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Cornell University Library JK2916 .C68 Manual of the constitution of the state olin 3 1924 030 489 110 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030489110 MANUAL CONSTITUTION STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. Compiled from Official Sources and Edited with Sketch of the Constitutions of the State, the Basis of Representation, and Appendix, JAMES FAIRBANKS COLBY. CONCORD, 1902. .\. X '7-\ Cr^^ pbinteo by ira c. evans co., concord. Bound by rumford printpno Co., Concord. CONTENTS. I. Preface 5 II. Constitution of New Hampshire established October 31, 1783, as subsequently amended and in force December 1, 1902 9 III. Index to Constitution 48 IV. Sketch of the Constitutions of New Hampshire, including— Name and bounds 59 Early government 59 Revolutionary government 62 Suggestions of Gen. John Sullivan on plan of government for New Hampshire 65 First Constitutional Convention, 1775-76 70 Temporary Constitution of January 5, 1776 71 Proclamation of new plan of government 74 Character of government formed 75 Declaration of Independence of New Hampshire 77 Preparation for another Convention 79 Second Constitutional Convention, 1778 81 Draft of Constitution submitted to the people for approval and .rejected, 1779 83 Third Constitational Convention, 1781-83 89 Address of Convention to the people upon submitting first draft of proposed constitution, 1781 99 Constitution (third draft) as approved by the people and established October 31, 1783 109 Fourth Constitutional Convention, 1791-92 140 Amendments proposed (72) first series, 1792 147 Popular vote thereon 169 Amendments proposed (secondlsories) 1792 171 Popular vote thereon 190 Constitution unchanged, 1792-1852 190 Fifth Constitutional Convention, 1850-5 1 191 Amendments proposed (16) first series, 1851 195 Popular vote thereon 212 Fifth Constitutional Convention, second session, 1851 214 Amendments proposed (3) second series, 1851 216 Popular vote thereon 218 Constitution unchanged, 1852-77 218 4 CONTENTS. IV. Sixth Constitutional Convention, 1876 219 Amendments proposed (13), 1876 224 Popular vote thereon 228 Constitution unchanged, 1877-89 230 Seventh Constitutional Convention, 1889 230 Amendments proposed (7), 1889 234 Popular vote thereon 238 Constitution unchanged since 1889 239 V. The basis of representation in New Hampshire previous to the adoption of the Constitution of 1783. By George Hill Evans 240 VI. The basis of representation in the house of representatives in New Hampshire since 1783. By William Hugh Mitchell 253 APPENDIX. Page. 1. Chapter 22 of Public Statutes of New Hampshire, councilor dis- tricts, 1901 275 2. Chapter 23 of Public Statutes of New Hampshire, senatorial [dis- tricts, 1901 276 3. Acts of the General Court of New Hampshire providing for the call- ing of a convention to revise the constitution, approved March, 1901 279 4. Act of the General Court of New Hampshire relating to the repre- sentation of towns, approved March 21, 1901 281 5. List of delegates returned to the secretary of state as elected to the convention to revise the constitution 286 6. Population of New Hampshire by counties, 1790-1900 292 7. Increase of population of New Hampshire as shown at each census and density to square mile, 1790-1900 294 8. Total number of males in New Hampshire, arranged according to nativity and literacy 294 9. Total number of males in New Hampshire, arranged according to general nativity, color, citizenship and literacy 295 10. Population of Councilor districts in New Hampshire 296 11. Population of Senatorial districts in New Hampshire 297 12. Population of New Hampshire by towns, 1790-1900, and number of representatives returned by each town to the General Court at each decennial period, 1791-1901 298 13. Total number of representatives returned to the General Court each year, 1784-1901 318 PREFACE This manual has been prepared, pursuant to a vote of the Governor and Council, for the use of the constitu- tional convention. This fact has determined both its contents and its form. The text of the constitution of New Hampshire here- with printed as now in force, is based upon the earliest engrossed copy in existence, that of the constitution as amended in 1792. The sketch of the constitutions of the State is limited to a simple narrative of events, without any attempt to unfold their causal relations. No work of that character can be written properly until numerous manuscripts now in the British or American archives and important rec- ords in possession of the State or its towns are made more accessible to historical students. The same general causes that have governed the constitutional development of the other New England states have been at work in New Hampshire, but its organic law is not without distinguish- ing marks. The Temporary Constitution of January 5, 1776, was the first frame of government adopted by any of the thirteen original states which, though not a grant of powers, was deemed by the people to be a fundamental law. The Permanent Constitution, established October 31, 1783, and drafted in all its important provisions by the statesman of the American Revolution, John Adams, was unchanged for sixty years, 1792-1852, a fact unpar- alleled among the other states except Rhode Island and b PREFACE. New Jersey, and now has been in force one hundred and twenty years, a longer time than the organic law of any other American commonwealth except Massachusetts. The popular vote by which this enduring constitution was ratified, taken in different towns on different days during the three months preceding its establishment, is unrecorded. The accounts of the basis of representation in New Hampshire have been prepared under my direction, the former by George Hill Evans, assistant in the library of Dartmouth College, and the latter by William Hugh Mitchell, graduate-student in history and political sci- ence. My indebtedness to both of them has been in- creased by further helpful co-operation, without which publication must have been delayed. My thanks are due to Mr. Edson C. Eastman, publisher of Chase's edition of the Public Statutes, 1901, for per- mission to reprint the marginal and appended notes to the constitution in that edition ; to Hon. Albert S. Batchellor, editor of State Papers, for many valuable and scholarly suggestions, and to the Secretary of State for his courteous assumption of the painstaking and responsible burden of correcting the proof-sheets. Any errors which may be discovered it is hoped may be explained, if not excused, by the narrow limits of time allowed for preparing the manuscript and for publication. Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, November 18, 1902. CONSTITUTION STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, ESTABLISHED OCTOBER 31, 1783, AS SUBSE- QUENTLY AMENDED AND IN FORCE DECEMBER i, 1902. PART FIRST. -BILL OF RIGHTS. Article 1. Equality ol men; origin and object of government. 2. Natural rights. 3. Society, its organization and purposes. 4. Rights ol conscience unalien- able. 5. Religious freedom recognized. 6. Public worship of the Deity to be encouraged; right of electing religious teachers; free toleration ; existing con- tracts not affected. 7. State sovereignty. 8. Accountability of magistrates and officers to the people. 9. No hereditary office or place. 10. Right of revolution. 11. Elections and elective fran- chise. 12. Protection and taxation recip- rocal; private property for public use. 13. Conscientiously scrupulous not compellable to bear Aetiolb 14. Legal remedies to be free, com- plete, and prompt. 15. Accused entitled to full and substantial statement of charge; not obliged to fur- nish evidence against him- self; may produce proofs and be fully heard, etc. 16. No person to be again tried after an acquittal; trial by jury in capital cases. 17. Criminal trials in county, ex- cept in general insurrection. 18. Penalties to be proportioned to offenses; true design of punishment. 19. Searchs and seizures regu- lated. 20. Trial by jury in civil causes; exceptions. 21. Only qualified persons to serve as jurors, and to be fully compensated. 22. Liberty ol the press. 23. Retrospective laws prohibited. 24. Militia. 26. Standing armies. 26. Military, subject to civiL power. 10 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. Akticle 27. Quartering o£ soldiers. 28. Taxes to be levied only by the people or legislature. 29. Suspension of laws by legisla- ture only. 30. Freedom of speech. 31. Meetings of legislature, for what purpose. 32. Rights of assembly, instruc- tion and petition. 33. Excessive bail, fines, and pun- ishments prohibited. 34. Martial law limited. 35. The judiciary ; tenure of office. 36. Pensions. 37. The legislative, executive, and judicial departments to be kept separate. 38. Social virtues inculcated. PART SECOND. -FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 1. Name of body politic. 2. Legislature, how constituted. 3. General court, when to meet and dissolve. 4. Power of general court to es- tablish courts. 5. To make laws, elect officers, define their powers and du- ties, impose fines, and assess taxes; prohibited from au- thorizing towns to aid cer- tain corporations. 6. Valuation of estates. 7. Members of legislature not to take fees or act as counsel. 8. Legislature to sit with open doors. HOUSE OF REPRESENTA- TIVES. 9. Representatives elected bien- nially; ratio of representa- tion ; number not to be in- creased by dividing towns. 10. Small towns may elect a pro- portionate part of time. Akticle 11. Biennial election of represent- atives in November. 12. Qualifications of electors. 13. Representatives, how elected, and qualifications of. 14. Compensation of the legisla- ture. 15. Vacancies in house, liow filled. 16. House to impeach before the senate. 17. Money bills to originate in house. 18. Power of adjournment lim- ited. 19. Quorum, what constitutes. 20. Privileges of members of the legislature. 21. House to elect speaker and oflicers, settle rules of pro- ceeding, and punish miscon- duct. 22. Senate and executive have like powers; imprisonment limited. 23. Journals and laws to be pub- lished ; yeas and nays, and protests. SENATE. 24. Senate, how constituted; ten- ure of office. 25. Senatorial districts, how con- stituted. 26. Election of senators. 27. Senators, how and by whom chosen ; right of suffrage. 28. Qualifications of senators. 29. Inhabitant defined. 30. Inhabitants of unincorporated places ; their rights, etc. 31. Biennial meetings, how warned, governed, and con- ducted; return of votes. 32. Governor and council to count votes for senators and notify the persons elected. 33. Vacancies in senate, how filled. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 11 Article 34. Senate, judges of their own elections. 35. Adjournments limited except in impeachment cases. 36. Senate to elect their own offi- cers; quorum. 37. Senate to try impeachments; mode of proceeding. 38. Judgment on impeachments limited. 39. Chief justice to preside on im- peachment of governor. EXECUTIVE POWER. - GOV- ERNOR. 40. Title of governor. 41. Election of governor; return of votes; electors; if no choice, legislature to elect one of two highest candi- dates ; qualifications for gov- ernor. 42. In cases of disagreement, gov- ernor to adjourn or prorogue legislature ; if infectious dis- temper or other cause exists, may convene them else- where. 43. Veto of governor to bills, pro- visiODS as to. 44. Resolves to be treated like bills. 46. Governor and council to nom- inate and appoint officers; nomination three days be- fore appointment. 46. Governor and council have negative on each other. 47. Field officers to recommend, and governor to appoint, company officers. 48. President of senate to act as governor when office va- cant; speaker of house to act when office of president of senate also vacant. 49. Governor to prorogue or ad- journ legislature and call extra sessions. Article 50. Power and duties of governor as commander-in-chief ; lim- itation. 51. Pardoning power. 52. Militia ofiicers, removal of. 53. Staff and non-commissioned officers, by whom appointed. 54. Division of militia into bri- gades, regiments, and com- panies. 55. Moneys drawn from treasury only by warrant of governor pursuant to law. 66. Accounts of military stores, etc., to be rendered quar- terly. 57. Compensation of governor and council. 58. Salaries of judges. COUNCIL. 59. Councilors, mode of election, etc. 60. Vacancies, how filled if no choice. 61. Occurring afterward ; new election; governor to con- vene; duties. 62. Impeachment of councilors. 63. Secretary to record proceed- ings of council. 64. Councilor districts provided for. 65. Elections by legislature may be adjourned from day to day ; order thereof. SECRETARY, TREASURER, COMMISSARY-GEN- ERAL, ETC. 66. Election of secretary, treas- urer, and commissary-gen- eral. 67. State records, where kept; duty of secretary. 68. Secretary to give bond. 12 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Article COUNTY TREASURERS, ETC. 70. County treasurers, registers of probate, solicitors, sheriffs, and registers of deeds elect- ed. 71. Counties may be divided into districts for registering deeds. JUDICIARY POWER. 72. Tenure of office to be ex- pressed in commissions ; judges to hold office during good behavior, etc. ; remov- able by address. 73. Judges to give opinions, when. 74. Justices of the peace commis- sioned for five years. 75. Divorces and probate appeals, where tried. 76. Jurisdiction of justices in civil causes. 77. Judges and sheriffs, when dis- qualified by age. 78. Judges and justices not to act as counsel. 79. Jurisdiction and terms of pro. bate courts. 80. Judges and registers of probate not to act as counsel. CLERKS OF COURTS. 81. Clerks of courts, by whom ap- pointed. ENCOURAGEMENT OF LIT- ERATURE, ETC. 82. Encouragement of literature, etc. Article OATHS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS, EXCLUSIONS FROM OFFICE, ETC. 83. Oath of civil officers. 84. Before whom taken. 85. Form of commissions. 86. Form of writs. 87. Form of indictments, etc. 88. Suicides and deodands. 89. Existing laws to continue in force, if not repugnant to constitution. 90. Habeas corpus. 91. Enacting style of statutes. 92. Governor and judges prohib- ited from holding other offices. 93. Incompatibility ofoffices; only two offices of profit to be holden at same time. 94. Incompatibility of certain offices. 95. Bribery and corruption dis- qualify for office. 96. Value of money, how com- puted. 97. Constitution, when to take effect. 98. Revision of constitution pro- vided for. 99. Question on revision to be taken every seven years. 100. Enrollment of constitution. Note, showing when the differ- ent constitutions of the state and the constitutional amendments were adopted. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 13 PART FIRST. BILL OF RIGHTS. Article i''. All men are born equally free and independent : Equality of ^, r 11 , r ■ , ■ ■ r 1 1 men; origin therefore, all government of right originates from the people, and object of is founded in consent, and instituted for the general good. Rii,2i2.1xv,ll3. [Art.] 12''. All men have certain natural, essential, and in- Natural herent rights, among which are the enjoying and defending life iM, g^'sgg. and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and, {^ Y^' ^^' in a word, of seeking and obtaining happiness. Ixvii, 59. [Art.] s''. When men enter into a state of society, they Society, ita surrender up some of their natural rights to that society, in and purposes. order to insure the protection of others ; and, without such an ' ^' equivalent, the surrender is void. [Art.] 4"'. Among the natural rights, some are in their Rights of con- ,. , , , . , ^ , . science un- very nature unalienable, because no equivalent can be given or alienable. received for them. Of this kind are the rights of conscience. "'' ^^' rART.l ?*. Every individual has a natural and unalienable Religious "- freedom right to worship God according to the dictates of his own con- recognized. science and reason; and no subject shall be hurt, molested, oriviii,'240. restrained, in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshiping God i2y_ ^_ in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience, or for his religious profession, sentiments, or persuasion, provided he doth not disturb the public peace or disturb others in their religious worship. [Art.] 6*. As morality and piety, rightly grounded on Public wor- evangelical principles, will give the best and greatest security to DeSy to b^ government, and will lay in the hearts of men the strongest ™j"'J"^®'^- obligations to due subjection, and as the knowledge of these is ^^^^' 230. most likely to be propagated through a society by the institu- tion of the public worship of the Deity and of public instruction in morality and religion, therefore to promote those important purposes, the people of this state have a right to empower, and do hereby fully empower, the legislature to authorize, from time ■First inserted in this and following articles of Bill of Eights in General Statutes, 1867. 14 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. to time, the several towns, parishes, bodies corporate, or relig- ious societies within this state to make adequate provision, at their own expense, for the support and maintenance of public Protestant teachers of piety, religion, and morality. Provided, notwithstanding, that the several towns, parishes, bodies corporate, or religious societies shall at all times have the exclusive right of electing their own public teachers and of contracting with them for their support and maintenance. And no person of any one particular religious sect or denomination shall ever be compelled to pay towards the support of the teacher or teachers of another persuasion, sect, or denomina- tion. And every denomination of Christians, demeaning themselves quietly and as good subjects of the state, shall be equally under the protection of the law ; and no subordination of any one sect or denomination to another shall ever be established by law. And nothing herein shall be understood to affect any former contracts made for the support of the ministry; but all such contracts shall remain and be in the same state as if this con- stitution had not been made. [Art.] 7*. The people of this state have the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free, sovereign, and independent state, and do, and forever hereafter shall, exercise and enjoy every power, jurisdiction, and right pertain- ing thereto which is not or may not hereafter be by them expressly delegated to the United States of America in congress assembled. Accounta- [Art.] 8*. All power residing originally in, and being de- bility of mag- . ^ , , ,, , „ , . , ,^ ^ istrates and rived from, the people, all the magistrates and officers of oflipprs Ixvi, 369. government are their substitutes and agents and at all times IxTii, 49. accountable to them. -,th Right of elect Ing religious teacliers. Sm., 1. liii, 9 ; 138. Ivi, 508. iTiii, 170. Ixvi, 230. Free tolera- tion, liii, 9. Existing con- tracts not affected. State sover- eignty. Ixvi, 369. [Art.] lall be h not being transmissible to posterity or relations. No hereditary [Art.] 9*. No office or place whatsoever in government office or 1 ,, u , ,• ,,.,.. , . place. shall be hereditary, the abihties and integrity requisite in all MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 15 [Art.] 10*. Government being instituted for the common Right of revo- benefit, protection, and security of the whole community, and Hi, 592! not for the private interest or emolument of any one man, ' family, or class of men, therefore, whenever the ends of govern- ment are perverted and public liberty manifestly endangered and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to, reform the old or establish a new government. The doctrine of non-resistance against arbitrary power and oppression is absurd, slavish, and destnictive of the good and happiness of mankind. [Art.] 1 1*. All elections ought to be free; and every in- Elections and habitant of the state, having the proper qualifications, has cifj^e^^^ *"" equal right to elect and be elected into office. ^^' '^■ [Art.] 12*. Every member of the community has a right P'^<^''^''*i<"J to be protected by it in the enjoyment of his life, liberty, and reciprocal, property. He is, therefore, bound to contribute his share in erty f or pub^" the expense of such protection, and to yield his personal |'52ofm*& 22. service, when necessary, or an equivalent. But no part of 3- i^l' ss^ViS' igi' man's property shall be taken from him or applied to public x, 369. xi, 19. •^ r ■> ri J- XVU,47,64. XXV, uses without his own consent or that of the representative body 541. xxvii, 183. of the people. Nor are the inhabitants of this state con- xxxyi, 404. troUable by any other laws than those to which they or theiru 594 ji^.W! representative body have given their consent }^\^l^\^^^^^l]^f^'^^^^^ FArt.] 13"'. No person who is conscientiously scrupulous '^'^■ii^- , , - , . , 11 , Ml, Conscien- about the lawfulness of bearing arms shall be compelled thereto, tiously scra- . , , , ... . , , pulous, not provided he will pay an equivalent. compellable to bear arms. [Art.] 14"^ Every subject of this state is entitled to aLegalreme- certain remedy, by having recourse to the laws, for all injuries free, com- he may receive in his person, property, or character, to obtain pj-ompt!^ right and justice freely, without being obliged to purchase it ; g^j,^^' ^^■ completely and without any denial ; promptly and without Ixv, ii3. delay ; conformably to the laws. [Art.] 15*. No subject shall be held to answer for any Accused en- crime or offense until the same is fully and plainly, substantially and substan- and formally, described to him, or be compelled to accuse or *f ^^*^^^™^2f furnish evidence against himself. And every subject shall have ogige^djo^fe- 16 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. may produce proofs and be fully heard, etc. Sm., 367. i, 56 ; 130 ; 140. xlviii, 57 ; 398- lii, 459.lv, 179. Iviii, 314. Ixlii, 406. Ixiv, 442;49l. Ixvl, 577, 633. Ixvil, 279. No person to be again tried after an ac- quittal ; trial by jury in cap- ital cases. Ixvii, 278, 279, 280. Criminal trials in county, ex- cept in gen- eral insurrec- tion. XX, 250. Ivi, 175. Ixi, 423. 426. Ixvi, 604. Penalties to be propor- tioned to offenses. True design of punishment. a right to produce all proofs that may be favorable to himself, to meet the witnesses against him face to face, and to be fully heard in his defense by himself and counsel. And no subject shall be arrested, imprisoned, despoiled, or deprived of his property, immunities, or privileges, put out of the protection of the law, exiled, or deprived of his life, liberty, or estate, but by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land. [Art.] 1 6*. No subject shall be liable to be tried, after an acquittal, for the same crime or offense ; nor shall the legislature make any law that shall subject any person to a capital punish- ment (excepting for the government of the army and navy, and the militia in actual service) without trial by jury. [Art.] 17"'. In criminal prosecutions, the trial of facts in the vicinity where they happen is so essential to the security of the life, liberty, and estate of the citizen, that no crime or offense ought to be tried in any other county than that in which it is committed, except in cases of general insurrection in any particular county, when it shall appear to the judges of the superior court that an impartial trial cannot be had in the county where the offense may be committed, and, upon their report, the [legislature]! shall think proper to direct the trial in the nearest county in which an impartial trial can be obtained. [Art.] iS"'. All penalties ought to be proportioned to the nature of the offense. No wise legislature will affix the same punishment to the crimes of theft, forgery, and the like, which they do to those of murder and treason. Where the same undistinguishing severity is exerted against all offenses, the people are led to forget the real distinction in the crimes them- selves and to commit the most flagrant with as little com- punction as they do 2 the lightest [offenses]',. For the same reason, a multitude of sanguinary laws is both impolitic and unjust, the true design of all punishments being to reform, not to exterminate, mankind. • Substituted for "assembly," 1793. ' "Those of" stricken out, 1793. ' Substituted for " dye," 1793. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 17 [Art.] iq"'. rEvery subject hath a right to be secure from Searches and II 111 J ■ r 1 ■ 1-1 seizures regn- all unreasonable searches and seizures of his person, his houses, lated. i 140. his papers, and all his possessions. Therefore, all warrants toxxv,54i. search suspected places or arrest a person for examination or xfyii.^hid'. trial, in prosecutions for criminal matters, are contrary to this ixviii^Ys right, if the cause or foundation of them be not previously supported by oath or affirmation, and if the order, in a warrant to a civil officer, to make search in suspected places or to arrest one or more suspected persons or to seize their property, be not accompanied with a special designation of the persons or objects of search, arrest, or seizure ; and no warrant ought to be issued but in cases and with the formalities prescribed by law.]i fAilT.] 20*. In all controversies concerning property and Trial by jury . ,, . , . . in civil causes, in all suits between two or more persons, except in cases in ii, 422. Ix, 336. which it has been heretofore otherwise used and practiced [and 415. xix, 362. ' except in cases in which the value in controversy does not f^^'''|]j_''^^Qj' exceed one hundred dollars and title of real estate is not con- ^jj"!? jSg' i^i' cerned],^ the parties have a right to a trial by jury; and this 612. Ivii,55;ll0; method of procedure shall be held sacred, unless, in cases 60;182; 425. lix, , , . , , , , . , 360, B6I. 1X11, arising on the high seas and such as relates to mariners wages, 231. Ixv, 201. the legislature shall think it necessary hereafter to alter it. [Akt.] 2 1''. In order to reap the fullest advantage of the Onlyquallfied . . 1 , • . , r , ■ , , • , , , persons to inestimable jjrivilege of the trial by jury, great care ought to be serve as ju- taken that none but qualified persons should be appointed to [ui?y*om-° ^ serve ; and such ought to [be] 8 fully compensated for their Pensated. travel, time, and attendance. rART.I 22''. The liberty of the i>ress is essential to the Liberty of the L -" ^ -^ press, security of freedom in a state ; it ought, therefore, to be in- violably preserved. fART.l 2'?''. Retrospective laws are highly injurious, op- Retrospective . , . \, , , , r , ,j u^ lawsprohib- pressive, and unjust. No such laws, therefore, should be ited. made, either for the decision of civil causes or the punishment iij, 431 ; 534. „f ...fforieo,. iv, 16;287. x, 386. xviii, 547. xxiii, 382. xxiv, 351. xxvii, 294. xxxii, 413. 01 onenses. xxxix, 304; 377; 605. li, 376, 383; 559. liv, 167. Ivi, 466. Ixiv, 295; 409. Ixv, 37 ; 126. ' Substituted for original article 19, 1793. = Inserted, 1877. ^ Not in engrossed copy of 1793. 18 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Militia. Standing armies. Military, sub- ject to civil power. Quartering of soldiers. Taxe.s to be levied only by the people or, legislature, xiv, 98. Suspension of laws by the legislature only. Freedom of speech. Meetings of legislature, for what. Rights of as- sembly, in- struction, and petition. [Art.] 24"^. A well-regulated militia is the proper, natural, and sure defense of a state. [Art.] 25*. Standing armies are dangerous to liberty, and ought not to be raised or I ^ ^ tive, execu- essential powers thereof — to wit, the legislative, executive, and tive, and judi- judicial — ought to be kept as separate from, and independent ments to be of, each other as the nature of a free government will admit or ; "igg.^®^^"^* ^' as is consistent with that chain of connection that binds the 2"|ij^^gj_ whole fabric of the constitution in one indissoluble bond of ''^i"' 5'*- union and amity. [Art.] 38"'. A frequent recurrence to the fundamental prin- Social virtues . . mCTllCSptGCl. ciples of the constitution and a constant adherence to justice, Iviii, 624. Ixvii 49 moderation, temperance, industry, frugality, and all the social virtues, are indispensably necessary to preserve the blessings of • Substituted for original Article 35, 1793. 20 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. liberty and good government. The people ought, therefore, to have a particular regard to all those principles in the choice of their officers and representatives; and they have a right to require of their lawgivers and magistrates an exact and constant observance of them in the formation and execution of the laws necessary for the good administration of government. PART SECOND. FORM OF GOVERNMENT. Name of body [Art. I. J i The people inhabiting the territory formerly politic. called The Province of New Hampshire do hereby solemnly and mutually agree with each other to form themselves into a free, sovereign, and independent body politic, or state, by the name of The State of New Hampshire. GENERAL COURT. Legislature, PArt. 2.1 The supreme legislative power within this state now consti- l j ^ -^ t^ tuted. shall be vested in the senate and house of representatives, each Iviii, 549. of which shall have a negative on the other. ]xi 264 Ixiii, 62.5. [Art. 3.] The senate and house shall assemble [bienm- Ixvii 46 279 "^"y] ' ^ o'^ ''1^ first Wednesday of [January] ^ and at such other General court, t'nies as they may judge necessary, and shall dissolve and be ajicf "di'ssSve. dissolved seven days next preceding the said first Wednesday of [January] ' [biennially] ,•• and shall be styled The General Court of New Hamp.shire. Power of [Art. 4.] The general court shall forever have full power and to establish authority to erect and constitute judicatories and courts of fxvn.lJTg record or other courts, to be holden in the name of the state, for the hearing, trying, and determining all manner of crimes, offenses, pleas, processes, plaints, actions, causes, matters, and things whatsoever, arising or happening within this state, or ' First inserted in this and following articles in Revised Statutes, 1»42. ' Substituted for " Every Year," 1879. ' Substituted for " June," 1889. * Substituted for " annually," 1879. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 21 between or concerning persons inhabiting or residing or brought within the same, whether the same be criminal or civil, or whether the crimes be capital or not capital, and whether the said pleas be real, personal, or mixed, and for the awarding and issuing execution thereon ; to which courts and' judicatories are hereby given and granted full power and authority from time to time to administer oaths or affirmations for the better discovery of truth in any matter in controversy or depending before them . [Art. 5.] And, further, full power and authority are hereby To make laws, given and granted to the said general court, from time to time de^fine their'^^' to make, ordain, and establish all manner of wholesome and §SJi|a^im? reasonable orders, laws, statutes, ordinances, directions, andP"??^"®^* ' ' ' ' and assesH instructions, either with penalties or without, so as the same be taxes. 1, 53. not repugnant or contrary to this constitution, as they may iy, 566. judge for the benefit and welfare of this state and for the gov-xv.'ss. erning and ordering thereof and of the subjects of the same, forxx™279. ' the necessary support and defense of the government thereof; xhf 373'*^^' and to name and settle [biennially] ,1 or provide by fixed laws xjy'ii*!!) for the naming and settling, all civil officers within this state, Ji". 9- ^ , , . . ' Ix, 87 ; 219, 234 ; such officers excepted the election and appointment of whom 347. , . r r , . . , , .- Ixi, 2641631. are hereafter in this form of government otherwise provided for; Ixiv, 402; 560. and to set forth the several duties, powers, and limits of the ixvil 279. several civil and military officers of this state, and the forms of such oaths or affirmations as shall be respectively administered unto them for the execution of their several offices and places, so as the same be not repugnant or contrary to this constitu- tion ; and, also, to impose fines, mulcts, imprisonments, and other punishments ; and to impose and levy proportional and reasonable assessments, rates, and taxes upon all the inhabi- tants of, and residents within, the said state, and upon all estates within the same, to be issued and disposed of by war- rant, under the hand of the [governor] ^ of this state for the time being, with the advice and consent of the council, for the public service, in the necessary defense and support of the gov- '■ First inserted in Copy of Constitution in General Laws, 1878, appar- ently without authority. > ■ " president," 1793. ^.^. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. General court prohibited from author- izing towns to aid certain corporations. Ivi, 514. Valuation o£ estates, iv, 568. viii, 573. Iviii, 538. Ix, 347. Members of legislature, not to take fees or act as counsel. Legislature to sit with open doors. ernment of this state and the protection and preservation of the subjects thereof, according to such acts as are or shall be in force within the same : [provided, that the general court shall not authorize any town to loan or give its money or credit, directly or indirectly, for the benefit of any corporation having for its object a dividend of profits, or in any way aid the same by taking its stock or bonds.] ^ [Art. 6.] And, while the public charges of government or any part thereof shall be assessed on polls and estates in the manner that has heretofore been practiced, in order that such assessments may be made with equality there shall be a valua- tion of the estates within the state taken anew once in every five years, at least, and as much oftener as the general court shall order. [Art. y .] [No member of the general court shall take fees, be of counsel, or act as advocate in any cause before either branch of the legislature ; and, upon due proof thereof, such member shall forfeit his seat in the legislature.]^ [Art. 8.] [The doors of the galleries of each house of the legislature shall be kept open to all persons who behave decently, except when the welfare of the state, in the opinion of either branch, shall require secrecy.]^ Representa- tives elected biennially. Ratio of rep- resentation. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.' [Art. g.] [There shall be, in the legislature of this state, a representation of the people, biennially elected, and founded upon principles of equality, and, in order that such representa- tion may be as equal as circumstances will admit, every town, or place entitled to town privileges, and wards of cities having six hundred inhabitants by the last general census of the state, taken by authority of the United States or of this state, may elect one representative ; if eighteen hundred such inhabitants, may elect two representatives ; and so proceeding in that pro- ' Inserted, 1879. = Inserted, 1793. •* Provisions tinder this head followed those under head "senate" prior to 1793. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 23 portion, making twelve hundred such inhabitants the mean in- creasing number for any additional representative : /r^^wzV^^, that no town shall be divided or the boundaries of the wards of any city so altered as to increase the number of representatives to which such town or city may be entitled by the next preced- ing census ; and provided further, that, to those towns and „ ,™>,Br of cities which since the last census have been divided or had representa- tives not to De their boundaries or ward lines changed, the general court in increased ■by- session next before these amendments shall take eifect shall towns, equitably apportion representation in such manner that the number shall not be greater than it would have been had no such division or alteration been made.] i [Art. 10.] 2. [Art. 10 (ll)^.] [Whenever any town, place, or city ward Small towns shall have less than six hundred such inhabitants, ^ the general proportionate court [shall]8 authorize such town, place, or ward to elect and send to the general court [a representative] ' such proportion- ate part of the time as the number of its inhabitants shall bear to six hundred ; but the general court shall not authorize any [such]' town, place, or ward to elect and send such representa- tive, except as herein provided.] * [Art. II (i2).] The members of the house of representa- Biennial elec- tives shall be chosen [biennially] ^ in the month of [Novem-gg^ativesm^' her] 15, and shall be the second branch of the legislature. November. [Art. 12 (13)-] All persons qualified to vote in the election Qualification of senators shall be entitled to vote, within the ^ district '" where they dwell, in the choice of representatives. ' Substituted for original Article 9, 1878. ° Stricken out, 1889. Subject covered by next section. " Indicates numbering of sections previous to 1889. * Substituted for original Article 11, 1878. ' " And be so situated that it cannot conveniently be classed with any other town, place, or ward," stricken out, 1889. « Substituted for "may," 1889. ' Inserted, 1889. ' Substituted for " annually," 1878. " " Town " left out in engrossed copy of 1793, apparently without au- thority. »° " Parish or place " left out in engrossed copy of 1793, apparently without authority. i» Substituted for "March," 1878. 24 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. Eepreseuta- [ART. 13 (14). J Every member of the house of representa- elected, and lives shall be chosen by ballot, and, for two years, at least, qua ca ions ^^^^ preceding his election, shall have been an inhabitant of '^' this state; ^ shall be, at the time of his election, an inhabitant of the town, parish, or place he may be chosen to represent; '^ and shall cease to represent such town, parish, or place imme- diately on his ceasing to be qualified as aforesaid. Compensation [Art. 14 (15).] [The presiding officers of both houses of of loEfisla- ture. the legislature shall severally receive out of the state treasury as compensation in full for their services, for the term elected, the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, and all other members thereof seasonably attending and not departing without license, the sum of two hundred dollars, exclusive of mileage : provided, however, that when a special session shall be called by the gov- ernor, such officers and members shall receive for attendance an additional compensation of three dollars per day for a period not exceeding fifteen days, and the usual mileage.] ^ Vacancies in [Art. 15 (16).] All intermediate vacancies in the house of house, how . , .,, , ^ . . . , filled. representatives may be filled up from time to time in the same manner as [biennial] ^ elections are made. Housetoim- [Art. 16 (17)-] The house of representatives shall be the thesenat™^ grand inquest of the state, and all impeachments made by them shall be heard and tried by the senate. Money bills to [Art. 17 (18).] All money bills shall originate in the house hoSe.^'^ '° of representatives, but the senate may propose or concur with amendments, as on other bills. Powerofad- [Art. 18 (19)-] The house of representatives shall have limited. power to adjourn themselves, but no longer than two days at a time. ' " Shall have an estate within the town, parish or place which he may be chosen to represent o£ the value ol one hundred pounds, one half of which to be a freehold whereof he is seized in his own right" stricken out, 1852. ^ " Shall be of the Protestant religion " stricken out, 1877. ' Section 1 of Amendment 26 of 1793 (which was substituted for original Article 6 under "House of Representatives ") stricken out and above inserted, 1889. " Substituted for " annual,";l878. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 25 [Art. iq (20"). 1 A majority of the members of the house of Quorum.what . , „ , ^ , . , . , , constitutes, representatives shall be a quorum for doing business, but, when less than two thirds of the representatives elected shall be pres- ent, the assent of two thirds of those members shall be neces- sary to render their acts and proceedings valid. rAllT. 20 (21).] No member of the house of representatives Privileges of members of or senate shall be arrested or held to bail on mesne process the legisla- during his going to, returning from, or attendance upon, the court. [Art. 21 (22).] The house of representatives shall choose House to elect their own speaker, appoint their own ofScers, and settle the oiBcers. settle ' . . . . rules of pro- rules of proceedings in their own house [and shall be judge ofceedings, and , , . , ,.^ . . . , punish mis- the returns, elections, and qualifications of its members, as conduct. pointed out in this constitution. ]i They shall have authority j^vi' 383. to punish by imprisonment every person who shall be guilty of '-''^'^'"' ^^' disrespect to the house, in its presence, by any disorderly and contemptuous behavior, or by threatening or illtreating any of its members, or by obstructing its deliberations ; every person guilty of a breach of its privileges in making arrests for debt, or by assaulting any member during his attendance at any session ; in assaulting or disturbing any one of its ofScers in the execu- tion of any order or procedure of the house ; in assaulting any witness or other person ordered to attend by, and during his attendance of, the house, or in rescuing any person arrested by order of the house, knowing them to be such. FArt. 22 ('2'?Vl The senate fgovernorl' and council shall Senate and L \ J / -1 Lo -J executive have the same powers in like cases, provided, that no imprison- have like ment by either for any offense exceed ten days. prisonment'^li'mited. TAkt. 23 (24).] The journals of the proceedings and all Journals and public acts of both houses of the legislature shall be printed and published; published immediately after every adjournment or prorogation, n|y|^*and pro- and, upon motion made by any one member, the yeas and i^ays^^|^ ^^^ upon any question shall be entered on the journal, and any 1", 622. member of the senate or house of representatives shall have a '■ Inserted 1793. = Substituted for " president," 1793. 26 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. right, on motion made at tlie time for that purpose, to have his protest or dissent, with the reasons, against any vote, resolve, or bill passed, entered on the journal. SENATE. 1 Senate, how- constituted ; tenure of office. Senatorial districts, how constituted. Election of senators, xliv, 635. xlv, 597. Senators, how and by whom chosen ; right of suffrage, xliv. 398, 404. xlvii, 278, 279. Ixil, 71. [Art. 24 (25).] The senate shall consist of [twenty- four]2 members, who shall hold their office for [two years]' from the first Wednesday of [January]^ next ensuing their election. [Art. 25 (26). J And, that the state may be equally repre- sented in the senate, the legislature shall, from time to time, divide the state into [twenty-four]* districts, as nearly equal as may be without dividing towns and unincorporated places ; and, in making this division, they shall govern themselves by the proportion of direct taxes paid by the said districts, and timely make known to the inhabitants of the state the limits of each district. [Art. 26 (27).] The freeholders and other inhabitants of each district, qualified as in this constitution is provided, shall [biennially],' give in their votes for a senator at some meeting holden in the month of [November].' [Art. 27 (28).] The senate shall be the first branch of the legislature, and the senators shall be chosen in the following manner, viz. : every male inhabitant of each town, and laarish with town privileges, and places unincorporated, in this state, of twenty-one years of age and upward, excepting paupers and persons excused from paying taxes at their own request, shall have a right, at the [biennial]^ or other meetings of the inhabi- tants of said towns and parishes, to be duly warned and holden ' Entire provisions relating to senate stricken out and these provi- sions substituted, 1793. ^ Substituted for " twelve," 1878. " Substituted for " one year," 1878. 'Substituted for" June," 1889. ' Substituted for "twelve," 1878. " Substituted for " annually," 1878. ' Substituted for " March," 1878. ' Substituted for " annual," 1878. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 27 [biennially] ,i forever, in the month of [November], 2 to vote, in the town or parish wherein he dwells, for the senator in the district whereof he is a member. [Art. 28 (29).] Provided, nevertheless, that no person shall Qualifications be capable of being elected a senator^ who is not of the age of f/u.^g"^*""^^' thirty years, and who shall not have been an inhabitant of this state for seven years immediately preceding his election ; and, at the time thereof, he shall be an inhabitant of the district for which he shall be chosen. [Art. 29 (30).] And every person qualified as the constitu- Inhabitant tion provides shall be considered an inhabitant, for the purpose xl^"l^; ess. of electing and being elected into any ofBce or place within thiSxivliflTS. state, in the town, parish, and plantation where he dwelleth and j^jj^j hath his home. [Art. 30 (31) .] And the inhabitants of plantations and Inhabitants of I • , ,..-1 , . . . . , unincorpo- places unincorporated, qualified as this constitution provides, rated places; who are or shall be required to assess taxes upon themselves xlfv^ 635. ^' towards the support of government, or shall be taxed therefor, ^^' ^^' ^^' shall have the same privilege of voting for senators, in the plan- tations and places wherein they reside, as the inhabitants of the respective towns and parishes aforesaid have. And the meet- ings of such plantations and places, for that purpose, shall be holden [biennially]^ in the month of [November], 2 at such places respectively therein as the assessors thereof shall direct ; which assessors shall have like authority for notifying the elec- tors, collecting and returning the votes, as the selectmen and town clerks have in their several towns by this constitution. [Art. 31 (32'). 1 The meetings for the choice of governor. Biennial •, J , „L J, r f , • meetings, council, and senators shall be warned by warrant trom the select- how warned, men, and governed by a moderator, who shall, in the presence conducted; of the selectmen (whose duty it shall be to attend), in open yQ*^'^e°g meeting, receive the votes of all the inhabitants of such towns ^^^''^' ^^' ^"^ ■ and parishes present and qualified to vote for senators ; and '^^'fS^'oAt, ' Substituted for " annually," 1878, ' Substituted for " March," 1878. = " Who is not of the Protestant religion " stricken out, 1877. " And seized of a freehold estate in his own right of the value of two hundred pounds, lying within the state," stricken out, 1852. 28 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Iriii, 621. shall, in said meetings, in presence of tlie said selectmen and ot Lxii 70. . 1x71,383. the town clerk in said meetings, sort and count the said votes, and make a public declaration thereof, with the name of every person voted for and the number of votes for each person ; and the town clerk shall make a fair record of the same, at large, in the town book, and shall make out a fair attested copy thereof, to be by him sealed up and directed to the secretary of the state, with a superscription expressing the purport thereof; and the said town clerk shall cause such attested copy to be delivered to the sheriff of the county in which such town or parish shall lie thirty days, at least, before the first Wednesday of [Janu- ary], ^ or to the secretary of the state at least twenty days before the said first Wednesday of [January] ;' and the sheriff" of each county or his deputy shall deliver all such certificates by him received into the secretary's office at least twenty days before the first Wednesday of [January] .' Governor and [Art. 32 (33).] And, that there may be a due meeting of count votes senators on the first Wednesday of [January] ,1 [biennially] ,2 aif/notify the t'^s governor and a majority of the council for the time being efe'ctecf shall, as soon as may be, examine the returned copies of such l"''574' ^**'' '■^™''ds, and fourteen days before the first Wednesday of [Jan- Iviii, 621. uary],i he shall issue his summons to such persons as appear to be chosen senators by a majority of votes to attend and take their seats on that day : provided, nevertlieless, that, for the first year, the said returned copies shall be examined by the president and a majority of the council then in office ; and the said president shall, in like manner, notify the persons elected to attend and take their seats accordingly. Vacancies in [Art. 33 (34).] And, in case there shall not appear to be a senate, now , , , ... tilled. senator elected by a majority of votes for any district, the defi- ciency shall be supplied in the following manner, viz. ; the members of the house of represfentatives and such senators as shall be declared elected shall take the names of the two persons having the highest number of votes in the district, and out of them shall elect, by joint ballot, the senator wanted for such ' Substituted for "June," 1889. = Substituted for " annually," 1878. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 29 district ; and, in tiiis manner, all such vacancies shall be filled up in every district of the state ; [all vacancies in the senate arising by death, removal out of the state, or otherwise, except from failure to elect, shall be filled by a new election by the people of the district, upon the requisition of the governor, as soon as may be after such vacancies shall happen]. ^ [Art. 34 (35).] The senate shall be final judges of the elec- Senate judges . , 1.^ . ^ , . oftheirown tions, returns, and qualifications of their own members, as elections. . , , ^ ■ ,,■ ,., ,- Ivi, 570, 574. pointed out in this constitution. lxviii,56. [Art. 35 (36).] The senate shall have power to adjourn Adjourn- themselves, provided such adjournment do not exceed two days except in im- at a time : provided, nevertheless, that, whenever they shall sitg^l^g,™^"^ on the trial of any impeachment, they may adjourn to such time and place as they may think proper, although the legislature be not assembled on such day or at such place. [Art. 36 (37). j The senate shall appoint their President |gJ^*S''! and other officers, and determine their own rules of proceedings. o'>'n officers; ■^ ° quorum. And not less than [thirteen] ^ members of the senate shall make a quorum for doing business; and, when less than [sixteen]' senators shall be present, the assent of [ten],* at least, shall be necessary to render their acts and proceedings valid. [Art. 37 (38).] The senate shall be a court, with full power Senate to try and authority to hear, try, and determine all impeachments ments; mode made by the house of representatives against any oflScer or offi- cers of the state, for bribery, corruption, malpractice, or malad- ministration in office, with full power to issue summons or com- pulsory process for convening witnesses before them ; but, pre- vious to the trial of any such impeachment, the members of the senate shall respectively be sworn truly and impartially to try and determine the charge in question, according to evidence. And every officer impeached for bribery, corruption, malprac- tice, or maladministration in office shall be served with an ' Substituted for "And, in like manner, all vacancies in the senate, arising by death, removal out of the state, or otherwise, shall be sup. plied as soon as may be after such vacancies happen," 1889. " Substituted for "seven," 1879. ' Substituted for "eight," 1879. « Substituted for " five," 1879. 30 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. attested copy of the impeachment and order of senate thereon, with such citation as the senate may direct, setting forth the time and place of their sitting to try the impeachment ; which service shall be made by the sheriff or such other sworn officer as the senate may appoint, at least fourteen days previous to the time of trial ; and, such citation being duly served and returned, the senate may proceed in the hearing of the impeachment, giv- ing the person impeached, if he shall appear, full liberty of pro- ducing witnesses and proofs and of making his defense by him- self and counsel ; and may, also, upon his refusing or neglecting to appear, hear the proofs in support of the impeachment, and render judgment thereon, his non-appearance notwithstanding; and such judgment shall liave the same force and effect as if the person impeached had appeared and pleaded in the trial. Judgment on [Art. 38 (39).] Their judgment, however, shall not extend limited. further than removal from office, disqualification to hold or enjoy any place of honor, trust, or profit under this state ; but the party so convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to the laws of the land. Chief justice [Art. 39 (40).] Whenever the governor shall be im- impeachment peached, the chief justice of the supreme judicial court shall, fx-^^e^™*"^ during the trial, preside in the senate, but have no vote therein. EXECUTIVE POWER. GOVERNOR. 1 Title of gov- [Art. 40 (41). J There shall be a supreme executive magis- fxvP634 trate, who shall be styled the Governor of the State of New Hampshire, and whose title shall be His Excellency. Election of [Art. 41 (42).] The governor shall be chosen [biennially] ,2 governor; re- Jq the month of [November] ," and the votes for governor shall electors; if no be received, sorted, counted, certified, and returned in the same ' Entire provisions relating to president stricken out and these pro- visions substituted, 1793. * Substituted for " annually," 1878. ' Substituted for " March," 1878. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 31 manner as the votes for senators ; and the secretary shall lay the choice, leg- , _ ., , , r . , ,- islature to same before the senate and house of representatives on the first elect one of Wednesday of [January], i to be by them examined; and, in orndidates! case of an election by a majority of votes through the state, the ixyi^'sgs. choice shall be by them declared and published ; and the quali- fications of electors of the governor shall be the same as those for senators ; and, if no person shall have a majority of votes, the senate and house of representatives shall, by joint ballot, elect one of the two persons having the highest number of votes, who shall be declared governor. And no person shall be eUgible to Qualifications this office unless, at the time of his election, he shall have been ■^°^ governor, an inhabitant of this state for seven years next preceding, and unless he shall be of the age of thirty years. ^ [Art. 42 (43).] In cases of disagreement between the two In cases ofi " houses with regard to the time or place of adjournment or proro- g-cwSifor'to gation, the governor, with advice of council, shall have a right pfQ°Q™g°' to adjourn or prorogue the general court, not exceeding ninety legislature, days at any one time, as he may determine the public good may require ; and he shall dissolve the same seven days before the said first Wednesday of [January]^. And, in case of any infec- If infectious tious distemper prevailing in the place where the said court at other^aSe' anytime is to convene, or any other cause whereby dangers ^^^^^^jj^^^gj^ may arise to the health or lives of the members from their ^'^^''^here. attendance, the governor may direct the session to be holden at some other, the most convenient, place within the state. TArt. 4-? C44").l Every bill which shall have passed both Veto of gov- L *tj \-rtj J , ,, , ^ . , , , ernor to bills, houses of the general court shall, before it become a law, be provisions as presented to the governor; if he approve, he shall sign it, butxlV, 607. if not he shall return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with such objections, to ■Substituted for "June," 1889. " "And unless he shall at the same time have an estate of the value of five hundred pounds, one half of which shall consist of a freehold of his own right within this state " stricken out, 1852. " And unless he shall be of the Protestant religion " stricken out, 1877. 32 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered ; and, if approved by two thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But, in all such cases, the votes of both houses shall be determined 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 within five days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the legislature, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law. Resolves to [Art. 44 (45).] Every resolve shall be presented to the gov- like bills. ernor, and, before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or, being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by the senate and house of representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. Governor and [Art. 45 (46).] All judicial officers, the attorney-general, 1 nomijiate and coroners,- and all officers of the navy and general and field offi- cers; nomina-cers of the militia shall be nominated and appointed by the days before governor and council, and every such nomination shall be made fvii°i46.™^"'' ^' '^^^' three days prior to such appointment ; and no appoint- ment shall take place unless a majority of the council agree thereto. Governor and [Art. 46 (47)-] The governor and council shall have a neg- councilhave . ,,,,., . . , negative on ative on each other, both in the nominations and appoint- ^^"^ ' ments. Every nomination and appointment shall be signed by the governor and council, and every negative shall be also signed by the governor or council who made the same. Field officers [Art. 47 (48).] The captains and subalterns in the respect- mend, and ive regiments shall be nominated and recommended by the governor to , . . , . . . appoint, com- field officers to the governor, who is to issue their commissions ^^^^ • immediately on receipt of such recommendation. President of tArt. 48 (40).! Whenever the chair of the governor shall senate, etc., to i- ^ ^^^■' -' *= act as govern- become vacant, by reason of his death, absence from the state, or when office , . , . , , , , ,, , . vacant. or otherwise, the president of the senate shall, during such Ixvi, 363. ' " Solicitors, all sheriffs " stricken out, 1879. " " Registers of probate " stricken out, 1879. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 33 vacancy, have and exercise all the powers and authorities which, by this constitution, the governor is vested with when personally present ; but, when the president of the senate shall exercise the office of governor, he shall not hold his office in the senate. [Whenever the chair both of the governor and of Speaker of '- , ,, , , house to act the president of the senate shall become vacant, by reason of when office of their death, absence from the state, or otherwise, the speaker senate also of the house shall, during such vacancies, have and exercise all the powers and authorities which, by this constitution, the gov- ernor is vested with when personally present ; but when the speaker of the house shall exercise the office of governor, he shall not hold his office in the house. J^ [Art. 49 (50).] The governor, with advice of council, shall Governor to have full power and authority, in the recess of the general adjourn legis- court, to prorogue the same from time to time, not exceeding (,|^j"^g^tf^ ninety days in any one recess of said court ; and, during the sessions, sessions of said court, to adjourn or prorogue it to any time the two houses may desire ; and to call it together sooner than the time to which it may be adjourned or prorogued, if the welfare of the state should require the same. TArt. qo Csi').! The governor of this state, for the time Powers and u- 111, J • , • f f ., ^ .duties of gov- being, shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy and ernor ascom- all the military forces of the state by sea and land; and shall chief; limi'ta- have full power, by himself or by any chief commander or other '^^ officer or officers, from time to time to train, instruct, exercise, and govern the militia and navy ; and for the special defense and safety of this state, to assemble in martial array and put in warlike posture the inhabitants thereof, and to lead and conduct them, and with them to encounter, repulse, repel, resist, and pursue by force of arms, as well by sea as by land, within and without the limits of this state; and also to kill, slay, destroy, if necessary, and conquer, by all fitting ways, enterprise, and means, all and every such person and persons as shall at any time hereafter, in a hostile manner, attempt or enterprise the destruction, invasion, detriment, or annoyance of this state ; and to use and exercise over the army and navy ' Inserted, 1889. 3i MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Pardoning power. Militia offi- cers, removal of. Staff and non- commis- sioned offi- cers, by whom appointed. Division of militia Into brigades, reg- and over the militia in actual service the law martial, in time of war, invasion, and also in rebellion declared by the legisla- ture to exist, as occasion shall necessarily require ; and sur- prise, by all ways and means whatsoever, all and every such- person or persons, with their ships, arms, ammunition, and other goods, as shall, in a hostile manner, invade or attempt the invading, conquering, or annoying this state ; and, in fine, the governor hereby is intrusted with all other powers incident to the office of captain-general and commander-in-chief and admiral, to be exercised agreeably to the rules and regulations of the constitution and the laws of the land : provided, that the governor shall not at any time hereafter, by virtue of any power by this constitution granted, or hereafter to be granted to him by the legislature, transport any of the inhabitants of this state or oblige them to march out of the limits of the same without their free and voluntary consent or the consent of the general court, nor grant commissions for exercising the law martial in any case without the advice and consent of the council. [Art. 51 (52).] The power of pardoning offenses, except such as persons may be convicted of before the senate, by im- peachment of the house, shall be in the governor, by and with the advice of council ; but no charter of pardon, granted by the governor, with advice of council, before conviction, shall avail the party pleading the same, notwithstanding any general or particular expressions contained therein, descriptive of the of- fense or offenses intended to be pardoned. [Art. 52 (53).] No officer, duly commissioned to com- mand in the militia, shall be removed from his office but by the address of both houses to the governor or by fair trial in court- martial pursuant to the laws of the state for the time being. [Art. 53 (54).] The commanding officers of the regiments- shall appoint their adjutants and quartermasters ; the briga- diers, their brigade-majors ; the major-generals, their aids ; the captains and subalterns, their non-commissioned officers. [Art. 54 (S5).] The division of the militia into brigades, regiments, and companies, made in pursuance of the militia MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 35 laws now in force, shall be considered as the proper division of iments, and the militia of this state, until the same shall be altered by some future law. [Art. 55 (56).] No moneys shall be issued out of the treas- ^°^l%g^ ury of this state and disposed of (except such sums as may be treasury only , r , , . ) , .„ , ,. by warrant of appropriated for the redemption of bills of credit or treasurer's governor, notes, or for the payment of interest arising thereon) but by law. warrant under the hand of the governor for the time being, by and with the advice and consent of the council, for the neces- sary support and defense of this state and for the necessary protection and preservation of the inhabitants thereof, agreeably to the acts and resolves of the general court. [Art. 56 (57).] All public boards, the commissary-general, Accounts of all superintending ofiScers of public magazines and stores be- stores, etc., to longing to this state, and all commanding officers of forts and quarterly, garrisons within the same shall, once in every three months, officially and without requisition, and at other times when re- quired by the governor, deliver to him an account of all goods, stores, provisions, ammunition, cannon with their appendages, and all small arms with their accoutrements, and of all other public property under their care respectively, distinguishing the quantity and kind of each as particularly as may be, together with the condition of such forts and garrisons. And the com- manding officer shall exhibit to the governor, when required by him, true and exact plans of such forts, and of the land and sea, or harbor or harbors adjacent. [Art. 57 (58).] The governor and council shall be compen-2°™Pf°^^-_ sated for their services, from time to time,- by such grants asernorand ^ ° council, the general court shall think reasonable. [Art. 58 (59).] Permanent and honorable salaries shall be Salaries of established by law for the justices of the superior court. '"^ ^^' COUNCIL.! FArt. CO feoVI There shall be fbienniallyl^ elected by bal- Councilors; 1- J7 \ .> J L J J ^ modeofelec- lot five councilors, for advising the governor in the executive tion, etc. liii, 9. ' Entire provision as to Council stricken out and these provisions substituted 1793. ' Substituted for " annually," 1878. 36 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. Vacancies, how flUed, etc., if no clioice. liii, 9. Occurring afterward ; new election. Governor to convene ; duties. I mpeachment of councilors. Secretary to record pro- ceedings of council. part of government. The freeholders and other inhabitants in each county, qualified to vote for senators, shall, some- time in the month of [November],' give in their votes for one councilor, which votes shall be received, sorted, counted, certi- fied, and returned to the secretary's office, in the same manner as the votes for senators, to be by the secretary laid before the senate and house of representatives on the first Wednesday of [January]. 2 [Art. 6o (6i).] And the person having a majority of votes in any county shall be considered as duly elected a councilor; but, if no person shall have a majority of votes in any county, the senate and house of representatives shall take the names of the two persons who have the highest number of votes, in each county and not elected, and out of those two shall elect, by joint ballot, the councilor wanted for such county ; and the qualifications for councilors shall be the same as for senator. [Art. 6 1 (62).] If any person thus chosen a councilor shall be elected governor or member of either branch of the legisla- ture and shall accept the trust, or if any person elected a coun- cilor shall refuse to accept the oflSce, or in case of the death, resignation, or removal of any councilor out of the state, the governor may issue a precept for the election of a new councilor in that county where such vacancy shall happen; and the choice shall be in the same manner as before directed ; and the gov- ernor shall have full power and authority to convene the council, from time to time, at his discretion ; and, with them or the ma- jority of them, may and shall, from time to time, hold a council for ordering and directing the affairs of the state, according to the laws of the land. [Art. 62 (63).] The members of the council may be im- peached by the house and tried by the senate for bribery, cor- ruption, malpractice, or maladministration. [Art. 63 (64).] The resolutions and advice of the council shall be recorded by the secretary in a register, and signed by all the members present agreeing thereto ; and this record may ' Substituted for "March," 1878. ' Substituted for " June," 1889. MANUAL OV THE CONSTITUTION. 37 be called for at any time by either house of the legislature ; and any member of the council may enter his opinion contrary to the resolutions of the majority, with the reasons for such opinion. [Art. 64 (65).] The legislature may, if the public good shall Councilor dis- , r ..,..,, . „ ,. . tricts pro- hereafter require It, divide the state into five districts, as nearly vided for. equal as may be, governing themselves by the number of rat- able polls and proportion of public taxes, each district to elect a councilor ; and, in case of such division, the manner of the choice shall be conformable to the present mode of election in counties. [Art. 65 (66).] And, whereas the elections appointed to be Elections by made by this constitution on the first Wednesday of [January]i may be ad- [biennially],2 by the two houses of the legislature, may not ^^°"™o ^ay;™ be completed on that day, the said elections may be adjourned o™^'-' thereof, from day to day until the same be completed. And the order of the elections shall be as follows : The vacancies in the senate, if any, shall be first filled up; the governor shall then be elected, provided there shall be no choice of him by the peo- ple ; and, afterwards, the two houses shall proceed to fill up the vacancy, if any, in the council. SECRETARY, TREASURER, COMMISSARY-GENERAL, ETC. [Art. 66 (67).] The secretary, treasurer, and commissary- Election of general shall be chosen by joint ballot of the senators and repre- treasurer! and sentatives, assembled in one room. generaf*'^^" ' [Art. 67 (68).] The records of the state shall be kept in the State records, „ - , . T 1 , ,, , , ,- -,A ■, where kept; office of the secretary," and he shall attend the [governor]* and duty of secre- council, the senate and representatives, in person or by deputy, xxxv, 579. as they may require. [Art. 68 (69).] [The secretary of the state shall at all times Deputy secre- have a deputy, to be by him appointed, for whose conduct in office he shall be responsible; and, in case of the death, re- • Substituted for " June," 1889. = Substituted for "annually," 1879. ' " WIio may appoint his deputies, for whose conduct he shall be an- swerable," stricken out, 1793. * Substituted for " president," 1793. 38 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. moval, or inability of the secretary', his deputy shall exercise all the duties of the oiifice of secretary of this state until another shall be appointed. ]i Secretaryto [Art. 69 (70).] [The secretary, before he enters upon the business of his office, shall give bond, with suiificient sureties, in a reasonable sum, for the use of the state, for the punctual performance of his trust. ]i COUNTY TREASURERS, ETC. urers'TOK^^" [ART. 70 (71).] [The county treasurers [registers of probate, tersofpro- solicitors, sheriffs "1,2 and registers of deeds shall be elected by bate, solicit- ■ j- o j ors, sheriffs, the inhabitants of the several towns in the several counties in and registers , ,. , , , . , , , , o£ deeds. the state, according to the method now practiced and the laws vii 599 of the state : provided, nevertheless, the legislature shall have authority to alter the manner of certifying the votes and the mode of electing those officers, but not so as to deprive the people of the right they now have of electing them.]' bedVvide™*'' [ART. 71 (72).] [And the legislature, on the application of into districts the major part of the inhabitants of any county, shall have au- for register- , J J ^ ing deeds. thority to divide the same into two districts for registering deeds, if to them it shall appear necessary, each district to elect a register of deeds ; and, before they enter upon the business of their offices, shall be respectively sworn faithfully to discharge the duties thereof, and shall severally give bond, with sufficient sureties, in a reasonable sum, for the use of the county, for the punctual performance of their respective trusts.]^ JUDICIARY POWER. ficetobeex^"^ [Art. 72 (73).J The tenure that all commissioned officers ?™?j!li,v.„o . shall have by law in their offices shall be expressed in their re- coniiiJissioiiS , judges to hold spective commissions. All judicial officers, duly appointed, goodbehav- commissioned, and sworn, shall hold their offices during good behavior, excepting those concerning whom there is a different ' Inserted, 1793. ' Inserted, 1877. ' Substituted for original section, 1793. ♦ Inserted, 1793. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 39 provision made in this constitution : provided, nevertheless, the [governor],! with consent of council,, may remove them upon the address of both houses of the legislature. [Art. 73 (74)-] Each branch of the legislature, as well asju^gegto the [governor]! and council, shall have authority to require the ^Jgjj°^"^^°"^' opinions of the justices of the superior court upon important ^T^'^1' questions of law and upon solemn occasions. Ivi, 577, Ix, 585. Ixii, 704. Ixiii, 674. [Art. 74 (75).] In order that the people imay not suffer Justices of -,, . ., - .. ,, peace com- from the long contmuance in place of any justice of the peace missionedtor who shall fail in discharging the important duties of his office ii7,*408. with ability and fidelity, all commissions of justices of the peace jjjj^ ^g^' shall become void at the expiration of five years from their re- spective dates ; and upon the expiration of any commission, the same may, if necessary, be renewed, or another person ap- pointed, as shall most conduce to the well being of the state. ^ TArt. 75 C76VI All causes of marriage, divorce, and ali- Divorces and J ,, , <■ , ■ ■ , r , probate ap- mony, and all appeals from the respective judges of probate, peals, where shall be heard and tried by the superior court, until the legisla- ture shall by law make other provision. [Art. 76 (J7)-} [The general court are empowered to give Jurisdiction f. , ......... , , 01 justices in to justices of the peace jurisdiction in civil causes, when the civil cause.s. ii 422 damages demanded shall not exceed [one hundred dollars]' and ' title of real estate is not concerned, but with right of appeal to either party to some other court.] * ^ [Art. 77 (78).] [No person shall hold the office of judge of Judges and any court, or judge of probate, or sheriff of any county, after he disqualified by age. has attained the age of seventy years.] ^ Ixiii, 37. [Art. 78 (79).] [No judge of any court or justice of the Judges and peace shall act as attorney, or be of counsel to any party, or act as counsel. originate any civil suit, in matters which shall come or be brought before him as judge or justice of the peace.] * ' Substituted for " president," 1793. " Original section following this section, relating to probate courts, stricken out, 1793. ° Substituted for " four pounds," 1877. * Inserted, 1793. »" So that a trial by jury, in the last resort, may be had," stricken out, 1877. 40 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Jurisdiction TArt. 70 (So). ] TAll matters relating to the probate of probate wills and granting letters of administration shall be exercised by Sxix, 110. the judges of probate in such manner as the legislature have directed or may hereafter direct ; and the judges of probate shall hold their courts at such place or places, on such fixed days, as the conveniency of the people may require and the legislature from lime to time appoint.] ' Judges and [Art. So (8i).J [No judge or register of probate shall be of probafenotto'^O""^^'- ^ct as advocate, or receive any fees as advocate or act as counsel. (-Qy„gg]_ in any probate business which is pending or maybe li, 600. brought into any court of probate in the county of which he is Iviii, 62. . . , judge or register.] ^ CLEKK OF COURTS. Clerksof [Art. 8 1 (82.)] [The judges of the courts (those of probate wborn'ai^ excepted) shall appoint their respective clerks, to hold their P°^® office during pleasure ; and no such clerk shall act as an attor- ney or be of counsel in any cause in the court of which he is cleik, nor shall he draw any writ originating a civil action.] ^ * ENCOURAGEMENT OF LITERATURE, ETC. Encourage- [ART. 82 (83).] Knowledge and learning generally diffused atnpe.etc.'"^"^ through a community being essential to the preservation of a lv'i^509 ^'^^^ government, and spreading the opportunities and advan- Iviii, 624. tages of education through the various parts of the country being highly conducive to promote this end, it shall be the duty of the legislators and magistrates, in all future periods of this government, to cherish the interest of literature and the sci- ences, and all seminaries and public schools; to encourage pri- vate and public institutions, rewards, and immunities for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and natural history of the country ; to counte- nance and inculcate the principles of humanity and general ' Inserted, 1793. = Substituted for original section, 1793. ' Original section relating to "Delegates to Congress" stricken out, 1793. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITDTION. 41 benevolence, public and private charity, industry and economy, honesty and punctuality, sincerity, sobriety, and all social affec- tions and generous sentiments, among the people : [provided, nevertheless, that no money raised by taxation shall ever be granted or applied for the use of the schools or institutions of any religious sect or denomination] .1 OATH AND SUBSCRIPTIONS. — EXCLUSION FROM OFFICES. — COM- MISSIONS. WRITS. CONFIRMATION OF LAWS. HABEAS CORPUS. THE ENACTING STYLE. CONTINUANCE OF OFFI- CERS. PROVISION FOR A FUTURE REVISION OF THE CON- STITUTION. ETC. [Art. 83 (84).] Any person chosen [governor], 2 councilor. Oath of civil senator, or representative, military or civil officer (town officers xxv, 458. excepted) , accepting the trust, shall, before he proceeds to exe- JxvU '49. cute the duties of his office, make and subscribe the following declaration, viz. : — [I, A B, do solemnly swear that I will bear faith and true allegiance to the state of New Hampshire and will support the constitution thereof. So help me God.'Y I, A B, do solemnly and sincerely swear and affirm that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent on me as , according to the best of my abil- ities, agreeably to the rules and regulations of this constitu- tion and the laws of the state of New Hampshire. So help jyie God. [Any person having taken and subscribed the oath of alle- giance, [and the same being filed in the secretary's office],* he shall not be obliged to take said oath again.]' Provided, always, when any person chosen or appointed as aforesaid shall be of the denomination called Quakers, or shall be scrupulous of swearing and shall decline taking the said ' Inserted, 1877. = Substituted for " president," 1793. ' Substituted for original oath, 1793. * Inserted in engrossed copy of Constitution as amended 1793, appar- ently without authority. " Inserted, 1793. 42 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. oaths, such [personji shall take and subscribe them, omitting the word " swear,'''' and likewise the words " So help me God,'''' subjoining, instead thereof, " This T do under the pains and penalties of perjury .''^ Before whom [Art. 84 (85).] [And the oaths or affirmations shall be * ^"' taken and subscribed by the governor, before the president of the senate, in presence of both houses of the legislature ; and by the senators and representatives first elected under this con- stitution, as altered and amended, before the president of the state and a majority of the council then in office, and forever afterwards before the governor and council for the time being ; and by all other officers, before such persons and in such man- ner as the legislature shall from lime to time appoint.]^ Form of com- [Art. 85 (86').] All commissions shall be in the name of the missions. '- ^., ,,,. . ,, , ^ -,„ ,. state of New Hampshire, signed by the [governor], "and at- tested by the secretary or his deputy, and shall have the great seal of the state affixed thereto. Form of writs. [Art. 86 (87).] All writs issuing out of the clerk's office, in l^^'^ly any of the courts of law, shall be in the name of the state of ^"^'r^R? ^^'f Hampshire, shall be under the seal of the court whence Ivii. 188. they issue, and bear test of the chief, first, or senior justice of Ixvi, 369. ■' . . , , , , the court ; but, when such justice shall be interested, then the writ shall bear test of some other justice of the court, to which the same shall be returnable ; and be signed by the clerk of such court. Form of in- FArt. 87 (88'). 1 All indictments, presentments, and informa- dictments. . , „ , , . , ,,..', ix, 468. tions shall conclude, " against the peace and dtgmty of the state. X 347 Suicides and [Art. 88 (89).] The estates of such persons as may destroy deodands. ^j^^j^. ^^^^^ jj^g^ gj^^jj j^^j j-^j. ^^^^ offense be forfeited, but descend or ascend in the same manner as if such persons had died in a natural way. Nor shall any article which shall accidentally oc- casion the death of any personbe henceforth deemed a deodand, or in any wise forfeited on account of such misfortune. ' Inserted in engro.ssed copy of Constitution as amended 1793, appar- ently without authority. ' Substituted for original sectiou, 1793. " Substituted for "president," 1793. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 43 TArt. 8q fqo')."! All the laws which have heretofore been Existing laws , , , , , . , . , to continue adoptea, used, and approved m the province, colony, or state in force, if not of New Hampshire, and usually practiced on in the courts of ponstitution. law, shall remain and be in full force until altered and repealed fifli/^^' by the legislature, such parts thereof only excepted as are ^{j**^ repugnant to the rights and liberties contained in this constitu- ™i' 642. tion : provided, that nothing herein contained, when compared xxiy, 223. with the twenty-third article in the bill of rights, shall be con- xliii, 502. ' strued to affect the laws already made respecting the persons or ixvi, 300. estates of absentees. [Art. 90 (91).] The privilege and benefit of the habeas Habeas cor- corpus shail be enjoyed in this state in the most free, easy, cheap, expeditious, and ample manner, and shall not be sus- pended by the legislature except upon the most urgent and pressing occasions, and for a time not exceeding three months. [Art. 91 (92).] The enacting style, in making and passing J^"?cting acts, statutes, and laws, shall be. Be it enacted by the Senate 'oip?.- ■' 1X111, 675. and House of Representatives in General Court convened. [Art. 92 (93)-] No [governor] 1 or judge of the [supreme Grovernor and judicial] 2 court shall hold any office or place under the author- hibited from .,,. ,,,. .., holding other ity of this state, except such as by this constitution they are offices. admitted to hold, saving that the judges of the said court may hold the offices of justice of the peace throughout the state ; nor shall they hold any place or office or receive any pension or salary from any other state, government, or power whatever. [Art. 93 (94).] No person shall be capable of exercising at Incompatibil- the same time more than one of the following offices within this only two oifi- state, viz. : judge of probate, sheriif, register of deeds ; and to be iiolden never more than two offices of profit, which maybe held by^*^^™®*™^- appointment of the [governor] ^ or [governor] 1 and council, or senate and house of representatives, or superior or inferior courts, military oifices and offices of justices of the peace ex- cepted. [Art. 94 (95).] [No person holding the office of judge of?°£^f P^^*^^^" any court (except special judges), secretary, treasurer of the°™css. ' Substituted for " president," 1793. "Substituted for " superior " in engrossed copy of Constitution as amended 1793, apparently without authority. 44 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. state attorney-general, commissary-general, military officers receiving pay from the continent or this state (excepting officers of the militia occasionally called forth on an emergency), regis- ter of deeds, sheriff, or officers of the customs, including naval officers, collectors of excise and state and continental taxes hereafter appointed, and not having settled their accounts with the respective officers witli whom it is their duty to settle such accounts, members of congress, or any person holding any office under the United States, shall at the same time hold the office of governor, or have a seat in the senate or house of representatives or council ; but his being chosen and appointed to and accepting the same shall operate as a resignation of their seat in the chair, senate, or house of representatives, or council, and the place so vacated shall be filled up. No mem- ber of the council shall have a seat in the senate or house of representatives.] ^ Bribery and [Art. 95 (96).] No person shall ever be admitted to hold a cOTruption gg^t j^, (he legislature, or any office of trust or importance under office. this government, who, in the due course of law, has been con- victed of bribery or corruption in obtaining an election or appointment. "Value of [Art. 96 (97)-] In all cases where sums of money are men- ^mputed°^ tioned in this constitution, the value thereof shall be computed in silver at six shillings and eight pence per ounce. Constitution, [Art. 97 (98).] [To the end that there may be no failure of effect. justice or danger to the state by the alterations and amend- ments made in the constitution, the general court is hereby fully authorized and directed to fix the time when the alterations and amendments shall take effect, and make the necessary arrange- ments accordingly.] 2 » Revision of PART. 98 (99).] It shall be the dutv of the selectmen and constitution " ^ , , ,,'.,. provided for. assessors of the several towns and places in this state, in warn- ing the first annual meetings for the choice of senators, after the expiration of seven years from the adoption of this constitu- ' Substituted for original section, 1793. ' See act of December 14, 1792. ' Substituted for original section, 1793. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 45 tion as amended, to insert expressly in the warrant this purpose among the others for the meeting, to wit : to take the sense of the qualified voters on the subject of a revision of the consti- tution ; and, the meeting being warned accordingly, and not otherwise, the moderator shall take the sense of the qualified voters present as to the necessity of a revision ; and a return of the number of votes for and against such necessity shall be made by the clerk, sealed up, and directed to the general court at their then next session ; and if it shall appear to the general court by such return that the sense of the people of the state has been taken, and that, in the opinion of the majority of the qualified voters in the state present and voting at said meet- ings, there is a necessity for a revision of the constitution, it shall be the duty of the general court to call a convention for that purpose ; otherwise, the general court shall direct the sense of the people to be taken, and then proceed in the manner before mentioned ; the delegates to be chosen in the same manner and proportioned as the representatives to the general court : provided, that no alterations shall be made in this con- stitution before the same shall be laid before the towns and unincorporated places and approved by two thirds of the quali- fied voters present and voting on the subject. FArt. qq Cioo)-1 TAnd the same method of taking the sense Question on ^\. ,^ '^^ .. r ^. ,., ,. , ,,. revision to be of the people as to a revision of the constitution and calling a taken every convention for that purpose shall be observed afterward, at ^ '^ ^ *™- the expiration of every seven years.] ^ PART. loo (loi).l This form of government shall be enrolled Enrollment , , , . , . , . , o- ,1 of oonstitu- on parchment and deposited in the secretary's office, and be a tion. part of the laws of the land, and printed copies thereof shall be prefixed to the books containing the laws of this state in all future editions thereof. • Substituted for last section of original Constitution, 1793. i 46 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. [Note.— May 28, 1774, the house of representatives of the province of New Hampshire appointed a committee of seven memhers " to corre- spond . . . with the committees ... in our sister colonies, and to exhibit to this house an account of such their proceedings when re- quired." This committee called a convention of delegates from the several towns at Exeter on July 21, 1774. Four other similar conven- tions followed, the last one convening on December 21, 1775. On Janu- ary 5, 1776, the convention resolved itself into a house of representa- tives and adopted a constitution, the first organic law adopted by any of the states now constituting the American Union. This constitution remained in force and the state was governed under it up to June 2, 1784. April 6, 1781, the general court under the above constitution in- structed the president of the council to call a convention of delegates from the several towns to meet at Concord on the first Tuesday of June, 1781, for the purpose " of forming and laying a permanent plan or system of government for the future happiness and well-being of the good people of this state." This convention continued in existence over two years, during which time two constitutions were framed, sub- mitted to the people, and rejected. A third one which had been ap- proved by the people was established by the convention October 31, 1783, and took efllect June 2, 1784. June 16, 1791, seven years having elapsed since the adoption of the above constitution, the general court called a convention to meet in Concord on the first Wednesday of September, 1791, "to preserve an effectual adherence to the principles of the constitution and to correct any violations thereof as well as to make such alterations as from ex- perience may be found necessary." On the second Wednesday of Feb- ruary, 1792, this convention voted to submit seventy-two amendments to the people and they were submitted on the first Monday in May, 1792. The returns showed some amendments approved and others re- jected under the heads, Senate, Governor and Council,— by reason whereof the amendments were rendered inconsistent and contradict- ory. The convention, therefore, on the last Wednesday of May, 1792, submitted all the provisions under the heads, Senate, Governor and Council for approval by the people. September 5, 1792, the convention canva-ssed the returns, found the amendments last submitted approved by the people and appointed a committee " to report to the convention a true copy of the constitution as revised and agreed to by the people," which, being done, they passed the following vote : " The returns from the several towns and unincorporated places, being examined, and it appearing that the foregoing Bill of Rights and Form of Government, as amended by the convention, were approved by more than two thirds of the qualified voters present in the meetings and voting upon the question ; the same are agreed on and established by the Delegates of the people in convention, and declared to be the civil Constitution of the State of New Hampshire." In the years 1799, 1806, 1813, 1820, 1832, 1833, 1837, 1844, and 1846 the ques- tion of calling a constitutional convention was submitted to the people and they voted in the negative. In 1849 the question was again sub- MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 47 mitted and was approved by a large majority. The legislature accord- ingly on July 8, 1850, called a convention at Concord on November 6, 1850. January 3, 1851, this convention submitted several amendments to the people which were all rejected. April 17, 1851, the convention submitted three amendments. By proclamation of the governor dated September 16, 1862, notice was given that one of these amendments had been adopted and two rejected. In the years 1857, 1860, 1862, 1864, 1868 and 1369 votes were taken upon the question of holding a constitutional convention, but without affirm- ative action except in the years 1860 and 1864, and in those years the legislature did not deem it expedient to call one. In 1875 a large major- ity was in favor of holding a convention and the legislature by act dated July 18, 1876, called a convention to meet in Concord on Decem- ber 6, 1876. This convention proposed amendments changing the Con- stitution in thirteen particulars, all of which, except two, were adopted by the people, as shown by the governor's proclamation of April 17, 1877. The people again voted against a constitutional convention in the year 1883. In 1885 a small majority was in favor of a convention, and the legislature, by act of November 5, 1887, called one to meet at Con- cord, January 2, 1889. Seven amendments were submitted by this con- vention, five of which were approved by the people, as shown by the governor's proclamation, dated April 2, 1889. The sense of the people on the question of holding a constitutional convention was again taken in the years 1894 and 1896 with a negative result. So far as can be ascertained the engrossed copy of the constitution of 1784 is not in existence. In the foregoing copy the engrossed copy as amended in 1792 has been closely followed subject to the amendments of the conventions of 1850, 1876, and 1889. All amendments are shown by notes at the bottom of the page indi- cating the year in which they took effect. The amendments of 1792 " so far as relates to the choice of the members of the legislature and the executive officers of the state, county treasurer, and recorder of deeds " took effect on February l, 1793, and all others on the first Wed- nesday of June, 1793. The amendments of 1850 took effect September 16, 1852 ; those of 1876, August 1, 1877, October 1, 1878, and the first "Wednesday of June, 1879, as indicated in the foot notes ; and those of 1889, April 2, 1889. The numbering of the sections of Part II first appeared in the Re- vised Statutes of 1842. In 1889 when the tenth section of Part II was stricken out all subsequent sections were moved forward with the result of making much confusion in citations. In this copy the former numbering has been placed in a parenthesis at the side of the present number.] INDEX TO THE CONSTITUTION OF NEW HAMP- SHIRE. Absentees, laws respecting estates of 43 Accused, constitutional rights of 16 to be tried in what county 16 not compelled to give evidence against Iiimself 16 not deprived of life, etc., but by law of the land 16 not to be tried after acquittal 16 to have right to meet witnesses face to face 16 Acquittal, no trial for crime after 16 Acts and resolves, to be printed and published immediately after passage 25 Address, removal of officers by 34, 39 Adjournment of house of representatives 24 of senate 29 by governor, of legislature, when 31 Affirmation equivalent to oath , when 42 Amendments, to state constitution, how made 44 when to take effect 44 Appointments by governor and council, how made 32 of military officers 32 Appraisal for taxation, valuation of estates taken 22 Armies, how raised 18 Arms, certain persons not compelled to bear 15 Army and navy, standing, dangerous 18 Arrests, members of legislature exempt from, when 25 Arts, legislature to promote 40 Assembly, right of, secured 18 Attorney-general, appointed by governor and council 32 BUIb and resolves, vote by yeas and nays, when 31 to be presented to governor 31 if disapproved, returned 31 objections entered on journal 31 if not returned in five days become laws 32 If again passed sent to other house 32 become laws, when 32 same proceedings upon resolves 32 Capital punishment, no person subject to without jury trial, except 16 Clerk, of supreme court, how appointed 40 to sign writs 42 not to act as counsel, etc 40 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 49 Commauder-in-ohief , governor to be 33 powers of 33, 34 Commissary-general, appointment and duties of 35, 37 to render account to governor 35 Commissions, tenure of of&ce to be expressed in 38 how made and signed 42 Compensation, members of legislature 24 governor and council 35 justices of supreme court 35 Constitution, to be enrolled ; deposited where 45 prefixed to printed laws 45 ho-w amended, etc 45 Conventions, constitutional, how called ; duties 44 Conviction, of certain crimes, disqaalifies, how 44 Coroners, how appointed 32 Councilor districts, how constituted 37 Councilors, ctualifications of 27, 3G new election, when 36 votes for, how received, returned, etc 36 laid before senate, when 36 election in joint convention, when 36 order of such elections 37 vacancies 36 oath of office 41 subject to impeachment 36 Counties, may be divided into districts, for what 38 County treasurer, elected how 38 Courts, legislature may establish 20 powers of 20 not to demand excessive bail 19 opinions of, may be required, when 39 jurisdiction 39 Courts-martial, officers removed by 34 Crimes, to be fully described, etc., to accused 15 tried in county where committed, except 16 no subject to be tried for, after acquittal 16 Criminal prosecutions, respondents, constitutional rights of 16 to be tried in what county 16 Debate, freedom of, in legislature 18 Deodands, abolished *2 Departments of government to be kept distinct 19 Deputy secretary of state, appointment and duties 37 Districts, councilor 37 senatorial 26 for registry of deeds 38 Due process of law secured to litigants 16 Dwelling-houses, searches of 17 50 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. Education, legislature to promote 40 Elections, to be free 30 by joint convention 28, 36 order of 37 of state officers 37 governor 27, 36 and councilors 27, 36 senators 26, 27 members of house 22 county officers 38 duties of town officers at 27, 28 in unincorporated places 27 Eligibility to office, constitutional right IB Eminent domain , property not to be taken without pay 15 Enacting style, of statutes, etc 43 Encouragement of literature, sciences, arts, etc 40 Evidence, accused not to furnish against himself 15 Ex Post Facto laws, not passed 17 Executive power to be independent of other departments 19 Exemptions from arrest on civil process of members of the legislature. . 25 Forts, commanders to render accounts 36 exhibit plan of 35 Freedom of speech and press secured 18 all men secured U General court, how constituted 20 oaths of members, before whom 41, 42 speaker, how chosen 25 when to assemble and dissolve 20 freedom of speech in 18 powers of 20, 21 to define powers, etc., of officers 20, 21 erect courts 20 impose fines, etc 21 taxes 21 make laws, etc 21 name civil officers 21 order valuation of estates 22 journals and public acts published, when 25 yeas and nays entered, when 25, 32 protest of member entered, when 26 objections of governor to bill entered 31 may call for record of governor and council 37 require opinions of court, when 39 not to authorize towns to loan money, etc., to corporations 22 doors of galleries to be kept open , except 22 bills to be presented to governor 31 If not approved returned 31 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 51 General court, bills proceedings upon return 32 if not returned in five days become laws 32 member of, not to take fees ; penalty for 22 governor may adjourn or prorogue 33 special sessions, how called 33 compensation at 24 may authorize towns to support teachers of religion 14 Government, originates from the people 13 Governor, supreme executive magistrate 30 chosen when ; style ; title 30, 31 qualifications of 31 electors of 31 votes for, how received, returned, etc 31 laid before senate, when 31 if election by people, declared 31 if not, elected in joint convention 31 order of such elections 37 oath of office ; before whom ., 41, 42 warrant of, money paid out on 21, 35 nominations and appointments by 32 removals from office by 34, 39 may issue precept for new election 29, 36 to issue summons to senators 28 may direct place of holding session , when 31 bills to be presented to, procedure 31 resolves to be presented to, procedure 32 to dissolve general court, when 31 issue military commissions 32 military officers to render accounts to 35 exhibit plans of forts to 35 to be commander-in-chief ; powers 33, 34 how compensated 35 trial of, on impeachment 30 vacancy in office of, how filled 33 Governor and council to be convened when and for what 36 resolutions, etc. , to be recorded , etc 36 to have negative on each other 32 negatives to be signed by 32 how compensated 35 may adjourn or prorogue general court, when 33 may call together, when 33 certain officers appointed by ; procedure 32 appointments to be signed by 32 removals from office by 39 warrant upon treasury for money 35 to examine election returns 28 power of pardoning offenses 34 may require opinions of court, when 39 law martial not to be exercised without consent of 34 52 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Habeas corpus to be enjoyed, how 43 suspension of writ of, limited 43 Hereditary offices prohibited 14 House of representatives, representation 22, 23 towns not to be divided, etc 23 small towns, how represented 23 members of, chosen how 24 qualifications of 24 compensation of 24 oath of ; before whom 41, 42 privileges of 25 powers of 24 quorum, what 25 two-thirds assent requisite when 25 vacancies in, how filled 24 may adjourn for two days 24 impeacliments by 24 money bills to originate in 24 may require opinions of court, when 39 Impeachment, by house of representatives 24 senate to try 24, 29 members to be sworn 29 officer impeached, how summoned 30 may produce witnesses, etc 30 may compel attendance of witnesses. 30 accused not appearing, procedure 30 judgment to be what 30 party convicted liable to indictment 30 of governor, procedure 30 members of council liable to 36 Indictments, how to conclude 42 Inhabitant may mean what 27 Journals, objection of governor to bill entered in 31 protest entered in, when 26 yeas and nays entered in, when 25, 32 publication of 25 Judges, should be impartial 19 how appointed 32 tenure of office of 19 removal of 39 salaries of to be honorable 19 disqualified after 70 years of age 39 qualifications of 39 Judges of probate, jurisdiction of 40 not to be counsel, etc 40 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 63 Judges of probate not to hold office after 70 years of age 39 not to hold other office 43 to hold courts, where 40 appeals from, where heard 39 Judicial officers, how appointed 32 removed 39 term of office 39 disqualified after 70 years of age 39 Judicial power independent of other departments 19 Jurisdiction of supreme court 39 Jurors, who to be 17 to be fully paid 17 Jury trial secured in certain cases 16, 17 civil cases, when 17 capital cases, except 16 Justice to be obtained freely, etc 16 Justices of the peace, jurisdiction of 39 term of office of 39 not to be of counsel, etc 39 Law martial, no person subject to, except 19 not to be exercised when 34 Law of the land, subjects entitled to benefit of 15 Laws should provide remedies 15 sanguinary denounced 16 not to be suspended, except 18 inhabitants controlled by what 15 enacting style of 43 in force until repealed, unless 43 Legislative power to be independent of other departments 19 Legislature, how constituted 20 oaths of members of, before whom 41, 42 speaker of, how chosen 25 when to assemble and dissolve 20 freedom of speech in 18 powers of 20, 21 to define powers, etc., of officers 20, 21 erect courts 20 impose fines, etc 21 taxes 21 make laws, etc 21 name civil officers 21 order valuation of estates 22 journal and public acts published, when 26 yeas and nays entered, when 25, 32 protest of member entered, when 26 objections of governor to bill entered 32 may call for record of governor and council 37 require opinions of court, when 39 54 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. Legfislature, not to authorize to loan money, etc., to corporations 22 doors of galleries to be kept open, except 22 bills to be presented to go vernor 31 if not approved, returned 31 proceedings upon return 31 if not returned in five days, become laws 32 member of, not to take fees, etc. ; penalty 22 governor may adjourn or prorogue 31 special sessions of, how called 33 compensation at 24 may authorize towns to support teachers of religion 14 Liberty of the press preserved 17 Magistrates accountable to the people 14 not to demand excessive bail, etc 19 Martial law, how applied 19 to be exercised when 34 Military subordinate to civil power 18 Militia, well regulated, necessary 18 governor commander-in-chief of 33 divided into brigades, etc 34 National Guard, commander-in-chief, who 33 powers of 33 officers of, how appointed 32 removal of 34 commissary-general, duties of 35 Money, how paid out of treasury 35 value of, how computed 44 bills, to originate in house 24 senate may propose amendments to 24 Name, of state, established 20 Natural rights, what are 13 certain inalienable 13 Navy, officers of, how appointed 32 Nominations, of officers, how made 32 Non-resistance, doctrine of, denounced 15 Oath, reciuired of certain officers 41, 42 affirmation equivalent to, when 42 administered by whom 42 Office, general eligibility to 16 not to be hereditary 14 Officers, incompatibility of certain offices 43 general court to elect, when 20 prescribe duties, etc 21 to take what oaths 41, 42 military, how appointed 32 removed 34 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 55 Officers, judicial, etc., how appointed 32 removed 39 term of 39 disqualified after 70 years 39 Pardon, power of governor and council 3i not of person impeaohed 34 before conviction, not to avail 34 Penalties, to be proportionate to offense 16 Pensions, grant of, limited 19 from other governments, effect of 43 Presentments, how to conclude 42 President of senate, how appointed 29 to act as governor when 32 Press, liberty of, preserved 17 Prisoner, rights of 15 Privileges, governor and council have same power 25 of members of legislature 25 breach of, how punished 25 Property, not to be taken without owner's consent, etc 15 Prorogations, of general court, by governor 33 Prosecutions, respondents, rights of 15 to be tried in what county 16 Protection, subjects entitled to 15 to contribute an equivalent 15 Public worship, encouraged 13 Punishment, general court may impose 21 design of 16 capital, not inflicted without jury trial, except 16 legislature may impose 21 Quorum, of senate 29 assent of ten, when 29 of house of representatives 25 assent of two thirds, when 25 Kegister of deeds, elected how 38 eligibility of 40 may be two for county 38 not to hold other office 43 oath of 41 Kegister of probate, elected, how 38 not to act as counsel 40 Religion, towns may support teachers of, when 14 freedom of, etc 14 Eeligious freedom, declared 14 all denominations equal 14 no person compelled to support teachers of other denominations 14 66 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Remedies, for injuries, should be certain, etc 15 KemOTal, by address, of what officers 34, 3D Representation, legislative, of towns how determined 22 Representatives, in legislature, qtualifications of 24 oaths of 41, 42 Revision of constitution, vote on, to be taken every seven years 44 convention for, called, when 45 delegates, how chosen 45 return of votes 45 alterations to be approved 45 to take effect when 45 Revolution, right of, declared 15 Rights, natural, what are IS Rules of house, how settled 26 senate 29 Salaries, of governor 35 Schools, encouragement of 40 of religious sect, money not granted to 41 Science, legislature may promote 40 Search warrants, unreasonable, forbidden 17 Searches and seizures, regulated 13 Secretary of state, chosen how 37 bond of 38 to have deputy 37 may remove deputy 37 records kept in oflSce of 37 to attend governor and council 37 record resolutions, etc., of council 37 election returns to be sent to 28, 31 to attest and seal commissions 42 lay votes before legislature 31. 36 other general duties of 37 deputy, how appointed 37 to act as secretary, when 38 duties of 38 Seizure, protection against unjust 17 Senate, how constituted 26 powers of, etc 29 term of office 26 qualifications of members of 27 districts, how constituted 26 election , when 26 how warned 26, 28 qualifications of voters 26 who considered inhabitant 27 unincorporated places, who may vote in 27 meetings in 27 governor and council to examine returns 28 issue summons 28 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 57 Senate final judges of election of its members 29 oath of office 41, 42 before whom taken 42 quorum, what constitutes 29 assent of ten, when '. 29 to appoint officers 29 determine rules of procedure 29 try impeachments 25, 29 vacancies in, how filled 28 if no election, by joint convention 28 order of such elections 37 other vacancies by new elections 29 may rectuire opinions of court, when 39 punish offenders 25 imprisonment by, limited 26 may adjourn for how long 29 in impeachment cases 29 Senatorial districts, how constituted 26 Senators, qualifications of 27 oath of 41 Sentence, cruel, not to be inflicted 19 capital, not without jury trial, except 16 Sheriffs, election of 38 qualifications of 38 tenure of office of 39 not to hold other office 43 Social virtues, law givers and magistrates to observe 20 Soldiers, not to be quartered in private house, when 18 Solicitors, elected, how 38 Speaker, how chosen 25 salary of 24 to act as governor when 33 Special sessions, how called and when 33 compensation at 24 State, sovereignty of, declared 14 treasurer, chosen how 37 Statutes, enacting clause of, what 43 Suicides, estates of, not forfeited 42 Supreme court, justices of, tenure of office of 19 salaries of 19 chief justice of, to preside at impeachment of governor 30 opinion of, may be required by whom, when 39 general jurisdiction of 38 Suspending laws, power of, bow exercised 18 Taxation, right of, on what founded 15 none without legislative consent 18 58 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Taxation, taxes, how imposed 22 money raised by, not granted to religious schools 41 valuation of estates for, taken how often 22 Teachers of religion, towns may support, when 14 who not compelled to pay 14 Tenure of office, to be expressed in commission 38 of judicial officers 38 justices of the peace 39 Town, how represented in general court 22 when less than 600 inhabitants 23 not to be divided to increase representation 23 aid corporations 22 take stock in corporations 22 Treasury, money paid out from, how 35 Trial, to be in county where offense committed, except IS Unincorporated places, elections in 27 Vacancies, in office of governor 32 council 36 senate 28 house of representatives 24 to be filled in what order 37 holding other office creates, when 43 Veto, effect of governor's 31 Voters, who are 15 Writs, in name of state seal, teste, etc SKKTCH GONSTITOTIONS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. Name and Bounds. The territory now under the juris- diction of New Hampshire was included in the grant made by King James I. to the Plymouth Company in 1620. The name it bears was used first in the grant made by the Council of that Company to Capt. John Mason of Hampshire, England, in 1629, and was then given to "all that part of the mainland in New England " between the Merrimack and the Piscataqua rivers. After New Hamp- shire became a province its boundaries were fixed, much the same as now, by royal authority, on the south and east in 1740, and on the west in 1764. The northern and southern boundaries of the State were the subject of long controversy. The former was definitely settled by the Webster-Ashburton treaty be- tween the United States and Great Britain in 1842, and the latter was not declared established by the General Court until 1901. Early Government. The first settlements in New Hampshire were made at Dover in 1623, Portsmouth in 163 1, Exeter in 1638, and Hampton in 1639. For several years these early settlements had no general government. 60 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. The four towns, Dover, Portsmouth, Exeter, and Hampton, were independent communities. Each, though without any delegated power from the Crown, had its government formed by voluntary agreements, which claimed and exer- cised both municipal and ecclesiastical jurisdiction. This simple plan of government naturally was a reproduction of the forms with which the settlers had been familiaf in the English towns from which they came. When, in 1640, a general government became necessary for these settle- ments, their political and religious differences prevented its formation. The civil strife which distracted England made appeal to the Crown hopeless and they sought the protection of Massachusetts. That colony already had construed its charter of 1629, which only vaguely de- scribed its northern boundary, to entitle it to assume juris- diction over New Hampshire. Accordingly in 1641-43 these New Hampshire towns by formal written agreement "resigned their jurisdiction to Massachusetts," were guaranteed their liberties with the privilege of sending deputies to the General Court and became a part of Nor- folk county. This union, convenient to the people of New Hampshire and agreeable to the people of both colonies, was continued until 1679-80, when, the Lords Justices of the King's Bench and Common Pleas having decided that the claim of Massachusetts to jurisdiction over New Hampshire was invalid, a royal order was issued severing them and organizing New Hampshire as a sepa- rate royal province. Provincial Government. This government was erected by the issue of a commission (Provincial Papers, vol. i, pp. 373-382) from King Charles H. to John Cutt, Esq., of MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 61 Portsmouth, dated Sept. i8, 1679, constituting a Presi- dent and Council for the province of New Hampshire, appointing him to be its first president and authorizing them to issue writs for " the calling of a General Assem- bly, using and observing there such rules and methods as to the persons who are to choose their deputies and the time and place of meeting as they shall judge most convenient," and delegating to them specified legislative, executive, and judicial powers, but reserving to the King the right of annulling all their acts, laws and ordinances. While the rudiments of an earlier organic law applicable to the inhabitants of New Hampshire may be traced in the charter of the Plymouth Company of 1620, in its grant to Mason and his Patents to the settlers, in their voluntary combinations, and in their written agreement with Massa- chusetts in 1 64 1, this commission issued to John Cutt in 1679 marks the formal beginning of constitutional government in New Hampshire. Despite the appointment in 1685 of Joseph Dudley as governor of New England, the reunion of New Hampshire with Massachusetts from 1690-92 and their adminis- tration by the same governor from 1698 to 1741, New Hampshire continued to be a royal province until the Revolution. The fundamental instrument of government of New Hampshire during this period, 1679-1776, though it was violated perhaps as often as followed, was the Cutt commission as formally amended by the commis- sions of successive royal governors and the informal changes wrought in it by the interpretation and admin- istration of the laws by the Governor and Council, sometimes in harmony, but oftener in conflict, with the 62 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Assembly of the people. The only part of the frame of government of the people of New Hampshire during this period which was ordained and established by them- selves is thus described by Dr. Belknap in his History, vol. 2, pp. 89, 90 : * * * An attempt had been made in 1724 to limit the duration of Assemblies to three years, in conformity to the custom of England^. At the meeting of the new Assembly, 1727, the first business which they took up was to move for a triennial act. The Lieutenant Governor was disposed to gratify them. Both Houses agreed in framing an act for a triennial Assembly, in which the dura- tion of the present Assembly was limited to three years (unless sooner dissolved by the commander-in-chief ) , writs were to i.ssue fifteen days, at least, before a new election ; the quaUfication of a representative was declared to be a freehold estate of three hundred pounds value. The qualification of an elector was a real estate of fifty pounds, within the town or precinct where the election should be made ; but habitancy was not required in either case ; the selectmen of the t.)wn, with the moderator of the meeting, were constituted judges of the qualifications of electors, saving an appeal to the House of Representatives. This act having been passed in due form, received the royal approbation, and was the only act which could be called a constitution or form of government, established by the people of New Hampshire, all other parts of their government being founded on royal commissions and instructions. But this act was defective in not determining by whom the writs should be issued, and in not describing the places from which the representatives should be called, either by name, extent or population. This defect gave birth to a long and bitter controversy, as will be seen hereafter. Revolutionary Government. Until July, 1774, the gov- ernment of New Hampshire in every branch was the government incident to a dependent province amenable \Previous to that date the term had been indefinite, and Assemblies continued in existence until prorogued by the Governor, when a new election was ordered. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 63 to, and existing by favor of, the mother country. It is a slender thread that connects the government of the province with the government of the state. In the House of Representatives, May 28, 1774, notwithstanding Gov. Wentworth's protests of illegality, it was "Voted that the Honorable John Wentworth Esq., Speaker of this House, Samuel Cutts, Esqr., John Giddinge Esqr., Clement March Esqr., Josiah Bartlett Esqr., Mr. Henry Prescott & John Pickering Esqrs., be a Committee of this House to correspond as occasion may require with the Committees that are or may be appointed by the several Houses of Representatives in our sister Colonies, and to exhibit to this House an account of such of their pro- ceedings when required." From this beginning and through the action of the committee named, which became known as a Committee of Safety, by progressive steps a state was formed. This committee issued to the several towns a call for an election of delegates to be assembled at Exeter on the twenty-first day of July, 1774. This convention, or First Provincial Congress, as it is generally styled, was suc- ceeded by four other conventions of a similar character. The second convention assembled at Exeter, Jan. 25, 1775. The next, styled the Third Provincial Congress, convened at Exeter, April 21, 1775, and was dissolved early in May following. The Fourth Provincial Congress convened at Exeter, May 17, 177S, and after successive adjournments was dissolved Nov. 15, 1775. During the interval between the meeting and adjourn- ment of this Congress events which seemed to make war inevitable had taken place in several colonies. The 64 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. last session of the Provincial General Assembly was adjourned by Gov. John Wentworth July 15, 177 5, by message from Fort William and Mary in Portsmouth harbor, whither he had withdrawn at the opening of the revolutionary conflict. On October 18, 1775, New Hampshire, through its delegates in the Continental Congress, petitioned that body to be allowed to set up a government of its own framing as the only means of preventing the greatest confusion, but in the lingering hope of reconciliation Congress delayed answer till November 3, when it not only granted the request of New Hampshire but also recommended South Carolina and Virginia to form independent governments. In the call therefore for the Fifth Provincial Congress, it was recommended that there be a full and free repre- sentation of the people and that the delegates be author- ized to " establish such a form of government as in their judgment will best produce the happiness of the people and most effectually secure peace and good order in the province during the continuance of the present dispute between Great Britain and the Colonies." Soon after the issue of this call Major General John Sullivan, then in camp near Boston, who, while a delegate to Congress in the fall, had urged that body to grant the request of New Hampshire to be allowed to set up an independent government, addressed a letter to President Meshech Weare of New Hampshire, outlining such a frame of government as he deemed it desirable the people of that state now should establish. The large influence of Sullivan in shaping the instrument adopted may be MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 65 discovered not only in the correspondence of the period but also by comparison of his letter with the temporary constitution. The letter reads as follows : GENERAL SULLIVAN TO MESHECH WE ARE — ON A PLAN OF GOVERNMENT. (Copied from Araer. Ar., 4 Ser., VoL IV., p. 241.) WiNTEii Hill, December 11, 1775. Dear Sir: Though continually involved in those difficulties which necessarily attend a military life, I can by no means forget the duty I owe to that Province whose generous favours I have so largely shared, and whose generous favours I have so often experienced. Being deeply impressed with gratitude to that truly patriotic Colony and fully sensible that the remaining part of ray life ought to be devoted to the interests of my country in general, and that Province in particular, I have stolen a few moments from the busy scenes of war to offer you my thoughts upon a matter which I deem essential to the future welfare of my truly spirited and deserving brethren within that Government. I hear that the Continental Congress has given our Province a power to assume government. But the contents of this letter to the Provincial Congress having never transpired, and my friends at the Continental Congress having never informed me but in general terms that we had liberty to assume government, I must conclude that liberty is given to set up and establish a nevif form of government, for, as we were properly speaking, a King's government before, the giving us a power to assume government, would be giving us a license to assume a form of government which we could never obtain. Taking it therefore for granted that the Congress have given us liberty to set up that form of government which will best answer the true end and design thereof, I shall beg leave to offer you my thoughts upon the subject, leaving you to make such use thereof as your wisdom shall direct. And, as my ideas of government may in some measure differ from many others, I shall beg leave to premise some few things. And in 66 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. the first place must observe, that all governments are, or ought to be, instituted for the good of the people ; and that form of government is most perfect when that design is most nearlj- and effectually answered. Secondly. That government which admits of contrary or clashing interests, is imperfect, and must work its own ruin whenever one branch has gained a power sufficient to overrule or destroy the other. And the adding a third, with a separate and distinct interest, in imitation of the British Constitution, so much celebrated by those who understand nothing of it, is only like two contending powers caUing in a third, which is unconnected in interest, to keep the other two in awe, till it can gain in power sufficient to destroy them both. And I may almost venture to prophesy, that the period is now at hand when the British nation will too late discover the defects in their much boasted Constitution, and the ruin of that empire evince to the world the folly and danger of establishing a government con- sisting of different branches, whose interests must ever clash with each other. Third. Tliat no danger can arise to a State from giving the people a free and full voice in their own government, And that, what is called the prerogative of the Crown, or checks upon the licentiousness of the people, are only the children of designing or ambitious men, no such thing being necessary ; for, though many States have been overturned by the rage and violence of the people, yet that spirit of rage and violence has ever been awakened in the first place by the misconduct of their rulers. And, though often carried to the most dangerous heights, so far from being owing to loo much power being lodged in the hands of the people, that it is clearly owing to their having too small, and their rulers too extensive, a power. Thus we find Rome enjoyed its liberties until their Dictators and others were clothed with power unknown before, at least in that country ; and made in some sort independent of the people ; and to this authority, so inconsiderately given, should be charged all the tumults at Rome, and the final ruin of that empire. This uncon- trollable power, so much sought after by designing men, is made use of to enslave the people, and either bring about that event, or raises the just indignation of the people to extirpate the tyrant thus seeking MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 67 their ruin. And it sometimes liappens that the resentment is so far carried by the fury of an enraged populace as totally to destroy the remains of government, and leave them in a state of anarchy and confusion, and too often have designing persons taken advantage of this confusion and established tyranny in its place. I am well convinced that people are too fond of their own ease and quiet to rise up in rebellion against government, unless when the tyranny becomes intolerable. And their fondness for government must clearly appear, from their so often submitting to one tyrant after they had extirpated another, rather than live in a state of anarchy and confusion. I would therefore advise to such a form of government as would admit of but one object to be kept in view, both by the governour and the governed, viz., the good of the whole, that one interest should unite the several governing branches, and that the frequent choice of the rulers, by the people, should operate as a check upon their conduct and remind them that a new election would soon honour them for their good conduct, or disgrace them for betraying the trust reposed in them. I by no means object to a Governour, but would have him freely appointed by the people, and dependent upon them, and his appoint- ment not to continue for a long time unless re-elected — at most not exceeding three years, and this appoiutment to be made by the free- holders in person, and not by their representatives, as that would be putting too dangerous a power in their hands, and possibly a majority of designing men might elect a per.son to answer their own particular purpose, to the great emolument of those individuals, and the oppression of their fellow-subjects ; whereas, we can never suppose the people to have anything but the true end of government, viz. ; their own good, in view, unless we suppose them idiots or self-mur- derers. I am likewise much in favor of a Council and House of Representatives, but would have them likewise chosen by the people, and by no means for a longer time than three years ; and this mode of choosing would effectually destroy that pernicious power distin- guishing Governours, to throw aside those persons who they found would not join them in enslaving the people. The late conduct of Bernard and Hutchinson, and the present unhappy state of the 68 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Province I am now in, are striking witnesses of the justice of this observation, nor can I see the least reason for a Governour having a power to negative a Speaker of the House. I would have some rule established for making that person incapable of holding either of the above offices, that should, either before or after his election, bribe or treat the voters, with intent either to pro- cure an election or reward the electors for having chosen him. Accu- sation, if against the Governour, to be tried by the two Houses ; and if against either of the other members by the Governour and the other members of both Houses, he having a vote equal to any other member. And in case judgment should pass against the new elected Governour, the old one to remain until a new election be had ; and in case he be the same person formerly elected, the President of the Council to sup- ply his place till a new election can be made, which President should be appointed by free vote of the members of the Council, at their first meeting. The infamous practice of bribing people in Great Britain, to sell their votes and consequently their liberty, must show the danger of permitting so dangerous a practice to be instituted under our Con- stitution, to prevent which, and to guard against the undue influence of persons in power over votes, I would recommend the Pennsylvania method, viz. : that every vote should be rolled up, sealed on the back thereof, be noted that it is a vote for a Governour, which should be deposited in a box prepared for that purpose ; and a vote for Council- lors and Representatives, sealed up, noted on the back, brought in as aforesaid, and deposited in separate boxes, provided for the purpose. That all voters having once given in their votes, should pass out, and care be taken that they should not come in again, till the voting was over; or, if it be thought more expedient, to let the clerk of the meet- ing have a perfect list of all votes, with three columns ruled against their names, one marked for a Governour, one for a Representative, and when a person brings in a vote for one, a mark to be made against his name in that column ; and if he brings in for all three at the same time, a mark to be made in each column ; which I think will effectually prevent any fraud in voting again. The Representatives' box to be examined in meeting, and the election declared. The votes given for Counsellors and Governour to be sealed up by the clerk, and for- warded by him to the Capital of the Province, where all the votes MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 69 being had together, a sworn Committee should examine the whole and declare the elections. This method, though it may appear somewhat troublesome, will not turn out so upon trial ; and it is the most eifec- tual method to secure the freedom of voting, and prevent every species of fraud and connivance. Any persons who offer themselves as candidates for any berth may, agreeably to the method practised in Pennsylvania, publish their design in newspapers, or communicate it in any other method they may think proper, or leave the people to find out persons of merit and nominate for themselves. All civil officers should be appointed by the three branches, and all military officers by the Governour and Council, and never superseded in commission but by the same power which created them. All laws negatived by a Governour, if revived afterwards, and passed by a new House and Council, to be assented to by him at all events, as it would be unreasonable to suppose two Houses of Repre- sentatives and two sets of Counsellors, possessed of less wisdom, or to have less understanding of the true interests of the people, than a sin- gle person has, and that after having a long time to think upon the matter, and to consult their constituents thereon. And here I must beg leave to observe that however high other peo- ple's notions of government may run, and however much they may be disposed to worship a creature of their own creation, I can by no means consent to lodging too much power in the hands of one person, or suf- fering an interest in government to exist separate from that of the peo- ple, or any man to hold an office, for the execution of which he is not in some way or other answerable to tliat people to whom he owes his political existence. Time will not permit me to go more largely into the subject, but I must leave you to weigh these hints, and make such improvement thereon as your wisdom shall direct ; and though my notions of Gov- ernment are somewhat singular, yet, I think this plan will be an im- provement upon the Constitution, by far the happiest I know of. Where I have supposed a defect in that Constitution, I have taken the freedom to borrow from that of Pennsylvania, and other governments, to supply it ; and in some instances have added my own thoughts, which if they have the force of reason in them, will have their weight. 70 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. If they should not appear to be founded on reason, I must beg you to excuse my giving you trouble, as I sincerely aim to promote the welfare of that Colony, to which I wish the most lasting happiness.! And assure yourself that I am, with much esteem. Your most obedient servant, JOHN SULLIVAN. The Fifth Provincial Congress thus summoned for the special work of preparing a new frame of government for the state of New Hampshire, and thus advised by one of its most competent and faithful citizens, was convened at Exeter, December 21, 1775. First ConstitiUional Cottvention iyy^-6. — On the 28th day of December, 1775, the fifth and last Provincial Con- gress of New Hampshire voted to " take up civil govern- ment, to continue during the present contest with Great Britain, and resolve themselves into a House of Represent- atives, and then choose a Council to continue one year from the 21st day of December current." On the same day the following gentlemen were appointed a committee to frame and bring in a draft of a new con- stitution for the rule and government of this colony : Matthew Thornton, Meshech Weare, Ebenezer Thomp- son, Wyseman Claggett, and Benjamin Giles ; and two days later John Giddinge and Joseph Badger were added to the committee. On the 5th day of January, 1776, the committee reported and the Congress passed the following vote : That this Congress take up civil government for this colony in manner and form following, viz.: • (From Provincial Papers, New Hampshire, Vol. VII, 1764-1776, pp. 685-688.) This letter as printed in Moore's and Farmer's Collections, pp. 272-277, bears date Dec. 12 and has the following postscript: " P. S. Tliough I have mentioned three years, I am much in favour of an- nual elections. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 71 TEMPORARY CONSTITUTION. In Congress at Exeter, January 5, 1776. We, the members of the Congress of the colony of New Hampshire, chosen and appointed by the free suffrages of the people of said colony, and authorized and empowered by them to meet together and use such means and pursue such measures as we should judge best for the public good, and in particular to establish some form of government, provided that measure should be recommended by the Continental Congress, and a recommendation to that pur- pose having been transmitted to us from the said Con- gress, have taken into our serious consideration the unhappy circumstances into which this colony is involved by means of many grievous and oppressive acts of the British Parliament, depriving us of our natural and consti- tutional rights and privileges ; to enforce obedience to which acts, a powerful fleet and army have been sent into this country by the ministry of Great Britain, who have exercised a wanton and cruel abuse of their power in destroying the lives and properties of the colonists in many places with fire and sword, taking the ships and lading from many of the honest and industrious inhab- itants of this colony employed in commerce agreeable to the laws and customs a long time used here. The sudden and abrupt departure of His Excellency John Wentworth, Esq., our late Governor, and several of the Council, leaving us destitute of legislation ; and no executive courts being open to punish criminal offenders, whereby the lives and properties of the honest people of this colony are liable to the machinations and evil designs of wicked men ; Therefore, for the preservation of peace and good order, and for the security of the lives and properties of the 72 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. inhabitants of this colony, we conceive ourselves reduced to the necessity of establishing a form of government, to continue during the present unhappy and unnatural con- test with Great Britain ; protesting and declaring that we never sought to throw off our dependence upon Great Brit- ain, but felt ourselves happy under her protection while we could enjoy our constitutional rights and privileges, and that we shall rejoice if such a reconciliation between us and our parent State can be effected as shall be approved by the Continental Congress, in whose prudence and wisdom we confide. Accordingly, pursuant to the trust reposed in us, we do resolve that this Congress assume the name, power, and authority of a House of Representatives, or Assembly, for the colony of New Hampshire ; and that said house then proceed to choose twelve persons, being reputable free- holders and inhabitants within this colony, in the following manner, viz.: Five in the county of Rockingham, two in the county of Strafford, two in the county of Hillsborough, two in the county of Cheshire, and one in the county of Grafton, to be a distinct and separate branch of the Legis- lature, by the name of a Council for this colony, to con- tinue as such until the third Wednesday in December next, any seven of whom to be a quorum to do business. That such Council appoint their president; and in his absence that the senior councilor preside. That a secretary be appointed by both branches, who may be a councilor or otherwise as they shall choose. That no act or resolve shall be valid and put into execu- tion unless agreed to and passed by both branches of the Legislature. That all public officers for the said colony and each county for the current year be appointed by the Council and Assembly, except the several clerks of the executive courts, who shall be appointed by the justices of the respective courts. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 73 That all bills, resolves, or votes for raising, levying, and collecting money, originate in the House of Representa- tives. That at any session of the Council and Assembly neither branch shall adjourn for any longer time than from Satur- day till the next Monday without consent of the other. And it is further resolved that if the present unhappy dispute with Great Britain should continue longer than this present year, and the Continental Congress give no instructions or directions to the contrary, the Council be chosen by the people of each respective county in such manner as the Council and House of Representatives shall order. That general and field officers of the militia, on any vacancy, be appointed by the two houses, and all inferior officers be chosen by the respective companies. That all officers of the army be appointed by the two houses, except they should direct otherwise in case of any emergency. That all civil officers for the colony and for each county be appointed and the time of their continuance in office be determined by the two houses, except clerks of courts, and county treasurers, and recorders of deeds. That a treasurer and a recorder of deeds for each county be annually chosen by the people of each county respectively ; the votes for such officers to be returned to the respective courts of general sessions of the peace in the county, there to be ascertained as the Council and Assembly shall hereafter direct. That precepts in the name of the Council and Assem- bly, signed by the president of the Council and the speaker of the House of Representatives, shall issue annually, at or before the first day of November, for the choice of a Council and House of Representatives, to be returned by the third Wednesday in December then next ensuing, in such manner as the Council and Assembly shall hereafter prescribe. 74 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. COLONY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. BY THE COUNCIL AND ASSEMBLY, A PROCLAMATION. Whereas, the Congress of this colony have, agreeable to a recommendation from the honorable Continental Con- gress, resolved on and formed themselves upon a plan of government by a Council and House of Representatives, which plan has been published, and dispersed through the colony, and is to be in force during the present dispute with Great Britain, unless otherwise advised by the Conti- nental Congress ; conformable to which said plan of gov- ernment, the Council and Assembly have chosen and ap- pointed the proper officers for the administration of justice in the several counties, who are to be sworn to the faithful discharge of their several trusts. It is therefore expected that no person or persons claim or exercise any civil au- thority but such as are, or may be, appointed as aforesaid, on the penalty of being deemed inimical to their country. Provided, nevertheless, and this proclamation is intended not to interfere with the power of the necessary commit- tees of inspection, or safety, chosen in the several towns through the colony by virtue and in consequence of any recommendation or resolves of the Continental Congress. Whereof, all persons concerned are to take due notice, and govern themselves accordingly. And at the same time it is earnestly recommended that in this distressing day of public calamity, when our ene- mies are watching all opportunities to ensnare and divide us, every one would strive to prevent, and, if possible, to quell all appearance of party spirit, to cultivate and pro- mote peace, union, and good order, and by all means in their power to discourage profaneness, immorality, and injustice. By order of the Council and Assembly at Exeter, the 19th day of March, Anno Domini 1776. M. WEARE, E. Thompson, Secretary. President of the Council. God save the people. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 75 Character of Government Formed. Chief Justice Joel Parker commenting upon this Frame of Government in Brewster vs. Hough, New Hampshire Reports, vol. lO, p. 143, said : The constitution of January 5, 1776, was not in fact a grant of power by the people, or an instrument submitted to them for their sanction, but was a form of civil government adopted by a congress of representatives, elected by the inhabitants of the several towns, in pursuance of the vote of a convention, and empowered to prosecute such measures as they should deem necessary for the public good, during the term of one year. It provided for a form of government to continue during the contest with Great Britain, and was afterwards continued in force one year longer, by the vote of the people. Associate Justice William M. Chase, in an address de- livered at Concord, November 2, 1902, more fully described the nature and effects of this temporary constitution, as well as the powers which were exercised under it. He said : It has been asserted that Virginia was the first of the colonies to adopt a written constitution ; but its convention did not assemble until May, 1776, and New Hampshire is entitled to that distinction. This constitution is very brief, containing only about nine hundred words, and nearly half of these are in the preamble. Its brevity is more apparent when it is compared with the present constitution, which contains nearly eleven thousand words. It deals with few sub- jects only, and is very general in its terms. It will be noticed that there was no provision for separate executive and judicial departments of government, and that no restraints were placed upon the council and assembly in any direction. These two bodies had full power to exercise all the legislative, executive, and 76 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. judicial functions of government. This was in accordance witti a theory of government then entertained by some of the leading men of the times. It is said that Franklin and Samuel Adams favored it ; and the principle was adopted in the first constitutions of Pennsylvania and Georgia. This constitution was not submitted to the people ; but, as has al- ready been intimated, went into effect upon its adoption by the con- vention, the members of which were clothed with full authority for the purpose. Although adopted as a temporary measure, it continued in force until the first Wednesday of June, 1784 — a period of nearly eight years and a half. The council and assembly while in session exercised executive authority ; and at every adjournment they ap- pointed a committee of safety, consisting of from six to sixteen per- sons, to act during the recess. By an act passed July 5, 1776, they established courts of law. They changed the name from the Colony of New Hampshire to the State of New Hampshire, September ig ; and early in the next year, to remove all doubts on the subject, they re-established the general system of laws that was in force when the constitution was adopted, in so far as the laws were not repugnant to the provisions of the constitution. During the existence of this constitution, the legislature raised money by taxation and loans, and apportioned it to public uses, and passed laws relating to marriages, the care of paupers, the regula- tion of highways, the establishment and regulation of the militia, the punishment of crimes — in short, acted upon all subjects that required legislative action. The statutes so passed covered more than three hundred quarto printed pages. The maintenance of civil government under a fundamental law so incomplete, imper- fect, and weak, as was this constitution, for so long a period, dur- ing which the stress and demoralization attending a war of revolu- tion existed, shows that the people generally recognized and respected the rights of individuals, and were able to control their ambitions and jealousies for the common good. Notwithstanding they had rebelled against the existing government, they were a law-abiding people. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 77 NEW HAMPSHIRE DECLARATION OF INDE- PENDENCE. On the nth day of June, 1776, the New Hampshire House of Representatives passed the following vote : " That Samuel Cutts, Timothy Walker, and John Dud- ley, Esqrs., be a committee of this house to join a com- mittee of the honorable board, to make a draft of a declaration of this General Assembly for independence of the United Colonies on Great Britain." In Council, June ii, 1776. " A vote appointing Sam'l Cutts, Timothy Walker, and John Dudley a committee, with such as the board should join, to make a draft of a declaration of the General Assem- bly for independence of the United Colonies on Great Britain, brought up, read, and concurred with this amend- ment, that the committee prepare a draft setting forth the sentiments and opinion of the Council and Assembly of this colony relative to the United Colonies forming them- selves into independent States, in order that when passed the same may be transmitted to our delegates at the Con- tinental Congress, and that Messrs. Hurd, Claggett, and the secretary* be added to the committee." June 15, 1776. " The committee of both houses, appointed to prepare a draft setting forth the sentiments and opinion of the Council and Assembly of this colony relative to the United Colonies setting up an independent State, made * Bbenezer Thompson. 78 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. report as on file, which report being read and considered, voted unanimously that the report of said committee be received and accepted, and that the draft by them brought in be sent to our delegates at the Continental Congress forthwith as the sense of this house." INDEPENDENCE. The draft made by the committee of both houses, relat- ing to independency, is as follows, viz. : Whereas, it now appears an undoubted fact, that not- withstanding all the dutiful petitions and decent remon- strances from the American colonies, and the utmost exertions of their best friends in England on their behalf, the British ministry, arbitrary and vindictive, are yet determined to reduce, by fire and sword, our bleeding country to their absolute obedience ; and for this purpose, in addition to their own forces, have engaged great num- bers of foreign mercenaries, who may now be on their passage here, accompanied by a formidable fleet, to ravage and plunder the seacoast ; from all which we may reason- ably expect the most dismal scenes of distress the ensuing year, unless we exert ourselves by every means and pre- caution possible ; and whereas, we, of this colony of New Hampshire, have the example of several of the most respectable of our sister colonies before us for entering upon that most important step of a disunion from Great Britain, and declaring ourselves free and independent of the crown thereof, being impelled thereto by the most violent and injurious treatment ; and it appearing absolutely necessary in this most critical juncture of our public affairs that the honorable the Continental Congress, who have this important object under their immediate consid- eration, should be also informed of our resolutions thereon without loss of time, we do hereby declare that it is the MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 79 opinion of this Assembly that our delegates at the Conti- nental Congress should be instructed, and they are hereby instructed, to join with the other colonies in declaring the thirteen United Colonies a free and independent State, solemnly pledging our faith and honor that we will, on our parts, support the measure with our lives and fortunes ; and that in consequence thereof, they, the Continental Congress, on whose wisdom, fidelity, and integrity we rely, may enter into and form such alliances as they may judge most conducive to the present safety and future advantage of these American colonies ; provided, the regulation of our internal police be under the direction of our own Assembly. Entered according to the original. Att: — NOAH EMERY, Clk. D. Reps. PREPARATION FOR ANOTHER CONVENTION. In the House of Representatives. December 27, 1777. Voted, that it be recommended to the several towns, parishes, and places in this State, if they see fit, to instruct their representatives at the next session to appoint and call a full and free representation of all the people in this State, to meet in convention at such time and place as shall be appointed by the General Assembly, for the sole purpose of framing and laying a permanent plan or system for the future government of this State. There is no record that this vote was received and acted on by the Council. 80 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. I\ THE House of Representatives. February 20, 1778. Voted, That this house resolve themselves into a com- mittee of the whole to join the honorable board, if they see fit, to consider of the confederation formed by the honorable the Continental Congress, and also of the calling a full and free representation of all the people of this State, for the sole purpose of forming a permanent plan or system for the future government of this State. February 25, 1778. According to order of the day, the committee of both houses being met in the assembly chamber to consider of the matter and manner of calling a full and free represen- tation of all the people in this State, for the sole purpose of forming and laying a permanent plan or system for the future government of this State, — The Honorable Meshech Weare, Esq., in the chair, pro- ceeded to consider of the matters to them referred, and after some time spent thereon, the committee agreed to report that a full and free representation of all the people of this State be called as soon as conveniently may be for said purpose. That the convention be on the second Wednesday in June next ; that they meet at Concord in this State. That each town, parish, or precinct sending a member or members to said convention pay their own members for their time and expense. That when the said convention have formed such plan of government they lay the same before their constituents MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 81 for their approbation before the same shall take effect ; that such plan shall not take effect until three quarters of the people of this State shall consent thereto. The committee then adjourned to 3 o'clock p. m. Wednesday, 2Sth, p. m. The committee met according to adjournment, and pro- ceeded to the business to them referred, and after some time spent thereon, agree further to report that the fore- going articles of direction be not recommendatory, but directory ; and that precepts issue to each town, parish, and district in this State, if they see fit, to send one or more members to the said convention, saving to any two or more towns, parishes, or districts, if they see fit, to join together in electing and sending one member to represent them in said convention. The committee then dissolved, and the speaker resumed the chair, and the above report being read and considered, voted that the same be received and accepted. In Council, March 4, 1778. Vote to accept the report of the committee of both houses for calling a convention to meet at Concord to form a new system of government brought up, read, and con- curred. Second Constitutional Convention iTji. — This convention met in accordance with the foregoing vote at Concord, the second Wednesday in June, 1778. " Meshech Weare was chosen president and Ebenezer Thompson, secretary." The constitution proposed was signed, by John Langdon, Pres. P. T. »:: MANDAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. No copy of the journa] of this convention is known to be in existence. Mr. G. Parker Lyon compiled from town records a list of the delegates. From this list it seems that about ninety towns were represented by seventy-four delegates. Among the more prominent members were John Langdon, of Portsmouth ; Nathaniel Folsom and John Pickering, of Exeter ; Matthew Thornton, of Lon- donderry ; John Dudley, of Raymond ; John McClary, of Epsom ; Timothy Walker, of Concord ; Joseph Badger, of Gilmanton ; Timothy Farrar, of New Ipswich ; and John Bell, of Londonderry. " i779> June 5th, this Convention completed a Consti- tution, chose a committee (Col. Thornton and Col. Bart- lett), ' to get this Constitution printed, and transmit two or more copies of the same to each and every town, to which precepts were sent, and publish the same in the New Hampshire newspapers.' Returns were ordered to be made, 'of the number of voters present at such meeting, and how many voted for receiving said plan, and how many for rejecting the same, unto this Convention at Concord, in this State, on the third Tuesday in September next.' " The constitution thus proposed was signed by John Langdon, Pres. pro tern, and E. Thompson, Sec. This convention reassembled at Concord on the day above named, examined the votes, and found the result a total rejection of the new-formed constitution ; and the convention dissolved themselves from any further proceed- ings in the formation of a constitution.* The following was the plan of government submitted to the people by this convention and rejected : The above facts are gleaned from the town papers, v. 9, and from the New Hampshire Register for 1852. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 83 A DECLARATION OF RIGHTS AND PLAN Op- GOVERNMENT FOR THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. Whereas, by the tyrannical administration of the gov- ernment of the king and parhament of Great Britain, this State of New Hampshire, with the other United States of America, have been necessitated to reject the British gov- ernment, and declare themselves independent States ; all which is more largely set forth by the Continental Con- gress in their resolution or declaration of the fourth of July, A. D., 1776; And, whereas, it is recommended by the said Conti- nental Congress to each and every of the said United States, to establish a form of government most conducive to the welfare thereof ; We, the delegates of the said State of New Hampshire, chosen for the purpose of forming a permanent plan of government, subject to the revisal of our constituents, have composed the following declaration of rights and plan of government, and recommend the same to our constit- uents for their approbation : A DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. First. We declare that we, the people of the State of New Hampshire, are free and independent of the crown of Great Britain. Secondly. We, the people of this State, are entitled to life, liberty, and property, and all other immunities and privileges which we heretofore enjoyed. Thirdly. The common and statute laws of England, adopted and used here, and the laws of this State (not in- consistent with said Declaration of Independence) now 84 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. are, and shall be, in force here for the welfare and good government of the State, unless the same shall be repealed or altered by the future Legislature thereof. Fourthly. The whole and entire power of government of this State is vested in, and must be derived from, the people thereof, and from no other source whatsoever. Fifthly. The future Legislature of this State shall make no laws to infringe the rights of conscience, or any other of the natural, unalienable rights of men, or contrary to the laws of God, or against the Protestant religion. Sixthly. The extent of territory of this State is, and shall be, the same which was under the government of the late Governor, John Wentworth, Esq., Governor of New Hampshire ; reserving, nevertheless, our claim to the New Hampshire grants, so called, situate to the west of Con- necticut river. Seventhly. The right of trial by jury in all cases, as here- tofore used in this State, shall be preserved inviolate for- ever. A PLAN OF GOVERNMENT FOR THE STATE OF NEW HAMP- SHIRE. First. The State of New Hampshire shall be governed by a Council and House of Representatives, to be chosen as hereinafter mentioned, and to be styled the General Court of the State of New Hampshire. Second. The Council shall consist for the present of twelve members, to be elected out of the several counties in the State in proportion to their respective number of inhabitants. Third. The numbers belonging to each county for the present, according to said proportion, being as followeth, viz. : To the county of Rockingham, five ; to the county of Strafford, two ; to the county of Hillsborough, two ; to the county of Cheshire, two ; to the county of Grafton, one. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 85 Fourth. The number for the county of Rockingham shall not be increased or diminished hereafter, but remain the same ; and the numbers for the other counties shall be increased or diminished as their aforesaid proportion to the county of Rockingham may chance to vary. Fifth. The House of Representatives shall be chosen as follows : Every town or parish choosing town officers, amounting to one hundred families and upwards, shall send one representative for each hundred families they consist of (or such lesser number as they please), or class them- selves with some other towns or parishes that will join in sending a representative. Sixth. All other towns and parishes under the number of one hundred families shall have liberty to class them- selves together to make the number of one hundred fam- ilies or upwards, and being so classed, each class shall send one representative. Seventh. The number of councilors belonging to each county shall be ascertained and done by the General Court every time there is a new proportion made of the state tax, which shall be once in seven years at the least, and oftener if need be. Eisrhth. All the male inhabitants of the State of lawful age, paying taxes, and professing the Protestant religion, shall be deemed legal voters in choosing councilors and representatives, and having an estate of three hundred pounds, equal to silver at six shillings and eight pence per ounce, one half at least whereof to be real estate, and lying within this State, with the qualifications aforesaid, shall be capable of being elected. Ninth. The selectmen of each respective town and parish choosing town officers, containing one hundred families or upwards, and also of each respective class of towns classed together as aforesaid, shall notify the legal voters of their respective towns, parishes, or classes, quali- fied as aforesaid, in the usual way of notifying town meet- ings, giving fifteen days' notice, at least, to meet at some 86 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. convenient place on the last Wednesday of November annually, to choose councilors and representatives. Tenth. And the voters being met, and the moderator chosen, shall proceed to choose their representative or representatives required by this Constitution, by a majority of the voters present, who shall be notified accordingly, and a return thereof made into the secretary's office by the first Wednesday of January then next. Eleventh. And such representatives shall be paid their wages by their constituents, and for their travel by the State. Tivclfth. And in the choice of councilors each voter shall deliver his vote to the moderator for the number of councilors respectively required, with the word councilors written thereon, and the voter's name indorsed to prevent duplicity. Thirteenth. These votes shall be sealed up by the moderator, and transmitted by the constable to one of the justices of the inferior court of common pleas for the county before the second Wednesday in December next following. Fourteenth. And the said justices of the inferior court shall meet together on the said second Wednesday of December annually to count the votes, and the persons that have most votes to the number of councilors required shall be declared duly elected, and shall be notified by the said justices accordingly, and a return thereof shall be made by them into the secretary's office by the first Wednesclay in January annually. Fifteeftth. And in case any two persons shall have a like number of votes, the said justices may determine the choice in favor of which they please. Sixteenth. The Council and House of Representatives, so chosen and returned as aforesaid, shall meet on the first Wednesday in January next after their being chosen, at such place as the present or future General Court may MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 87 from time to time appoint ; and, being duly sworn, shall hold their respective places until the first Wednesday in January then next. Seventeenth. The Council shall choose their president, vice-president, and secretary; and the House of Repre- sentatives shall choose their speaker and clerk. Eighteenth. The Council and House of Representatives respectively shall determine all disputed elections of their own members, regulate their own proceedings, and, on any vacancy, order a new election to fill up such vacancy. Nineteenth. The said General Court, elected and con stituted as aforesaid, shall be invested with the supreme power of the State. And all acts, resolves, or votes, except grants of money, lands, or other things, may originate in either house ; but such grants shall originate in the House of Representatives only. Twentieth. The said Council and House of Represent- atives respectively shall have power to adjourn themselves from day to day, but not longer than two days at any one time, without concurrence of the other. Twenty-first. The president of the Council shall hold public correspondence with other States, or persons ; call the Council together when occasion shall require ; and with advice of three or more of the Council shall, from time to time, call the General Court together, if need be, before the time they were adjourned to ; and also point out the principal business of their session. Twenty-second. The military and naval power of the State shall be regulated, and all proper officers thereof appointed, as the Legislature by law shall direct from time to time. Twenty-third. The judges of the superior and inferior courts, judges of probate, judge of admiralty, judge of the maritime court, justices of the peace, sheriffs, coroners, attorney-general, treasurer of the State, and delegates to 88 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. the Continental Congress, shall be appointed by the said General Court, and commissioned by the president of the Council. Tu'enty-foHrth. The appointment of registers of deeds, county treasurers, clerks of courts, registers of probate, and all other civil officers whatsoever, not before mentioned, shall be regulated by the laws that now are or that here- after may be enacted. Tzvcnty-fifth. All civil officers of the State shall be suitably compensated by fees or salaries for their services. Tivcnty-sixth. No member of the General Court shall be judge of the superior court, or inferior court, judge or register of probate, or sheriff of any county, or treasurer of the State, or attorney -general, or delegate at the Conti- nental Congress. Tzvcjity-scvcnth. And no member of the Council, judge of the superior court, or sheriff, shall hold a commission in the militia, army, or navy of this State. Ttvcnty-cighth. No member of the House of Repre- sentatives shall hold any salary under the government. Twenty-ninth. The president of the Council, with advice of Council, may grant reprieves not longer than six months, but the General Court only shall have power to pardon offences against the State. ThirtietJi. A quorum of the Council, and a quorum of the House of Representatives, shall consist of a majority of each house. Thirty-first. This declaration of rights, and plan of government, shall have the force of law, and be esteemed the fundamental law of the State. Thirty-second. The Genera) Court shall have no power to alter any part of this Constitution. In case they should concur in any proposed alteration, amendment, or addition, the same being agreed to by a majority of the people, shall become valid. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 89 Third Constitutional Convention of lySl-iySj. — On March 28, 1781, the House of Representatives voted : " That a Convention of Delegates from the several Towns & places in this State be called in order to settle a Plan of Government for s"* State, & that said Convention be held at Concord in the State aforesaid on the first Tuesday of June next, at three o'clock in the afternoon." " That Mr. Batcheldor, Mr. Foster, & Col" Mooney, with such of the Hon''' Board as they shall join, be a Committee to draft the form of a Precept to be sent to the several Towns & places in this State for calling a Convention to settle a plan of Government for s" State, & lay the same before this House-Concurred, and Mr. Clagett & Mr. Gilman joined." A little over a week later, on April S, the House by a yea and nay vote of 31 to 15 passed the following act : ■ — "Whereas the present situation of affairs in this State make it necessary that a full & free Representation of the Inhabitants thereof should meet in Convention for thesole purpose of forming & laying a permanent Plan or system of Government for the future happiness and well being of the good people of this State, and this house having received instructions from a considerable part of their constituents for that purpose ; therefore : " Voted & Resolved, That the Honourable the President of the Council issue to every Town, Parish & District within that part of this State East of Connecticut River, a Precept recommending them to elect and choose one or more persons as they shall judge it expedient, to convene in Concord in said State on the first Tuesday of June next for the purpose aforesaid — saving to the small Towns liberty to join two or more together if they see fit, to elect & send one person to represent them m said Convention. 90 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. " And such system or form of Government as may be agreed upon by such Convention being printed and sent to each and every town, Parish and District in this State for the approbation of the people : — which System or Form of Government being approved by such number of the Inhabitants of this State in their respective town meetings legally called for that purpose, as shall be ordered by said Convention, and a return of such approba- tion being made to said Convention, and confirmed by them, shall remain as a permanent system or form of Gov- ernment of this State, and not otherwise : And if the first proposed System or form of Government should be rejected by the People, that the same Convention shall be empowered to proceed and make such amendment and alterations from time to time as may be necessary, — Provided always that after such alterations, the same be sent out for the approbation of the People in manner as aforesaid, & that the charge & expense of Such Conven- tion be defrayed by their respective electors." The Council concurred in this vote on the following day. Pursuant to the foregoing vote and precept issued, a convention of delegates to revise the constitution of New Hampshire met at Concord on the first Tuesday of June, the fifth day of the month, 178 1.* Tradition assigns the place of meeting to a hall above the store of John Stevens, Esq. The convention was organized by the election of George Atkinson, of Portsmouth, as president, and Jonathan * Authorities differ as to tlie date of the first session of the convention. The convention was called for the first Tuesday in June, 1781. Bouton in his His- tory of Concord, Mr. Lyon in the N. H. KegLster for 1852, and the editor of the N. H. Manual of the General Court for 1889, all accept this date as the correct one. On the other hand the version of the constitution proposed in 1781 given in the Town Papers, v. 9, appendix, is preceded by the words "... in conven- tion, hegun and held at Concord, on the second Tuesday of June, 1781." MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 91 Mitchell Sewall, also of Portsmouth, as secretary. John Sullivan acted as secretary /ri? tern, in at least one session in 1782, and Nathaniel Folsom, as president pro tem. in 1783. The membership as far as it is known has been compiled from town records by Mr. G. Parker Lyon, who published a list in the New Hampshire Register for 1852, of which he was editor. This list shows an attendance of 54.* Eleven towns voted specifically not to send delegates, while nineteen others failed to send any for reasons stated. The Connecticut river towns, then disaffected, were not represented. Dr. Bouton accepted this list as approxi- mately correct. Besides the above mentioned officers may be named among the more prominent delegates, John Langdon, Ammi Ruhami Cutter, and John Pickering, of Portsmouth ; John Taylor Oilman, of Exeter ; Timothy Walker, Jr., of Concord ; John Dudley, of Raymond ; John McClary, of Epsom ; Otis Baker and Joshua Wingate, of Dover ; and Ebenezer Webster, of Salisbury. Unfortunately the journal of this convention was not preserved, and consequently the records of its proceedings are very meager. The work of the convention, therefore, *The seeming apathy of many of the towns in the important matter of electing delegates to the convention is corroborated by a notice published by the convention in the N. II. Gazette, of March 2, 1782, where the following words appear: "And whereas the major part of the towns thro' the state have hitherto neglected the choosing and sending Delegates to said Conven- tion , agreeably to the Precepts issued by the General Assembly of said State — And Whereas it is of the highest importance that there should be a full and free representation of the people in said Convention, to advise, deliberate, and determine on a matter of such moment to themselves and posterity ; and it having been also recommended by the General Assembly — The Convention therefore earnestly rectuest all such towns as have hitherto neglected, to neg- lect no longer, but to proceed to choose and send to said Convention, one or more members as they shall judge best, and those towns that have already sent, to add other members if they shall think it expedient, or promotive of the general advantage." 92 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. must be judged largely by its product, the two rejected constitutions with their accompanying addresses to the people, and the third constitution which met with the approval of the people and was accepted. In addition to this, however, there may be found in the New Hampshire Register for 1852, a general outline of the convention, which the editor compiled from a bound volume of these constitutions formerly belonging to Gov. William Plumer. It appears that the convention after having been in ses- sion a few days appointed a committee to draft a constitu- tion, and then adjourned until September 14. On this date it met according to adjournment, agreed upon a form for a constitution, and ordered 700 copies printed and dis- tributed throughout the state. A two-thirds vote was required for acceptance of the constitution ; and in case of rejection, either entire or in part, towns were requested to state their reasons for such action." In many instances committees were chosen by the towns to draft their rea- sons, and a member of the committee was appointed to present them to the convention. This session was ad- journed till the fourth Wednesday of January, 1782. Upon the convening of the third session according to adjournment it was found that the proposed constitution had been rejected. The convention then adjourned until the third Wednesday, the 21st, of August following, when a new form of constitution, of which 800 copies were T [n a notice published Jlarch 2, 1782, in the X. H. Gazette, pursuant to a res- olution of the convention, and signed by President Atkinson, and Secretary Sewall, towns were requested : " to send their votes respecting the Plan oi Government lately sent out for their inspection and revision, to the President or Secretary of said Convention, specifying all their objections and proposed amendments, with the number of votes for and against each article." MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 93 printed, was submitted to the people. This was again accompanied by a request that towns voting to reject the whole or any part of the constitution should definitely state their reasons therefor. It was then voted to adjourn till the last Tuesday of December, 1782. At the conven- ing of this session it was found that the second proposed form of constitution had been rejected. An adjournment was therefore made until the first Tuesday of June, 1783. At this session a third form of constitution was proposed, and, as previously described, in case of rejection, reasons therefor were requested. The convention thereupon adjourned until October 31, 1783, and being duly con- vened on this day found that the constitution had been accepted. The above facts, gleaned from Governor Plumer's vol- ume, seem to show that seven sessions were held. Dr. Belknap in his History of New Hampshire, however, states that there were " no less than nine sessions." The whole time from the beginning of the first session until the con- stitution was declared accepted, was two years, four months, and twenty-six days. The form of constitution finally adopted was modeled very closely after the Massachusetts constitution of 1780, of which Dr. Belknap remarks that it " was supposed to be an improvement on all which had been framed in America." Massachusetts was undoubtedly regarded as a leader among the colonies, and her constitution had the added recom- mendation of coming from the pen of John Adams. The New Hampshire constitution provided for a smaller council 9-1 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. than that of Massachusetts, and chosen in a different man- ner. There was a sHght difference in the basis of repre- sentation ; for, while one representative was, as in Massa- chusetts, allowed to one hundred and fifty ratable polls, an additional three hundred was required for every additional representative, the Massachusetts constitution requiring in a similar case but two hundred and twenty-five polls. The declaration of religious belief, and of possession of prop- erty, required by the Massachusetts constitution, was omitted by the New Hampshire instrument. There were some other variations of minor importance, such as dates, due probably to convenience and local conditions. Many explanatory clauses present in the Massachusetts consti- tution were relegated to the address to the people by the New Hampshire convention, and consequently the New Hampshire constitution is more simple and direct in its mode of expression. Authorsliip of Constitution and Comparison of its Three Drafts. Associate-Justice William M. Chase, in the in- teresting and valuable address previously cited, referring to the authorship of this constitution, and comparing its three successive drafts, said : The first draft of the constitution of 1783, which was the basis of the other two, was modeled after the constitution adopted by the people of Massachusetts in 1780. In fact, the most of its provisions were copied from that constitution almost word for word. The authorship of the Massachusetts constitution is therefore a matter of special interest to us. The original draft of that constitution was prepared by John Adams, and but few changes were made in it prior to its adoption by the MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 95 people. Governor Bullocki, in an addre.ss before the American Anti- quarian Society, in 1881, said concerning Mr. Adams's qualifications for this work: " As constitutionalist and publicist, all other men of his day came at long interval behind him. Madison and Hamilton were a development of the ten years which followed the full manifes- tations of his powers. Beyond all his associates in mastery of the whole subject of government, grasping and applying the lessons of historical studies with a prehensile power at that time unprecedented on this continent, and adding to them the original conceptions of a mind of the highest order, he proved of all his contemporaries fittest for constitutional architecture. Having discerned, five years before, in advance of everybody, the solution of independence in directing the colonies to establish local governments, he became doctrinaire to the delegates at Philadelphia. In the confusion and chaos of thought relating to these subjects which brooded over their minds his counsel was sought by delegates from North Carolina, from Virginia, from New Jersey, to each of whose delegations he furnished formulas of state government ; and when he came to the front in the preparation of a constitution for his own state, his mind was already stored for the emergency. His share in framing our own government, and his sub- sequent writings in defense of the general system adopted by the American states, in refutation of the theories of M. Turgot — this defense being published just in time to bear upon the question of the adoption of the constitution of the United States — furnish sufficient excuse, if, indeed, excuse were needed, for his boastful declaration, found in the Warren correspondence * * * . j made a constitu- tion for Massachusetts which finally made the constitution of the United States.' " It certainly is not discreditable to the New Hampshire convention that they availed themselves of the fruits of this masterly mind. The first part of each constitution prepared by this convention consisted of a bill of rights containing 38 articles and was substan- tially the same in the three drafts. The rights and principles declared in it are the fruitage of history. It would be unnecessary to assert many of them at the present day in a plan of government, for they » Bullock's Addresses, pp. 310-11. 96 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. would be recognized and respected without sucli assertion. It was probably unnecessary to declare some of them at that time ; but, suf- fering as the people of the state and their ancestors had from the denial of rights which were natural and inherent, they thought it prudent to guard them explicitly from future encroachment. They founded their government in the consent of the governed. They recognized the fact that in giving consent and entering into govern- ment the people must surrender some of the rights they might other- wise enjoy, in order to protect others' rights ; but they attempted to limit the surrender to the absolute requirements of the change. Some of the rights declared are traceable to the great charter of King John, granted in 1215. .-Articles 14 and 15 correspond with articles 39 and 40 of that charter, which were as follows : 39. No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or dismissed, or out- lawed, or banished, or any ways destroyed, nor will we pass upon him, nor will send upon him, unless by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. 40. We will sell to no man, we will not deny to any man, either justice or right. The sixth article, recognizing the dependence of the governntent's safety upon the morality and piety of its citizens, empowered the leg- islature to authorize towns, parishes and religious societies to select and maintain Protestant teachers of piety, religion and morality, with the limitation that no person should be compelled to contribute to the support of the teacher of a denomination or sect to which he did not belong, and that all denominations and sects should stand on the same footing before the law. This article differed from the corre- sponding article in the Massachusetts bill of rights in this : that by the latter, the legislature was empowered to require towns, etc., to select and maintain such teachers, and to enjoin upon all the subjects of the state an attendance upon their instructions. Evidently, Puritanism did not have quite so strong a hold upon the people of this state as it did in the state it had so great a part in settling and founding. With the exception of this article, and the articles (7, 18 and 21) declaring the right of the people to govern themselves, the corre- spondence that should exist between the punishment and the nature of MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 97 the crime to which it is affixed, and the care that should be taken in selecting jurors, the bill of rights was substantially the same as that of the Massachusetts constitution, although the phraseolog)- and the order of arrangement were in some parts slightly changed. It included all the declarations of the bill of rights in the constitution prepared by the prior convention. The principle on which the plan of government is constructed in the three drafts is the division of the functions of government into three distinct departments, each independent of the others, — the leg- islative, the executive and the judicial. The details of the plan are like those of the Massachusetts constitution except in a few particu- lars, mostly attributable to the differences in the population and other circumstances of the two states. The Massachusetts constitution empowers the legislature to impose and levy reasonable duties and excises. This power was never delegated to the legislature in this state. Nor did any of the convention's drafts provide for a lieutenant- governor, an officer required by the Massachusetts constitution. In all three drafts the supreme legislative power within the state was vested in a senate consisting of twelve members, and a house of rep- resentatives, each of which had a negative upon the other, and both of which were to assemble on the first Wednesday of June in each year. The principal difference in the provisions of the three on this subject related to the number of members in the house of representa- tives. By the first draft the number was iixed at 50, to be chosen by county conventions composed of delegates elected by the towns, — they being entitled to one delegate for every 50 ratable polls in the town. By the other two, towns were entitled to one representative if they had 150 ratable polls, two representatives if they had 450, and one additional representative for each additional number of 300 polls. If they had less than 150 ratable polls, they were to be classed. This made the number of members variable, increasing as the popula- tion increased. The supreme executive power was lodged in an officer entitled "governor" in the first two drafts, and "president" in the last. The veto power was conferred upon him in the first two drafts, but was withheld in the last. The following curious provision appears in the second draft: "To prevent an undue influence in this state, 98 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. which the first magistrate thereof may acquire by the long possessioa of the important powers and trusts of that office, as also to stimulate others to qualify themselves for the service of the public in the highest stations, no man shall be eligible as governor of this state more than three years in any seven." The necessity for a stimulus of this kind has long since ceased, if indeed it was then required. By the last draft, the governor, or, as the officer was then named, the president, was to preside in the senate, and had the same right to vote therein as the senators had. Appointments to office were made by the presi- dent and council instead of by the president, with the advice of the council. The members of the council were chosen by the legislature by joint ballot, two of them from members of the senate, and three from members of the house. The judicial powers and duties were alike in the three drafts. The tenure of office of judicial officers was during good behavior, but they were subject to removal by the governor and council upon address by both houses of the legislature. Among the other provisions were the requirement in the first one of a property qualification to entitle one to vote, — the having of an estate of ;£ioo, — and the requirement in all that persons to be eligible to the offices of governor, senator and representative must be of the Protestant religion, and must be seized of an estate of a certain value. In the first draft the value was ^i,ooo for the office of governor, ^400 for the office of senator, and ^200 for the office of representative ; and in the other two, the values were one half these sums. All three drafts provided that the senate and house of representatives should elect delegates to congress to serve for one year. They also con- tained a provision making it the duty of legislators and magistrates to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences and all seminaries and public schools, to countenance and inculcate the principles of humanity and general benevolence, public and private charity, indus- try and economy, honesty and punctuality in dealings, sincerity, sobriety, and all social affections and generous sentiments among the people. The last draft submitted by this convention was approved by the people in 1783, and went into effect on the first Wednesday of June, 1784. It has been amended from time to time in certain particulars. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 99 and, as amended, is still tlie constitution of the state. People some- times speak of "the constitution of 1792,"! but a new constitution was not adopted in that year, and the designation is a misnomer. The state has had only two constitutions, that of 1776 and that of 1783- CONSTITUTION PROPOSED IN 1781. AN ADDRESS OF THE CONVENTION FOR FORMING A CONSTITUTION OF GOVERNMENT FOR THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 1 78 1. Friends and Fellow Citizens: The General Assem- bly of this State having thought proper to issue precepts to the several towns within the same, for choosing delegates to form a Convention for the purpose of framing a civil constitution for the people of this State ; and the Convention having met in consequence of such choice, after maturely deliberating on the important subject, agree to report the following plan, which with the humblest deference is submitted to your impartial consideration. The task of forming a constitution, adapted not only to our present situation, but to the probable situation and circumstances of remote posterity, is an arduous one indeed ! How far we have succeeded in it you are the sole judges. It is your interest as well as duty, to examine it with the most critical attention ; and it is your unquestionable right to propose such alterations as you may judge necessary, to approve and establish it as it now stands, or wholly to reject it. A perfect system of government is not to be expected in the present imperfect state of humanity. But could a faultless one be framed, it would not be universally approved unless its judges were all equally perfect. Much less then, may we presume to hope that the plan ' New Hampshire Reports, StaU v. Saunders, Vol. 66, p. 72. 100 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. here offered to view will meet with universal approba- tion. Unanimity of sentiment is seldom to be found in any case ; there are many reasons for despairing of it in the present. Besides the common sources for variety of opinions on points in general, there are new and par- ticular ones in the case before us. There is nothing which our open, avowed enemies more dread than to see the several States, each formed into a permanent and well constructed body politic, as nothing, under God, can more contribute to the stability of their councils, or the success of their exertions. Nor have we any reason to doubt but that our secret, internal enemies are equally averse thereto. Every artifice will be devised, every effort tried to frustrate an event equally dreaded by both. Let us guard against their machinations. Nor is it our enemies only we have to dread. We have much to fear from owe friends : from those who wish well to the common cause, and are equally opposed to the common enemy. The love of power is so alluring, we had almost said infatuating, that few have ever been able to resist its bewitching influence. Wherever power is lodged there is a constant propensity to enlarge its boundaries. Much more then, will those with whom it is entrusted, agonize to retain all that is expressly delegated to them. When the people of this State first thought proper to assume government for themselves, it was a time of difficulty and peril. That form which was the simplest, and first presented itself to their view, in the perturba- tion of spirits that then prevailed, they adopted without that thorough discussion and calm deliberation which so important an object required. It was not intended to be lasting. It was expressly declared by themselves to be temporary. In this imperfect form, the legislative and executive powers of government were vested in one body, to wit, MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 101 in a General Court, consisting of two branches, a House of Representatives and a Council. Nor was any pro- vision made therein for the exercise of the executive power in the recess of the general assembly. So great a defect was soon discovered and felt ; and the court thus established by the constitution, without any new authority derived from the people, or without even con- sulting them, patched this flaw by delegating to a number of persons, whom they termed "The Committee of Safety," the executive power, to be by them exercised in the recess of the general assembly ; which mode has been since continued, and the committee have made an important part of the government. A further defect, among innumerable others, is the want of an Exclusion Bill. In consequence of which, many of the individuals who compose the aftermentioned body, assist in enacting laws, in explaining and apply- ing them, and in carrying them into execution. Can it seem strange then, that such persons, and indeed all who are vested with the aforementioned powers, should be backward in receiving and approving of a constitution that so remarkably retrenches them? that sets out in direct opposition to the present one, with this position, that the three essential powers of government ought ever to be kept totally independent of each other? It is not strange, it is perfectly natural ; and the fact is fully verified by the length of time which the present form of government has been permitted to continue. But we trust you will with a manly and becoming firmness, oppose every interested adviser, reject every selfish motive, and with a noble independ- ency of spirit "even of yourselves judge ye what is right." Having promised these things, we will proceed to consider as critically as the limits of our time will admit, the frame of government herewith exhibited to your 102 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. view ; its principles, and some of the motives that induce us to prefer it to any other system which occurred to us. Availing ourselves of the various theories and forms of government we could meet with, whether new or old, examining their principles, and comparing them, as far as we were able with experience, the surest touchstone, and most infallible comment, we collected sufficient, and we hope the best, materials for the political build- ing now presented to your view. The three powers of government, before hinted at, to wit, — The legislative, or power of making laws — The judicial, or power of expounding and applying them to each particular case — And the executive, to carry them into effect, and give the political machine life and motion : These three important powers we have thought proper to keep as separate and distinct as possible, for the following reasons : If they should be all united, the maker of the law would be the interpreter thereof, and might make it speak what language best pleased him, to the total abolition of justice. If the executive and legislative powers should be vested in one body, still greater evils would follow. This body would enact only such laws as it wished to carry into execution, and would, besides, entirely absorb and destroy the judicial power, one of the great- est securities of the life, liberty, and property of the subject; and in fine, would produce the same system of despotism first mentioned. And lastly, should the executive and judicial powers be combined, the great barrier against oppression would be at once destroyed : The laws would be made to bend to the will of that power which sought to execute them with the most unbridled rapacity. These several powers should also be independent ; in order to which they are formed with a mutual check MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 103 upon each other. We shall proceed to consider them distinctly. The legislative power' we have vested in a Senate and House of Representatives (with the reserve here- after mentioned), each of which branches is to have a negative on the other ; and either may originate any bill, except for the grant of monies, which is always to originate in the House. Any alterations or amendments may be proposed by either branch, in all cases. We have given the supreme executive power the right of revising and objecting to all the acts passed by the legislature, for reasons hereafter to be mentioned. The manner of electing the second branch, or house of representatives, as it is new, requires a particular discussion. Experience must have convinced every one who has been, in any degree, conversant with the transacting of business in public bodies, that a very large assembly is not the most convenient for the purpose. There is sel- dom so much order, and never so much dispatch, as is to be found in a smaller body. The reason is obvious. This has given birth to the mode of choosing commit- tees out of the whole body ; and experience hath dem- onstrated its utility. The convention, therefore, were of opinion, that the confining this second branch to the number of fifty, which appeared to them sufficiently large for every purpose, would be attended with the following salutary consequences ; First, There would be probably, a greater propor- tion of suitable men, than in a larger body. The man- ner of their choice, they being twice sifted, would likewise greatly promote this. The debates would, of course, be conducted with more wisdom and unanimity. From their numbers merely, there would be much less confusion, and infinitely more dispatch. This would of itself, produce an amazing saving in the expense, independent of the difference between paying fifty, and 104 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. three times that number. For these and many other reasons, the reducing and confining this branch to a small number, was surety an achievement devoutly to be wished ! But how was it to be effected? Should the mode hitherto practiced of choosing members, be con- tinued, scarce three towns in the State would be each entitled to elect one. Should several towns be joined together till a number sufficiently large was collected to choose a representative, this would be abridging the privileges of towns, confounding them with each other, and destroying their independence. This has been practiced in some fev^' instances, but has been the source of much complaint and many heavy evils. The convention therefore, after revolving the matter with the utmost attention, could hit upon no method that appeared to them, in all respects, so unexception- able as the one here offered. By allowing every town and parish having fifty ratable polls to elect one mem- ber to compose a certain body, out of which the people's representatives are to be chosen, almost every town and parish within the State that would wish to exert the privilege, is included, and even such as have less than fifty ratable polls are permitted to join another. Be- sides, in a few 3'ears, it is probable there will be no towns which have not fifty families at least within the State. The larger towns being permitted to choose in the same proportion renders the representation as equal as the nature of things will admit. These bodies thus chosen, one in each county, after dividing the districts as mentioned in the constitution, are respectively to choose from among themselves the representatives of the people to sit in the General Court. This mode will be found, perhaps, as free, equal, and perfect, as any that can be devised. The objection, that in this way each town will not know, nor have the power of designating its own representative, will, per- haps, on examination, be found one of the strongest MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 105 arguments in its favor. Those interested views, that party spirit, and zeal for rivalry, which too often takes place in towns on such occasions, will be hereby in a great measure destroyed ; and the people will be under a necessity of acting upon higher and better principles. The provision for publishing the journals of both Houses at the close of each session, supersedes another objection that might be started against the want of information among the people, that the smallness of the representative body might othervvise occasion. The only remaining objection of any weight, is the ill conse- quences that may arise from the assembling so large a number of people together at the County Conventions. To this it is replied, that the county delegates through the State, will be divided into five separate and distinct bodies — that all will sit on the same day — and prob- ably not more than one day, unless upon extraordinary occasions — that they will be the chosen ones of the people, a most respectable body, with too much busi- ness on their hands to allow them time for dissipation, and too much of the people's welfare at their hearts to permit them to sow sedition. And even allowing some of the inconveniences hinted at really to follow, they must be less than if all should unite in one general assembly, and sit, not one or two days only, but half the year, in the proportion of a hundred to one. We have been thus particular upon this head of rep- resentation, partly on account of the novelty of the mode, and partly from a full conviction of the vast im- portance of the thing. And we leave it for your faithful discussion ; observing as we do it, that it is what many great, wise, and learned men of our own, and other days, have wished to see put in practice, and have not seen it. The choice and powers of the Senate, having less of novelty, and being sufficiently explained in the consti- tution, we shall pass over with a bare mention, and pro- ceed to the Executive power. 106 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. This power is the active principle in all governments ; it is the soul, and without it the body politic is but a dead corpse. Its department is to put in execution all the laws en- acted by the legislative body. It ought therefore to have the appointment of all the civil officers of the State. It is at the head of the militia, and therefore should have equally the appointment of all the military officers within the same. Its characteristic requisites are secrecy, vigor, and dispatch. The fewer persons, therefore, this supreme power is trusted with, the greater probability there is that these requisites will be found. The con- vention therefore, on the maturest deliberation, have thought it best to lodge this power in the hands of one, whom they have styled the Governor. They have, indeed, arrayed him with honors, they have armed him with power, and set him on high. But still he is only the right hand of your power, and the mirror of your majesty. Every possible provision is made to guard against the abuse of this high betrustment, and protect the rights of the people. The manner of his choice is such, that he is the most perfect representative of the people. He can take no one step of importance without the advice of his privy council ; and he is elected annually. But, as if this was too little, no one person is capable of being elected oftener than three years in seven. Every necessary and useful qualification is required in him, in point of age, religion, residency, and fortune. In addition to all which, he is liable for every misconduct to be im- peached, tried and displaced, by the two legislative branches ; and is amenable to the laws besides, equally with the meanest subject of the State. Thus controlled and checked himself, the convention thought it reason- able and necessary, that he, in turn, should have some check on the legislative power. They therefore gave him the right of objecting to and suspending, though MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 107 not the absolute control over the acts of that body ; which they thought indispensably necessaiy to repel any encroachments on the executive power, and preserve its independency. The Judicial department falls next under our consid- eration. This comprehends the Judges of the several courts, and the Justices of peace throughout the State. These are all appointed by the Governor, with the advice of Council, but not removable by him in case ofmalcon- duct, but by the legislature — and in no case without the intervention of that body. The Judges all hold their offices during good behavior ; the only proper tenure, especially for the Judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature, as they ought, in a peculiar manner, to feel themselves independent and free, and as none would be at the pains to qualify themselves for such important places, if they were liable to be removed at pleasure. As another inducement for persons so to qual- ify themselves, as an encouragement to vigilance, and an antidote to bribery and corruption, adequate, honor- able, and permanent salaries to the Judges of the Su- preme-Court in a particular manner, we have made essen- tial in the Constitution, and do now most strongly recom- mend. The alteration of Justices' commissions from life to five years, is to guard against age, incapacity, and too large a number ; to secure the appointment of the best ; and to prevent too frequent addresses and impeachments. You will judge of the propriety and expediency of this innovation, and either give it your sanction, or not, as it appears to you best. The reasons for the Exclusion-Bill are too obvious to need pointing out. Sad experience has evinced the necessity of such a provision. Besides the interference of several offices held by the same person, in point of time, which we have too often seen; and the difficulty of 108 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. one man's giving his attention to many matters suffi- ciently to understand them all, which we have too often felt; there is a still stronger reason, which is the diffi- culty of a man's preserving his integrity in discharging the duties of each unstained — at least by suspicion. From the deepest impression of the vast importance of literature in a free government, we have interwoven it with, and made its protection and encouragement a part of, the Constitution itself. The Bill of Rights contains the essential principles of the Constitution. It is the foundation on which the whole political fabric is reared, and is consequently, a most important part thereof. We have endeavour'd therein to ascertain and define the most important and essential natural rights of men. We have distinguished betwixt the alienable and un- alienable rights : For the former of which, men may receive an equivalent ; for the latter, or the Rights of Conscience, they can receive none : The World itself being wholly inadequate to the purchase. " For what is a man profited, though he should gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" The various modes of worship among mankind, are founded in their various sentiments and beliefs concern- ing the Great Object of all religious worship and ado- ration, — therefore to Him alone, and not to man, are they accountable for them. Thus the Convention have endeavoured to explain as particularly as they could without trespassing on your patience, the reasons and principles upon which they have laboured to form this Constitution. They have done it in integrity and faithfulness. They conceived themselves as part of the community for which the Con- stitution is intended, and therefore equally interested with the other members in framing the best. Whatever latent defects there may be in it, time will discover them — and, at the end of seven years, provision is made MANUAL OP THE CONSTITaTION. 109 that they may be amended — Considering, therefore, in your candour, and humbly imploring on your behalf, that assistance which the fountain of wisdom sees you need, we leave it in your hands, and wait with cheerful acquiescence, your decision. In the name, and pursuant to a Resolution of the Convention, GEORGE ATKINSON, President. Attest. JONA. M. SEWALL, Secretary. THE CONSTITUTION OF 1783. CONTAINING A BILL OF RIGHTS, AND FORM OF GOV- ERNMENT. Agreed upon by the delegates of the people of the State of New Hampshire, in convention held at Con- cord, on the first Tuesday of June, 1783 ; submitted to and approved of by the people of said State, and estab- lished by their delegates in convention, October 31, 1783. (This constitution "took place" on the first Wednesday of June, 1784.) PART I. THE BILL OF RIGHTS. I. All men are born equally free and independent; therefore, all government of right originates from the people, is founded in consent, and instituted for the general good. II. All men have certain natural, essential, and in- herent rights, among which are the enjoying and defend- ing life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and, in a word, of seeking and obtaining happiness. 110 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. III. When men enter into a state of society, they surrender up some of their natural rights to that society, in order to insure the protection of others ; and without such an equivalent the surrender is void. IV. Among the natural rights, some are in their very nature unalienable, because no equivalent can be given or received for them. Of this kind are the rights of conscience. V. Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience and reason ; and no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshiping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience, or for his religious profession, sentiments, or persuasion, provided he doth not disturb the public peace, or disturb others in their religious worship. VI. As morality and pietjs rightly grounded on evan- gelical principles, will give the best and greatest secu- rity to government, and will lay in the hearts of men the strongest obligations to due subjection, and as the knowl- edge of these is most likely to be propagated through a society by the institution of the public worship of the Deity, and of public instruction in morality and religion, therefore, to promote those important purposes, the peo- ple of this State have a right to impower, and do hereby fully impower, the Legislature to authorize from time to time the several towns, parishes, bodies corporate, or religious societies within this State, to make adequate provision at their own expense for the support and main- tenance of public Protestant teachers of piety, religion, and morality ; Provided, notwithstanding, that the several towns, parishes, bodies corporate, or religious societies, shall at all times have the exclusive right of electing their own pubHc teachers, and of contracting with them for their support and maintenance. And no person of any MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Ill one particular religious sect or denomination shall ever be compelled to pay towards the support of the teacher or teachers of another persuasion, sect, or denomina- tion. And every denomination of Christians demeaning themselves quietly, and as good subjects of the State, shall be equally under the protection of the law ; and no subordination of any one sect or denomination to another shall ever be established by law. And nothing herein shall be understood to affect any former contracts made for the support of the ministry; but all such contracts shall remain, and be in the same state as if this Constitution had not been made. VII. The people of this State have the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free, sov- ereign, and independent State, and do, and forever hereafter shall, exercise and enjoy every power, juris- diction, and right pertaining thereto, which is not, or may not hereafter be, by them expressly delegated to the United States of America in Congress assembled. VIII. All power residing originally in and being de- rived from the people, all the magistrates and officers of government are their substitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them. IX. No office or place whatsoever in government shall be hereditary, the abilities and integrity requisite in all not being transmissible to posterity or relations. X. Government being instituted for the common ben- efit, protection, and security of the whole community, and not for the private interest or emolument of any one man, family, or class of men ; therefore, whenever the ends of government are perverted and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are inefTectual, the people may, and of right ought, to reform the old or establish a new government. The doctrine of non-resistance against arbitrary power and oppression is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind. 112 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. XI. All elections ought to be free, and every inhab- itant of the State, having the proper qualifications, has equal right to elect and be elected into office. XII. Ever}^ member of the community has a right to be protected by it in the enjoyment of his life, liberty, and property ; he is therefore bound to contribute his share in the expense of such protection, and to yield his personal service when necessary, or an equivalent. But no part of a man's property shall be taken from him, or applied to public uses without his own consent, or that of the representative body of the people. Nor are the inhabitants of this State controllable by any other laws than those to \\'hich the}' or their representa- tive body have given their consent. XIII. No person who is conscientiously scrupulous about the lawfulness of bearing arms shall be compelled thereto, provided he will pay an equivalent. XIV. Every subject of this State is entitled to a cer- tain remedy, b}' having recourse to the laws, for all injuries he rna}' receive in his person, property, or character, to obtain right and justice freely, without be- ing obliged to purchase it; completely, and without any denial ; promptly, and without delay, conformably to the laws. XV^. No subject shall be held to answer lor any crime or offense until the same is t'ully and plainly, substan- tially and formally, described to him ; or be compelled to accuse or furnish evidence against himself. And every subject shall have a right to produce all proofs that may be tavorable to himself; to meet the witnesses against him face to face, and to be fully heard in his defence by himself and counsel. And no subject shall be arrested, imprisoned, despoiled, or deprived of his property, immunities, or privileges, put out of the pro- tection of the law, exiled, or deprived of his life, lib- MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 113 erty, or estate, but by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land. XVI. No subject shall be liable to be tried, after an acquittal, for the same crime or offence. Nor shall the Legislature make any law that shall subject any person to a capital punishment, excepting for the government of the army and navy, and the militia in actual service, without trial by jury. XVII. In criminal prosecutions, the trial of facts in the vicinity where they happen is so essential to the security of the life, liberty, and estate of the citizen, that no crime or offence ought to be tried in any other county than that in which it is committed, except in cases of general insurrection in any particular county, when it shall appear to the judges of the superior court that an impartial trial cannot be had in the county where the offence may be committed, and upon their report the Assembly shall think proper to direct the trial in the nearest county in which an impartial trial can be obtained. XVIII. All penalties ought to be proportioned to the nature of the offence. No wise Legislature will affix the same punishment to the crimes of theft, forgery, and the like, which they do to those of murder and treason ; where the same undistinguishing severity is exerted against all offences, the people are led to forget the real distinction in the crimes themselves, and to com- mit the most flagrant with as little compunction as they do those of the lightest dye ; for the same reason a mul- titude of sanguinary laws is both impolitic and unjust, the true design of all punishments being to reform, not to exterminate, mankind. XIX. Every subject hath a right to be secure from all unreasonable searches and seizures of his person, his houses, his papers and all his possessions. All warrants, therefore, are contrary to this right, if the 11-4 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. cause or foundation of them be not previously supported by oath or affirmation, and if the order in the warrant to a civil officer to make search in suspected places, or to arrest one or more suspected persons, or to seize their propert3s be not accompanied with a special designa- tion of the persons or objects of search, arrest, and seizure ; and no warrant ought to be issued but in cases and with the formalities prescribed by the laws. XX. In all controversies concerning property, and in all suits between two or more persons, except in cases in which it has been heretofore otherwise used and practiced, the parties have a right to a trial by jury ; and this method of procedure shall be held sacred, unless in causes arising on the high seas, and such as relate to mariners' wages, the Legislature shall think it neces- sary hereafter to alter it. XXI. In order to reap the fullest advantage of the inestimable privilege of the trial by jury, great care ought to be taken that none but qualified persons should be appointed to serve ; and such ought to be fully com- pensated for their travel, time, and attendance. XXII. The liberty of the press is essential to the security of freedom in a State ; it ought, therefore, to be inviolably preserved. XXIII. Retrospective laws are highly injurious, oppressive, and unjust. No such laws, therefore, should be made, either for the decision of civil causes or the punishment of offences. XXIV. A well-regulated militia is the proper, natural, and sure defence of a State. XXV. Standing armies are dangerous to liberty, and ought not to be raised or kept up without the consent of the Legislature. XXVI. In all cases, and at all times, the military ought to be under strict subordination to and governed by the civil power. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 115 XXVII. No soldier in time of peace shall be quar- tered in any house without the consent of the owner ; and in time of war such quarters ought not to be made but by the civil magistrate, in a manner ordained by the Legislature. XXVIII. No subsidy, charge, tax, impost, or duty shall be established, fixed, laid, or levied under any pretext whatsoever without the consent of the people, or their representatives in the Legislature, or authority derived from that body. XXIX. The power of suspending the laws, or the execution of them, ought never to be exercised but by the Legislature, or by authority derived therefrom, to be exercised in such particular cases only as the Legis- lature shall expressly provide for. XXX. The freedom of deliberation, speech, and debate, in either house of the Legislature, is so essen- tial to the rights of the people that it cannot be the foundation of any action, complaint, or prosecution in any other court or place whatsoever. XXXI. The Legislature ought frequently to assem- ble for the redress of grievances, for correcting, strengthening, and confirming the laws, and for making new ones, as the common good may require. XXXII. The people have a right in an orderly and peaceable manner to assemble and consult upon the common good, give instructions to their representatives, and to request of the legislative body, by way of peti- tion or remonstrance, redress of the wrongs done them, and of the grievances they suffer. XXXIII. No magistrate or court of law shall demand excessive bail or sureties, impose excessive fines, or inflict cruel or unusual punishments. XXXIV. No person can in any case be subjected to law martial, or to any pains or penalties by virtue of that law, except those employed in the army or navy, and except the militia in actual service, but by authority of the Legislature. 116 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. XXXV. It is essential to the preservation of the rights of ever}' individual, his life, liberty, property, and character, that there be an impartial interpretation of the laws, and administration of justice. It is the right of every citizen to be tried by judges as impartial as the lot of humanity will admit. It is therefore not only the best policy, but for the security of the rights of the people, that the judges of the supreme (or superior) judicial court should hold their offices so long as they behave v^-ell ; and that they should have honorable salaries, ascertained and estab- lished b}- standing laws. XXXVI. Economy being a most essential virtue in all States, especially in a young one, no pension shall be granted but in consideration of actual services, and such pensions ought to be granted with great caution by the Legislature, and never for more than one year at a time. XXXVII. In the government of this State the three essential powers thereof, to wit, the legislative, execu- tive, and judicial, ought to be kept as separate from and independent of each other as the nature of a free government will admit, or as is consistent with that chain of connection that binds the whole fabric of the Constitution in one indissoluble bond of unity and amity. XXXVIII. A frequent recurrence to the fundamen- tal principles of the Constitution, and a constant adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, industry, frugality, and all the social virtues, are indispensably necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty and good government ; the people ought, therefore, to have a par- ticular regard to all those principles in the choice of their officers and representatives ; and they have a right to require of their lawgivers and magistrates an exact and constant observance of them in the formation and execution of the laws necessary for the good adminis- tration of government. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 117 PART II. THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. The people inhabiting the territory formerly called the Province of New Hampshire, do hereby solemnly and mutually agree with each other to form themselves into a free, sovereign, and independent body politic, or State, by the name of the State of New Hampshire. THE GENERAL COURT. The supreme legislative power within this State shall be vested in the Senate and House of Representatives, each of which shall have a negative on the other. The Senate and House shall assemble every year on the first Wednesday of June, and at such other times as they may judge necessary ; and shall dissolve and be dis- solved seven days next preceding the said first Wednes- day of June, and shall be styled The General Court OF New Hampshire. The General Court shall forever have full power and authority to erect and constitute judicatories and courts of record, or other courts, to be holden in the name of the State, for the hearing, trying, and determining all manner of crimes, offences, pleas, processes, plaints, actions, causes, matters and things whatsoever, arising or happening within this State, or between or concerning persons inhabiting or residing, or brought within the same, whether the same be crim- inal or civil, or whether the crimes be capital or not capital, and whether the said pleas be real, personal, or mixed ; and for the awarding and issuing execution thereon. To which courts and judicatories are hereby given and granted full power and authority, from time to time, to administer oaths or affirmations for the better discovery of truth in any matter in controversy, or depending before them. 118 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. And farther, full power and authority are hereby given and granted to the said General Court, from time to time, to make, ordain, and establish all manner of wholesome and reasonable orders, laws, statutes, ordi- nances, directions, and instructions, either with penal- ties or without, so as the same be not repugnant or con- trary to this Constitution, as tliey may judge for the benefit and welfare of this State, and for the governing and ordering thereof, and of the subjects of the same, for the necessary support and defence of the government thereof; and to name and settle annually, or provide by fixed laws for the naming and settling, all civil officers within this State ; such officers excepted the election and appointment of whom are hereafter in this form of government otherwise provided for; and to set forth the several duties, powers, and limits of the several civil and military officers of this Stale, and the forms of such oaths or affirmations as shall be respectively adminis- tered unto them for the execution of their several offices and places, so as the same be not repugnant or contrary to this Constitution ; and also to impose fines, mulcts, imprisonments, and other punishments ; and to impose and levy proportional and reasonable assessments, rates, and taxes upon all the inhabitants of, and residents within, the said State, and upon all estates within the same ; to be issued and disposed of by warrant un- der the hand of the president of this State for the time being, with the advice and consent of the council, for the public service in the necessary defence and support of the government of this State, and the protection and preservation of the subjects thereof, according to such acts as are or shall be in force within the same. And while the public charges of government, or any part thereof, shall be assessed on polls and estates in the manner that has heretofore been practiced, in order that such assessments may be made with equality there MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 119 shall be a valuation of the estates within the State taken anew once in every five years at least, and as much oftener as the General Court shall order. SENATE. There shall be annually elected by the freeholders and other inhabitants of this State, qualified as in this Constitution is provided, twelve persons, to be senators for the year ensuing their election, to be chosen in and by the inhabitants of the districts into which this State may from time to time be divided by the General Court for that purpose ; and the General Court in assigning the number to be elected by the respective districts shall govern themselves by the proportion of public taxes paid by the said districts, and timely make known to the inhabitants of the State the limits of each district and the number of senators to be elected therein, pro- vided the number of such districts shall never be more than ten, nor less than five. And the several counties in this State shall, until the General Court shall order otherwise, be districts for the election of senators, and shall elect the following num- ber, viz. : Rockingham, five ; Strafford, two ; Hills- borough, two ; Cheshire, two ; Grafton, one. The Senate shall be the first branch of the Legisla- ture, and the senators shall be chosen in the following manner, viz. : Every male inhabitant of each town and parish with town privileges in the several counties in this State, of twenty-one years of age and upwards, paying for himself a poll tax, shall have a right at the annual or other meetings of the inhabitants of said towns and parishes, to be duly warned, and holden annually for- ever in the month of March, to vote in the town or parish wherein he dwells for the senators in the county or district whereof he is a member. 120 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. And ever}' person qualified as the Constitution pro- vides shall be considered an inhabitant for the purpose of electing and being elected into any office or place within this State, in that town, parish, and plantation where he dwelleth and hath his home. The selectmen of the several towns and parishes aforesaid shall, during the choice of senators, preside at such meetings impartiall}', and shall receive the votes of all the inhabitants of such towns and parishes, pres- ent and qualified to vote for senators, and shall sort and count the same in the meeting, and in presence of the town clerk, who shall make a fair record in presence of the selectmen, and in open meeting, of the name of ever\- person voted for, and the number of votes against his name ; and a fair copy of this record shall be at- tested by the selectmen and town clerk, and shall be sealed up and directed to the secretary of the State, with a superscription expressing the purport thereof, and delivered by said clerk to the sheritf of the county in which such town or parish lies, thirty days at least before the first Wednesda}- of June; and the sheriflTof each county, or his deputy, shall deliver all such cer- tificates by him received, into the secretary's office, seventeen days at least before the first Wednesday of June. And the inhabitants of plantations and places unin- corporated, qualified as this Constitution provides, who are or shall be required to assess taxes upon themselves towards the support of government, or shall be taxed therefor, shall have the same privilege of voting for senators in the plantations and places wherein they re- side as the inhabitants of the respective towns and par- ishes aforesaid have. And the meetings of such plantations and places for that purpose shall be holden annually in the month of March, at such places respectively therein as the assess- ors thereof shall direct : which assessors shall have like MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 121 authority for notifying the electors, collecting and re- turning the votes, as the selectmen and town clerks have in their several towns by this Constitution. And, that there may be a due meeting of senators on the first Wednesday of June, annually, the president and three of the council for the time being shall, as soon as may be, examine the returned copies of such records ; and four- teen days before the said first Wednesday in June, he shall issue his summons to such persons as appear to be chosen senators by a majority of votes, to attend and take their seats on that day ; -provided, nevertheless, that for the first year the said returned copies shall be e:^amined by the president and five of the council of the former constitution of government ; and the said presi- dent shall in like manner notify the persons elected to attend and take their seats accordingly. The Senate shall be final judges of the elections, re- turns, and qualifications of their own members, as pointed out in this Constitution, and shall on the said first Wednesday of June, annually, determine and de- clare who are elected by each district to be senators by a majority of votes, and in case there shall not appear to be the full number returned elected by a majority of votes for any district, the deficiency shall be supplied in the following manner, viz. : The members of the House of Representatives and such senators as shall be de- clared elected shall take the names of such persons as shall be found to have the highest number of votes in each district, and not elected, amounting to twice the number of senators wanting, if there be so many voted for, and out of these shall elect by joint ballot the num- ber of senators wanted for such district ; and in this manner all such vacancies shall be filled up in every district of the State, and in like manner all vacancies in the Senate arising by death, removal out of the State, or otherwise, shall be supplied as soon as ma}' be after such vacancies happen. 122 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. Provided, nevertheless, that no person shall be capa- ble of being elected senator who is not of the Protestant religion, and seized of a freehold estate in his own right of the value of two hundred pounds, lying within this State, who is not of the age of thirty years, and who shall not have been an inhabitant of this State for seven years immediately preceding his election ; and at the time thereof he shall be an inhabitant of the district for which he shall be chosen. The Senate shall have power to adjourn themselves, provided such adjournment do not exceed two days at a time. The Senate shall appoint their own officers, and de- termine their own rules of proceedings ; and not less than seven members of the Senate shall make a quorum for doing business ; and when less than eight senators shall be present, the assent of five at least shall be nec- essary to render their acts and proceedings valid. The Senate shall be a court with full power and au- thority to hear and determine all impeachments made by the House of Representatives, against any officer or officers of the State, for misconduct or maladministra- tion in their offices ; but previous to the trial of any such impeachment, the members of the Senate shall respect- ively be sworn truly and impartially to try and deter- mine the charge in question according to evidence. Their judgment, however, shall not extend farther than removal from office, disqualification to hold or en- joy any place of honor, trust, or profit under this State ; but the party so convicted shall nevertheless be liable to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, accord- ing to laws of the land. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. There shall be in the Legislature of this State a rep- resentation of the people annually elected and founded upon principles of equality ; and in order that such rep- MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 123 resentation may be as equal as circumstances will admit, every town, parish, or place entitled to town privileges, having one hundred and fifty ratable male polls of twen- ty-one years of age and upwards, may elect one repre- sentative ; if four hundred and fifty ratable polls, may elect two representatives; and so proceeding in that pro- portion, making three hundred such ratable polls the mean increasing number for every additional repre- sentative. Such towns, parishes, or places as have less than one hundred and fifty ratable polls shall be classed by the General Assembly for the purpose of choosing a repre- sentative and seasonably notified thereof. And in every class formed for the above-mentioned purpose, the first annual meeting shall be held in the town, parish, or place wherein most of the ratable polls reside, and afterwards in that which has the next high- est number, and so on annually, by rotation, through the several towns, parishes, or places forming the district. Whenever any town, parish, or place entitled to town privileges, as aforesaid, shall not have one hundred and fifty ratable polls, and be so situated as to render the classing thereof with any other town, parish, or place very inconvenient, the General Assembly may, upon application of a majority of the voters in such town, parish, or place, issue a writ for their electing and sending a representative to the General Court. The members of the House of Representatives shall be chosen annually in the month of March, and shall be the second branch of the Legislature. All persons qualified to vote in the election of sena- tors shall be entitled to vote within the town, district, parish, or place where they dwell in the choice of rep- resentatives. Every member of the House of Repre- sentatives shall be chosen by ballot ; and for two years, at least, next preceding his election, shall have been an inhabitant of this State, shall have an estate within the 124 MANUAL OP THE COXSTITDTION. town, parish, or place which he ma)^ be chosen to rep- resent of the value of one hundred pounds, one half of which to be a freehold, whereof he is seized in his own right; shall be at the time of his election an inhabitant of the town, parish, or place he may be chosen to rep- resent; shall be of the Protestant religion, and shall cease to represent such town, parish, or place immedi- ately on his ceasing to be qualified as aforesaid. The travel of each representative to the General As- sembl}' and returning home once in every session, and no more, shall be at the expense of the State, and the wages for his attendance at the expense of the town, parish, or places he represents ; such members attending seasonably, and not departing without license. All in- termediate vacancies in the House of Representatives may be filled up from time to time in the same manner as annual elections are made. The House of Representatives shall be the grand in- quest of the State, and all impeachments made by them shall be heard and tried by the Senate. All money bills shall originate in the House of Rep- resentatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills. The House of Representatives shall have power to adjourn themselves, but no longer than two days at a time. A majority of the members of the House of Repre- sentatives shall be a quorum for doing business ; but when less than two thirds of the representatives elected shall be present, the assent of two thirds of those mem- bers shall be necessary to render their acts and proceed- ings valid. No member of the House of Representatives or Sen- ate shall be arrested or held to bail on mesne process during his going to, returning from, or attendance upon the court. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 125 The House of Representatives shall choose their own speaker, appoint their own officers, and settle the rules of pi-oceedings in their own house. They shall have the authority to punish, by imprisonment, every person who shall be guilty of disrespect to the house in its presence, by any disorderly and contemptuous beha- vior, or by threatening or ill-treating any of its mem- bers, or by obstructing its deliberations ; every person guilty of a breach of its privileges in making arrests for debt, or by assaulting any member during his attend- ance at any session, in assaulting or disturbing any one of its officers in the execution of any order or procedure of the house, in assaulting any witness or other person ordered to attend by and during his attendance of the house, or in rescuing any person arrested by order of the house, knowing them to be such. The Senate, president, and council shall have thfe same powers in like cases, provided that no imprisonment by either for any offense exceed ten days. The journals of the proceedings of both houses of the General Court shall be printed and published immedi- ately after every adjournment or prorogation ; and upon motion made b}' any one member, the yeas and nays u pon any question shall be taken and entered in the ournals. EXECUTIVE POWER. PRESIDENT. There shall be a supreme executive magistrate who shall be styled The President of the State of New Hampshire, and whose title shall be His Excellency . The president shall be chosen annually ; and no per- son shall be eligible to this office unless at the time of his election he shall have been an inhabitant of this State for seven years next preceding ; and unless he shall be of the age of thirty years ; and unless he shall, at the same time, have an estate of the value of five hundred pounds, one half of which shall consist of a 126 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. freehold in his own right, within the State ; and unless he shall be of the Protestant religion. Those persons qualified to vote for senators and rep- resentatives shall, within the several towns, parishes, or places where they dwell, at a meeting to be called for that purpose, some day in the month of March annu- ally, give in their votes for a president to the selectmen who shall preside at such meeting, and the clerk, in the presence and with the assistance of the selectmen, shall in open meeting sort and count the votes, and form a list of the persons voted for, with the number of votes for each person against his name, and shall make a fair record of the same in the town books, and a public declaration thereof in the said meeting; and shall, in the presence of said inhabitants, seal up a copy of said list, attested by him and the selectmen, and transmit the same to the sheriff of the county thirty days, at least, before the first Wednesday of June, or shall cause returns of the same to be made to the ofliice of the secre- tary of the State seventeen days, at least, before said day, who shall laj' the same before the Senate and House of Representatives on the first Wednesday of June, to be by them examined ; and in case of an elec- tion by a majority of votes through the State, the choice shall be b}' them declared and published, but if no per- son shall have a majority of votes, the House of Repre- sentatives shall by ballot elect two out of the four persons who had the highest number of votes, if so many shall have been voted for, but if otherwise, out of the number voted for, and make return to the Senate of the two persons so elected, on which the Senate shall proceed by ballot to elect one of them, who shall be declared president. The president of the State shall preside in the Senate, shall have a vote equal with any other member, and shall also have a casting vote in case of a tie. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITDTION. 127 The president, with advice of council, shall have full power and authority in the recess of the General Court to prorogue the same from time to time, not exceeding ninety days in any one recess of said court ; and during the session of said court to adjourn or prorogue it to any time the two houses may desire, and to call it together sooner than the time to which it may be adjourned or prorogued if the welfare of the State should require the same. In cases of disagreement between the two houses with regard to the time of adjournment or prorogation, the president, with advice of council, shall have a right to adjourn or prorogue the General Court, not exceed- ing ninety days at any one time, as he may determine the public good may require. And he shall dissolve the same seven days before the said first Wednesday of June. And in case of any infectious distemper prevail- ing in the place where the said court at any time is to convene, or any other cause whereby dangers may arise to the healths or lives of the members from their attend- ance, the president may direct the session to be holden at some other, the most convenient place within the State. The president of this State for the time being shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy, and all the military forces of the State, by sea and land ; and shall have full power by himself, or by any chief commander, or other officer or officers, from time to time, to train, instruct, exercise, and govern the militia and navy, and for the special defence and safety of this State to assem- ble in martial array and put in warlike posture the inhabitants thereof, and to lead and conduct them, and with them to encounter, expulse, repel, resist, and pur- sue by force of arms, as well by sea as by land, within and without the limits of this state, and also to kill, slay, destro3S if necessary, and conquer by all fitting ways, enterprise, and means, all and every such person Iza MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. and persons as shall, at any time hereafter, in a hostile manner attempt or enterprise the destruction, invasion, detriment, or annoyance of this State ; and to use and exercise over the army and navy, and over the militia in actual service, the law martial in time of war, inva- sion, and also in rebellion, declared by the Legislature to exist, as occasion shall necessaril}^ require ; and sur- prise b}' all ways and means whatsoever all and every such person and persons, with their ships, arms, ammu- nition, and other goods, as shall in a hostile manner invade or attempt the invading, conquering, or annoy- ing this State ; and, in fine, the president hereby is intrusted with all other powers incident to the office of captain-general, and commander-in-chief, and admiral, to be exercised agreeably to the rules and regulations of the Constitution and the laws of the land ; provided, that the president shall not at an}' time hereafter, by virtue of any power b}- this Constitution granted, or hereafter to be granted to him by the Legislature, trans- port any of the inhabitants of this State, or oblige them to march out of the limits of the same, without their free and voluntary consent, or the consent of the Gen- eral Court, nor grant commissions for exercising the law martial in any case without the advice and consent of the council. The power of pardoning offences, except such as persons may be convicted of before the Senate by im- peachment of the House, shall be in the president, by and with the advice of the council ; but no charter of pardon granted by the president, with advice of council, before conviction, shall avail the party pleading the same, notwithstanding any general or particular expres- sions contained therein, descriptive of the offence or offences intended to be pardoned. All judicial officers, the attorne3'-general, solicitor- general, all sheriffs, coroners, registers of probate, and all oflScers of the navy, and general and field officers of MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 129 the militia, shall be nominated and appointed by the president and council ; and every such nomination shall be made at least seven days prior to such appointment, and no appointment shall take place unless three of the council agree thereto. The captains and subalterns in the respective regi- ments shall be nominated and recommended by the field officers to the president, who is to issue their commis- sions immediately on receipt of such recommendation. No officer duly commissioned to command in the militia shall be removed from his office but by the address of both houses to the president, or by fair trial in court- martial, pursuant to the laws of the State for the time being. The commanding officers of the regiments shall ap- point their adjutants and quartermasters, the brigadiers their brigade-majors, the major-generals their aids, the captains and subalterns their non-commissioned officers. The president and council shall appoint all officers of the continental arm}^ whom by the confederation of the United States it is provided that this State shall appoint, as also all officers of forts and garrisons. The division of the militia into brigades, regiments, and companies, made in pursuance of the militia laws now in force, shall be considered as the proper division of the militia of this State until the same be altered by some future law. No monies shall be issued out of the treasury of this State and disposed of (except such sums as may be appropriated for the redemption of bills of credit or treasurer's notes, or for the payment of interest arising thereon) but by warrant under the hand of the president for the time being, by and with the advice and consent of the council, for the necessary support and defence of this State, and for the necessary protection and preser- vation of the inhabitants thereof, agreeably to the acts and resolves of the General Court. 130 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. All public boards, the commissary-general, all super- intending officers of public magazines and stores belonging to this State, and all commanding officers of forts and garrisons within the same, shall once in every three months officially, and without requisition, and at other times when required by the president, deliver to him an account of all goods, stores, provisions, ammuni- tion, cannon with their appendages, and small arms with their accoutrements, and of all other public property under their care respectively ; distinguishing the quan- tity and kind of each as particularlj- as ma}' be, together with the condition of such forts and garrisons ; and the commanding officer shall exhibit to the president, when required by him, true and exact plans of such forts, and of the land and sea or harbor or harbors adjacent. The president and council shall be compensated for their services from time to time by such grants as the General Court shall think reasonable. Permanent and honorable salaries shall be established by law for the justices of the superior court Whenever the chair of the president shall be vacant b}' reason of his death, absence from the state or other- wise, the senior senator, for the time being, shall during such vacancy have and exercise all the powers and authorities which by this Constitution the president is vested with when personally present. COUNCIL. Annually, on the first meeting of the General Court, two members of the Senate and three from the House of Representatives shall be chosen by joint ballot of both houses as a council, for advising the president in the executive part of government, whom the president for the time being shall have full power and authority to convene from time to time, at his discretion ; and the president, with the councilors, or three of them at least. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 131 shall and may from time to time hold and keep a coun- cil for ordering and directing the affaii's of the State according to the laws of the land. The qualifications for councilors shall be the same as those required for senators. The members of the council shall not inter- meddle with the making or trying impeachments, but shall themselves be impeachable by the House and triable by the Senate for malconduct. The resolutions and advice of the council shall be recorded in a register, and signed by the members present ; and this record may be called for at any time by either house of the Legislature, and any member of the council may enter his opinion contrary to the resolu- tion of the majority. And, whereas, the elections appointed to be made by this Constitution on the first Wednesday of June, annually, by the two houses of the legislature, may not be completed on that day, the said elections may be adjourned from day to day until the same shall be completed. And the order of the elections shall be as follows : The vacancies in the Senate, if any, shall first be filled up ; the president shall then be elected, provided there should be no choice of him by the people ; and after- wards the two houses shall proceed to the election of the council. SECRETARY, TREASURER, COMMISSARY-GENERAL, ETC. The secretary, treasurer, and commissary-general shall be chosen by joint ballot of the senators and rep- resentatives assembled in one room. The records of the State shall be kept in the office of the secretary, who may appoint his deputies, for whose conduct he shall be answerable, and he shall attend the president and council, the Senate and Representatives, in person or by deputy, as they may require. 132 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. COUNTY TREASURER, ETC. The county treasurers and registers of deeds shall be elected by the inhabitants of the several towns in the several counties in the State according to the method now practiced, and the present laws of the state ; and before they enter upon the business of their offices, shall be respectively sworn faithfully to discharge the duties thereof, and shall severally give bond, with sufficient sureties, in a reasonable sum for the use of the county, for the punctual performance of their respective trusts. JUDICIARY POWER. The tenure that all commission officers shall have by law in their offices shall be expressed in their respect- ive commissions. All judicial officers, duly appointed, commissioned, and sworn, shall hold their offices during good behavior, excepting those concerning whom there is a different provision made in this Constitution ; -pro- vided, nevertheless, the president, with consent of council, maj' remove them upon the address of both houses of the Legislature. Each branch of the Legislature, as well as the presi- dent and council, shall have authority to require the opinions of the justices of the superior court upon important questions of law, and upon solemn occasions. In order that the people may not suffer from the long continuance in place of any justice of the peace who shall fail in discharging the important duties of his office with ability and fidelity, all commissions of justices of the peace shall become void at the expiration of five years from their respective dates; and upon the expiration of any commission, the same may, if neces- sary, be renewed, or another person appointed, as shall most conduce to the well-being of the State. The judges of probate of wills, and for granting letters of administration, shall hold their courts at such place or MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 133 places, on such fixed days, as the convenience of the people may require ; and the Legislature shall, from time to time, hereafter appoint such times and places, until which appointments the said courts shall be holden at the times and places which the respective judges shall direct. All causes of marriage, divorce, and alimony, and all appeals from the respective judges of probate, shall be heard and tried by the superior court, until the Legis- lature shall by law make other provision. CLERKS OF COURTS. The clerks of the superior court of judicature, inferior courts of com'mon pleas, and general sessions of the peace shall be appointed by the respective courts during pleasure ; and to prevent any fraud or unfairness in the entries and records of said courts, no such clerk shall be of counsel in any cause in the court of which he is clerk, nor shall he fill any writ in any civil action what- soever. DELEGATES TO CONGRESS. The delegates of this State to the Congress of the United States shall, sometime between the first Wednes- day of June and the first Wednesday of September, annually, be elected by the Senate and House of Repre- sentatives, in their separate branches, to serve in Con- gress for one year, to commence on the first Monday in November then next ensuing. They shall liave commissions under the hand of the president and the great seal of the State, but may be recalled at any time within the year and others chosen and commissioned in the same manner in their stead ; and they shall have the same qualifications in all respects as by this Constitution are required for the president. No person shall be capable of being a delegate to Congress for more than three years in any term of six 134 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. years; nor shall an}- person, being a delegate, be capa- ble of holding any office under the United States for which he, or any other for his benefit, receives any salary or emolument of any kind. ENCOURAGEMENT OF LITERATURE, ETC. Knowledge and learning generally diffused through a community being essential to the preservation of a free government, and spreading the opportunities and advantages of education through the various parts of the countr}' being highly conducive to promote this end, it shall be the dut}' of the legislators and the magistrates in all future periods of this government to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries and public schools ; to encourage private and public institutions, rewards and immunities for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manu- factures, and natural history of the country; to counte- nance and inculcate the principles of humanity and general benevolence, public and private charity, indus- try and economy, honesty and punctuality, sincerity, sobriety, and all social affections and generous senti- ments among the people. OATH AND SUBSCRIPTIONS ; EXCLUSION FROM OFFICES ; COMMISSIONS ; WRITS ; CONFIRMATION OF LAWS ; HABEAS CORPUS ; THE ENACTING STYLE ; CONTINU- ANCE OF OFFICERS ; PROVISION FOR A FUTURE REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION, ETC. Any person chosen president, councilor, senator, or representative, military or civil officer (town officers excepted), accepting the trust, shall, before he proceeds to execute the duties of his office, make and subscribe the following declaration, viz. : MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 135 /, A B, do truly and sincerely acknozvledge, -profess, testify, and declare that the State of New Hampshire is, and of right ought to be, a free, sovereign, and independent State, and do swear that T -will bear faith and true allegiance to the same, and that T -will endeavor to defend it against all treacherous conspiracies and hostile attempts whatever ; and I do further testify and declare that no man or body of men hath or can have a right to absolve 7ne from the obligation of this oath, declaration, or affirmation, and that I do make this acknowledgment, profession, testimony , and declaration, honestly and truly, according to the common accepta- tion of the foregoing words, without any equivocation, mental evasion, or secret reservation whatever . So help me God. I, A B, do solemnly and sincerely swear and affirm, that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent on ine as -, according to the best of my abilities, agreeably to the rules and regulations of this Constitution, and the laws of the State of New Hampshire. So help me God. Provided, always, when any person chosen or ap- pointed as aforesaid shall be of the denomination called Quakers, or shall be scrupulous of swearing, and shall decline taking the said oaths, such shall take and sub- scribe them omitting the word '■'■swear'" and likewise the words " So help me God," subjoining instead there- of, " This I do under the pains and -penalties of perjury." And the oaths or affirmations shall be taken and sub- scribed by the president before the senior senator present, in the presence of the two houses of assembly ; and by the Senate and Representatives first elected under this Constitution, before the president and three of the council of the former Constitution, and forever 136 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. afterwards before the president and council for the time being; and by the residue of the officers aforesaid, be- fore such persons and in such manner as from time to time shall be prescribed bj' the Legislature. All commissions shall be in the name of the State of New Hampshire, signed by the president and attested by the secretary or his deputy, and shall have the great seal of the State affixed thereto. All writs issuing out of the clerk's office in any of the courts of law shall be in the name of the State of New Hampshire, shall be under the seal of the court whence they issue, and bear test of the chief, first, or senior justice of the court ; but when such justice shall be interested, then the writ shall bear test of some other justice of the court, to which the same shall be returna- ble, and be signed by the clerk of such court. All indictments, presentments, and informations shall conclude against the peace and dignity of the State. The estates of such persons as may destroy their own lives shall not for that offence be forfeited, but descend or ascend in the same manner as if such persons had died in a natural way. Nor shall any article which shall accidentally occasion the death of any person be hence- forth deemed a deodand, or in any wise forfeited on account of such misfortune. All the laws which have heretofore been adopted, used, and approved in the province, colony, or state of New Hampshire, and usually practiced on in the courts of law, shall remain and be in full force until altered and repealed by the Legislature ; such parts thereof only excepted as are repugnant to the rights and liber- ties contained in this Constitution ; frovided, that noth- ing herein contained, when compared with the twenty- third article in the bill of rights, shall be construed to affect the laws already made respecting the persons or estates of absentees. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 137 The privilege and benefit of the habeas corpus shall be enjoyed in this State in the most free, easy, cheap, expeditious, and ample manner, and shall not be sus- pended by the Legislature except upon the most urgent and pressing occasions, and for a time not exceeding three months. The enacting style in making and passing acts, statutes, and laws, shall be. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Re-presentatives, in General Court con- vened. No president or judge of the superior court shall hold any office or place under the authority of this State except such as by this Constitution they are admitted to hold, saving that the judges of the said court may hold the offices of justices of the peace throughout the State ; nor shall they hold anjr place or office, or receive any pension or salary, from any other State, government, or power whatever. No person shall be capable of exercising at the same time more than one of the following offices within this State, viz., judge of probate, sheriff, register of deeds; and never more than two offices of profit which may be held by appointment of the president, or president and council, or Senate and House of Representatives, or superior or inferior courts ; military offices and offices of justices of the peace excepted. No person holding the office of judge of the superior court, secretary, treasurer of the State, judge of pro- bate, attorney-general, commissary-general, judge of the maritime court, or judge of the court of admiralty, military officers receiving pay from the Continent or this State, excepting officers of the militia occasionally called forth on an emergency, judge of the inferior court of common pleas, register of deeds, president, professor, or instructor of any college, sheriff, or officer of the customs, including naval officers, shall at the same time 10 138 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. have a seat in the Senate, or House of Representatives, or council ; but their beinij chosen or appointed to, and accepting the same, shall operate as a resignation of their seat in the Senate, or House of Representatives, or council ; and the place so vacated shall be filled up. No person shall ever be admitted to hold a seat in the Legislature, or any office of trust or importance under the government, who in the due course of law has been convicted of bribery or corruption in obtaining an elec- tion or appointment. In all cases where sums of money are mentioned in this Constitution, the value thereof shall be computed in silver at sm shillings and eight -pence per ounce. To the end that there may be no failure of justice, or danger arise to this State from a change of the form of government, all civil and military officers, holding com- missions under the government and people of New Hampshire, and other officers of the said government and people, at the time this Constitution shall take effect, shall hold, exercise, and enjoy all the powers and authorities to them granted and committed until other persons shall be appointed in their stead. All courts of law in the business of their respective depart- ments, and the executive and legislative bodies and persons, shall continue in full force, enjoyment, and exercise of all their trusts and employments until the General Court and the supreme and other executive officers under this Constitution are designated and in- vested with their respective trusts, powers, and authority. This form of government shall be enrolled on parch- ment and deposited in the secretary's office, and be a part of the laws of the land, and printed copies thereof shall be prefixed to the books containing the laws of this State in all future editions thereof. To preserve an efl!ectual adherence to the principles of the Constitution, and to correct any violations thereof, as well as to make such alterations therein as from MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 139 experience may be found necessary, the General Court shall, at the expiration of seven years from the time this Constitution shall take effect, issue precepts, or direct them to be issued from the secretary's office, to the several towns and incorporated places, to elect delegates to meet in convention for the purposes aforesaid ; the said delegates to be chosen in the same manner and pro- portioned as the representatives to the General Assem- bly ; provided, that no alteration shall be made in this Constitution before the same shall be laid before the towns and unincorporated places, and approved by two thirds of the qualified voters present, and voting upon the question. In Convention Held at Concord, The 31st Day of October, 1783. The returns from the several towns being examined, and it appearing that the foregoing bill of rights and form of government were approved of by the people, the same are hereby agreed on and established by the delegates of the people, and declared to be the civil Constitution for the State of New Hampshire, to take place on the first Wednesday in June, 1784 ; and that in the meantime the General Court, under the present government, make all the necessary arrangements for introducing this Constitution at that time, and in the man- ner therein described. NATHANIEL FOLSOM, President, P- T. Attest : J. M. Sewall, Secretary. 140 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Fourth Constitutional Convention ofiygi-ijg2. After a period of seven years, pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution of 1784, and agreeably to precepts issued for that purpose, a convention to revise the Con- stitution of New Hampshire assembled in Concord, on Wednesday, September 7, 1791. It organized by the election of Samuel Livermore, of Portsmouth, as presi- dent, and John Calf, of Hampstead, as secretary. Among the distinguished members of this body, be- sides its president and secretary, were William Plumer, of Epping, whose active part in this convention caused its work to be popularly known as Plumer's constitu- tion ; Jeremiah Smith, of Peterborough ; John Pickering, of Newington ; Edward St. Loe Livermore, of Ports- mouth ; Abiel Foster, of Canterbury ; Timothy Walker, of Concord ; Nathaniel Peabody, of Atkinson ; Joshua Atherton, of Amherst ; Major Benjamin Pierce, of Hills- borough ; Elisha Payne, of Lebanon; Gen. Joseph Cil- ley, of Nottingham ; Ebenezer Thompson, of Durham ; Moses Chase, of Cornish; and Jonathan Freeman, of Hanover. On September 8th the following Rules of Procedure were adopted : 1st. The President having taken the Chair and a Quorum being present, the Journal of the preceding day shall be read, to the end that any mistake maj^ be corrected that shall have been made in the entries. 2nd. No member shall speak to another or otherwise interrupt the business of the Convention while the Jour- nal is reading or when any member is speaking ; nor pass between the President and a member speaking. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 141 3rd. Every member when he speaks shall stand up and address the President and when he has finished shall sit down. 4th. No member shall speak more than twice in any one debate on the same day without leave of the Con- vention. 5th. When two members rise at the same time, the President shall name the person to speak, but in all cases the person first rising shall speak first. (P. 41.) 6th. When the President shall stand up to put the question, the members shall sit down and keep silence. 7th. No motion shall be debated until the same shall be seconded — and any member may at any time with- draw his motion. 8th. When a motion shall be made and seconded it shall if desired by the President or any member be re- duced to writing, delivered in at the table and read by the President before the same shall be debated. 9th. While a question is before the Convention, no motion shall be received, unless for an amendment, for postponing the main question, or to commit it, or to ad- journ. loth. The previous question being moved and seconded, the question from the Chair shall be, " Shall the main question be now put ? " and if the negative prevails the main question shall not then be put. (P. 42.) nth. If a question in debate contain sev- eral points, any member may have the same divided. I2th. Committees of less than five shall be nominated by the President, but Committees of five or more shall be chosen by ballot. 13th. Qiiestions of order shall be determined by the President, but any member may appeal to the Conven- tion ; and when a member is called to order, he shall 142 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. sit down until the question is determined, whether he is in order or not, which shall be decided without debate, but the member may explain. 14th. The 3-eas & nays if called for by any one mem- ber shall be entered on the Journal upon any proposi- tion moved to be sent out to the people as an amend- ment or alteration to the Constitution ; and each mem- ber present, and having heard the debates upon the particular question shall give his yea or nay except excused by a vote of the Convention : (p. 43.) — and in the same manner may the yeas and nays be taken and entered on the Journal upon all the amendments collect- ively agreed to by the Convention to be sent out to the people. 15th. Every question being put by the President shall be taken to be in the affirmative unless disputed by a member, on which case, the members shall be counted, beginning with those in the affirmative standing up, and then those in the negative the same ; and every member having heard the debates shall vote upon the question, except excused by a vote of the Convention. i6th. No person except a member or an officer of this Convention shall be allowed to come within the Bar of the Hr-'se, (i) except such public characters as the President may invite, for whom particular seats shall be assigned. 17th. That it be a rule in conducting business that in any stage of a Question a motion to postpone a further consideration of any matter in debate, be considered as in order, and the main question left open for future dis- cussion, (pp. 39-40, 42.) It was then voted " that the Constitution be read by sections or articles, in order that any member may offer his sentiments relative to any defects therein and pro- pose such alterations as he may think necessary." Eight days later it was voted : MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 148 "That Mr. Peabody, Mr. Plumer, Mr. Hoit, Mr. Smith (Meredith), Mr. Wallace, Mr. Atherton, Mr. Page (Charlestown), Mr. Kingsbury, Mr. Payne & Mr. Freeman, be a committee to take into consideration the Constitution and the Resolutions passed at this session, and the several motions for alterations that have not been acted upon, and prepare and report to the Conven- tion at the adjournment, alterations and amendments to be submitted to the people." On the same date, September i6, the Convention ad- journed until the second Wednesday of February, 1792, then to meet at Concord, (p. 57.) Pursuant to adjournment the Convention reassembled at Concord, February 8, 1792. In the absence of the president John Pickering was elected president fro tern. The Committee chosen in September last to take into consideration the Constitution and the Resolutions passed at that session and the several motions for alter- ations, reported their opinions as to alterations and their reasons therefor ; also the Constitution with the pro- posed alterations incorporated, (p. 63.) On February 24, 1792, this report having been amended and adopted, it was voted to submit to the legal voters of the State at elections to be held on the 7th of May, 1792, the proposed amendments to the Con- stitution in the form of seventy-two (72) questions, to be voted upon separately, (p. 112.) The text of these amendments, together with the vote, is given on pages 147+- On the same day the Convention adjourned to Wednes- day, May 30th, then to meet at Concord. 144 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Pursuant to adjournment the Convention reassembled at Concord, May 30, 1792. A committee appointed to canvass the votes cast on the proposed amendments to the Constitution reported to the Convention that forty-six (46) had been adopted and twenty-six (26) rejected. The fact that amend- ments had been rejected upon which some of those adopted depended made further changes imperative. On Monday, June 4th, it was voted, " That a Commit- tee be chosen to consider what further amendments to the Constitution are necessary to be sent out to the people. The Committee appointed were Mr. Page (Charlestown), Mr. Hoit & Mr. Livermore of Ports- mouth, and that they prepare an address to accompany the amendments." (p. 144.) (The editor of Province and State Papers, Vol. X, has searched in vain for an address as ordered to be sent out to the people.) (p. 144.) This Committee reported on the following day a new draft of parts of the Constitution embodying the changes necessary to make a consistent whole. Their report was accepted by the Convention, and it was voted to submit the new amendments to the legal voters on August 27, 1792, to be voted upon en bloc. The text of the amendments, together with the vote on them, is given on pages 171+. On June 5th the Convention adjourned to the first Wednesday of September, 1792. The Convention reassembled on September 5, 1792, when a canvass of the votes showed that the last amend- ments to the Constitution had been ratified. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 145 "Voted that Mr. Newcomb, Mr. Plumer, & Mr. E. S. Livermore, be a Committee to report to the Conven- tion a true copy of the Constitution as revised and agreed to by the people." (p. 167.) This Committee reported as follows : " In Convention held at Concord the fifth day of September, Anno Domini 1792, the returns from the several towns and incorporated places being examined, and it appearing that the foregoing Bill of Rights and form of government as amended by the Convention, were approved by more than two-thirds of the qualified voters present in town meetings and voting upon the question ; — the same are agreed on and established by the Delegates of the people in Convention, and declared to be the Civil Constitution of the State of New Hamp- shire." (p. 167.) The Convention then dissolved, just one year lacking two days from the date of their first assembling. Because of the large number of changes made in the Constitution by this Convention it has been popularly known as the " Constitution of 1792." But it will be seen from the seventy-two (72) amendments that they are in no sense a new Constitution. Judge Allen, in State V. Saunders, says, " ' The Constitution of 1792 ' is a misnomer. In article 20, of the Bill of Rights, and in article 89 of the second part of the Constitution ' here- tofore' means before 1784." (N. H. Reports, Vol. 66, p. 72.) The Journal of the Convention of 1791-2 has been printed in Vol. X, of the Province and State Papers, pp. 1-196. ARTICLES IN ADDITION TO AND AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION STATE OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE AGREED TO BY THE CONVENTION OF SAID STATE, AND SUBMITTED TO THE PEOPLE THEREOF FOR THEIR APPROBATION, AT A MEETING OF THE INHABITANTS DULY WARNED FOR THAT PURPOSE, TO BE HELD ON THE FIRST MONDAY OF MAY, BEING THE SEVENTH DAY OF THE MONTH, 17 9 2 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 149 UNDER THE HEAD BILL OF RIGHTS : That the following be added to the 6th article. I. But this shall not be construed to free a person from the obligation of his own contract, on his pretence of changing his religious persua- sion after making the contract. And whenever a minister is settled by any incorporated town or parish, any person dissenting shall have liberty, either at the meeting or previous to the ordination of the minister, or within one month after the vote obtained for his settlement, to enter his dissent with the town or parish clerk against paying or contributing toward the sup- port of such minister ; and all minors, who after such settlement shall come of age, and all inhabitants of such town or parish who are absent from the same at the time of such meeting or settlement, and all persons who after such settlement move into such town or parish to reside, shall have three months from the time of their coming of full age, returning into town or moving in to reside, as aforesaid, re- spectively, to enter their dissent with the town or parish clerk as aforesaid. And all persons who do not enter their dissent as aforesaid, shall be bound by the major vote of such town or parish, and it shall be considered as their voluntary contract : But all persons who enter their dissent as aforesaid shall not be bound by the vote of such town or parish, or considered as party to such contract, or in any way be compelled to contribute towards the support of the minister, nor shall any person be compelled to con- tribute towards the support of a minister who shall change from the sect or denomination of which he professed to be when he settled, to any other persuasion, sect or denomination. Rejected. II. Article 17. — That the word " Assembly " be expunged, and the word " Legislature" inserted. 150 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. in. Article i8. — That the words " those of," " dye," be expunged, and the word " offences" inserted. IV. Article 19, to be expunged and the following substituted in lieu thereof: viz. Every subject hath a right to be secure from all unreasonable searches and seizures of his person, his houses, his papers, and all his possessions ; . — Therefore all warrants to search suspected places, or arrest a person for examination, or trial in prosecutions for criminal matters, are contrary to this right, if the cause or foundation of them be not previously supported by oath or affirmation ; and if the order in the warrant to a civil officer, to make search in suspected places, or to arrest one or more suspected persons, or to seize their property, be not accompanied with a special designation of the persons or objects of search, arrest, or seizure; and no warrants ought to be issued but in cases, and with the formalities, prescribed by law. V. ' Article 20, to be expunged and the following substituted in lieu thereof: viz. In all controversies concerning property, and in all suits between two or more persons, excepting in cases wherein it hath been hereto- fore otherwise used and practiced, the parties have a right to a trial by jury, and this right shall be deemed sacred and inviolable ; but the Legislature may, by the constitution, be empowered to make such reg- ulations as will prevent parties from having as many trials by jury in the same suit or action as hath been heretofore allowed and practiced ; and to extend the civil jurisdiction of Justices of the Peace to the trial of suits where the sum demanded in damages doth not exceed four pounds, saving the right of appeal to either party ; — But no such regulations shall take away the right of a trial by Jury in any case, not in this arti- cle before excepted, unless in cases respecting mariners' wages. Rejected. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITQTION. 151 VI. Article 31, to be expunged and the following substituted in lieu thereof: viz. The Legislature shall assemble for the redress of public grievances, and for making such laws as the public good may require. VII. Article 35, to be expunged and the following substituted in lieu thereof: viz. It is essential to the preservation of the rights of every individual, his life, liberty, property & character, that there be an impartial inter- pretation of the Laws, and administration of Justice : It is the right of every citizen to be tried by judges as impartial as the lot of humanity will admit. It is therefore not only the best policy, but for the secu- rity of the rights of the people, that the Judges of the Supreme Judi- cial Court should hold their offices so long as they behave well, subject however to such limitations on account of age as may be provided by the Constitution of the State ; and that they should have honorable salaries ascertained and established by standing laws. UNDER THE HEAD GENERAL COURT. VIII. The Senate and House shall assemble every year, on the last Wednesday of Octor, and at such other times as they may Judge necessary and shall dissolve and be dissolved seven days next preceed- ing the last Wednesday of October, and shall bestiled the GENERAL COURT OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE. Rejected. IX. No member of the Genl Court shall take fees, be of Council, or act as Advocate, in any cause before either branch of the Legislature ; and upon due proof thereof such member shall forfeit his seat in the Legislature. 162 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. X. The doors of the galleries of each House of the Legislature shall be kept open to all persons who behave decently, except when the wel- fare of the State in the opinion of either branch shall require secrecy. SENATE. XI. That the several paragraphs under the head of Senate be expunged, and the following be substituted in lieu thereof: viz. The Senate shall consist of thirteen members who shall hold their office for one year from the last Wednesday of October next ensuing their election. Rejected. XII. And, that the State may be equally represented in the Senate, the Legislature shall from time to time divide the State into thirteen dis- tricts as nearly equal as may be, without dividing towns and unincor- porated places ; and in making this division they shall govern them- selves by the proportion of public taxes paid by the said districts, and timely make known to the inhabitants of the State the limits of each district. Rejected. XIII. The freeholders and other inhabitants of each district qualified as in this Constitution is provided, shall annually give in their votes for a Senator at some meeting holden in the month of March. XIV. The Senate shall be the first branch of the Legislature ; and the Senators shall be chosen in the following manner, viz. Every male inhabitant of each town and parish with town priviledges, and places unincorporated in this State, of twenty-one years of age and upwards, excepting paupers, and persons excused from paying taxes at their own request, shall have a right at the annual or other meetings of the inhabitants of said towns and parishes, to be duely warned and holden MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 153 annually forever in the month of March, to vote in the town or parish wherein he dwells, for the Senator in the district whereof he is a member. XV. Provided, nevertheless. That no person shall be capable of being elected a Senator who is not seized of a free-hold estate in his own right, of the value of two hundred pounds, lying within this State, ■who is not of the age of thirty years, and who shall not have been an Inhabitant of this State for seven years immediately preceeding his election ; and at the time thereof he shall be an inhabitant of the dis- trict for which he shall be chosen. Rejected. XVI. And every person, qualified as the Constitution provides, shall be considered an inhabitant for the purpose of electing and being elected into any office or place within this State, in the town, parish and plantation where he dwelleth and hath his home. XVII. And the inhabitants of plantations and places unincorporated, qual- ified as this Constitution provides, who are or shall be required to assess taxes upon themselves towards the support of government, or shall be taxed therefor, shall have the same priviledge of voting for Senators in the plantations and places wherein they reside, as the inhabitants of the respective towns and parishes aforesaid have. And the meetings of such plantations and places for that purpose, shall be holden annually in the month of March, at such places respectively therein, as the assessors thereof shall direct; which assessors shall have like authority for notifying the electors, collecting and returning the votes, as the Selectmen and Town Clerks have in their several towns by this Constitution. XVIII. The meetings for the choice of Governor, Counsellors and Senators shall be warned by warrant from the Selectmen, and governed by a mod- erator, who shall in the presence of the Selectmen (whose duty it shall 154 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. be to attend) in open meeting receive tlie votes of all the inhabitants of such towns and parishes present and qualified to vote for Senators, and shall in said meetings, in the presence of the said selectmen and of the town Clerk, in said meeting sort and count the said votes and make a public declaration thereof, with the name of every person voted for, and the number of votes for each person. And the town Clerk shall make a fair record of the same at large, in the Town book and shall make out a fair attested copy thereof, to be by him sealed up and directed to the Secretary of the State, with a superscription expressing the purport thereof: And the said Town clerk shall cause such attested copy to be delivered to the sheriflF of the County in which such town or parish shall he forty days at least before the last Wednesday of October, or to the Secretary of the State, at least thirty days before the said last Wednesday of October; — And the Sheriff of each county or his deputy shall deliver all such certificates by him received, into the Secretary's office at least thirty days before the last Wednesday of October. Rejected. XIX. And, that there may be a due meeting of the Senators on the last Wednesday of October annually, the Governor and a majority of the Council for the time being, shall as soon as may be, examine the returned copies of such records : and fourteen days before the said last Wednesday of October, he shall issue his summons to such per- sons as appear to be chosen Senators by a majority of votes, to attend and take their seats on that day : Provided Jievertheless, that for the first year, the said returned copies shall be examined by the Presi- dent and a majority of the Council then in office, and the said Presi- dent shall in like manner notify the persons elected, to attend and take their seats accordingly. Rejected. XX. And, in case there shall not appear to be a Senator elected by a majority of votes for any district, the deficiency shall be supplied in the following manner, viz : The members of the House of Represent- atives and such Senators as shall be declared elected, shall take the MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 155 names of the two persons having the highest number of votes in the district ; and out of these sliall elect by joint ballot, the Senator want- ing for such district; and in this manner, all such vacancies shall be filled up in every district of the State ; and in like manner all vacancies in the Senate arising by death, removal out of the State, or otherwise, shall be supplied as soon as may be, after such vacancies happen. Rejected. XXI. The Senate shall be final judges of the elections, returns and quali- fications of their own members as pointed out in this Constitution. XXII. The Senate shall have power to adjourn themselves, provided such adjournment do not exceed two days at a time ; — Provided neverthe- less^ That whenever they shall sit on the trial of any impeachment, they may adjourn to such time and place as they may think proper, although the Legislature be not assembled on such day or at such place. XXIII. The Senate shall appoint their President and other officers, and determine their own rules and proceedings : And not less than seven members of the Senate shall make a quorum for doing business ; and when less than eight members shall be present, the assent of five at least shall be necessary to render their acts and proceedings valid. XXIV. The Senate shall be a Court with full power and authority to hear, try and determine all impeachments made by the House of Represent- atives against any officer or officers of the State, for bribery, corrup- tion, mal-practice, or mal-administration in office, with full power to issue summons or compulsory process for convening witnesses before them, with all necessary powers incident to a Court of trials. But previous to the trial of such Impeachment the members of the Senate shall respectively be sworn, truly and impartially to try and determine 156 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. the charge in question according to evidence. And every officer im- peached for bribery, corruption, mal-practice, or mal-administration in office, shall be served with an attested copy of the Impeachment and order of Senate thereon, with such citation as the Senate may direct, setting forth the time and place of their sitting, to try the im- peachment ; which service shall be made by the sheriff or such other sworn officer as the Senate may appoint, at least fourteen days previous to the time of trial ; and such citation being duly served and returned, the Senate may proceed in the hearing of the Impeachment, giving the person impeached, if he shall appear, full liberty of producing witnesses and proofs, and of making his defence by himself and Council, and may also upon his refusing or neglecting to appear, hear the proofs in support of the impeachment, and render judgment thereon, — his non-appearance notwithstanding — and such Judgment shall have the same force and effect, as if the person impeached had appeared and pleaded on the trial. Their judgment, hovi'ever, shall not extend further than removal from office, disqualification to hold or enjoy any place of honor, trust, or profit under this State : but the party so convicted shall, nevertheless be liable to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to the laws of the land. When- ever the Governor shall be impeached, the Chief Justice of the Su- preme Judicial Court, shall during the trial preside in the Senate, but have no vote therein. UNDER THE HEAD HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. XXV. That the fifth Caragraph under this head be expunged and the fol- lowing added : All persons qualified to vote in the elections of Senators shall be intitled to vote within the district where they dwell in the choice of Representatives. Every member of the House of Representatives shall be chosen by ballot ; and for two years at least next preceeding his election, shall have been an inhabitant of this State ; shall have an estate within the district which he may be chosen to represent, of the value of one hundred pounds, one half of which to be a freehold. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 157 whereof he is seized in his own right ; and shall be at the time of his election, an inhabitant of the district he may be chosen to represent, and shall cease to represent such district immediately on his ceasing to be qualified as aforesaid. Rejected. XXVI. That the sixth article under said head be expunged and the follow- ing added : — The members of both Houses of the Legislature shall be compen- sated for their services out of the Treasury of the State by a Law made for that purpose ; such member attending seasonably and not depart- ing without licence. All intermediate vacancies in the House of Rep- resentatives, may be filled up from time to time in the same manner as annual elections are made. XXVII. The House of Representatives shall be judge of the returns, elec- tions & qualifications of its members, as pointed out in this Consti- tution. That the last paragraph under the Head of House of Repre- sentatives be expunged, and the following added; viz. XXVIII. The Journals of the Proceedings, & all the public acts of both Houses of the Legislature, shall be printed and published immediately after every adjournment, or prorogation ; and upon motion made by any one member, the yeas and nays upon any question, shall be entered in the Journals ; And any member of the Senate or House of Representatives shall have a right, on motion made at the time for that purpose, to have his protest or dissent with the reasons against any vote, resolve or bill passed, entered on the Journals. EXECUTIVE POWER. GOVERNOR. XXIX. The Governor shall be chosen annually in the month of March, & votes for Governor shall be received, counted, sorted, certified & 158 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. returned in the same manner as the votes for Senators ; & the Secre- tary shall lay the same before the Senate & House of Representatives, on the last Wednesday of October to be by them examined, and in case of an election by a majority of votes through the State, the choice shall be by them declared & published. Rejected. XXX. And the qualifications of electors of the Governor shall be the same as those for Senators ; and if no person shall have a majority of votes, the Senate & House of Representatives shall by joint ballot elect one of the two persons having the highest number of votes, who shall be declared Governor. XXXI. And no person shall be eligible to this office, unless at the time of his election he shall have been an inhabitant of this state for seven years next preceding ; & unless he shall be of the age of thirty years, and unless he shall at the same time, have an estate of the value of live hundred pounds, one half of which shall consist of a freehold in his own right within this State. Rejected. XXXll. In cases of disagreement between the two houses with regard to the time or place of adjournment or prorogation, the Governor, with advice of Council, shall have a right to adjourn or prorogue the Gen- eral Court not exceeding seven months at any one time, as he may determine the pubHc good may require, to meet at the place where the Gen' Court shall be at that time sitting; and he shall dissolve the same seven days before the said last Wednesday of October. Rejected. XXXIII. And in the case of any iftfectious distemper prevailing in the place where the said Court is to convene, or any other cause whereby dan- gers may arise to the health or lives of the members from their attend- ance, the Governor may direct the session to be holden at some other the most convenient place within the State. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 159 XXXIV. Every bill, which shall have passed both Houses of the General Court, shall before it become a law, be presented to the Governor; if he approve, he shall sign it ; but if not, he shall return it with his objections to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their Journal and proceed to recon- sider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent together with such objections to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered ; and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined 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 within five days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Legislature by their adjournment prevent its return ; — in which case it shall not be a law. Rejected. XXXV. Every resolve shall be presented to the Governor & before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or, being disapproved by him shall be repassed by the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules & limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. Rejected. XXXVI. All Judicial officers, the Attorney General, Solicitors, all Sheriffs, Coroners, Registers of Probate, & and all officers of the Navy, & General & field officers of the Militia shall be nominated & appointed by the Governor and Council ; & every such nomination shall be made at least three days prior to such appointment ; & and no appointment shall take place, unless a majority of the Council agree thereto.' The Governor & Council shall have a negative on each other both in the nominations & appointments. Every nomination & ap- pointment shall be signed by the Governor or Council ; & every negative shall be also signed by the Governor or Council who made the same. Rejected. 160 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. XXXVII. The Captains & Subalterns in the respective regiments shall be nominated by the field officers, & if approved by the Governor shall be appointed by him. Rejected. XXXVIII. Whenever the Chair of the Governor shall become vacant by rea- son of his death, absence from the State or otherwise, the President of the Senate, shall, during such vacancy, have and exercise all the powers and authorities which by this Constitution the Governor is vested with when personally present : But when the President of the Senate shall exercise the office of Governor, he shall not hold his office in the Senate. XXXIX. The several paragraphs under the head " President," in the Consti- tution, shall be altered by expunging the word " President," and in- serting the word Governor in lieu thereof. XL. And the second, third, fourth, sixth, ninth, sixteenth, and last par- agraph, under the head, " President " in the Constitution, shall be expunged, and be considered as no longer in force. Rejected. COUNCIL. XLI. The several paragraphs under the head Council in the Constitution shall be expunged, and the following substituted in lieu thereof: There shall be annually elected by ballot five Councillors for advis- ing the Governor in the Executive part of Government : The free- holders and other inhabitants in each county qualified to vote for Senators, shall some time in the month of March give in their votes for one Councillor; — which votes shall be received, sorted, counted, certified and returned to the Secretary's office, in the same manner as MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 161 the votes for Senators, to be by the Secretary laid before the Senate and house of Representatives on the last Wednesday of October. Rejected. XLII. And the person having a majority of votes in any County shall be considered as duly elected a Councillor : But if no person shall have a majority of votes in any County the Senate and House of Represent- atives shall take the names of the two persons who have the highest number of votes in each County and not elected, and out of those two shall elect by joint ballot, the Councillor wanted for such County. XLIII. Provided nevertheless^ That no person shall be capable of being elected a Councillor, who has not an estate of the value of five hun- dred pounds, within this State, three hundred pounds of which or more shall be a freehold in his own right ; and who is not thirty years of age, and who shall not have been an inhabitant of this State for seven years immediately preceeding his election, and at the time of his election an inhabitant of the County in which he is elected. Rejected. XLIV. The Secretary shall annually, seventeen days before the last Wednesday of October, give notice of the choice of the persons elected. Rejected. XLV. If any person shall be elected Governor or member of either branch of the Legislature, and shall accept the trust, or if any person elected as Councillor shall refuse to accept the office, or in case of the death, resignation, or removal of any Councillor out of the State, the Gov- ernor may issue a precept for the election of a new Councillor in that County where such vacancy shall happen, and the choice shall be in the same manner as before directed. The Governor shall have power and authority to convene the Council from time to time at his discre- tion, and with them or the majority of them, may and shall from time to time hold a Council for ordering and directing the affairs of the State according to the law of the land. 162 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. XLVI. The members of the Council may be impeached by the House and tried by the Senate for bribery, corruption, mal-practice or mal-admin- istration. The resolutions and advice of the Council shall be recorded by the Secretary in a register, and signed by all the members present agreeing thereto ; and this record may be called for at any time by either House of the Legislature ; and any member of the Council may enter his opinion contrary to the resolutions of the majority, with the reasons for such opinion. XLVII. The Legislature may, if the public good shall hereafter require it, divide the State into five districts as nearly equal as may be, govern- ing themselves by the number of rateable polls and proportion of public taxes, each District to select a Councillor; and in case of such division, the manner of the choice shall be conformable to the present mode of election in Counties. XLVin. And whereas the elections appointed to be made by this Constitu- tion on the last Wednesday of October annually by the two Houses of the Legislature may not be completed on that day, the said elections may be adjourned from day to day until the same shall be completed. And the order of the elections shall be as follows : The vacancies in the Senate, if any, shall be first filled up; the Governor shall then be elected, provided there shall be no choice of him by the people, and afterwards the two houses shall proceed to fill up the vacancy, if any, in the CounciL Rejected. Under the head secretary, &c. XLIX. The Secretary of the State shall at all times have a deputy to be by him appointed, for whose conduct in oiifice he shall be responsible, and in case of the death, removal or inability of the Secretary, his deputy shall exercise all the duties of the office of Secretary of this State until another shall be appointed. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 163 L. The Secretary before he enters upon the business of his ofBce, shall give bond with sufficient sureties in a reasonable sum for the use of the State, for the punctual performance of his trust. COUNTY TREASURER, &C. LL That the paragraph under this head in the Constitution be ex- punged, and the following substituted in the lieu thereof: The County Treasurer and Register of Deeds, shall be elected by the inhabitants of the several Towns in the several Counties in the State, according to the method now practiced and the laws of the State ; Provided nevertheless, the Legislature (shall have authority) to alter the manner of certifying the votes and the mode of electing those officers, but not so as to deprive the people of the right they now have of electing them. LII. And the Legislature on the application of the major part of the inhabitants of any County shall have authority to divide the same into two districts, for registering deeds, if to them it shall appear necessary — each district to elect a Register of deeds. LIII. The County Treasurer and Register of deeds before they enter upon the business of their offices, shall be respectively sworn faith- fully to discharge the duties thereof, and shall severally give bond with sufficient sureties in a reasonable sum for the use of the County or District, for the punctual performance of their respective trusts. JUDICIARY POWER. LIV. It shall be the duty of the General Court to make a reform in the Judiciary system, that justice may be administered in a more cheap and expeditious manner than is now practiced ; and that no party shall have a review after the cause has been determined against him twice by Jury. Rejected. 164 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. LV. The General Court are hereby empowered to make alterations in the power and jurisdiction of the Courts of common pleas and (General Sessions of the peace respectively ; or if they shall judge it necessary for the public good, to abolish those Courts, or either of them, and invest such other courts as they may establish, with the jurisdiction and powers now vested in the Courts of common pleas and Courts of General Sessions of the peace, as the General Court may from time to time judge expedient for the due administration of law and justice. Rejected. LVI. And it shall be the duty of the General Court to vest in such Court or Courts of law as to them may appear expedient, the power of granting new trials, or a trial after judgment, either upon verdict of a Jury, default, non-suit, or complaint for affirmation of judgment, in all cases wheie substantial justice has not been done (except as before excepted) in such manner and under such restrictions and regulations as to the General Court may appear for the public good ; — Provided, application be made for such reviews or trial within one year from the rendition of judgment. Rejected. LVll. For the more effectually preserving the proper separation of the three great powers of Government agreeably to the 37th article in the Bill of rights, the power of hearing and deciding in causes of equity shall be vested either in some judicial Court or Courts, or in some Court to be established specially for that purpose : Provided, no power shall be granted to any such Courts incompatible with the Bill of rights and Constitution ; and the powers of said Courts shall be limited and defined by express laws — and no suit in equity shall be sustained where clear and adequate remedy may be had at law. Rejected. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 165 LVIII. The General Court are empowered to give justices of the peace jurisdiction in civil causes when the damages demanded shall not exceed four pounds, and title of real estate is not concerned ; but with right of appeal to either party to some other court, so that a trial by Jury in the last resort may be had. LIX. No person shall hold the office of Judge of any Court, or Judge of Probate, or Sheriff of any County after he has attained the age of seventy years. LX. No Judge of any Court or justice of the peace shall act as attorney, or be of counsel to any party, or originate any civil suit in matters which shall come or be brought before (him) as judge or justice of the peace. LXI. All matters relating to the Probate of Wills and granting letters of administration, shall be exercised by the Judges of probate in such manner as the Legislature have directed or may hereafter direct — and the judges of probate shall hold their Courts at such place or places on such fixed days as the conveniency of the people may require, and the legislature from time to time appoint. LXII. No judge or register of probate shall be of counsel, act as advocate, or receive any fees as advocate or counsel in any probate business which is pending or may be brought into any Court of Probate, in the county of which he is judge or register. LXIII. That the paragraph under the head "clerks of court" in the Constitution be expunged, and the following substituted : — viz. 166 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. LXIV. The Judges of the Courts (those of Probate excepted) shall appoint their respective clerks, to hold their office during pleasure. And no such clerk shall act as an attorne)', or be of council in any cause in the Court of which he is clerk, nor shall he draw any writ originating a civil action. LXV. That the paragraph in the Constitution under the head, "dele- gates TO CONGRESS," be expunged. LXVI. The Oath of allegiance in the Constitution shall be expunged, and the following shall be substituted in lieu thereof: I, A. B. . . . do solemnly swear that I will bear faith and true allegiance to the State of New Hampshire, and will support the Constitution thereof: — So help me God. LXVII. Any person having taken and subscribed the oath of allegiance shall not be obliged to take said oath again. LXVIII. And the Oath or affirmations shall be taken and subscribed by the Governor before the President of the Senate, in presence of both houses of the Legislature, and by the Senators and Representatives first elected under this Constitution as amended and altered, before the President of the State and a majority of the Councillors then in office ; and forever afterwards before the Governor and Council for the time being ; and by all other officers, before such persons and in such manner as the Legislature shall from time to time appoint. LXIX. That the 15th paragraph in this Constitution under the head "OATHS & subscriptions" *c. be expunged, and the following substituted in lieu thereof, viz. ; MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 167 LXX. No person holding the office of Judge of any Court — except special Judges — Secretary, Treasurer of the State, Attorney General, Com- missary General, Military Officers receiving pay from the Continent or this State, — excepting officers of the militia occasionally called forth on an emergency, — Register of deeds. Sheriff or officer of the Customs, including Naval officers. Collectors of excise and State and Continental taxes hereafter appointed, and not having settled their accounts with the respective officers with whom it is their duty to settle such accounts, members of Congress or any person holding an office under the United States, shall at the same time hold the office of Governor, or have a seat in the Senate or House of Rep- resentatives or Council ; but his being chosen and appointed to, and accepting the same, shall operate as a resignation of his seat in the Chair of the Senate or House of Representatives or Council, and the place so vacated shall be filled up. No member of the Council shall have a seat in the Senate or House of Representatives. LXXI. To the end that there may be no failure of justice or danger to the State by the alterations and amendments made in the Constitution, the General Court is hereby fully authorized and directed to fix the time when the Amendments and alterations shall take effect, and make the necessary arrangment accordingly. That the last para- graph in the Constitution be expunged, and the following substituted in lieu thereof, viz. : LXXII. It shall be the duty of the Selectmen and Assessors of the several towns and places in this State, in warning the first annual meeting for the choice of Senators, after the expiration of seven years from the adoption of this Constitution as amended, to insert expressly in the warrant this purpose, among the others, for the meeting, to wit : To take the sense of the qualified voters on the subject of a revision of the Constitution : And the meeting being warned accordingly, and 168 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. not otherwise, the Moderator shall take the sense of the qualified vot- ers present, as to the necessity of a revision ; and a return of the number of votes for and against such necessity, shall be made by the clerk, sealed up, and directed to the General Court, at their then next session ; and if it shall appear to the General Court, by such returns, that the sense of the people of the State has been taken, and that in the opinion of the majority of the qualified voters in the State present, and voting at said meeting, there is a necessity for a revision of the Constitution, it shall be the duty of the General Court to call a Con- vention for that purpose ; otherwise, the General Court shall direct the sense of the people to be taken, and then proceed in the manner before mentioned. The delegates to be chosen in the same manner and proportioned as the representatives to the General Court : — Pro- vided, that no alterations shall be made in this Constitution, before the same shall be laid before the towns and unincorporated places, and approved by two thirds of the qualified voters present, and voting on the subject. And the same method of taking the sense of the people, as to the revision of the Constitution and calling a Convention for that purpose, shall be observed afterwards at the expiration of every seven years. JOHN PICKERING, Presidetit, P. T. Attest: John Calfe, Secretary. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 169 VOTE ON ARTICLES OF AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, SUBMITTED TO THE PEOPLE MAY 7, 1792. **-< . H-, = « °a u O u »-5 ■2" |g c§ t a§ e§ i fS 3 s> 03 !2i°' >H K ^^ >< ^ 1 994 3,993 37 2,077 1,558 2 3,760 '293 38 2,422 1,113 3 3,567 462 39 2,467 1,220 4 3,336 594 40 2,10t 1,270 5 2,511 1,554 41 2,287 1,336 6 3,080 969 42 2,553 1,044 7 3,173 914 43 1,929 1,584 8 1,627 2,226 44 2,102 1,320 9 4,285 219 45 2,356 1,113 10 4,330 144 46 4,623 820 11 2,128 1,846 47 2,384 1,092 12 2,407 1,478 48 2,165 1,248 13 2,624 1,219 49 2,748 649 14 2,722 1,102 50 3,284 371 15 2,300 1,500 51 2,391 1,019 16 2,542 1,174 52 2,869 714 17 2,763 1,065 53 3,111 426 18 2,343 1,541 54 2,16S 1,368 19 2,135 1,657 55 1,540 1,911 20 2,329 1,191 56 2,156 1,192 21 2,693 1,034 57 1,883 1,340 22 2,946 813 58 2,228 1,103 23 2,565 1,007 59 2,607 912 24 2,868 800 60 3,140 499 25 2,406 1,255 61 2,899 450 26 2,653 1,120 62 3,268 294 27 2,883 489 63 2,540 404 28 3,087 460 64 2,905 439 29 2,018 1,769 65 2,852 302 30 2,475 1,163 66 3,037 300 31 2,203 1,454 67 3,085 205 32 1,920 1,611 68 2,244 907 33 2,659 1,081 69 2,127 682 34 2,319 1,258 70 2,499 867 35 2,183 1,330 71 3,104 226 36 2,327 1,196 72 3,327 187 12 ARTICLES IN ADDITION TO AND AIvlENDlVIENT CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OE NEVi/ HAMPSHIRE AGKEED TO BY THE CO N VE N T I O N OK SAID STATE AND SUBMITTED TO THE PEOPLE THEREOF FOR THEIR APPROBATION AUGUST 27, 1792. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 173 In Convention held at Concord, the last Wednesday of May, 1792, BY adjournment. Whereas upon examining tiie returns from the several towns and un- incorporated places, it appears that under the heads senate, governor and cotmcil, many articles are approved by twro thirds of the voters ; and many are not approved, by reason whereof said amendments are rendered inconsistant, and contradictory : And the convention not having the power to reject what has been approved by the people as aforesaid, THEREFORE, resolved. That articles be again sent out to be laid before the several towns and unincorporated places, on the twenty seventh day of August next, that the whole may be approved or rejected ; and that return thereof be made to the convention on the Jifth day of September next. And that the articles which have been already approved by more than two thirds of the voters, and not inconsistant or contradictory, be printed, that it may be known what articles have been ratified by the people. And whereas, if the articles now sent out are not approved by two thirds of the qualified voters, the last clause in the exclusion bill, which is in the following words, "No member of the council shall have a seat in the senate or house of representatives," will be repug- nant to other parts of the constitution — Therefore resolved. That an article be sent out for expunging said clause. ARTICLE. "No member of the council shall have a seat in the senate or house of representatives," shall be expunged. SENATE. The senate shall consist of twelve members, who shall hold their office for one year from the first Wednesday of June next ensuing their election. And that the State may be equally represented in the senate, the legislature shall, from time to time, divide the state into twelve districts, as nearly equal as may be without dividing towns and unin- corporated places ; and in making this division, they shall govern 174 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. themselves by the proportion of direct taxes paid by the said dis- tricts, and timely malce known to the inhabitants of the state the limits of each district. The freeholders and other inhabitants of each district, qualified as in this constitution is provided shall annually give in their votes for a senator, at some meeting holden in the month of March. The senate shall be the iirst branch of the legislature ; and the senators shall be chosen in the following manner, viz. Every male inhabitant of each town, and parish with town privileges, and places unincorporated, in this state, of twenty-one years of age and up- wards, excepting paupers, and persons excused from paying taxes at their own request, shall have a right, at the annual or other meetings of the inhabitants of said towns and parishes, to be duly warned and holden annually forever in the month of March, to vote in the town or parish wherein he dwells, for the senator in the dis- trict whereof he is a member. Provided nevertheless. That no person shall be capable of being elected a senator, who is not of the Protestant religion, and seized of a freehold estate, in his own right, of the value of two hundred pounds, lying within this state, who is not of the age of thirty years, and who shall not have been an inhabitant of this state for seven years immediately preceeding his election, and at the time thereof he shall be an inhabitant of the district for which he shall be chosen. And every person, qualified as the constitution provides, shall be considered an inhabitant for the purpose of electing and being elected into any office or place within this state, in the town, parish, and plantation, where he dwelleth and hath his home. And the inhabitants of plantations and places unincorporated, qualified as this constitution provides, who are or shall be required to assess taxes upon themselves towards the support of government, or shall be taxed therefor, shall have the same privilege of voting for senators, in the plantations and places wherein they reside, as the inhabitants of the respective towns and parishes aforesaid have. And the meetings of such plantations and places for that purpose, shall be holden annually in the month of March, at such places respectively therein as the assessors thereof shall direct ; which assessors shall MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 175 have like authority for notifying the electors, collecting and returning the votes, as the selectmen and town clerks have in their several towns by this constitution. The meetings for the choice of governour, council, and senators, shall be warned by a warrant from the selectmen, and governed by a moderator, who shall, in the presence of the selectmen, (whose duty it shall be to attend) in open meeting, receive the votes of all the inhabitants of such towns and parishes present, and qualified to vote for senators ; and shall, in said meetings, in presence of the said selectmen, and of the town clerk, in said meeting, sort and count the said votes, and make a public declaration thereof, with the name of every person voted for, and the number of votes for each person ; And the town clerk shall make a fair record of the same at large, in the town book, and shall make out a fair attested copy thereof, to be by him sealed up and directed to the secretary of the state, with a superscription expressing the purport thereof: And the said town clerk shall cause such attested copy to be delivered to the sheriff of the county in which such town or paiish shall lie, thirty days at least before the first Wednesday of June, or to the secretary of the state at least twenty days before the said first Wednesday of June : And the sheriff of each county, or his deputy, shall deliver all such certificates by him received into the Secretary's office, at least twenty days before the first Wednesday of June. And that there may be a due meeting of senators on the first Wednesday of June annually, the governor, and a majority of the council for the time being, shall, as soon as may be, examine the returned copies of such records, and fourteen days before the first Wednesday of June, he shall issue his summons to such persons as appear to be chosen senators, by a majority of votes, to attend and take their seats on that day. Provided nevertheless. That for the first year the said returned copies shall be examined by the president, and a majority of the council then in office ; and the said president shall, in like manner, notify the persons elected, to attend and take their seats accordingly. And in case there shall not appear to be a senator elected by a majority of votes, for any district, the deficiency shall be supplied in 176 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. the following manner, viz. Tlie members of tiie house of represent- atives, and such senators as shall be declared elected, shall take the names of the two persons having the highest number of votes in the district, and out of them shall elect, by joint ballot, the senator wanted for such district ; and in this manner all such vacancies shall be filled up, in every district of the state, and in like manner all vacancies in the senate, arising by death, removal out of the state, or otherwise, shall be supplied, as soon as may be after such vacancies happen. The senate shall be final judges of the elections, returns, and quali- fications, of their own members, as pointed out in this constitution. The senate shall have power to adjourn themselves, provided such adjournment do not e-xceed two days at a time. Provided neveriluless. That whenever they shall sit on the trial of any impeachment, they may adjourn to such time and place as they may think proper, although the legislature be not assembled on such day, or at such place. The senate shall appoint their president, and other officers, and determine their own rules of proceedings ; And not less than seven members of the senate shall make a quorum for doing business ; and when less than eight senators shall be present, the assent of five, at least, shall be necessary, to render their acts and proceedings valid. The senate shall be a court, with full power and authority to hear, try, and determine, all impeachments made by the house of repre- sentatives against any officer or officers of the state, for bribery, cor- ruption, mal-practice, or mal-adniinistration, in office; with full power to issue summons, or compulsory process, for convening witnesses before them : But previous to the trial of any such impeachment, the members of the senate shall respectively be sworn truly and impar- tially to try and determine the charge in question, according to evidence. And every officer, impeached for bribery, corruption, mal- practice, or mal-administration in office, shall be served with an attested copy of the impeachment, and order of senate thereon with such citation as the senate may direct, setting forth the time and place of their setting to try the impeachment ; which service shall be made by the sheriif, or such other sworn officer as the senate may appoint, at least fourteen days previous to the time of trial : and such citation MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 177 being duly served and returned, the senate may proceed in the hear- ing of the impeachment, giving the person impeached, if he shall appear, full liberty of producing witnesses and proofs, and of making his defence, by himself and counsel, & may also, upon his refusing or neglecting to appear hear the proofs in support of the impeachment, and render judgment thereon, his non-appearance notwithstanding; and such judgment shall have the same force and effect as if the per- son impeached had appeared and pleaded in the trial. Their judg- ment, however, shall not extend further than removal from office, disqualification to hold or enjoy any place of honour, trust, or profit, under this state ; but the party so convicted, shall nevertheless be liable to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to the laws of the land. Whenever the Governor shall be impeached, the chief justice of the supreme judicial court shall, during the trial, preside in the senate, but have no vote therein. EXECUTIVE POWER. GOVERNOR. There shall be a Supreme Executive Magistrate, who shall be styled the Governor of the State of Newhampshire, and whose title shall be HIS EXCELLENCY. The Governor shall be chosen annually in the month of March ; and the votes for Governor shall be received, sorted, counted, certified and returned, in the same manner as the votes for senators ; and the secretary shall lay the same before the senate and house of representa- tives, on the first Wednesday of June to be by them examined, & in case of an election by a majority of votes thro' the state, the choice shall be by them declared and published. And the qualifications of electors of the governor shall be the same as those for senators ; and if no person shall have a majority of votes, the senate and house of representatives shall, by joint ballot elect one •of the two persons having the highest number of votes, who shall be declared governor. 178 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. And no person shall be eligible to this office, unless, at the time of his election, he shall have been an inhabitant of this state for seven years next preceeding, and unless he shall be of the age of thirty years, and unless he shall, at the same time have an estate of the value of five hundred pounds, one half of which shall consist of a freehold, in his own right, within this state, and unless he shall be of the protes- tant religion. In cases of disagreement between the two houses, with regard to the time or place of adjournment or prorogation, the governor, with advice of council, shall have a right to adjourn or prorogue the general court, not exceeding ninety days at any one time, as he may determine the public good may require, and he shall dissolve the same seven days before the said first Wednesday of June. And, in case of any infectious distemper prevailing in the place where the said court at any time is to convene, or any other cause, whereby dangers may arise to the health or lives of the members from their attendance, the governor may direct the session to be holden at some other the most convenient, place within the stale. Every bill which shall have passed both houses of the general court, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the governor, if he approve, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it, with his objec- tions, to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it ; if, after such reconsideration, two thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with such objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if ap- proved by two thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined 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, within five days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the legislature, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law. Every resolve shall be presented to the governor, and, before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 179 by him, shall be repassed by the senate and house of representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. All judicial officers, the attorney-general, solicitors, all sheriffs, coroners, registers of probate, and all officers of the navy, and general and field officers of the militia shall be nominated and appointed by the governor and council ; and every such nomination shall be made at least three days prior to such appointment ; and no appointment shall take place, unless a majority of the council agree thereto. The governor and council shall have a negative on each other, both in the nominations^and];appointments. Every nomination and appointment shall be signed by the governor and council, and every negative shall be also signed by the governor or council who made the same. The captains and subalterns, in the respective regiments shall be nominated and recommended by the field officers to the governor, who is to issue their commissions immediately on receipt of such recom- mendation. Whenever the chair of the governor shall become vacant, by reason of his death, absence from the state, or other wise, the president of the senate shall during such vacancy, have and exercise all the pow- ers and authorities which, by this constitution the governor is vested with, when personally present; but when the president of the senate shall exercise the office of governor, he shall not hold his office in the senate. The governor, with advice of the council, shall have full power and authority, in the recess of the general court, to prorogue the same from time to time, not exceeding ninety days, in any one recess of said court ; and during the sessions of said court, to adjourn or pro- rogue it to any time the two houses may desire, and to call it together sooner than the time to which it may be adjourned, or prorogued, if the welfare of the state should require the same. The governor of this state for the time being shall be commander- in-chief of the army and navy, and all the military forces of the state, by sea and land ; and shall have full power by himself, or by any chief commander, or other officer, or officers, from time to time, to train, instruct, exercise and govern the miUtia and navy ; and for the special defence and safety of this state, to assemble in martial array. 180 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. and put in warlike posture, the inhabitants thereof, and to lead and conduct them, and with them to encounter, repulse, repel, resist and pursue by force of arms, as well by sea as by land, within and without the limits of this state; and also to kill, slay, destroy, if necessary, and conquer by all fitting ways, enterprize and means, all and every such person and persons as shall, at any time hereafter, in a hostile manner, attempt or enterprize the destruction, invasion, detriment or annoyance of this state ; and to use and exercise over the army and navy, and over the militia in actual service, the law martial in time of war, invasion, and also in rebellion, declared by the legislature to exist, as occasion shall necessarily require : And surprize, by all ways and means whatsoever, all and every such person or persons, with their ships, arms, ammunition, and other goods, as shall in a hostile manner invade, or attempt the invading, conquering or annoying this state ; and in fine, the governor hereby is entrusted with all other powers incident to the office of captain general and commander in chief, and admiral, to be exercised agreeably to the rules and regulations of the constitution, and the laws of the land : Provided, that the Gov- ernor shall not, at any time hereafter, by virtue of any power by this constitution granted, or hereafter to be granted to him by the legisla- ture, transport any of the inhabitants of this state, or oblige them to march out of the limits of the same, without their free and voluntary consent or the consent of the general court, nor grant commissions for exercising the law martial in any case, without the advice and consent of the council. The power of pardoning offences, except such as persons may be convicted of before the senate, by impeachment of the house, shall be in the Governor, by and with the advice of the council : But no char- ter of pardon granted by the Governor, with advice of council, before conviction, shall avail the party pleading the same, notwithstanding any general or particular expressions contained therein, descriptive of the offence or offences intended to be pardoned. No officer duly commissioned to command in the militia shall be removed from his office, but by the address of both houses to the Governour, or by fair trial in court-martial, pursuant to the laws of the state for the time being. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 181 The commanding officers of the regiments shall appoint their Adju- tants and Quarter-masters; the Brigadiers, their Brigade- Majors; the Major Generals, their Aids ; the Captains and Subalterns, their non- commissioned officers. The Governor and council shall appoint all officers of the continental army, whom, by the confederation of the United States, it is provided that this state shall appoint ; as also all officers of forts and garrisons. The division of the militia into brigades, regiments and companies, made in pursuance of the militia laws now in force, shall be consid- ered as the proper division of the militia of this state, until the same shall be altered by some future law. No monies shall be issued out of the treasury of this state, and disposed of, (except such sums as may be appropriated for the redemp- tion of bills of credit, or Treasurer's notes, or for the payment of inter- est arising thereon) but by warrant under the hand of the Governor for the time being, by and with the advice and consent of the council, for the necessary support and defence of this state, and for the neces- sary protection and preservation of the inhabitants thereof, agreeably to the acts and resolves of the General Court. All public boards, the commissary-general, all superintending offi- cers of public magazines and stores belonging to this state, and all commanding officers of forts and garrisons within the same, shall, once, in every three months, officially, and without requisition, and at other times when required by the Governor, deliver to him an ac- count of all goods, stores, provisions, ammunition, cannon, with their appendages and all small arms, with their accoutrements, and of all other public property under their care respectively ; distinguishing the quantity and kind of each, as particularly as may be ; together with the condition of such forts and garrisons : and the commanding officer shall exhibit to the governor, when required by him true and exact plans of such forts, and of the land and sea, or harbour or har- bours adjacent. The Governor and council shall be compensated for their services, from time to time, by such grants as the general court shall think rea- sonable. Permanent and honourable salaries shall be established by law, for the justices of the superiour court. 182 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. There shall be annually elected, by ballot, five councillors, for ad- vising the governor in the executive part of government. The free- holders and other inhabitants in each county, qualified to vote for senators, shall some time in the month of March, give in their voles for one councillor ; which votes shall be received, sorted, counted, certified, and returned to the secretary's office, in the same manner as the votes for senators, to be by the secretary laid before the senate and house of representatives on the first Wednesday of June. And the person having a majority of votes in any county, shall be considered as duly elected a councillor : But if no person shall have a majority of votes in any county, the senate and house of representa- tives shall take the names of the two persons who have the highest number of votes in each county, and not elected, and out of those two shall elect by joint ballot, the councillor wanted for such county, and the qualifications for councillors shall be the same as for sena- tors. If any person thus chosen a councillor, shall be elected governor or member of either branch of the legislature, & shall accept the trust : or if any person elected a councillor, shall refuse to accept the office; or in case of the death, resignation, or removal of any councillor out of the state : the Governor may issue a precept for the election of a new councillor in that county where such vacancy shall happen ; and the choice shall be in the same manner as before directed : And the Governor shall have full power and authority to convene the council, from time to time, at his discretion ; and, with them, or the majority of them, may, and shall, from time to time, hold a council, for ordering and directing the affairs of the state, according to the laws of the land. The members of the council may be impeached by the house, and tried by the senate, for bribery, corruption, mal-practice, or mal- administration. The resolutions and advice of the council shall be recorded by the secretary, in a register, and signed by all the members present agree- ing thereto ; and this record may be called for at any time, by either MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 183 house of the legislature ; and any member of the council may enter his opinion contrary to the resolutions of the majority, with the rea- sons for such opinion. The legislature may, if the public good shall hereafter require it, divide the state into five districts, as nearly equal as may be, govern- ing themselves by the number of rateable polls, and proportion of pub- lic taxes ; each district to elect a councillor: And, in case of such division, the manner of the choice shall be conformable to the present mode of election in counties. And whereas the elections, appointed to be made by this constitu- tion, on the first Wednesday of June annually by the two houses of the legislature, may not be completed on that day, the said elections may be adjourned from day to day, until the same be completed: and the order of the elections shall be as follows — the vacancies in the senate, if any, shall be first filled up : the Governor shall then be elected, provided there shall be no choice of him by the people : And afterwards, the two houses shall proceed to fill up the vacancy, if any, in the council. When the foregoing amendments shall become a part of the consti- tution of this state the several paragraphs now in the constitution established the thirty-first day of October 1783, under the several heads senate executive power, or president ; and under the head council, be considered as no longer in force. In convention, voted, that the amendments now to be sent out, be printed with the following certificate at the end, viz. I, John Philpot, town clerk of Somersworth, do certify, that at a legal meeting duly warned and held in the town of Somersworth, in the county of Strafford, this 27th day of August, anno domini 1792, for the purpose of considering the foregoing amendments to the con- stitution of the state of New Hampshire, as agreed upon in conven- tion ; that there were 14 voters present who voted for the amend- ments, and I voter present who voted against the amendments. Attest : John Philpot, Town Clerk. 184 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. In convention resolved, that the following articles of amendments being approved by the people, are so unconnected with other articles, that there is no necessity for again submitting them to the people, to be voted upon, viz. The 2. 3. 4. 6- 7- 9. lo. 26. 27. 28. 39. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. but that said articles be printed, that the people may be informed what is already ratified. II. That the word assembly, be expunged, and the word legislature inserted. III. That the words " those 0/" be expunged, and the word " dye " be expunged, and the word '■'■ offetices" inserted. IV. Every subject hath a right to be secure from all unreasonable searches and seizures of his person, his houses, his papers and all his possessions — therefore all warrants to search suspected places, or ar- rest a person for examination, or trial in prosecutions for criminal matters, are contrary to this right if the cause or foundation of them be not previously supported by oath or affirmation, and if the order in a warrant to a civil officer to make search of suspected places, or to arrest one or more suspected persons, or to seize their property, be not accompanied with a special designation of the persons or objects of search or seizure ; and no warrant ought to be issued but in case, and with the formalities prescribed by law. VI. The legislature shall assemble for the redress of public grievances and for making such laws as the public good may require. VII. It is essential to the preservation of the rights of every individual, his life, liberty, property, and character, that there be an impartial interpretation of the laws and administration of justice. It is the right MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 185 of every citizen to be tried by judges as impartial as the lot of liuman- ity will admit, it is therefore not only the best policy, but for the security of the rights of the people, that the judges of the supreme judicial court should hold their offices so long as they behave well ; subject however to such limitations on account of age as may be pro- vided by the constitution of the state, and that they should have hon- orable salaries ascertained and established by standing laws. IX. No member of the general court shall take fees, be of council, or act as advocate in any cause before either branch of the legislature, and upon due proof thereof, such member shall forfeit his seat in the legislature. X. The doors of the galleries of each house of the legislature, shall be kept open to all persons who behave decently, except when the wel- fare of the state in the opinion of either branch shall require secrecy. XXVI. The members of both houses of the legislature shall be compen- sated for their services out of the treasury of the state, by a law made for that purpose, such members attending seasonably, and not depart- ing without licence. All intermediate vacancies in the house of representatives may be filled up from time to time, as the annual elections are made. XXVII. The house of representatives shall be judge of the returns, elec- tions, and qualifications of its members ; as pointed out in this consti- tution. XXVIII. The journals of the proceedings, and all public acts of both houses of the legislature shall be printed and published immediately after every adjournment or prorogation : And upon motion made by any 13 186 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. one member the yeas and nays upon any question shall be entered on the journals ; and any member of the senate or house of representa- tives shall have a right on motion made at the time for that [Durpose to have his protest or dissent with the reasons against any vote, re- solve or bill passed, entered on the journals. XXXIX. The several paragraphs under the head President in the constitution shall be altered by expunging the word President, and inserting the word Governor in lieu thereof. XLIX. The Secretary of the State shall at all times have a deputy to be by him appointed, for whose conduct in office he shall be responsible, and in case of death, removal or inability of the Secretary, his deputy shall exercise all the duties of the office of Secretary of this state, until another shall be appointed. L. The Secretary before he enters upon the business of his office, shall give bond with sufficient sureties in a reasonable sum, for the use of the state, for the punctual performance of his trust. LI. The county treasurer and register of deeds shall be elected by the inhabitants of the several towns in the several counties in the state, according to the method now practiced ; and the laws of the state, provide nevertheless, the legislature shall have authority to alter the manner of certifying the votes & the mode of electing those officers, but not so as to deprive the people of the right they now have of electing them. LII. And the legislature, on the application of the major part of the in- habitants of any county, shall have authority to divide the same into two districts for registering deeds if to them it shall appear necessary, each district to elect a register of deeds. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 187 LIII. The county treasurer and register of deeds before they enter upon the business of their offices shall be respectively sworn faithfully to discharge the duties thereof, and severally give bond with sufficient sureties in a reasonable sum for the use of the county or district, for the punctual performance of their respective trusts. LVIII. The general court are impowered to give to justices of the peace jurisdiction in civil causes where the damages demanded shall not ex- ceed four pounds, and title of real estate is not concerned but with right of appeal to either party to some other court, so that a trial by jury in the last resort may be had. LIX. No person shall hold the office of judge of any court, or judge of probate, or sheriff of any county after he has attained the age of seventy years. LX. No judge of any court, or justice of the peace shall act as attorney, or be of counsel to any party, or originate any civil suit in matters which shall come or be brought before him as a judge or justice of the peace. LXI. All matters relating to the probate of wills, and granting of letters of administration shall be exercised by the judges of probate in such manner as the legislature have directed, or may hereafter direct. And the judges of probate shall hold their courts at such place or places on such fixed days as the conveniency of the people may re- quire, and the legislature from time to time appoint. LXII. No judge or register of probate shall be of counsel, act as advocate, or receive any fees as advocate or counsel in any probate business which is pending or may be brought into any court of probate in the county of which he is judge or register. 188 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. LXIII. That the para^jraphs under the head of clerks of courts, in the con- stitution, be expunged, and the following substituted. LXIV. The judges of the courts, those of the probate excepted, shall appoint their respective clerks to hold their office during pleasure, and no such clerk shall act as an attorney or be of counsel in any cause in the court of which he is clerk, nor shall he draw any writ originating a civil action. LXV. That the paragraphs in the constitution under the head delegates to Congress be expunged. LXVI. The oath of allegiance in the constitution shall be expunged and the following substituted in lieu thereof, viz. I A. B. do solemnly swear, that I will bear faith and true allegiance to the state of Newhampshire, and will support the con- stitution thereof. So help me God. LXVir. Any person having taken and subscribed the oath of allegiance shall not be obliged to take said oath again. LXVIII. And the oaths or affirmations shall be taken and subscribed by the Governor before the President of the senate in presence of both houses of the legislature, and by the senators and representatives first elected under this constitution as amended and altered, before the President of the state, and a majority of the council then in oflSce, and forever afterwards before the Governor and council for the time being, and by all other officers, before such persons, and in such manner as the legislature shall from time to time appoint. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 189 LXIX. That the fifteenth paragraph in the constitution, under the head oaths, subscriptions, &c. be expunged and the following substituted in lieu thereof. LXX. No person holding the office of judge of any court (except special judges) Secretary, Treasurer of the state, attorney general, commis- sary general, military officers, receiving pay from the Continent or this state, excepting officers of the militia, occasionally called forth on an emergency. Register of deeds sheriff or officer of the customs, in- cluding naval officers Collectors of excise, and state and continental taxes hereafter appointed and not having settled their accounts with the respective officers with whom it is their duty to settle such accounts, members of Congress, or any person holding an office under the United States, shall at the same time hold the office of Governor, or have a seat in the senate or house of representatives or council, but his being chosen and appointed to and accepting the same shall operate as a resignation of his seat in the chair, senate, or house of representatives or council, and the place so vacated shall be filled up. No member of the council shall have a seat in the senate or of house of representatives. LXXI. To the end that there may be no failure of justice, or danger to the state by the alterations and amendments made in the constitution, the general court is hereby fully authorized and directed to fix the time when the amendments and alterations shall take effect ; and make the necessary arrangements accordingly. That the last paragraph in the constitution be expunged, and the following substituted in lieu thereof, viz. LXXII. It shall be the duty of the selectmen and assessors of the several towns and places in this state, in warning the first annual meeting for the choice of senators, after the expiration of seven years from the 190 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. adoption of this constitution, as amended to insert expressly in the warrant, this purpose among the others, for the meeting, to wit : to talce the sense of the qualified voters on the subject of a revision of the constitution. And the meeting being warned accordingly and not otherwise, the moderator shall take the sense of the qualified voters present, as to the necessity of a revision, and a return of the number of votes for, and against such necessity, shall be made by the clerk, sealed up and directed to the general court at their then next ses- sion. And if it shall appear to the general court by such returns, that the sense of the people of the state has been taken and that in the opinion of the majority of the qualified voters, in the state present, and voting at said meetings, there is a necessity for a revision of the constitution ; it shall be the duty of the general court to call a con- vention for that purpose, otherwise the general court shall direct the sense of the people to be taken, and then proceed in the manner before mentioned. The delegates to be chosen in the same manner, and proportioned as the representatives to the general court ; provided, that no altera- tions shall be made in this constitution, before the same shall be laid before the towns and unincorporated places ; and approved by two thirds of the qualified voters present, and voting on the subject. — And the same method of taking the sense of the people, as to the revision of the constitution, and calling a convention for that purpose ; shall be observed afterwards at the expiration of every seven years. SAMUEL LIVERMORE, President. Attest: JOHN CALFE, Secretary. Vote on Articles of Amend.^ient to Constitution of New Hampshire, submitted to the people Aug. 27, 1792. Ayes, 2,122; Noes, 978. Constitution Unchanged, 1792 to 18^2. Notwith- standing the people were periodically given opportunity by the General Court to order the calling of another constitutional convention, they declined to do so, and MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 191 the constitution as amended in 1792 was the fundamen- tal law of the State for nearly sixty years. No other State of the American Union has preserved any constitu- tion ratified by the people unmodified for so long a period, although North Carolina closely approached it. The following table shows the dates of the approval of the several acts of the Legislature during that period, providing for taking the sense of the qualified voters on the expediency of calling a convention to revise the constitution, and the aggregate, the affirmative and the negative votes on the question as returned by the town clerks : Date of act. Total. Yea. Nay. 1799, December 13 1806, June 11 1820, December 11 1833, January 6 1833, July 6 1837, July 1 1844, June 19 1846, July 10 1849, July 7 6,724 2,478 12,626 1,722 16,260 2,407 16,441 4,623 18,156 5,973 19,651 2,821 31,849 10,865 16,998 4,583 43,359 28,877 4,246 10,903 13,853 11,818 12,183 16,830 20,994 12,415 14,482 Fifth Constitutional Convention, iS^o-^i. On Wednesday, November 6, 1850, this convention assem- bled in Concord, and organized by electing Franklin Pierce of Concord, president, and Thomas J. Whipple of Laconia, secretary. 192 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. The following Rules of Procedure were adopted by the convention : 1. The President shall take the chair at precisely the hour to which the Convention shall have adjourned, shall immediately call the members to order, and at the commencement of each day's session shall cause the journal of the preceding day to be read. He shall preserve decorum and order, and may speak on points of order in preference to other members, and may substitute any member to per- form the duties of the chair, such substitution not to extend beyond an adjournment. 2. All committees shall be appointed by the President, unless otherwise directed by the Convention ; and the first named member of any committee appointed by the President shall be chairman. 3. In case of any disturbance or disorderly conduct in the galleries, the President, or chairman of the committee of the whole Convention, shall have the power to order the same to be cleared. 4. No person but the members and officers of the Convention shall be admitted within the chamber, unless by invitation of the President or of some member of the Convention. 5. When a member is about to speak in debate or deliver any matter to the Convention, he shall rise and address himself to the President. 6. No member shall speak more than twice to the same question without leave of the Convention. 7. When any question is under debate no motion shall be received but, 1st, to adjourn ; 2d, to lie on the table; 3d, to postpone to a day certain ; 4th, to commit ; sth, to amend; which several motions shall take precedence in which they are arranged. Motions to ad- journ and lie on the table shall be decided without debate. 8. Any member may call for a division of the question, when the sense will admit of it ; but a motion to strike out and insert shall not be divided. 9. A motion for commitment, until it is decided, shall precede all amendments to the main question ; and all motions and reports may be committed at the pleasure of the Convention. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 193 10. No vote shall be reconsidered unless the motion for reconsid- eration be made by a member who voted with the majority. 11. Every question shall be decided by yeas and nays whenever a demand for the same shall be made and sustained by at least ten members. 12. The Convention may resolve itself into a committee of the whole Convention, at any time, on the motion of a member, and in forming a committee of the whole the President shall leave the chair and appoint a chairman to preside in committee ; and the rules of proceeding in Convention, and the rule relating to calls for the yeas and nays, shall be observed in committee of the whole, excej^t the rule limiting the times of speaking. 13. After the journal has been read and corrected, the order of business shall be as follows, viz. . 1st. The presentation of petitions ; 2nd. The report of committees ; 3rd. The unfinished business of the preceding day. On November 8th the president announced the stand- ing committees, naming their chairmen as follows : On the Bill of Rights, Ichabod Bartlett, Portsmouth. The Executive Department, Samuel Swasey, Haverhill. The Legislative Department, Charles G. Atherton, Nashville. The Judicial Department, Levi Woodbury, Portsmouth. The Militia, John Wadleigh, Meredith. The Religious and Property Test, William P. Weeks, Canaan. 194 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. Amendments to the Constitution, George W. Nesmith, Franklin. Miscellaneous and subjects not otherwise provided for, Bening W. Jenness, Strafford. Revising Business, James Bell, Gilford. On Education, Levi W. Leonarde, Dublin. Some of the other leading members of this conven- tion were William Plumer, Jr., of Epping : Gilman Marston and J. G. Hoit, of Exeter; Thomas E. Saw- yer, of Dover ; Charles Lane, of Gilford ; Joel East- man, of Conway; N. G. Upham and George Minot, of Concord; William C. Clarke, of Manchester ; Edmund Parker and George Y. Sawyer, of Nashua ; Daniel Abbott, of Nashville ; John H. Steele, of Peterborough ; Edwin D. Sanborn, of Hanover; Samuel Swasey, of Haverhill. This convention revised the constitution by consider- ing it under the separate and consecutive heads in Com- mittee of the Whole. The various proposed amend- ments and resolutions were then sent to special and appropriate committees as instructions from the conven- tion. The convention was in session from November 6 to November 22, 1850, and from December 3 to Janu- ary 3, 1851. Besides the changes affecting the ratio and basis of representation those of the most impor- tance approved by the convention were provisions for MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 195 a Lieutenant-Governor, for biennial sessions, to abolish the council, to provide for a Commissioner of Agricul- ture, a state Superintendent of Public Instruction, and a Railroad Commissioner, and to divide the state into fifteen senatorial districts for the election of thirty senators. It was voted to submit the amendments to the people for their approval at the annual town meetings to be held on the second Tuesday of March, 185 1, in the form of fifteen (15) questions. These questions and the amendments, with the popular vote thereon, are given on a following page. On January 3 the convention adjourned to April 16, 1851. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION, Proposed 185 i. First Series. [The numbers of articles first herein below cited are those of the constitution of 1783, as amended in 1792, and printed in Poor's " Constitutions and Charters" (second edition) 1878. (Part II, pp. 1294-1308.) The numbers of articles in quotation marks correspond to those in the constitution authorized by the convention of 1850-51, embodying its proposed amendments. The following amendments, with few exceptions, do not appear in the Journal of the convention of 1850-51, except in their appropriate places in the draft of the constitution authorized by that convention. They have been extracted by comparison of the text of the consti- tution as amended in 1792 with the draft previously 196 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. named of 1850-51 ; and the extracts have been arranged under what by reference to the fifteen questions sub- mitted to the people appear to be their appropriate numerals.] BILL OF RIGHTS. Article 6. Strike out this article, and in lieu thereof insert " Art. 6. As morality and piety, rightly grounded on the principles of the Bible, will give the best and greatest security to government, and will lay in the hearts of men the strongest obligations to due subjection, and as the knowledge of these is most likely to be propagated through society by the institution of the public worship of the Deity, and of public instruction in morality and religion, therefore to promote those important purposes, the People of this State have the right to em- power, and do hereby fully empower, the several religious societies which may at any time exist within this State, to make adequate pro- vision, at their own expense, for the support and maintenance of pub- lic teachers of piety, religion and morality : provided, that such relig- ious societies shall at all times have the exclusive right of electing their own public teachers and of contracting with them for their support and maintenance ; and no person of any one particular religious sect or denomination, shall ever be compelled to pay towards the support of a teacher, or teachers, of another persuasion, sect or denomination ; and every religious denomination, demeaning themselves quietly, and as good subjects of the State, shall be equally under the protection of the law ; and no subordination of any one sect or denomination to another shall ever be established by the law. Art. 12. Strike out the words " to which they or their representa- tive body, have given their consent," and insert in lieu thereof, "enacted in conformity to this Constitution and that of the United States." Art. 20. Strike out this article and insert in lieu thereof the fol- lowing : "Art. 20. In all controversies concerning property, and in MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 197 all suits between two or more persons, except in cases otherwise pro- vided for in tlie Constitution or laws made in pursuance thereof by the Legislature, the parties have a right to trial by jury, but the court shall try the facts as well as the law in cases where the parties agree." Art. 34. Strike out the words, " but by the authority of the Leg- islature." After Art. 34, insert the following : "Art. 35. Arrest or imprisonment on mesne or final process, founded on contract, shall not be allowed, unless the creditor, or his agent, shall previously make affirmation of his belief that the debtor has fraudulently concealed or conveyed his property to place it beyond the reach of his creditors, or is about to leave the State to avoid the payment of his debts." Art. 35. Strike out the words " It is therefore, not only the best policy, but for the security of the rights of the people, that the judges of the supreme judicial court should hold their offices so long as they behave well : subject, however, to such limitations on account of age as may be provided by the constitution of the State ; and that they shall have honorable salaries, ascertained and established by standing laws." Art. 36. Strike out the words "especially in a young one"; and also strike out the word " one " and insert " two" in lieu thereof. Art. 38. Strike out this article and insert: "Art. 40. Knowledge and learning generally infused through a community being essential to the preservation of a free government, and spreading the opportunities and advantages of education through the various parts of the country, being highly conducive to promote this end, it shall be the duty of the Legislature and magistrates, in all future periods of this government, to cherish the interests of litera- ture and the sciences, and all seminaries and public schools ; to en- courage private and public institutions, rewards and immunities for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manu- factures and natural history of the country; to countenance and incul- cate the principles of humanity and general benevolence, public and 198 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. private charity, industry and economy, honesty and punctuality, sin- cerity, sobriety and all social alTections and generous sentiments among the People." Add numbering it Art. 41 the following: "Art. 41. Perpetuities are contrary to the genius of a free government, and shall never be allowed ; and the Legislature shall have the power at all times to alter, amend or repeal any legislative act conferring corporate powers, fran- chises or privileges, as the public good shall be deemed to demand." Rejected. II. Strike out Arts. 9, 10, 11, and insert in lieu thereof the following: " Art. 14. There shall be in the Legislature of this State a repre- sentation of the People elected once in two years, and founded upon principles of equality ; and in order that such representation may be as equal as circumstances will admit, every town, or place entitled to town privileges, having one hundred and seventy-five ratable polls of twenty-one years of age and upwards, who shall have resided in this State six months or more immediately preceding the election, paupers and foreigners not naturalized excepted, may elect one representative ; if seven hundred and fifty ratable polls, may elect two representa- tives ; if fifteen hundred and fifty ratable polls, may elect three repre- sentatives ; if twenty-five hundred and fifty ratable polls, may elect four representatives; and so proceeding, making one thousand such rata- ble polls the mean increasing number for every additional representa- tive after the third. Such towns or places as have less than one hun- dred and seventy-five ratable polls may elect a representative such proportion of the time as the number of their ratable polls shall bear to one hundred and seventy-five : provided that such towns and places as shall not have one hundred and seventy-five ratable polls, and shall be conveniently located for that object, may, on application to the Legislature, be classed for the choice of a representative, such classed towns not to contain less than one hundred and seventy-five ratable polls in each representative district so formed : and provided, further, that all towns, cities or places, which now are, or hereafter may be, divided into sections or wards for the choice of representatives, shall, MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 199 for the purposa of apportioning the number of representatives to the number of ratable polls, be considered as undivided: and provided, further, that such towns and places as have less than one hundred and seventy-five ratable polls, and are entitled to representation a portion of the time under this Constitution, shall have the right to elect a representative at the first election under this Constitution, as a part of that portion, and that the Legislature may prescribe the manner, in which their rights of election, as to their proportional time, shall be determined ; leaving to said towns, or places, as far as is consistent with this Constitution, the selection of the years when they will exer- cise their rights." Rejected. III. Arts 25, 26. Strike out these articles and in lieu thereof insert the following : "Art. 28. The Senate shall consist of thirty members, who shall hold their office for two years from the first Wednesday of June next following their election." "Art. 29. And that the State may be equally represented in the Senate, the Legislature shall, from time to time, divide the State into fifteen districts, in each of which two Senators shall be elected, and make known to the inhabitants of the State the limits of such districts. Each of these senatorial districts shall be formed of contiguous terri- tory, of compact and convenient form, and of ratable polls as nearly equal as may be without dividing towns or cities. Changes in the senatorial districts may be made by the Legislature, for the purpose of rendering the number of ratable polls more equal, not oftener than once in six years." Art. 29. Add at the end of this article the words, "and shall cease to be a Senator when he ceases to be an inhabitant of the dis- trict." Art. 34. Strike out this article and insert in lieu thereof the fol- lowing : " Art. 37. And in case there shall not appear to be two Senators elected for any district, the deficiency shall be supplied in the follow- ing manner, viz : the members of the House of Representatives, and 200 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. such Senators as shall be declared elected, shall take the names of the two persons, neither of whom are elected, having the highest number of votes in said district, if there is one Senator wanted for said dis- trict, and if two Senators are wanted for said district, the names of the four persons having the highest number of votes in said district, and out of them shall elect, by joint vote, the Senator or Senators wanted for such district. And in this manner all such vacancies shall be filled in every district of the State ; and in a like manner all vacan- cies in the Senate arising by death, removal out of the district, or otherwise, shall be supplied as soon as may be after such vacancies happen." Art. 37. Strike out this article and insert in lieu thereof the fol- lowing : "Art. 40. The Senate may appoint a President pro tempore and other officers, and determine their own rules of proceeding; and not less than twenty members of the Senate shall make a quorum for doing business; and when not more than twenty-two Senators shall be pres- ent, the assent of fifteen, at least, shall be necessary to render their acts and proceedings valid." Rejected. IV. Art. 40. Insert after the word " Governor" the words, "or lieu- tenant Governor." After Art. 41 insert : "Art. 45. There shall also be a Lieutenant Governor of the State, whose title shall be His Honor ; and v.hose duty it shall be to preside in the Senate ; but he shall have no vote therein, except in case of an equal division." Art. 42. Strike out this article and insert in lieu thereof the fol- lowing : "Art. 46. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be chosen biennially in the month of March ; and the votes of these offi- cers shall be received, sorted, counted, certified, and returned, in the same manner as the votes for Senators; and the Secretary .■-hall lay MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 201 the same before the Senate and House of Representatives on the first Wednesday of June biennially, to be by them examined ; and in case of an election by a plurality of votes through the State, the choice shall be by them declared and published. And the qualifications of electors of Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be the same as those of Senators. But should it ever so happen that there shall be no choice of Governor or Lieutenant Governor by a plurality of votes by reason of two or more persons voted for for the same office, having an equal number of votes, then the Senate and House of Representa- tives shall by joint vote elect one of the two or more persons having the highest number of votes for said oflSces respectively ; and shall declare him Governor or Lieutenant Governor as the case may be. And no person shall be eligible to either of these offices, unless at the time of his election he shall be of the age of thirty years, and shall have been an inhabitant of this State for seven years next preceding." Art. 49. Strike out this article and insert in lieu thereof the fol- lowing : ' ' Art. 5 1 . Whenever the office of Governor shall become vacant by reason of his death, absence from the State, or otherwise, the Lieutenant Governor shall, during such vacancy, have and exercise all the powers and authorities with which the Governor, by this Con- stitution, is vested, when personally present ; and in case the office shall become vacant by reason of the death of the Lieutenant Gov- ernor, or other cause, the President pro tem of the Senate shall during such vacancy, have and exercise the same powers and authorities ; but when the Lieutenant Governor, or President pro tempore of the Senate, shall exeicise the office of Governor, he shall not preside in the Senate.'' Art. 51. Strike out this article and insert in lieu thereof the fol- lowing : "Art. 53. The Governor of this State, for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy, and all the military forces of the State, by sea and land ; and shall have full power, by himself or by any chief commander, or other officer or officers, from time to time, to train, instruct, exercise and govern the militia and navy; to 202 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. call forth the militia and to put in warlike posture the inhabitants of the State ; to execute the laws of the State and of the United States ; to suppress insurrection and to repel invasion ; and, in fine, the Gov- ernor is hereby entrusted with all other powers incident to the office of captain general and commander-in-chief, and admiral, to be exercised agreeably to the rules and regulations of the Constitution and the laws of the land : Provided that the Governor shall not at any time hereafter, by virtue of any power by this Constitution granted or hereafter to be granted to him by the Legislature, transport any of the inhabitants of this State, or oblige them to march out of the limits of the same, without their free and voluntary consent, or the consent of the Legis- lature, nor grant commissions for exercising the law martial in any case, without the advice and consent of the Senate." Art. 58. Strike out the word, " Council " and insert in lieu thereof the words, " Lieutenant Governor." Art. 84. Strike out the word, "Councillor" and insert in lieu thereof the words, " Lieutenant Governor." Art. 85. Insert after the word " governor" the words, " and lieu- tenant Governor." After "Art. 87 " insert the following: "Art. 88. The Governor, upon address of both Houses of the Legislature, except where a different mode of removal is provided, may remove any of the foregoing officers for incapacity or malversation in office." Art. 93. Insert after the word " Governor " the words "Lieuten- ant Governor." Art. 95. Insert after the word " governor" the words, " or Lieu- tenant Governor." Rejected. V. Art. 3. Strike out this article and insert in lieu thereof the follow- ing: " Art. 3. The Senate and House shall assemble once in two years, on the first Wednesday of June next following their election, and at such other times as they may judge necessary ; and shall dissolve MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 203 and be dissolved seven days next preceding tlie first Wednesday of June two years after ; and shall be styled the " Legislature of New Hampshire." Arts. 12, i6, 37, 38, 31, 33, 42. Strike out the word " annually" wherever it occurs and insert in lieu thereof the word " biennially." Rejected. VI. Arts. 46, 47, 48. Strike out these articles and insert in lieu thereof the following : " Art. 50. All officers, whose election orappointment is not other- wise provided for, shall be nominated by the Governor and confirmed by a majority of the Senate ; and every such nomination shall be made at least three days prior to such confirmation. The nomination shall be in writing, signed by the Governor, and the confirmation or rejec- tion shall be signed by the presiding officer of the Senate." Art. 67. Strike out this article and insert in lieu thereof the fol- lowing : " Art. 63. The Secretary of the State and State Treasurer shall be elected by the People, in the same manner, and for the same term, as is provided for the election of Governor." Art. 73. Insert at the beginning of this article the following: " All judicial and other officers shall be duly sworn ; and" Art. 74. Strike out this article. Art. 76. Add at the end of this article the following words : " and the Legislature shall have power to authorize the trial by jury of all cases in equity, under such rules and regulations as they may, from time to time, ordain or establish." After "Art. 76" insert the following: "Art. "JT . County Judges, Judges of Probate, Registers of Pro- bate, Sheriffs and County Solicitors shall be chosen by a plurality of the qualified voters in the several counties, and shall hold their offices for four years." After "Art. 78" insert the following: " Art. 79. Officers of the Militia shall be elected, or appointed, in such manner as the Legislature shall from time to time direct, and shall be commissioned by the Governor." 204 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. "Art. 80. Commissioners in other States, Bank Commissioners, Notaries Public, Justices of the Peace, Justices of the Quorum, Justi- ces of the Peace throughout the State, Commissary General and other officers whose mode of appointment shall not be otherwise provided for in this Constitution, or by the Legislature, shall be appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate, and their duties and term of office shall be defined by the Legislature." "Art. 81. The Superintendent of the Asylum for the Insane shall be appointed by the Trustees of that institution, and removable at their pleasure." '• Art. 82. The Warden of the State Prison shall be appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate ; and two Commissioners shall be appointed in the same manner, who, together with the Gov- ernor, shall constitute a Board of Supervisors of the State Prison. And the Warden shall be removable at the pleasure of said board. The duties of said board shall be prescribed by the Legislature." After "Art. 83" insert the following: " Art 84. Officers shall be chosen, or appointed, to supply va- cancies occurring in any public office, in the same manner in which the same was originally filled ; but the Governor shall appoint in the case of vacancies occuring in the offices in which, according to the foregoing provisions, the election or appointment is to be made for the State at large, and also in the case of vacancies in the office of County Judges." "Art. 85. The Judges of Probate, in the several counties, shall fill vacancies in the office of Registers of Probate." "Art. 86. The County Judges, or, in case there shall at the time be no such Judges, the Governor, shall fill vacancies occuring in county offices." "Art. 87. The officers appointed to fill vacancies, in all the foregoing cases, shall hold their offices only until successors shall be chosen, or appointed, by the regular appointing power." Rejected. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 205 VII. Arts. 77, 78. Strike out these articles and insert the following in lieu thereof: " Art. 72. There shall be chosen in each town not less than two nor more than three Trial Justices, who shall have exclusive original jurisdiction in all civil cases where the amount in controversy shall not exceed fifty dollars, unless in cases where the title to real estate is concerned the Legislature shall otherwise provide ; and the Legisla- ture is authorized to extend the jurisdiction of such Justices to such further amount, not exceeding one hundred dollars in all, as they shall deem expedient ; and in any case pending before any Trial Justice, either party shall have the right to a trial by jury, which shall consist of not more than six in number. In all cases where the amount in controversy shall exceed the sum of twenty dollars, either party shall have the right of appeal ; but in all cases where a less amount shall be in controversy, the decision shall be final, both as to the law and the facts, subject only to such right of review as the Legislature may prescribe. And in all cases of appeal, the Legislature may provide that the party who appeals shall give security for the costs that may be recovered against him, and for the payment of double costs by such party in all cases in which the decision shall not be changed upon appeal." After ''Art. "j^j ,''^ insert the following: "Art. 78. Police Magistrates shall be elected by the voters of cities for four years ; and Trial Justices by the voters of towns for two years." Rejected. VIII. Art. 14. Strike out the words "shall have an estate within the district which he may be chosen to represent, of the value of one hun- dred pounds, one-half of which to be a freehold whereof he is seized in his own right" and " shall be of the Protestant religion." Art. 29. Strike out the words, " who is not of the Protestant Re- ligion and seized of a freehold estate in his own rights of the value of two hundred pounds lying within the State." Rejected. 206 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. IX. Arts. 98, 99, 100, loi. Strike out these articles and insert in lieu thereof the following : "Art. 108. 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 a majority of the members elected to each house, such proposed amendment, or amendments, shall then be entered on their respective journals, with the yeas and nays taken thereon, and referred to the Legislature then next to be chosen, and shall be duly published. And if in the Legislature next afterwards to be chosen, such proposed amendment, or amendments, shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each house, and the same be recorded on their journals, and the yeas and nays taken thereon as aforesaid, then it shall be the duty of the Legislature to submit such proposed amendment, or amendments to the People, and if two-thirds of the qualified voters of this State, present and voting thereon, at meetings duly called and warned for that purpose, shall approve and ratify the same, then such amendment, or amendments, shall become a part of the Constitution : provided that no amend- ment, or amendments, shall be submitted to the People oftener than once in six years ; and if more than one amendment be submitted, they shall be submitted in such manner and form that the People may vote for or against each amendment proposed to any and every provision of the Constitution separately." Rejected. X. After Art. 81 insert the following articles : " Art. 76. Judges of the Supreme Court, and other Judges having jurisdiction throughout the State, the Attorney General and Railroad Commissioners, shall be chosen, by ballot, by a plurality of the qualified voters throughout the State, and shall hold their offices for six years : provided, however, that the Legislature, in order that the Justices of the Supreme Court and the Railroad Commissioners may not all vacate their offices at the same time, may provide that those who may be first elected under this Constitution, may hold their offices for different and shorter periods." Rejected. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 207 XI. Art. 83. Strike out this article and insert in lieu thereof the fol- lowing : "Art. 8g. The Legislature shall make provision for the establish- ment and maintenance of free common schools, at the public expense, and for the assessment and collection, annually, in the several towns and places in this State, of a sum not less than one hundred and twenty-five dollars for every dollar of State taxes, apportioned to them respectively, to be applied exclusively to the support of such schools." "Art. 90. The supervision of public instruction shall be vested in a State Superintendent, and such other officers as the Legislature shall direct." "Art. 91. The State Superintendent shall be chosen, biennially, by the qualified electors of the State, in such manner as the Legisla- ture shall provide ; his powers, duties and compensation shall be pre- scribed by law." Rejected. XII. " Art. 92. There shall also be chosen, biennially, by the qualified electors of the State, a Commissioner of Agriculture, whose duties and compensation, shall be prescribed by law. Rejected. XIII. " Art. 10. All elections by the People shall be determined by a plurality of votes." Rejected. XIV. Arts. 5, 43, 50, 52, 56. Strike out wherever they occur the words "with advice and consent of Council." Art. 23. Strike out the words "governor and council." Arts. 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65. Strike out these articles. Art. 66. Strike out the words "And afterwards the two houses shall proceed to fill up the vacancy, if any, in the Council." 208 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Art. 94. Strike out the words "and council," and insert in lieu thereof the words, "and senate"; also add between the last two words of said article the following words: "trial justices, coroners and notaries public." Rejected. XV. Arts. l-ioi. Strike out the words "general court" wherever they occur and insert the word " Legislature" in place thereof. Art. 5. Insert after the word "constitution" where it first occurs the words, "or the Constitution of the United States" and after the words "government thereof" the words, "to provide for the enroll- ment, organizing and disciplining of the Militia, in such manner as they may deem expedient, not repugnant to the Constitution and Laws of the United States." After Art. 8 insert the following article : "Art 9. All elections by the Legislature, or by either branch thereof, shall be viva voce." After "Art. 10" insert the following: "Art. II. The Legislature shall have no power, unless by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to either branch thereof, to borrow money or otherwise involve the State in debt, to an amount exceeding one hundred thousand dollars, except in case of war, in- vasion or insurrection." "Art. 12. No town, or incorporated place, shall have the right, either directly or indirectly, to suffer their credit to be used for the especial benefit of any corporation, nor to raise money for the purpose of loaning the same to any corporation, nor for taking stock therein." "Art. 13. The Legislature shall never authorize any lottery, but shall prohibit, the sale of lottery tickets within the State." Art. 24. Strike out the word "one" where it first appears and insert the word "ten" in lieu thereof; also strike out the word "one" where it occurs the second time and insert the word "two" in lieu thereof. Art. 28. Strike out the words, "persons excused from paying taxes at their own request" and insert in lieu thereof the words, " foreigners not naturalized." MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 209 Art. 32. Strike out this article and insert in lieu thereof the following : "Art. 35. The meetings for the choice of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Senators and other oiificers required to be elected by this Constitution, shall be warned by warrant from the selectmen, and governed by a moderator, who shall, in the presence of the selectmen, whose duty it shall be to attend, in open meeting, receive the votes of all the inhabitants of such towns, wards and places, present, and qualified to vote for Senators ; and shall in said meetings, in the presence of the said selectmen and of the town clerk, sort and count the said votes and make a public declaration thereof, with the name of every person voted for, and the number of votes for each person ; and the town clerk shall make a fair record of the same at large in the town book, and shall make out a fair attested copy thereof, to be by him sealed up and directed to the Secretary of State, with a super- scription expressing the purport thereof; and the said town clerk shall cause such attested copy to be delivered to the Secretary of State, at least thirty days before the first Wednesday of June next following: provided, that the Legislature may authorize, by a general law, all such towns, having more than seven hundred and fifty ratable polls, as may adopt the same, to receive votes at town meetings in such other manner as the Legislature may prescribe." Art. 33. Strike out the words, "a majority of the Council for the time being" and insert in lieu thereof, " the Secretary of State." Art. 57. Sttike out the words, " once in every three months," and insert in lieu thereof the word, " annually." Art. 71. Strike out the following words : " Provided, nevertheless. The Legislature shall have authority to alter the manner of certifying the votes and the mode of electing those officers, but not so as to deprive the people of the right they now have of electing them." Art. 90. Strike out this article and insert in lieu thereof the foUow- ng: "Art. 99. All the laws, which have heretofore been adopted, used and approved in the Province, Colony or State of New Hamp- shire and usually practised on in the courts of law, and not repugnant 210 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. to the provisions of this Constitution or the Constitution of the United States, shall remain and be in full force until altered or repealed by the Legislature." After Art. 95 insert the following : " Art. 105. No member of the Senate, or House of Representa- tives, shall be eligible to any office in the State government, within the gift of the executive, or legislative department, during the time for which he shall have been elected. Justices of the Peace, Coroners, Notaries Public, Trial Justices and military officers excepted." Art. 97. Strike out this article and insert in lieu thereof the fol- lowing : " Art. 107. In all cases where sums of money are mentioned in this Constitution, the value thereof shall be computed in gold and sil- ver, according to the provisions of the laws of the United States for the time being." Rejected. Other amendments to strike out, insert, rearrange and renumber the articles of the constitution to give consist- ent effect to the foregoing amendments, and to give it formal and verbal accuracy, were authorized by the con- vention. All such alterations and amendments were included under the fifteenth question, and in that form rejected by the people. The convention of 1850-51 submitted to the people its proposed amendments in the form of the following fifteen questions : 1st. Do you approve of the bill of rights as amended by the con- stitution? 2d. Do you approve of a House of Representatives to be consti- tuted and chosen as provided in the amended constitution? 3d. Do you approve of a Senate to be constituted and chosen as provided in the amended constitution? 4th. Do you approve of the provisions adopted by the convention on the subject of governor and lieutenant governor? MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 211 5th. Do you approve of the biennial election of governor, lieuten- ant governor and legislature and biennial sessions of the legislature as adopted by the convention ? 6th. Do you approve of the amendments proposed by the conven- tion in relation to the election and appointment of county judges, judges of probate and other public officers, and their tenure of office? 7th. Do you approve of the amendments proposed relating to trial justices and courts and their jurisdiction? 8th. Do you approve of the abolition of the religious test and property qualification, as proposed in the amended constitution? 9th. Do you approve of the mode of making future amendments of the constitution as proposed in the amended constitution? loth. Do you approve of the amendment providing that the judges of the supreme court and the attorney-general be elected by the people and the tenure of their office? nth. Do you approve of the amendment requiring the election of a superintendent of public instruction as provided in the amended constitution? 1 2th. Do you approve of the amendment requiring the election of a commissioner of agriculture as provided for in the amended consti- tution. 13th. Do you approve of the amendment provided in the amended constitution for deciding all elections by plurality vote ? 14th. Do you approve of the amendment abolishing the council? iSth. Do you approve of the other alterations and amendments as made in the amended constitution? 212 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. VOTE ON FIFTEEN AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION SUB- COUNTIES. First. Second. Third. Fourth. Fifth. Sixth. Seventh. Rockingham . Strafford Belknap Carroll Merrimack.... Hillsborough. Cheshire Sullivan Grafton Coos 2,122|4,lo5 370 3,044 471 2,584 363 2,223 1,164 3,848 608 98 251 5,810 3,302 2,809 1,375 162 353 5,076 3,256 2,723 3,948 2,210 912 1,974 1,204 2,504(1 I 868 1,844 3,474 475 290 2,310' I 702 4,401 ,31o'5,106 87412,339 461 2,310 ,095 4,434 485 825 271;2,404 824|4,295 1,839!4,W5 815 478 1,347 921 1,896 4,540 37513,045 348!2,678 265'2,320 826 4,280 i 3,001 3,006 2,322 2,175 4,153 714 1,602 641 1,475 870 1,366 2,(H3 3,891 730 658 162 337 223 397 1,536 1,050 366 1,152 493 1,897 512 460 263 961 3,346 2,092 768 1,784 1,017 4,875 2,923 2,618 2,327 4,154 2,936 960 1,915 3,722 637 4,534 2,940 2,654 2,315 3,891 2,456 1,022 1,883 3,560 463 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 213 MITTED TO PEOPLE ON SECOND TUESDAY OF MARCH, 1851. Eighth. Ninth. Tenth. Eleventh. Twelfth. Thirte'nth. Fourte'nth. Fifteenth. < il 03 ® >> < o 125 >• o S5 CO O 00 1 8 o ;z; 1 1 03 1 CO < i 1 2,OT6 4,209 1,599 4,811 1,235 5,268 1,073 5,447 770 5,661 1,655 4,565 1,940 4,289 1,606 4,866 726 2,697 813 2,618 367 3,072 287 3,142 302 3,119 459 2,970 451 3,054 202 3,199 440 2,614 441 2,601 357 2,687 357 2,716 299 2,750 274 2,772 312 2,614 288 2,711 298 2,302 286 j 2, 314 226 2,368 244 2,348 249 2,337 223 2,381 298 2,308 231 2,242 1,107 4,022 972 4,154 818 4,307 602 4,462 620 4,622 493 4,555 1,060 4,102 741 4,328 3,462 2,690 3,536 2,612 2,299 3,807 2,879 3,248 2,868 3,370 2,693 3,377 3,280 2,888 2,416 3,238 2,068 930 1,946 947 1,904 1,256 1,102 1,855 958 1,886 1,166 1,979 1,803 893 1,397 1,074 998 1,868 840 1,840 625 2,084 343 2,296 392 2,294 420 2,240 731 1,919 619 2,066 1,746 3,732 1,835 3,650 1,566 3,940 1,040 4,419 982 4,490 941 4,666 1,744 3,736 1,996 4,049 916 706 985 618 931 655 569 1,034 405 1,212 376 1,297 891 728 762 802 214 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Second Session, i8^i. Upon reassembling on April i6 the convention proceeded to canvass the returns of votes upon its proposed amendments and found that all had been rejected by the people. This remarkable result of its deliberations called forth the following comment from Governor Dinsmoor in his annual message' to the Legislature at the June session, 1851 : The popular reception of the amendments proposed by the con- vention to revise the Constitution, is a remarkable incident in our history. Considering the character of that very respectable body, composed, as it is known to have been, of the most able and distin- guished representatives of the various classes, occupations and inter- ests in the State, and enjoying, perhaps, in as high a degree as any former political assembly in New Hampshire, the confidence of their constituents, it was not to have been anticipated that they would be so unfortunate in apprehending the wishes of the people as to fail in securing their acceptance of even one of the numerous amendments submitted for their approval. It is apparent from this decisive expression of the popular will that the present Constitution is, in the main, entirely satisfactory to a large majority of the people ; that the alterations demanded by them are few and obvious, and that they neither contemplated nor desired the extensive and radical changes proposed by the convention. This result also inculcates the instructive lesson, which may be useful for our guidance hereafter, that no material or important amendments to the Constitution can be expected to find acceptance with the people which are anything more than declaratory of their known sentiments, and that it is always unsafe to assume a knowledge of their opinions when they have not been distinctly pronounced. It would be an error to suppose that all the labor and expense bestowed on this unsuccessful attempt to improve the Constitution has been entirely lost. An occasional examination and discussion of the principles and forms '■ Journal of House of Representatives, June Session, 1851, pp. 31-32. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 215 of the fundamental law are not without their use, if they serve no other purpose than to bring more clearly to view the great merits of our old and well-tried Constitution, and to give the people another opportunity to reaffirm their strong and unabated attachment to it. The convention, after briefest discussion, resolved to submit what have commonly been described as three new amendments, but in fact, as comparison of their text shows, to re-submit three of those just rejected. These were the amendments proposing to abolish the religious test, to abolish the property qualifica- tion, and to provide a new mode for amending the constitution. Provision was made for submitting these to the people at the annual town meetings to be held March 9, 1852, at which time the amendment abolishing the property qualification was adopted. The three amendments with the popular vote thereon are given on page 216. The manuscript journal of the convention of 1850-51, with a very inadequate index, is in the office of the sec- retary of state, but has never been published.' The Patriot (newspaper) of Concord, which was issued as a daily during the first session (Nov. 6, 1850, to Jan. 3, 185 1 ) of this convention, published a stenographic account of its proceedings, with a full report of the debates. On April 17, 1851, the convention adjourned sine die. ' The Journal of the preceding convention, 1791-2, was published in Province and State Papers, Vol. X, pp. 33-196, in 1877. 216 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION, Proposed 185 i. Second Series. I. BILL OF RIGHTS. Art. 6. Strike out the word " protestant." Part II. Art. 14. Strike out tlie words "shall be of the Protestant religion." Art. 29. Strike out the words "who is not of the Protestant religion." Art. 42. Strike out the words, "and unless he shall be of the Protestant religion." II. Part II. Art. 14. Strike out the words "shall have an estate within the district which he may be chosen to represent of the value of one hun- dred pounds, one-half of which to be a freehold whereof he is seized in his own right." Art. 20. Strike out the words "and seized of a freehold estate in his own right of the value of a hundred pounds, being within this State." Art. 42. Strike out the words "and unless he shall at the same time have an estate of the value of five hundred pounds, one-half of which shall consist of a freehold in his own right within this State." III. Arts. 99, 100. Strike out these articles and insert in lieu thereof the following : MANUAL OP THE CONSTITDTION. 217 " Art. 99. 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 a majority of the members elected to each house, such proposed amendment or amendments shall then be entered on their respective journals, with the yeas and nays taken thereon, and referred to the Legislature then next to be chosen, and shall be duly published ; and if in the Legislature next afterwards to be chosen such proposed amendment or amendments shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each house and the same be I'ecorded on their journals, and the yeas and nays taken thereon as aforesaid, then it shall be the duty of the Legislature to submit such proposed amendment or amendments to the people, and if two- thirds of the qualified voters of this State present and voting thereon at meetings duly called and warned for that purpose, shall approve and ratify the same, then such amendment or amendments shall be- come a part of the Constitution : Provided that no amendment or amendments shall be submitted to the people oftener than once in ten years, the Legislature to fix the first year for such purpose and the number afterwards to be computed from that : and if more than one amendment be submitted, they shall be submitted in such manner and form that the people may vote for or against each amendment proposed to any and every provision of the Constitution separately.'' 15 218 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. VOTE ON THE THREE AMENDMENTS OF 1851. TO CONSTITUTION OF N. H., SUBMITTED BY THE CONVENTION AT ITS SECOND SESSION, WHICH ADJOURNED APRIL 17, 1851. First. Second. Third. Ayes. Noes. Ayes. Noes. Ayes. Noes. 1,374 764 323 257 1,163 1,457 1,322 1,030 1,317 559 1,846 852 1,037 1,101 2,455 1,300 716 660 1.758 357 2,650 1,196 541 1,118 1,804 1,822 1,898 1,275 2,249 844 807 505 517 261 1,767 726 181 250 704 81 2,296 1,106 623 661 1,236 1,444 1,698 911 1,839 786 886 624 636 428 2,020 780 219 492 924 97 Strafford. Belknap Carroll Cheshire Sullivan Coos Total 9,566 12,082 15,297 5,799 12,600 6,906 Period from 1852 to iSjy. During the next quarter of a century the people voted at five different times upon the question of calling a convention ; and three times a majority of the voters were in favor of it. Although the vote taken under act of July 4, i860, showed a majority in favor of calling a convention, the senate and house of representatives at the June session, 1861, failed to agree upon a bill for that purpose. Again the vote under act of Aug. 19, 1864, showed a majority of the voters in favor of calling a convention ; but the Legisla- ture at the June session, 1865, by joint resolution de- cided to take no action in the matter. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 219 The following table shows the dates of the approval of the several acts of the Legislature between 1850 and 1876, providing for taking the sense of the qualified voters on the expediency of calling a convention to revise the constitution, and the aggregate, the affirma- tive, and the negative votes on the question as returned by the town clerks : Date of Act. Total. Yea. Nay. 1857, June 27.... 1860, July 4 1862, July 9 1864, August 19. . 1865, July 2 1869, July 8 1875, July 2 21,271 20,831 13,472 33,770 39,883 2,822 11,078 1,044 18,422 18,449 9,753 12,428 15,348 No vote on record. No vote on record. 28,971 10,912 Sixth Constitutional Convention, iSyd. The dele- gates elected to this convention assembled in the hall of the house of representatives in the Capitol at Concord on Wednesday, December 6, 1876, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon. At the afternoon session the convention elected Daniel Clark, of Manchester, to be its president, and Thomas J. Smith, of Dover, to be secretary, and Alpheus W. Baker, of Lebanon, to be assistant secretary. On December 7th, Mr. Sargent, of Concord, for the Committee on Rules, reported the following rules which were adopted by the convention : 220 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 1. The President shall take the chair at precisely the hour to which the Convention shall have adjourned, shall immediately call the mem- bers to order, and at the commencement of each day's session shall cause the journal of the preceding day to be read. He shall preserve decorum and order, and may speak on points of order in preference to other members, and may substitute any member to perform the duties of the chair, such substitution not to extend beyond an adjournment. 2. All committees shall be appointed by the President, unless otherwise directed by the convention ; and the first named member of any committee appointed by the President shall be chairman. 3. No person but the members and officers of the convention shall be admitted within the chamber, unless by invitation of the President or some member of the convention. 4. No member shall speak more than twice to the same question, without leave of the convention. 5. When any question is under debate, no motion shall be received but, 1st, to adjourn; 2d, to lie on the table; 3d, to postpone to a day certain; 4th, to commit; 5th, to amend, — which several motions shall take precedence in the order in which they aie arranged. Motions to adjourn and lie on the table shall be decided without debate. 6. Any member may call for a division of the question, when the sense will admit of it ; but a motion to strike out and insert shall not be divided. 7. Amotion for commitment, until it is decided, shall precede all amendments to the main question ; and all motions and reports may be committed at the pleasure of the convention. 8. No vote shall be reconsidered unle.ss the motion for reconsidera- tion be made by a member who voted with the majority. 9. Every question shall be decided by yeas and nays, whenever a demand for the same shall be made and sustained by at least ten members. 10. The convention may resolve itself into a committee of the whole convention, at any time, on the motion of a member ; and, in forming a committee of the whole, the president shall leave the chair. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 221 and appoint a chairman to preside in committee ; and the rules of pro- ceeding in convention, and the rule relating to calls for the yeas and nays, shall be observed in committee of the whole, except the rule limiting the times of speaking. 1 1 . After the journal has been read and corrected, the order of business shall be as follows, viz., ist, the presentation of resolutions and petitions ; 2d, the reports of committees ; 3d, the unfinished busi- ness of the preceding day. Mr. Sargent of Concord, for the Committee on Rules and Methods of Procedure, also reported the following resolution, which was adopted : Resolved, That this convention will proceed to revise the present Constitution of the state by considering it as in committee of the whole, till gone through with under consecutive and separate heads, and by sending to special and appropriate committees, from time to time, such amendments as may be adopted by the convention ; that there shall be appointed four separate committees, by the president, consisting of two members from each county, which shall be commit- tees on the following subjects, viz. : 1. The Bill of Rights, the Executive Department, and the Reli- gious Test. 2. The Legislative Department. 3. The Judicial Department. 4. Future mode of amending the Constitution, and other miscella- neous matters. These committees shall consider the amendments submitted to them by the convention, and put the same in proper form, and rec- ommend such modifications and amendments of the same as they may deem necessary. (J. 1876, pp. 26, 27.) The president on December 8 appointed the stand- ing committees of the convention, naming their chair- men as follows : 222 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Committee on Bill of Rights, Executive Department, and Religious Test. Chairman, Samuel M. Wheeler, of Dover. Committee on Legislative Department. Chairman, Harry Bingham, of Littleton. Committee on Judiciary Department. Chairman, Jonathan E. Sargent, of Concord. Committee on Future Amendments of the Constitu- tion, and other miscellaneous matters. Chairman, John S. H. Frink, of Greenland. Some of the other prominent members of the conven- tion were, John J. Bell and Gilman Marston, of Exeter; Ichabod Goodwin, William H. Y. Hackett, of Ports- mouth ; Franklin McDuffee, of Rochester; Thomas J. Whipple, of Laconia ; John W. Sanborn, of Wakefield ; John M. Shirle}', of Andover ; James O. Lyford, of Can- terbury ; Ai B. Thompson, Jacob H. Gallinger, John Kimball, William E. Chandler, Joseph Wentworth, Benjamin A. Kimball, and Isaac W. Hammond, of Concord ; Isaac N. Blodgett and Edward B. S. Sanborn, of Franklin ; George C. Gilmore, Frederick Smyth, James F. Briggs and Charles H. Bartlett, of Manches- ter; George A. Ramsdell and Edward Spaulding, of Nashua ; Silas Hardy and Francis A. Faulkner, of Keene ; Dexter Richards, of Newport ; John G. Sinclair, of Bethlehem ; Henry E. Parker, of Hanover ; John L. Spring, of Lebanon ; Samuel B. Page, of Haver- hill, and Jacob Benton, of Lancaster. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 223 This convention was in session for eleven days and prepared and submitted to the people thirteen amend- ments to the constitution, and provided that the General Court should fix the time when such of them as might be adopted should take effect. Of these amend- ments, eleven of which were ratified by the people, the most important was that changing the basis of represen- tation from ratable polls to population. Other impor- tant changes were the provision for biennial sessions, the increase of the number of senators from twelve to twenty-four, the election of sheriffs by popular vote, the abolition of the religious test and the change in time of holding elections from March to November. The convention voted to submit its amendments to the people at the annual town meetings on March 13, 1877, in the form of thirteen questions. (Governer Cheney on the i6th of the following April by public proclamation announced the result of the vote.) (Annual Message of Governor Prescott, June, 1877.) The text of the thirteen questions and proposed amendments to the constitution with the vote thereon is given on pages 224—229. After having provided by resolution for its reassem- bling at the call of the president should the welfare of the State seem to him to demand it, the convention on Dec. 16, 1876, adjourned sine die. By order of this convention the Journal of its proceedings was published. 224 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. Proposed in 1876. Bill of Rights, Art 6. Strikeout the word " protestant." Rejected. Part II. Arts. 3, 5, 12, 16, 27, 28, 31, 33, 42, 60, and 66. Strike out the words " every year" and insert the word " biennially." Part II. Art. 5. Add : " Provided, that the general court shall not authorize any town to loan or give its money or credit, directly or in- directly, for the benefit of any corporation having for its object a dividend of profits, or in any way aid the same by taking its stock or bonds." Part II. Arts. 9, 10, and 11. Strikeout these sections, and insert: "Art. 9. There shall be in the Legislature of the State a represen- tation of the people, biennially elected, and founded upon the prin- ciples of equality ; and in order that such representation may be as equal as circumstances will admit, every town or place entitled to town privileges, and wards of cities having six hundred inliabitants by the last general census of the State, taken by authority of the United States or of this State, may .elect one representative ; if eighteen hundred such inhabitants, may elect two representatives ; and so proceeding in that proportion, making twelve hundred such inhabit- ants the mean increasing number for an additional representative : Provided, That no town shall be divided, or the boundaries of the wards of any city so altered, as to increase the number of representa- tives to which such town or city may be entitled by the next preceding census : And provided further. That to those towns and cities which since the last census have been divided, or had their boundaries or ward lines changed, the general court, in session next before these amendments shall take effect, shall equitably apportion representation in such manner that the number shall not be greater than it would have been had no such division or alteration been made. "Art. 10. Such towns, "places, and wards as have less than six hundred inhabitants shall be classed by the general court for the pur- pose of choosing a representative, so that every such class shall MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 225 contain at least six hundred inhabitants, and be seasonably notified thereof; and in every such class the first meeting shall be held in the town, place, or ward wherein most of the inhabitants reside, and afterwards in that which has the next highest number, and so on, bien- nially, in rotation through the several towns, places, and wards forming the district. " Art. II. Whenever any town, place, or city ward shall have less than six hundred such inhabitants, and be so situated that it cannot conveniently be classed with any other town, place, or ward, the gen- eral court may authorize such town, place, or ward to elect and send to the general court such proportionate part of the time as the number of its inhabitants shall bear to six hundred ; but the general court shall not authorize any town, place, or ward to elect and send such representatives, except as herein provided." Part II. Arts. 12, 28, 31, 42, and 60. Strike out the word " March " and insert " November." Part II. Art. 14. Strike out the words " shall be of the Protestant religion." Part II. Arts. 25, 26. Strike out the word "twelve" and insert the word " twenty-four." Part II. Art. 29. Strike out the words "who is not of the Protes- tant religion." Part II. Art. 37. Strike out the words " seven," " eight," " five," and insert the words "thirteen," "sixteen," "ten." Part II. Art. 42. Strike out the words " and unless he shall be of the Protestant religion." Part II. Art. 46. Strike out the words "solicitors, all sheriffs," "registers of probate." Part II. Art. 73. Strike out the word "president" and insert the word "governor." Part*II. Art. 72)- ^'^^ ^t ^^^ 6"<^ of *he article the following words : " but in no case shall such removal be for political reasons." Rejected. Part II. Art. 77. Strike out the words " four pounds" and insert the words " one hundred dollars." Strike out the words " so that a trial by jury, in the last resort, may be had." 226 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITOTION. The convention of 1876 submitted to the people the foregoing proposed amendments in the form of the fol- lowing questions : 1. Do you approve of striking out the word "Protestant" in the Bill of Rights, as proposed in the amended Constitution? 2. Do you approve of so amending the Constitution that the gen- eral court shall be authorized to provide for the trial of causes in which the value in controversy does not exceed one hundred dollars, and title to real estate is not concerned, without the intervention of a jury, as proposed by the amended Constitution? 3. Do you approve of the biennial election of governor, councillors, members of the senate and house of representatives, and biennial ses- sions of the legislature, as proposed in the amended Constitution? 4. Do you approve of a house of representatives based upon popu- lation, and constituted and chosen as provided in the amended Constitution? 5. Do you approve of a senate of twenty-four members, to be constituted and chosen as provided in the amended Constitution? 6. Do you approve of the election, by the people, of registers of probate, solicitors, and sheriffs, as provided in the amended Constitu- tion? 7. Do you approve of abolishing the religious test as a qualification for office, as proposed in the amended Constitution? 8. Do you approve of prohibiting the general court from authoriz- ing towns or cities to loan or give their money or credit to corpora- tions, as proposed in the amended Constitution? 9. Do you approve of changing the time for holding the state election from March to November, as proposed in the amended Con- stitution ? 10. Do you approve of authorizing the general court to provide that appeals from a justice of the peace may be tried by some other court without the intervention of a jury, as proposed in the amended Con- stitution ? MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 227 11. Do you approve of authorizing the general court to increase the jurisdiction of justices of the peace to one hundred dollars, as proposed in the amended Constitution ? 12. Do you approve of the proposed amendment prohibiting the removal from office for political reasons ? 13. Do you approve of the proposed amendment prohibiting money raised by taxation from being applied to the support of the schools or institutions of any religious sect or denomination, as proposed in the amended Constitution? (J. 1876, pp. 274-275.) 228 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. VOTE ON THIRTEEN AMENDMENTS OF 1876, TO THE CONSTITUTION First. Second. Third. Fourth. Fifth Sixth. Ayes. Noes. Ayes. Noes. Ayes. Noes. Ayes. Noes. Ayes. Noes. Ayes. Noes. Eockingham. Strafford Belknap Carroll Merrimack . . Hillsborough Cheshire SullivaH Grafton 4,088 2,698 1,436 1,216 4,224 6,919 2,395 1,276 2,804 1,608 2,524 1,354 992 824 2,495 2,405 1,194 1,120 2,357 642 6,738 3,297 1,903 1,337 5,978 6,478 3,240 1,767 3,822 1,922 947 669 454 649 814 1,642 365 677 1,301 331 6,022 3,029 2,044 1,481 4,692 6,209 2,594 1,672 3,786 1,942 1,619 894 343 523 1,928 1,971 883 619 1,302 313 4,707 2,946 1,640 1,472 5,167 6,092 2,777 1,712 3,617 1,794 1,768 998 746 494 1,499 2,082 760 613 1,466 463 4,992 3,148 1,875 1,508 5,569 7,103 2,692 1,661 3,629 1,918 1,609 696 480 490 1,110 1,062 804 701 1,408 330 4,043 2,676 1,560 1,276 4,907 6,745 2,676 1,665 3,216 1,560 2,677 1,216 821 744 1,697 2,266 823 636 1,471 709 Total 27,664 15,907 35,482 7,752 32,471 10,295 31,924 10,878 34,085 8,690 29,323 12,968 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 229 OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, ON THE SECOND TUESDAY OF MARCH, 1877, Seventh. Eighth. Ninth. Tenth. Eleventh. Twelfth. Thirteenth. Ayes. Noes. Ayes. Noes. Ayes. Noes. Ayes. Noes. Ayes. Noes. Ayes. Noes. Ayes. Noes. 4,351 2,301 6,386 1,273 6,434 1,268 6,482 1,103 4,774 1,813 3,584 2,910 5,629 924 2,630 1,247 3,095 787 3,255 756 3,176 736 3,164 753 2,506 1,437 3,336 553 1,481 891 1,862 462 2,206 226 1,764 514 1,627 647 1,616 672 1,888 424 1,248 747 1,493 505 1,683 438 1,302 676 1,336 644 1,180 811 1,604 44S 4,561 2,120 6,419 1,219 5,999 804 5,414 1,150 5,234 1,172 4,606 2.054 5,732 936 4,814 2,150 6,178 1,951 7,362 958 6,140 1,819 6,604 1,286 6,300 2,790 6,987 1,037 2,409 1,131 2,792 715 2,747 833 2,992 480 2,875 559 2,647 948 3,021 479 1,427 963 1,769 569 1,818 567 1,678 621 1,642 674 1,650 678 1,898 419 2,905 2,110 3,784 1,263 3,941 1,187 3,658 1,440 3,439 1,512 3,299 1,727 3,934 1,049 1,661 671 1,911 347 1,892 365 1,886 366 1,897 353 1,751 496 1,909 337 28,477 14,231 33,689 9,081 36,237 7,390 33,392 8,905 32,592 9,413 28,038 14,523 35,838 6,606 230 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Constitution unchanged iSyy-iSS^. The following table shows the dates of the approval of the several acts of the Legislature between 1876 and 1889, providing for taking the sense of the qualified voters on the expe- diency of calling a convention to revise the constitution, and the aggregate, the affirmative, and the negative votes on the question as returned by the town clerks : Date of Act. Total. Yea. Nay. 1883, July 27 27,156 21,679 13,036 11,466 14,120 10,213 Seventh Constitutional Convention, i88g. The del- egates to this convention assembled in the hall of the house of representatives in Concord, on Wednesday, January 2, 1889, at 11 o'clock a. m. At the afternoon session Charles H. Bell, of Exeter, was elected president ; and on the following day James R. Jackson, of Littleton, was elected secretary, and Wil- liam Tutherly, of Claremont, assistant secretary of the convention. The rules of the convention of 1876 were adopted as the rules of this convention till otherwise ordered. On January 3, Mr. Hadley of Concord, from the Committee on Rules and Method of Procedure, sub- mitted the following report which was adopted by the convention : I. The president shall take the chair at precisely the hour to which the convention shall have adjourned, shall immediately call the members to order, and at the commencement of each day's session MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 231 shall cause the journal of the preceding day to be read. He shall preserve decorum and order, and may speak on points of order in preference to other members, and may substitute any member to per- form the duties of the chair, such substitution not to extend beyond an adjournment. 2. All committees shall be appointed by the president, unless otherwise directed by the convention ; and the first named member of any committee appointed by the president shall be chairman. 3. No person but the members and officers of the convention shall be admitted vifithin the chamber unless by invitation of the president or some member of the convention. 4. No member shall speak more than twice to the same question without leave of the convention. 5. When any question is under debate, no motion shall be re- ceived but, 1st, to adjourn; 2d, to lay on the table; 3d, to postpone to a day certain; 4th, to commit; 5th, to amend — which several motions shall take precedence in the order in which they are arranged. Motions to adjourn and lay on the table shall be decided without debate. (J. 1889, pp. 18-20.) 6. Any member may call for a division of the question, when the sense will admit of it ; but a motion to strike out and insert shall not be divided. 7. A motion for commitment until it is decided, shall precede all amendments to the main question ; and all motions and reports may be committed at the pleasure of the convention. 8. No vote shall be reconsidered unless the motion for recon- sideration be made by a member who voted with the majority. 9. Every question shall be decided by yeas and nays, whenever a demand for the same shall be made and sustained by at least ten members. 10. The Convention may resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole Convention at any time on the motion of a member; and, in forming a Committee of the Whole, the president shall leave the chair and appoint a chairman to preside in committee ; and the rules of proceeding in convention, shall be observed in Committee of the Whole, except the rule limiting the times of speaking, and rule 9. 232 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. II. After the journal has been read and corrected, the order of business shall be as follows : First, the presentation of resolutions and petitions ; second, the reports of committees ; third, the unfinished business of the preceding day. Modes of Procedure. Resolved, That the methods of procedure in revising the Constitu- tion shall be as follows : 1. All amendments proposed shall be offered in writing, and shall be read by the secretary for the information of the convention, when, unless rejected or otherwise disposed of, the same shall be referred to an appropriate committee, who shall examine and report the amend- ments referred to the convention, with such recommendations as they may deem advisable. No proposition for an amendment shall be received after Wednesday of the second week, unless by unanimous consent of the convention or upon the recommendation of the committee. 2. There shall be appointed by the president five separate com- mittees, consisting of two members from each county, which shall be committees on the following subjects: (i.) On bill of rights and executive department. (2.) On legislative department. (3.) On judicial department. (4.) On future mode of amending the Constitution, and other proposed amendments. (5.) On time and mode of submitting to the people the amendments agreed to by the convention. On January 7 the president appointed the standing committees, naming their chairmen as follows : On Bill of Rights and Executive Department, Isaac W. Smith, of Manchester. On Legislative Department, James F. Briggs, of Manchester. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 233 On Judicial Department, Ellery A. Hibbard, of Laconia. On Future Mode of Amending tlie Constitution, and other Proposed Amendments, William S. Ladd, of Lancaster. On Time and Mode of Submitting to the People the Amendments agreed to by the Convention, Charles A. Dole, of Lebanon. Among the other leading members of this body were John D. Lyman, of Exeter ; Calvin Page, of Portsmouth ; John W. Sanborn, of Wakefield ; Joseph B. Walker, Amos Hadley and Benjamin A. Kimball, of Concord; Frank N. Parsons, Isaac N. Blodgett and Alvah W. Sulloway, of Franklin; David Cross, Charles H. Bart- lett, George C. Gilmore, and Henry E. Burnham, of Manchester ; Robert M. Wallace, of Milford ; George B. French, of Nashua ; Ira Colby, of Claremont ; Dexter Richards, of Newport ; and Edward R. Ruggles, of Hanover. The most important changes in the constitution pro- posed by this convention were, the abolition of the system of classifying towns for the election of a repre- sentative, the change in the time of the meeting of the Legislature from June to January, the granting of a fixed salary for the members of the Legislature, and the addition of a clause prohibiting the manufacture, or sale, or keeping for sale, of all alcoholic or intoxi- cating liquors as a beverage. The convention prepared seven amendments which were submitted, in the form of questions, to the qualified 234 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. voters on the second Tuesday of March, 1889. Five of these were ratified and became a part of the constitu- tion of the State. The text of the amendments and questions voted upon together with the result of the vote is given on pages 234-238. This convention by resolution fixed the time when the several proposed amendments to the constitution should take effect, provided any or all of them should be ratified by the people. The convention after having provided by resolution for their reassembling at the call of the president or Governor of the State, should such action seem to either of them necessary, on January I3th adjourned sine die. By order of this convention the journal of its proceed- ings was published. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. proposed in 1889. Bill of Rights. Art. 6. Strike out this article and insert tiie following : " Art. 6. As morality and piety will give the best and greatest security to government, and will lay in the hearts of men the strongest obligations to due subjection, and as the knowledge of these is most likely to be propagated through a society by the institution of the public worship of the DEITY and of public instruction in morality and religion, therefore, to promote these important purposes, the people of this State have a right to empower, and do hereby fully empower, the Legislature to authorize, from time to time, the religious societies within this State to make adequate provision, at their own expense, for the support and maintenance of public teachers of piety, religion and morality. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 235 " The several religious societies siiall at all times have the exclusive right of electing their own public teachers, and of contracting with them for their support and maintenance ; and no person of any one particular religious sect or denomination shall ever be compelled to pay toward the support of the teacher or teachers of another persua- sion, sect, or denomination. ' ' And every religious sect or denomination demeaning themselves quietly and as good subjects of the State shall be equally under the protection of the law ; and no subordination of any one sect or de- nomination to another shall ever be estabUshed by law." Rejected. Part II. Arts. 3, 25, 32, 33, 42, 43, 60, 66. Strike out the word " June " wherever it occurs in these articles and insert the word " January" in place thereof. Arts. 10, II. Strilce out these Articles and insert the following : "Art. 10. Whenever any town, place, or city ward shall have less than six hundred such inhabitants, the General Court shall authorize such town, place, or ward to elect and send to the General Court a representative such proportionate part of the time as the number of its inhabitants shall bear to six hundred, but the General Court shall not authorize any such town, place, or ward to elect and send such representative except as herein provided." Art. 15. Strike out this article and insert the following: "Art. 15. The presiding officers of both houses of the Legisla- ture shall severally receive out of the state treasury, as compensation in full for their services for the term elected, the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, and all other members thereof, seasonably attending and not departing without license, the sum of two hundred dollars, exclusive of mileage ; provided, however, that when a special session shall be called by the governor, such officers and members shall receive for attendance an additional compensation of three dollars per day, for a period not exceeding fifteen days, and the usual mileage." Art. 34. Strike out all after the word " State " and insert the fol- lowing : 236 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. "All vacancies in the Senate arising by death, removal out of the State, or otherwise, except from failure to elect, shall be filled by a new election by the people of the district, upon the requisition of the governor, as soon as may be after such vacancies shall happen." Art. 49. Add to this article the following words : "Whenever the chair, both of the governor and president of the Senate, shall become vacant by reason of their death, absence from the State, or otherwise, the speaker of the House shall during such vacancies have and exercise all the powers and authorities which by this Constitution the governor is vested with when personally present. But when the speaker of the House shall exercise the office of gov- ernor, he shall not hold his office in the House." Add Article 102 as follows : "Art. 102. The sale, or keeping for sale, or manufacture of alco- holic or intoxicating liquor, except cider, or of any compound of which such liquor is a part, to be used as a beverage, is a misde- meanor, and is hereby prohibited." Rejected. The convention of 1889 submitted to the people its proposed amendments in the form of the following questions : 1. Do you approve of changing the time for the meeting of the Legislature from June to January, and of changing the time when the terms of office of the executive and legislative departments shall com- mence, and the other amendments in conformity therewith, as pro- posed in the amended Constitution? 2. Do you approve of compensating the members of both houses of the Legislature by a fixed salary, as proposed in the amended Con- stitution ? 3. Do you approve of filling vacancies in the Senate by a new election, as proposed in the amended Constitution? 4. Do you approve of having the speaker of the House act as governor in case of vacancies in the offices of governor and president of the Senate, as proposed in the amended Constitution? MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 237 J. Do you approve of inserting in the Constitution an article pro- hibiting tiie manufacture, or sale, or keeping for sale of alcoholic or intoxicating liquor as a beverage, as proposed in the amended Con- stitution ? 6. Do you approve of amending article 6 of the Bill of Rights making the same non-sectarian, as proposed in the amended Constitu- tion? 7. Do you approve of amending the Constitution with reference to representation in classed towns, as proposed in the amended Con- stitution ? (J. 1889, pp. 254-s.) 238 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. O w a O H Q CO o H a 25 o o w H O H H w S Q < tn O W Eh O > B o o O CO W ti H O Z O a w to o o 00 CO rn in 1 V s .-j; ^A to s s fe ?; ^ CI « n O C- t- 1-1 S CO s g i § s CO w e 3 8 S S5 ^ CO (M Ci OO 3 S3 tH in 00 M to m CO c5 t- © M i-l CO O O ca a MQOOCSaSrtaito tJ o MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 239 Constitution unchanged since i88g. The following table shows the dates of the approval of the several acts of the Legislature from 1889-1902, providing for taking the sense of the qualified voters on the expedi- ency of calling a convention to revise the constitution, and the aggregate, the affirmative, and the negative votes on the question as returned by the town clerks : Date of act. Total. Yea. Nay. , April 1. . . , March 27, , March 1. 30,370 33,930 13,858 13,681 14,099 10,571 16,689 19,831 3,287 Pursuant to the last mentioned vote the General Court by an act approved March 21, 1901, which is printed in full on a following page, provided for the election on November 4, 1902, of delegates to a constitutional con- vention, to assemble at Concord on the second day of December following. The Basis of Representation in New Hampshire Previous to the Adoption of the Constitution of 1783. The people of New Hampshire first appear as par- ticipants in a representative legislative body in 1641, when, in response to an order from the General Court of the Colony of Massachusetts, the town of Hampton sent one deputy to the General Court at Boston. Straw- berry Bank, or Portsmouth, was admitted to a similar privilege in 1642, and Dover in 1643. From this time until 1679, when the jurisdiction of Massachusetts over New Hampshire terminated, each of these towns was represented, sometimes by one deputy and sometimes by two, in the General Court of Massachusetts. September 18, 1679, New Hampshire entered upon a separate political existence by the commission of its first independent chief magistrate, John Cutt, a mer- chant of Portsmouth, as president. With him were associated nine councillors. This commission provided that within three months after taking oath of office the president and council should "... issue forth Sum'ons under Seal by Us appointed to be used in the nature of writs for the calling of a Generall Assembly of the said Prov : using & observing there such rules and methods (as to the persons who are to Chuse their deputies, & the time and place of meeting) as they shall judg most convenient." An examination of such commissions of later governors as have been published, including those in the volume of Province Papers now (1902) in press, does not reveal any essential modification of these direc- tions for convening a General Assembly. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 241 In pursuance of the foregoing instructions, the first Assembly was convened at Portsmouth, March i6, 1680. It consisted of eleven members, three each from Portsmouth, Dover and Hampton, and two from Exeter. The aforesaid towns at this time had respectively 71, 61, 57, and 20 inhabitants qualified to vote, so that the original basis of representation was about one member to twent}' voters. This first Assembly passed the following act, which was approved by the governor and council : "It is enacted by this assembly and the authority thereof, yt ye severall constables in each town of ye province doe warne and call together the free men of theire respective townes, on ye first Monday in february, annually, and from among themselves to make their election of Deputies for ye Genii Assembly, who are to meet at Portsmo on ye first Tuesday of March, by 10 of ye Clock in ye forenoon, and ye number of Depu- ties for each towne to be as followeth, vizt : 3 for ye towne of Ports", 3 for ye towne of Hampton, 3 for ye towne of Dover, and 2 for ye towne of Exeter, whose names, after their election and acceptance, ye severall Consa' shall make return of to ye Assembly, as above under their hands . . ." This Assehibly at the same time defined "freemen" by the following act : " It is ordered by this Assembly and the authority thereof, yt all Englishmen, being Protestants, yt are settled Inhabitants and freeholders in any towne of this Province, of ye age of 24 years, not viceous in life but of honest and good conversation, and such as have 20 1 Rateable estate w'^out heads of persons having also taken the oath of allegiance to his Maj% and no others 242 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. shall be admitted to ye liberty of being freemen of this Province, and to give theire votes for the choice of Deputies for the General! Assembly, Constables, Select- men, Jurors and other officers and concernes in ye townes where they dwell ; provided this order give no libert}' to any pson or psons to vote in the dispossion or distribution of anj' lands, timber or other properties in ye Towne, but such as have reall right thereto ; and if an}' difference arise about s'' right of voting, it shall be judged and determined by ye Presidt and Councill \v"' the Gen" Assembly of this Province.'' On the fourteenth of November, 1682, these quali- fications were so modified " That all persons, setled inhabitants & freeholders in any Town of this Province of Twentj' one j^ears, and no other, Shall have liberty of giving their votes for the choice of Assemblymen, Jurors, Trustees or Over- seers for the respective Towns, Constables, or other necessarv Town officers, or in any Town concerns. Nor shall any be chosen Assemblymen, Jurors, or Trus- tees &c. for the Towns, but such. And further. No person shall be deemed a freeholder, but such as hath a ratable estate of 15 1 according to valuation of stated by law." The foregoing enactment remained in force nearly seventeen years, when, on the seventh of August, 1699, the qualifications were again revised in the following manner : " And be it further enacted by the authority afore said. That no person Inhabiting within this Province, other than Freeholders of the value or income of Forty Shillings per Annum, or upwards in Land, or worth Fifty Pounds Sterling at the least, in personal Estate, MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 24a shall have any vole in the Election of Representatives, or be capable of being elected, to Serve in the General Assembly ; and the Tryal of such Qualifications as aforesaid shall be by the last Lists of Rates and assess- ments, which the Selectmen of each respective Town are hereby required to bring with them for that end, upon all days, and times appointed for such Elections." From the passage of the act of 1680, which assigned representation to the four original towns, until 1698, no list has been found which gives the representatives to- gether with their respective towns, but it appears from the Journals of the Council and Assembly that as early as 1693 the Assembly had increased from eleven to thirteen, one member having been returned from the " Isle of Shols." The other probably appeared for New- castle or Great Island. In 1698, however, it is certain that, in addition to the eleven representatives from the four original towns, Newcastle returned two. From this time forward the growth of the Assembly is most clearly indicated by the following table compiled from the Province Papers, dates after 1698 indicating when towns are definitely known first to have sent representatives : 1698. Hampton Dover Portsmouth . Exeter Newcastle . 1715. Kingston Newington . I7I6. Strath am 1727. Londonderry 3 Representatives. 3 3 2 " 2 ** I Representative. I " I " I " 244 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 1732- Greenland . Durham 1739- Newmarket . 1752. South Hampton . Plaistow and Hampton . Salem and Pelham Dunstable and Merrimack 1756. Chester 1762. Somersworth Nottingham West and Litchfield Amherst and Bedford . Kensington .... Harrington . Rochester . 1768. Keene .... Winchester Charlestown Representative. Several minor changes in representation which do not lend themselves readily to tabulation should also be noted. In 1762 Dunstable and Merrimack, which for- merly had been grouped together with one representa- tive, were disassociated, and regrouped, Dunstable with Hollis, and Merrimack with Monson. Each of these new groups was allowed one representative, which added one to the total. In 1722 Hampton Falls, which was set off from Hampton in 1712, was assigned one member, and the latter town, which previously had sent three, was reduced to two. A similar readjust- ment occurred again in i'j2'j, when Rye, which was incorporated in 1726, was allowed a representative, and Newcastle, from which it was taken, was reduced from two to one. These two last mentioned changes did not affect the total representation, nor did the grouping of MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 245 Atkinson with Plaistow and Hampstead in 1770. Dover returned only one representative for each triennial term of the Assembly from 1755 until 1762, but sent two in the latter year, and thereafter until the first Provincial Congress. In 1727 the term of service of representatives was limited to three years. Previous to that date the term had been indefinite, and Assemblies continued in exist- ence until prorogued by the governor, when a new election was ordered. A list of ratable polls prepared for the General Assembly in 1768, shows that, in the case of the four original towns represented, while the proportion of polls to population had greatly increased, the apportionment had become extremely irregular. Portsmouth had in- creased from 71 polls in 1679 to 910 in 1768; Dover, from 61 to 384; Hampton, from 57 to 199; and Exeter, from 20 to 390. But each of these towns during the entire period from 1680 to the first Provincial Congress in 1774 was represented by the same number of deputies provided by the act of 1680, except Dover during the period 1755-1774, as previously described. During the period from 1698 to 1774, however, it is to be noticed that each town, or group of towns, when admitted to representation, whatever its population, was allowed only one deputy, and was given no more till the end of the period. The last session of the provincial General Assembly, whose basis of representation from its beginning in 1680 has now been traced, was adjourned by Gov. John Wentworth, July 15, 1775, by message from Fort 246 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. William and Mary, whither he had withdrawn at the opening of the revolutionary conflict. For some time, however, the necessity of some stable form of govern- ment during the impending struggle had been clearly foreseen, and in spite of Governor Wentworth's protests of illegality the Assembly, as early as the 28th of May, 1774, had taken measures through a committee to pro- vide for a representative governing body. As an immediate result of this action, on July 6, 1774, a call was issued to the "several towns and parishes" to send deputies to Exeter upon the 21st of July, and in accordance with this call eighty-five dele- gates appeared on the appointed day. The journals of this body, known as the First Provincial Congress, were not preserved, but an account of the proceedings was published in the New Hampshire Gazette of July 29, 1774. The membership as far as it is known has been compiled from town records. Portsmouth sent seven, Dover and Exeter each five, Hampton four, Kingston three, Chester, Durham, East Kingston, Epping, Greenland, Lee, Rye, Somersworth and Strat- ham, each two, and twenty-two other towns are known to have sent one each. Of the remaining twenty-one members no record can be found. A second Provincial Congress met at Exeter, January 25, 1775, with 144 delegates in attendance, though from town records a list of only 121 can be compiled. A third Provincial Congress met April 21, 1775, in the same town, with a membership of 109. According to the journal of this Congress the number of represent- atives was considered inadequate properly to express MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 247 the mind of the people on the important question of raising an army. Pausing here to examine again the basis of repre- sentation, we discover that for the first three Provincial Congresses there was no attempt at equal apportion- ment. Dover with a population of 1665 sent five delegates to the First Congress, while Rochester with 1,548 inhabitants was represented by only one. To the Second Congress, Dunstable with a population of 705 sent three delegates, and Durham with a population of 1,214 was represented by only two. Exeter sent five to the Third Congress to represent 1,741 inhabitants, while Londonderry returned but one member for a population of 1,290. Such examples might be multi- plied. The Fourth Provincial Congress met at Exeter, May 17, 1775, with a membership of 151. On November 4, toward the end of a long session, it was : " Voted, That the Delegates or Representatives to be chosen to represent this Colony in Future shall be chosen by the voices or Votes of the Electors and not by the value of their Estates. " That every Elector for Representatives in this Colony be Possessed of a Freehold or real Estate to the value of Twenty Pounds Lawf^ money in such Town or place where the Election shall be. " That every Person so elected shall be worth Three hundred Pounds L' money in real Estate in this Colony ; the Election to be adjudged of by the Selectmen & the moderator of the meeting, saving an Appeal to the Congress or House of Representatives. 248 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. " That every Town, Parish, or Precinct in this Colony containing one hundred Freeholders as aforesaid may send one Delegate or Representative to the Congress or General Assembly ; and that Every such Town, Parish, or Precinct having a greater number of Freeholders, may send a member for every hundred such Free- holders. "That Precepts be sent to every Town, Parish, or Precinct in this Colony, Directing them to Elect a mem- ber & send to the Congress to be holden at Exeter in said Colony on the .... day, of ... . next, if such Town, Parish, or Precinct contain one hundred such Freeholders, and if not, then to couple with one or more other such Towns or Parishes untill they make up that number of such Freeholders." Ten days later, on November 14, it was voted : " That every Legal Inhabitant paying Taxes shall be a voter. " That every Person Elected shall have a Real Estate in this Colony of the value of Two hundred Pounds lawful money. " That no person shall be allowed a seat in Congress who by themselves, or any Person at their Desire Treat with Liquor &c any Electors on that Account. " That the Towns, Parishes, & Places in this Colony be represented as Follows, viz. Portsmouth, Three Chester, Two Hampton, one Candia, one Northampton, Exeter, Londonderry, New Castle, Rye, Three Chester, one Candia, one * Raymond & ) Poplin, \ Two Two Brentwood, one * Hampton Falls & one Seabrook, MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 249 ♦Kingston & > East Kingston, ^ one Nottingham, one ♦Deerfield & ) Northwood, s Sandown & > *Hawke, \ one one ♦Canterbury & ) Loudon, I Greenland, one one Newington, one Chichester "^ Stratham, one ♦Epsom & > one New Market, one Allenstown, J Southampton & > Newtown, ^ Pembroke, one one Wyndham, one Kensington, one Bow & ) ♦Dunbarton, ^ *Plastow & ) Atkinson, ^ one one Concord, one Hampstead, one Epping, one Salem, one Pelham, one In Rockingham, 38 Dover, Two Leavittstown, ) Madbury, one ♦Wakefield & i one Durham, one Middleton, ) Lee, one ♦New Durham, ■) Somersworth, one the Gore & S one Harrington, one Wolfeborough, ) ♦Gilraanton & ) Barnstead, ^ one •"Moultonborough, ■) Sandwich & i one *Sanbornton & ^ Meredith, ^ Tamworth, ) one Rochester, one In Strafford, 13 Amherst, Two New Ipswich, one Litchfield & ) ♦Boscawen & i ♦Nottingham W. ^ one Salisbury, ^ one Dunstable, one Temple & ) ♦Peterborough, ^ Mollis, one one ♦Merrimack & > Bedford, J ♦Wilton & Lyndeborough, one one Derryfield & ) *Goffstown, ^ Mile strip & one Duxbury Farm, _ Weare, Hopkinton, one one ♦Mason & ) Raby, I one Henneker, New Britton, " ♦Dearing, ♦Warner, Perrystown & Hillsborough & one one Society Land, Fisherfield, Francestown & ) *New Boston, ^ one In Hillsborough, 17 17 250 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. *Rindge, Jaffrey & Peterboro' Slip, ♦Dublin & f Monadnock No. 5, ) Packersfield, ^ ♦Stoddard, i Washington, f Gilsom, J Marlow, Surry & Alstead, Hinsdale & ♦Chesterfield, Winchester, Richmond, Swanzey & Fitzwilliam, >.l one one Keen, Westmoreland, Walpole, Charlestown, *Cornish, "] Plainfield, Protectworth & Grantham, Claremont, ♦Unity. Acworth, Lempster, Savill, Croydon & Newport, In Cheshire, one one one one IS New Chester, ♦Plimouth, Cockermouth, Alexandria, Romney, Holderness, ♦Campion, & Thornton, Lebanon, ♦Hanover, Relham, Canaan, Cardigan & Grafton, Lyme, ♦Orford, Dorchester, Wentworth, Piermont & Warren, 1 ♦Haverhill, Bath, Lyman, Gunthwait, Landaff & Morristown, Apthorp, ♦Lancaster, Northumberland, Stratford, Cockburn, Conway, Shelburne, and the Towns above, Rockingham, Straiford, Hillsborough, 38 Cheshire, 13 Grafton, 17 Total. '5 6 89 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 251 " That Precepts signed by the President of this Con- gress, be sent to the Selectmen of each Town Named in this List singly to be represented, to Elect & choose a Person to Represent them in Congress to Meet at Exe- ter on the Twenty-first day of December next ; also to the Town or Parish marked * where Towns or Parishes are classed together, To Notify theseveral Towns or Parishes in their respective Classes to meet at the most conve- nient Place in thierTown or Parish to accommodate the whole Electors, To choose some Qualified to Represent them as aforesaid : and all Selectmen are directed to give the Electors fifteen days Notice of the time and oc- casion of meeting. Said Members when met to set in Congress as often and so long as they shall judge requi- site for Acting the Publick Business of this Colony : And to be Impowered by their constituents to Prosecute such measures as they may deem Necessary for the Publick good During the Term of one year from their first meeting, Unless they shall see fit to Dissolve them- selves sooner. "And in case there should be a recommendation from the Continental Congress for this Colony to Assume Government in any way that will require a house of Representatives, That the said Congress for this Colony be Impowered to Resolve themselves into such a House as may be recommended, and to remain such for the aforesaid Term of one year." In addition to equalizing the apportionment of repre- sentation the efiect of the enactments of the Fourth Con- gress was greatly to reduce the membership of succeed- ing bodies, an efl^ect which becomes at once evident in the comparatively small numbers of the next Congress, of which the roll shows but seventy-five. 252 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. This, the Fifth Congress, met December 21, 1775, pursuant to precepts issued b)'^ the preceding body. On January 5, 1776, in accordance with a recommendation of the Continental Congress, dated November 3, 1775, it was voted : " That this Congress take up Civil Gov- ernment" ; also"That this Congress, Assume the Name, Power, & Authority of a House of Representatives or Assembly for the Colony of New Hampshire"; and that precepts should be issued for an annual election as they should thereafter prescribe. In accordance with this provision, the house of rep- resentatives voted on the eighteenth of September, 1776: " That Precepts signed by the President of the Coun- cil And Speaker of the House of Representatives, Issue to the Same Towns, Parishes and Places in this State for the choice of a New House of Representatives (as issued for the same number of Representatives for the present House) to meet at Exeter on the third Wednes- day in December next & to continue for one year. . . "' The act of November 14, 1775, passed by the Fourth Provincial Congress, which had temporarily determined the basis of representation, appears to have remained in force throughout the remainder of the period until the constitution adopted in 1783 went into effect on June 2, 1784. The number of representatives varied slightly from time to time, on account of occasional revisions in the grouping of the less populous towns, but no radical changes were made until New Hampshire emerged from her political vicissitudes a full fledged state. The Basis of Representation in the House of Representa- tives in New Hampshire since 1783. Under the constitution of 1783 every town, parishi, or place entitled to town privileges, having 150 ratable polls, was entitled to send one representative to the Gen- eral Court ; and 300 was made the mean increasing number of ratable polls to entitle a town, parish, place, etc., to an additional representative." It is of interest to note that this basis and ratio remained fixed for more than ninety years, or until changed by the convention of 1876. And even then allowing four inhabitants for each rat- able poll, the change of base from ratable polls to pop- ulation did not change the ratio. Thus the only changes made in the constitution of 1783 materially af- fecting representation have been those relating to the smaller towns. Convention of i'jgi—g2. The first house of repre- sentatives elected under the constitution of 1783 con- tained only ninety-one members ; and up to September 7, 1791, when the first convention for revising that con- stitution assembled, the largest number had been nine- ty-four. In that convention, however, because of the growth of the population of the State, the fear was commonly expressed that the house of representatives would soon • The Constitution of Massachusetts of 1780 established the same hasis, 150 ratable polls for the first representative, but made 225 the mean increasing number for an additional representative. 25'1 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. become too large ; and two plans for reducing the num- ber of representatives were laid before the convention, as follows : 1. It was proposed to change the number of ratable polls required for a representative from 150 to 200." This proposition was rejected — 31 yeas and 70 nays. 2. Mr. Plumer of Epping proposed to limit the num- ber of representatives to sixt}-, and to divide the state into districts for their election. This proposal was re- jected — yeas, 22 ; nays, 73.'' On September 16 a Committee on Alterations and Amendments was appointed to take into consideration the constitution with the several resolutions and pro- posed amendments, and report at the next session, and the convention then adjourned to February 8, 1792. At the adjourned session this committee reported in favor of the following clause to be added to the consti- tution of 1783 : " Provided, nevertheless, that whenever the number of members of the House of Representatives shall ex- ceed no, it shall be the duty of the legislature to make such arrangement as that the members shall not exceed at any time that number, nor shall the towns and dis- tricts entitled to send representatives at any time be less than 80." 3 Under date of February 21, 1792, is the following record : » Province and State Papers, Vol. X., p 44. " Province andState Papers, Vol. X., pp. 48, 49. ' Province and State Papers, Vol. X., p. 67. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 255 " Proceeded to the consideration of the several arti- cles or paragraphs (of the proposed draft of a revised constitution) under the head House of Representatives. " On the first paragraph much debate ensued and mo- lion was made to strike out the words ' three hundred,' and insert ' two hundred twenty-five ' as the mean in- creasing number — to determine which the yeas and nays were called and were as follows : " 19 yeas — 79 nays. So the motion was lost and no alteration was made to said article. " The next paragraph, contained in a proviso to pre- vent the number of representatives being more than no at any one time hereafter, &c., was rejected."' Thus the house of representatives, as constituted under the constitution of 1783, remained unchanged. Convention of 18^0-^1. In the next convention called to revise the constitution of the State, which met in Concord, November 6, 1850, the basis and ratio of representation was one of the chief subjects of discus- sion. The population of the State, which in 1786 (the state census for that year was the first taken under the constitution) had been 95,801, had now grown to 317,- 976 ; and the membership of the house of representa- tives had increased from ninety-one to two hundred eighty-eight. It was generally recognized that so large a body was unwieldy, and incapable of legislating to the best advantage, and that it imposed an unnecessary burden upon the taxpayers. Many plans for reducing the number of members of the house of representatives were presented. Those most favored in the early stages of debate were the four following : » Province and ^tate Papers, Vol. X., pp. 107, 108. 256 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. I. On November 13, Mr. Hoit of Exeter moved to strike out the whole of the ninth, tenth, and eleventh articles of the constitution, and insert the following : " House of Representatives. — The House of Repre- sentatives shall consist of not less than 200 nor more than 250 members, chosen annually by the cities, towns, and parishes entitled to town privileges according to popu- lation as shown decennially by the National Census. The population of the state shall be divided by 250, and the number of times the resulting quotient is contained in each town or city, will show the number of representa- tives to which each city or town shall be entitled. Pro- vided, however, that in respect to those towns and those towns only which by this process could not be repre- sented in the Legislature, a fraction of one-half or more shall be entitled to one representative. Provided, more- over, that each town however small in population shall be allowed one representative whenever a new appor- tionment of the slate tax is made by the Legislature." ' n. On November 15, Mr. Hayes of Madbury offered in the convention the following resolution which was referred to the Committee of the Whole : " Resolved, — That every town or place in this state entitled to town privileges, shall be entitled to elect at least one representative ; that every such town or place having 700 legal voters, shall be entitled to elect two representatives ; every such town or place having 1,500 legal voters, shall be entitled to elect three representa- tives ; every such town or place having 2,500 legal voters, shall be entitled to elect four representatives ; every such town or place having 5,000 legal voters, shall be entitled to elect five representatives ; and no town or place shall elect more than five."^ ' The " Daily Patriot," Novemter 14, 1860. ' The " Daily Patriot," November 16, 1850. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 257 III. On November 15, in the Committee of the Whole, Mr. Lane of Gilford moved an amendment as a substitute for that under consideration offered by Mr. Hoit, as follows : " Resolved, — That in fixing the basis of representa- tion it is expedient that the same be so arranged that every town, parish, or ward, or place entitled to town privileges, having 150 ratable polls of twenty-one years of age and upwards, may elect one representative ; if 750 ratable polls, may elect two representatives ; and so proceeding, making 1,000 ratable polls the number re- quired for each additional representative after the sec- ond. Such towns, parishes, wards or places as have less than 150 ratable polls, may elect a representative such portion of the time as the aggregate number of their ratable polls shall bear to the number of 150." ' IV. On December 12, after the Committee of the Whole had made their report to the convention, Mr. Plumer of Epping offered the following resolution : " Resolved, — That a Committee of thirty-six mem- bers be raised to whom shall be referred the subject of dividing the state into thirty-six Senatorial Districts to be made by this Convention, and of providing that there shall be six representatives chosen from each Senatorial District, the representatives so chosen to be elected sep- arately by the several towns, cities, or wards in said district, according to the number of their ratable polls, or in such other equitable mode as shall be provided by the Legislature, having regard as near as may be to town representation, no alteration to be made in such Senatorial Districts oftener than once in ten years, or the taking of a Census by the United States, and then only by a vote of two-thirds of both houses of the Legis- lature." " • The "Daily Patriot," November 16, 1850. = The "Daily Patriot," December 13, 1850. 258 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. These different proposals, for which various substi- tutes and amendments were offered, were discussed in the Committee of the Whole for four weeks. On December lo, the chairman of the Committee of the Whole reported to the convention Mr. Lane's plan with amendments, as follows : " Resolved, — That in fixing the basis of representa- tion it is expedient that the same be so arranged that every town, parish, ward, or place entitled to town priv- ileges, having 150 ratable polls of twenty-one years of age and upwards, may elect one representative ; if 750 ratable polls, may elect two representatives; if 1,550 ratable polls, may elect three representatives; if 2,550 ratable polls, may elect four representatives ; and so proceeding, making 1,000 ratable polls required for each additional representative after the third. " Such towns, parishes, wards, or places, as have less than 150 ratable polls, may elect a representative such portion of the time as the aggregate number of their ratable polls shall bear to the number of 150, provided that such towns or places as shall not have 150 ratable polls and shall be conveniently located for that object, may, on application to the Legislature, be classed for the choice of a representative, such classed towns not to contain less than 150 ratable polls in each represent- ative district so formed."' On December 12, Governor Steele of Peterborough introduced the following amendment to the foregoing plan, which was adopted by the convention : ' From the manuscript Journal of the Constitutional Convention of 1850- 51, p. 171. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 269 '' Provided, further, that all towns, cities, or places which now are or may hereafter be divided into sec- tions or wards for the choice of representatives, shall, for the purpose of apportioning the number of represent- atives to the number of ratable polls, be considered as undivided." ' On the same day, Mr. Bartlett of Portsmouth moved to amend the amendment by striking out all after the words, " Resolved, That in fixing the basis of represen- tation," and inserting the following instead thereof, "That the towns in each of the thirty-six senatorial districts be authorized to send to the house ( ) representatives, to be apportioned among the several towns in the districts as the Legislature may direct." This amendment was rejected — yeas, 92 ; nays, 174.' On December 13, Mr. Eastman of Conway intro- duced the following amendment to Mr. Lane's plan as modified by the convention : " By striking out the word fifty wherever it occurs in the first proviso, and insert- ing the words seventy-five instead thereof. "^ This amendment was adopted. On the same day the question was put, "Will the Convention agree to the amendment reported by the Committee of the Whole relating to the basis and ratio of representation as amended, which is as follows: ' Resolved, — That on fixing the basis of representation it is expedient that the same be so arranged that every town, parish, ward, or place entitled to town privileges, have 175 ratable polls of twenty-one years of age and ' From the manuscript Journal of the Constitutional Convention of 1850- 51, p. 186. "Ibid., p. 191. = Ibid., p. 211. 260 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION, upwards, who shall have resided in this state six months or more immediately preceding their enrollment, paupers and foreigners not naturalized excepted, may elect one representative ; if 750 ratable polls, may elect two representatives; if 1,550 ratable polls, may elect three representatives ; if 2,550 ratable polls, may elect four representatives; and so proceeding, making 1,000 ratable polls the number required for each additional representative after the third ; such towns, parishes, wards, or places as have less than 175 ratable polls, may elect a representative such portion of the time as the aggregate number of their ratable polls shall bear to the number of 175 ; Provided, That such towns or places as shall not have 175 ratable polls and shall be conveniently located for the object, may, on application to the Legislature, be classed for the choice of a repre- sentative, such classed towns not to contain less than 175 ratable polls in each representative district so formed: Provided, further, that all towns, cities, or places which now are or may hereafter be divided into sections or wards for the choice of representatives, shall, for the purpose of apportioning the number of repre- sentatives to the number of ratable polls, be considered as undivided.' " The yeas and nays were called and the proposed amendment to the constitution was adopted — yeas, 129; nays, 119.' This amendment was duly submitted to the people on the second Tuesday of March, 185 1, in the form of the second question, as follows: " Do you approve of a House of Representatives to be constituted and chosen as provided in the amended Constitution?" It was rejected — yeas, 6,147 ; nays, 33,750 — more than four fifths of the votes having been cast against it. '■ From the manuscript Journal of the Constitutional Convention o£ 1850- 61, p. 212. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 261 Convention of i8y6. In the convention that assem- bled at Concord, December 6, 1876, no part of the con- stitution was more continuously under discussion than that relating to the house of representatives. Among the causes which led the convention to take up the subject of basis and ratio of representation, the three following were the most important : 1. There was a wide-spread feeling that the house of representatives was too large. The number of its members at the June session, 1876, was 391. 2. It was alleged that lax or corrupt officials often had interpreted the term " ratable polls" — upon which by the constitution representation had been based — so as to promote personal, local or partisan interests. 3. There was a provision in the constitution of 1783 giving the Legislature the power to issue a writ for the election of a representative to the General Court from any town containing less than 150 ratable polls and so situated that it could not conveniently be classed. The population of New Hampshire by the census of 1870 showed practically no gain over that of 1850; but the membership of the house of representatives had been increased from two hundred eighty-eight in 1851 to three hundred ninety-one in 1876. One potent cause for this remarkable increase was found in the fact that partisan considerations often had led the legis- lature to grant the petitions of small towns for the privi- lege of sending representatives. The long discussion in the convention over the basis of representation began with the proposal that the num- ber of members of the house of representatives be reduced by choice of one of the four following methods : 262 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. "I. Shall the number of representatives to the House be diminished by increasing the ratio of representation? " 2. Shall the number of representatives to the House be diminished by districting the state into repre- sentative districts? " 3. Shall the number of representatives to the House be diminished by diminishing by definition the number of ratable polls? "4. Shall the number of representatives to the House be diminished by a classification of all towns having less than 150 ratable polls?'" Numerous specific plans for reducing the number of members of the house were submitted of which the fol- lowing are the more important : Mr. Page of Haverhill introduced the following amendment : "Amend article 9 by striking out all after the word ' privileges,' in the fifth line, and adding the words, ' having 400 inhabitants, may elect one representative ; if 2,000 inhabitants, may elect two representatives ; if 4,000 inhabitants, may elect three representatives ; and so proceeding in that proportion, making 2,000 inhabit- ants the mean increasing number for ever}' additional representative — the number of inhabitants in each case to be taken to be the number shown by the last preced- ing official census taken under the authority of the United States ; and no towns shall be so divided or cities warded as to increase their ratio of representa- tion.' " = On December 12, Mr. Sargent of Concord intro- duced the following resolution : ' Journal of the Constitutional Convention of 1876, p. 61. " Ibid., pp. 66, 67. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 263 " Resolved, — That the state be divided into lOO repre- sentative districts to be formed so as to contain as nearly as may be an equal number of inhabitants, and in such a way as to conform to the existing county, town, and ward lines so far as may be, and that each of said dis- tricts shall be entitled to send two representatives to the General Court. The Legislature may from time to time change these districts so as to make them conform as nearly as may be to the foregoing conditions, but in no case shall any change be made in said districts oftener than once in ten j'ears."' Mr. Badger of Concord introduced the following : "Amend by striking out articles 9, 10, 11, and insert- ing therefor the following words, ' The House of Repre- sentatives shall consist of not less than ( ), nor more than ( ) members, chosen by the cities, towns, and places entitled to town representation, according to population as shown by the decennial census of the United States as follows : The whole population of the state to be divided by the maximum number of representatives, and the quotient arising by dividing the population of any city, town, or place, by the first resulting quotient shall determine the number of representatives to which any city, town, or place, may be entitled. Provided, however, that all cities, towns, places, which cannot be represented by this process, shall be entitled to representation such portion of the time as their respective populations bear to the first resulting quotient. Provided, however, that every city, town, and place, however small its population, shall be entitled to representation each year when a new apportionment of the state tax is made.'" ^ ' Journal of the Coastitutional Convention of 1876, p. 133. ' Ibid., p. 188. 264 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Other detailed plans were introduced by Mr. Gallin- ger of Concord and by Mr. Farr of Littleton, both of which were withdrawn in favor of one introduced by Mr. Lyford of Canterbury, which proposed to make six hundred inhabitants the basis for the first representa- tive and twelve liundred additional inhabitants the mean increasing number for an additional representative." Mr. Gallinger estimated that on this basis the house would contain not more than three hundred members, probably less."" Upon the main question being put, " Is it desirable to reduce the number of members of the house?" a divi- sion was called for, whereupon 268 members voted in the affirmative, and none in the negative. The question of the proper definition of the term "ratable polls" was frequently under discussion, and numerous facts were brought out showing the effects of the different interpretations in the past. During the first half-century under the constitution there had been no definition of ratable polls, either by statute or by the courts. But in 1834 ^^'^ superior court were requested by the house of representatives to give their opinion on the following questions : " I. Are aliens ratable polls, within the intent and meaning of those provisions of the Constitution of this State which relate to the number of Representatives to this House to which the several towns in this State are entitled? " 2. Whether persons over seventy years of age are ratable polls within the intent and meaning of the same provisions of said constitution and laws of this State?" ' Journal of the Constitutional Convention of 1876, p. 223. = Ibid., p. 223. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 265 At the June session, 1835, the superior court commu- nicated to the house of representatives their opinion on the above questions, in effect as follows : The term "ratable polls" as used in the constitu- tion, includes all male polls twenty-one years of age and upwards, subject to be made taxable and which are made taxable. Aliens are to be included in determining the repre- sentation of towns because they are taxable by existing laws. Persons over seventy years of age are to be excluded, because they are excused from taxation. (N. H. Reports, Vol. VIII, pp. 573-576.) In 1842 the term "ratable polls" was defined by statute as follows : " In determining the number of representatives to which any town is entitled, every male inhabitant of the age of twenty-one years and upwards shall be con- sidered a ratable poll." (Rev. Stat., 1842, Chap. 29, Sect. 3.) In 1847 this definition was amended and the meaning limited to " Every male inhabitant of twenty-one years of age and upwards, who is a legal voter in such town or place, ot not being a legal voter has resided therein twelve months next preceding the election at which such representative or representatives are to be chosen, or who has been taxed and has paid a poll tax within such town during the year preceding the same elec- tion." (Laws of N. H., 1847, Chap. 493, Sect, i.) 266 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. But again in 1871 a law was passed which in effect reenacted the statute of 1842. The act of 1871 is as follows : " In determining the number of representatives to which any town or ward is entitled, every male inhab- itant therein, who is a voter, and any other person of twenty-one years of age and upwards, and who is liable or subjected by law to a poll tax, shall be considered a ratable poll." (Laws of N. H., 1871, Chap. 5, Sect. 4.) At the suggestion of Mr. Hatch of Keene : "I. All members in favor of basing representation upon the number of ratable polls were requested to stand and be counted, and 14 members so voted. " 2. All members in favor of basing representation upon legal voters were requested to stand and be counted, and 44 members so voted. "3. All members in favor of basing representation upon population were requested to stand and be counted, and 232 members so voted."" On December 14, on motion of Mr. Page of Haver- hill, the following resolution was adopted : " Resolved, That population be the basis of representation." Yeas, 177 ; nays, 15.' Upon motion of Mr. Ramsdell of Nashua, the con- vention voted that a committee of twenty be appointed to take into consideration the question of the basis of representation. This committee was as follows : Messrs. J. J. Bell of Exeter (chairman), Wendell of Ports- mouth, Wheeler of Dover, Woodman of Somersworth, Cole of Gilford, Whipple of Laconia, Hubbard of ' Journal of the Constitutional ConTention of 1876, p. 221. = Ibid., p. 222. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITOTION. 267 Tamworth, Mason of Moultonborough, Gallinger of Concord, Shirley of Andover, Ramsdell of Nashua, Woodbury of Pelham, Hatch of Keene, Buffum of Walpole, Tolles of Claremont, Sturoc of Sunapee, Murray of Canaan, Putnam of Warren, Burton of Lancaster, Bedel of Colebrook.' Mr. Marston of Exeter, in a long speech in which he defended the old basis of representation and the impor- tance of a large house, said : " All the trouble as I think, and all the increase of representation which has created the whole desire and induced many people to think that there ought to be a diminution in the House of Representatives, arise from an abuse of the law ... It went so far that the Legislature gave to the little town of Gosport (annexed to Rye in 1876) the right to send a representative, and it only cast 12 votes." ^ Mr. Bell of Exeter, for the special committee of twenty, to whom was referred the various propositions basing the representation upon population, reported that the committee, after consideration of the several propositions, recommended the adoption of the following amendments to the constitution : Strike out Articles 9, 10 and 11, and insert the fol- lowing : "There shall be in the legislature of this state a representation of the people, biennially elected, and founded upon principles of equality ; and in order that such representation may be as equal as circumstan- ces will admit, every town and place entitled to town ' Journal of the Constitutional Convention of 1876, pp. 224, 226. = Ibid., pp. 234, 235. 268 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. privileges, and wards of cities, having 600 inhabit- ants by the last preceding general census of the State, taken by authority of the United States or of this State, may elect one representative ; if 1800 such inhabitants, may elect two representatives ; and so proceeding in that proportion, making 1200 such in- habitants the mean increasing number for every addi- tional representative : Provided, that no town shall be divided, or the boundaries of the wards of any city so altered, as to increase the number of representatives to which such town or city may be entitled by the then next preceding census ; and provided further, that the legislature in session next before these amendments shall take effect shall equitabl}' apportion the represent- atives to those towns which may have been divided or whose boundaries have been changed since the last census, and in those cities the boundaries of the wards of which have been altered since the last census, in such manner that the number of representatives shall not be greater than it would have been had no division or alteration been made. "Article 10. Such towns, places, or wards as have less than 600 such inhabitants shall be classed by the general court for the purpose of choosing a representative, so that each such class shall contain at least 600 such inhabitants, and be seasonably notified thereof; and in ever}' class formed for the above men- tioned purpose, the first annual meeting shall be held in the town, place, or ward wherein most of the inhab- itants reside, and afterward in that which has the next highest number, and so on, biennially, in rotation through the several towns, places, or wards forming the district. " Article ii. Whenever any town or place entitled to town privileges, and wards of cities, shall not have 600 such inhabitants, and be so situated as to ren- der the classing thereof with any other town, ward, or MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 269 place very inconvenient, the general court shall deter- mine when such town, place, or ward shall send a representative such proportionate part of the time as the number of its inhabitants shall bear to six hundred ; and the legislature shall not grant to any town, place, or ward, any special privilege to send a representative."' In the debate upon the report of this committee of twenty, the chief objection urged was that it granted representation to the cities by wards in such a way that while three thousand inhabitants would give a town a right to three representatives, by division of a city ot the same population into wards of six hundred each, it would be entitled to five representatives. On December 15, the report of the special committee of twenty was adopted by the convention — yeas, 266; nays, 76.' This amendment was submitted to the legal voters of the State on the second Tuesday of March, 1877, in the form of question No. 4, as follows : " Do you approve of a House of Representatives based upon population, and constituted and chosen as provided in the amended Constitution?" It was ratified with the following vote: Yeas, 31,924; nays, 10,878. This amendment, by enact- ment of the Legislature, went into effect on August 17, 1878. (Laws of N. H., 1878, Chap. 67, Sect. 7.) Convention of iSSg. In the convention of 1889, several resolutions were introduced relating to the basis and ratio of representation. One proposed to change the mean increasing ratio from twelve hundred to eighteen hundred for an additional representative.' Another ' Journal of the Constitutional Convention of 1876, pp. 230,231. " Ibid., p. 252. = Journal of the Constitutional Convention of 1889, p. 64. 270 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. proposed to allow the voters in the classed towns to cast their ballots for representatives in the towns in which they dwelt.' By the amendment of 1876, it was provided that in every class the first meeting for the election of a repre- sentative " should be held in the town, place or ward wherein most of the inhabitants reside, and afterwards in that which has the next highest number, and so on, biennially, in rotation through the several towns, places, and wards forming the district."' Still another plan pro- posed to give every town a representative.^ All these resolutions were referred to the Committee on Future Amendments, which reported on January 10, that it was inexpedient to act on the subject. "• Mr. Harvey of Surry introduced the following reso- lution, which was reported favorably by the committee : " Resolved, — That Article 10 of the Constitution be stricken out, and Article 11 be amended so as to read as follows, ' Whenever any town, place, or city ward shall have less than 600 such inhabitants, the General Court shall authorize such town, place, or ward, to elect and send to the General Court a representative such proportionate part of the time as the number of its in- habitants shall bear to 600. And the General Court shall not authorize any town, place, or ward, to elect and send such representative except as herein pro- vided.'" ^ Many petitions from the inhabitants of classed towns were received, all showing that in those towns there ' Journal of the ConstitTitional Convention of 1889, p. 60. ' Amended Constitution 1876, Part II, Sect. 10. ^ Journal of the Constitutional Convention of 1889, p. 112. * Ibid., p. 145. ' Ibid., pp. 138, 139; 212, 218. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 271 was great dissatisfaction with that part of the constitu- tion, as amended in 1876, which related to the classifica- tion of towns. The two principal reasons were, i. Where a small town was classed with a large one, the practical working of the plan showed that the large town always had the representative, and the smaller town was practically unrepresented ; 2. In several towns it often had been necessary for voters to travel a distance of twenty miles to the polls in order to vote. This had resulted in practically disfranchising certain sections, and in some cases the vote cast had never equaled fifty per cent, of the legal voters. The report of the committee was accepted by the convention on January 11, and the resolution adopted.' This proposed amendment to the constitution was duly submitted by the convention to the legal voters of the State in the form of the question (No. 7) " Do you approve of amending the Constitution with reference to representation in classed towns, as proposed in amended Constitution?" It was adopted by them at the annual town meetings on the second Tuesday of March, 1889 — yeas, 30,002 ; nays, 12,846. Journal of the Constitutional Convention of 1889, p. 259. APPENDIX, MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 275 PUBLIC STATUTES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. (Chase's Revision.) Chapter 32. councilor districts. Section 1. Number and power of councilor districts. 2. Limits of district No. 1. 3. Limits of district No. 2. Section 4. Limits of district No. 3. 5. Limits of district No. 4. 6. Limits of district No. 6. Section i . The state is divided into five councilor districts, each of which may choose one councilor biennially. Sect. 2. Councilor district number one contains the towns of Allenstown, Barnstead, Candia, Chichester, Deerfield, Epping, Epsom, Gilford, Gilmanton, Greenland, Laconia, Loudon, Newcastle, New- ington, Newmarket, Northampton, Northwood, Nottingham, Pittsfield, Portsmouth, Raymond, Rye, Stratham, and the county of Strafford. Sect. 3. Councilor district number two contains the towns of Atkinson, Auburn, Bow, Brentwood, Chester, Danville, Derry, Dun- barton, East Kingston, Exeter, Fremont, Hampstead, Hampton, Hampton Falls, Hooksett, Hudson, Kensington, Kingston, Litchfield, Londonderry, Manchester, Newton, Pelham, Plaistow, Salem, San- down, Seabrook, South Hampton, South Newmarket, and Windham. Sect. 4. Councilor district number three contains the towns of Amherst, Antrim, Bedford, Bennington, Brookline, Deering, Francestown, GofFstown, Greenfield, Greenville, Hancock, HoUis, Lyndeborough, Mason, Merrimack, Milford, Mont Vernon, Nashua, New Boston, New Ipswich, Peterborough, Sharon, Temple, Weare, Wilton, Windsor, and the county of Cheshire. Sect. 5. Councilor district number four contains the towns of Andover, Ashland, Belmont, Boscawen, Bradford, Bridgewater, Bris- tol, Canterbury, Concord, Danbury, Franklin, Hanover, Henniker, 276 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Hill, Hillsborough, Hopkinton, Lebanon, Lyme, Newbury, New Hampton, New London, Northfield, Orford, Pembroke, Salisbury, Sanbornton, Sutton, Tilton, Warner, Webster, Wilmot, and the county of Sullivan. Sect. 6. Councilor district number five contains the towns of Al- exandria, Alton, Bath, Benton, Bethlehem, Campton, Canaan, Center Harbor, Dorchester, Easton, Ellsworth, Enfield, Franconia, Grafton, Groton, Haverhill, Hebron, Holderness, Landaff, Lincoln, Lisbon, Littleton, Livermore, Lyman, Meredith, Monroe, Orange, Piermont, Plymouth, Rumney, Thornton, Warren, Waterville, Wentworth, Woodstock, and the counties of Carroll and Cobs. Chapter 23. senatorial districts. Section 1. Number of senatorial districts. 2. Limits of district No. 1. 3. Limits of district No. 2. 4. Limits of district No. 3. 5. Limits of district No. 4. 6. Limits of district No. 5. 7. Limits of district No. 6. 8. Limits of district No. 7. 9. Limits of district No. 8. 10. Limits of district No. 9. 11. Limits of district No. 10. 12. Limits of district No. 11. 13. Limits of district No. 12. Section 14. Limits of district No. 13. 16. Limits of district No. 14. 16. Limits of district No. 15. 17. Limits of district No. 16. 18. Limits of district No. 17. 19. Limits of district No. 18. 20. Limits of district No. 19. 21. Limits of district No. 20. 22. Limits of district No. 21. 23. Limits of district No. 22. 24. Limits of district No. 23. 25. Limits of district No. 24. Section i. The state is divided into twenty-four senatorial dis- tricts, each one of which may elect one senator to the legislature bien- nially. Sect. 2. Senatorial district number one contains Coos county. Sect. 3. Senatorial district number two contains Bath, Benton, Bethlehem, Dorchester, Easton, Ellsworth, Franconia, Groton, Ha- verhill, Hebron, Landaff, Lincoln, Lisbon, Littleton, Livermore, Lyman, Monroe, Rumney, Thornton, Warren, Waterville, Went- worth, and Woodstock. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 277 Sect. 4. Senatorial district number tliree contains Alexandria, Bristol, Canaan, Danbury, Enfield, Grafton, Hanover, Hill, Lebanon, Lyme, New London, Orange, Orford, Piermont, and Wilmot. Sect. 5. Senatorial district number four contains Alton, Ashland, Belmont, Bridgewater, Campton, Center Harbor, Gilford, Gilmanton, Holderness [Laconia, ward i], JVIoultonborough, New Hampton, Plymouth, Sandwich, Tuftonborough, and Wolfeborough. Sect. 6. Senatorial district number five contains Albany, Barn- stead, Bartlett, Brookfield, Chatham, Conway, Eaton, Effingham, Farmington, Freedom, Hart's Location, Jackson, Madison, Middle- ton, New Durham, Ossipee, Strafford, Tamworth, and Wakefield. Sect. 7. Senatorial district number six contains Andover, Frank- lin, Laconia [wards 2, 3, 4], Meredith, Northfield, Salisbury, San- bornton, and Tilton. Sect. 8. Senatorial district number seven contains Acworth, Charlestown, Claremont, Cornish, Croydon, Goshen, Grantham, Langdon, Lempster, Newport, Plainfield, Springfield, Sunapee, and Unity. Sect. 9. Senatorial district number eight contains Alstead, An- trim, Bennington, Bradford, Deering, Francestown, Greenfield, Han- cock, Lyndeborough, Marlow, Mont Vernon, New Boston, Newbury, Stoddard, Sutton, Walpole, Washington, Weare, and Windsor. Sect. 10. Senatorial district number nine contains Boscawen, Bow, ward seven of Concord, Dunbarton, Goifstown, Henniker, Hills- borough, Hooksett, Hopkinion, Warner, and Webster. Sect, i i . Senatorial district number ten contains wards two, four, five, six, and nine of Concord. Sect. 12. Senatorial district number eleven contains Allenstown, Auburn, Candia, Canterbury, Chichester, wards one, three, and eight of Concord, Deerfield, Epsom, Loudon, Pembroke, Pittsfield, and Raymond. Sect. 13. Senatorial district number twelve contains Barrington, Milton, Northwood, Nottingham. Rochester, and Somersworth. Sect. 14. Senatorial district number thirteen contains Gilsum, Keene, Marlborough, Nelson, Roxbury, Sullivan, and Surry. 278 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Sect. 15. Senatorial district number fourteen contains Ctiester- field, Dublin, Fitzwilliam. Harrisville, Hinsdale, JafFrey, Richmond, Rindge, Swanzey, Troy, Westmoreland, and Winchester. Sect. 16. Senatorial district number fifteea contains Amherst, Brookline, Greenville, HoUis, Mason, Milford, New Ipswich, Peter- borough, Sharon, Temple, and Wilton. Sect. 17. Senatorial district number sixteen contains wards one and two of iVIanchester. Sect. 18. Senatorial district number seventeen contains wards three, four, and seven of Manchester. Sect. 19. Senatorial district number eighteen contains wards five, six, eight, nine, and ten of Manchester. Sect. 20. Senatorial district number nineteen contains Bedford, Derry, Litchfield, Londonderry, Merrimack, wards one, two, and three of Nashua, and Windham. Sect. 21. Senatorial district number twenty contains Hudson, wards four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine of Nashua, Pelham, and Salem. Sect. 22. Senatorial district number twenty-one contains Atkin- son, Brentwood, Chester, Danville, East Kingston, Exeter, Fremont, Hampstead, Hampton, Hampton Falls, Kensington, Kingston, New- ton, Plaistow, Sandown, Seabrook, South Hampton, and South Newmarket. Sect. 23. Senatorial district number twenty-two contains wards one, two, and three of Dover, Durham, Lee, Madbury, and RoUins- ford. Sect. 24. Senatorial district number twenty-three contains wards four and five of Dover, Epping, Greenland, Newington, Newmarket, North Hampton, ward three of Portsmouth, Rye, and Stratham. .Sect. 25. Senatorial district number twenty-four contains New- castle and wards one, two, four, [and five] of Portsmouth. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 279 LAWS OF 1 90 1. Chapter 85. an act providing for a convention of delegates for the purpose of revising the constitution. Section 1. Time of choosing delegates. 2. Eligibility to convention. 3. Manner of choosing. 4. Credentials of delegates. 5. Blanks for certificates. Section 6. Meeting and organization. 7. Amendments agreed to. 8. Supplies for convention. 9. Mileage and compensation. 10. Takes effect on passage. Section i . That at the election in the several towns and cities of this state to be holden in November, A. D. 1902, delegates to a con- vention to revise the constitution of this state shall be chosen and an article therefor shall be inserted in the warrants calling said meetings ; and all the laws relating to the election of representatives to the gen- eral court, so far as the same may be applicable, shall apply to the election of delegates except as herein otherwise provided. Sect. 2. Any person shall be eligible to a seat in said convention who by the laws of this state is a qualified voter in the town or district from which he may be elected. Sect. 3. The delegates shall be chosen in the same manner and proportioned as the representatives to the present general court, provided, that each and every town shall be entitled to send one dele- gate at least. Sect. 4. Town clerks and clerks of supervisors of election shall deliver to the person or persons elected a certificate of his or their election. Sect. 5. The secretary of state is directed to prepare and season- ably transmit to the several town clerks suitable blank forms for cer- tificates of the election of delegates. Sect. 6. The delegates so chosen shall meet in convention at the capitol in Concord on the first Tuesday of December, A. D. 1902, at 1 1 o'clock in the forenoon, and shall proceed to organize themselves in convention by choosing by ballot one of their number as president, and such other officers as they may deem necessary ; they shall be the judges of election and returns of their own members, and may establish rules of proceeding, and, when organized, shall proceed to revise the constitution. 280 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. Sect. 7. If any alterations or amendments of the constitution shall be agreed to by said convention, they shall be so arranged and prepared that the same can be voted on by the people separately, unless the convention shall be of the opinion that it is impracticable so to prepare and arrange them, in which case the amendments shall be voted on together; and in either case the convention shall prescribe the mode of publication of the amendments, the time and manner in which the same shall be submitted to the people for their approval, and may pass an ordinance in relation to the manner of ascertaining their decision and declaring and publishing the same, the time when such amendments as shall be approved shall take effect, and may do any and all other things which they deem necessary to carry out the pur- pose and object of such convention. Sect. 8. It shall be the duty of the secretary of state to furnish said convention such books, documents, papers, stationery, and print- ing as the convention shall require or order. Sect. 9. The pay for the travel for the officers and members of the convention shall be the same as that of the officers and members of the house of representatives, and for his attendance each member shall receive three dollars per day during the said convention, except that the clerk and assistant clerk shall receive the same pay as a mem- ber of the convention, and one hundred dollars each additional for making up the journals, the same to be paid out of the treasury. Sect. 10. This act shall take effect from and after its passage. [Approved March 21, igoi.] Chapter 154. JOINT resolution PROVIDING FOR THE PAYMENT OF THE EXPENSES OF A CONVENTION TO REVISE THE CONSTITUTION. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened: That a sum not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars be and is hereby appropriated to pay the expenses of a convention to revise the constitution ; and the governor is authorized to draw his warrant for so much of said sum as may be necessary for that purpose. [Approved March 22, 1902.] MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 281 LAWS OF 1901. Chapter 103. AN ACT RELATING TO THE ELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVES TO THE GENERAL COURT. Section Section 3. Repealing clause ; act takes effect on passage. Apportionment of representa- tives. Representation of towns having less than six hundred inhabit- ants. Section i . Until another general census of the state is taken and ofBcially promulgated, the following named towns and wards may send representatives to the general court under the authority of the consti- tution as follows : One representative each from Alexandria, AUenstown, Alstead, Alton, Amherst, Andover, Antrim, Ashland, Auburn, Barnstead, Barrington, Bartlett, Bath, Bedford, Belmont, Bennington, Bethle- hem, Boscawen, Bow, Bradford, Brentwood, Bristol, Brookline, Campton, Canaan, Candia, Canterbury, Carroll, Charlestown, Chester, Chesterfield, Columbia, wards two, three, and eight of Concord, Cornish, Danbury, Danville, Deerfield, Durham, Dublin, ward five of Dover, Effingham, Epping, Epsom, Fitzwilliam, Francestown, Fran- conia, ward one of Franklin, Fremont, Gilford, Gilmanton, Gorhara, Greenfield, Greenland, Greenville, Grafton, Hampton, Hampstead, Hancock, Hariisville, Henniker, Holderness, Holiis, Hooksett, Hop- kinton. Hill, Hudson, Jackson, Jefferson, wards four and five of Keene, Kingston, ward three of Laconia, Londonderry, Loudon, Lyme, Lyndeborough, ward seven of Manchester, Marlborough, Mere- dith, Merrimack, Milan, Milton, Moultonborough, wards four, five, and six of Nashua, New Boston, New Durham, Newfields, New Hampton, New Ipswich, New London, Northfield, Northwood, Not- tingham, North Hampton, Newton, Orford, Ossipee, Pelham, Piermont, Pittsburg, Plainfield, Plaistow, wards four and five of Portsmouth, Raymond, Kindge, Rollinsford, wards one, two, three, five, and six 282 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. of Rochester, Rumney, Rye, Salisbury, Sandwich, Sanbornton, Sea- brook, wards one, two, three, and five of Somersworth, Starlc, Strafford, Stratford, Stratham, Stewartstown, Sunapee, Sutton, Swanzey, Tam- worth, Troy, Tuftonborough, Warner, Wakefield, Warren, Weare, Wentworth, Westmoreland, Wilton, Wilmot, Windham, and Wood- stock. Two representatives each from ward three of Berlin, wards one, five, and nine of Concord, Colebrook, wards one and three of Dover, Enfield, Farmington, wards two and three of Franklin, Goffstown, Hanover, Hillsborough, Hinsdale, Jaffrey, wards one, two, and three of Keene, wards one, two, and four of Laconia, Lisbon, wards one and two of Nashua, Newmarket, Northumberland, Peterborough, Pittsfield, Plymouth, wards one and three of Portsmouth, ward four of Rochester, Salem, ward four of Somersworth, Tilton, Walpole, Whitefield, Win- chester, and Wolfeborough. Three representatives each from wards one and two of Berlin, wards four, six, and seven of Concord, Conway, Derry, wards two and four of Dover, Haverhill, Lancaster, Littleton, ward one of Manchester, Milford, wards three, seven, and eight of Nashua, Newport, Pembroke, and ward two of Portsmouth. Four representatives each from Exeter, Lebanon, wards six and ten of Manchester, and ward nine of Nashua. Five representatives each from Claremont and wards two and eight of Manchester. Six representatives each from wards three and four of Manchester. Seven representatives from ward nine of Manchester. Eight representatives from ward five of Manchester. Sect. 2. The following named towns, not having six hundred inhabitants according to the census of 1900, may each elect a repre- sentative, and send him to the general court such proportionate part of the time as the number of their inhabitants, according to said census, bears to six hundred ; that is to say, they may elect one repre- sentative in each of the years set opposite their names in the following list: MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 283 Acworth — in the years 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910. Albany — in tlie years 1902, 1910. Atkinson — in the years 1902, 1904, 1908, 1910. Benton — in the years 1904, 1908. Bridgewater — in the years 1904, 1908. Broolcfield — in the years 1904, 1906, 1910. Center Harbor — in the years 1902, igo6, 1910. Chatham — in the years 1902, 1904, 191 o. Chichester — in the years 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910. Clarlcsville — in the years 1902, 1904, 1908. Croydon — in the years 1904, 1908, 191 o. Dalton — in the years 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910. Deering — in the years 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908. Dorchester — in the years 1904, 1906, 1910. Dummer — in the years 1902, 1906, 1910. Dunbarton — in the years 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910. East Kingston — in the years 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910. Easton — in the years 1904, 1906. Eaton — in the years 1904, 1906, 1910. Ellsworth — in the year 1904. Errol — in the years 1902, 1906, 1910. Freedom — in the years 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910. Gilsum — in the years 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910. Goshen — in the years 1904, 1906, 1908. Grantham — in the years 1902, 1904, 1910. Groton — in the years 1904, 1908, 1910. Hampton Falls — in the years 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910. Hart's Location — in the year 1908. Hebron — in the years 1902, 1906. Kensington — in the years 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910. Landaif — in the years 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910. Langdon — in the years 1902, 1904, 1908. Lee — in the years 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910. Lempster — in the years 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910. Lincoln — in the years 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910. Litchfield — in the years 1902, 1906. 284 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Lyman — in the years 1904, 1908, 1910. Livermore — in the year 1908. Madbury — in the years 1902, 1906, 1910. Madison — in the years 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908. Mason — in the years 1902, 1906. 1908. Marlow — in the years 1902, 1904, 1908, 1910. Middleton — in the years 1902, 1906, 1910. Mont Vernon — in the years 1902, 1904, 1906, 1910. Monroe — in the years 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910. Newbury — in the years 1904, 1908, 1910. Nelson — in the years 1902, 1906, 1910. Newcastle — in the years 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910. Newington — in the years 1902, 1906, 1910. Orange — in the years 1902, 1908. Randolph — in the year 1904. Richmond — in the years 1902, 1904, 1908, 1910. Roxbury — in the year 1906. Sandown — in the years 1902, 1906, 1908. Sharon — in the year 1902. Shelburne — in the years 1902, 1906, 1908. South Hampton — in the years 1902, 1908, 1910. Springfield — in the years 1902, 1906, 1910. Stoddard — in the years 1902, 1906, 1910. Sullivan — in the years 1904, 1908. Surry — in the years 1904, 1908. Temple — in the years 1902, 1906, 1910. Thornton — in the years 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910. Unity — in the years 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910. Washington — in the years 1902, 1906, 190B. Waterviile — in the year 1904. Webster — in the years 1902, 1906, 1908, 1910. Windsor — in the year 1908. Sect. 3. This act shall take effect upon its passage, and all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act, are hereby repealed. [Approved March 22, 1901.] DELEGATES TO THE CONVENTION TO REVISE THE CONSTITUTION. 1902 ROCKINGHAM COUNTY. Atkinson, Elmer E. Conley. Auburn, Henry C. Sanborn. Brentwood, Ephraim G. Flanders. Candia, George E. Eaton. Chester, Charles H. Knowles. Danville, Eugene F. Kimball. Deerfield, John M. Kelsey. Derry, Walter R. Sanders, Charles F. Gillispie, Charles W. Abbott. East Kingston, Frank R. Morrill. Exeter, Edwin G. Eastman, Wm. H. C. Follansby, Arthur O. Fuller, Albert S. Wetherell. Epping, John Leddy. Fremont, Lincoln F. Hooke. Greenland, John S. H. Frink. Hampstead, John C. Sanborn. Hampton, John W. Towle. Hampton Falls, Benjamin F. Weare. Kensington, Weare N. Shaw. Kingston, Amos C. Chase. Londonderry, Rosecrans W. Pillsbury. Newcastle, no choice. Newfields, Christopher A. Pollard. Newington, Frederic W. de Roche- mont. Newmarket, Harrison G. Burley, John Walker. Newton, Daniel F. Battles. North Hampton, David H. Evans. Northwood, Charles F. Cate. Nottingham, James H. Kelsey. Plaistow, Daniel M. Peaslee. Portsmouth : Ward 1, Samuel W. Emery, Guy E. Corey. Ward 2, Simon P. Emery, Alfred F. Howard, True L. Norris. Ward 3, Clarence H. Paul, Samuel F. Ham. Ward 4, Edward H. Adams. Ward S, William A. A. Cullen. Raymond, James M. Healey. Rye, Horace Sawyer. Salem, Wallace W. Cole, Benj. R. Wheeler. Sandown, Horace T. Grover. Seabrook, John W. Locke. South Hampton, Benjamin R. Jewell. Stratham, Joseph C. A. Wingate. Windham, George H. Clark. STRAFFORD COUNTY. Barrington, Alphonzo B. Locke. Dover : Ward I, George L Leighton. Ward 1, Charles E. Morrison. Ward 2, Charles T. Moulton, William H. Roberts, 286 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. Dover : Ward 2, Burnham Hanson. Ward 3, John H. Nealley, Dwight Hall. Ward 4, Charles H. Morang, Channing Folsom, John H. Nute. Ward 5, Patrick W. Murphy. Durham, Daniel Chesley. Farmington, Henry C. Nutter, Edward T. Willson. Lee, John W. Webb. Madbury, Fred E. Gerrish. Middleton, James D. Moore. Milton, Bard B. Plummer. New Durham, Horatio G. Chamljerlin. BELKNAP Alton, George H. Demeritt. Barnstead, Horace N. Colbath. Belmont, Fred E. Bryar. Center Harbor, Allan C. Clark. Gilford, James R. Morrill. Gilmanton, Thomas Cogswell. Laconia : Ward 1, Charles L. Pulsifer, Edwin D. Ward. Ward 2, Stephen S. Jewett. Rochester : Ward I, Andrew R. Nute. Ward 2, George P. Furbush. Ward 3, Stephen C. Meader. Ward 4, George H. Springfield, Gaspard A. Gelinas. Ward 5, George E. Cochrane. Ward 6, William T. Gunnison. RoUinsford, George W. Nutter. Somersworth : Ward I, James A. Edgerly. Ward 2, Joseph Libby. Ward 3, James A. Locke. Ward 4, Michael J. Leary, Clement Roy. Ward 5, Oliver Morin. Strafford, Frank H. Hall. COUNTY. Ward 2, Horace W. Gorrell. Ward 3, John T. Busiel. Ward 4, Edwin P. Thompson, Edwin C. Lewis. Meredith, George F. Smith. New Hampton, Kenrick W. Smith. Sanbornton, James E. Knox. Tilton, Charles C. Rogers, William B. Fellows. CARROLL COUNTY. Albany, Archie Nickerson. Bartlett, Henry M. Rideout. Brookfield, Dudley C. Colman. Chatham, William Spencer. Conway, Sewell M. Hobson, James L. Gibson, Joel E. Morrill. Eaton, Luther E. Dearborn. Effingham, Horace W. Harmon. Freedom, Arthur P. Merrow. Hart's Location, Merville B. Murch. Jackson, Jonathan Meserve. Madison, Samuel J. Gilman. Moultonborough, Andrew J. Goodwin. Ossipee, Levi W. Brown. Sandwich, Henry F. Dorr. Tamworth, Horace A. Page. Tuftonborough, John D. Morrison. Wakefield, John W. Sanborn. Wolfeborough, Stephen W. Clow, Fred E. Hersey. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 287 MERRIMACK COUNTY. AUenstown, Frank E. Blodgett. Andover, George W. Stone. Boscawen, Willis G. Buxton. Bow, Henry M. Baker. Bradford, John E. French. Canterbury, James Frame. Chichester, Jeremy L. Sanborn. Concord : Ward I, David F. Dudley, Charles E. Foote. Ward 2, Fales P. Virgin. Ward 3, Abijah HoUis. Ward 4, Frank S. Streeter, James O. Lyford, John M. Mitchell. Ward 5, Edward C. Niles, William A. Foster. Ward 6, Benj. A. Kimball, Reuben E. Walker, DeWitt C. Howe. Ward 7, Moses T. Whittier, Maitland C. Lamprey, Horace L. Ingalls. Ward 8, William E. Chandler. Ward 9, Michael Casey, John Jordan. Danbury, John V. Ford. Dunbarton, Horace Caldwell. Epsom, John H. Dolbeer. Franklin : Ward I, Isaac N. Blodgett. Ward 2, Edward B. S. Sanborn, George R. Stone. Ward 3, Edward G. Leach, Omar A. Towne. Henniker, Charles A. Wilkins. Hill, Royal L. Wilson. Hooksett, Eugene S. Head. Hopkinton, George M. Putnam. Loudon, Jeremiah A. Clough. Newbury, George J. Messer. New London, Jacob H. Todd. Northfield, Otis C. Wyatt. Pembroke, Jacob E. Chickering, Edmund E. Truesdell, George E. Miller. Pittsfield, Frank P. Greene, Edward K. Webster. Salisbury, Edward N. Sawyer. Sutton, No choice — voted not to send. Warner, Arthur Thompson. Webster, Frank A. Lang. Wilmot, no choice. HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY. Amherst, Eugene C. Hubbard. Antrim, P'ranklin G. Warner. Bedford, Gordon Woodbury. Bennington, Charles H. Kimball. Brookline, Orville D. Fessenden. Deering, William F. Whitaker. Francestown, George E. Downes. Goffstown, George W. Colby, David A. Paige. Greenfield, George S. Peavey. Greenville, Stephen H. Bacon. Hancock, George H. Fogg. Hillsborough, John B. Smith, Samuel W. Holman. Hollis, Marcellus J. Powers. Hudson, George W. Clyde. Litchfield, Jonathan A. Marsh. Lyndeborough, Walter S. Tarbell. Manchester : Ward I, Elliot C. Lambert, 288 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Manchester : Ward I , Rufus Wilkinson, Jacob J. Abbott. Ward 2, James F. Briggs, David Cross, Nathan P. Hunt, Oliver B. Green, James E. Dodge. Ward 3, Henry \V. Boutwell, Cyrus H. Little, Clarence E. Rose, Edwin F. Jones, Edwin R. Robinson, Joseph 0. Tremblay. Ward 4, Harry T. Lord, George C. Gilmore, Henry A. Farrington, Warren Harvey, Bushrod W. Hill, Albert J. Precourt. Ward 5, Joseph M. McDonough, Michael Tonery, William J. Starr, Timothy E. Horan, William F. Glancy, Michael R. Sullivan, Dennis F. Griffin, Henry Jennings. Ward 6, Fred T. Irwin, George I. McAllister, Joseph Quirin, Eugene E. Hildreth. Ward 7, Henry W. Allen. Ward 8, Frank O. Clement, John C. Littlefield, John K. McQuesten, William McElroy, Edward J. Powers. Ward 9, Herman Greager, Joseph Richer, Frank T. Provost, Ward 9, Joseph G. Plante, Eugene Quirin, Moise Guerin, Joseph A. Boivin. Ward 10, James M. Hall, Albert Nettle, Joseph F. Trinity, Nelson W. Paige. Mason, Hermon Whitaker. Merrimack, Francis A. Gordon. Milford, Carl E. Knight, William B. Rotch, George A. Worcester. Mont Vernon, Charles H. Raymond. Nashua : Ward I, Charles J. Hamblett, John R. .Spring. Ward 2, Joseph L. Clough, Walter C. Harriman. Ward 3, Edward H. Everett, John J. Flood, Henri T. Ledoux. Ward 4, Edward E. Parker. Ward 5, Stephen L. Hallinan. Ward 6, Edward H. Wason. Ward 7, Arthur K. Woodbury, Clayton K. Proctor, F'rederic D. Runnells. Ward 8, William J. McKay, Albert Shedd, William J. Flather. Ward 9, Thomas Earley, Jr., Joseph T. Slattery, Leon Desmarais, Michael McGlynn. New Boston, Lendell Dodge. New Ipswich, Edwin F. Blanchard. Pelham, Charles L. Seavey. Peterborough, Mortier L. Morrison, Charles Scott. Sharon, Milton A. Richardson. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 289 Temple, Herbert O. Hadley. Weare, George Simons. Wilton, George E. Bales. Windsor, Joseph C. Chapman. CHESHIRE COUNTY. Alstead, Charles H. Cooke. Chesterfield, George F. Amidon. Dublin, Henry D. Learned. Fitzwilliam, Amos J. Blake. Gilsum, John S. Collins. Harrisville, Frank C. Farwell. Hinsdale, Fred A. Buckley, Willis D. Stearns. Jaffrey, Joel H. Poole, Albert Annett. Keene : Ward I, James S. Taft, Adolph W. Pressler. Ward 2, Charles Wright, 2d, Liberty W. Foskett. Ward 3, William C. Hall, Hiram F. Newell. Ward 4, Clement J. Woodward. Ward 5, Joseph Madden. Marlborough, Clinton Collins. Marlow, Rockwell F. Craig. Nelson, George W. Osgood. Richmond, Lewis R. Cass. Rindge, Warren W. Emory. Roxbury, Charles W. Buckminster. Stoddard, Cummings B. McClure. Sullivan, Daniel W. Rugg. Surry, Stephen H. Clement. Swanzey, Auburn J. Day. Troy, Melvin T. Stone. Walpole, Frank A. Spaulding, William H. Kiniry. Westmoreland, Edwin J. Goodnow. Winchester, Carlos C. Davis, George W. Peirce. SULLIVAN COUNTY. Acworth, Abraham M. Mitchell. Charlestown, Lyman Brooks. Claremont, Edward J. Tenney, George T. Stockwell, Osmon B. Way, George P. Rossiter, Ira G. Colby. Cornish, George E. Fairbanks. Croydon, Daniel Ide. Goshen, Frank L. Hanson. Grantham, Moses P. Burpee. Langdon, Herbert A. Holmes. Lempster, Loren A. Noyes. Newport, Arthur C. Bradley, Jesse M. Barton, Seth M. Richards. Plainfield, Robert R. Penniman. Springfield, Joseph L. Brown. Sunapee, George H. Bartlett. Unity, Charles A. Newton. Washington, Willie D. Brockway. GRAFTON COUNTY. Alexandria, AlpheusS. Bucklin. Ashland, Henry C. Dearborn. Bath, Henry C. Carbee. Benton, Lebina H. Parker. Bethlehem, Henry A. Hildreth. Bridgewater, Henry H. Morrill. 290 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. Bristol, Ira A. Chase. Campton, Charles W. Pulsifer. Canaan, Warren B. Richardson. Dorchester, Herbert H. Ashley. Easton, Charles A. Young. Ellsworth, Bert H. Avery. Enfield, Henry Cumings, John Dresser. Franconia, Wilbur F. Parker. Grafton, Joseph E. Walker. Groton, Daniel Kidder. Hanover, Simon Ward, James F. Colby. Haverhill, Tyler Westgate, Scott Sloane, Edwin B. Pike. Hebron, Edward M. Jewell. Holderness, Robert L. Flanders. Landaff, Van B. Glazier. Lebanon, Charles A. Dole, Charles B. Drake, Jesse E. Dewey, Lebanon, Clarence E. Hibbard. Lincoln, James E. Henry. Lisbon, Augustus A. Woolson, George F. Morris. Littleton, Edgar Aldrich, Henry F. Green, Harry M. Morse. Lyman, Willard A. Stoddard. Lyme, George Melvin. Monroe, Alexander Warden. Orange, John H. French. Orford, George W. Lamprey. Piermont, Edward Ford. Plymouth, Frank W. Russell, Alvin F. Wentworth. Rumney, Charles C. Craig. Thornton, Marshall A. Bowles. Warren, William R. Park, Jr. WaterviUe, George H. Green. Wentworth, Calvin T. Shute. Woodstock, Elmer E. Woodbury. COOS COUNTY. Berlin : Ward I, Joseph H. Wight, John D. Moffett, William H. Paine. Ward 2, Louis M. Laplante, George F. Rich, Daniel J. Daley. Ward 3, James A. Boudreau, Charles A. Murray. Carroll, Charles S. Miles. Clarksville, Willis E. Young. Colebrook, Jason H. Dudley, Thomas F. Johnson. Columbia, Charles C. Titus. Dalton, Frank Britton. Dummer, Adam W. Wight. Errol, Remember B.Thurston. Gorham, Alfred R. Evans. Jefferson, George W. Crawford. Lancaster, Irving W. Drew, Henry O. Kent, William H. Hartley. Milan, Leonard K. Phipps. Northumberland, Napoleon B.Perkins, George W. McKellips. Pittsburg, Harvey Augustus Blanchard. Randolph, Laban M. Watson. Shelburne, Charles E. Philbrook. Stark, William T. Pike. Stewartstown, Leon D. Ripley. Stratford, Havilah B. Hinman. Whitefield, David M. Aldrich, William F. Dodge. STATISTICAL TABLES. 292 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. TABLE Population of New Hampshire From the Twelfth Census of the COUNTIES The State Belknap Carrol) Cheshire Coos Grafton Hillsborough Merrimack Rockingliam Strafford Sullivan 1900. 1890. 1880. 18T0. 1860 411,588 376,530 346,991 318,300 19,526 20,321 17,948 17,681 10,895 18,124 18,224 17,332 31,321 29,579 28,734 27,265 29,468 23,211 18,580 14,932 40,844 37,217 38,788 39,103 112,640 93,247 75,634 64,238 52,430 49,435 46,300 42,151 51,118 49,660 49,064 47,297 39,337 38,442 35,568 30,243 18,009 17,304 18,161 18,058 326,073 18,649 20,465 27,434 13,161 42,260 62,140 41,408 50,122 31,493 19,041 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 293 No. 1. By Counties, 1790—1900. United States, Vol. I, Pop., Part 1, p. 30. I860. 1840. 1830. 1830. 1310. 1800. irao. 317,976 17,721 284,574 269,328 244,161 214,460 183,858 141,886 20,167 30,144 11,853 42,343 57,478 40,337 49,194 29,374 19,375 26,429 9,849 42,311 42,494 36,253 45,771 61,127 20,340 27,016 8,388 38,682 37,724 34,614 44,325 58,910 19,669 45,376 5,549 32,989 53,884 40,988 3,991 28,462 49,249 38,825 28,772 23,093 43,899 13,472 32,871 55,246 51,117 60,175 41,595 45,427 32,614 43,169 23,601 294 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. TABLE No. 2. Population op New Hampshire with the Total Increase, Per Cent, of Increase, and Density as Shown at Each Census, 1790—1900. From Twelfth Census, Vol. I, Pop., Part 1, pp. 2-6. Census year. Population. Total increase. Per cent, of increase. Density to square mile. 1900 411,588 35,068 9.3 45.7 1890 376,630 29,639 8.5 41.8 1880 346,991 28,691 9.0 38.5 1870 318,300 7,773 2.4 36.3 1860 326,073 8,097 2.5 36.2 1850 317,976 33,402 11.7 35.3 1840 284,574 15,246 5.7 31.6 1830 269,328 26,167 10.3 29.9 1820 244,161 29,701 13.8 27.1 1810 214,460 30,602 16.6 23.8 1800 183,868 41,973 29.6 20.4 1790 141,886 TABLE No. 3. Total Males 21 Years of Age and over, Classified by General Nativity AND Literacy in New Hampshire, 1900. Twelfth Census, Vol. I, Pop., Part 1, p. 909. Aggregrate. Native born. Foreign born. Total. Literate. Illiterate. Total. Literate. Illiterate. Total. Literate. Illiterate. 130,987 120,692 10,295 96,099 94,174 1,925 34,888 26,618 8,370 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 295 pq H « o 1-^ o o ><" H H >; -) a o 1— 1 -"' s a © & rt ^ © s ■M iO ;^ fc ■< s ei « ^ S o © pq 00 3 U ©■ 1 2 s E^ h o 1— ( a C3 A © s o3 ^ © 00 ^ 3 © +3 c8 T3 © S3 11 S3 of Is f-t •"■ B © ;2; o3 i )J © -4^ ^3 2 o P © eo t~i o 'o K o OJ .£; © *-4^ c« rt t^ 12; 3 © -M OS IO S © 00 -*J pH 3 ■^ fe: G .fc © Tf« e€ c8 00 1 F<4 © ■U s 3 296 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. TABLE No. 5. Population of Coumcilor Districts in New Hampshire, 1900. Compiled from Twelfth Census, 1900. District No. 1 80,847 2 88,636 " 3 82,341 4 80,874 5 78,890 TABLE No. 6. Population of Senatorial Districts in New Hampshire, 1900. Compiled from Twelfth Census, 1900. District No. 1 29,468 2 19,742 3 18,014 4 16,440 5 17,]6G " 6 21,067 7 17,54.5 8 15,007 9 17,201 •' 10 12,288 " 11 18,125 " 12 20,264 District No. 13 12,211 14 14,763 ID 14,021 16 9,126 17 15,999 18 31,862 19 16,391 20 19,941 21 18,082 22 11,307 23 15,463 24 0,375 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 297 TABLE No. 7.— PART I. Population of New Hampshire by Towns as Shown by the State Census in 1775 and the United States Censuses 1790 — 1900, AND THE Number op Representatives or Each Town Returned to the General Court in 1784 and at Each Decennial Period, 1791 — 1901. (Compiled from Province Papers, United States Censuses, House Journals, New Hampshire Registers, and Newspaper files.) This table includes only existing towns. Each town is entered under the county to which it now belongs. If at the date of any census it belonged to another county this fact is indicated in the population column. In the Representative column c stands for classed town and p for a town sending a representative " a proportionate part of the time." A blank in this column signifies that in the given year the town failed to return a representative. 20 298 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITDTION. 1775 1784 1790 1791 1800 1801 1810 1811 1820 1821 1830 EOCKINGHAM COUNTY. a o +3 a 3 Pi O Ph > a m a. o PL, m > 1 d p. M a o p. o Pli 35 > 1 (3 CD S p. d o 1 en 1 p. 1 1 > 0, 1 9 i 575 c 479 c 474 1 556 c 563 c 556 Auburn 1,100 744 1,599 504 929 1 1 1 1 976 1,040 1,902 420 1,619 I c 1 899 1,186 2,046 389 1,878 1 1 1 c 1 906 1,290 2,030 412 1,861 1 1 1 c 1 892 1,273 2,262 421 2,133 1 1 2 C 1 891 1,362 2 039 Chester Danville [1] 528 Deerlield 2,086 2,178 East Kingston EppinK 428 1,569 1,741 552 759 768 862 646 797 961 2,590 449 c 1 1 c "i' c 1 1 2 C 358 1,233 1,722 493 634 724 853 541 800 906 2,622 534 c 1 1 c 1 c 1 1 1 392 1,121 1,727 408 548 790 876 519 776 786 2,650 524 c 1 1 c 1 1 1 c 1 1 2 442 1,182 1,759 462 602 738 090 570 781 746 2,766 692 c 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 443 1,158 2,114 453 634 751 1,098 572 709 847 3,127 932 c 1 "i' 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 442 1,263 2,759 429 Greenland Hampstead . 681 913 1,103 683 717 Hampton Falls Londonderry .... 1,469 850 NewfieldsM Nowington . . , 532 1,289 540 652 313 999 575 4,590 1 1 "i' i' c 3 542 1,137 530 657 744 1,068 521 4,720 "i' "i' c 1 c 3 481 1,027 450 653 950 964 459 5,339 1 1 "i' 1 '4' 508 1,061 454 651 1,095 1,063 424 6,934 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 641 1,083 477 764 1,260 1,120 492 7,327 1 1 1 1 1. c 4 549 2,013 510 767 1,342 1,157 Newton North Hampton Nottingham Portsmouth Ward 1. 8,082 Ward 2 Ward 3. Ward 4. Ward 5. 683 870 1,084 459 607 498 1,137 529 C c 1 c c c 1 1 727 865 1,218 661 715 448 882 663 c c c c 1 1 808 890 1,077 601 628 387 890 751 c 1 1 c c c 1 1 898 1,020 1,179 504 774 427 874 742 1 1 1 c c c 1 1 961 1,127 1,311 627 886 416 892 889 1 1 1 C 1 c 1 1 1,000 1,172 1,310 553 Kye Sandown 1,096 487 938 South Hampton Stratham 1,006 [1] Danville. Incorporated as Hawke, 1760. Name changed to Danville, 1836. [2] Fremont. Incorporated as Poplin, 1764. Name changed to Fremont, 1864. [3] Newflelds. Incorporated aa South Newmarket, 1849. Name changed to Newfields, Feb. 21, 1895 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 299 1831 1840 1841 1850 1851 I860 1861 1870 1871 1880 1881 1890 1891 1900 1901 OD M ZD CO ce A « CO 0) V a (D « 03 03 03 > > > ,!> > > > > '^s '■*3 *4^ +J '+s « ds rj ri rj CS P3 C8 A « p C« 03 a ^S a S 4-3 a o 4-» .2 "3 1 _o P 4^ a s 43 V '■^ ID 0) += 03 4^ o 03 "-^ ® M ri CO 03 CO efl CO rt .CO ea CO C3 03 CO 03 1 d o 9 Pi O a. > 1 ID I "3 a (2 w O > B 2 Pi a "3 1 > d o 1 > a s 1 .2' 1 (2 Barrington 1,655 1,666 1 1 2,470 1,998 1 1 2,773 2,062 2 3.6e4 2,228 2 1,6)0 2,871 J 1,895 6,449 " Ward 1 Ward 2 " Ward 3 " Ward 4 Ward 5 Durham 1,214 1 1,247 1,126 1,029 978 644 431 c 1,449 1,272 1,329 682 439 1,005 888 2,118 1,538 1,716 1.224 659 482 1,232 1,168 2,471 1 1 1 1 c 1 1 2 1,606 1,464 IjGG . .... 954 677 233 1 c 1,029 592 617 1,009 510 562 Madbury Milton . ... 1,273 286 1,648 c 1 564 2,857 C 1 742 2,646 c 2 1,162 Rochester " Ward 1.... 2,166 " Ward 2.... Ward 3 Ward 4.. Ward 5.... Ward 6 RoUinsford . . Somers worth Ward 1 965 1 943 1 932 878 841 1 3,090 Ward 2 Ward 3 Ward 4 Ward 5 Strafford 2,144 1 2,200 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 301 183 1 1840 184 1 I860 1861 1860 186 1 1870 1871 1880 1881 189C 1891 1900 1901 i 1 s Is 1 1 1 8 1 a g g §" 1 9 1 1 1 1 a 9 > E § 1 > 1 1 1 9 if § 1 a 1 1 a S 2 1 1 4 1,844 6,468 1 4 1,752 8,196 1 6 1,963 8,502 2 7 1,681 ' '742' 2,880 4,639 1,033 2 1 2 1 1 1,497 1 1,408 1 1,208 1 1,874 2,696 2,224 2,960 2 2 2 2 2,222 3,007 2,276 3,348 2 3 2 3 2,387 3,018 2,384 3,861 2 3 2 3 2 1,498 1,380 926 489 482 1,322 1,032 2,431 2 1,497 1,699 862 483 476 1.629 1,049 3,006 1 2 "i' 1 1 1 2 1,534 2,275 871 496 630 1,862 1,173 3,384 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 3 l,i298 2,063 776 408 476 1,598 973 4,103 "i' 2 1 .... 2 1 4 2,043 962 3,044 715 397 356 1,616 772 6,784 2 1 3 1 P C 1 1 5 1,937 871 3,064 606 367 207 1,640 579 7,396 2 1 3 1 P P 1 P 6 1,567 996 2,265 645 336 300 1,625 625 1,131 1,222 1,617 1,894 964 1 1 2 p p p 1 1 i 1 1 2 1 "2 3,283 '2' 1,862 4,943 1 3 2,069 4,787 '4' 1,500 4,5(mI 1 4 1,712 5,586 6 6,207 "2" 6 . 1,738 1,701 1,2135' 1,167 1,104 2,183 1 1 ..... 1 1 1 2 2,021 2 t,920 2 2,047 ' ■i- ,669 2 1,631 ■ i' 1,304 ..... ,284 ,040 2 1 302 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 1775 1784 1790 1791 1800 1801 1810 1811 1820 1821 1830 BELKNAP COUNTY. S i 1 a £ c "5 ft c > 1 (D P< o CO > s l ft o 9 ft o ca c 9 ft o Oh 03 c ft (3 o Alton [1] *100 *262 c c *445 *807 c 1 *721 •1,161 c 1 *1,279 •1,477 1 1 *2,068 *1,805 1 1 *1,993 Barnstead Belmont [2] . •2,047 *263 c *349 c *486 *1,816 *3,527 c 1 2 *577 Gilford . . . *1,872 Gilmanton * 775 *2,613 1 *3,7G2 2 *4,338 2 •3,816 " Ward 1 ' ' Ward 2 Ward 3 Ward 4 ... Ward s Ward 6 Meredith .... *259 •881 *662 *1,587 c c 1 *1,609 *1,095 *2,695 c *1,940 •1,293 •2,884 1 C 2 •2, 1 £ 1 a o 1 1 i > o 2 0, 0) § 1 P, 1 [fi te a 1 a p p. CP > 1 s CD S a a p, a, i 1 § S a 1 ■3 P. i 1 a i P, <2 i a g 1 2 *2,002 *1,946 2 2 1,795 1,848 2 2 2,018 1,885 1,189 484, 2,811 2,073 2 2 1 1 3 2 1,768 1,543 1,165 446 3,361 1,642 2 2 1 1 3 2 1,476 1,296 1,226 521 2,821 1,485 1 1 1 P 2 1 1,372 1,264 1,142 479 3,585 1,211 1 1 1 p 3 1 1,500 1,072 1,294 422 661 1,100 1 1 1 1 3 * 679 *2,072 *3,485 1 2 3 543 2,425 3,282 1 2 3 1 p 1 1 2,309 2 3,790 3 6,143 5 414 2 1,465 2 1,073 1 1,465 2 1,488 2 1 2 *3,351 *1,809 *2,745 3 1 3 3,521 1,612 2,695 3 1 3 1,944 1,598 2,743 2 1 2 1,807 1,257 1,236 "2' 1 1 1 '],8cb' 1,059 1,192 "2 1 1 i,642 935 1,027 ...... 1 1 1 2,137 1,713 852 944 1,926 "i 1 1 1 ^'1 "■ 2 ♦Strafford County. 304 MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 1775 1784 1790 1791 1800 1801 1810 1811 1820 1821 1830 CARROLL COUNTY. 1 1 i > 1 s p. q o "3 > a S g p. a o d 1 o Oh 9 a a a:) g, 1 1 m > o m a> t-l 1 03 I Albanv [1] c *141 t248 c c •264 t 548 •501 t]83 •705 •381 *451 c c c ' c' c c • 194 t 436 • 657 t 201 ♦1,080 » 635 • 876 c c c 1 c c * 209 t 611 * 690 t 298 •1,365 •1,071 •1.368 c c c c 1 1 * 325 Bartlett t 644 * 671 t 58 •674 *253 *154 c' c * 419 *273 c c c •1,601 Eaton •1,432 * 83 * 1,911 FreeSom Hart's Location t 36 t 244 c' t 65 t 363 c t 33 t 180 c t 516 Madison Moultonborough •272 * 26 •245 •151 c c c c c c c •665 •339 •905 •266 M09 '646 •447 c c c c c * 857 •804 *1,413 *7S7 *357 •835 •941 c c c c 1 1 * 994 * 1,205 •2,232 •1,134 * 709 * 1,166 •1,376 •1,279 •1,793 *2,368 •1,442 •1,232 •1,518 *1,794 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 •1,422 •1,935 •2,743 Sandwich . . .... * 1,654 * 1,376 Wakefield *320 *211 * 1,470 Wolfeborough * 1,928 * Strafford County. t Coos County. Ill Albany. Incorporated as Burton, 1766. Name changed to Albany in 1833. [i] Jackson. Incorporated as Adams, 1800. Name changed to Jackson, 1829. [3] Ossipee. Formerly known as OssipeeGore. Incorporated as Ossipee, 1785. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION, 305 1831 1840 1841 1850 1851 1860 1861 1870 1871 1880 1881 1890 1891 1900 1901 09 CO CO 03 CO CO u oa OP © > > > > > > > 'S *4A +3 '^ '43 C3 a §■ a a d 1 IS a a a 4> cu +3 to +j s '■*i V 00 « 1^ a h ^ "3 Ut "3 M 9 t^ ■3 u a a a P. P, a P, p, p. P, P p. p. D, a « ^ « a:> ^ as Ph 04 a Oh K Oh « a< « 111 P3 PM » c * 406 c 455 1 430 339 1 361 C 377 P 210 P c t 706 1 t 761 1 735 "i" 629 1 1 1,014 1 1,247 1 1,013 1 1 * 553 1 552 1 510 1 416 .... 42S c 349 P 296 P c * 523 c 516 1 489 1 445 421 p 329 P 267 P 1 * 1,801 1,767 1 1,624 2 1,607 2 2,094 2 2,331 2 3,154 3 1 * 1,710 "i' 1,743 1 780 1 657 1 629 1 514 P 365 P 1 * 1,196 1 1,252 1 1,209 1 904 1 865 1 720 1 600 1 « 926 1 910 1 917 1 737 1 714 1 630 1 594 P t 44 t 584 c c 26 474 C 1 70 464 c c 187 579 P P 38 624 P c t'589 c ' ' '631 "i' 1 826 1,448 1 1 646 1,299 1 1 586 1,254 c 1 554 1,034 P 1 529 901 P .... *1,762 ' i',748 .... 1 » 2,170 "2' 2,123 2 1,997 2 1,822 2 1,782 1 1,630 1 1,479 1 "2 *2,625 2 2,577 2 2,227 2 1,854 2 1,701 1 1,303 1 1,077 1 1 * 1,717 1 1,766 1,67S 2 1,344 1 1,274 1 1.025 1 1,050 1 1 •1,281 1 1,305 "i' 1,186 1 949 1 923 1 767 1 663 1 1 * 1,396 1,405 1 1,478 1 1,185 1 1,392 1 1,528 1 1,646 1 1 *1,918 "2 2,038 - 2,300 2 1,995 2 2,222 2 3,020 3 2,390 2 * Strafford county. ^ t Coos county. t The returns for Halt's Location were griveu with Bartlett for 1880. 306 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. MERRIMACK COUNTY. 1775 17»1 1790 1791 M 1 Ph 1800 1801 1810 1811 1820 1821 Allenstown Andover Boscawen Bow Bradford Canterbury Chichester Concord Wardl. ., Ward 2... Wards... Ward 4 . . Ward 5. . , Wards... " Ward 7... Wards... Ward 9. . . Danbury Dunbartou Epsom Franklin Ward 1. Ward 2.. Ward 3.. Henniker Hilim Hooksett Hoplvinton Loudon Newbury [2] New London Northfield Pembroke Pittsfield Salisbury Sutton [3] Warner Webster [4] , Wilmot ' 149 !■ 179 t 585 * 350 * 723 « 418 M,052 * 254 t 046 1 1,108 * 568 t 21 •1,038 * 491 * 1,747 f 497 * 387 367 196 1 1,085 * 349 t 130 * 744 t"498 t"262 111 917 799 t 1,127 i» 312 1 1,715 * 1,084 t 331 t 311 " 606 * 956 * 888 + 1,372 t 520 t 863 * 315 1 1,133 tl,414 ■• 719 f 740 » 1,114 * 775 *2,052 + 166 1 1,222 * 1,034 1 1,476 t 615 1 2,015 * 1,279 526 G17 925 982 987 1 1,767 t 1 1,669 * 346 + 1,269 T 1,829 * 729 1 1,034 •1,5261 1 * 951 •2,393 t 345 1 1,256 •1,156 1 tl,C08 C ,+ 895 2,210 1,472 563 692 1,067 1,153 1,050 1,913 1,328 1,838 433 t 1,642 t2,113 935 1 1,318 1,696 1,010 2,838 467 tl,450 * 1,330 1 1,900 X 971 1 2,437 •1,694 + 874 t 924 •l ,304 * 1,256 * 1,178 1 2,016 •f 1,573 +2,246 C t 670 481 1,324 2,093 1,065 1,285 1,663 1,084 3,727 J 786 1,067 1,418 1,370 1,725 1 1,090 880 2,474 1,642 798 913 1,169 1,312 1,271 1,379 1,424 2,221 834 * Rockingham County, t Hillsborough County, t Grafton County. [1] Hill. Incorporated as New Chester^ 1778. Name changed to Hill, 1837. [2] Newbury. Incorporated as Fishersheld, 1778. Name changed to Newbury, 1837. [3] Sutton. Granted as Perrystown, 1749. Incorporated as Sutton, April, 1784. [4] Set off from Boscawen and incorporated July 3, 1860. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 307 1831 1840 1841 1860 1851 1860 1861 1870 1871 1880 1881 1890 1891 1900 1901 t i CO a i CO wl i k > > > t> > > a o a o a 3 a o c o a O o +J CO m K, m m M •f* h ^ u a a p. P, p. p. P. c p. P, P. p. p. , 2,16£ 2 2,17t 1,814 2 1,836 2 1,817 2 1,662 1 1 1,640 1 1,562 2 1,63S 2 1,282 2 1,221 1 1,000 1 960 1 1 816 1 73f 1 698 1 601 1 590 P 487 P 424 P 1 1,019 1 945 1 952 1 959 1 876 1 799 1 76S 1 1 1,413 1 1,332 1 1,051 1 83S 1 918 1 1,115 1 1,227 1 1 1,336 1 1,733 1 i,3i; 1 2,61S 2 2,797 2 3,172 3 3,183 3 1 1,719 1,828 2 l,83f 1 1,60C 2 1,974 2 2,606 2 2,129 2 1 1,329 1 l,22i 1 1,191 1 897 1 796 1 656 1 604 1 1,362 1 1,387 1 1,431 1 1,156 1 993 1 849 1 776 1 2 2,139 2 2,038 2 1,97( 2 1,667 2 1,637 1 1,383 1 1,358 1 1 1 689 1,072 1 1 647 1,080 1 1 564 840 P 1 496 663 P 1 1,212 1 1,272 1 1,195 1 ' Grafton county. 308 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 1775 1784 1790 1791 1800 1801 1810 18U 1820 1821 1830 HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY. Population. Repi-esontativcs. Pf}pulation. Piciireseiitatives. 1 3 i > si > ft 1 rt 1 I 0. § 1 Am Ant Bed Ben Bro Dee Fra Gofi Gre Gre Hai Hil Hoi Hue jtc : iaj 1,428 1 c c 2,369 528 898 1 C 1 1,470 1,059 1,182 1 1 1,554 1,277 1,296 1 c 1 1,622 1,330 1,376 1,657 1,309 ford 495 1,564 okline [ij c c "i 338 928 982 1,275 "c 454 1,244 1,3.55 1,612 934 "1' 1 1 c 538 1,363 1,451 2,000 980 1 1 1 1 592 1,415 1,479 2,173 974 627 1,227 266 831 1,540 Fstown 2,213 946 cock .. c c 1 .... 634 798 1,441 1,064 357 1,280 362 n c 1 i' 1,120 1,311 1,557 1,267 372 976 557 1 1 1 1 "i' 1,184 1,592 1,529 1,376 382 1,074 616 1 1 1 1 c 1 c 1,178 1,982 1,543 1,227 466 1,168 761 . 1,216 1,792 IS lsonr2] 1,265 649 284 713 285 1,501 1,282 hfield 605 deborough ichesterm Word 1 1,147 877 Ward 2 " AVard 3 Ward 4 Ward 5 " Ward 6 Ward 7 " Ward • 9 WorH in 1 Mas Mer Mil Mor Nas 561 1 c 606 c 922 819 1,179 926 939 680 862 1 1 c "i' 1,077 1,048 1,117 762 1,049 1 1 1 1 1 1,313 1,162 1,243 729 1,142 1,403 rimack 1,191 ford. . 1,303 763 hua [4] 705 1 632 2,417 Ward 1 ... Ward 2 Ward 3 Ward 4 . . Ward 5 Ward 6 Ward 7 Ward 8 Ward 9 ... Nef Nev Pell Pet Sha Ten We Wil Wir 569 960 * 749 546 "i' 1 c 1,202 1,241 •791 861 259 747 1,924 1,105 120 "i' c i' .... 1,491 1,266 * 918 1,333 428 867 2,517 1,010 249 1 "i 1 "i' 1 1 c 1,619 1,396 *998 1,637 446 941 2,634 1,017 238 1 1 1 1 "i' 2 1 c 1,686 1,278 * 1,040 1,600 391 752 2,781 1,070 237 2 1 c 1,680 T Ipswich lam. .. 1,673 1,075 1,984 ron 371 491 837 623 c 1 1 647 ire 2,430 ton ... 1,041 226 •Rockingham County. [1] BrooMine. Incorporated as Raby, 1769. Name changed to Brookline, 1798. ii\Hudson. Incorporated as Nottingham West, 1746. Name changed to Hudson, July 1, 1830. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 309 1831 1840 1841 1850 1861 1860 1861 1870 1871 1880 1881 1890 1891 1900 1901 w O) 01 t- > > > > o § s 1 a o St § ^ a C o a a .2 a 4A 43 St 43 o a u a d o 9 p< o 317 874 305 1 1 c c 1,111 1,905 901 1,038 298 1 1 c 1 c 1,666 2,161 1,188 1,240 484 1,694 1,839 1,184 1,301 513 1,611 2,110 1,260 1,167 601 1 1 1 1 1,569 2,046 1,218 1,229 642 Chesterfield. .. . Dublin Fitzwillijim GilsQni 178 Harrisville[2] Hinsdale 522 1,235 1,314 "i 1 634 1,341 1,645 740 1,336 890 1,339 1,895 1 1 1 937 Jaffrey. . 351 756 1 1 1,354 2,374 " Wardl Ward 2 " Wards Wardl Wards 322 207 186 864 542 c c c 1 786 313 721 1,380 1,143 c c "i' 1,185 543 977 1,390 1,196 1,142 566 1,076 1,290 1,226 766 C97 907 1,391 1,298 366 1,203 582 570 1,716 676 2,020 2,029 1,849 Marlow 645 Nelson [1] . 875 Richmond 1 301 Bindg-e Roxbury 1,269 322 224 c ' c 1 701 220 448 1,157 c c 1 1,148 488 569 1,271 1,132 516 504 1,400 Sullivan 555 Surry 215 647 539 1,816 Troy Walpole Westmoreland Winchester 658 768 7,238 .... 1 1,245 2,018 1,209 1 1 1 1,743 2,066 1,413 1,894 1,937 1,478 1,979 1,647 2,052 [1.] Xelsun. Incorporated a.s Packersfield, 1774. Name changed to Nelson, i814. [2.] This town was incorporated July 2, 1870, the day alter tlie ninth census was taken. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 311 1831 1840 1841 1850 1861 1860 1861 1870 1871 1880 1881 1890 1891 1900 1901 > g 1 § 1 "3 p. o i > a £ p, d 1 9 n i > P. s 9 > 1 1 § 1 1 > a p. 1 > 1 KJ 1 d 9 1 CM > 8 d 9 I Ph i > 1 p. 1 1 1 1 1 1,454 1,765 1,076 1,366 656 1 2 1 1 1 1,425 1,680 1,088 1,482 668 1,318 1,434 1,096 1,294 676 1,213 1,289 930 1,140 590 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 1,037 1,173 456 1,187 663 870 1,868 1.267 1 1 P 1 1 1 2 1 870 1,046 582 1,122 643 748 2,258 1,469 1 1 p 1 1 1 2 1 799 981 620 987 690 791 1,933 1,891 1 1 1 1 p 1 1 1 9 1,141 1,411 2,610 "i' 2 1,903 1,497 3,392 3 1,312 1,453 4,320 1,342 1,256 5,971 2 2 1,732 1,091 1,479 1,165 1,317 1,286 701 438 669 934 126 553 382 326 1,661 796 2,018 1,095 2,444 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 c 1 1 c c c c 1 1 2 1 2 1,811 1,384 1,671 1,215 1,365 1,695 684 332 476 996 129 400 337 270 1,600 999 2,163 830 2,584 2 1 1 1 1 1 p p p 1 p p p p 1 \ 1 2 2,488 1,896 1,926 1,384 1,471 1,524 488 295 459 855 100 367 287 250 1,570 1,527 2,693 875 2,274 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 831 626 835 1,165 1,161 286 1,006 496 481 1,785 683 2,015 1,546 2,065 2 '2' 887 708 750 1,128 1,274 260 1,105 468 556 2,106 759 2,034 1,678 3,296 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 915 813 699 1,015 1,231 212 944 376 389 1,798 761 1,868 1,285 2,225 2 1,017 716 744 868 1,107 174 667 347 318 1,626 767 1,830 1,256 2,097 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 \ 1 p p p 1 p p p p 1 1 2 1 2 312 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 1775 1784 1790 1791 1800 1801 1810 1811 1820 1821 1830 cfi cc cc m cfi SULLIVAN > ^ a; p > COUNTY. _; s ■5 _; « ta % o 1 t; o o o w 3 ^ A a c 0. 0, a D, o o c OJ o & o CLj K Ph K ^ « Oh CM M 04 Acworth c. t 7M c, t 1,376 J 1 1.523 1 1,479 1,401 Charlestown t594 1 1 1,093 1 1,364 c it 1.501 t 1,702 1,773 Claremont tS23 1 1 1,435 t 1,889 t 2,094 12,290 2,526 Cornish t309 t 982 1 1,2C8 t 1,606 1 1,701 1,687 Croydon Goshen tl43 c t 537 t 984 t 802 1 1,060 1,067 t 38:i c t 563 c t 687 c 772 Grantham t 74 t 333 t 713 c t 864 1 1,032 1,079 t 244 t 415 t 484 t 729 c t 632 t 864 t 664 t 950 667 Lempster tl28 c, 999 Newport tl57 t 780 1 1,266 1 1 1,427 t 1,679 1,913 Plainiiekl t308 1 1,024 1 1,435 1 1 1,463 t 1,460 1,681 Springflelfl [1] t 210 t 570 t 814 t 967 1,202 637 Sunapee[2] t 66 t 267 t 355 c t 447 t 603 Unity tl46 t 538 t 902 1 t 1,044 1 1,277 1,258 W ashmgton tl63 c t 645 c t 819 1 t 820 t 992 1,136 t Cheshire County. [1] Springfield. Granted 1769 as Protectworth. Incorporated as Springfield, 1794, [2] Sunapee. Incorporated as Wendall, 1781. Name changed to Sunapee, July 12, 1850. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 313 1831 1840 1841 1750 L851 1860 1861 1870 1871 1880 1881 1890 1891 1900 1901 CO to dS tn m X ca CQ > t^ > ,f" > > •i-l V 'S '5 '*3 '43 4^ a Q rt 03 Q s s <3 a cS ca OS -w .2 P3 _o O o P § 4^ _o o 4J +3 S 4^ Q> '■i^ •D (D 4a ID f:- CO <£i CD ^ 9 M "3 t-l "5 M u 9 U "3 U n a p. p, p. p, P< a a P, Q, p. O p, 0. & <£ & £ & £ 0) c Oh ^ s i o Ph & & (D 1,460 1 1,251 1 1,180 1 1,050 1 982 1 717 1 694 p 1,722 1 1,644 2 1,758 2 1,741 2 1,687 1 1,466 1 1,473 1 3,217 3 3,606 3 4,026 4 4,053 4 4,704 4 6,565 6 6,498 6 1,726 1 1,606 1,520 1 1,334 1,156 1 954 1 962 1 956 1 861 756 1 662 608 1 612 P 372 P 779 1 659 676 1 607 611 P 384 P 345 P 1,036 1 784 648 1 608 540 P 424 P 374 P 616 1 676 478 1 411 364 P 305 P 339 P 941 906 820 1 678 602 1 619 P 391 P 1,958 "i' 2,020 2 077 2 2,163 2,612 2 2,623 2 3,126 3 1,662 1 1,392 1.620 2 1,589 1,372 1 1,173 1 1,114 1 1,262 1 1,270 1.021 781 732 1 640 P 439 P 795 1 787 778 "i" 808 895 1 900 1 946 1 1,238 1 961 887 1 844 814 1 663 1 572 P 1,103 1 1,053 897 1 839 682 1 669 P 464 P 21 314 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. GRAFTON COUNTY. 1775 1784 1801 1811 1830 Alexandria... Ashland Bath Benton [1] Bethlehem Bridgewater. .. Bristol Campton Canaan Dorchester Easton Ellsworth [2]. . Enfield Franconia [3] . . Grafton Groton [4j Hanover Haverhill Hebron Holderuess Landaff Lebanon Lincoln Lisbon [5] Littleton [6]. . . . Livermore... . Lyman Lyme Monroe Orange Orford Piermont Plymouth Kumney Thornton Warren Waterville Wentworth Woodstock [7] . 137 'i44' 190 67 118 434 366 172 40 347 252 222 168 382 237 117 493 88 395 483 175 724 72 403 373 1,380 552 329 292 1,180 22 313 96 202 816 131 S40 426 625 411 385 206 825 69 171 664 47 1,121 129 682 391 1,912 805 281 531 461 1,574 41 663 381 633 1,318 670 743 624 636 336 409 707 1,316 162 422 1,101 873 1,094 637 142 1,291 368 931 649 2,135 1,105 563 835 650 1, 100 1,126 873 1,498 315 467 727 675 1,047 1,198 584 213 1,370 373 1,1 2,222 i,r" 672 1 1,160 769 1,710 ■Xl 1,126 1,096 948 1,670 229 1,266 877 9,37 765 794 606 64S 203 1,270 1,824 298 1,568 1,016 983 864 857 644 807 224 1,083 1,626 441 666 783 799 1,313 1,428 702 234 1,492 443 1,207 689 2,361 2,163 538 1,429 961 1,868 60 1,486 1,436 1,321 1,804 406 1,829 1,042 1,176 993 1,049 924 291 [1] Benton. Incorporated as Coventry, 1764. Name changed to Benton, De- cember, 1840. [2] Ellsworth. Granted as Trecothick, 1769. Incorporated as Ellsworth, 1802. [3] Franconia. Called Morristowu from 1772 to 1782. [4] Groton. Granted as Cockermouth, 1761. Name changed to Groton, 1796. MANUAL OP THE CONSTITUTION. 315 1831 1840 1811 1850 1861 1860 1861 1870 1871 1880 1881 1890 1891 1900 1901 in CO w ui ua CO » 6 ? 03 « > > .6 > > > .,-, '•^ +3 4A cd ^ rt fl ci q c4 a ca rH (S c3 a ^o o a _o -M C ^0 _o c (t; .2 0) 3 fO Va 0) '■^ 0? en V dj « Ph ta Ph M (L, OS Dh M Oh 04 03 Oh PS 1 1,284 1 1,273 1 1,253 1 876 1 828 1 679 1 630 1 885 1,168 1 1 960 1,032 1 1 1,193 935 1 1 1,289 1,006 1 "i' ' i',595 "i' ' 1,574 "i' ' 1,366 "i' 1 1 413 1 478 1 459 1 375 1 378 P 244 P 209 P 1 779 1 950 1 896 1 998 1 1,400 1 1,267 1 1,261 1 1 747 1 667 1 560 1 453 1 384 c 332 P 244 p 1 1,153 1 1,103 1 1,124 1 1,416 1 1,352 1 1,524 1 1,600 1 1 1,513 1 1,439 1 1,320 1 1,226 1 1,163 1 982 1 999 1 1 1,676 1 1,682 2 1,762 2 1,877 2 1,702 1 1,417 1 1,444 1 1 769 1 711 1 691 1 689 1 585 302 209 c c c 379 248 150 P P P 308 249 107 P P •c '"sob "320 c "■362 "c' " 193 "c' P 1 1,514 1 1,742 2 1,876 2 1,662 2 1,680 1 1,439 1 1,845 2 c 523 c 584 1 708 1 549 1 560 c 594 P 655 1 1 1,201 1 1,259 1 1,150 1 907 1 934 1 787 1 748 1 1 870 1 776 1 778 1 683 1 566 c 464 P 346 P 2 2,613 2 2,350 2 2,308 2 2,085 2 2,147 2 1,817 2 1,884 2 2 2,784 2 2,405 2 2,291 2 2,271 2 2,465 2 2,545 2 3,414 3 1 508 1 565 1 475 1 382 1 329 c 246 P 214 P 1 1,528 1 1,744 2 1,765 2 793 1 703 1 595 P 662 1 1 957 1 948 1 1,012 1 882 1 506 c 499 P 500 P 2 1,754 2 2,136 2 2,322 2 3,094 3 3,354 3 3,763 3 4,965 4 c 76 c 57 C 71 c 71 c 66 C 110 P 641 P 1 1,082 1 1,881 1 1,886 2 1,844 2 1,807 2 2,060 2 2,221 2 1 1,778 2 2,008 2 2,292 2 2,446 3 2,936 103 654 2 C 1 3,365 155 543 3 P P 4,066 191 426 3 P ' i" ' 1,480 ■'i' ' i',442 i' ■■■743 "i' '"658 P 2 1,785 1 1,617 1 1,572 2 1,358 1,313 1 1,164 1 1,080 1 619 382 532 340 504 335 P P 478 245 P P 545 213 P "'i' "'463 "i' ■■■451 "i' P 1 1,707 1 1,406 1 1,265 1,119 1,060 1 916 1 890 1 1 1,057 1 948 1 949 792 752 1 709 1 637 1 1 1,281 1 1,290 1 1,407 1,409 1,719 1 1,852 2 1,972 2 1 1,110 1 1,109 1 1,103 1,165 1,050 1 947 1 837 1 1 1,045 1 1,011 1 967 840 775 1 632 1 662 P 1 938 1 872 1 1,152 960 786 1 875 1 799 1 63 42 c 48 C 33 c 54 C 39 50 P "i' 1,119 ■'i' 1,197 1 1,055 1 971 1 939 1 698 "i 617 1 c 472 c 418 c 476 c 405 c 367 c 341 p 628 1 The last [5] Lisbon. Granted as Concord, 1763. Re-granted as Gunthwaite, 1768. Name changed to Lisbon, 1824. [6] Littleton. This was a part o£ Cliiswick, afterwards Apthorp. named town was incorporated as Littleton, 1784. [7] Woodstock. Incorporated as Peeling, 1763. Name changed to Wood- stock, June, 1840. 316 MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 1775 1784 1700 1791 1800 1801 1810 1811 1820 1821 1830 COOS COUNTY. o o an 1 S s 1 en CD > s c, o 3 s CO s Pi 1 3 a I o Oh CO at > 1 s p. CD o 1 > 00 V a. 1 Berlin 73 Ward 1 Ward 2 Ward 3 Carroll [1] 18 12 19 108 ■■■■{■■ Colebrook[2] • 4 •14 •50 c c 29 26 14 c c c 160 109 62 c c 325 142 235 7 38 176 197 717 14 c c c 470 281 347 42 26 295 252 844 57 c c c c 1 632 DaltOD ... 532 Diimmer 65 Errol 82 Gorham [4] 35 ' 161 c c 45 111 Jefferson [5] 4 •61 c c 112 440 c c 495 Lancaster Milan [6] 1,187 243 Millsfield 33 Northumberland Pittsburgh *57 117 c 205 c 281 c 296 c 342 301 Randolph [8] . .. G2 ' ' 211 186 339 c c c c 78 363 335 c c 143 Shelburne c c c 312 Stark [9] 48 c 140 99 281 236 Ste wartsto wn 529 Stratford •41 c 146 443 36 Whitefield 01 281 685 * Grafton County. [1.] Carroll. Granted as Bretton Woods, 1772. Incorporated as Carroll, 1832. [2.] Colebrook. Sometimes called Colburne. [3.] Columbia. Granted as Cockburne Town, 1770. Incorporated as Cock- burn, 1797. Name changed to Columbia, 1811. [4.] Gorham. Incorporated as Shelburne Addition, 1770. Name changed to Gorham, 1836. [5.] Jefferson. Granted as Dartmouth, 1765. Incorporated as Jefferson, 1796. [6.] Milan. Granted as Paulsburgh, 1771. Incorporated as Milan, 1824. [7.] Pittsburg. Formerly known as Indian Stream Territory. Incorporated as Pittsburg, Dec. 10, 1840. [8.] Randolph. Granted as Durand, 1772. Incorporated as Randolph, 1824. [9.] Stark. Incorporated as Piercy, 1795. Name changed to Stark, 1832. MANUAL OF THE CONSTITUTION. 317 1831 1840 1841 1850 1851 I860 1861 1870 1871 1880 1881 1890 1891 1900 1901 m u m m m GQ OQ m V > > > > fc^ t> > •iH • r^ '-4-3 4^ 43 4J *43 '^ ^ a i 1 1 o J c a p s .§ % §■ §

A S "3 S 9 9 2 9 9 s 9 £ 9 2 a Q. P. a Oc Pi p. p, p< p. n p. P. p. cu o