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SEC. 3. Members of the legislature, and all officers, executive and judi cial, except such inferior officers as may be by law exempted, shall, before they enter on the duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear, (or affirm, as the case may be,) that I will support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the State of California; and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of according to the best of my ability.' And no other oath, declaration, or test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust.

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SEC. 4. The legislature shall establish a system of county and town governments, which shall be as nearly uniform as practicable throughout the State.

SEC. 5. The legislature shall have power to provide for the election of a board of supervisors in each county; and these supervisors shall, jointly and individually, perform such duties as may be prescribed by law.

SEC. 6. All officers whose election or appointment is not provided for by this constitution, and all officers whose offices may hereafter be created by law, shall be elected by the people, or appointed, as the legislature may direct.

SEC. 7. When the duration of any office is not provided for by this constitution, it may be declared by law; and if not so declared, such office shall be held during the pleasure of the authority making the appointment; nor shall the duration of any office, not fixed by this constitution, ever exceed four years.

SEC. 8. The fiscal year shall commence on the first day of July.

SEC. 9. Each county, town, city, and incorporated village shall make provision for the support of its own officers, subject to such restrictions and regulations as the legislature may prescribe.

SEC. 10. The credit of the State shall not in any manner be given or loaned to, or in aid of, any individual, association, or corporation; nor shall the State, directly or indirectly, become a stockholder in any association or corporation.

SEC. 11. Suits may be brought against the State in such manner and in such courts as shall be directed by law.

SEC. 12. No contract of marriage, if otherwise duly made, shall be invalidated for want of conformity to the requirements of any religious sect. SEC. 13. Taxation shall be equal and uniform throughout the State. All property in this State shall be taxed in proportion to its value, to be ascertained as directed by law; but assessors and collectors of town, county, and State taxes, shall be elected by the qualified electors of the district, county, or town in which the property taxed for State, county, or town purposes is situated.

SEC. 14. All property, both real and personal, of the wife, owned or claimed by her before marriage, and that acquired afterwards by gift, devise, or descent, shall be her separate property; and laws shall be passed more clearly defining the rights of the wife in relation as well to her separate property as to that held in common with her husband. Laws shall also be passed providing for the registration of the wife's separate property.

SEC. 15. The legislature shall protect by law, from forced sale, a certain portion of the homestead and other property of all heads of families. SEC. 16. No perpetuities shall be allowed except for eleemosynary pur

poses

SEC. 17. Every person shall be disqualified from holding any office of profit in this State who shall have been convicted of having given or of fered a bribe to procure his election or appointment.

SEC. 18. Laws shall be made to exclude from office, serving on juries, and from the right of suffrage, those who shall hereafter be convicted of bribery, perjury, forgery, or other high crimes. The privilege of free suffrage shall be supported by laws regulating elections, and prohibiting, under adequate penalties, all undue influence thereon from power, bribery, tumult, or other improper practice.

SEC. 19. Absence from this State on business of the State, or of the United States, shall not affect the question of residence of any person. SEC. 20. A plurality of the votes given at any election shall constitute a choice, where not otherwise directed in this constitution.

SEC. 21. All laws, decrees, regulations, and provisions, which from their nature require publication, shall be published in English and Spanish.

ARTICLE 12.-Boundary.

The boundary of the State of California shall be as follows:

Commencing at the point of intersection of the 42d degree of north latitude with the 120th degree of longitude west from Greenwich, and running south on the line of said 120th degree of west longitude until it intersects the 39th degree of north latitude; thence running in a straight line in a southeasterly direction to the river Colorado, at a point where it intersects the 35th degree of north latitude; thence down the middle of the channel of said river to the boundary line between the United States and Mexico, as established by the treaty of May 30, 1848; thence running west and along said boundary line to the Pacific ocean, and extending therein three English miles; thence running in a northwesterly direction, and following the direction of the Pacific coast to the 42d degree of north latitude; thence on the line of said 42d degree of north latitude to the place of beginning. Also all the islands, harbors, and bays, along and adjacent to the Pacific coast.

SCHEDULE.

SECTION 1. All rights, prosecutions, claims, and contracts, as well of individuals as of bodies corporate, and all laws in force at the time of the adoption of this constitution, and not inconsistent therewith, until altered or repealed by the legislature, shall continue as if the same had not been adopted.

SEC. 2. The legislature shall provide for the removal of all causes which may be pending when this constitution goes into effect, to courts created by the same.

SEC. 3. In order that no inconvenience may result to the public service from the taking effect of this constitution, no office shall be superseded thereby, nor the laws relative to the duties of the several officers be changed, until the entering into office of the new officers to be appointed under this constitution.

SEC. 4. The provisions of this constitution concerning the term of residence necessary to enable persons to hold certain offices therein men

tioned, shall not be held to apply to officers chosen by the people at the first election, or by the legislature at its first session.

SEC. 5. Every citizen of California declared a legal voter by this constitution, and every citizen of the United States a resident of this State on the day of election, shall be entitled to vote at the first general election under this constitution, and on the question of the adoption thereof.

SEC. 6. This constitution shall be submitted to the people for their ratification or rejection, at the general election to be held on Tuesday, the thirteenth day of November next. The executive of the existing government of California is hereby requested to issue a proclamation to the people, directing the prefects of the several districts, or, in case of vacancy, the sub-prefects, or senior judge of first instance, to cause such election to be held, on the day aforesaid, in their respective districts. The election shall be conducted in the manner which was prescribed for the election of delegates to the convention, except that the prefect, subprefect, or senior judge of first instance, ordering such election in each district, shall have power to designate any additional number of places for opening the polls, and that, in every place for holding the election, a regular poll-list shall be kept by the judges and inspectors of election. It shall also be the duty of these judges and inspectors of election, on the day aforesaid, to receive the votes of the electors qualified to vote at such election. Each voter shall express his opinion, by depositing in the ballot-box a ticket, whereon shall be written or printed for the constitution," or "against the constitution," or some such words as will distinctly convey the intention of the voter. These judges and inspectors shall also receive the votes for the several officers to be voted for at the said election, as herein provided. At the close of the election, the judges and inspectors shall carefully count each ballot, and forthwith make duplicate returns thereof to the prefect, sub-prefect, or senior judge of first instance, as the case may be, of their respective districts; and said prefect, sub-prefect, or senior judge of first instance, shall transmit one of the same, by the most safe and rapid conveyance, to the secretary of Upon the receipt of said returns, or on the tenth day of December next, if the returns be not sooner received, it shall be the duty of a board of canvassers, to consist of the secretary of state, one of the judges of the superior court, the prefect, judge of first instance, and an alcalde of the district of Monterey, or any three of the aforementioned officers, in the presence of all who shall choose to attend, to compare the votes given at said election, and to immediately publish an abstract of the same in one or more of the newspapers of California. And the executive will also, immediately after ascertaining that the constitution has been ratified by the people, make proclamation of the fact; and thenceforth this constitution shall be ordained and established as the constitution of California.

SEC. 7. If this constitution shall be ratified by the people of California, the executive of the existing government is hereby requested, immediately after the same shall be ascertained, in the manner herein directed, to cause a fair copy thereof to be forwarded to the President of the United States, in order that he may lay it before the Congress of the United States.

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SEC. 8. At the general election aforesaid, namely, the thirteenth day of November next, there shall be elected a governor, lieutenant governor, members of the legislature, and also two members of Congress.

SEC. 9. If this constitution shall be ratified by the people of California, the legislature shall assemble at the seat of government on the fifteenth day of December next; and, in order to complete the organization of that body, the Senate shall elect a president pro tempore, until the lieutenant governor shall be installed into office.

SEC. 10. On the organization of the legislature, it shall be the duty of the secretary of state to lay before each house a copy of the abstract made by the board of canvassers, and, if called for, the original returns of election, in order that each house may judge of the correctness of the report of said board of canvassers.

SEC. 11. The legislature, at its first session, shall elect such officers as may be ordered by this constitution to be elected by that body, and, within four days after its organization, proceed to elect two senators to the Congress of the United States. But no law passed by this legislature shall take effect until signed by the governor after his installation into office.

SEC. 12. The senators and representatives to the Congress of the United States, elected by the legislature and people of California as herein directed, shall be furnished with certified copies of this constitution, when ratified, which they shall lay before the Congress of the United States, requesting, in the name of the people of California, the admission of the State of California into the American Union.

SEC. 13. All officers of this State, other than members of the legislature, shall be installed into office on the fifteenth day of December next, or as soon thereafter as practicable.

SEC. 14. Until the legislature shall divide the State into counties and senatorial and assembly districts, as directed by this constitution, the following shall be the apportionment of the two houses of the legislature, namely: the districts of San Diego and Los Angeles shall, jointly, elect two senators; the districts of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo shall, jointly, elect one senator; the district of Monterey, one senator; the district of San José, one senator; the district of San Francisco, two senators; the district of Sonoma, one senator; the district of Sacramento, four sen ators; and the district of San Joaquin, four senators. And the district of San Diego shall elect one member of assembly; the district of Los Angeles, two members of assembly; the district of Santa Barbara, two members of assembly; the district of San Luis Obispo, one member of assembly; the district of Monterey, two members of assembly; the district of San José, three members of assembly; the district of San Francisco, five members of assembly; the district of Sonoma, two members of assembly; the district of Sacramento, nine members of assembly; and the district of San Joaquin, nine members of assembly.

SEC. 15. Until the legislature shall otherwise direct, in accordance with the provisions of this constitution, the salary of the governor shall be ten thousand dollars per annum; and the salary of the lieutenant governor shall be double the pay of a State senator; and the pay of members of the legislature shall be sixteen dollars per diem while in attendance, and sixteen dollars for every twenty miles travel by the usual route, and in returning therefrom. And the legislature shall fix the salaries of all officers other than those elected by the people at the first election.

SEC. 16. The limitation of the powers of the legislature, contained in article 8th of this constitution, shall not extend to the first legislature

elected under the same, which is hereby authorized to negotiate for such
amount as may
be necessary to pay the expenses of the State government.
R. SEMPLE,

President of the Convention, and delegate from Benicia.
WM. G. MARCY,

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Secretary.

B. S. Lippincott.
M. M. McCarver.
John McDougal.
B. F. Moore.
Myron Norton.
P. Ord.

Miguel Pedrorena.
A. M. Pico.
R. M. Price.
Hugo Reid.
Jacinto Rodriguez.
Pedro Sansevaine.
W. E. Shannon.
W. S. Sherwood.
J. R. Snyder.
A. Stearns.
W. M. Steuart.
J. A. Sutter.
Henry A. Tefft.
S. L. Vermule.
M. G. Vallejo.
J. Walker.

O. M. Wozencraft.

STATE DEPARTMENT OF CALIFORNIA,
Monterey, October 17, 1849.

MAJOR: Captain Kane, on the 15th instant, turned over from the "civil fund" to Major H. Hill the sum of $15,500, and holds Major Hili's receipts to Major Leonard for that amount. Captain Kane will send these receipts to you, in order that you may get from Major Leonard drafts on the pay department for that amount. The civil fund should not be loaned. to the military departments simply on receipts; drafts on the heads of the departments in Washington should be required in all cases. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Major R. ALLEN,

H. W. HALLECK, Brevet Captain, and Secretary of State.

Civil Treasurer, San Francisco, California.

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