE I.--_Declaration of Rights._
SECTION 1. Right of the people to make and alter their Constitution.
SEC. 2. Object of government--How laws should be made and burdens
distributed.
SEC. 3. Religious freedom secured.
SEC. 4. Slavery prohibited.
SEC. 5. Laws should provide remedies--Justice shall be free, complete,
prompt.
SEC. 6. Rights of search and seizure regulated.
SEC. 7. Provisions concerning criminal proceedings.
SEC. 8. Bail, fines and punishments.
SEC. 9. Bail and _habeas corpus_.
SEC. 10. Rights of the accused in criminal proceedings.
SEC. 11. Debtors entitled to relief.
SEC. 12. No _ex post facto_ law, &c., to be passed.
SEC. 13. No man to criminate himself.
SEC. 14. Presumption of innocence--Accused to be secured without
severity.
SEC. 15. Trial by jury.
SEC. 16. Private property secured.
SEC. 17. Rights of fishery.
SEC. 18. Military subordinate--Martial law.
SEC. 19. Of quartering soldiers.
SEC. 20. Liberty of the press secured--Truth as a defence to libel.
SEC. 21. Right of the people to assemble, and to petition.
SEC. 22. Right to bear arms.
SEC. 23. Rule of construction.
ARTICLE II.--_Electors._
SEC. 1. Of electors owning real estate.
SEC. 2. Of electors qualified to vote on adoption of Constitution--
Registered voters--Qualified by dollar tax--Military duty---Who to
vote for City Council in Providence, to impose a tax, &c.
SEC. 3. Of assessment and payment of registry tax.
SEC. 4. Who shall not gain residence or be permitted to vote.
SEC. 5. Residents on lands ceded, &c., not electors.
SEC. 6. Power of General Assembly over elections.
ARTICLE III.--_Powers Distributed._
Three Departments.
ARTICLE IV.--_Legislative Powers._
SECTION 1. Constitution supreme law.
SEC. 2. Two houses--General Assembly--Style of laws.
SEC. 3. Sessions of General Assembly.
SEC. 4. Members not to take fees, &c.
SEC. 5. Members exempt from arrest, &c.
SEC. 6. Powers of each house--Organization.
SEC. 7. Powers to make rules, &c.
SEC. 8. Of the journal and yeas and nays.
SEC. 9. Of adjournments.
SEC. 10. Of powers not prohibited.
SEC. 11. Pay of members.
SEC. 12. Lotteries prohibited.
SEC. 13. Debts not to be incurred.
SEC. 14. Private or local appropriations.
SEC. 15. Of valuations of property and assessments.
SEC. 16. Officers may be continued until successors are qualified.
SEC. 17. Bills to create corporations to be continued, except, &c.
SEC. 18. Of election of senators to Congress.
ARTICLE V.--_House of Representatives._
SECTION 1. House, how constituted--Ratio of representation.
SEC. 2. May elect its officers, &c.
ARTICLE VI.--_Senate._
SECTION 1. How constituted.
SEC. 2. Governor to preside--when to vote in grand committee.
SEC. 3. May elect presiding officer in case of vacancy, &c.
SEC. 4. Secretary and other officers.
ARTICLE VII.--_Executive._
SECTION 1. Of the governor and lieutenant-governor--How elected.
SEC. 2. Duty of governor.
SEC. 3. He shall command military and naval forces, except, &c.
SEC. 4. He may grant reprieves, &c.
SEC. 5. He may fill vacancies.
SEC. 6. He may adjourn assembly, in case, &c.
SEC. 7. He may convene assembly, when, &c.
SEC. 8. Commissions, how signed, &c.
SEC. 9. Lieutenant-governor, when to act as governor.
SEC. 10. Vacancies, how filled.
SEC. 11. Compensation of governor, &c.
SEC. 12. Duties of general officers.
ARTICLE VIII.--_Elections._
SECTION 1. Governor and general officers, when elected.
SEC. 2. General officers and members of assembly, how voted for.
SEC. 3. Same subject--How votes to be sealed up, transmitted and
counted.
SEC. 4. List of voters to be kept. [Obsolete.]
SEC. 5. Ballots for members of Assembly, how counted--Adjournment
of elections, when.
SEC. 6. Of voting in the City of Providence.
SEC. 7. If governor or lieutenant-governor not elected by the people
grand committee to elect, how.
SEC. 8. In case general officers not elected by the people, how vacancies
shall be filled.
SEC. 9. Vacancies in Assembly, how filled.
SEC. 10. Majority required to elect.
ARTICLE IX.--_Qualifications for Office._
SECTION 1. Qualified electors only eligible.
SEC. 2. Conviction of bribery a disqualification.
SEC. 3. Oath of general officers.
SEC. 4. Officers, how engaged.
SEC. 5. How oath to be administered to governor, &c.
SEC. 6. Holding office under United States, or other governments,
a disqualification for certain offices,--except, &c.
ARTICLE X.--_Judiciary._
SECTION 1. One supreme court--Inferior courts how established.
SEC. 2. Jurisdiction of courts--Chancery powers.
SEC. 3. Judges of supreme court to instruct jury--To give opinions,
&c.
SEC. 4. Of election and tenure of office of judges of supreme court.
SEC. 5. Vacancies, how filled.
SEC. 6. Compensation of judges.
SEC. 7. Justices of the peace and wardens, how elected--Their
jurisdiction.
ARTICLE XI.--_Impeachments._
SECTION 1. Impeachments, how ordered.
SEC. 2. Impeachments, how tried.
SEC. 3. What officers liable to impeachment--Effect of conviction.
ARTICLE XII.--_Education._
SECTION 1. Duty of General Assembly to promote schools, &c.
SEC. 2. The permanent school fund.
SEC. 3. Donations for support of schools.
SEC. 4. Powers of General Assembly under this article.
ARTICLE XIII.--_Amendments._
SECTION 1. Amendments, how proposed,--how voted upon,--how
adopted.
ARTICLE XIV.--_Adoption of the Constitution._
SECTION 1. Constitution, when to go into operation--Its effect on
existing laws, charters, &c.
SEC. 2. Former debts, &c., adopted.
SEC. 3. Jurisdiction of supreme court.
SEC. 4. Exemptions of New Shoreham and Jamestown from military
duty, continued.
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.
ARTICLE I.
Lists of voters for general officers no longer required to be kept, &c.
ARTICLE II.
The pardoning power, how exercised.
ARTICLE III.
Sessions of the General Assembly.
ARTICLE IV.
Electors absent from the state in the military service of the United
States, allowed to vote.
* * * * *
We, the people of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,
grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty
which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for
a blessing upon our endeavors to secure and to transmit the same,
unimpaired, to succeeding generations, do ordain and establish this
Constitution of Government.
ARTICLE I.
DECLARATION OF CERTAIN CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AND PRINCIPLES.
In order effectually to secure the religious and political freedom
established by our venerated ancestors, and to preserve the same for
our posterity, we do declare that the essential and unquestionable
rights and principles hereinafter mentioned, shall be established,
maintained and preserved, and shall be of paramount obligation in
all legislative, judicial and executive proceedings.
SECTION 1. In the words of the Father of his Country, we declare,
that, "the basis of our political systems is the right of the people to
make and alter their constitutions of government; but that the constitution
which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and
authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all."
SEC. 2. All free governments are instituted for the protection,
safety and happiness of the people. All laws, therefore, should be
made for the good of the whole; and the burdens of the state ought
to be fairly distributed among its citizens.
SEC. 3. Whereas, Almighty God hath created the mind free; and
all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments, or burthens, or
by civil incapacitations, tend to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness;
and whereas, a principal object of our venerable ancestors in
their migration to this country and their settlement of this state, was,
as they expressed it, to hold forth a lively experiment, that a flourishing
civil state may stand and be best maintained with full liberty in
religious concernments; we therefore declare that no man shall be
compelled to frequent or to support any religious worship, place or
ministry whatever, except in fulfillment of his own voluntary contract;
nor enforced, restrained, molested or burthened in his body or
goods; nor disqualified from holding any office; nor otherwise suffer
on account of his religious belief; and that every man shall be free to
worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and to
profess and by argument to maintain his opinion in matters of religion;
and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect his
civil capacity.
SEC. 4. Slavery shall not be permitted in this state.
SEC. 5. Every person within this state ought to find a certain remedy,
by having recourse to the laws, for all injuries or wrongs which
he may receive in his person, property or character. He ought to
obtain right and justice freely, and without purchase, completely, and
without denial; promptly and without delay; conformably to the
laws.
SEC. 6. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, papers
and possessions, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not
be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but on complaint in writing,
upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and describing
as nearly as may be the place to be searched, and the persons or things
to be seized.
SEC. 7. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or other
infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment by a grand jury,
except in cases of impeachment, or of such offences as are cognizable
by a justice of the peace; or in cases arising in the land or naval
forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public
danger. No person shall, after an acquittal, be tried for the same
offence.
SEC. 8. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel punishments inflicted; and all punishments ought
to be proportioned to the offence.
SEC. 9. All persons imprisoned ought to be bailed by sufficient
surety, unless for offences punishable by death or by imprisonment for
life, when the proof of guilt is evident, or the presumption great. The
privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_ shall not be suspended, unless
when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public service shall require
it, nor ever without the authority of the General Assembly.
SEC. 10. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury; to be informed
of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the
witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining them
in his favor, to have the assistance of counsel in his defence, and shall
be at liberty to speak for himself; nor shall he be deprived of life,
liberty, or property, unless by the judgment of his peers, or the law of
the land.
SEC. 11. The person of a debtor, when there is not strong presumption
of fraud, ought not to be continued in prison, after he shall have
delivered up his property for the benefit of his creditors, in such manner
as shall be prescribed by law.
SEC. 12. No _ex post facto_ law, or law impairing the obligation of
contracts, shall be passed.
SEC. 13. No man in a court of common law shall be compelled to
give evidence criminating himself.
SEC. 14. Every man being presumed innocent, until he is pronounced
guilty by the law, no act of severity which is not necessary to
secure an accused person shall be permitted.
SEC. 15. The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate.
SEC. 16. Private property shall not be taken for public uses, without
just compensation.
SEC. 17. The people shall continue to enjoy and freely exercise, all
the rights of fishery, and the privileges of the shore, to which they
have been heretofore entitled, under the charter and usages of this
state. But no new right is intended to be granted, nor any existing
right impaired by this declaration.
SEC. 18. The military shall be held in strict subordination to the
civil authority, and the law martial shall be used and exercised in such
cases only as occasion shall necessarily require.
SEC. 19. No soldier shall be quartered in any house, in time of
peace, without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in
manner to be prescribed by law.
SEC. 20. The liberty of the press being essential to the security of
freedom in a state, any person may publish his sentiments on any
subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty; and in all
trials for libel, both civil and criminal, the truth, unless published
from malicious motives, shall be sufficient defence to the person
charged.
SEC. 21. The citizens have a right, in a peaceable manner, to assemble
for their common good, and to apply to those invested with the
powers of government, for redress of grievances, or for other purposes,
by petition, address, or remonstrance.
SEC. 22. The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be
infringed.
SEC. 23. The enumeration of the aforegoing rights shall not be
construed to impair or deny others retained by the people.
ARTICLE II.
OF THE QUALIFICATIONS OF ELECTORS.
SECTION 1. Every male citizen of the United States, of the age of
twenty-one years, who has had his residence and home in this state
for one year, and in the town or city in which he may claim a right
to vote, six months next preceding the time of voting, and who is
really and truly possessed in his own right of real estate in such
town or city, of the value of one hundred and thirty-four dollars,
over and above all incumbrances, or which shall rent for seven dollars
per annum, over and above any rent reserved, or the interest of any
incumbrances thereon, being an estate in fee simple, fee tail, for
the life of any person, or an estate in reversion or remainder, which
qualifies no other person to vote, the conveyance of which estate,
if by deed, shall have been recorded at least ninety days, shall
thereafter have a right to vote in the election of all civil officers,
and on all questions in all legal town or ward meetings, so long as
he continues so qualified. And if any person hereinbefore described
shall own any such estate within this state out of the town or city in
which he resides, he shall have a right to vote in the election of all
general officers and members of the General Assembly, in the town or
city in which he shall have had his residence and home for the term of
six months next preceding the election, upon producing a certificate
from the clerk of the town or city in which his estate lies, bearing
date within ten days of the time of his voting, setting forth that
such person has a sufficient estate therein to qualify him as a voter;
and that the deed, if any, has been recorded ninety days.
SEC. 2. Every male native citizen of the United States, of the age of
twenty-one years, who has had his residence and home in this state
two years, and in the town or city in which he may offer to vote, six
months next preceding the time of voting, whose name is registered
pursuant to the act calling the convention to frame this Constitution,
or shall be registered in the office of the clerk of such town or city
at least seven days before the time he shall offer to vote and before
the last day of December in the present year; and who has paid or shall
pay a tax or taxes, assessed upon his estate within this state, and
within a year of the time of voting, to the amount of one dollar, or
who shall voluntarily pay, at least seven days before the time he shall
offer to vote, and before said last day of December, to the clerk or
treasurer of the town or city where he resides, the sum of one dollar,
or such sum as, with his other taxes, shall amount to one dollar, for
the support of public schools therein, and shall make proof of the
same, by the certificate of the clerk, treasurer or collector of any
town or city where such payment is made; or who, being so registered
has been enrolled in any military company in this state, and done
military service or duty therein, within the present year, pursuant
to law, and shall, (until other proof is required by law,) prove by
the certificate of the officer legally commanding the regiment, or
chartered or legally authorized volunteer company, in which he may have
served or done duty, that he has been equipped and done duty according
to law, or by the certificate of the commissioners upon military claims
that he has performed military service shall have a right to vote in
the election of all civil officers, and on all questions in all legally
organized town or ward meetings, until the end of the first year
after the adoption of this Constitution, or until the end of the year
eighteen hundred and forty-three.
From and after that time, every such citizen, who has had the residence
herein required, and whose name shall be registered in the town where
he resides, on or before the last day of December, in the year next
preceding the time of his voting, and who shall show by legal proof,
that he has for and within the year next preceding the time he shall
offer to vote, paid a tax or taxes assessed against him in any town or
city in this state, to the amount of one dollar; or that he has been
enrolled in a military company in this state, been equipped and done
duty therein, according to law, and at least for one day during such
year, shall have a right to vote in the election of all civil officers,
and on all questions in all legally organized town or ward meetings:
Provided, that no person shall at any time be allowed to vote in the
election of the City Council of the City of Providence, or upon any
proposition to impose a tax, or for the expenditure of money in any
town or city, unless he shall, within the year next preceding have
paid a tax assessed upon his property therein, valued at least at one
hundred and thirty-four dollars.
SEC. 3. The assessors of each town or city shall annually assess upon
every person whose name shall be registered, a tax of one dollar, or
such sum as with his other taxes shall amount to one dollar, which
registry tax shall be paid into the treasury of such town or city, and
be applied to the support of public schools therein: but no compulsory
process shall issue for the collection of any registry tax: Provided
that the registry tax of every person who has performed military duty
according to the provisions of the preceding section, shall be remitted
for the year he shall perform such duty; and the registry tax assessed
upon any mariner, for any year while he is at sea, shall, upon his
application, be remitted; and no person shall be allowed to vote whose
registry tax for either of the two years next preceding the time of
voting is not paid or remitted as herein provided.
SEC. 4. No person in the military, naval, marine, or any other service
of the United States, shall be considered as having the required
residence by reason of being employed in any garrison, barrack, or
military or naval station in this state: and no pauper, lunatic,
person _non compos mentis_, person under guardianship, or member of
the Narragansett tribe of Indians, shall be permitted to be registered
or to vote. Nor shall any person convicted of bribery, or of any crime
deemed infamous at common law, be permitted to exercise that privilege,
until he be expressly restored thereto by act of the General Assembly.
SEC. 5. Persons residing on lands ceded by this state to the United
States shall not be entitled to exercise the privilege of electors.
SEC. 6. The General Assembly shall have full power to provide for
a registry of voters, to prescribe the manner of conducting the
elections, the form of certificates, the nature of the evidence to be
required in case of a dispute as to the right of any person to vote,
and generally to enact all laws necessary to carry this article into
effect, and to prevent abuse, corruption and fraud in voting.
ARTICLE III.
OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS.
The powers of the government shall be distributed into three
departments: the legislative, executive and judicial.
ARTICLE IV.
OF THE LEGISLATIVE POWER.
SECTION 1. This constitution shall be the supreme law of the
state, and any law inconsistent therewith, shall be void. The General
Assembly shall pass all laws necessary to carry this constitution into
effect.
SEC. 2. The legislative power, under this constitution, shall
be vested in two houses, the one to be called the senate, the other the
house of representatives; and both together, the General Assembly. The
concurrence of the two houses shall be necessary to the enactment of
laws. The style of their laws shall be, _It is enacted by the General
Assembly as follows_.
SEC. 3. There shall be two sessions of the General Assembly
holden annually; one at Newport, on the first Tuesday of May, for the
purposes of election and other business; the other on the last Monday
of October, which last session shall be holden at South Kingstown once
in two years, and the intermediate years alternately at Bristol and
East Greenwich; and an adjournment from the October session shall be
holden annually at Providence.
SEC. 4. No member of the General Assembly shall take any fee,
or be of counsel in any case pending before either house of the General
Assembly, under penalty of forfeiting his seat, upon proof thereof to
the satisfaction of the house of which he is a member.
SEC. 5. The person of every member of the General Assembly
shall be exempt from arrest, and his estate from attachment, in any
civil action, during the session of the General Assembly, and two days
before the commencement, and two days after the termination thereof,
and all process served contrary hereto, shall be void. For any speech
in debate in either house, no member shall be questioned in any other
place.
SEC. 6. Each house shall be the judge of the elections and
qualifications of its members; and a majority 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 may be prescribed by such house, or by law. The
organization of the two houses may be regulated by law, subject to the
limitations contained in this constitution.
SEC. 7. Each house may determine its rules of proceeding,
punish contempts, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with
the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member; but not a second time
for the same cause.
SEC. 8. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings.
The yeas and nays of the members of either house shall, at the desire
of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.
SEC. 9. Neither house shall, during a session, without the
consent of the other, adjourn for more than two days, nor to any other
place than that in which they may be sitting.
SEC. 10. The General Assembly shall continue to exercise
the powers they have heretofore exercised, unless prohibited in this
constitution.
SEC. 11. The senators and representatives shall receive the
sum of one dollar for every day of attendance, and eight cents per
mile for traveling expenses in going to and returning from the General
Assembly. The General Assembly shall regulate the compensation of the
governor, and all other officers subject to the limitations contained
in this constitution.
SEC. 12. All lotteries shall hereafter be prohibited in this
state, except those already authorized by the General Assembly.
SEC. 13. The General Assembly shall have no power, hereafter,
without the express consent of the people, to incur state debts to an
amount exceeding fifty thousand dollars, except in time of war, or in
case of insurrection or invasion; nor shall they in any case, without
such consent, pledge the faith of the state for the payment of the
obligations of others. This section shall not be construed to refer to
any money that may be deposited with this state by the government of
the United States.
SEC. 14. The assent of two-thirds of the members elected
to each house of the General Assembly shall be required to every
bill appropriating the public money or property for local or private
purposes.
SEC. 15. The General Assembly shall, from time to time,
provide for making new valuations of property, for the assessment of
taxes, in such manner as they may deem best. A new estimate of such
property shall be taken before the first direct state tax, after the
adoption of this constitution, shall be assessed.
SEC. 16. The General Assembly may provide by law for
the continuance in office of any officers of annual election or
appointment, until other persons are qualified to take their places.
SEC. 17. Hereafter, when any bill shall be presented to either
house of the General Assembly, to create a corporation for any other
than for religious, literary or charitable purposes, or for a military
or fire company, it shall be continued until another election of
members of the General Assembly shall have taken place, and such public
notice of the pendency thereof shall be given as may be required by law.
SEC. 18. It shall be the duty of the two houses, upon the
request of either, to join in grand committee for the purpose of
electing senators in Congress, at such times and in such manner as may
be prescribed by law for said elections.
ARTICLE V.
OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
SECTION 1. The house of representatives shall never exceed seventy-two
members, and shall be constituted on the basis of population, always
allowing one representative for a fraction exceeding half the ratio;
but each town or city shall always be entitled to at least one member;
and no town or city shall have more than one-sixth of the whole number
of members to which the house is hereby limited. The present
ratio shall be one representative to every fifteen hundred and thirty
inhabitants, and the General Assembly may, after any new census taken
by the authority of the United States, or of this state, reapportion
the representation by altering the ratio; but no town or city shall be
divided into districts for the choice of representatives.
SEC. 2. The house of representatives shall have authority to elect its
speaker, clerks and other officers. The senior member from the town
of Newport, if any be present, shall preside in the organization of the
house.
ARTICLE VI.
OF THE SENATE.
SECTION 1. The senate shall consist of the lieutenant-governor and
of one senator from each town or city in the state.
SEC. 2. The governor, and, in his absence the lieutenant-governor,
shall preside in the senate and in grand committee. The presiding
officer of the senate and grand committee shall have a right to vote in
case of equal division, but not otherwise.
SEC. 3. If, by reason of death, resignation, absence or other cause,
there be no governor or lieutenant-governor present, to preside in the
senate, the senate shall elect one of their own members to preside during
such absence or vacancy; and until such election is made by the
senate the secretary of state shall preside.
SEC. 4. The secretary of state shall, by virtue of his office, be secretary
of the senate, unless otherwise provided by law; and the senate
may elect such other officers as they may deem necessary.
ARTICLE VII.
OF THE EXECUTIVE POWER.
SECTION 1. The chief executive power of this state shall be vested
in a governor, who, together with a lieutenant-governor, shall be annually
elected by the people.
SEC. 2. The governor shall take care that the laws be faithfully
executed.
SEC. 3. He shall be captain-general and commander-in-chief of the
military and naval forces of this state, except when they shall be called
into the service of the United States.
SEC. 4. He shall have power to grant reprieves after conviction, in
all cases except those of impeachment, until the the end of the next
session of the General Assembly.
SEC. 5. He may fill vacancies in office not otherwise provided for
by this constitution, or by law, until the same shall be filled by the
General Assembly or by the people.
SEC. 6. In case of disagreement between the two houses of the General
Assembly, respecting the time or place of adjournment certified
to him by either, he may adjourn them to such time and place as he
shall think proper: provided that the time of adjournment shall not
be extended beyond the day of the next stated session.
SEC. 7. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the General
Assembly at any town or city in this state, at any time not provided
for by law; and in case of danger from the prevalence of epidemic or
contagious disease, in the place in which the General Assembly are by
law to meet, or to which they may have been adjourned, or for other
urgent reasons, he may, by proclamation, convene said Assembly at
any other place within this state.
SEC. 8. All commissions shall be in the name and by the authority
of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations; shall be
sealed with the state seal, signed by the governor, and attested by the
secretary.
SEC. 9. In case of vacancy in the office of governor, or of his inability
to serve, impeachment, or absence from the state, the lieutenant-governor
shall fill the office of governor, and exercise the powers and
authority appertaining thereto, until a governor is qualified to act, or
until the office is filled at the next annual election.
SEC. 10. If the offices of governor and lieutenant-governor be both
vacant by reason of death, resignation, impeachment, absence, or
otherwise, the person entitled to preside over the senate for the time
being shall in like manner fill the office of governor during the absence
or vacancy.
SEC. 11. The compensation of the governor and lieutenant-governor
shall be established by law and shall not be diminished during the
term for which they are elected.
SEC. 12. The duties and powers of the secretary, attorney-general,
and general treasurer, shall be the same under this constitution as are
now established, or as from time to time may be prescribed by law.
ARTICLE VIII.
OF ELECTIONS.
SECTION 1. The governor, lieutenant-governor, senators,
representatives, secretary of state, attorney-general, and general
treasurer, shall be elected at the town, city, or ward meetings, to be
holden on the first Wednesday of April, annually; and shall severally
hold their offices for one year, from the first Tuesday of May next
succeeding, and until others are legally chosen, and duly qualified
to fill their places. If elected or qualified after the said first
Tuesday of May, they shall hold their offices for the remainder of the
political year, and until their successors are qualified to act.
SEC. 2. The voting for governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of
state, attorney-general, general treasurer, and representatives to
Congress shall be by ballot; senators and representatives to the
General Assembly, and town or city officers shall be chosen by ballot,
on demand of any seven persons entitled to vote for the same; and in
all cases where an election is made by ballot or paper vote, the manner
of balloting shall be the same as is now required in voting for general
officers, until otherwise prescribed by law.
SEC. 3. The names of the persons voted for as governor,
lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, attorney-general, and general
treasurer, shall be placed upon one ticket; and all votes for these
officers shall, in open town or ward meetings, be sealed up by the
moderators and town clerks and by the wardens and ward clerks, who
shall certify the same, and deliver or send them to the secretary of
state; whose duty it shall be securely to keep and deliver the same to
the grand committee, after the organization of the two houses at the
annual May session; and it shall be the duty of the two houses at said
session, after their organization, upon the request of either house, to
join in grand committee, for the purpose of counting and declaring said
votes, and of electing other officers.
SEC. 4. The town and ward clerks shall also keep a correct list or
register of all persons voting for general officers, and shall transmit
a copy thereof to the General Assembly, on or before the first day of
said May session.
SEC. 5. The ballots for senators and representatives in the several
towns shall, in each case, after the polls are declared to be closed,
be counted by the moderator, who shall announce the result, and the
clerk shall give certificates to the persons elected. If, in any
case, there be no election, the polls may be reopened, and the like
proceedings shall be had until an election shall take place: Provided,
however, that an adjournment or adjournments of the election may be
made to a time not exceeding seven days from the first meeting.
SEC. 6. In the city of Providence, the polls for senator and
representatives shall be kept open during the whole time of voting
for the day, and the votes in the several wards shall be sealed up at
the close of the meeting by the wardens and ward clerks in open ward
meeting, and afterwards delivered to the city clerk. The mayor and
aldermen shall proceed to count said votes within two days from the day
of election; and if no election of senator and representatives or if
an election of only a portion of the representatives shall have taken
place, the mayor and aldermen shall order a new election, to be held
not more than ten days from the day of the first election, and so on
until the election shall be completed. Certificates of election shall
be furnished by the city clerk to the persons chosen.
SEC. 7. If no person shall have a majority of votes for governor, it
shall be the duty of the grand committee to elect one by ballot from
the two persons having the highest number of votes for the office,
except when such a result is produced by rejecting the entire vote
of any town, city or ward for informality or illegality, in which
case a new election by the electors throughout the state shall be
ordered; and in case no person shall have a majority of votes for
lieutenant-governor, it shall be the duty of the grand committee to
elect one by ballot from the two persons having the highest number of
votes for the office.
SEC. 8. In case an election of the secretary of state,
attorney-general, or general treasurer, should fail to be made by
the electors at the annual election, the vacancy or vacancies shall
be filled by the General Assembly in grand committee from the two
candidates for such office having the greatest number of the votes
of the electors. Or, in case of a vacancy in either of said offices,
from other causes, between the sessions of the General Assembly, the
governor shall appoint some person to fill the same, until a successor
elected by the General Assembly is qualified to act; and in such case,
and also in all other cases of vacancies, not otherwise provided for,
the General Assembly may fill the same in any manner they may deem
proper.
SEC. 9. Vacancies from any cause in the senate and house of
representatives, may be filled by a new election.
SEC. 10. In all elections held by the people under this constitution, a
majority of all the electors voting shall be necessary to the election
of the persons voted for.
ARTICLE IX.
OF QUALIFICATIONS FOR OFFICE.
SECTION 1. No person shall be eligible to any civil office (except the
office of school committee), unless he be a qualified elector for such
office.
SEC. 2. Every person shall be disqualified from holding any office
to which he may have been elected, if he be convicted of having
offered, or procured any other person to offer, any bribe to secure his
election, or the election of any other person.
SEC. 3. All general officers shall take the following engagement before
they act in their respective offices, to wit: You ... being by the
free vote of the electors of this State of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations, elected unto the place of ... do solemnly swear, (or
affirm,) to be true and faithful unto this state, and to support the
constitution of this state and of the United States; that you will
faithfully and impartially discharge all the duties of your aforesaid
office to the best of your abilities, according to law: So help you
God. Or, this affirmation you make and give upon the peril of the
penalty of perjury.
SEC. 4. The members of the General Assembly, the judges of all the
courts, and all other officers, both civil and military, shall be
bound by oath or affirmation to support this constitution, and the
constitution of the United States.
SEC. 5. The oath or affirmation shall be administered to the governor,
lieutenant-governor, senators and representatives, by the secretary of
state, or, in his absence, by the attorney-general. The secretary of
state, attorney-general and general treasurer shall be engaged by the
governor, or by a justice of the supreme court.
SEC. 6. No person holding any office under the government of the United
States, or of any other state or country, shall act as a general
officer, or as a member of the General Assembly, unless at the time
of taking his engagement he shall have resigned his office under such
government; and if any general officer, senator, representative, or
judge, shall after his election and engagement, accept any appointment
under any other government his office under this shall be immediately
vacated; but this restriction shall not apply to any person appointed
to take depositions or acknowledgment of deeds, or other legal
instruments, by the authority of any other state or country.
ARTICLE X.
OF THE JUDICIAL POWER.
SECTION 1. The judicial power of this state shall be vested in one
supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the General Assembly
may, from time to time, ordain and establish.
SEC. 2. The several courts shall have such jurisdiction as may, from
time to time, be prescribed by law. Chancery powers may be conferred
on the supreme court, but on no other court to any greater extent than
is now provided by law.
SEC. 3. The judges of the supreme court shall, in all trials, instruct
the jury in the law. They shall also give their written opinion upon
any question of law whenever requested by the governor, or by either
house of the General Assembly.
SEC. 4. The judges of the supreme court shall be elected by the two
houses in grand committee. Each judge shall hold his office until his
place be declared vacant by a resolution of the General Assembly to
that effect; which resolution shall be voted for by a majority of all
the members elected to the house in which it may originate, and be
concurred in by the same majority of the other house. Such resolutions,
shall not be entertained at any other than the annual session for the
election of public officers; and in default of the passage thereof at
said session, the judge shall hold his place as is herein provided.
But a judge of any court shall be removed from office, if, upon
impeachment, he shall be found guilty of any official misdemeanor.
SEC. 5. In case of vacancy by death, resignation, removal from the
state or from office, refusal or inability to serve, of any judge of
the supreme court, the office may be filled by the grand committee,
until the next annual election, and the judge then elected shall hold
his office as before provided. In cases of impeachment or temporary
absence or inability, the governor may appoint a person to discharge
the duties of the office during the vacancy caused thereby.
SEC. 6. The judges of the supreme court shall receive a compensation
for their services, which shall not be diminished during their
continuance in office.
SEC. 7. The towns of New Shoreham and Jamestown may continue to elect
their wardens as heretofore. The other towns and the city of Providence
may elect such number of justices of the peace, resident therein, as
they may deem proper. The jurisdiction of said justices and wardens
shall be regulated by law. The justices shall be commissioned by the
governor.
ARTICLE XI.
OF IMPEACHMENTS.
SECTION 1. The house of representatives shall have the sole power of
impeachment. A vote of two-thirds of all the members elected shall be
required for an impeachment of the governor. Any officer impeached
shall thereby be suspended from office until judgment in the case shall
have been pronounced.
SEC. 2. All impeachments shall be tried by the senate; and, when
sitting for that purpose, they shall be under oath or affirmation. No
person shall be convicted, except by vote of two-thirds of the members
elected. When the governor is impeached, the chief or presiding justice
of the supreme court, for the time being, shall preside, with a casting
vote in all preliminary questions.
SEC. 3. The governor and all other executive and judicial officers
shall be liable to impeachment; but judgment in such cases shall not
extend further than to removal from office. The person convicted shall,
nevertheless, be liable to indictment, trial and punishment according
to law.
ARTICLE XII.
OF EDUCATION.
SECTION 1. The diffusion of knowledge, as well as of virtue among
the people, being essential to the preservation of their rights and
liberties, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to promote
public schools, and to adopt all means which they may deem necessary
and proper to secure to the people the advantages and opportunities of
education.
SEC. 2. The money which now is, or which may hereafter be appropriated
by law for the establishment of a permanent fund for the support of
public schools shall be securely invested, and remain a perpetual fund
for that purpose.
SEC. 3. All donations for the support of public schools, or for other
purposes of education, which may be received by the General Assembly,
shall be applied according to the terms prescribed by the donors.
SEC. 4. The General Assembly shall make all necessary provisions by law
for carrying this article into effect. They shall not divert said money
or fund from the aforesaid uses, nor borrow, appropriate, or use the
same, or any part thereof, for any other purpose, under any pretence
whatsoever.
ARTICLE XIII.
ON AMENDMENTS.
The General Assembly may propose amendments to this constitution by
the votes of a majority of all the members elected to each house.
Such propositions for amendment shall be published in the newspapers
and printed copies of them shall be sent by the secretary of state,
with the names of all the members who shall have voted thereon, with
the yeas and nays, to all the town and city clerks in the state. The
said propositions shall be, by said clerks, inserted in the warrants
or notices by them issued, for warning the next annual town and ward
meetings in April; and the clerks shall read said propositions to the
electors when thus assembled, with the names of all the representatives
and senators who shall have voted thereon, with the yeas and nays,
before the election of senators and representatives shall be had. If
a majority of all the members elected to each house, at said annual
meeting, shall approve any proposition thus made, the same shall be
published and submitted to the electors in the mode provided in the
act of approval; and if then approved by three-fifths of the electors
of the state present, and voting thereon in town and ward meetings, it
shall become a part of the constitution of the state.
ARTICLE XIV.
ON THE ADOPTION OF THIS CONSTITUTION.
SECTION 1. This constitution, if adopted, shall go into operation on
the first Tuesday of May, in the year one thousand eight hundred and
forty-three. The first election of governor, lieutenant-governor,
secretary of state, attorney-general and general treasurer, and of
senators and representatives under said constitution, shall be had
on the first Wednesday of April next preceding, by the electors
qualified under said constitution. And the town and ward meetings
therefor shall be warned and conducted as is now provided by law. All
civil and military officers now elected, or who shall hereafter be
elected, by the General Assembly, or other competent authority, before
the said first Wednesday of April, shall hold their offices and may
exercise their powers until the said first Tuesday of May, or until
their successors shall be qualified to act. All statutes, public and
private, not repugnant to this constitution, shall continue in force
until they expire by their own limitation, or are repealed by the
General Assembly. All charters, contracts, judgments, actions, and
rights of action shall be as valid as if this constitution had not been
made. The present government shall exercise all the powers with which
it is now clothed, until the said first Tuesday of May, one thousand
eight hundred and forty-three, and until the government under this
constitution is duly organized.
SEC 2. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the
adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid against the state as
if this constitution had not been adopted.
SEC 3. The supreme court, established by this constitution, shall
have the same jurisdiction as the supreme judicial court at present
established, and shall have jurisdiction of all causes which may be
appealed to, or pending in the same; and shall be held at the same
times and places, and in each county, as the present supreme judicial
court, until otherwise prescribed by the General Assembly.
SEC 4. The towns of New Shoreham and Jamestown shall continue to enjoy
the exemptions from military duty which they now enjoy, until otherwise
prescribed by law.
Done in convention, at East Greenwich, this fifth day of November,
A. D. one thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
JAMES FENNER, _President_.
HENRY Y. CRANSTON, _Vice-Pres't._
THOMAS A. JENCKES,}
WALTER W. UPDIKE, } _Secretaries_.
ARTICLES OF AMENDMENT.
ADOPTED NOVEMBER, 1854.
ARTICLE I.
It shall not be necessary for the town or ward clerks to keep and
transmit to the General Assembly a list or register of all persons
voting for general officers; but the General Assembly shall have power
to pass such laws on the subject as they may deem expedient.
ARTICLE II.
The governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, shall
hereafter exclusively exercise the pardoning power, except in cases of
impeachment, to the same extent as such power is now exercised by the
General Assembly.
ARTICLE III.
There shall be one session of the General Assembly holden annually,
commencing on the last Tuesday in May, at Newport, and an adjournment
from the same shall be holden annually at Providence.
* * * * *
ADOPTED AUGUST, 1864.
ARTICLE IV.
Electors of this state who in time of war are absent from the state,
in the actual military service of the United States, being otherwise
qualified, shall have a right to vote in all elections in the state
for electors of president and vice-president of the United States,
representatives in Congress, and general officers of the state. The
General Assembly shall have full power to provide by law for carrying
this article into effect: and until such provision shall be made by
law, every such absent elector on the day of such elections, may
deliver a written or printed ballot, with the names of the persons
voted for thereon, and his Christian and surname, and his voting
residence in the state, written at length on the back thereof, to the
officer commanding the regiment or company to which he belongs: and all
such ballots, certified by such commanding officer to have been given
by the elector whose name is written thereon, and returned by such
commanding officer to the secretary of state within the time prescribed
by law for counting the votes in such elections, shall be received
and counted with the same effect as if given by such elector in open
town, ward, or district meeting: and the clerk of each town or city,
until otherwise provided by law, shall, within five days after any such
election, transmit to the secretary of state a certified list of the
names of all such electors on their respective voting lists.
[_Copy of the Dorr Constitution._]
CONSTITUTION
OF THE
State of Rhode Island,
AND
Providence Plantations,
AS FINALLY ADOPTED BY THE CONVENTION OF THE PEOPLE ASSEMBLED
AT PROVIDENCE, ON THE 18TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 1841.
WE, the PEOPLE of the STATE of RHODE ISLAND and PROVIDENCE
PLANTATIONS, grateful to Almighty God for His blessing vouchsafed
to the "lively experiment" of Religious and Political Freedom
here "held forth" by our venerated ancestors, and earnestly imploring
the favor of His gracious Providence toward this our attempt to
secure, upon a permanent foundation, the advantages of well ordered
and rational Liberty, and to enlarge and transmit to our successors
the inheritance that we have received, do ordain and establish the
following CONSTITUTION of Government for this State:
ARTICLE I.
DECLARATIONS OF PRINCIPLES AND RIGHTS.
1. In the spirit of and in the words of ROGER WILLIAMS, the illustrious
founder of this state, and of his venerated associates, WE DECLARE
"that this government shall be a DEMOCRACY," or government of the
PEOPLE, "by the major consent" of the same, "ONLY IN CIVIL THINGS." The
will of the people shall be expressed by representatives freely chosen,
and returning at fixed periods to their constituents. This state shall
be and forever remain, as in the design of its founder, sacred to
"SOUL LIBERTY," to the rights of conscience, to freedom of thought, of
expression and of action, as hereinafter set forth and secured.
2. All men are created free and equal and are endowed by their Creator
with certain natural, inherent and inalienable rights, among which
are life, liberty, the acquisition of property and the pursuit of
happiness. Government cannot create or bestow these rights which are
the gift of God, but it is instituted for the stronger and surer
defence of the same; that men may safely enjoy the rights of life and
liberty, securely possess and transmit property, and so far as laws
avail may be successful in the pursuit of happiness.
3. All political power and sovereignty are originally vested in and
of right belong to the PEOPLE. All free governments are founded in
their authority and are established for the greatest good of the whole
number. The PEOPLE have therefore an inalienable and indefeasible right
in their original, sovereign and unlimited capacity to ordain and
institute government, and in the same capacity to alter, reform, or
totally change the same, whenever their safety or happiness requires.
4. No favor or disfavor ought to be shown in legislation toward any
man, or party, or society, or religious denomination. The laws should
be made not for the good of the few, but of the many, and the burdens
of the state ought to be fairly distributed among its citizens.
5. The diffusion of useful knowledge and the cultivation of a sound
morality in the fear of God being of the first importance in a
republican state, and indispensable to the maintenance of its liberty,
it shall be an imperative duty of the legislature to promote the
establishment of free schools and to assist in the support of public
education.
6. Every person in this state ought to find a certain remedy by having
recourse to the laws, for all injuries or wrongs which may be done to
his rights of person, property or character. He ought to obtain right
and justice freely and without purchase, completely and without denial,
promptly and without delay, conformably to the laws.
7. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers and possessions against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue but on complaint in
writing upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and
describing, as nearly as may be, the place to be searched, and the
person or things to be seized.
8. No person shall be held to answer to a capital or other infamous
charge unless on indictment by a grand jury except in cases arising in
the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service,
in time of war or public danger. No person shall be tried, after an
acquittal, for the same crime or offence.
9. Every man being presumed to be innocent until pronounced guilty
by the law, all acts of severity that are not necessary to secure an
accused person ought to be repressed.
10. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed,
nor cruel or unusual punishments inflicted, and all punishments ought
to be proportioned to the offence.
11. All prisoners shall be bailable upon sufficient surety, unless for
capital offences, when the proof is evident or the presumption great.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety shall
require it.
12. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall have the privilege
of a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury; be informed of the
nature and cause of the accusation; be confronted with the witnesses
against him; have compulsory process to obtain them in his favor, and
at the public expense, when necessary, have the assistance of counsel
in his defence, and be at liberty to speak for himself. Nor shall he be
deprived of his life, liberty or property unless by the judgment of his
peers, or the law of the land.
13. The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate, and in all
criminal cases the jury shall judge both of the law and of the facts.
14. Any person in this state who may be claimed to be held to labor or
service under the laws of any other state, territory or district, shall
be entitled to a jury trial, to ascertain the validity of such claim.
15. No man in a court of common law shall be required to criminate
himself.
16. Retrospective laws, civil and criminal, are unjust and oppressive,
and shall not be made.
17. The people have a right to assemble in a peaceable manner, without
molestation or restraint, to consult upon the public welfare; a right
to give instructions to their senators and representatives; and a right
to apply to those invested with the powers of government for redress
of grievances, for the repeal of injurious laws, for the correction of
faults of administration, and for all other purposes.
18. The liberty of the press being essential to the security of freedom
in a state, any citizen may publish his sentiments on any subject,
being responsible for the abuse of that liberty; and in all trials for
libel, both civil and criminal, the truth, spoken from good motives
and for justifiable ends, shall be a sufficient defence to the person
charged.
19. Private property shall not be taken for public uses without just
compensation; nor unless the public good require it; nor under any
circumstances until compensation shall have been made, if required.
20. The military shall always be held in strict subordination to the
civil authority.
21. No soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house without
the consent of the owner; nor in time of war but in manner to be
prescribed by law.
22. Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free, and all attempts
to influence it by temporal punishments or burdens, or by civil
incapacitations, tend to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness;
and whereas a principal object of our venerated ancestors in their
migration to this country and their settlement of this state, was,
as they expressed it, to hold forth a lively experiment, that a
flourishing civil state may stand, and be best maintained, with full
liberty in religious concernments. WE therefore DECLARE that no man
shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship,
place or ministry whatsoever, nor be enforced, restrained, molested
or burdened in his body or goods, nor disqualified from holding any
office, nor otherwise suffer on account of his religious belief; and
that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain,
their opinions in matters of religion; and that the same shall in no
wise diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities; and that all
other religious rights and privileges of the people of this state as
now enjoyed, shall remain inviolate and inviolable.
23. No witness shall be called in question before the legislature,
nor in any court of this state, nor before any magistrate or other
person authorized to administer an oath or affirmation, for his or her
religious belief, or opinions, or any part thereof; and no objection
to a witness, on the ground of his or her religious opinions, shall be
entertained or received.
24. The citizens shall continue to enjoy and freely exercise all the
rights of fishery and privileges of the shore to which they have been
heretofore entitled under the charter and usages of this state.
25. The enumeration of the foregoing rights shall not be construed to
impair nor deny others retained by the people.
ARTICLE II.
OF ELECTORS AND THE RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE.
1. Every white male citizen of the United States, of the age of
twenty-one years, who has resided in this state for one year, and in
any town, city or district of the same for six months next preceding
the election at which he offers to vote, shall be an elector of all
officers, who are elected or may hereafter be made eligible by the
people. But persons in the military, naval or marine service of the
United States shall not be considered as having such established
residence by being stationed in any garrison, barrack or military place
in any town or city in this state.
2. Paupers and persons under guardianship, insane or lunatic are
excluded from the electoral right; and the same shall be forfeited
on conviction of bribery, forgery, perjury, theft, or other infamous
crime; and shall not be restored unless by an act of the General
Assembly.
3. No person who is excluded from voting for want of the qualification
first named in section first of this article, shall be taxed or be
liable to do military duty; provided that nothing in said first article
shall be so construed as to exempt from taxation any property or
persons now liable to be taxed.
4. No elector who is not possessed of and assessed for ratable property
in his own right to the amount of one hundred and fifty dollars, or who
shall have neglected or refused to pay any tax assessed upon him in
any town, city or district for one year preceding the town, city, ward
or district meeting at which he shall offer to vote, shall be entitled
to vote on any question of taxation, or the expenditure of any public
moneys in such town, city or district, until the same be paid.
5. In the city of Providence and other cities no person shall be
eligible to the office of mayor, alderman or common councilman, who is
not taxed or who shall have neglected or refused to pay his tax, as
provided in the preceding section.
6. The voting for all officers chosen by the people, except town or
city officers, shall be by ballot; that is to say, by depositing a
written or printed ticket in the ballot box, without the name of the
voter written thereon. Town or city officers shall be chosen by ballot,
on the demand of any two persons entitled to vote for the same.
7. There shall be a strict registration of all qualified voters in the
towns and cities of the state; and no person shall be permitted to vote
whose name has not been entered upon the list of voters before the
polls are opened.
8. The General Assembly shall pass all necessary laws for the
prevention of fraudulent voting by persons not having an actual
permanent residence or home in the state, or otherwise disqualified
according to this constitution; for the careful registration of all
voters, previously to the time of voting; for the prevention of frauds
upon the ballot box; for the preservation of the purity of elections;
and for the safe keeping and accurate counting of the votes; to the end
that the will of the people may be freely and fully expressed, truly
ascertained and effectually exerted, without intimidation, suppression
or unnecessary delay.
9. The electors shall be exempted from arrest on days of election and
one day before and one day after the same, except in cases of treason,
felony or breach of the peace.
10. No person shall be eligible to any office by the votes of the
people who does not possess the qualifications of an elector.
ARTICLE III.
OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS.
1. The powers of the government shall be distributed into three
departments, the legislative, the executive and the judicial.
2. No person or persons connected with one of these departments
shall exercise any of the powers belonging to either of the others,
except in cases herein directed or permitted.
ARTICLE IV.
OF THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.
1. The legislative power shall be vested in two distinct houses, the
one to be called the house of representatives, the other the senate,
and both together the General Assembly. The concurrent votes of
the two houses shall be necessary to the enactment of laws; and the
style of their laws shall be--_Be it enacted by the General Assembly as
follows_.
2. No member of the General Assembly shall be eligible to any
civil office under the authority of the state during the term for which
he shall have been elected.
3. If any representative or senator in the General Assembly of this
state shall be appointed to any office under the government of the
United States, and shall accept the same after his election as such
senator or representative, his seat shall thereby become vacant.
4. Any person who holds an office under the government of the
United States may be elected a member of the General Assembly and
may hold his seat therein if at the time of taking his seat he shall have
resigned said office, and shall declare the same on oath or affirmation,
if required.
5. No member of the General Assembly shall take any fees, be of
counsel, or act as advocate in any case pending before either branch
of the General Assembly, under penalty of forfeiting his seat upon
due proof thereof.
6. Each house shall judge of the election and qualifications of its
members; and a majority of all the members of each house, whom
the towns and senatorial districts are entitled to elect, 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 have previously
prescribed.
7. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish
its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of
two-thirds of the members elected, expel a member; but not a second
time for the same cause.
8. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish
the same when required by one-fifth of its members. The yeas and
nays of the members of either house shall, at the desire of any five
members present, be entered on the journal.
9. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn
for more than two days, nor to any other place than that at which the
General Assembly is holding its session.
10. The senators and representatives shall in all cases of civil
process be privileged from arrest during the session of the General
Assembly, and for two days before the commencement and two days
after the termination of any session thereof. For any speech in debate
in either house no member shall be called in question in any other
place.
11. The civil and military officers heretofore elected in grand
committee shall hereafter be elected annually by the General Assembly
in joint committee, composed of the two houses of the General
Assembly, excepting as is otherwise provided in this constitution,
and excepting the captains and subalterns of the militia who shall be
elected by the ballots of the members composing their respective
companies, in such manner as the General Assembly may prescribe;
and such officers so elected shall be approved of and commissioned
by the governor, who shall determine their rank, and if said companies
shall neglect or refuse to make such elections after being duly
notified, then the governor shall appoint suitable persons to fill such
offices.
12. Every bill and every resolution requiring the concurrence of the
two houses (votes of adjournment accepted) which shall have passed both
houses of the General Assembly, shall be presented to the governor
for his revision. If he approve of it he shall sign and transmit the
same to the secretary of state, but if not he shall return it to the
house in which it shall have originated, with his objections thereto
which shall be entered at large on their journal. The house shall then
proceed to reconsider the bill; and if after such reconsideration
that house shall pass it by a majority of all the members elected,
it shall be sent with the objections to the other house which shall
also reconsider it; and if approved by that house by a majority of all
the members elected it shall become a law. If the bill shall not be
returned by the governor within forty-eight hours (Sundays excepted)
after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall become a law,
in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the General Assembly by
their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a
law.
13. There shall be two sessions of the General Assembly in every year;
one session to be held at Newport, on the first Tuesday of June, for
the organization of the government, the election of officers, and for
other business; and one other session on the first Tuesday of January,
to be held at Providence, in the first year after the adoption of this
constitution and in every second year thereafter. In the intermediate
years the January session shall be forever hereafter held in the
counties of Washington, Kent, or Bristol, as the General Assembly may
determine before their adjournment in June.
ARTICLE V.
OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
1. The house of representatives shall consist of members chosen
by the electors in the several towns and cities in their respective town
and ward meetings annually.
2. The towns and cities shall severally be entitled to elect members
according to the apportionment which follows, viz: Newport to
elect five; Warwick, four; Smithfield, five; Cumberland, North Providence
and Scituate, three; Portsmouth, Westerly, New Shoreham,
North Kingstown, South Kingstown, East Greenwich, Glocester,
West Greenwich, Coventry, Exeter, Bristol, Tiverton, Little Compton,
Warren, Richmond, Cranston, Charlestown, Hopkinton, Johnston,
Foster and Burrillville to elect two; and Jamestown, Middletown
and Barrington to elect one.
3. In the city of Providence there shall be six representative districts,
which shall be the six wards of said city. And the electors
resident in said districts for the term of three months next preceding
the election at which they offer to vote, shall be entitled to elect two
representatives for each district.
4. The General Assembly in case of great inequality in the population
of the wards of the city of Providence, may cause the boundaries of the
six representative districts therein to be so altered as to include in
each district as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants.
5. The house of representatives shall have authority to elect their
own speaker, clerks and other officers. The oath of office shall be
administered to the speaker by the secretary of state, or, in his
absence, by the attorney-general.
6. Whenever the seat of a member of the house of representatives shall
be vacated by death, resignation, or otherwise, the vacancy may be
filled by a new election.
ARTICLE VI.
OF THE SENATE.
1. The state shall be divided into twelve senatorial districts; and
each district shall be entitled to one senator, who shall be annually
chosen by the electors in his district.
2. The first, second and third representative districts in the city of
Providence shall constitute the first senatorial district; the fourth,
fifth and sixth representative districts in said city the second
district; the town of Smithfield the third district; the towns of North
Providence and Cumberland the fourth district; the towns of Scituate,
Glocester, Burrillville and Johnston the fifth district; the towns of
Warwick and Cranston the sixth district; the towns of East Greenwich,
West Greenwich, Coventry and Foster the seventh district; the towns of
Newport, Jamestown and New Shoreham the eighth district; the towns of
Portsmouth, Middletown, Tiverton and Little Compton the ninth district;
the towns of North Kingstown and South Kingstown the tenth district;
the towns of Westerly, Charlestown, Exeter, Richmond and Hopkinton the
eleventh district; the towns of Bristol, Warren and Barrington the
twelfth district.
3. The lieutenant-governor, shall be by virtue of his office, president
of the senate; and shall have a right, in case of an equal division to
vote in the same, and also to vote in joint committe of the two houses.
4. When the government shall be administered by the
lieutenant-governor, or he shall be unable to attend as president of
the senate, the senate shall elect one of their own members president
of the same.
5. Vacancies in the senate occasioned by death, resignation or
otherwise, may be filled by a new election.
6. The secretary of state shall be, by virtue of his office, secretary
of the senate.
ARTICLE VII.
OF IMPEACHMENTS.
1. The house of representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment.
2. All impeachments shall be tried by the senate; and when sitting
for that purpose they shall be on oath or affirmation. No person
shall be convicted except by vote of two-thirds of the members
elected. When the governor is impeached the chief-justice of the
supreme court shall preside, with a casting vote in all preliminary
questions.
3. The governor and all other executive and judicial officers shall
be liable to impeachment, but judgments in such cases shall not
extend further than removal from office. The party convicted shall
nevertheless be liable to indictment, trial and punishment, according
to law.
ARTICLE VIII.
OF THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.
1. The chief executive power of this state, shall be vested in a
governor who shall be chosen by the electors, and shall hold his office
for one year and until his successor be duly qualified.
2. No person holding any office or place under the United States,
this state, any other of the United States, or any foreign power, shall
exercise the office of governor.
3. He shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed.
4. He shall be commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces
of the state, except when called into the actual service of the United
States; but he shall not march nor convey any of the citizens out of
the state without their consent, or that of the General Assembly, unless
it shall become necessary in order to march or transport them
from one part of the state to another, for the defence thereof.
5. He shall appoint all civil and military officers whose appointment
is not by this constitution, or shall not, by law, be otherwise
provided for.
6. He shall from time to time inform the General Assembly of the
condition of the state, and recommend to their consideration such
measures as he may deem expedient.
7. He may require from any military officer or any officer in the
executive department, information upon any subject relating to the
duties of his office.
8. He shall have power to remit forfeitures and penalties, and to
grant reprieves, commutation of punishments and pardons after conviction,
except in cases of impeachment.
9. The governor shall at stated times receive for his services a
compensation, which shall not be increased nor diminished during his
continuance in office.
10. There shall be elected in the same manner as is provided for
the election of governor, a lieutenant-governor, who shall continue in
office for the same term of time. Whenever the office of governor
shall become vacant by death, resignation, removal from office or
otherwise, the lieutenant-governor shall exercise the office of governor
until another governor shall be duly qualified.
11. Whenever the offices of governor and lieutenant-governor shall
both become vacant by death, resignation, removal from office, or
otherwise, the president of the senate shall exercise the office of
governor until a governor be duly qualified; and should such vacancies
occur during a recess of the General Assembly, and there be no president
of the senate, the secretary of state shall by proclamation convene
the senate, that a president may be chosen to exercise the office
of governor.
12. Whenever the lieutenant-governor or president of the senate
shall exercise the office of governor, he shall receive the compensation
of governor only; and his duties as president of the senate shall cease
while he shall continue to act as governor; and the senate shall fill
the vacancy by an election from their own body.
13. In case of a disagreement between the two houses of the General
Assembly respecting the time or place of adjournment, the person
exercising the office of governor may adjourn them to such time or
place as he shall think proper; provided, that the time of adjournment
shall not be extended beyond the first day of the next stated session.
14. The person exercising the office of governor may, in cases of
special necessity convene the General Assembly at any town or city in
this state, at any other time than herein before provided. And, in
case of danger from the prevalence of epidemic or contagious diseases,
or from other circumstances in the place in which the General Assembly
are next to meet, he may by proclamation convene the Assembly
at any other place within the state.
15. A secretary of state, a general treasurer and an attorney-general
shall also be chosen annually, in the same manner and for the same time
as is herein provided respecting the governor. The duties of these
offices shall be the same as are now or may hereafter be prescribed by
law. Should there be a failure to choose either of them, or should a
vacancy occur in either of their offices, the General Assembly shall
fill the place by an election in joint committee.
16. The electors in each county shall, at the annual elections, vote
for an inhabitant of the county to be sheriff of said county for one
year and until a successor be duly qualified. In case no person shall
have a majority of the electoral votes of his county for sheriff, the
General Assembly, in joint committee, shall elect a sheriff from the
two candidates, who shall have the greatest number of votes in such
county.
17. All commissions shall be in the name of the State of Rhode Island
and Providence Plantations, sealed with the seal of the state, and
attested by the secretary.
ARTICLE IX.
GENERAL PROVISIONS.
1. This constitution shall be the supreme law of the state, and all
laws contrary to or inconsistent with the same which may be passed by
the General Assembly shall be null and void.
2. The General Assembly shall pass all necessary laws for carrying this
constitution into effect.
3. The judges of all the courts, and all other officers, both civil and
military, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to the due observance
of this constitution and of the constitution of the United States.
4. No jurisdiction shall hereafter be entertained by the General
Assembly in cases of insolvency, divorce, sale of real estate of
minors, or appeal from judicial decisions, nor in any other matters
appertaining to the jurisdiction of judges and courts of law. But
the General Assembly shall confer upon the courts of the state all
necessary powers for affording relief in the cases herein named;
and the General Assembly shall exercise all other jurisdiction and
authority which they have heretofore entertained, and which is not
prohibited by, or repugnant to this constitution.
5. The General Assembly shall from time to time cause estimates to be
made of the ratable property of the state, in order to the equitable
apportionment of state taxes.
6. Whenever a direct tax is laid by the state, one-sixth part thereof
shall be assessed on the polls of the qualified electors, provided that
the tax on a poll shall never exceed the sum of fifty cents, and that
all persons who actually perform military duty, or duty in the fire
department, shall be exempted from said poll tax.
7. The General Assembly shall have no power hereafter to incur state
debts to an amount exceeding the sum of fifty thousand dollars, except
in time of war, or in case of invasion, without the express consent of
the people. Every proposition for such increase shall be submitted
to the electors at the next annual election, or on some day to be set
apart for that purpose, and shall not be farther entertained by the
General Assembly, unless it receive the votes of a majority of all the
persons voting. This section shall not be construed to refer to any
money that now is, or hereafter may be, deposited with this state by
the general government.
8. The assent of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of
the General Assembly shall be requisite to every bill appropriating
the public moneys, or property for local or private purposes; or
for creating, continuing, altering or renewing any body politic or
corporate, banking corporations excepted.
9. Hereafter when any bill creating, continuing, altering or renewing
any banking corporation, authorized to issue its promissory notes for
circulation shall pass the two houses of the General Assembly, instead
of being sent to the governor, it shall be referred to the electors
for their consideration at the next annual election, or on some day
to be set apart for that purpose, with printed tickets, containing
the question, shall said bill (with a brief description thereof) be
approved, or not; and if a majority of the electors voting shall vote
to approve said bill it shall become a law, otherwise not.
10. All grants of incorporation shall be subject to future acts of
the General Assembly, in amendment or repeal thereof, or in any wise
affecting the same, and this provision shall be inserted in all acts of
incorporation hereafter granted.
11. The General Assembly shall exercise as heretofore a visitorial
power over corporations. Three bank commissioners shall be chosen at
the June session for one year, to carry out the powers of the General
Assembly in this respect. And commissioners for the visitation of other
corporations, as the General Assembly may deem expedient, shall be
chosen at the June session for the same term of office.
12. No city council or other government in any city shall have power
to vote any tax upon the inhabitants thereof, excepting the amount
necessary to meet the ordinary public expenses in the same, without
first submitting the question of an additional tax or taxes to the
electors of said city; and a majority of all who vote shall determine
the question. But no elector shall be entitled to vote in any city upon
any question of taxation thus submitted, unless he shall be qualified
by the possession in his own right of ratable property to the amount
of one hundred and fifty dollars, and shall have been assessed thereon
to pay a city tax, and shall have paid the same as provided in section
fourth of Article II. Nothing in that article shall be construed as to
prevent any elector from voting for town officers, and in the city of
Providence and other cities for mayor, aldermen, and members of the
common council.
13. The General Assembly shall not pass any law nor cause any act or
thing to be done in any way to disturb any of the owners or occupants
of land in any territory now under the jurisdiction of any other state
or states, the jurisdiction whereof may be ceded to, or decreed to
belong to this state; and the inhabitants of such territory shall
continue in the full, quiet and undisturbed enjoyment of their titles
to the same, without interference in any way on the part of this state.
ARTICLE X.
OF ELECTIONS.
1. The election of the governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of
state, general treasurer, attorney-general, and also of senators and
representatives to the General Assembly, and of sheriffs of the counties,
shall be held on the third Wednesday of April, annually.
2. The names of the persons voted for as governor, lieutenant-governor,
secretary of state, general treasurer, attorney-general and
sheriffs of the respective counties, shall be put upon one ticket; and
the tickets shall be deposited by the electors in a box by themselves.
The names of the persons voted for as senators and as representatives
shall be put upon separate tickets, and the tickets shall be deposited
in separate boxes. The polls for all the officers named in this section
shall be opened at the same time.
3. All the votes given for governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary
of state, general treasurer, attorney-general, sheriffs, and also for
senators shall remain in the ballot boxes till the polls be closed. These
votes shall then, in open town and ward meetings, and in the presence
of at least ten qualified voters, be taken out and sealed up in
separate envelopes by the moderators and town clerks and by the
wardens and ward clerks, who shall certify the same and forthwith
deliver or send them to the secretary of state, whose duty it shall be
securely to keep the same, and to deliver the votes for state officers
and sheriffs to the speaker of the house of representatives after the
house shall be organized at the June session of the General Assembly.
The votes last named shall, without delay, be opened, counted and
declared in such manner as the house of representatives shall direct,
and the oath of office shall be administered to the persons who shall
be declared to be elected by the speaker of the house of representatives,
and in the presence of the house; provided that the sheriffs
may take their engagement before a senator, judge or justice of
the peace. The votes for senators shall be counted by the governor
and secretary of state within seven days from the day of election;
and the governor shall give certificates to the senators who are
elected.
4. The boxes containing the votes for representatives to the General
Assembly in the several towns shall not be opened till the polls
for representatives are declared to be closed. The votes shall then be
counted by the moderator and clerk, who shall announce the result
and give certificates to the persons elected. If there be no election,
or not an election of the whole number of representatives to which
the town is entitled, the polls for representatives may be reopened, and
the like proceedings shall be had until an election shall take place;
provided, however, that an adjournment of the election may be made
to a time not exceeding seven days from the first meeting.