Title: Constitution of the State of North Carolina and Copy of the Act of the General Assembly Entitled An Act to Amend the Constitution of the State of North Carolina
Author: North Carolina
Language: English
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CONSTITUTION

OF THE

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

AND COPY OF THE ACT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, ENTITLED

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

(CHAPTER 81, PUBLIC LAWS, EXTRA SESSION OF 1913)

ISSUED FROM THE OFFICE OF THE

SECRETARY OF STATE
RALEIGH

BY AUTHORITY OF THE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY

RALEIGH

EDWARDS & BROUGHTON PRINTING COMPANY
STATE PRINTERS AND BINDERS
1914


Received through the
Bureau for Municipal Research



By direction of the General Assembly, this pamphlet is furnished for
distribution to, and the information of, citizens of the State of North
Carolina. It contains the Constitution of the State of North Carolina as
it now stands, and shows, on page 39 and the pages following, the
proposed amendments, and a copy of the official ballot. Additional
copies of this pamphlet may be had upon application to the County Clerk
of Court, or to the Secretary of State, Raleigh.



CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA


PREAMBLE.

[Sidenote: Preamble.]

We, the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God,
the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for the preservation of the American
Union, and the existence of our civil, political and religious
liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance
of those blessings to us and our posterity, do for the more certain
security thereof, and for the better government of this State, ordain
and establish this Constitution:


ARTICLE I.

DECLARATION OF RIGHTS.

That the great, general and essential principles of liberty and free
government may be recognized and established, and that the relations of
this State to the Union and Government of the United States, and those
of the people of this State to the rest of the American people, may be
defined and affirmed, we do declare:

[Sidenote: The equality and rights of men.]

SECTION 1. That we hold it to be self-evident that all men are created
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights; that among these are life, liberty, the enjoyment of the fruits
of their own labor, and the pursuit of happiness.

[Sidenote: Political power and government.]

SEC. 2. That all political power is vested in, and derived from, the
people; all government of right originates from the people, is founded
upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the
whole.

[Sidenote: Internal government of the State.]

SEC. 3. That the people of this State have the inherent, sole and
exclusive right of regulating the internal government and police
thereof, and of altering and abolishing their Constitution and form of
government whenever it may be necessary for their safety and happiness;
but every such right should be exercised in pursuance of law, and
consistently with the Constitution of the United States.

[Sidenote: That there is no right to secede.]

SEC. 4. That this State shall ever remain a member of the American
Union; that the people thereof are a part of the American Nation; that
there is no right on the part of the State to secede, and that all
attempts, from whatever source or upon whatever pretext, to dissolve
said Union, or to sever said Nation, ought to be resisted with the whole
power of the State.

[Sidenote: Of allegiance to the U. S. government.]

SEC. 5. That every citizen of this State owes paramount allegiance to
the Constitution and government of the United States, and that no law or
ordinance of the State in contravention or subversion thereof can have
any binding force.

[Sidenote: Public debt.]

[Sidenote: Bonds issued under ordinance of Convention of 1868 and under
acts of 1868, 1868-'69, 1869-'70, declared invalid.]

[Sidenote: Exception.]

SEC. 6. The State shall never assume or pay, or authorize the collection
of any debt or obligation, express or implied, incurred in aid of
insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for
the loss or emancipation of any slave; nor shall the General Assembly
assume or pay, or authorize the collection of any tax to pay, either
directly or indirectly, expressed or implied, any debt or bond incurred,
or issued, by authority of the Convention of the year one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-eight, nor any debt or bond incurred or issued by the
Legislature of the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, at
its special session of the year one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-eight, or at its regular sessions of the years one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-eight and one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine
and one thousand eight hundred and seventy, except the bonds issued to
fund the interest on the old debt of the State, unless the proposing to
pay the same shall have first been submitted to the people and by them
ratified by the vote of a majority of all the qualified voters of the
State, at a regular election held for that purpose.

[Sidenote: Exclusive emoluments, etc.]

SEC. 7. No man or set of men are entitled to exclusive or separate
emoluments or privileges from the community but in consideration of
public services.

[Sidenote: The legislative, executive and judicial powers distinct.]

SEC. 8. The legislative, executive and supreme judicial powers of the
government ought to be forever separate and distinct from each other.

[Sidenote: Of the power of suspending laws.]

SEC. 9. All power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by any
authority, without the consent of the representatives of the people, is
injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised.

[Sidenote: Elections free.]

SEC. 10. All elections ought to be free.

[Sidenote: In criminal prosecutions.]

SEC. 11. In all criminal prosecutions, every man has the right to be
informed of the accusation against him and to confront the accusers and
witnesses with other testimony, and to have counsel for his defense, and
not to be compelled to give evidence against himself, or to pay costs,
jail fees, or necessary witness fees of the defense, unless found
guilty.

[Sidenote: Answers to criminal charges.]

SEC. 12. No person shall be put to answer any criminal charge, except as
hereinafter allowed, but by indictment, presentment or impeachment.

[Sidenote: Right of jury.]

SEC. 13. No person shall be convicted of any crime but by the unanimous
verdict of a jury of good and lawful men in open court. The Legislature
may, however, provide other means of trial for petty misdemeanors, with
the right of appeal.

[Sidenote: Excessive bail.]

SEC. 14. Excessive bail should not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishments inflicted.

[Sidenote: General warrants.]

SEC. 15. General warrants, whereby any officer or messenger may be
commanded to search suspected places, without evidence of the act
committed, or to seize any person or persons not named, whose offense is
not particularly described and supported by evidence, are dangerous to
liberty and ought not to be granted.

[Sidenote: Imprisonment for debt.]

SEC. 16. There shall be no imprisonment for debt in this State, except
in cases of fraud.

[Sidenote: No person to be taken, etc., but by law of the land.]

SEC. 17. No person ought to be taken, imprisoned, or disseized of his
freehold, liberties or privileges, or outlawed or exiled, or in any
manner deprived of his life, liberty or property, but by the law of the
land.

[Sidenote: Persons restrained of liberty.]

SEC. 18. Every person restrained of his liberty is entitled to a remedy
to enquire into the lawfulness thereof, and to remove the same, if
unlawful; and such remedy ought not to be denied or delayed.

[Sidenote: Controversies at law respecting property.]

SEC. 19. In all controversies at law respecting property, the ancient
mode of trial by jury is one of the best securities of the rights of the
people, and ought to remain sacred and inviolable.

[Sidenote: Freedom of the press.]

SEC. 20. The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of
liberty, and therefore ought never to be restrained, but every
individual shall be held responsible for the abuse of the same.

[Sidenote: Habeas corpus.]

SEC. 21. The privileges of the writ of _habeas corpus_ shall not be
suspended.

[Sidenote: Property qualification.]

SEC. 22. As political rights and privileges are not dependent upon, or
modified by, property, therefore no property qualification ought to
affect the right to vote or hold office.

[Sidenote: Representation and taxation.]

SEC. 23. The people of the State ought not to be taxed, or made subject
to the payment of any impost or duty, without the consent of themselves,
or their representatives in General Assembly freely given.

[Sidenote: Militia and the right to bear arms.]

SEC. 24. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a
free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be
infringed; and, as standing armies in time of peace are dangerous to
liberty, they ought not to be kept up, and the military should be kept
under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power. Nothing
herein contained shall justify the practice of carrying concealed
weapons, or prevent the Legislature from enacting penal statutes against
said practice.

[Sidenote: Right of the people to assemble together.]

SEC. 25. The people have a right to assemble together to consult for
their common good, to instruct their representatives, and to apply to
the Legislature for redress of grievances. But secret political
societies are dangerous to the liberties of a free people, and should
not be tolerated.

[Sidenote: Religious liberty.]

SEC. 26. All men have a natural and inalienable right to worship
Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences, and no
human authority should, in any case whatever, control or interfere with
the rights of conscience.

[Sidenote: Education.]

SEC. 27. The people have the right to the privilege of education, and it
is the duty of the State to guard and maintain that right.

[Sidenote: Elections should be frequent.]

SEC. 28. For redress of grievances, and for amending and strengthening
the laws, elections should be often held.

[Sidenote: Recurrence to fundamental principles.]

SEC. 29. A frequent recurrence to fundamental principles is absolutely
necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty.

[Sidenote: Hereditary emoluments, etc.]

SEC. 30. No hereditary emoluments, privileges or honors ought to be
granted or conferred in this State.

[Sidenote: Perpetuities, etc.]

SEC. 31. Perpetuities and monopolies are contrary to the genius of a
free State and ought not to be allowed.

[Sidenote: Ex post facto laws.]

SEC. 32. Retrospective laws, punishing acts committed before the
existence of such laws, and by them only declared criminal, are
oppressive, unjust and incompatible with liberty; wherefore no _ex post
facto_ law ought to be made. No law taxing retrospectively sales,
purchases, or other acts previously done, ought to be passed.

[Sidenote: Slavery prohibited.]

SEC. 33. Slavery and Involuntary servitude, otherwise than for crime,
whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be and are
hereby forever prohibited within the State.

[Sidenote: State boundaries.]

SEC. 34. The limits and boundaries of the State shall be and remain as
they now are.

[Sidenote: Courts shall be open.]

SEC. 35. All courts shall be open; and every person for an injury done
him in his lands, goods, person or reputation, shall have remedy by due
course of law, and right and justice administered without sale, denial
or delay.

[Sidenote: Soldiers in time of peace.]

SEC. 36. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house
without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war but in a manner
prescribed by the law.

[Sidenote: Other rights of the people.]

SEC. 37. This enumeration of rights shall not be construed to impair or
deny others retained by the people; and all powers not herein delegated
remain with the people.


ARTICLE II.

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.

[Sidenote: Two branches.]

SECTION 1. The legislative authority shall be vested in two distinct
branches, both dependent on the people, to wit, a Senate and House of
Representatives.

[Sidenote: Time of assembling.]

SEC. 2. The Senate and House of Representatives shall meet biennially on
the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January next after their
election; and, when assembled, shall be denominated the General
Assembly. Neither House shall proceed upon public business unless a
majority of all the members are actually present.

[Sidenote: Number of senators.]

SEC. 3. The Senate shall be composed of fifty Senators, biennially
chosen by ballot.

[Sidenote: Regulations in relation to districting the State for
senators.]

SEC. 4. The Senate Districts shall be so altered by the General
Assembly, at the first session after the return of every enumeration by
order of Congress, that each Senate District shall contain, as near as
may be, an equal number of inhabitants, excluding aliens and Indians not
taxed, and shall remain unaltered until the return of another
enumeration, and shall at all times consist of contiguous territory; and
no county shall be divided in the formation of a Senate District, unless
such county shall be equitably entitled to two or more Senators.

[Sidenote: Regulations in relation to apportionment of representatives.]

SEC. 5. The House of Representatives shall be composed of one hundred
and twenty Representatives, biennially chosen by ballot, to be elected
by the counties respectively, according to their population, and each
county shall have at least one Representative in the House of
Representatives, although it may not contain the requisite ratio of
representation; this apportionment shall be made by the General Assembly
at the respective times and periods when the districts of the Senate are
hereinbefore directed to be laid off.

[Sidenote: Ratio of representation.]

SEC. 6. In making the apportionment in the House of Representatives, the
ratio of representation shall be ascertained by dividing the amount of
the population of the State, exclusive of that comprehended within those
counties which do not severally contain the one hundred and twentieth
part of the population of the State, by the number of Representatives,
less the number assigned to such counties; and in ascertaining the
number of the population of the State, aliens and Indians not taxed
shall not be included. To each county containing the said ratio and not
twice the said ratio, there shall be assigned one Representative; to
each county containing two but not three times the said ratio, there
shall be assigned two Representatives, and so on progressively, and then
the remaining representatives shall be assigned severally to the
counties having the largest fractions.

[Sidenote: Qualifications for senators.]

SEC. 7. Each member of the Senate shall not be less than twenty-five
years of age, shall have resided in the State as a citizen two years,
and shall have usually resided in the district for which he is chosen
one year immediately preceding his election.

[Sidenote: Qualifications for representatives.]

SEC. 8. Each member of the House of Representatives shall be a qualified
elector of the State, and shall have resided in the county for which he
is chosen for one year immediately preceding his election.

[Sidenote: Election of officers.]

SEC. 9. In the election of all officers, whose appointment shall be
conferred upon the General Assembly by the Constitution, the vote shall
be _viva voce_.

[Sidenote: Powers in relation to divorce and alimony.]

SEC. 10. The General Assembly shall have the power to pass general laws
regulating divorce and alimony, but shall not have power to grant a
divorce or secure alimony in any individual case.

[Sidenote: Private laws in relation to names of persons, etc.]

SEC. 11. The General Assembly shall not have power to pass any private
law to alter the name of any person, or to legitimate any person not
born in lawful wedlock, or to restore to the rights of citizenship any
person convicted of an infamous crime, but shall have power to pass
general laws regulating the same.

[Sidenote: Thirty days' notice shall be given anterior to passage of
private laws.]

SEC. 12. The General Assembly shall not pass any private law, unless it
shall be made to appear that thirty days' notice of application to pass
such a law shall have been given, under such direction and in such
manner as shall be provided by law.

[Sidenote: Vacancies.]

SEC. 13. If vacancies shall occur in the General Assembly by death,
resignation or otherwise, writs of election shall be issued by the
Governor under such regulations as may be prescribed by law.

[Sidenote: Revenue.]

SEC. 14. No law shall be passed to raise money on the credit of the
State, or to pledge the faith of the State, directly or indirectly, for
the payment of any debt, or to impose any tax upon the people of the
State, or allow the counties, cities or towns to do so, unless the bill
for the purpose shall have been read three several times in each House
of the General Assembly and passed three several readings, which
readings shall have been on three different days, and agreed to by each
House respectively, and unless the yeas and nays on the second and third
readings of the bill shall have been entered on the journal.

[Sidenote: Entails.]

SEC. 15. The General Assembly shall regulate entails in such manner as
to prevent perpetuities.

[Sidenote: Journals.]

SEC. 16. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, which shall
be printed and made public immediately after the adjournment of the
General Assembly.

[Sidenote: Protest.]

SEC. 17. Any member of either House may dissent from and protest against
any act or resolve, which he may think injurious to the public, or any
individual, and have the reasons of his dissent entered on the journal.

[Sidenote: Officers of the House.]

SEC. 18. The House of Representatives shall choose their own Speaker and
other officers.

[Sidenote: President of the Senate.]

SEC. 19. The Lieutenant-Governor shall preside in the Senate, but shall
have no vote unless it may be equally divided.

[Sidenote: Other senatorial officers.]

SEC. 20. The Senate shall choose its other officers and also a Speaker
(_pro tempore_) in the absence of the Lieutenant-Governor, or when he
shall exercise the office of Governor.

[Sidenote: Style of the acts.]

SEC. 21. The style of the acts shall be: "The General Assembly of North
Carolina do enact."

[Sidenote: Powers of the General Assembly.]

SEC. 22. Each House shall be judge of the qualifications and election of
its own members, shall sit upon its own adjournment from day to day,
prepare bills to be passed into laws; and the two Houses may also
jointly adjourn to any future day or other place.

[Sidenote: Bills and resolutions to be read three times, etc.]

SEC. 23. All bills and resolutions of a legislative nature shall be read
three times in each House, before they pass into laws; and shall be
signed by the presiding officers of both Houses.

[Sidenote: Oath of members].

SEC. 24. Each member of the General Assembly, before taking his seat,
shall take an oath or affirmation that he will support the Constitution
and laws of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of
North Carolina, and will faithfully discharge his duty as a member of
the Senate or House of Representatives.

[Sidenote: Terms of office.]

SEC. 25. The terms of office for Senators and members of the House of
Representatives shall commence at the time of their election.

[Sidenote: Yeas and nays.]

SEC. 26. Upon motion made and seconded in either House by one-fifth of
the members present, the yeas and nays upon any question shall be taken
and entered upon the journals.

[Sidenote: Election for members of the General Assembly.]

SEC. 27. The election for members of the General Assembly shall be held
for the respective districts and counties, at the places where they are
now held, or may be directed hereafter to be held, in such manner as may
be prescribed by law, on the first Thursday in August, in the year one
thousand eight hundred and seventy, and every two years thereafter. But
the General Assembly may change the time of holding the elections.

[Sidenote: Pay of members and officers of the General Assembly.]

[Sidenote: Extra session.]

SEC. 28. The members of the General Assembly for the term for which they
have been elected shall receive as a compensation for their services the
sum of _four dollars_ per day for each day of their session, for a
period not exceeding sixty days; and should they remain longer in
session they shall serve without compensation. They shall also be
entitled to receive ten cents per mile, both while coming to the seat of
government and while returning home, the said distance to be computed by
the nearest line or route of public travel. The compensation of the
presiding officers of the two Houses shall be six dollars per day and
mileage. Should an extra session of the General Assembly be called, the
members and presiding officers shall receive a like rate of compensation
for a period not exceeding twenty days.


ARTICLE III.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.

[Sidenote: Officers of the Executive Department.]

[Sidenote: Terms of office.]

SECTION 1. The Executive Department shall consist of a Governor, in whom
shall be vested the supreme executive power of the State, a
Lieutenant-Governor, a Secretary of State, an Auditor, a Treasurer, a
Superintendent of Public Instruction, and an Attorney-General, who shall
be elected for a term of four years by the qualified electors of the
State, at the same time and places and in the same manner as members of
the General Assembly are elected. Their term of office shall commence on
the first day of January next after their election, and continue until
their successors are elected and qualified: _Provided_, that the
officers first elected shall assume the duties of their office ten days
after the approval of this Constitution by the Congress of the United
States, and shall hold their offices four years from and after the first
day of January.

[Sidenote: Qualifications of Governor and Lieutenant-Governor.]

SEC. 2. No person shall be eligible as Governor or Lieutenant-Governor
unless he shall have attained the age of thirty years, shall have been a
citizen of the United States five years, and shall have been a resident
of this State for two years next before the election; nor shall the
person elected to either of these two offices be eligible to the same
office more than four years in any term of eight years, unless the
office shall have been cast upon him as Lieutenant-Governor or President
of the Senate.

[Sidenote: Returns of elections.]

SEC. 3. The return of every election for officers of the Executive
Department shall be sealed up and transmitted to the seat of government
by the returning officers, directed to the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, who shall open and publish the same in the presence of
a majority of the members of both Houses of the General Assembly. The
person having the highest number of votes respectively shall be declared
duly elected; but if two or more be equal and highest in votes for the
same office, one of them shall be chosen by joint ballot of both Houses
of the General Assembly. Contested elections shall be determined by a
joint ballot of both Houses of the General Assembly in such manner as
shall be prescribed by law.

[Sidenote: Oath of office for Governor.]

SEC. 4. The Governor, before entering upon the duties of his office,
shall, in the presence of the members of both branches of the General
Assembly, or before any Justice of the Supreme Court, take an oath or
affirmation that he will support the Constitution and laws of the United
States, and of the State of North Carolina, and that he will faithfully
perform the duties appertaining to the office of Governor, to which he
has been elected.

[Sidenote: Duties of Governor.]

SEC. 5. The Governor shall reside at the seat of government of this
State, and he shall, from time to time, give the General Assembly
information of the affairs of the State, and recommend to their
consideration, such measures as he shall deem expedient.

[Sidenote: Reprieves, commutations and pardons.]

SEC. 6. The Governor shall have power to grant reprieves, commutations
and pardons, after conviction, for all offenses (except in cases of
impeachment), upon such conditions as he may think proper, subject to
such regulations as may be provided by law relative to the manner of
applying for pardons. He shall biennially communicate to the General
Assembly each case of reprieve, commutation or pardon granted, stating
the name of each convict, the crime for which he was convicted, the
sentence and its date, the date of the commutation, pardon or reprieve
and the reasons therefor.

[Sidenote: Annual reports from officers of Executive Department and of
public institutions.]

SEC. 7. The officers of the Executive Department and of the public
institutions of the State shall, at least five days previous to each
regular session of the General Assembly, severally report to the
Governor, who shall transmit such reports with his message to the
General Assembly; and the Governor may, at any time, require information
in writing from the officers in the Executive Department upon any
subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and shall
take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

[Sidenote: Commander in chief.]

SEC. 8. The Governor shall be Commander in Chief of the militia of the
State, except when they shall be called into the service of the United
States.

[Sidenote: Extra sessions of General Assembly.]

SEC. 9. The Governor shall have power, on extraordinary occasions, by
and with the advice of the Council of State, to convene the General
Assembly in extra session by his proclamation, stating therein the
purpose or purposes for which they are thus convened.

[Sidenote: Officers whose appointments are not otherwise provided for.]

SEC. 10. The Governor shall nominate and, by and with the advice and
consent of a majority of the Senators-elect, appoint all officers whose
offices are established by this Constitution and whose appointments are
not otherwise provided for.

[Sidenote: Duties of the Lieutenant-Governor.]

SEC. 11. The Lieutenant-Governor shall be President of the Senate, but
shall have no vote unless the Senate is equally divided. He shall,
whilst acting as President of the Senate, receive for his services the
same pay which shall, for the same period, be allowed to the Speaker of
the House of Representatives; and he shall receive no other compensation
except when he is acting as Governor.

[Sidenote: In case of impeachment of Governor, or vacancy caused by
death or resignation.]

SEC. 12. In case of the impeachment of the Governor, his failure to
qualify, his absence from the State, his inability to discharge the
duties of his office, or, in case the office of Governor shall in any
wise become vacant, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office
shall devolve upon the Lieutenant-Governor until the disability shall
cease or a new Governor shall be elected and qualified. In every case in
which the Lieutenant-Governor shall be unable to preside over the
Senate, the Senators shall elect one of their own number President of
their body; and the powers, duties and emoluments of the office of
Governor shall devolve upon him whenever the Lieutenant-Governor shall,
for any reason, be prevented from discharging the duties of such office
as above provided, and he shall continue as acting Governor until the
disabilities are removed, or a new Governor or Lieutenant-Governor shall
be elected and qualified. Whenever, during the recess of the General
Assembly, it shall become necessary for the President of the Senate to
administer the government, the Secretary of State shall convene the
Senate, that they may select such President.

[Sidenote: Duties of other executive officers.]

SEC. 13. The respective duties of the Secretary of State, Auditor,
Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Attorney-General
shall be prescribed by law. If the office of any of said officers shall
be vacated by death, resignation or otherwise, it shall be the duty of
the Governor to appoint another until the disability be removed or his
successor be elected and qualified. Every such vacancy shall be filled
by election at the first general election that occurs more than thirty
days after the vacancy has taken place, and the persons chosen shall
hold the office for the remainder of the unexpired term fixed in the
first section of this article.

[Sidenote: Council of State.]

SEC. 14. The Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, and Superintendent
of Public Instruction shall constitute, _ex officio_, the Council of
State, who shall advise the Governor in the execution of his office, any
three of whom shall constitute a quorum. Their advice and proceedings in
this capacity shall be entered in a journal to be kept for this purpose
exclusively, and signed by the members present, from any part of which
any member may enter his dissent; and such journal shall be placed
before the General Assembly when called for by either House. The
Attorney-General shall be, _ex officio_, the legal adviser of the
Executive Department.

[Sidenote: Compensation of executive officers.]

SEC. 15. The officers mentioned in this article shall, at stated
periods, receive for their services a compensation to be established by
law, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the time for
which they shall have been elected, and the said officers shall receive
no other emolument or allowance whatever.


[Sidenote: Seal of State.]

SEC. 16. There shall be a seal of the State, which shall be kept by the
Governor, and used by him as occasion may require, and shall be called
"The Great Seal of the State of North Carolina." All grants and
commissions shall be issued in the name and by the authority of the
State of North Carolina, sealed with "The Great Seal of the State,"
signed by the Governor and counter-signed by the Secretary of State.

[Sidenote: Department of Agriculture, Immigration and Statistics.]

SEC. 17. The General Assembly shall establish a Department of
Agriculture, Immigration and Statistics, under such regulations as may
best promote the agricultural interests of the State, and shall enact
laws for the adequate protection and encouragement of sheep husbandry.


ARTICLE IV.

JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.

[Sidenote: Abolishes the distinction between actions at law and suits in
equity.]

[Sidenote: Feigned issues abolished.]

SECTION 1. The distinctions between actions at law and suits in equity,
and the forms of all such actions and suits, shall be abolished; and
there shall be in this State but one form of action for the enforcement
or protection of private rights or the redress of private wrongs, which
shall be denominated a civil action; and every action prosecuted by the
people of the State as a party against a person charged with a public
offense, for the punishment of the same, shall be termed a criminal
action. Feigned issues shall also be abolished, and the fact at issue
tried by order of Court before a jury.

[Sidenote: Division of Judicial powers.]

SEC. 2. The judicial power of the State shall be vested in a Court for
the Trial of Impeachments, a Supreme Court, Superior Courts, Courts of
Justices of the Peace, and such other courts inferior to the Supreme
Court as may be established by law.

[Sidenote: Trial court of impeachment.]

SEC. 3. The Court for the Trial of Impeachments shall be the Senate. A
majority of the members shall be necessary to a quorum, and the
judgment shall not extend beyond removal from and disqualification to
hold office in this State; but the party shall be liable to indictment
and punishment according to law.

[Sidenote: Impeachment.]

SEC. 4. The House of Representatives solely shall have the power of
impeaching. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of
two-thirds of the Senators present. When the Governor is impeached, the
Chief Justice shall preside.

[Sidenote: Treason against the State.]

SEC. 5. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war
against it, or adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No
person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two
witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. No
conviction of treason or attainder shall work corruption of blood or
forfeiture.

[Sidenote: Supreme court justices.]

SEC. 6. The Supreme Court shall consist of a Chief Justice and four
Associate Justices.

[Sidenote: Terms of the supreme court.]

SEC. 7. The terms of the Supreme Court shall be held in the city of
Raleigh, as now, unless otherwise provided by the General Assembly.

[Sidenote: Jurisdiction of supreme court.]

SEC. 8. The Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction to review, upon
appeal, any decision of the courts below, upon any matter of law or
legal inference. And the jurisdiction of said Court over "issues of
fact" and "questions of fact" shall be the same exercised by it before
the adoption of the Constitution of one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-eight, and the Court shall have the power to issue any remedial
writs necessary to give it a general supervision and control over the
proceedings of the inferior courts.

[Sidenote: Claims against the State.]

SEC. 9. The Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction to hear
claims against the State, but its decisions shall be merely
recommendatory; no process in the nature of execution shall issue
thereon; they shall be reported to the next session of the General
Assembly for its action.

[Sidenote: Judicial districts for superior courts.]

SEC. 10. The State shall be divided into nine judicial districts, for
each of which a judge shall be chosen; and there shall be held a
Superior Court in each county at least twice in each year, to continue
for such time in each county as may be prescribed by law. But the
General Assembly may reduce or increase the number of districts.

[Sidenote: Residences of judges, rotation in judicial districts, and
special terms.]

SEC. 11. Every judge of the Superior Court shall reside in the district
for which he is elected. The judges shall preside in the courts of the
different districts successively, but no judge shall hold the courts in
the same district oftener than once in four years; but in case of the
protracted illness of the judge assigned to preside in any district, or
of any other unavoidable accident to him, by reason of which he shall be
unable to preside, the Governor may require any judge to hold one or
more specified terms in said district, in lieu of the judge assigned to
hold the courts of the said district.

[Sidenote: Jurisdiction of courts inferior to supreme court.]

SEC. 12. The General Assembly shall have no power to deprive the
Judicial Department of any power or jurisdiction which rightfully
pertains to it as a coördinate department of the government; but the
General Assembly shall allot and distribute that portion of this power
and jurisdiction which does not pertain to the Supreme Court, among
other Courts prescribed in this Constitution or which may be established
by law, in such manner as it may deem best; provide also a proper system
of appeals, and regulate by law, when necessary, the methods of
proceedings in the exercise of their powers, of all the courts below the
Supreme Court, so far as the same may be done without conflict with
other provisions of this Constitution.

[Sidenote: In case of waiver of trial by jury.]

SEC. 13. In all issues of fact, joined in any court, the parties may
waive the right to have the same determined by a jury, in which case the
finding of the judge upon the facts shall have the force and effect of a
verdict by a jury.

[Sidenote: Special courts in cities.]

SEC. 14. The General Assembly shall provide for the establishment of
special courts, for the trial of misdemeanors, in cities and towns where
the same may be necessary.

[Sidenote: Clerk of supreme court.]

SEC. 15. The Clerk of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the Court,
and shall hold his office for eight years.

[Sidenote: Election of superior court clerk.]

SEC. 16. A Clerk of the Superior Court for each county shall be elected
by the qualified voters thereof, at the time and in the manner
prescribed by law for the election of members of the General Assembly.

[Sidenote: Term of office.]

SEC. 17. Clerks of the Superior Courts shall hold their offices for four
years.

[Sidenote: Fees, salaries and emoluments.]

SEC. 18. The General Assembly shall prescribe and regulate the fees,
salaries and emoluments of all officers provided for in this article;
but the salaries of the judges shall not be diminished during their
continuance in office.

[Sidenote: What laws are and shall be in force.]

SEC. 19. The laws of North Carolina, not repugnant to this Constitution
or the Constitution and laws of the United States, shall be in force
until lawfully altered.

[Sidenote: Disposition of actions at law and suits in equity, pending
when this Constitution shall go into effect, etc.]

SEC. 20. Actions at law, and suits in equity, pending when this
Constitution shall go into effect, shall be transferred to the courts
having jurisdiction thereof, without prejudice by reason of the change;
and all such actions and suits commenced before, and pending at the
adoption by the General Assembly of the rules of practice and procedure
herein provided for, shall be heard and determined according to the
practice now in use, unless otherwise provided for by said rules.

[Sidenote: Justices supreme court, election of.]

SEC. 21. The Justices of the Supreme Court shall be elected by the
qualified voters of the State, as is provided for the election of
members of the General Assembly. They shall hold their offices for eight
years. The judges of the Superior Courts, elected at the first election
under this amendment, shall be elected in like manner as is provided for
Justices of the Supreme Court, and shall hold their offices for eight
years. The General Assembly may, from time to time, provide by law that
the judges of the Superior Courts, chosen at succeeding elections,
instead of being elected by the voters of the whole State, as is herein
provided for, shall be elected by the voters of their respective
districts.

[Sidenote: Transaction of business in the superior court.]

SEC. 22. The Superior Courts shall be at all times open for the
transaction of all business within their jurisdiction, except the trial
of issues of fact requiring a jury.

[Sidenote: Solicitors for each judicial district.]

SEC. 23. A solicitor shall be elected for each judicial district by the
qualified voters thereof, as is prescribed for members of the General
Assembly, who shall hold office for the term of four years, and
prosecute on behalf of the State, in all criminal actions in the
Superior Courts, and advise the officers of justice in his district.

[Sidenote: Sheriffs and coroners.]

SEC. 24. In each county a sheriff and coroner shall be elected by the
qualified voters thereof, as is prescribed for members of the General
Assembly, and shall hold their offices for two years. In each township
there shall be a constable elected in like manner by the voters thereof,
who shall hold his office for two years. When there is no coroner in a
county, the clerk of the Superior Court for the county may appoint one
for special cases. In case of a vacancy existing for any cause in any of
the offices created by this section, the commissioners of the county may
appoint to such office for the unexpired term.

[Sidenote: Vacancies.]

SEC. 25. All vacancies occurring in the offices provided for by this
article of the Constitution shall be filled by the appointment of the
Governor, unless otherwise provided for, and the appointees shall hold
their places until the next regular election for members of the General
Assembly, when elections shall be held to fill such offices. If any
person, elected or appointed to any of said offices, shall neglect and
fail to qualify, such offices shall be appointed to, held and filled as
provided in case of vacancies occurring therein. All incumbents of said
offices shall hold until their successors are qualified.

[Sidenote: Terms of office of first officers under this article.]

SEC. 26. The officers elected at the first election held under this
Constitution shall hold their offices for the terms prescribed for them
respectively, next ensuing after the next regular election for members
of the General Assembly. But their terms shall begin upon the approval
of this Constitution by the Congress of the United States.

[Sidenote: Jurisdiction of justices of the peace.]

SEC. 27. The several justices of the peace shall have jurisdiction,
under such regulations as the General Assembly shall prescribe, of civil
actions, founded on contract, wherein the sum demanded shall not exceed
two hundred dollars, and wherein the title to real estate shall not be
in controversy; and of all criminal matters arising within their
counties where the punishment can not exceed a fine of fifty dollars or
imprisonment for thirty days. And the General Assembly may give to
justices of the peace jurisdiction of other civil actions, wherein the
value of the property in controversy does not exceed fifty dollars. When
an issue of fact shall be joined before a justice, on demand of either
party thereto, he shall cause a jury of six men to be summoned, who
shall try the same. The party against whom judgment shall be rendered in
any civil action may appeal to the Superior Court from the same. In all
cases of a criminal nature, the party against whom judgment is given may
appeal to the Superior Court, where the matter shall be heard anew. In
all cases brought before a justice, he shall make a record of the
proceedings and file same with the clerk of the Superior Court for his
county.

[Sidenote: Vacancies in office of justices.]

SEC. 28. When the office of justice of the peace shall become vacant
otherwise than by expiration of the term, and in case of a failure by
the voters of any district to elect, the clerk of the Superior Court for
the county shall appoint to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term.

[Sidenote: Vacancies in office of superior court clerk.]

SEC. 29. In case the office of clerk of a Superior Court for a county
shall become vacant otherwise than by the expiration of the term, and in
case of a failure by the people to elect, the judge of the Superior
Court for the county shall appoint to fill the vacancy until an election
can be regularly held.

[Sidenote: Officers of other courts inferior to supreme court.]

SEC. 30. In case the General Assembly shall establish other courts
inferior to the Supreme Court, the presiding officers and clerks thereof
shall be elected in such manner as the General Assembly may from time to
time prescribe, and they shall hold their offices for a term not
exceeding eight years.

[Sidenote: Removal of judges of the various courts for inability.]

SEC. 31. Any judge of the Supreme Court or of the Superior Courts, and
the presiding officers of such courts inferior to the Supreme Court as
may be established by law, may be removed from office for mental or
physical inability, upon a concurrent resolution of two-thirds of both
Houses of the General Assembly. The judge or presiding officer, against
whom the General Assembly may be about to proceed, shall receive notice
thereof, accompanied by a copy of the causes alleged for his removal, at
least twenty days before the day on which either House of the General
Assembly shall act thereon.

[Sidenote: Removal of clerks of the various courts for inability.]

SEC. 32. Any clerk of the Supreme Court or of the Superior Courts, or of
such courts inferior to the Supreme Court as may be established by law,
may be removed from office for mental or physical inability; the Clerk
of the Supreme Court by the judges of said Court, the clerks of the
Superior Courts by the judge riding the district, and the clerks of such
courts inferior to the Supreme Court as may be established by law by the
presiding officers of said courts. The clerk against whom proceedings
are instituted shall receive notice thereof, accompanied by a copy of
the causes alleged for his removal, at least ten days before the day
appointed to act thereon, and the clerk shall be entitled to an appeal
to the next term of the Superior Court, and thence to the Supreme Court
as provided in other cases of appeals.

[Sidenote: Amendments not to vacate existing offices.]

SEC. 33. The amendments made to the Constitution of North Carolina by
this Convention shall not have the effect to vacate any office or term
of office now existing under the Constitution of the State and filled or
held by virtue of any election or appointment under the said
Constitution and the laws of the State made in pursuance thereof.


ARTICLE V.

REVENUE AND TAXATION.

[Sidenote: Capitation tax.]

[Sidenote: Exemptions.]

SECTION 1. The General Assembly shall levy a capitation tax on every
male inhabitant in the State over twenty-one and under fifty years of
age, which shall be equal on each to the tax on property valued at three
hundred dollars in cash. The commissioners of the several counties may
exempt from capitation tax in special cases, on account of poverty and
infirmity, and the State and county capitation tax combined shall never
exceed two dollars on the head.

[Sidenote: Application of proceeds of State and county capitation tax.]

SEC. 2. The proceeds of the State and county capitation tax shall be
applied to the purposes of education and the support of the poor, but in
no one year shall more than twenty-five per cent thereof be appropriated
to the latter purpose.

[Sidenote: Taxation shall be by uniform rule and ad valorem.]

SEC. 3. Laws shall be passed taxing, by a uniform rule, all moneys,
credits, investments in bonds, stocks, joint-stock companies, or
otherwise; and, also, all real and personal property, according to its
true value in money. The General Assembly may also tax trades,
professions, franchises, and incomes: _Provided_, that no income shall
be taxed when the property from which the income is derived is taxed.

[Sidenote: Restrictions upon the increase of the public debt, except in
certain contingencies.]

SEC. 4. Until the bonds of the State shall be at par, the General
Assembly shall have no power to contract any new debt or pecuniary
obligation in behalf of the State, except to supply a casual deficit, or
for suppressing invasions or insurrections, unless it shall in the same
bill levy a special tax to pay the interest annually. And the General
Assembly shall have no power to give or lend the credit of the State in
aid of any person, association or corporation, except to aid in the
completion of such railroads as may be unfinished at the time of the
adoption of this Constitution, or in which the State has a direct
pecuniary interest, unless the subject be submitted to a direct vote of
the people of the State, and be approved by the majority of those who
shall vote thereon.

[Sidenote: Property exemptions from taxation.]

SEC. 5. Property belonging to the State, or to municipal corporations,
shall be exempt from taxation. The General Assembly may exempt
cemeteries and property held for educational, scientific, literary,
charitable or religious purposes; also wearing apparel, arms for muster,
household and kitchen furniture, the mechanical and agricultural
implements of mechanics and farmers, libraries and scientific
instruments, or any other personal property, to a value not exceeding
three hundred dollars.

[Sidenote: Taxes levied by county commissioners.]

SEC. 6. The taxes levied by the commissioners of the several counties
for county purposes shall be levied in like manner with the State
taxes, and shall never exceed the double of the State tax, except for a
special purpose, and with the special approval of the General Assembly.

[Sidenote: Acts levying taxes shall state objects, etc.]

SEC. 7. Every act of the General Assembly levying a tax shall state the
special object to which it is to be applied, and it shall be applied to
no other purpose.


ARTICLE VI.

SUFFRAGE AND ELIGIBILITY TO OFFICE.

[Sidenote: Qualifications of elector.]

SECTION 1. Every male person born in the United States, and every male
person who has been naturalized, twenty-one years of age, and possessing
the qualifications set out in this article, shall be entitled to vote at
any election by the people in the State, except as herein otherwise
provided.

[Sidenote: Qualifications of elector.]

SEC. 2. He shall have resided in the State of North Carolina for two
years, in the county six months, and in the precinct, ward or other
election district, in which he offers his vote, four months next
preceding the election: _Provided_, that removal from one precinct, ward
or other election district, to another in the same county, shall not
operate to deprive any person of the right to vote in the precinct, ward
or other election district from which he has removed until four months
after such removal. No person who has been convicted, or who has
confessed his guilt in open court upon indictment, of any crime, the
punishment of which now is or may hereafter be imprisonment in the
State's Prison, shall be permitted to vote unless the said person shall
be first restored to citizenship in the manner prescribed by law.

[Sidenote: Qualification of elector.]

[Sidenote: General Assembly to provide registration laws.]

SEC. 3. Every person offering to vote shall be at the time a legally
registered voter as herein prescribed and in the manner hereafter
provided by law, and the General Assembly of North Carolina shall enact
general registration laws to carry into effect the provisions of this
article.

[Sidenote: Qualifications of elector to register and vote.]

[Sidenote: Registration of persons entitled to vote without educational
qualification.]

[Sidenote: Permanent record.]

SEC. 4. Every person presenting himself for registration shall be able
to read and write any section of the Constitution in the English
language; and before he shall be entitled to vote he shall have paid, on
or before the first day of May of the year in which he proposes to vote,
his poll tax for the previous year as prescribed by Article V, sec. 1,
of the Constitution. But no male person who was on January 1, 1867, or
at any time prior thereto, entitled to vote under the laws of any State
in the United States wherein he then resided, and no lineal descendant
of any such person shall be denied the right to register and vote at any
election in this State by reason of his failure to possess the
educational qualifications herein prescribed: _Provided_, he shall have
registered in accordance with the terms of this section prior to
December 1, 1908. The General Assembly shall provide for the
registration of all persons entitled to vote without the educational
qualifications herein prescribed, and shall, on or before November 1,
1908, provide for making of a permanent record of such registration, and
all persons so registered shall forever thereafter have the right to
vote in all elections by the people in this State, unless disqualified
under section 2 of this article: _Provided_, such person shall have paid
his poll tax as above required.

[Sidenote: Amendment indivisible.]

SEC. 5. That this amendment to the Constitution is presented and adopted
as one indivisible plan for the regulation of the suffrage, with the
intent and purpose to so connect the different parts and to make them so
dependent upon each other that the whole shall stand or fall together.

[Sidenote: Elections by people and General Assembly.]

SEC. 6. All elections by the people shall be by ballot, and all by the
General Assembly shall be _viva voce_.

[Sidenote: Oath of office.]

SEC. 7. Every voter in North Carolina, except as in this article
disqualified, shall be eligible to office, but before entering upon the
duties of the office he shall take and subscribe the following oath:

"I, ____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and maintain
the Constitution and laws of the United States and the Constitution and
laws of North Carolina not inconsistent therewith, and that I will
faithfully discharge the duties of my office as ____ So help me, God."

[Sidenote: Disqualification for office.]

SEC. 8. The following classes of persons shall be disqualified for
office: _First_, all persons who shall deny the being of Almighty God.
_Second_, all persons who shall have been convicted or confessed their
guilt on indictment pending, and whether sentenced or not, or under
judgment suspended, of any treason or felony, or of any other crime for
which the punishment may be imprisonment in the penitentiary, since
becoming citizens of the United States, or of corruption or malpractice
in office, unless such person shall be restored to the rights of
citizenship in a manner prescribed by law.

[Sidenote: When amendment to take effect.]

SEC. 9. That this amendment to the Constitution shall go into effect on
the first day of July, nineteen hundred and two, if a majority of votes
cast at the next general election shall be cast in favor of this
suffrage amendment.


ARTICLE VII.

MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.

[Sidenote: County officers.]

SECTION 1. In each county there shall be elected biennially by the
qualified voters thereof, as provided for the election of members of the
General Assembly, the following officers: A treasurer, register of
deeds, surveyor, and five commissioners.

[Sidenote: Duty of county commissioners.]

SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of the commissioners to exercise a general
supervision and control of the penal and charitable institutions,
schools, roads, bridges, levying of taxes, and finances of the county,
as may be prescribed by law. The register of deeds shall be, _ex
officio_, clerk of the board of commissioners.

[Sidenote: Counties to be divided into districts.]

SEC. 3. It shall be the duty of the commissioners first elected in each
county to divide the same into convenient districts, and to report the
same to the General Assembly before the first day of January, 1869.

[Sidenote: Said districts shall have corporate powers as townships.]

SEC. 4. Upon the approval of the reports provided for in the foregoing
section by the General Assembly, the said districts shall have corporate
powers for the necessary purposes of local government, and shall be
known as townships.

[Sidenote: Officers of townships.]

SEC. 5. In each township there shall be biennially elected by the
qualified voters thereof a clerk and two justices of the peace, who
shall constitute a board of trustees, and shall, under the supervision
of the county commissioners, have control of the taxes and finances,
roads and bridges of the townships, as may be prescribed by law. The
General Assembly may provide for the election of a larger number of the
Justices of the Peace in cities and towns and in those townships in
which cities and towns are situated. In every township there shall also
be biennially elected a school committee, consisting of three persons,
whose duties shall be prescribed by law.

[Sidenote: Trustees shall assess property.]

Sec. 6. THE TOWNSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEES SHALL ASSESS THE TAXABLE property
of their townships and make returns to the county commissioners for
revision, as may be prescribed by law. The clerk shall be, _ex officio_,
treasurer of the township.

[Sidenote: No debt or loan except by a majority of voters.]

SEC. 7. No county, city, town or other municipal corporation shall
contract any debt, pledge its faith or loan its credit, nor shall any
tax be levied or collected by any officers of the same except for the
necessary expenses thereof, unless by a vote of the majority of the
qualified voters therein.

[Sidenote: Drawing of money.]

SEC. 8. No money shall be drawn from any county or township treasury
except by authority of law.

[Sidenote: Taxes to be ad valorem.]

SEC. 9. All taxes levied by any county, city, town or township shall be
uniform and _ad valorem_ upon all property in the same, except property
exempted by this Constitution.

[Sidenote: When officers enter on duty.]

SEC. 10. The county officers first elected under the provisions of this
article shall enter upon their duties ten days after the approval of
this Constitution by the Congress of the United States.

[Sidenote: Governor to appoint justices.]

SEC. 11. The Governor shall appoint a sufficient number of justices of
the peace in each county, who shall hold their places until sections
four, five and six of this article shall have been carried into effect.

[Sidenote: Charters to remain in force until legally changed.]

SEC. 12. All charters, ordinances and provisions relating to municipal
corporations shall remain in force until legally changed, unless
inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution.

[Sidenote: Debts in aid of the rebellion not to be paid.]

SEC. 13. No county, city, town or other municipal corporation shall
assume to pay, nor shall any tax be levied or collected for the payment
of any debt, or the interest upon any debt, contracted directly or
indirectly in aid or support of the rebellion.

[Sidenote: Powers of General Assembly over municipal corporations.]

SEC. 14. The General Assembly shall have full power by statute to
modify, change or abrogate any and all of the provisions of this article
and substitute others in their place, except sections seven, nine, and
thirteen.


ARTICLE VIII.

CORPORATIONS OTHER THAN MUNICIPAL.

[Sidenote: Corporations under general laws.]

SECTION 1. Corporations may be formed under general laws, but shall not
be created by special act except for municipal purposes and in cases
where, in the judgment of the Legislature, the object of the corporation
can not be attained under general laws. All general laws and special
acts passed pursuant to this section may be altered from time to time or
repealed.

[Sidenote: Debts of corporations, how secured.]

SEC. 2. Dues from corporations shall be secured by such individual
liabilities of the corporations and other means as may be prescribed by
law.

[Sidenote: What corporations shall include.]

SEC. 3. The term corporation, as used in this article, shall be
construed to include all associations and joint stock companies having
any of the powers and privileges of corporations not possessed by
individuals or partnerships. And all corporations shall have the right
to sue and shall be subject to be sued in all courts in like cases as
natural persons.

[Sidenote: Legislature to provide for organising cities, towns, etc.]

SEC. 4. It shall be the duty of the Legislature to provide for the
organization of cities, towns and incorporated villages, and to restrict
their power of taxation, assessment, borrowing money, contracting debts
and loaning their credit, so as to prevent abuses in assessment and in
contracting debts by such municipal corporations.


ARTICLE IX.

EDUCATION.

[Sidenote: Education shall be encouraged.]

SECTION 1. Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good
government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of
education shall forever be encouraged.

[Sidenote: General Assembly shall provide for schools.]

[Sidenote: Separation of the races.]

SEC. 2. The General Assembly, at its first session under this
Constitution, shall provide by taxation and otherwise for a general and
uniform system of public schools, wherein tuition shall be free of
charge to all the children of the State between the ages of six and
twenty-one years. And the children of the white race and the children of
the colored race shall be taught in separate public schools; but there
shall be no discrimination in favor of or to the prejudice of either
race.

[Sidenote: Counties to be divided into districts.]

SEC. 3. Each county of the State shall be divided into a convenient
number of districts, in which one or more public schools shall be
maintained at least four months in every year; and if the commissioners
of any county shall fail to comply with the aforesaid requirements of
this section they shall be liable to indictment.

[Sidenote: What property shall be devoted to educational purposes.]

SEC. 4. The proceeds of all lands that have been or hereafter may be
granted by the United States to this State and not otherwise
appropriated by this State or the United States, also all moneys,
stocks, bonds and other property now belonging to any State fund for
purposes of education, also the net proceeds of all sales of the swamp
lands belonging to the State, and all other grants, gifts or devises
that have been or hereafter may be made to the State and not otherwise
appropriated by the State or by the terms of the grant, gift or devise,
shall be paid into the State treasury, and, together with so much of the
ordinary revenue of the State as may be by law set apart for that
purpose, shall be faithfully appropriated for establishing and
maintaining in this State a system of free public schools, and for no
other uses or purposes whatsoever.

[Sidenote: County school fund.]

[Sidenote: Proviso.]

SEC. 5. All moneys, stocks, bonds and other property belonging to a
county school fund, also the net proceeds from the sale of estrays, also
the clear proceeds of all penalties and forfeitures and of all fines
collected in the several counties for any breach of the penal or
military laws of the State, and all moneys which shall be paid by
persons as an equivalent for exemption from military duty, shall belong
to and remain in the several counties, and shall be faithfully
appropriated for establishing and maintaining free public schools in the
several counties of this State: _Provided_, that the amount collected in
each county shall be annually reported to the Superintendent of Public
Instruction.

[Sidenote: Election of trustees and provisions for maintenance of the
university.]

SEC. 6. The General Assembly shall have power to provide for the
election of trustees of the University of North Carolina, in whom, when
chosen, shall be vested all the privileges, rights, franchises and
endowments thereof in anywise granted to or conferred upon the trustees
of said University, and the General Assembly may make such provisions,
laws and regulations from time to time as may be necessary and expedient
for the maintenance and management of said University.

[Sidenote: Benefits of the university.]

SEC. 7. The General Assembly shall provide that the benefits of the
University, as far as practicable, be extended to the youth of the State
free of expense for tuition; also that all the property which has
heretofore accrued to the State or shall hereafter accrue from escheats,
unclaimed dividends or distributive shares of the estates of deceased
persons, shall be appropriated to the use of the University.

[Sidenote: Board of education.]

SEC. 8. The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State,
Treasurer, Auditor, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and
Attorney-General shall constitute a State Board of Education.

[Sidenote: President and secretary.]

SEC. 9. The Governor shall be president and the Superintendent of Public
Instruction shall be secretary of the Board of Education.

[Sidenote: Power of board.]

SEC. 10. The Board of Education shall succeed to all the powers and
trusts of the president and directors of the Literary Fund of North
Carolina, and shall have full power to legislate and make all needful
rules and regulations in relation to free public schools and the
educational fund of the State; but all acts, rules and regulations of
said board may be altered, amended or repealed by the General Assembly,
and when so altered, amended or repealed the time of future meetings may
be determined by the board.

[Sidenote: First session of board.]

SEC. 11. The first session of the Board of Education shall be held at
the capital of the State within fifteen days after the organization of
the State government under this Constitution; the time of future
meetings may be determined by the board.

[Sidenote: Quorum.]

SEC. 12. A majority of the board shall constitute a quorum for the
transaction of business.

[Sidenote: Expenses.]

SEC. 13. The contingent expenses of the board shall be provided by the
General Assembly.

[Sidenote: Agricultural department.]

SEC. 14. As soon as practicable after the adoption of this Constitution
the General Assembly shall establish and maintain in connection with the
University a department of agriculture, of mechanics, of mining, and of
normal instruction.

[Sidenote: Children must attend school.]

SEC. 15. The General Assembly is hereby empowered to enact that every
child of sufficient mental and physical ability shall attend the public
schools during the period between the ages of six and eighteen years for
a term of not less than sixteen months, unless educated by other means.


ARTICLE X.

HOMESTEADS AND EXEMPTIONS.

[Sidenote: Exemption.]

SECTION 1. The personal property of any resident of this State to the
value of five hundred dollars, to be selected by such resident, shall be
and is hereby exempted from sale under execution or other final process
of any court issued for the collection of any debt.

[Sidenote: Homestead.]

SEC. 2. Every homestead, and the dwellings and buildings used therewith,
not exceeding in value one thousand dollars, to be selected by the owner
thereof, or in lieu thereof, at the option of the owner, any lot in a
city or village, with the dwellings and buildings used thereon, owned
and occupied by any resident of this State, and not exceeding the value
of one thousand dollars, shall be exempt from sale under execution or
other final process obtained on any debt. But no property shall be
exempt from sale for taxes or for payment of obligations contracted for
the purchase of said premises.

[Sidenote: Homestead exempted from debt.]

SEC. 3. The homestead, after the death of the owner thereof, shall be
exempt from the payment of any debt during the minority of his children
or any one of them.

[Sidenote: Laborer's lien.]

SEC. 4. The provisions of sections one and two of this article shall not
be so construed as to prevent a laborer's lien for work done and
performed for the person claiming such exemption, or a mechanic's lien
for work done on the premises.

[Sidenote: Benefit of widow.]

SEC. 5. If the owner of a homestead die, leaving a widow but no
children, the same shall be exempt from the debts of her husband, and
the rents and profits thereof shall inure to her benefit during her
widowhood, unless she be the owner of a homestead in her own right.

[Sidenote: Property of a married female secured to her.]

SEC. 6. The real and personal property of any female in this State
acquired before marriage, and all property, real and personal, to which
she may, after marriage, become in any manner entitled, shall be and
remain the sole and separate estate and property of such female, and
shall not be liable for any debts, obligations or engagements of her
husband, and may be devised and bequeathed, and, with the written assent
of her husband, conveyed by her as if she were unmarried.

[Sidenote: Husband may insure his life for the benefit of wife and
children.]

SEC. 7. The husband may insure his own life for the sole use and benefit
of his wife and children, and in case of the death of the husband the
amount thus insured shall be paid over to the wife and children, or to
the guardian if under age, for her or their own use, free from all the
claims of the representatives of her husband or any of his creditors.

[Sidenote: How deed for homestead may be made.]

SEC. 8. Nothing contained in the foregoing sections of this article
shall operate to prevent the owner of a homestead from disposing of the
same by deed; but no deed made by the owner of a homestead shall be
valid without the voluntary signature and assent of his wife, signified
on her private examination according to law.


ARTICLE XI.

PUNISHMENTS, PENAL INSTITUTIONS AND PUBLIC CHARITIES.

[Sidenote: Punishments.]

[Sidenote: Convict labor.]

[Sidenote: Proviso.]

SECTION 1. The following punishments only shall be known to the laws of
this State, viz., death, imprisonment with or without hard labor, fines,
removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office
of honor, trust or profit under this State. The foregoing provision for
imprisonment with hard labor shall be construed to authorize the
employment of such convict labor on public works or highways, or other
labor for public benefit, and the farming out thereof, where and in such
manner as may be provided by law; but no convict shall be farmed out who
has been sentenced on a charge of murder, manslaughter, rape, attempt to
commit rape or arson: _Provided_, that no convict whose labor may be
farmed out shall be punished for any failure of duty as a laborer except
by a responsible officer of the State; but the convicts so farmed out
shall be at all times under the supervision and control, as to their
government and discipline, of the penitentiary board or some officer of
the State.

[Sidenote: Death punishment.]

SEC. 2. The object of punishment being not only to satisfy justice, but
also to reform the offender, and thus prevent crime, murder, arson,
burglary and rape, and these only, may be punishable with death, if the
General Assembly shall so enact.

[Sidenote: Penitentiary.]

SEC. 3. The General Assembly shall, at its first meeting, make provision
for the erection and conduct of a State's Prison or penitentiary at
some central and accessible point within the State.

[Sidenote: House of correction.]

SEC. 4. The General Assembly may provide for the erection of a house of
correction, where vagrants and persons guilty of misdemeanors shall be
restrained and usefully employed.

[Sidenote: Houses of refuge.]

SEC. 5. A house or houses of refuge may be established whenever the
public interests may require it, for the correction and instruction of
other classes of offenders.

[Sidenote: The sexes to be separated.]

SEC. 6. It shall be required by competent legislation that the structure
and superintendence of penal institutions of the State, the county jails
and city police prisons secure the health and comfort of the prisoners,
and that male and female prisoners be never confined in the same room or
cell.

[Sidenote: Provision for the poor and orphans.]

SEC. 7. Beneficent provisions for the poor, the unfortunate and orphan
being one of the first duties of a civilized and Christian State, the
General Assembly shall, at its first session, appoint and define the
duties of a Board of Public Charities, to whom shall be entrusted the
supervision of all charitable and penal State institutions, and who
shall annually report to the Governor upon their condition, with
suggestions for their improvement.

[Sidenote: Orphan houses.]

SEC. 8. There shall also, as soon as practicable, be measures devised by
the State for the establishment of one or more orphan houses, where
destitute orphans may be cared for, educated and taught some business or
trade.

[Sidenote: Inebriates and idiots.]

SEC. 9. It shall be the duty of the Legislature, as soon as practicable,
to devise means for the education of idiots and inebriates.

[Sidenote: Deaf-mutes, blind and insane.]

SEC. 10. The General Assembly may provide that the indigent, deaf-mute,
blind and insane of the State shall be cared for at the charge of the
State.

[Sidenote: Self-supporting.]

SEC. 11. It shall be steadily kept in view by the Legislature and the
Board of Public Charities, that all penal and charitable institutions
should be made as nearly self-supporting as is consistent with the
purposes of their creation.


ARTICLE XII.

MILITIA.

[Sidenote: Who are liable to militia duty.]

SECTION 1. All able-bodied male citizens of the State of North Carolina,
between the ages of twenty-one and forty years, who are citizens of the
United States, shall be liable to do duty in the militia: _Provided_,
that all persons who may be averse to bearing arms, from religious
scruples, shall be exempt therefrom.

[Sidenote: Organizing, etc.]

SEC. 2. The General Assembly shall provide for the organizing, arming,
equipping and discipline of the militia, and for paying the same, when
called into active service.

[Sidenote: Governor commander in chief.]

SEC. 3. The Governor shall be Commander in Chief, and shall have power
to call out the militia to execute the law, suppress riots or
insurrection, and to repel invasion.

[Sidenote: Exemptions.]

SEC. 4. The General Assembly shall have power to make such exemptions as
may be deemed necessary, and enact laws that may be expedient for the
government of the militia.


ARTICLE XIII.

AMENDMENTS.

[Sidenote: Convention, how called.]

SECTION 1. No convention of the people of this State shall ever be
called by the General Assembly, unless by the concurrence of two-thirds
of all the members of each House of the General Assembly, and except the
proposition, Convention or No Convention, be first submitted to the
qualified voters of the whole State, at the next general election in a
manner to be prescribed by law. And should a majority of the votes cast
be in favor of said convention, it shall assemble on such day as may be
prescribed by the General Assembly.

[Sidenote: How the Constitution may be altered.]

SEC. 2. No part of the Constitution of this State shall be altered
unless a bill to alter the same shall have been agreed to by
three-fifths of each House of the General Assembly. And the amendment or
amendments so agreed to shall be submitted at the next general election
to the qualified voters of the whole State, in such a manner as may be
prescribed by law. And in the event of their adoption by a majority of
the votes cast, such amendment or amendments shall become a part of the
Constitution of the State.


ARTICLE XIV.

MISCELLANEOUS.

[Sidenote: Indictments.]

SECTION 1. All indictments which shall have been found, or may hereafter
be found, for any crime or offense committed before this Constitution
takes effect, may be proceeded upon in the proper courts, but no
punishment shall be inflicted which is forbidden by this Constitution.

[Sidenote: Penalty for fighting duel.]

SEC. 2. No person who shall hereafter fight a duel, or assist in the
same as a second, or send, accept, or knowingly carry a challenge
therefor, or agree to go out of the State to fight a duel, shall hold
any office in this State.

[Sidenote: Drawing money.]

SEC. 3. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of
appropriations made by law; and an accurate account of the receipts and
expenditures of the public money shall be annually published.

[Sidenote: Mechanic's lien.]

SEC. 4. The General Assembly shall provide, by proper legislation, for
giving to mechanics and laborers an adequate lien on the subject matter
of their labor.

[Sidenote: Governor to make appointments.]

SEC. 5. In the absence of any contrary provision, all officers of this
State, whether heretofore elected, or appointed by the Governor, shall
hold their positions only until other appointments are made by the
Governor, or, if the officers are elective, until their successors shall
have been chosen and duly qualified according to the provisions of this
Constitution.

[Sidenote: Seat of government.]

SEC. 6. The seat of government of this State shall remain at the city of
Raleigh.

[Sidenote: Holding office.]

SEC. 7. No person, who shall hold any office or place of trust or profit
under the United States, or any department thereof, or under this State,
or under any other State or government, shall hold or exercise any other
office or place of trust or profit under the authority of this State, or
be eligible to a seat in either House of the General Assembly:
_Provided_, that nothing herein contained shall extend to officers in
the militia, justices of the peace, commissioners of public charities,
or commissioners for special purposes.

[Sidenote: Intermarriage of whites and negroes prohibited.]

SEC. 8. All marriages between a white person and a negro, or between a
white person and a person of negro descent to the third generation
inclusive, are hereby forever prohibited.



INDEX TO STATE CONSTITUTION


                                                            Art.  Sec.

Abuses in assessments and contracting debts
  by municipal corporations, general assembly to prevent;     8   4

Actions at law and equity suits, no distinction;              4   1
  Pending when constitution took effect;                      4  20

Acts of general assembly, style of;                           2  21
  Levying taxes, must state object;                           5   7

Agriculture, department of;                                   3  17
  In connection with university;                              9  14

Alimony, general assembly does not secure;                    2  10

Allegiance to U. S. Government;                               1   5

Amendments;                                                  13
  Do not vacate existing offices;                             4  33

Answer to criminal charge;                                    1  12

Apportionment of senators and representatives;                2  4-5-6

Arms, right to bear;                                          1  24

Article seven, general assembly may modify or repeal
  certain sections;                                           7  14

Assemblage, right of;                                         1  25

Attorney-general advises executive;                           3  14
  Duties of;                                                  3  13

Auditor, duties of;                                           3  13

Bail, excessive;                                              1  14

Ballot, elections to be by;                                   6   3

Bills of general assembly, read three times;                  2  23

Blind provided for;                                          11  10

Board of charities;                                          11   7

Boundaries of state;                                          1  34

Capitation tax, application of proceeds from;                 5   2
  Exempts;                                                    5   1

Capital punishment;                                          11   2

Charities, public;                                           11
  Deaf-mutes and the blind;                                  11  10
  Idiots and inebriates;                                     11   9
  Provision for orphans and the poor;                        11   7
  Self-supporting, as far as possible;                       11  14

Cities organized by legislation;                              8   4

Citizenship, restoration to;                                  2  11

Civil and criminal actions;                                   4   1

Claims against the state;                                     4   9

Clerk of superior court, election of;                         4  10
  Removal for inability;                                      4  32

Clerk of Supreme court;                                       4  15
  Terms of office of;                                         4  17
  Removal of;                                                 4  32

Commutations;                                                 3   6

Compulsory education, general assembly may provide;           9  15

Concealed weapons, carrying not justified;                    1  24

Constitution, how changed;                                   13   2

Controversies at law about property;                          1  19

Convention, how called;                                      13

Convict labor;                                               11   1

Coroner and sheriff;                                          4  24

Corporations, municipal;                                      7
  Charters remain in force till legally changed;              7  12
  Power of general assembly over;                             7  12

Corporations other than municipal;                            8
  Debts of, how secured;                                      8   2
  Definition of;                                              8   3
  Under general laws;                                         8   1

Correction, houses of;                                       11   4

Council of state;                                             3  14

Counsel allowed defendant;                                    1  11

County commissioners, election and duty of;                   7   1-2

Counties, commissioners divide, into districts;               7   3
  Districts have corporate powers as townships;               7   4
  Majority of voters necessary to levy taxes, etc.;           7   7
  Money, how drawn from its treasury;                         7   8
  Officers enter on duty, when;                               7  10
    Of townships;                                             7   5
  School districts;                                           9   3
    Fund;                                                     9   5
  Taxes to be ad valorem;                                     7   9
  Township trustees assess property;                          7   6

County treasurer;                                             7   1

Courts to be open;                                            1  35
  Kinds of;                                                   4   2

Criminal charges, answer to;                                  1  12

Criminal and civil actions;                                   4   1
  Courts for cities and towns;                                4  14
  Prosecutions;                                               1  11

Deaf-mutes provided for;                                     11  10

Death punishment;                                            11   2

Debt does not affect homestead;                              10   3
  County, city or town cannot contract,
    except by majority of qualified voters;                   7   7
  Imprisonment for;                                           1  16
  In aid of rebellion, void;                                  7  13

Debt, restrictions upon increase of public, etc.;             5   4
  What bonds declared invalid;                                1   6
  Declaration of rights;                                      1

Department of agriculture;                                    3  17

Divorce, general assembly does not grant;                     2  17

Disqualification for office;                               {  6   5
                                                           { 14   7
  Dueling disqualifies;                                      14   2

Education, board of;                                          9   8
  Officers;                                                   9   9
  Expenses;                                                   9  13
  County school fund;                                         9   5
  Encouraged;                                               { 9   1
                                                            { 1  27
  First session of;                                           9  11
  Power of;                                                   9  10
  Property devoted to;                                        9   4-5
  Quorum;                                                     9  12

Election of officers by general assembly, viva voce;          2   9

Elections, by people and general assembly;                    6   3
  Contested, returns of;                                      3   3
  Free;                                                       1  10
  Frequent;                                                   1  28

Electors, oath of office of;                                  6   4
  Qualifications of;                                          6   1
  Registration of;                                            6   2

Eligibility to office;                                        6

Emoluments, exclusive, none;                                  1   7
  Hereditary;                                                 1  30

Entails to be regulated;                                      2  15

Enumeration of rights, not to impair others
  retained by people;                                         1  37

Equity suits and actions at law, distinction abolished;       4   1
  Pending when constitution took effect;                      4  20

Evidence against himself, criminal not compelled to give;     1  11

Executive, attorney-general advises;                          3  14
  Department of;                                              3
    Distinct;                                                 1   8
  Officers;                                                   3   1
    Compensation;                                             3  15
    Duties;                                                   3  13
    Reports of;                                               3   7
    Terms of office of;                                       3   1
  Seal of state;                                              3  16
  Vacancy in, how filled;                                     3  13

Exemption;                                                   10   1
  By reason of military duty,  etc.;                         12   4
  Property of _feme covert_ not liable for
    husband's debts;                                         10   6

_Ex post facto_ laws;                                         1  32

Extra session of general assembly;                            3   9

Feigned issues abolished;                                     4   1

_Feme sole_, property of, not liable for
  husband's debts;                                           10   6

Fines, excessive;                                             1  14

Freedom of the press;                                         1  20

Fundamental principles, frequent recurrence to;               1  29

General Assembly, acts, style of;                             2  21
  Article seven may be modified or repealed by;               7  14
  Bills and resolutions read three times;                     2  23
  Compulsory education may be enforced by;                    9  15
  Election by;                                                6   3
  Entails regulated by;                                       2  15
  Extra sessions;                                           { 2  28
                                                            { 3   9
  Journals kept;                                              2  16
    Protests entered on;                                      2  17
  Members of;                                                 2  24
    Assemble when;                                            2   2
    Election for, when held;                                  2  27
    Office a disqualification;                               14   7
    Terms commence with election;                             2  25
    Vacancies, how filled;                                    2  13
  Municipal corporations controlled by;                       7  14
  Names, personal not changed by;                             2  11
  Officers of, election, viva voce;                           2   9
    Pay of;                                                   2  28
    President of senate;                                      2  19
    Speaker of house;                                         2  18
  Powers of;                                                  2  22
    In relation to divorce and alimony;                       2  10
  Representation apportioned by;                              2   4-5
  Revenue;                                                    2  14
  Schools provided by;                                        9   2
  University to be maintained by;                             9   6-7
  Yeas and nays;                                              2  14-26

Government, allegiance to U. S.;                              1   5
  Internal, of state;                                         1   3
  Origin of;                                                  1   2
  Seat of, remains in Raleigh;                               14   6

Governor, commands militia;                                   3   8
  Commutations, pardons, reprieves;                           3   6

Governor, compensation                                        3  15
  Duties of                                                   3  12
  Extra sessions called by                                    3   9
  Impeachment of                                              3  12
  Justices of peace appointed by, when                        7  11
  Lieutenant, qualification of                                3   2
  Oath of office                                              3   4
  Officers appointed by                                     { 3  10
                                                            {14   5
  Qualification of                                            3   2
  Residence of                                                3   5
  Vacancy in office of                                        3  12


_Habeas corpus_                                               1  21

Hereditary emoluments                                         1  30

Homestead and exemption                                      10   2
  Benefit of widow in                                        10   5
  Exempted from debt                                         10   3
  Laborer's lien attaches                                    10   4
  Privy examination of wife to dispose of                    10   8

House of correction                                          11   4
  Orphans                                                    11   8
  Refuge                                                     11   5

House of Representatives, representatives, apportionment      2   5
  Officers of                                                 2  18
  Term begins when                                            2  25
  Qualification for                                           2   8
  Ratio of                                                    2   6

Husband can insure life for benefit of family                10   7


Idiots provided for                                          11   9

Immigration, department of                                    3  17

Impeachment                                                   4   4
  Court of                                                    4   3
  Of governor                                                 3  12

Imprisonment for debt                                         1  16
  Except by law, wrong                                        1  17

Indictments for crimes committed before constitution
  took effect                                                14   1

Inebriates                                                   11   9

Inferior courts                                               4   12
  Officers of                                                 4  30

Insane provided for                                          11  10

Institutions, charitable                                     11
  Penal                                                      11
  Public, annual reports from                                 3   7
  Self-supporting far as possible                            11  11
  Sexes to be separated                                      11   6

Instruction, superintendent of public                         3  13

Intermarriage of whites and negroes prohibited               14   8

Internal government of state                                  1   3

Issues of fact, by whom tried and how waived                  4  13


Judges, election, terms of, etc.                              4  21
  Fees, salaries, emoluments                                  4  18
  Removal of, for inability                                   4  31
  Residence of                                                4  11

Judicial Department                                           4
  Districts for superior courts                               4  10
  General assembly not to deprive of jurisdiction             4  12
  Powers, division of                                         4   2
  Term of first officers under constitution                   4  26
  Vacancies                                                   4  25

Judicial remedy allowed all                                   1  35

Judiciary distinct;                                           1   8

Jurisdiction, courts inferior to supreme;                     4  12
  Justices of the peace;                                      4  27
  Supreme court;                                              4   8

Jury, right of;                                               1  13
  Sacred and inviolable;                                      1  19
  Trial by, waived;                                           4  13

Justices of the peace, governor appoints when;                7  11
  Jurisdiction of;                                            4  27
  Vacancies in office;                                        4  28

Laborers' and mechanics' lien;                               14   4
  Attaches homestead;                                        10   4

Law of the land, no person imprisoned, or
  deprived of life, etc., but by;                             1  17

Laws, _ex post facto_ and retrospective;                      1  32
  Private, thirty days' notice before passage;                2  12
  What in force;                                              4  19

Legislative, distinct;                                        1   8
  Two branches of;                                            2   1

Legislature provides for organizing towns, etc.;              8   4
  Trials other than jury;                                     1  13

Legitimation, general assembly can pass general laws for;     2  11

Liberty, deprivation of, except by law;                       1  17
  Religious;                                                  1  26
  Restraint of, remedied;                                     1  18
  Warrants without evidence, dangerous to;                    1  15

Lien of laborers and mechanics;                              14   4

Lieutenant-governor, president of senate, duties of;          3  11
  When governor;                                              3  12

Literary fund, board of education to succeed to rights of;    9  10

Marriages between whites and negroes forbidden;              14   8

Married woman, husband can insure life for benefit of;       10   7
  Privy examination of, to dispose of homestead;             10   8
  Property of, not liable for husband's debts;               10   6

Mechanics' lien;                                             14   4

Men, equality, rights of;                                     1   1

Militia;                                                   {  1  24
                                                           { 12
  Exemptions from duty;                                      12   4
  Governor commands;                                       {  3   8
                                                           { 12   2
  Organization of;                                           12   2
  Who liable to bear arms;                                   12   1

Money, how drawn from state treasury;                         4   1
  County or township treasury;                                7   8

Monopolies are injurious;                                     1  31

Municipal corporations;                                       7
  Cannot contract debt except by majority of
    qualified voters;                                         7   7
  Charters remain in force till changed;                      7  12
  General assembly to provide for organization of,
    taxation, etc., by;                                       8   4
  Power of general assembly over;                             7  14

Names, personal, how changed                                  2  11

Normal school, to be maintained by general assembly
  at university;                                              9  14

Oath of governor;                                             3   4

Oath of members of general assembly;                          2  24

Oath of office;                                               6   4

Office, cannot hold two;                                     14   7
  Disqualification;                                           6   5
  Dueling disqualifies for;                                  14   2
  Eligibility to;                                             6
  Qualification, property, none;                              1  22

Officers, county;                                           { 7   1
                                                            { 7  10
  First elected;                                              4  26
  What, appointed by governor;                              { 3  10
                                                            {14   5

Orphans, houses for;                                         11   8
  Provision for;                                             11   7

Pardons;                                                      3   6

Peace, soldiers quartered in time of;                         1  36

Penitentiary;                                                11   3
  Convict labor;                                             11   1
  Self-supporting as far as possible;                        11  11
  Sexes separated;                                           11   6

People, right of, to assemble together;                       1  25

Perpetuities, injurious;                                      1  31
  General assembly shall prevent;                             2  15

Political power and government;                               1   2
  Societies in secret dangerous;                              1  25

Poor, provision for;                                         11   7

Power of general assembly;                                    2  22
  To suspend laws injurious;                                  1   9

Powers, executive, judicial and legislative, distinct;        1   8
  Judicial, division of;                                      4   2

Press, freedom and abuse of;                                  1  20

Principles, recurrence to fundamental;                        1  29

Prisoners, health and comfort secured;                       11   6

Private laws;                                                 2  11-12

Privileges, exclusive, none;                                  1   7

Property, controversies at law about;                         1  19
  Deprivation of, except by law, wrong;                       1  17
  Devoted to education;                                       9   4
  Exemptions from taxation;                                   5   5
  _Feme sole_ not liable for husband's debts;                10   6
  Qualification, none;                                        1  22

Prosecution, criminal;                                        1  11

Protest, by whom and when made;                               2  17

Public debt, increase of, restricted, etc.;                   5   4
  What bonds declared invalid;                                1   6

Public money, how drawn;                                     14   3

Public schools, general assembly to provide for;              9   2

Punishments, penal institutions and public charities;        11
  Cruel or unusual;                                         { 1  14
                                                            {14   1

Qualification and election of members of general
  assembly, each house judge of;                              2  22

Rebellion, debt in aid of, not to be paid;                    7  13

Recurrence to fundamental principles;                         1  29

Refuge, houses of;                                           11   5

Register of deeds;                                            7   1

Registration of electors;                                     6   2

Religious liberty;                                            1  26
  Scruples against bearing arms;                             12   1

Removal of judges;                                            4  31
  Of clerks;                                                  4  32

Representation and taxation;                                  1  23

Reprieves;                                                    3   6

Retrospective laws;                                           1  32

Revenue;                                                    { 2  14
                                                            { 5

Right of assemblage;                                          1  25
  Jury;                                                       1  13

Right of secession, none;                                     1   4
  To bear arms;                                               1  24
  To suspend laws, injurious;                                 1   9

Rights, declaration of;                                       1
  Of men;                                                   { 1   1
                                                            { 1  37

Salaries and fees, general assembly to regulate;              4  18

Schools, attendance of children;                              9  15
  County, divided into districts;                             9   3
  Fund;                                                       9   5
  Provided by legislation;                                    9   2
  Races separate;                                             9   2

Seal of state;                                                3  16

Search warrants without evidence, wrong;                      1  15

Seat of government at Raleigh;                               14   6

Secession, no right of;                                       1   4

Secretary of state, duties of;                                3  13

Senate, presiding officer;                                    2  19
  _Pro tem_. speaker, when elected;                           2  20

Senators, number of;                                          2   3
  Other senatorial officers;                                  2  20
  President of;                                               2  19
  Qualifications; for                                         2   7
  Regulating senatorial districts;                            2   4

Sexes separated in confinement;                              11   6

Sheriff and coroner;                                          4  24

Slavery prohibited;                                           1  33

Societies, secret political, dangerous;                       1  25

Soldiers, how quartered;                                      1  36

Solicitor, how elected;                                       4  23

Special courts;                                               4  14

State boundaries;                                             1  34
  Claims against;                                             4   9
  Internal government;                                        1   3

Statistics, department of;                                    3  17

Suffrage and eligibility to office;                           6

Superintendent of public instruction;                         3  13
  Reports of county school fund to be made;                   9   5

Superior court, open at all times except for jury trials;     4  22
  Clerk, his election;                                        4  16
  Districts;                                                  4  10
  Judges, election and term;                                  4  21
    Residence;                                                4  11
    Rotation;                                                 4  11
  Solicitor for each district;                                4  23
  Special term;                                               4  12
  Term;                                                       4  17
  Vacancy;                                                    4  29
  Transaction of business;                                    4  22

Supreme court, clerk;                                         4  15
  Jurisdiction;                                               4  8-9
  Justices;                                                   4   6
    Election and terms of;                                    4  21
  Terms of;                                                   4   7

Surveyor;                                                     7   1

Suspending laws without consent of representatives,
  not to be exercised;                                        1   9

Taxation, _ad valorem_ and uniform;                           5   3
  And revenue;                                              { 5
                                                            { 1   23

Taxation, except for necessary expenses, not levied
  by county, city or town without assent of majority
    of voters;                                                7   7
  Levied by county commissioners;                             5   6
  Of county to be ad valorem;                                 7   9
  Of purchases and sales retrospectively not to be passed;    1  32
  Property, exemptions from;                                  5   5

Taxes, acts to levy, to state object;                         5   7

Towns, etc., organized by legislation;                        8   4

Townships, officers of;                                       7   5

Treason against state;                                        4   5

Treasurer, duties of;                                         3  13


University, agricultural department of, mechanics, mining
  and normal instruction connected with;                      9  14
  Benefits of;                                                9   7
  Election of trustees;                                       9   6
  General assembly shall maintain;                            9   7
  Maintenance of;                                             9   6
  Property devoted to;                                        9   7


Vacancies in general assembly;                                2  13
  Other;                                                    { 3  12-13
                                                            { 4  25-28
                                                            {29

Vagrants, houses of correction for;                          11   4


Warrants without evidence injurious;                          1  15

Whites and negroes cannot intermarry;                        14   8
  Separated in schools;                                       9   2

Widow, homestead benefits;                                   10   5


Yeas and nays, when entered;                                  2  14-26



CHAPTER 81.

(Public Laws, Extra Session, 1913)

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA.

_The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact_:


SECTION 1. That the Constitution of the State of North Carolina be and
the same is hereby amended in manner and form as follows:

[Sidenote: Substituting words "war between the States" for the words
"insurrection or rebellion against the United States."]

I. By striking out of article one, section six, the words "insurrection
or rebellion against the United States," and inserting to lieu thereof
the following words: "the War Between the States," and by striking out
the word "rebellion" in section thirteen of article seven and inserting
in lieu thereof the words "War Between the States."

II. By striking out section twenty-eight of article two, and
substituting in lieu thereof the following:

[Sidenote: Increasing per diem and reducing mileage of members of the
general assembly.]

"SEC. 28. The members of the General Assembly for the term for which
they have been elected shall receive as compensation for their services
the sum of six dollars per day for each day of their session, for a
period not exceeding sixty days; and should they remain longer in
session they shall serve without compensation. They shall also be
entitled to receive five cents per mile both while coming to the seat of
government and while returning home, the said distance to be computed by
the nearest line or route of public travel. The compensation of the
presiding officers of the two houses shall be eight dollars per day and
mileage. Should an extra session of the General Assembly be called, the
members and presiding officers shall receive a like rate of compensation
for a period not exceeding twenty days."

III. By adding at the end of article two a new section, to wit:

[Sidenote: Restricting local, private, and special legislation.]

"SEC. 29. The General Assembly shall not pass any local, private, or
special act or resolution:

"Relating to the establishment of courts inferior to the Superior Court;

"Relating to the appointment of justices of the peace;

"Relating to health, sanitation, and abatement of nuisances;

"Changing the names of cities, towns, and townships;

"Authorizing the laying out, opening, altering, maintaining, or
discontinuing highways, streets, or alleys;

"Relating to ferries or bridges;

"Relating to game or hunting;

"Relating to nonnavigable streams;

"Relating to cemeteries;

"Relating to the pay of jurors;

"Erecting new townships, or changing township lines, or establishing or
changing the lines of school districts;

"Remitting fines, penalties, and forfeitures, or refunding moneys
legally paid into the public treasury;

"Regulating labor, trade, mining, or manufacturing;

"Extending the time for the assessment or collection of taxes or
otherwise relieving any collector of taxes from the due performance of
his official duties or his sureties from liability;

"Giving effect to informal wills and deeds.

"Nor shall the General Assembly enact any such local, private, or
special act by the partial repeal of a general law; but the General
Assembly may at any time repeal local, private, or special laws enacted
by it.

"Any local, private, or special act or resolution passed in violation of
the provisions of this section shall be void.

"The General Assembly shall have power to pass general laws regulating
the matters set out in this section."

[Sidenote: Fixing the beginning of the term of officers of the executive
department.]

IV. By striking out the words "first day of," in section one of article
three and inserting in lieu thereof the words "second Wednesday after
the first Monday in."

[Sidenote: Providing for special emergency judges.]

V. By adding at the end of section eleven of article four the following:
"and the General Assembly may by general law provide for the selection
of special or emergency judges to hold the Superior Courts of any county
or district, when the judge assigned thereto, by reason of sickness,
disability, or other cause, is unable to attend and hold said Courts,
and when no other judge is available to hold the same. Such special or
emergency judges shall have the power and authority of regular judges of
the Superior Courts, in the courts which they are so appointed to hold;
and the General Assembly shall provide for their reasonable
compensation."

[Sidenote: Elimination of obsolete sections.]

VI. By striking out sections twenty, twenty-six, and thirty-three of
article four.

VII. By abrogating and striking out all the sections of article five and
section nine of article seven, and inserting in lieu of said article
five the following:


ARTICLE V.

_Revenue and Taxation._

[Sidenote: Taxes imposed only for public purposes. Consent of people or
representatives.]

SECTION 1. Taxes shall be imposed only for public purposes, by and with
the consent of the people or their representatives in the General
Assembly.

[Sidenote: Subjects may by classified. Uniformity of taxes.]

[Sidenote: Proviso: income from property already taxed.]

[Sidenote: Separation of subjects.]

SEC. 2. The General Assembly may, consistent with natural justice and
equity, classify subjects of taxation; and all taxes shall be uniform
upon the same class of property within the territorial limits of the
authority levying the tax: _Provided_, that no income shall be taxed
when the property from which the income is derived is taxed; and,
consistent with natural justice and equity, the General Assembly may
separate subjects of taxation for State and local purposes.

[Sidenote: State tax on real estate if subjects be separate.]

SEC. 3. If the subjects of taxation be separated for State and local
purposes, in a manner not allowed by law immediately prior to the
adoption of this amendment, no part of the _ad valorem_ tax on real
estate, except the real estate of public service corporations, shall be
applied to State purposes.

[Sidenote: Power to tax not surrendered. Property exempted.]

[Sidenote: Property which may be exempted.]

SEC. 4. The power to tax shall not be surrendered, suspended, or
contracted away, but property belonging to the State, a county, or a
municipality shall be exempt from taxation; and the General Assembly may
exempt cemeteries, property held and used for educational, scientific,
literary, charitable, or religious purposes; and also personal property
of a natural person of a value not exceeding three hundred dollars
($300).

[Sidenote: Limit of rate for State and county purposes.]

[Sidenote: Limit of rate by cities and towns.]

[Sidenote: Proviso: debts heretofore contracted and taxes heretofore
authorized.]

SEC. 5. The _ad valorem_ taxes on real estate and personal property
shall not exceed for all State and county purposes sixty-six and
two-thirds (66-2/3) cents per annum on the one hundred dollars ($100)
assessed valuation of such property, unless a greater rate be approved
by a majority of those who shall vote at an election held thereon. The
_ad valorem_ taxes collected on real estate and personal property by
cities and towns shall not exceed, for all purposes, seventy-five cents
(75c.) per annum on the one hundred dollars ($100) assessed valuation,
unless a greater rate be approved by a majority of those who shall vote
at an election held thereon: _Provided_, that these limitations on the
rate of taxation shall not apply to taxes necessary to pay debts
contracted prior to the adoption of this amendment, nor to taxes
heretofore authorized by an act of the General Assembly, or by vote of
the people.

[Sidenote: Caption tax.]

[Sidenote: Application of State and county capitation tax.]

[Sidenote: Exemption from capitation tax.]

SEC. 6. The General Assembly shall provide for a capitation tax on every
male inhabitant of the State over twenty-one and under fifty years of
age, but not exceeding two dollars ($2) per annum for all State and
county purposes, and municipalities may be authorized by the General
Assembly to levy a capitation tax, but not exceeding the amount
hereinbefore authorized for State and county purposes. The proceeds
collected from State and county capitation taxes shall be applied to the
purposes of education and the support of the poor in such proportions as
the General Assembly may direct. The General Assembly may also provide
by general law for the exemption from payment of said capitation tax in
special cases on account of poverty and infirmity.

[Sidenote: Limitation of power to contract debt.]

[Sidenote: Credit of State not to be given or lent.]

SEC. 7. The General Assembly shall have no power to contract any new
debt or pecuniary obligation in behalf of the State, except to supply a
casual deficit, or for suppressing invasions or insurrections, unless it
shall in the same bill levy a special tax to pay interest annually, and
provide therein for the levying of tax for the payment of the principal
by the date such debt matures. The General Assembly shall have no power
to give or lend the credit of the State in aid of any person,
association, or corporation, municipal or otherwise, unless the subject
be submitted to a direct vote of the people of the State and be
approved by a majority of those who shall vote thereon.

VIII. By striking out section one of article eight and substituting
therefor the following:

[Sidenote: Corporations not created by special act.]

[Sidenote: Exceptions.]

[Sidenote: General laws.]

[Sidenote: Alteration and repeal of general laws and special acts.]

[Sidenote: Repeal of charters.]

"SECTION 1. No corporation shall be created nor shall its charter be
extended, altered, or amended by special act, except corporations for
charitable, educational, penal, or reformatory purposes that are to be
and remain under the patronage and control of the State; but the General
Assembly shall provide by general laws for the chartering and
organization of all corporations, and for amending, extending, and
forfeiture of all charters, except those above permitted by special act.
All such general laws and special acts may be altered from time to time
or repealed; and the General Assembly may at any time by special act
repeal the charter of any corporation."

IX. By striking out section four of article eight, and substituting
therefor the following:

[Sidenote: General laws for organization of cities, towns, and
incorporated villages.]

"It shall be the duty of the Legislature to provide by general laws for
the organization of cities, towns, and incorporated villages, and to
restrict their power of taxation, assessment, borrowing money,
contracting debts, and loaning their credit, so as to prevent abuses in
assessment and in contracting debts by such municipal corporations."

[Sidenote: School term.]

X. By striking out the words "four months" in section three of article
nine, and inserting in lieu thereof the words "six months."

[Sidenote: Amendments to be submitted to qualified voters of State.]

SEC. 2. That the several amendments to the Constitution hereinbefore set
forth as numbered from I to X, inclusive, respectively, shall be and are
hereby submitted to the qualified voters of the whole State at the next
general election as separate amendments to the Constitution, all
amendments proposed under each number respectively being regarded as one
amendment.

[Sidenote: Ballots.]

SEC. 3. That the said several proposed amendments shall be designated on
one ballot by their appropriate article and section numbers, and also by
their appropriate descriptive titles, and as so designated on said
ballot shall be consecutively numbered in the manner and form
hereinafter set forth.

[Sidenote: Effect of adoption of any amendment.]

[Sidenote: Effect of rejection of any amendment.]

SEC. 4. That the adoption of any amendment by its title by marking the
said ballot as hereinafter indicated shall have the effect of adopting
the amendment in full as agreed upon by the General Assembly; and the
rejection of any amendment by its title, by marking the said ballot as
hereinafter indicated, shall have the effect of rejecting said amendment
as a whole, but shall not affect any other amendment.

[Sidenote: Form of ballot.]

SEC. 5. The said ballots shall be in form substantially as follows:



OFFICIAL BALLOT.

     AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF NORTH CAROLINA AGREED UPON
     BY THREE-FIFTHS OF EACH HOUSE OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, AND
     THEREUPON SUBMITTED TO THE QUALIFIED VOTERS OF THE WHOLE
     STATE, GENERAL ELECTION, NOVEMBER ____, ONE THOUSAND
     NINE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN.


DIRECTIONS TO THE VOTER:

To vote FOR any Amendment, place a cross mark in the blank space in
which is the word "YES," opposite the title of such amendment.

To vote AGAINST any amendment, place a cross mark in the blank space in
which is the word "NO," opposite the title of such amendment.

========================================================================
     |     | AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE I, SECTION 6, AND
     | YES |      TO ARTICLE VII, SECTION 13,
   I |_____| Substituting the phrase, "War Between the States,"
     |     | for the words "insurrection or rebellion against
     | NO  | the United States," in Article I, section 6, and the
     |     | word "rebellion" in Article VII, section 13.
=====+=====+============================================================
     |     |
     | YES | AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE II, SECTION 28,
  II |_____|
     |     | Increasing compensation of members of the General
     | NO  |         Assembly, and decreasing mileage.
     |     |
=====+=====+============================================================
     |     |
     | YES | AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE II (New Section),
 III |_____|
     |     |   Restricting local, private, and special legislation.
     | NO  |
     |     |
=====+=====+============================================================
     |     |
     | YES | AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE III, SECTION 1,
  IV |_____|
     |     | Fixing the day of inauguration of the Governor.
     | NO  |
     |     |
=====+=====+============================================================
     |     |
     | YES | AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE IV, SECTION 11,
   V |_____|
     |     | To prevent delays in trials by providing emergency
     | NO  |                      judges.
     |     |
=========================================================================
     |     |
     | YES | AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE IV, SECTIONS 20, 26, 33,
  VI |_____|
     |     | Removing obsolete sections from Constitution.
     | NO  |
     |     |
=====+=====+============================================================
     |     |
     | YES | Striking out Article V, and Section 9 of Article VII,
 VII |_____|     and substituting therefor an Article to Revise
     |     |     and Reform the System of Revenue and Taxation.
     | NO  |
     |     |
=====+=====+============================================================
     |     |
     | YES | AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE VIII, SECTION 1,
VIII |_____|
     |     | To prevent special charters to corporations by the
     | NO  |                  General Assembly.
     |     |
=====+=====+============================================================
     |     |
     | YES | AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE VIII, SECTION 4,
  IX |_____|
     |     | To prevent special charters to towns, cities, and
     | NO  |            incorporated villages.
     |     |
=====+=====+============================================================
     |     |
     | YES | AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE IX, SECTION 3,
   X |_____|
     |     | To require six months public school term.
     | NO  |
     |     |
=======================================================================

[Sidenote: Ballot boxes.]

[Sidenote: Labels of boxes.]

And the said ballots shall be cast in boxes specially provided by the
election officers charged with this duty in general elections, and said
boxes shall be conspicuously labeled, "Ballot Box for Constitutional
Amendment Election."

[Sidenote: Law governing election.]

[Sidenote: Count and return of vote.]

[Sidenote: Governor to certify adopted amendments to Secretary of
State.]

[Sidenote: Enrollment.]

SEC. 6. That, except as herein provided, the election upon the several
amendments herein designated shall be conducted in the same manner and
under the same rules and regulations as provided under the laws
governing general elections and in force at the time of said general
election at which these amendments shall be submitted. The said election
shall be held and the votes returned, compared, counted, and canvassed,
and the result announced, under the same rules and regulations as are in
force at the general election of the year one thousand nine hundred and
fourteen for returning, comparing, counting, and canvassing the votes
for Governor; and if the majority of the votes cast be in favor of any
amendment, it shall be the duty of the Governor of the State to certify
said amendment under the seal of the State to the Secretary of State,
who shall enroll the said amendment so certified among the permanent
records of his office.

[Sidenote: Printing and distribution of copies.]

[Sidenote: Form of ballot.]

SEC. 7. That at least six months prior to the said election the
Secretary of State shall cause to be printed not less than five hundred
thousand (500,000) copies of the amendments to be submitted at the said
election, in one pamphlet, together with a copy of the Constitution as
it now stands, and a form of ballot, including number, title,
description, and instructions to voters as shown hereinbefore; and that
at least one thousand (1,000) of said pamphlets shall be forwarded
within thirty days after publication to the register of deeds of each
county in the State for distribution; and that the remainder of said
pamphlets shall be distributed under the supervision of the Governor and
Secretary of State.

[Sidenote: Amendments to become part of constitution. When effective.]

[Sidenote: Amendments to prevail in case of conflict.]

SEC. 8. Each amendment on which the number of affirmative votes shall
exceed the number of negative votes shall become a part of the
Constitution; and any amendment so adopted shall take effect on the
second Wednesday after the first Monday in January, in the year one
thousand nine hundred and fifteen. Any provision of the amendments
passed and submitted by this General Assembly and so adopted by the
qualified voters inconsistent with or in conflict with any provisions of
the present Constitution shall be held to prevail.

SEC. 9. All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with the provisions of
this act are hereby repealed.

SEC. 10. This act shall be in force from and after its ratification.
Ratified this the 13th day of October, A. D. 1913.





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