Chap. 7. 



POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. 



117 



CONSTITUTION OF VERMONT. 



LEGISLATURE OF VERMONT. 



all officers, whose elections are not other- 

 wise provided for, and who, under the 

 existing provisions of the constitution, 

 are elected by the council and house 

 of representatives, shall, hereafter, be 

 elected by the senate and house of rep- 

 resentatives, in joint assembly, at which, 

 the presiding officer of the senate shall 

 preside ; and such presiding officer, in 

 such joint assembly, shall have a casting 

 vote, and no other. 



Art. 11. Every bill, which shall have 

 passed the senate and house of represen- 

 tatives, shall, before it become a law, be 

 presented to the governor : if he approve, 

 he shall sign it ; if not, he shall return it, 

 with his objections in writing, to the house 

 in which it shall have originated ; which 

 shall proceed to reconsider it. If, upon 

 euch reconsideration, a majority of the 

 house shall pass the bill, it shall, together 

 with the objections, be sent to the other 

 house, by which it shall likewise be re- 

 considered, and if approved by a majority 

 of that house, it shall become a law. But 

 in all such cases, the votes of both houses 

 shall be taken by yeas and nays, and the 

 names of the persons, voting for or against 

 the bill, shall be entered on the journal of 

 each house, respectively. If any bill shall 

 not be returned by the governor, as afore- 

 said, within live days, (Sundays excepted) 

 after it shall have been presented to him, 

 the same shall become a law, in like man- 

 ner as if he had signed it : unless the two 

 houses, by their adjournment, within three 

 days after the presentment of such bill, 

 shall prevent its return ; in which case it 

 shall not become a law. 



Art. 12. The writ of habeas corpus 

 shall, in no case, be suspended. — It shall 

 be a writ, issuable of right ; and the gen- 

 eral assembly shall make provision to 

 render it a speedy and effectual remedy 

 . in all cases proper therefor. 



Art. J 3. Such parts and provisions, 

 only, of the constitution of this state, es- 

 tablished by convention, on the 9th day of 

 July, one thousand seven hundred and 

 ninety three, as are altered or superseded 

 by any of the foregoing amendments, or 

 are repugnant thereto, shall hereafter 

 t;ease to have effect. 



Section II. 

 Legislature of Vermont. 

 By the preceding section it may be 

 seen that, previous to the amendment of 

 the constitution in ISSG, the government 

 of this state approached very nearly to a 

 pure democracy. The whole legislative 

 power was vested in a house of represen- 

 tatives, chosen annually by the people ; 



but, as a check to hasty and injudicious le- 

 gislation, each bill passed by the house 

 was required to be submitted to the gov- 

 ernor and council for their approval, or 

 proposals of amendment ; and if they dis- 

 approved of the bill, or proposed amend- 

 ments, and the representatives did not 

 concur with them, they iiad power to sus- 

 pend the final passage of the bill till the 

 next session of the legislature. Thus 

 every biVl,' of which the governor and 

 council disapproved, was, in effect, sub- 

 mitted directly to the people, and they 

 had an opportunity of expressing their 

 pleasure respecting it, in the selection of 

 their representatives for the succeeding 

 year. If the next house of representatives 

 repassed the suspended bill, it then be- 

 came a law without the concurrence of 

 the governor and council. 



The effect of the amendment of the 

 constitution in 1836 was to dispense with 

 the executive council, and establish, in its 

 stead, a senate as a co-ordinate branch of 

 the legislature ; so that the legislative 

 power is now vested in a senate of 30 

 members chosen by counties, and a house 

 of representatives, consisting of one mem- 

 ber from each organized town, all elected 

 annually. Bills (with the exception of 

 those for raising revenue, which must 

 originate in the house of representatives,) 

 may originate in either house, but no bill 

 can become a law without the concur- 

 rence of a majority of both houses. And 

 every bill thus passed by the two houses, 

 before it becomes a law, must be submit 

 ted to the governor, who, if he approve, 

 shall sign it. If not, he shall return it 

 with his objections, to the house in which 

 it originated, which house shall reconsid- 

 er it and send it to the other house, and 

 if a majority of both houses shall repass 

 the bill, it shall then become a law with- 

 out the governor's signature. 



Previous to the year 1S08, the legisla- 

 ture of Vermont had no fixed place of 

 holding' its sessions., but changed its place 

 of meeting from town to town at its pleas- 

 ure. But in ISOS, a s^tate house was 

 erected in Montpelier, and since that pe- 

 riod Montpelier has been the permanent 

 seat of the government. For some time 

 after the organization of the government, 

 there were two or more sessions of the 

 general assembly in each year, but for 

 many years past there has been only one 

 session annually, commencing on the 2d 

 Thursday in October, and usually contin- 

 uing from three to four weeks. The first 

 general assembly met March 12, 1778, 

 and the officers then appointed continued 

 till October, when new ones were cho- 

 sen. - 



