NEBRASKA. 



531 



The number of officers in the three depart- 

 ments of the State government is generally in- 

 creased by the new constitution. Among its 

 chief provisions are the following : The House 

 of Representatives shall consist of eighty-four 

 members, the Senate of thirty, until 1880. 

 After that year the number of members of.each 

 House shall be regulated by law, but never ex- 

 ceed one hundred Representatives nor thirty- 

 three Senators. The compensation to be given 

 each member of the Legislature is fixed at 

 three dollars for every day's attendance, the 

 number of days not to exceed forty at any one 

 session, and one mileage at the rate of ten cents 

 for every mile in going and returning on the 

 most usual route. 



The session of the Legislature shall com- 

 mence at noon on the first Tuesday in January 

 next following the election of its members, and 

 at no other time, except as provided by this 

 constitution ; and their first election under it 

 is to be held on the Tuesday succeeding the first 

 Monday in November, 1876. 



In defining the powers of the Legislature the 

 constitution forbids them to pass special laws 

 for granting divorces, changing the names of 

 persons, and in many other matters particular- 

 ly enumerated ; and generally enjoins that in 

 all cases where a common law can be made 

 applicable to particular cases, no special law 

 shall be enacted. 



No act of the Legislature shall take effect 

 until three calendar months after, the adjourn- 

 ment of the session at which it passed, except 

 in case of emergency, which is to be expressed 

 in the title and body of the act, and concurred 

 in by two-thirds of all the members elected to 

 each House. 



In the third section of the article on miscel- 

 laneous provisions the new constitution ordains 

 that "drunkenness shall be cause of impeach- 

 ment and removal from office." 



The Executive Department shall consist of a 

 Governor, a Lieutenant-Go vernor, Secretary of 

 State, Auditor of Public Accounts, Treasurer, 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction, Attorney- 

 General, and Commissioner of Public Eands and 

 Buildings, who shall each hold his office for the 

 term of two years from the first Thursday after 

 the first Tuesday in January next after his elec- 

 tion. The first election of the said officers shall 

 be held on the Tuesday succeeding the first 

 Monday in November, 1876, and each succeed- 

 ing election shall be held at the same relative 

 time in each even year thereafter. 



The State Treasurer is declared ineligible to 

 his office for two years next succeeding the ex- 

 piration of his second term after the first con- 

 secutively. 



The salary of the Governor, Auditor of Pub- 

 lic Accounts, and Treasurer, is fixed at twen- 

 ty-five hundred dollars per annum each. The 

 Lieutenant-Go vernor shall receive twice the 

 compensation of a Senator, and all of the 

 other State officers two thousand dollars each 

 per annum. 



The officers of the Executive Department, 

 "after the adoption of this constitution, shall 

 not receive to their own use any fees, costs, in- 

 terest upon public moneys in their hands, or 

 under their control, perquisites of office, or 

 other compensation ; and all fees that may here- 

 after be payable by law for services performed 

 by any officer provided for in this article of the 

 constitution shall be paid in advance into the 

 State Treasury." 



The judicial power is vested in a Supremo 

 Court, composed of three judges, having origi- 

 nal and appellate jurisdiction; in six District 

 Courts, the whole State being divided for that 

 purpose into six Judicial Districts, with one 

 judge in each, having chancery and common- 

 law jurisdiction ; in County Courts, one court 

 being allowed in every county, with one judge 

 each, they being courts of record, having ori- 

 ginal jurisdiction in all matters of probate and 

 others, specified ; in justices of the peace, police 

 magistrates, and such other courts, inferior to 

 District Courts, as may be created by law for 

 cities and incorporated towns, having propor- 

 tionately limited jurisdiction in both criminal 

 and civil cases respectively. 



The judges of the six District Courts are em- 

 powered to hold courts for one another, and 

 bound to do so when required by law. 



The terms of office of the judges of the sev- 

 eral courts are fixed at six years for the justices 

 of the Supreme Court, four years for the judges 

 of the District Courts, and two years for all the 

 others. Their respective terms are to begin on 

 the first Thursday after the first Tuesday in 

 January next succeeding their election. Their 

 first election shall, exceptionally, take place on 

 the second Tuesday in October, 1875. The 

 judges of the Supreme Court are elected by 

 the qualified voters of the State at large ; each 

 of the others by those residing in the locality 

 wherein he is to exercise his functions. 



The judges of the Supreme and District Courts 

 shall each, receive a salary of twenty-five hundred 

 dollars per annum, payable quarterly. 



No judge of the Supreme Court, or District Court, 

 shall receive any other compensation, perquisite, or 

 benefit, for, or on account of, his office in any form 

 whatever ; nor act as attorney or counselor at law in 

 any manner whatever. 



The new constitution declares all property 

 belonging to the State, counties, and municipal 

 corporations, both real and personal, exempt 

 from taxation. It also empowers the Legisla- 

 ture to exempt from taxation such other prop- 

 erty as may be used exclusively for agricultu- 

 ral or horticultural societies, for schools, reh\ 

 gious, cemetery, or charitable purposes; but 

 the Legislature must do so by general law. 



Amendments to this constitution may be pro- 

 posed by either House of the Legislature. They 

 must be agreed to by three-fifths of the mem- 

 bers elected to each House, entered on the 

 journals with the yeas and nays of the vote 

 cast, and published once a week in at least one 

 newspaper in each county for three months 

 immediately preceding the next election of 



