§ 11. No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, nor any law impairing the obligation of contracts shall ever be passed, and no conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate.

§ 12. No person shall be imprisoned for debt in this State, but this State shall not prevent the Legislature from providing for imprisonment, or holding to bail persons charged with fraud in contracting said debt. A reasonable amount of property shall be exempt from seizure or sale, for the payment of any debt or liability; the amount of such exemption shall be determined by law.

§ 13. Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation therefor, first paid or secured.

§ 14. The military shall be subordinate to the civil power, and no standing army shall be kept up in this State in time of peace.

§ 15. All the lands within this State are declared to be allodial, and feudal tenures of every description, with all their incidents, are prohibited. Leases and grants of agricultural land for a longer period than twenty-one years, hereafter made, in which shall be reserved any rent or service of any kind, shall be void.

§ 16. The enumeration of rights in this Constitution, shall not be construed to deny or impair others retained by and inherent in the people. The right of every man to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience shall never be infringed, nor shall any man be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship, or to maintain any religious or ecclesiastical ministry against his consent, nor shall any control of, or interference with the rights of conscience be permitted, or any preference be given by law to any religious establishment or mode of worship; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured, shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of the State, nor shall any money be drawn from the treasury for the benefit of any religious societies, or religious or theological seminaries.

§ 17. No religious test or amount of property shall ever be required as a qualification for any office of public trust under the State. No religious test or amount of property shall ever be required as a qualification of any voter at any election in this State; nor shall any person be rendered incompetent to give evidence in any court of law or equity in consequence of his opinion upon the subject of religion.

ARTICLE II.

ON NAME AND BOUNDARIES.

SECTION 1. This State shall be called and known by the name of the State of Minnesota, and shall consist of and have jurisdiction over the territory embraced in the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at the point in the center of the main channel of the Red river of the North, where the boundary line between the United States and the British Provinces crosses the same; thence up the main channel of said river to that of the Bois des Sioux river; thence up the main channel of said river to Lake Traverse; thence up the center of said lake to the southern extremity thereof; thence in a direct line to the head of Big Stone Lake, thence through its center to its outlet; thence by a due south line to the north line of the State of Iowa; thence east along the northern boundary of said State to the main channel of the Mississippi river; thence up the main channel of said river and following the boundary line of the State of Wisconsin, until the same intersects the St. Louis river; thence down the said river to and through Lake Superior, on the boundary line of Wisconsin and Michigan, until it intersects the dividing line between the United States and British Possessions; thence up Pigeon river and following said dividing line to the place of beginning.

2. The State of Minnesota shall have concurrent jurisdiction on the Mississippi and on all other rivers and waters bordering on the said State of Minnesota, so far as the same shall form a common boundary to said State, and any other State or States now or hereafter to be formed by the same; and said river and waters, and navigable waters leading into the same, shall be the common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of said State as to other citizens of the United States, without any tax, duty, impost or toll therefor.

§ 3. The propositions contained in the act of Congress entitled "An act to authorize the people of the Territory of Minnesota to form a Constitution and State government preparatory to their admission into the Union on an equal footing with the original States," are hereby accepted, ratified and confirmed, and shall remain irrevocable without the consent of the United States; and it is hereby ordained that this State shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil within the same, by the United States, or with any regulations Congress may find necessary for securing the title to

said soil to bona fide purchasers thereof; and no tax shall be imposed on land belonging to the United States, and in no case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents.

ARTICLE III.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE POWERS OF GOVERNMENT.

SECTION 1. The powers of government shall be divided into three distinct departments, the Legislative, Executive and Judicial; and no person or persons belonging to or constituting one of these departments shall exercise any of the powers properly belonging to either of the others, except in the instances expressly provided in this Constitution.

ARTICLE IV.

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.

SECTION 1. The Legislature of the State shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives, who shall meet at the seat of government of the State, at such time as shall be prescribed by law.

§ 2. The number of members who compose the Senate and House of Representatives shall be prescribed by law, but the representation in the Senate shall never exceed one member for every five thousand inhabitants, and in the House of Representatives one member for every two thousand inhabitants. The representation in both houses shall be apportioned equally throughout the different sections of the State, in proportion to the population thereof, exclusive of Indians not taxable under the provisions of law.

§3. Each House shall be a judge of the election returns, and eligibility of its own members; a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to transact business, but: a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as it may provide.

§ 4. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, sit upon its own adjournment, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of twothirds, expel a member, but no member shall be expelled a second time for the same offense.

§ 5. The House of Representatives shall elect its presiding officer, and the Senate and House of Representatives shall elect such other officers as may be provided by law; they shall keep journals of their proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, and the yeas and nays, when taken on any question, shall be entered on such journals. § 6. Neither House shall, during a session of the Legislature, adjourn for more than three days (Sundays excepted), nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be assembled, without the consent of the other House.

But no

§ 7. The compensation of Senators and Representatives shall be three dollars per diem, during the first session, but may afterwards be prescribed by law. increase of compensation shall be prescribed which shall take effect during the period for which the members of the existing House of Representatives may have been elected. § 8. The members of each House shall, in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of their respective Houses, and in going to or returning from the same. For any speech or debate in either House they shall not be questioned in any other place.

§ 9. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he is elected, hold any office under the authority of the United States, or the State of Minnesota, except that of postmaster; and no Senator or Representative shall hold an office under the State, which had been created, or the emoluments of which had been increased during the session of the Legislature of which he was a member, until one year after the expiration of his term of office in the Legislature.

10. All bills for raising a revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose and concur with amendments, as on other bills.

§ 11. Every bill which shall have passed the Senate and House of Representatives, in conformity to the rules of each House, and the joint rules of the two Houses, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Governor of the State. If he approve, he shall sign and deposit it in the office of Secretary of State for preservation, and notify the House where it originated, of the fact. But if not he shall return it, with his objections, to the House in which it shall have originated, when such objections shall be entered at large on the journal of the same, and the House shall proceed to reconsider the bill. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if it be approved by two-thirds of that House it shall be

come a law. But in all such cases, the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for or against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within three days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Legislature, by adjournment within that time, prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law. The Governor may approve, sign, and file in the office of the Secretary of State, within three days after the adjournment of the Legislature, any act passed during the three last days of the session, the same shall become a law.

§ 12. No money shall be appropriated except by bill. Every order, resolution or vote requiring the concurrence of the two Houses (except such as relate to the business or adjournment of the same), shall be presented to the Governor for his signature, and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being returned by him with his objections, shall be re-passed by two-thirds of the members of the two Houses, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in case of a bill.

§ 13. The style of all laws of this State shall be: "Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota." No law shall be passed unless voted for by a majority of all the members elected to each branch of the Legislature, and the vote entered upon the journal of each House.

§ 14. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment, through a concurrence of a majority of all the members elected to seats therein. All impeachments shall be tried by the Sanate; and when sitting for that purpose, the Senators shall be upon oath or affirmation to do justice according to law and evidence. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.

§ 15. The Legislature shall have full power to exclude from the privilege of electing or being elected, any person convicted of bribery, perjury, or any other infamous crime. § 16. Two or more members of either House shall have liberty to dissent and protest against any act or resolution which they may think injurious to the public or to any individual, and have the reason of their dissent entered on the journal.

§ 17. The Governor shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies as may occur in either House of the Legislature. The Legislature shall prescribe by law the manner in which evidence in cases of contested seats in either House shall be taken.

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§ 18. Each House may punish by imprisonment, during its session, any person not a member who shall be guilty of any disorderly or contemptuous behavior in their pres ence, but no such imprisonment shall at any time exceed twenty-four hours.

§ 19. Each House shall be open to the public during the sessions thereof, except in such cases as in their opinion may require secrecy.

§ 20. Every bill shall be read on three different days in each separate House, unless in case of urgency two-thirds of the House where such bill is depending, shall deem it expedient to dispense with this rule, and no bill shall be passed by either House until it shall have been previously read twice at length.

§ 21. Every bill having passed both Houses, shall be carefully enrolled and shall be signed by the presiding officer of each House. Any presiding officer refusing to sign a bill which shall have previously passed both Houses, shall thereafter be incapable of holding a seat in either branch of the Legislature, or hold any other office of honor or profit in the State, and in case of such refusal, each House shall, by rule, provide the manner in which such bill shall be properly certified for presentation to the Governor. § 22. No bill shall be passed by either House of the Legislature upon the day prescribed for the adjournment of the two Houses. But this section shall not be so construed as to preclude the enrollment of a bill, or the signature and passage from one House to the other, or the reports thereon from committees, or its transmission to the executive for his signature.

§ 23. The Legislature shall provide by law for an enumeration of the inhabitants of this State in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, and every tenth year thereafter. At their first session after each enumeration so made, and also at their first session after each enumeration made by the authority of the United States, the Legislature shall have the power to prescribe the bounds of congressional, senatorial, and representative districts, and to apportion anew the Senators and Representatives among the several districts, according to the provisions of section second of this article.

§ 24. The Senators shall also be chosen by single districts of convenient contiguous territory. at the same time that the members of the House of Representatives are required to be chosen, and in the same manner, and no representative district shall be divided in the formation of a senate district. The senate districts shall be numbered in

regular series, and the Senators chosen by the districts designated by odd numbers, shall go out of office at the expiration of the first year, and the Senators chosen by the districts designated by even numbers shall go out of office at the expiration of the second year; and thereafter the Senators shall be chosen for the term of two years, except there shall be an entire new election of all the Senators at the election next succeeding each new apportionment provided for in this article.

§ 25. Senators and Representatives shall be qualified voters of the State, and shall have resided one year in the State, and six months immediately preceding the election in the district from which they are elected.

§ 26. Members of the Senate of the United States from this State shall be elected by the two Houses of the Legislature in joint convention, at such times and in such manner as may be provided by law.

27. No law shall embrace more than one subject, which shall be expressed in its title. 28. Divorces shall not be granted by the Legislature.

29. All members and officers of both branches of the Legislature shall, before entering upon the duties of their respective trusts, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Minnesota, and faithfully and impartially to discharge the duties devolving upon him as such member or officer.

§ 30. In all elections to be made by the Legislature, the members thereof shall vote viva voce, and their votes shall be entered on the journal.

§ 37. The Legislature shall never authorize any lottery, or the sale of lottery tickets.

ARTICLE V.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT..

SECTION 1. The executive department shall consist of a Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, and Attorney-General, who shall be chosen by the electors of the State.

§ 2. The returns of every election, for the officers named in the foregoing section, shall be made to the Secretary of State, and by him transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall cause the same to be opened and canvassed before both Houses of the Legislature, and the result declared within three days after each House shall be organized.

3. The term of office for the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor shall be two years, and until their successors are chosen and qualified. Each shall have attained the age of twenty-five (25) years, and shall have been a bona fide resident of the State for one year next preceding his election. Both shall be citizens of the United States.

§ 4. The Governor shall communicate by message to each session of the Legislature such information touching the State and condition of the country as he may deem expedient. He shall be Commander-in-Chief of the military and naval forces, and may call out such forces to execute the laws, suppress insurrection, and repel invasion. He may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices; and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons, after conviction, for offenses against the State, except in cases of impeachment. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint a State Librarian and Notary Public, and such other officers as may be provided by law. He shall have power to appoint commissioners to take the acknowledgment of deeds, or other instruments in writing, to be used in the State. He shall have a negative upon all laws passed by the Legislature, under such rules and limitations as are in this Constitution prescribed. He may on extraordinary occasions convene both Houses of the Legislature. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, fill any vacancy that may occur in the office of Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, Attorney-General, and such other State and district officers as may be hereafter created by law, until the next annual election, and until their successors are chosen and qualified.

5. The official term of the Secretary of State, Treasurer, and Attorney-General shall be two years. The official term of the Auditor shall be three years, and each shall continue in office until his successor shall have been elected and qualified. The Governor's salary for the first term under this Constitution, shall be two thousand five hundred dollars per annum. The salary of the Secretary of State for the first term shall be fifteen hundred dollars per annum. The Auditor, Treasurer, and Attorney-General shall each, for the first term, receive a salary of one thousand dollars per annum. And the further duties and salaries of said executive officers shall each thereafter be prescribed by law.

§ 6. The Lieutenant-Governor shall be ex officio President of the Senate; and in case a vacancy should occur, from any cause whatever, in the office of Governor, he shall be Governor during such vacancy. The compensation of Lieutenant-Governor shall be double the compensation of a State Senator. Before the close of each session of the Senate they shall elect a President pro tempore, who shall be Lieutenant-Governor in case a vacancy should occur in that office.

[§ 7. The term of each of the executive officers named in this article shall commence on taking the oath of office, on or after the first day of May, 1858, and continue until the first Monday of January, 1860, except the Auditor, who shall continue in office until the first Monday of January, 1861, and until their successors shall have been duly elected and qualified; and the same above-mentioned time for qualification and entry upon the duties of their respective offices shall extend and apply to all other officers elected under the State Constitution who have not already taken the oath of office and commenced the performance of their official duties.

[§ 8. Each officer created by this article shall, before entering upon his duties, take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States, and of this State, and faithfully discharge the duties of his office to the best of his judgment and ability. [S 9. Laws shall be passed at the first session of the Legislature after the State is admitted into the Union, to carry out the provisions of this article.]*

ARTICLE VI.
JUDICIARY.

SECTION 1. The Judicial power of the State shall be vested in a Supreme Court. District Courts, Courts of Probate, Justices of the Peace, and such other courts, inferior to the Supreme Court, as the Legislature may from time to time establish by a twothirds vote.

§ 2. The Supreme Court shall consist of one Chief Justice and two Associate Justices, but the number of Associate Justices may be increased to a number not exceeding four, by the Legislature by a two-thirds vote, when it shall be deemed necessary. It shall have original jurisdiction in such remedial cases as may be prescribed by law, and appellate jurisdiction in all cases, both in law and equity, but there shall be no trial by jury in said court. It shall hold one or more terms in each year, as the Legislature may direct, at the seat of government, and the Legislature may provide by a two-thirds vote that one term in each year shall be held in each or any judicial district. It shall be the duty of such court to appoint a Reporter of its decisions. There shall be chosen by the qualified electors of the State, one Clerk of the Supreme Court, who shall hold his office for the term of three years, and until his successor is duly elected and qualified, and the Judges of the Supreme Court, or a majority of them, shall have the power to fill any vacancy in the office of Clerk of the Supreme Court, until an election can be regularly had. § 3. The Judges of the Supreme Court shall be elected by the electors of the State at large, and their term of office shall be seven years, and until their successors are elected and qualified.

4. The State shall be divided by the Legislature into six judicial districts, which shall be composed of contiguous territory, be bounded by county lines and contain a population as nearly equal as may be practicable. In each judicial district, one judge shall be elected by the electors thereof, who shall constitute said court, and whose term of office shall be seven years. Every District Judge shall, at the time of his election, be a resident of the district for which he shall be elected, and shall reside therein during his continuance in office.

§ 5. The District Courts shall have original jurisdiction in all civil cases, both in law and equity, where the amount in controversy exceeds one hundred dollars, and in all criminal cases where the punishment shall exceed three months' imprisonment, or a fine of more than one hundred dollars, and shall have such appellate jurisdiction as may be prescribed by law. The Legislature may provide by law that the judge of one district may discharge the duties of the judge of any other district not his own, when convenience or the public interest may require it.

§ 6. The Judges of the Supreme and District Courts shall be men learned in the law, and shall receive such compensation, at stated times, as may be prescribed by the Legislature, which compensation shall not be diminished during their contiuuance in office, but they shall receive no other fee or reward for their services.

* This amendment was adopted April 15, 1858, in place of the following: "The term of each of the executive officers named in this article shall commence upon taking the oath of office [after the State shall be admitted by Congress into the Union, and continue until the first Monday in January, 1860], except the Auditor, who shall continue in office until the first Monday in January, 1861, and until their successors shall have been duly elected and qualified."