CONSTITUTION

OF THE

STATE OF WISCONSIN.

ADOPTED IN CONVENTION AT MADISON,

December 16th, A. D. 1846.

PREAMBLE.

The constitution of the state of Wisconsin, adopted in convention, at Madison, on the sixteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-six, and of the independence of the United States the seventy-first.

WE, the people of Wisconsin, acknowledging with gratitude the grace and beneficence of God in permitting us to make choice of our form of government, having the right of admission into the Union as a member of the confederacy, consistent with the constitution of the United States, and the ordinance of congress of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, believing that the time has arrived when our present political condition ought to cease, and the right of selfgovernment to be asserted; and in order to establish justice, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do mutually agree with each other to form ourselves into a free and independent state, by the name of the "STATE OF WISCONSIN," and do ordain and establish this constitution for the government thereof.

ARTICLE 1.

ON BOUNDARIES.

Section 1. It is hereby ordained and declared that the state of Wisconsin "doth consent to 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: 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 first rapids in the river St. Louis; thence in a direct line southwardly to a point fifteen miles east of the most easterly point in Lake St. Croix; thence due south to the main channel of the Missis sippi river or Lake Pepin; thence down the said main channel of Lake Pepin and the Mississippi river, as prescribed in the aforesaid boundary.

Sec. 2. This ordinance is hereby declared to be irrevocable without the consent of the United States.

ARTICLE II.

ON ACT OF CONGRESS FOR ADMISSION OF THE STATE.

Section 1. The propositions of the congress of the United States, as made and contained in their act of the sixth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and forty-six, 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," are hereby accepted, ratified and confirmed: Provided, nevertheless, 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 of the United States, 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.

Sec. 2. The 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 neeessary 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.

ARTICLE III.

ON THE EXECUTIVE OF THE STATE.

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 qual ified elector of this state, shall be eligible to the office of Governor, or Lieutenant Governor.

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 lieu tenant governor, 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, at its next annual session, shall forthwith, by joint ballot, choose one of the said persons so having an equal and the highest number of votes for governor or lieutenant governor. The returns of election for governor and lieutenant governor shall be made in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.

Sec. 4. The governor shall be commander-in chief of the military and naval forces of the state. He shall have power to convene the legislature on extraordinary occasions. He shall communicate to the legis lature, at every session, the condition of the state, and recommend such matters to them for their consideration, as he may deem expedient. He shall transact all necessary business with the officers of the 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.

Sec. 5. The governor shall receive as a compensation for his services -annually, the sum of one thousand dollars.

Sec. 6. The governor shall have power to grant reprieves, and pardons, after conviction, for all offences except treason and cases of impeachment. He may commute sentence of death to imprisonment in a states prison for life. He may grant pardons upon such conditions and with such restrictions and limitations as he may think proper. Upon conviction for treason, he shall have the power to suspend the sentence until the case shall be reported to the legislature at its next session. He shall -communicate to the legislature by message, each case of reprieve, com. mutation, and pardon by him granted, since the next previous session of the legislature, stating the name of the convict, the crime of which he was convicted, the sentence and its date, and the date and conditions of the commutation, pardon, or reprieve.

Sec. 7. In case of the impeachment of the governor, or his removal from office, death, inability from mental or physical disease, 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 have returned, or the disability shall cease. But when the governor shall, with the consent of the legis

lature, be out of the state in time of war, at the head of the military force thereof, he shall continue commander-in chief of all the military force of the state.

Sec. 8. 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 lieutenant governor shall be impeached, displaced, resign, die, or from mental or physical disease become incapable of performing his duties, or be absent from the state, the secretary of state, shall act as governor until the vacancy shall be filled, or the disability shall cease.

Sec. 9. The lieutenant governor shall receive double the per diem of members of the senate, for every day's attendance as president of the senate, and the same mileage as shall be allowed to members of the legislature.

Sec. 10. The governor and lieutenant governor, or either of them, shall not during the term for which he or they are elected, hold any other office of trust, honor, profit or emolument under this state, or the United States, or any other state of the Union, or any foreign state or gov

ernment.

Sec. 11. Every bill which shall have passed the legislature shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the governor. If he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journals, and proceed to re-consider it. If, after such re-consideration, two-thirds of the members present shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be re-considered, and if approved by two-thirds of the members present, it shall become a law. But in all such cases, the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names voting for and 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, unless the legislature shall, by their adjournment, prevent its return; in which case it shall not be a law.

ARTICLE IV.

ADMINSTRATIVE.

Section 1. A secretary of state, who shall ex-officio be the auditor, a treasurer, and an attorney general, shall be elected at the times and places of choosing governor and lieutenant governor, and shall hold their offices for the term of two years.

Sec 2. The secretary of state shall keep a fair record of the official acts of the legislature and executive departments of the state, and shall, when required, lay the same, and all matters relative thereto, before either branch of the legislature; and shall perform such other duties as shall be assigned him by law. He shall receive as a compensation for his services, yearly, such sum as shall be provided by law, not exceeding one thousand dollars, and shall keep his office at the seat of govern

ment.

Sec. 3. The powers, duties, and compensation of the treasurer and attorney general, shall be prescribed by law. Each of said officers shall receive as a compensation for his services yearly, a sum to be prescribed by law.

Sec. 4. The legislature shall not grant or allow to any officer named in this article, any extra compensation under any pretence, or in any form whatever.

ARTICLE V.

ON THE CONSTITUTION AND ORGANIZATION OF THE LEGISLATURE.

Section 1. The legislative power shall be vested in a senate and house of representatives.

Sec. 2. The number of the members of the house of representatives shall never be less than sixty, nor greater than one hundred and twenty. The senate shall consist of a number of members not greater than one third, nor less than one fourth of the number of the members of the house of representatives.

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

Sec. 4. Until there shall be a new apportionment of the senators and members of the house of representatives, the state shall be divided into senatorial and representative districts as follows, and the senators and members of the house of representatives shall be apportioned among the several districts as follows, viz:

The county of Brown shall constitute the first representative district, and shall be entitled to one representative.

The county of Calumet shall constitute the second representative district, and shall be entitled to one representative.

The county of Manitowoc shall constitute the third representative district, and shall be entitled to one representative.

The county of Marquette shall constitute the fourth representative district, and shall be entitled to one representative.

The county of Winnebago shall constitute the fifth representative district, and shall be entitled to one representative.

The county of Sheboygan shall constitute the sixth representative district, and shall be entitled to one representative.

The county of Fond du Lac shall constitute the seventh representative district, and shall be entitled to two representatives.

The county of Columbia shall constitute the eighth representative district, and shall be entitled to one representative.

The county of Sauk shall constitute the ninth representative district, and shall be entitled to one representative.