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of a majority of all the inembers elected to each House of the General Assembly; but the cause of the removal shall be entered on the journal of each House.

134. The General Assembly shall have power, by a vote of threefifths of the members elected to each House, to abolism said Board, whenever, in their opinion, a Board of Public Works shall no longer be necessary.

TITLE VIII.-Public Education.

ART. 135. There shall be elected a Superintendent of Public Education, who shall hold his office for the term of two years. His duties shall be prescribed by law, and he shall receive such compensation as the Legislature may direct; Provided, that the General Assembly shall have power by a vote of the majority of the members elected to both Houses, to abolish the said office of Superintendent of Public Education, whenever in their opinion said office shall be no longer necessary.

136. The General Assembly shall establish free Public Schools throughout the State, and shall provide for their support by general taxation on property or otherwise; and all moneys so raised or provided, shall be distributed to each Parish, in proportion to the number of free white children between such ages as shall be fixed by the General Assembly.

137. The proceeds of all lands heretofore granted by the United States to this State, for the use or support of Schools, and of all lands which may hereafter be granted or bequeathed to the State, and not expressly granted or bequeathed for any other purpose, which hereafter may be disposed of by the State, and the proceeds of the estates of deceased persons to which the State may become entitled by law, shall be held by the State as a loan, and shall be and remain a perpetual fund, on which the State shall pay an annual interest of six per cent.; which interest, together with the interest on the trust funds deposited with this State by the United States, under the act of Congress approved June 23, 1836, and all the rents of the unsold lands shall be appropriated to the support of such Schools, and this appropriation shall remain inviolable.

138. All moneys arising from the sales which have been, or may hereafter be made, of any lands heretofore granted by the United States to this State, for the use of a Seminary of Learning, and from any kind of donation that may hereafter be made for that purpose, shall be and remain a perpetual fund, the interest of which, at six per cent. per annum, shall be appropriated to the support of a Seminary of Learning for the promotion of Literature and the Arts and Sciences, and no law shall ever be made diverting said fund to any other use than to the establishment and improvement of said Seminary of Learning.

139. The University of Louisiana, in New Orleans, as now estab lished, shall be maintained.

140. The Legislature shall have power to pass such laws as may be necessary for the further regulation of the University, and for the promotion of Literature and Science, but shall be under no obligation to contribute to the support of said University by appropria

tions.

TITLE IX.-Mode of Revising the Constitution.

ART. 141. Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution, may be proposed in the Senate or House of Representatives, and if. the same shall be agreed to by two-thirds of the members elected to each House, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be entered on their journals, with the yeas and nays taken thereon, and the Secretary of State shall cause the same to be published three months before the next general election for Representatives to the State Legislature, in at least, one newspaper, in French and English, in every parish in the State in which a newspaper shall be published; and such proposed amendment or amendments shall be submitted to the people at said election; and if a majority of the voters at said election shall approve and ratify such amendment or amendments, the same shall become a part of the Constitution. If more than one amendment be submitted at a time, they shall be in such manner and form that the people may vote for or against each amendment separately.

TITLE X.-Schedule.

ART. 142. The Constitution adopted in Eighteen Hundred and Forty-five, is declared to be superseded by this Constitution; and in order to carry the same into effect, it is hereby declared and ordained as follows:

143. All rights, actions, prosecutions, claims and contracts, as well of individuals as of bodies corporate, and all laws in force at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, and not inconsistent therewith, shall continue as if the same had not been adopted.

144. In order that no inconvenience may result to the public service from the taking effect of this Constitution, no office shall be superseded thereby, but the laws of the State relative to the duties of the several officers, Executive, Judicial, and Military, shall remain in full force, though the same be contrary to this Constitution, and the several duties shall be performed by the respective officers of the State, according to the existing laws, until the organization of the Government under this Constitution, and the entering into office of the new officers, to be appointed under said Government, and no longer.

145. Appointments to offices by the Executive under this Constitution, shall be made by the Governor to be elected under its authority.

146. The Legislature shall provide for the removal of all causes now pending in the Supreme or other Courts of the State, under the

Constitution of 1845, to Courts created by or under this Constitu tion.

147. The time of service of all officers chosen by the people at the first election under this Constitution, shall terminate as though the election had been holden on the first Monday of November, 1851, and they had entered on the discharge of their duties at the time designated therein. The first class of Senators designated in Article 17, shall hold their seats until the day of the closing of the general elections in November, 1853, and the second class, until the day of the closing of the general elections in November, 1855.

148. The first election for Judges of the Supreme Court, shall be held on the first Monday of April next, (1853,) and they shall enter into office on the first Monday of May, 1853.

149. The first term of the service of the District Attorneys and the Clerks of the Inferior Courts to be ordered and established under this Constitution, shall be regulated by the term of service of the Governor; so that a new election for these officers shall be held on the first Monday of November, 1855.

TITLE XI.- Ordinance.

ART. 150. Immediately after the adjournment of the Convention, the Governor shall issue his proclamation, directing the officers of this State authorized by law to hold elections for members of the General Assembly, to open and hold a poll in every parish of the State, at the places designated by law, upon the first Tuesday of November next, for the purpose of taking the sense of the good people of this State, in regard to the adoption or rejection of this Constitution; and it shall be the duty of the said officers to receive the votes of all persons entitled to vote, under the old Constitution and under this Constitution. Each voter shall express his opinion by depositing in a separate box to be kept for that purpose, a ticket, whereon shall be written, "The Constitution accepted," or "The Constitution rejected," or some such words as will distinctly convey the intention of the voter. At the conclusion of the said election, which shall be conducted in every respect as the general State election is now conducted, the Commissioners designated to preside over the same shall carefully examine and count each ballot so deposited, and forthwith make due returns thereof to the Secretary of State, in conformity to the provisions of the existing law upon the subject of elections.

151. Upon the receipt of the said returns, or on the fifth Monday of November, if the returns be not sooner received, it shall be the duty of the Governor, the Secretary of State, the Attorney-General, and the State Treasurer, in the presence of all such persons as may choose to attend, to compare the votes given at the said poll, for the ratification and rejection of this Constitution, and if it shall appear from said returns that a majority of all the votes given is for ratifying this Constitution, then it shall be the duty of the Governor to

make proclamation of that fact, and thenceforth this Constitution shall be ordained and established as the Constitution of the State of Louisiana. But whether this Constitution be accepted or rejected, it shall be the duty of the Governor to cause to be published in the official paper of the Convention the result of the polls, showing the number of votes cast in each Parish, for and against the said Constitution.

152. Should this Constitution be accepted by the people, it shall also be the duty of the Governor forthwith to issue his proclamation, declaring the present Legislature, elected under the old Constitution, to be dissolved, and directing the several officers of the State, authorized by law, to hold elections for members of the General Assembly, to hold an election at the places designated by law, upon the fourth Monday of December next, for Governor, LieutenantGovernor, members of the General Assembly, Secretary of State, Attorney-General, Treasurer, and Superintendent of Public Education. And the said election shall be conducted, and the returns thereof made in conformity with existing laws upon the subject of State elections.

153. The General Assembly elected under this Constitution, shall convene at the State House, in Baton Rouge, upon the third Monday of January next, (1853,) after the elections; and the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, elected at the same time, shall be duly installed in office during the first week of their session, and before it shall be competent for the said General Assembly to proceed with the transaction of business.

154. All the publications herein ordered shall be made in the official journal of the Convention.

155. This Constitution shall be published in French and English in the official journal of the Convention, from the period of its adjournment until the first Tuesday of November, 1852.

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THIS State was originally included in the charter of North Carolina. The Territory was ceded to the United States in 1790, and a territorial government was formed, called the Territory south-west of the Ohio river. In 1796, it was admitted into the union as a State. Its Constitution, which was then adopted, was revised and amended in 1835.

Area, 45,600 sq. m. Pop. in 1850, 1,002,625 of whom 239,461 were slaves, and 6,271 free blacks.

CONSTITUTION.

ARTICLE I-Declaration of Rights.

SEC. 1. That all power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and happiness; for the advancement of those ends, they have, at all times, an inalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform or abolish the government in such manner as they may think proper.

2. That government being instituted for the common benefit, the doctrine of non-resistance against arbitrary power and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive to the good and happiness of mankind.

3. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience;

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