forts of life, shall be recognized by wholesome laws, exempting a rea sonable amount of property from seizure or sale for the payment of any debt or liability hereafter contracted.

Sec. 18. The right of every man to worship Almighty 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 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 establishments, or mode of worship. Nor shall any money be drawn from the treasury for the benefit of religious societies, or religious or thelogical seminaries.

Sec. 19. No religious tests shall ever be required as a qualification for any office of public trust, under the state, and no person shall be rendered incompetent to give evidence in any court of law or equity, in consequence of his opinions on the subject of religion.

Sec. 20. The military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power.

Sec. 21. Writs of error shall never be prohibited by law.

Sec. 22. The blessings of a free government can only be maintained by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.

ARTICLE II.

BOUNDARIES.

Section 1. It is hereby ordained and declared that the state of Wisconsin doth consent and accept of the boundaries prescribed in the act of congress entitled "an act to enable the people of Wisconsin territory to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the Union," approved August sixth, one thousand eight hundred and forty-six, to wit: Beginning at the north-east corner of the state of Illinois, that is to say, at a point in the centre of Lake Michigan, where the line of forty-two degrees, and thirty minutes of north latitude crosses the same; thence, running with the boundary line of the state of Michigan through Lake Michigan, Green Bay, to the mouth of Menomonee river; thence up the channel of said the river to the Brule river, thence up said last mentioned river to Lake Brule; thence along the southern shore of Lake Brule, in a direct line to the centre of the channel between Middle and South islands, in the Lake of the Desert; thence in a direct line to the head waters of the Montreal river, as marked up on the survey made by captain Cram; thence down the main channel of the Montreal river to the middle of Lake Superior; thence through the centre of Lake Superior to the mouth of the St. Louis river; thence up the main channel of said river to the first rapids in the same, above the Indian village, according to Nicolet's map; thence due south to the main branch of the river St. Croix; thence down the main channel of said river to the Mississippi; thence down the centre of the main channel of that river, to the northwest corner of the state of Illinois; thence due east with the northern boundary of the state of Illinois, to the place of beginning, as established by "an act to enable the people of the Illinois territory to form a constitution and state government, and for the

admission of such state into the Union on an equal footing with the orig inal states," approved April 18th, 1818. Provided, however, That the following alteration of the aforesaid boundary be, and hereby is, proposed to the congress of the United States as the preference of the state of Wisconsin, and if the same shall be assented and agreed to by the congress of the United States, then the same shall be and forever remain obligatory on the state of Wisconsin, viz: Leaving the aforesaid boundary line at the foot of the rapids of the St. Louis river; thence in a direct line, bearing south-westerly to the mouth of Iskodewaba, or Rum river, where the same empties into the Mississippi river; thence down the main channel of the said Mississippi river, as prescribed in the aforesaid boundary.

Sec. 2. The propositions contained in the act of Congress 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, nor with any regulations congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to bona fide purchasers thereof; and no tax shall be imposed on land, the property of the United States; and in no case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. Provided, That nothing in this constitution, or in the act of Congress aforesaid, shall in any manner prejudice or affect the right of the state of Wisconsin to five hundred thousand acres of land granted to said state, and to be hereafter selected and located, by, and under the act of congress, entitled "an act to appropriate the proceeds of the sales of the public lands, and grant pre-emption rights," approved September fourth, one thousand eight hundred and forty

one,

ARTICLE III.

SUFFRAGE.

Section 1. Every male person, of the age of twenty-one years or upwards, belonging to either of the following classes, who shall have resided in the state for one year next preceding any election, shall be deemed a qualified elector at such election:

1st. White citizens of the United States.

2d. White persons of foreign birth, who shall have declared their intention to become citizens, conformably to the laws of the United States on the subject of naturalization.

3d. Persons of Indian blood, who have once been declared by law of congress to be citizens of the United States, any subsequent law of congress to the contrary notwithstanding.

4th. Civilized persons of Indian descent, not members of any tribe. Provided, That the legislature may at any time extend by law the right of suffrage to persons not herein enumerated; but no such law shall be in force until the same shall have been submitted to a vote of the people at a general election, and approved by a majority of all the votes cast at such election.

Sec. 2. No person under guardianship, non compos mentis, or insane, shall be qualified to vote at any election; nor shall any person convict

ed of treason or felony be qualified to vote at any election unless restored to civil rights.

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Sec. 3. All votes shall be given by ballot, except for such township officers as may by law be directed or allowed to be otherwise chosen. Sec. 4. No person shall be deemed to have lost his residence in this state by reason of his absence on business of the United States or of this state.

Sec. 5. No soldier, seaman, or marine, in the army or navy of the United States, shall be deemed a resident of this state in consequence of being stationed within the same.

Sec. 6. Laws may be passed excluding from the right of suffrage all persons who have been or may be convicted of bribery or larceny, or of any infamous crime, and depriving every person who shall make, or become directly or indirectly interested in any bet or wager depending upon the result of any election, from the right to vote at such election.

ARTICLE IV.

LEGISLATIVE.

Section 1. The legislative power shall be vested in a senate and assembly.

Sec. 2. The number of the members of the assembly shall never be less than fifty-four, nor more than one hundred. The senate shall consist of a number not more than one-third, nor less than one-fourth of the number of the members of the assembly.

Sec. 3. The legislature shall provide by law for an enumeration of the inhabitants of the state, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, and at the end of every ten years thereafter; and at their first session after such enumeration, and also after each enumeration made by the authority of the United States, the legislature shall apportion and district anew the members of the senate and assembly, according to the number of inhabitants, excluding Indians not taxed, and soldiers and officers of the United States army and navy.

Sec. 4. The members of the assembly shall be chosen annually by single districts on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of November, by the qualified electors of the several districts, such districts to be bounded by county, precinct, town, or ward lines, to consist of contiguous territory, and be in as compact form as practicable.

Sec. 5. The senators shall be chosen by single districts of convenient contiguous territory, at the same time and in the same manner as members of the assembly are required to be chosen, and no assembly 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 odd numbered districts shall go out of office at the expiration of the first year, and the senators chosen by the even numbered districts 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.

Sec. 6. No person shall be eligible to the legislature who shall not have resided one year within the state, and be a qualified elector in the district which he may be chosen to represent.

Sec. 7. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall consti tute 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 provide.

Sec. 8. Each house may determine the rules of its own proceedings, punish for contempt and disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members elected, expel a member; but no member shall be expelled a second time for the same cause.

Sec. 9. Each house shall choose its own officers, and the senate shall choose a temporary president, when the lieutenant governor shall not attend as president, or shall act as governor.

. Sec. 10. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish the same, except such parts as require secresy. The doors of each house shall be kept open except when the public welfare shall require secresy. Neither house shall, without consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days.

Sec. 11. The legislature shall meet at the seat of government, at such time as shall be provided by law, once in each year, and not oftener, unless convened by the governor.

Sec. 12. No member of the legislature shall, during the term for which he was elected, be appointed or elected to any civil office in the state, which shall have been created or the emoluments of which shall have been increased during the term for which he was elected.

Sec. 13. No person being a member of congress, or holding any military or civil office under the United States, shall be eligible to a seat in the legislature; and if any person shall, after his election as a mem ber of the legislature, be elected to congress, or be appointed to any office, civil, or military, under the government of the United States, his acceptance thereof shall vacate his seat.

Sec. 14. The governor shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies as may occur in either house of the legislature.

Sec. 15. Members of the legislature shall in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest, nor shall they be subject to any civil process during the session of the legislature, nor for fifteen days next before the commencement and after the termination of each session.

Sec. 16. No member of the legislature shall be liable in any civil action or criminal prosecution whatever, for words spoken in debate. Sec. 17. The style of the laws of the state shall be, "The people of the state of Wisconsin represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:" and no law shall be enacted except by bill.

Sec. 18. No private or local bill, which may be passed by the legis lature, shall embrace more than one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title.

Sec. 19. Any bill may originate in either house of the legislature, and a bill passed by one house may be amended by the other.

Sec. 20. The yeas.and nays of the members of either house, on any question, shall at the request of one-sixth of those present, be entered on the journal.

Sec. 21. Each member of the legislature shall receive for his services, two dollars and fifty cents for each day's attendance during the session, and ten cents for every mile he shall travel in going to and returning

from the place of the meeting of the legislature, on the most usual

route.

Sec. 22. The legislature may confer upon the boards of supervisors of the several counties of the state, such powers of a local, legislative, and administrative character as they shall from time to time prescribe. . Sec. 23. The legislature shall establish but one system of town and county government, which shall be as nearly uniform as practicable.

Sec. 24. The legislature shall never authorize any lottery, or grant any divorce.

Sec. 25. The legislature shall provide by law that all stationery required for the use of the state, and all printing authorized and required by them to be done for their use, or for the state, shall be let by contract to the lowest bidder; but the legislature may establish a maximum price. No member of the legislature, or other state officer, shall be interested, either directly or indirectly, in any such contract.

Sec. 26. The legislature shall never grant any extra compensation to any public officer, agent, servant, or contractor, after the services shall have been rendered or the contract entered into. Nor shall the compensation of any public officer be increased or diminished during his term of office.

Sec. 27. The legislature shall direct by law in what manner and in what courts suits may be brought against the state.

Sec. 28. Members of the legislature, and all officers, executive and judicial, except such inferior officers as may be by law exempted, shall, before they enter upon the duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation to support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the State of Wisconsin, and faithfully to dischargethe duties of their respective offices to the best of their ability. Sec. 29. The legislature shall determine what persons shall constitute the militia of the state, and may provide for organizing and disciplining the same in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.

Sec. 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.

ARTICLE V.

EXECUTIVE.

Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in a Governor, who shall hold his office for two years. A Lieutenant Governor shall be elected at the same time, and for the same term.

Sec, 2. No person, except a citizen of the United States, and a qualified elector of the state, shall be eligible to the office of Governor, or Lieutenant Governor.

Sec. 3. The governor and lieutenant governor shall be elected by the qualified electors of the state, at the times and places of choosing members of the legislature. The persons respectively having the highest number of votes for governor and lieutenant governor, shall be elected. But in case two or more shall have an equal and the highest number of votes for governor or lieutenant governor, the two houses of the legisla ture, at its next annual session, shall forthwith, by joint ballot, choose