tations of its own members; and a majority of each House shall consti- A. D. 1868. Quorum. Officers. rest and pun SECTION 16. Each House may punish by imprisonment, during its sit-Right to arg, any person not a member who shall be guilty of disrespect to the ish. buse by any disorderly or contemptuous behavior in its presence; or no, during the time of its sitting, shall threaten harm to body or estate dany member for anything said or done in either House, or who shall Sault any of them therefor, or who shall assault or arrest any witness or her person ordered to attend the House, in his going thereto or returnig therefrom, or who shall rescue any person arrested by order of the House: Provided, That such time of imprisonment shall not in any case etend beyond the session of the General Assembly. members. SECTION 17. The members of both Houses shall be protected in their persons and estates during their attendance on, going to, and returning Privileges of frm, the General Assembly, and ten days previous to the sitting and ten des after the adjournment thereof. But these privileges shall not be extended so as to protect any member who shall be charged with treason, feny or breach of the peace. SECTION 18. Bills for raising a revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but may be altered, amended or rejected by the Senate; and all other bills may originate in either House, and may be amended, alteed or rejected by the other. Revenue Bills. Style of SECTION 19. The style of all laws shall be: "Be it enacted by the But one subject. Must be SECTION 21. No Bill shall have the force of law until it shall have been red three times, and on three several days, in each House, has had the Geat Seal of State affixed to it, and has been signed in the Senate House, read three bythe President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of RepreBetatives. times. Drafts on SECTION 22. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in pursunce of an appropriation made by law; and a regular statement and acount of the receipts and expenditures of all public moneys shall be the Treasury. published annually, in such manner as may be by law directed. Pay of mem SECTION 23. Each member of the first General Assembly under this Constitution shall receive six dollars per diem while in session; and the bers. fucher sum of twenty cents for every mile of the ordinary route of travel in going to and returning from the place where such session is held ; after which they shall receive such compensation as shall be fixed by law; bu no General Assembly shall have the power to increase the compensati of its own members. And when convened in extra session they shall reeive the same mileage and per diem compensation as are fixed by law forthe regular session, and none other. Votes viva ECTION 24. In all elections by the General Assembly, or either House roce. A. D. 1868. Adjourn ments. Journals. Protests. thereof, the members shall vote" viva voce," and their votes, thus given, shall be entered upon the journal of the House to which they respectively belong. SECTION 25. Neither House, during the session of the General Assembly, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the Assembly shall be at the time sitting. SECTION 26. Each House shall keep a journal of its own proceedings, and cause the same to be published immediately after its adjournment, excepting such parts as in its judgment may require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House, on any question, shall, at the desire of any two members present, be entered on the journals. Any member of either House shall have liberty to dissent from, and protest against, any Act or resolution which he may think injurious to the public or to an individual, and have the reasons of his dissent entered on the journals. SECTION 27. The doors of each House shall be open, except on such Open doors. occasions as in the opinion of the House may require secrecy. Ineligibility. Failure to elect. Refusal to qualify. SECTION 28. No person shall be eligible to a seat in the General Assembly whilst he holds any office of profit or trust under this State, the United States of America, or any of them, or under any other power, except officers in the militia, Magistrates, or Justices of inferior Courts, while such Justices receive no salary. And if any member shall accept or exercise any of the said disqualifying offices, he shall vacate his seat: Provided, 'That this prohibition shall not extend to the members of the first General Assembly. SECTION 29. If any election district shall neglect to choose a member or members on the day of election, or if any person chosen a member of either House shall refuse to qualify and take his seat, or shall resign, die, depart the State, accept any disqualifying office, or become otherwise disqualified to hold his seat, a writ of election shall be issued by the PresiWrits of dent of the Senate, or Speaker of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, for the purpose of filling the vacancy thereby occasioned, for the remainder of the term for which the person so refusing to qualify, resigning, dying, departing the State, or becoming disqualified, was elected to serve, or the defaulting election district ought to have chosen a member or members. election. fice. SECTION 30. Members of the General Assembly, and all officers, before they enter upon the execution of the duties of their respective offices, and all members of the bar, before they enter upon the practice of their profession, shall take and subscribe the following oath : Oath of of- "I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I am duly qualified, according to the Constitution of the United States and of this State, to exercise the duties of the office to which I have been elected, (or appointed,) and that I will faithfully discharge, to the best of my abili ties, the duties thereof; that I recognize the supremacy of the Constitution and laws of the United States over the Constitution and laws of any State; and that I will support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of South Carolina, as ratified by the people on the sixteenth day of April, 1868. SO HELP ME GOD." (And the President of this Convention is authorized to fill the blanks in this Section whenever he shall receive satisfactory information of the day A. D. 1868. on which this Constitution shall be ratified.) Cause of removal. SECTION 31. Officers shall be removed for incapacity, misconduct, or neglect of duty, in such manner as may be provided by law, when no mode of trial or removal is provided in this Constitution. SECTION 32. The family homestead of the head of each family residing The homein this State, such homestead consisting of dwelling-house, out-buildings, stead. and lands appurtenant, not to exceed the value of one thousand dollars, and yearly product thereof, shall be exempt from attachment, levy or sale on any mesne or final process issued from any Court. To secure the full enjoyment of said homestead exemption to the person entitled thereto, or to the head of any family, the personal property of such person, of the following character, to-wit: household furniture, beds and bedding, family library, arms, carts, wagons, farming implements, tools, neat cattle, work animals, swine, goats and sheep, not to exceed in value, in the aggregate, the sum of five hundred dollars, shall be subject to like exemption as said homestead, and there shall be exempt, in addition thereto, all necessary wearing apparel: Provided, That no property shall be exempt from attachment, levy or sale, for taxes, or for payment of obligations contracted for the purchase of said homestead, or the erection of improvements thereon: Provided, further, That the yearly products of said homestead shall not be exempt from attachment, levy or sale, for the payment of obligations contracted in the production of the same. shall be the duty of the General Assembly, at their first session, to enforce the provisions of this Section by suitable legislation. It SECTION 33. All taxes upon property, real or personal, shall be laid Assessments. upon the actual value of the property taxed, as the same shall be ascertained by an assessment made for the purpose of laying such tax. ARTICLE III. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. SECTION 1. The supreme Executive authority of this State shall be The Governor vested in a Chief Magistrate, who shall be styled "The Governor of the State of South Carolina." SECTION 2. The Governor shall be elected by the electors duly quali- Election of. fied to vote for members of the House of Representatives, and shall hold his office for two years, and until his successor shall be chosen and qualified, and shall be re-eligible. He shall be elected at the first general election held under this Constitution for members of the General Assembly, and at each general election thereafter, and shall be installed during the first session of the said General Assembly after his election, on such day as shall be provided for by law. The other State officers elect shall at the same time enter upon the performance of their duties. SECTION 3. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor who denies the existence of the Supreme Being; or who at the time of such Eligibility of. election has not attained the age of thirty years, and who, except at the first election under this Constitution, shall not have been a citizen of the United States and a citizen and resident of this State for two years next preceding the day of election. No person while Governor shall hold any A. D. 1868. Returns of election. Lieutenant other office or commission (except in the militia) under this State, or any other power at one and the same time. SECTION 4. The returns of every election of Governor shall be sealed up by the Managers of Election in their respective Counties, and transmitted by mail to the seat of Government, directed to the Secretary of State, who shall deliver them to the Speaker of the House of Representatives at the next ensuing session of the General Assembly, and a duplicate of said returns shall be filed with the Clerks of the Courts of said Counties, whose duty it shall be to forward to the Secretary of State a certified copy thereof, upon being notified that the returns previously forwarded by mail have not been received at his office. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State, after the expiration of seven days from the day upon which the votes have been counted, if the returns thereof from any County have not been received, to notify the Clerk of the Court of said County, and order a copy of the returns filed in his office to be forwarded forthwith. The Secretary of State shall deliver the returns to the Speaker of the House of Representatives at the next ensuing session of the General Assembly; and during the first week of the session, or as soon as the General Assembly shall have organized by the election of the presiding officers of the two Houses, the Speaker shall open and publish them in the presence of both Houses. The person having the highest number of votes shall be Governor; but if two or more shall be equal and highest in votes, the General Assembly shall, during the same session, in the House of Representatives, choose one of them Governor viva voce. Contested elections for Governor shall be determined by the General Assembly in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. SECTION 5. A Lieutenant-Governor shall be chosen at the same time, Governor Pre- in the same manner, continue in office for the same period, and be possessed of the same qualifications as the Governor, and shall ex officio be President of the Senate. sident of the Senate. SECTION 6. The Lieutenant-Governor, while presiding in the Senate, shall have no vote, unless the Senate be equally divided. SECTION 7. The Senate shall choose a President pro tempore, to act in President the absence of the Lieutenant-Governor, or when he shall exercise the pro tempore. office of Governor. Vacation of seats. In case of re signation. SECTION 8. A member of the Senate, or of the House of Representatives, being chosen and acting as Governor or Lieutenant-Governor, shall thereupon vacate his seat, and another person shall be elected in his stead. SECTION 9. In case of the removal of the Governor from his office, or moval or re- his death, resignation, removal from the State, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Lieutenant-Governor, and the General Assembly, at its first session after the ratification of this Constitution, shall, by law, provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, declaring what officer shall then act as Governor, and such officer shall act accordingly, until such disability shall have been removed, or a Governor shall have been elected. Commander in-Chief. SECTION 10. The Governor shall be Commander-in-Chief of the militia of the State, except when they shall be called into the actual service of the United States. SECTION 11. He shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons after Reprieves conviction, (except in case of impeachment,) in such manner, on such A. D. 1868. terms, and under such restrictions as he shall think proper; and he shall have power to remit fines and forfeitures, unless otherwise directed by and pardons. law. It shall be his duty to report to the General Assembly, at the next regular session thereafter, all pardons granted by him, with a full statement of each case, and the reasons moving him thereunto. SECTION 12. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, in mercy. To execute the laws. Compensa SECTION 13. The Governor and Lieutenant-Governor shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall be neither tion. increased nor diminished during the period for which they shall have been elected. SECTION 14. All officers in the Executive Department shall, when Reports of required by the Governor, give him information in writing upon any officers. subject relating to the duties of their respective offices. Give information to the SECTION 15. The Governor shall, from time to time, give to the General Assembly information of the condition of the State, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary or expe- Legislature. dient. SECTION 16. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the General Assembly; and should either House remain without a quorum for five days, or in case of disagreement between the two Houses with respect to the time of adjournment, may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; not beyond the time of the annual session then next ensuing. SECTION 17. He shall commission all officers of the State. SECTION 18. There shall be a Seal of the State, for which the General Assembly, at its first session, shall provide, and which shall be used by , the Governor officially, and shall be called "The Great Seal of the State of South Carolina." SECTION 19. All grants and commissions shall be issued in the name and by the authority of the State of South Carolina, sealed with the Great Seal, signed by the Governor, and countersigned by the Secretary of State. Extra sessions. Commissions. How issued. SECTION 20. The Governor and the Lieutenant-Governor, before en- Oath of office. tering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall take and subscribe the oath of office as prescribed in Article two, Section thirty, of this Constitution. Residence of SECTION 21. The Governor shall reside at the capital of the State; but during the sittings of the General Assembly he shall reside where its Governor. sessions are held, except in case of contagion. Veto. SECTION 22. Every Bill or joint resolution which shall have passed the General Assembly, except on a question of adjournment, shall, before it Bills to be becomes a law, be presented to the Governor, and, if he approve, he shall signed. sign it; if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to the House in which it shall have originated; which shall enter the objections at large on its journals, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass it, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall be reconsidered, and, if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall have the same effect as if it had been signed by the Governor; but, in all such cases the vote of both Houses shall be taken by yeas and nays, and the |