432 INSTITUTIONS, GOVERNMENT AND LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 



the State. Property shall be taxed in proj)ortion to its value, and no 

 taxation or iin})Ost of any kind shall be established except by Act of the 

 Legislature. No title of nobility or hereditary emolument shall ever be 

 granted. All citizens, without distinction, shall enjoy equality of pul)lic, 

 legal and political rights. All navigable waters are public higiiwayS) 

 free to all the citizens of the State. 



Legislative Department. — The legislative department consists of two 

 distinct branches, styled respectively the Senate and the House of Repre- 

 sentatives, and both together the General Assembly of the State of South 

 Carolina. The House of Representatives is composed of members chosen 

 by ballot every second year by the qualified electors of the State. Each 

 County of the State constitutes one election district. The General As- 

 sembly has the power to organize new Counties by changing the boun- 

 daries of the old, but no new County can be formed of less extent than 

 G2o square miles, nor can any old County be reduced to less area than 

 625 square miles. The House of Representatives consists of 124 mem- 

 bers, apportioned among the several Counties, according to the population. 

 A census every ten years is provided for to regulate this appointment. 

 The Senate is composed of one member from each County, except Charles- 

 ton County, which has two Senators, to be elected for four years by the 

 qualified voters of the State. But upon the first election after the adop- 

 tion of the Constitution, the Senators were divided b}' lot into two classes 

 as nearly equal as possible, the members of the first class holding their 

 seats for two years, and those of the second for four years, so that one- 

 half of the Senators ma}^ be chosen every second year. No person is eli- 

 gible to a seat in the Senate or House who, at the time of his election, is 

 not a citizen of the United States, nor any one who has not been for one 

 year next preceding his election a resident of the County whence he is 

 chosen, nor any one w^ho has been convicted of an infamous crime, nor 

 any one holding any office of profit or trust under this State, the L'nited 

 States, or any other State of the Union or foreign power, except officers 

 of the militia, Magistrates or Justices of Inferior Courts receiving no sal- 

 ary. Senators must be at least 25 and Representatives at least 21 years 

 of age. All bills for raising revenue must originate in the House, but 

 may be altered, amended or rejected by the Senate. All other bills maj' 

 originate in either body. No bill has the force of law until it has been 

 read three times, on three several days, in each house, has had the Great 

 Seal of the State affixed to it and has been signed in the Senate House by 

 the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House. No money 

 can be drawn from the treasury except in pursuance of an appropriation 

 made by law, and a regular statement of receipts and expenditures of all 

 public moneys must be published annually. The members of both 



