522 



MISSOUEI. 



lara for any one year, the General Assembly may 

 submit an act providing for the loan, or for the^cpn- 

 tracting of the liability, and containing a provision 

 for levying a tax sufficient to pay the interest and 

 principal when they become due (the latter in not 

 more than thirteen years from the date of its crea- 

 tion), to the qualified voters of the State, and when 

 the act so submitted shall have been ratified by a 

 two-thirds majority, at an election held for that pur- 

 pose, due publication having been made of the pro- 

 visions of the act for at least three months before 

 such election. The act thus ratified shall be irre- 

 pealable until the debt thereby incurred shall be 

 paid, principal and interest. 



It is prohibited from giving or lending or 

 pledging the credit of the State in any manner 

 to any person, association, or corporation, mu- 

 nicipal or other, and from making any grant of 

 public money to any individual, association, or 

 corporation, unless in case of public calamity. 

 It is likewise forbidden to authorize any coun- 

 ty, city, town, or other political subdivision of 

 the State, to lend its credit in like cases. Sub- 

 scriptions to stock in corporations on behalf 

 of the State are also prohibited. Local and 

 special legislation in a multitude of specified 

 matters is prohibited, and no special or local 

 law of any kind can be passed unless notice is 

 published in the locality affected thirty days 

 before the bill is introduced. The seat of 



government cannot be removed from Jefferson 

 ity. 



Article Y. relates to the executive depart- 

 ment, which consists of a Governor, Lieutenant- 

 Governor, Secretary of State, State Auditor, 

 State Treasurer, Attorney-General, and Su- 

 perintendent of Public Schools, all elected for 

 terms of four years, beginning on the first 

 Monday in January after their election. All 

 but the Superintendent of Schools are to be 

 chosen in 1876, and every four years there- 

 after; that officer in 1878, and every four 

 years thereafter. The customary duties for 

 such officers are prescribed in the twenty-five 

 sections of this article. 



Article VI. relates to the judicial depart- 

 ment, and consists of forty-four sections. It 

 establishes a Supreme Court of appellate juris- 

 diction throughout the State, to consist of five 

 judges elected for a term of ten years, the old- 

 est in commission being Chief-Justice ; the St. 

 Louis Court of Appeals, with appellate juris- 

 diction in the counties of St. Louis, St. Charles, 

 Lincoln, and "Warren, with control over the 

 lower courts of those counties, but itself sub- 

 ordinate to the Supreme Court of the State, 

 to consist of three judges, elected in those 

 counties for a term of twelve years; circuit 

 courts with civil and criminal jurisdiction ; one 

 circuit judge being elected in each circuit for 

 a term of six years, except that the Circuit 

 Court of St. Louis County shall consist of five 

 judges, the State being divided into such cir- 

 cuits as shall be deemed most convenient; 

 criminal courts may be established in counties 

 having more than 50,000 inhabitants ; a pro- 

 bate court must be established in each county, 

 with one judge elected by the people ; a county 



court must also be established in each county, 

 with one or more judges, but not more than 

 three, elected by the people ; and in each coun- 

 ty as many justices of the peace may be elected 

 or appointed as the public good may require. 

 The Supreme Court and St. Louis Court of 

 Appeals appoint their own clerks, but other 

 clerks are to be elected. The compensation 

 of judges and clerks is left to be fixed by law. 



Article VII., consisting of two sections, pro- 

 vides for the impeachment of public officers 

 before the Senate, through the action of the 

 House of Eepresentatives. 



Article VIII., twelve sections, relates to suf- 

 frage and elections. The general elections are 

 to occur biennially, on the Tuesday following 

 the first Monday of November. All male citi- 

 zens or male persons of foreign birth, who 

 have declared their intention to become citi- 

 zens not less than one year or more than five 

 years before an election, who are twenty-one 

 years of age, shall be allowed to vote if they 

 have resided in the State one year and in the 

 county, city, or town, sixty days preceding the 

 election. The following provision is made re- 

 garding the process of voting : 



SEO. 3. All elections by the people shall be by 

 ballot j every ballot voted shall be numbered in the 

 order in which it shall be received, and the number 

 recorded by the election officers on the list of voters, 

 opposite the name of the voter who presents the bal- 

 lot. The election officers shall be sworn or affirmed 

 not to disclose how any voter shall have voted, un- 

 less required to do so as witnesses in a judicial pro- 

 ceeding : Prwid,ed, That in all cases of contested 

 elections the ballots cast may be counted, compared 

 with the list of voters, and examined under such 

 safeguards and regulations as may be prescribed by 

 law. 



The General Assembly is authorized to pro- 

 vide for the registration of voters in cities and 

 counties having more than 100,000 inhabi- 

 tants, and in cities having more than 25,000 

 and less than 100,000, but not otherwise. No 

 person loses his residence for the purpose of 

 voting by absence in the civil, military, or na- 

 val service, or while a student at any institu- 

 tion of learning, or kept at a poor-house, asy- 

 lum, or prison. No person can vote while 

 kept at the public expense in a poor-house or 

 asylum, or confined in prison, and the Legisla- 

 ture may enact laws excluding altogether from 

 the right to vote persons convicted of felony, 

 or other infamous crime, or misdemeanors con- 

 nected with the right of suffrage. Contested 

 election eases, except of Governor or Lieuten- 

 ant-Governor, must be tried by the courts of 

 law according to provisions to be established 

 by the General Assembly. 



Article IX., consisting of twenty-five sec- 

 tions, relates to counties, cities, and towns. 

 With the exception of a sheriff and coroner, 

 who must be elected in each county for the 

 term of two years, the county organizations are 

 left to be provided for by a general law. Cities 

 and towns are to be classified into not more 

 than four classes, and provision made by gen- 

 eral laws for the organization and government 



