and twenty-three; and the governor, lieutenant-governor, senators, and members of assembly, now in office, shall continue to hold the same until the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, and no longer.

ARTICLE SECOND.-Electors.

SEC. 1. Every male citizen of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been an inhabitant of this state one year preceding any election, and for the last six months a resident of the town or county where he may offer his vote; and shall have, within the year next preceding the election, paid a tax to the state or county, assessed upon his real or personal property; or shall, by law, be exempted from taxation; or, being armed and equipped according to law, shall have performed, within that year, military duty in the militia of this state; or who shall be exempted from performing militia duty in consequence of being a fireman in any city, town or village in this state: And also every male citizen of the age of twentyone years, who shall have been, for three years next preceding such election, an inhabitant of this state, and for the last year a resident in the town or county where he may offer his vote; and shall have been, within the last year, assessed to labor upon the public highways, and shall have peformed the labor, or paid an equivalent therefor, according to law, shall be entitled to vote in the town or ward where he actually resides, and not elsewhere, for all officers that now are, or hereafter may be, elective by the people: But no man of colour, unless he shall have been for three years a citizen of this state, and for one year next preceding any election, shall be seized and possessed of a freehold estate of the value of two hundred and fifty dollars, over and above all debts and incumbrances charged thereon; and shall have been actually rated, and paid a tax thereon, shall be entitled to vote at any such election. And no person of colour shall be subject to direct taxation, unless he shall be seized and possessed of such real estate as aforesaid.

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

SEC. 3. Laws shall be made for ascertaining, by proper proofs, the citizens who shall be entitled to the right of suffrage hereby established.

SEC. 4. All elections by the citizens shall be by ballot, except for such town officers as may by law be directed to be otherwise chosen.

ARTICLE THIRD.-Executive.

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

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

SEC. 3. The governor and lieutenant-governor shall be elected at the times and places of choosing members of the legislature. The persons respectively having the highest number of votes for governor and lieutenantgovernor, shall be elected; but in case two or more shall have an equal, and the highest number of votes for governor, or for lieutenant-governor, the two houses of the legislature shall, by joint ballot, choose one of the said persons so having an equal and the highest number of votes for governor or lieutentant-governor.

SEC. 4. The governor shall be general and commander in chief of all the militia, and admiral of the navy of the state. He shall have power to convene the legislature (or the senate only) on extraordinary occasions. He shall communicate by message to the legislature at every session, the condition of the state; and recommend such matters to them as he shall judge expedient. He shall transact all necessary business with the officers of government, civil and military. He shall expedite all such measures as may be resolved upon by the legislature, and shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed. He

shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the term for which he shall have been elected.

SEC. 5. The governor shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons after conviction, for all offences except treason and cases of impeachment. Upon convictions for treason, he shall have power to suspend the execution of the sentence until the case shall be reported to the legislature at its next meeting; when the legislature shall either pardon, or direct the execution of the crimïnal, or grant a further reprieve.

SEC. 6. In case of the impeachment of the governor, or his removal from office, death, resignation, or absence from the state, the powers and duties of the office shall devolve upon the lieutenant-governor for the residue of the term, or until the governor absent or impeached shall return, or be acquitted. But when the governor shall, with the consent of the legislature, be out of the state in time of war, at the head of a military force thereof, he shall still continue commander in chief of all the military force of the state.

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

ARTICLE FOURTH.-Appointments and choice.

SEC. 1. Militia officers shall be chosen or appointed as follows:

Captains, subalterns, and non-commissioned officers, shall be chosen by the written votes of the members of their respective companies. Field officers of regiments and separate battalions, by the written votes of the commissioned officers of the respective regiments and separate battalions. Brigadier generals by the field officers of their respective brigades. Major generals, brigadier generals, and commanding officers of regiments or separate battalions, shall appoint the staff officers of their

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respective divisions, brigades, regiments, or separate battalions.

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

SEC. 3. The legislature shall, by law, direct the time and manner of electing militia officers, and of certifying their elections to the governor.

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

SEC. 5. In case the mode of election and appointment of militia officers hereby directed, shall not be found conducive to the improvement of the militia, the legislature may abolish the same, and provide by law for their appointment and removal, if two-thirds of the members present in each house shall concur therein.

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

SEC. 7. The governor shall nominate, by message in writing and with the consent of the senate, shall appoint all judicial officers, except justices of the peace, who shall

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

SEC. 8. Sheriffs, and clerks of counties, including the register and clerk of the city and county of New-York, shall be chosen by the electors of the respective counties, once in every three years, and as often as vacancies shall happen. Sheriffs shall hold no other office, and be ineligible for the next three years after the termination of their offices. They may be required by law to renew their security from time to time; and in default of giving such new security, their offices shall be deemed vacant. But the county shall never be made responsible for the acts of the sheriff. And the governor may remove any