A Celebration of Women Writers

A New Constitution for the United States of the World,
Proposed by Victoria C. Woodhull for the Consideration of the Constructors of Our Future Government
.
New York: Woodhull, Claflin & Co., Publishers, 1872.


A NEW
CONSTITUTION
FOR THE
UNITED STATES OF THE WORLD

PROPOSED BY
VICTORIA C. WOODHULL.


FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF THE CONSTRUCTORS OF OUR FUTURE GOVERNMENT.


NEW YORK:
WOODHULL, CLAFLIN & CO., PUBLISHERS,
No. 44 BROAD STREET


1872.



CONSTITUTION
OF THE
UNITED STATES OF THE WORLD.

DECLARATION OF PURPOSE.


We, the people of the United States – a National Union – and of the several States as its component parts, proceeding upon the Natural Right inherent in humanity, and in order to secure a perfect and enduring Union; to establish equality as a birth-right; to administer common justice; to secure peace, tranquillity and prosperity; to provide for the common defense; to promote the general welfare; to secure the blessings of freedom, and protection for the exercise of individual capacities to ourselves and our posterity; and to erect a government which shall be the center around which the nations may aggregate, until ours shall become a Universal Republic, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of the World; which shall be the Supreme Law wherever it shall have, or acquire, jurisdiction.

DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE.

All persons are born free and equal, in a political sense (in every sense except heredity), and are entitled to the right to life, which is inalienable; and to liberty and the pursuit of happiness; and these shall be absolutely unabridged, except when limited in the individual for the security of the community against crime or other human diseases.

DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS.

All persons are entitled to the full and unrestrained use of all their natural and acquired powers and capacities; but such use by the individual, or by aggregations of individuals, shall never extend to infringement upon, or abridgment of, the same use in other persons.

DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE COMMUNITY.

The community has the right, under this Constitution, to organize and maintain government, by which every individual shall be protected in the exercise of personal rights, and prevented from interfering with those of others. But by organizing government the people shall surrender no rights.

DECLARATION OF THE SPHERE OF GOVERNMENT.

It shall be the sphere of the government to perform the duties required of it by the people under the guidance of this Constitution; and the government shall be vested with the power to perform them, and be limited to such performance.

ARTICLE I.

The Government shall consist of:
The Legislative Department;
The Executive Department; and
The Judicial Department.

ARTICLE II.

SEC. 1. The Legislative Department shall consist of:
A Senate, and
A House of Representatives;
Which shall be known as the Congress of the United States; and all legislative power is vested in the Congress.

SEC. 2. - 1. The Senate shall consist of two Senators from each State, to be chosen by the Legislature thereof, and each Senator shall have one vote.

2. The United States shall be divided into five Congressional Districts, as follows:

3. The First Congressional District shall consist of the following States, to wit: Maine, West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, Iowa, Nevada, and Texas; and its proportion of all new States that may be admitted into the Union.

4. The Second Congressional District shall consist of the following States, to wit: Virginia, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Missouri, California, Vermont, Kansas and Nebraska; and its proportion of all new States that may be admitted into the Union.

5. The Third Congressional District shall consist of the following States, to wit: Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, Florida, Oregon, Minnesota and Delaware; and its proportion of all new States that may be admitted into the Union.

6. The Fourth Congressional District shall consist of the following States, to wit: Louisiana, Michigan, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Tennessee and New Jersey, and its proportion of all new States that may be admitted into the Union.

7. The Fifth Congressional District shall consist of the following States, to wit: New York, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Arkansas, South Carolina, Mississippi and Alabama; and its proportion of all new States that may be admitted into the Union.

SEC. 3. - 1. At the Sessions of the Legislatures in all the States next preceding the expiration of the terms of Senators first expiring, the Legislatures of the respective States shall elect Senators for a term of years necessary to complete five years from the time of the adoption of this Constitution; and at the Sessions of the Legislatures next preceding the expiration of the remaining Senators, the Legislatures shall elect Senators for a term, to complete ten years from the time of the adoption of this Constitution.

2. At the Sessions of the Legislatures next preceding the expiration of the terms of the Senators elected as aforesaid, the Legislatures in the First District shall elect Senators for the full and regular term of ten years; in the Second District, for the term of nine years; in the Third District, for the term of eight years; in the Fourth District, for the term of seven years; and in the Fifth District, for the term of six years; and thereafter, in each of the districts for the full and regular term of ten years.

SEC. 4. - 1. When vacancies shall occur in the Senate, by death, resignation or otherwise, the Legislatures shall elect Senators to fill the unexpired terms.

2. Any person thirty years of age who shall have been a citizen of the United States nine years, and of the State one year, may be elected Senator from such State.

SEC. 5. - 1. The House of Representatives shall consist of Representatives chosen by the people, as hereinafter provided.

2. The terms of all Representatives who shall compose the House of Representatives at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall expire on the fourth day of March next succeeding the first election after the said adoption.

3. At the first election after the adoption of this Constitution, the First Congressional District, together with the Territories of Washington and Arizona, shall elect Representatives for the term of one year; the Second District, together with the Territories of Wyoming and Colorado, for the term of two years; the Third District, together with the Territories of Montana and the District of Columbia, for the term of three years; the Fourth District, together with the Territories of Utah and New Mexico, for the term of four years; and in the Fifth District, together with the territories of Idaho and Dakota, for the term of five years; and thereafter, in all the Districts and their Territories, upon the expiration of the terms provided above, all elections for Representatives shall be for the full term of five years.

SEC. 6. - 1. Representatives shall be apportioned among the States according to their respective population, not exceeding one Representative for every hundred thousand adult citizens; but each State and Territory shall have at least one Representative.

2. When vacancies shall occur in the House of Representatives, the Executives in the State from which they occur shall issue writs of election to fill them; but there shall be no election at any other time than upon the general annual election day hereinafter provided.

3. Any person twenty-five years of age who shall have been a citizen of the United States seven years, and of the State one year, may be elected Representative to the Congress from such State.

ARTICLE III.

SEC. 1. - 1. The Congress shall assemble twice every year, the first term beginning on the first Monday of January, and the second on the first Monday in September; and these two shall constitute one Congress; and the first Congress which shall convene after the adoption of this Constitution shall be known as the First Congress of the United States of the World.

2. A person bearing the credentials required by the Congress, setting forth that such person was duly elected to be a Congressman, which shall be prima facie evidence that the person was duly elected, is entitled to a seat in Congress.

3. A majority of each House shall constitute a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and be authorised to compel the attendance of absent members, under such rules as may be prescribed by the Congress.

4. Each House may prescribe and enforce the rules of its proceedings, except that without the unanimous consent of the House the "ayes and nays" shall not be demanded, except upon the final passage of bills and resolutions.

5. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, an abstract of which, together with all bills and resolutions introduced, and all bills and resolutions passed, having been duly approved by the President, shall be regularly published in the Congressional Journal, which shall be provided by law.

6. Neither House shall, without the consent of the other adjourn for more than one week; and final adjournments of both Houses shall be provided for at least twenty days before taking place.

SEC. 2. - 1. Congressmen shall receive stated salaries, without mileage, as compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, which law may be revised every tenth year; and such salary shall be paid by the States which they severally represent, upon the certificate of the Clerk of the House to which they belong, that they are entitled to the same.

2. Congressmen shall be exempt from arrest in all cases, except for treason, felony, and breach of the peace.

3. Congressmen shall not perform the functions of or hold any other civil offices whatever during the term for which they shall be elected.

SEC. 3. - 1. All bills shall originate in the House of Representatives.

2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives shall be sent to the Senate for its approval; but if, instead of approval, the Senate shall propose amendments, the bill with the proposed amendments shall be returned to the House for its concurrence. If the House do not concur, then a Committee of Conference, to consist of an equal number from each House, shall be appointed, upon whose action the House shall finally act, and again send the bill to the Senate for final concurrence or rejection; and if it be rejected, the provisions which shall secure its rejection shall not be considered again during that Congress; but if the Senate concur, then the bill shall be sent to the President of the United States. If he approve, he shall sign the same; but if he disapprove it, he shall return it to the House of Representatives, with his reasons therefore, which shall be entered upon the Journal, and they shall proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, the House shall still adhere to its previous action, by a vote of a majority, the bill shall be considered as finally enacted by the Congress.

3. At the ending of each Congress all the bills that shall have received the approval of the President, or which shall have been finally enacted by Congress, together with such as shall remain in the hands of the President after the final adjournment of Congress, shall be turned over to the Register of United States Laws, and be by him referred, through the Governors of the several States and Territories, to the people for their approval, to be by them voted upon at the next general election, before becoming law; and if any bill fail to receive a majority of the votes of all the citizens voting upon it, then it shall be considered as rejected by the people; and it shall not become a law.

4. After the final adjournment of Congress at the end of any session, the House of Representatives shall remain in semi-session one week, for the purpose of reconsidering any Bill which the President may desire to return with his objections. If the President, however, shall inform the House that he will return no Bill, then the House may disperse; and all Bills not thus returned to the House by the President within the first five days of the semi-session shall be held to be approved by him and ready to be referred to the people.

5. All Bills which shall become laws by the approval of the people, shall be printed by the Register of United States Laws, and furnished to the States, and to the various Departments of the Government, and also preserved as shall be provided by law.

ARTICLE IV.

SEC. 1. The Congress of the United States shall, as soon as practicable, and in the order prescribed, enact laws and prescribe rules and regulations, to provide for the government of the people, in accordance with the tenor and provisions of this Constitution, and as set forth in the Principles of its Declarations.

SEC. 2. The Congress shall prescribe a form for a Constitution which shall be common to, and adopted by, each State now constituting one of the United States; as well as adopted by every State that may hereafter be admitted into the Union.

SEC. 3. - 1. The Congress shall provide uniform laws to raise a revenue to maintain the Government of the United States as organised under this Constitution. But no means shall be resorted to, which shall fall unequally, either upon citizens or upon States, except as hereinafter provided.

2. To maintain the equality of all citizens before the laws.

3. To secure the equal right to the exercise of all common rights.

4. To establish a general system of Criminal Jurisprudence.

5. To establish a general system of Common Law.

6. To regulate the naturalization of foreigners; commerce between the States, and with other nations; Marriage; Divorce; and Education; each according to the principles of the Declarations.

7. To fix the standards of weights and measures.

8. To establish Post Offices, Post Roads, Post Railroads, Post Telegraphs; and a Postal Money Order System to meet all the demands of exchange; and affix such Postal Rates for the same as shall be deemed necessary to maintain them; or to provide for their maintenance for the public benefit.

9. To provide for the maintenance of an army of, not to exceed ten maximum Regiments, in time of peace; and a Navy; and to regulate and govern the same.

10. To provide at once for the admission, free of duty, of every article of commerce not produced in the United States; and to provide for the free admission of all commodities classed as the necessities of life, when the general system of Revenue shall have been inaugurated.

11. To provide a regular reduction in the existing Tariff, which shall entirely abolish the system in its application to all foreign importations from countries opening their Ports to the commerce of the United States free.

SEC. 2. The Congress shall have power:

1. To provide for organising the Militia of States, and in time of war, for calling it into the service of the United States.

2. To provide for the promotion of the Arts and Sciences; and for that purpose may secure for limited times, not to exceed twenty years, to Authors and Inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings, discoveries and inventions; or at their discretion to purchase the same for the general benefit of the people.

3. To establish a National Money System, and to provide for loaning the money to the people, either as a means of Revenue, or at the cost of maintaining the system; and to regulate and affix the value of the same by providing for its conversion into United States Bonds, drawing a rate of interest not to exceed the established rate in the increase of the general wealth of the country; or, when less than that rate, the rate of the taxation laid on loans of money made to the people; the Bonds also to be convertible into money at the option of the holder; and to order the payment of any part of the public debt at any time at par in the National Money.

4. To inaugurate a system of surveillance over, and care for, the destitute classes, looking to their utilization as members of society, and to the abolition of Pauperism and Beggary, upon the principle that if people cannot obtain employment government should supply it to them; if they will not labor, government should compel them sufficiently to support themselves; if they cannot labor, government should maintain them.

5. To inaugurate and provide for the maintenance of a system of Industrial Education, which may be made general for all children, based upon the proposition that they belong to society as a whole, in a still more general and important sense, than to the individuals of it who are their parents; and especially that it is the duty of the Government to become the guardian and protector of all children whose interests are not maintained and protected by their parents; and provide for and adopt all children relinquished to society by their parents.

6. To inaugurate a new system of Prison Discipline, based upon the proposition that to be restrained of liberty is not as punishment for crime, since all rewards and punishments are administered by the immutable laws of the universe; but that it is a necessary precaution for the safety of the community; and which shall secure to every person restrained, or to the family, if dependent, the entire net proceeds of all labor performed.

7. To inaugurate a system of justice and equality as to property rights, based upon the proposition that the producer is entitled to the total proceeds of labor, which shall prevent the accumulation of wealth in the hands of non-producers; and to provide for the gradual return to the People of all monopolies of land by individuals, based upon the principle that the soil is, or should be, as common property as the air is, or the water, by requiring that upon the decease of persons seized of personal property to a greater amount than a sum to be asertained by law, or of landed estate, such property and estate shall revert to the Government, for the benefit of the People; and when such system shall be inaugurated, then to forbid all sales and transfers of land, as well as gifts and nominal sales of other property, and to establish rules and regulations for its use, of all such property and estate, by the people for the public benefit, all of which looks to the practical recognition of the greatest of all human facts, the unity of the human race, having common interests and purposes, and to the perfect practice of the theory of equality, upon which this Constitution is founded.

8. To increase the rate of taxation on accumulations of wealth in excess of one hundred thousand dollars in the following manner, to wit: If the tax on one hundred thousand dollars be one-half of one per cent.; on over one hundred thousand dollars it shall be one per cent.; on over two hundred thousand dollars it shall be two per cent.; on over three hundred thousand dollars it shall be three per cent.; on over four hundred thousand dollars it shall be four per cent.; on over five hundred thousand dollars it shall be five per cent.; on over seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars it shall be ten per cent.; on over one million dollars it shall be fifteen per cent.; on over one million five hundred thousand dollars it shall be twenty per cent.; on over two million dollars it shall be twenty-five per cent.; and in the same proportions upon any other basic rate than upon one-half of one per cent, upon $100,000.

9. To inaugurate and provide for a system of National Railways, based upon the proposition that whatever involves the direct interests of the public should be in the hands and under the control of the people, for the public welfare, and to that end may purchase existing railways, at a price to be ascertained by law, but not greater than the same could be constructed for, or construct new roads, as the circumstances shall seem to require; and the system shall be operated either at the cost of maintenance or for the public benefit from the public funds.

10. To inaugurate a system of Public Markets for all the products of the world, having in view the abolition of the system of middle-men or hucksters, and which shall secure to producers the entire amount paid by consumers, less only the cost of transportation and distribution.

11. To abolish the Tariff, and provide for the control of the importation of foreign goods, in such quantities only as the demands of the country shall require; and to determine the price at which such imports shall be sold to the people by general law, except as is herein otherwise provided for free admission.

12. To inaugurate a system that shall give employees, equally with employers, a direct interest in the results of their co-operation for production; which shall, after the payment to the employer of the same rate of interest for the money invested by him as is paid for the use of the National Money; and the payment of salaries to the employees and the employers, and all other legitimate expenses, divide the net profits in an equitable manner among them.

13. To provide for the return to the people of all mineral, coal, oil and salt lands, and for their operation for the public benefit.

14. And to propose to the several Nations of the world a plan for an International Tribunal to which all disputes of Nations shall be referred for arbitration and settlement; which plan shall also include provisions for an International Army and Navy to enforce the edicts of the Tribunal and to maintain the peace of the world.

ARTICLE V.

SEC. 1. - 1. No taxes shall be levied by any legislative body in the United States, except for the legitimate purposes of government in protecting the rights of persons and nationality. Neither shall any legislative body have power to exempt any property whatever from taxation; or to discriminate in favour of any property as to rate, except as is herein otherwise provided; and there shall be no methods of taxation that shall, in any manner, protect certain classes of the people at the expense of certain other classes, except as herein otherwise provided in Article IV., Section II., Par. 8 and 11. And no special taxes of any kind shall be levied, upon any pretext or for any purpose whatever.

2. All taxes, whether for National, State, County or Municipal purposes, shall be laid and collected by one Revenue System, with the exceptions to which reference is made in the preceding paragraph.

SEC. 2. No legislative body in the United States shall have power to give or loan the public property or credit to individuals, or to corporations, to promote any enterprise, or for any purpose whatever.

SEC. 3. No money shall be drawn from any Treasury of the people, in the United States, unless in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular detailed account of receipts and expenditures, giving each separate item in the accounts, of all public moneys, shall be published: those arising in the accounts of the United States and the several States, weekly; and those upon the accounts of other sub-divisions, weekly or monthly; and the accounts of the United States and of the States shall be published in a periodical issued for the purpose, at the expense of the public, in a manner to be determined by law.

ARTICLE VI.

All legislation by all legislative bodies shall be in the form of General Laws; and no special legislation for any purpose shall be considered by any legislative body in the United States; and all laws enacted to cover special cases shall be absolutely null and void, and shall be held and maintained to be so by the General Government, as the special representative and conservator of the rights of the people; provided, however, that the Government of the United States, the States, or of any sub-divisions of a State may provide for any special internal improvement when instructed so to do by a vote of the citizens of their respective jurisdictions

ARTICLE VII.

SEC. 1. - 1. The Executive power of the United States shall be vested in a President and a Ministerial Cabinet.

2. Any person thirty-five years of age, who shall have been a citizen of the United States fifteen years, shall be eligible to the office of President or to the Ministerial Cabinet.

3. The President and the Ministerial Cabinet shall hold their offices during the term of ten years, and together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, shall be elected as follows:

The tickets of the several Presidential and Ministerial Cabinet Electoral Parties, in each State, shall consist of one person from each Congressional Representative District; and the number of Electors to which each ticket shall be entitled shall be in the same proportion to the whole number of electors to which the State is entitled, as the total vote cast for each ticket shall bear to the whole number of votes cast for all the tickets; to be taken from the districts standing at the heads of the several tickets; but disregarding all fractional remainders.

4. The sum of the unrepresented fractional balances of votes in the several States shall be determined by the Electoral College; and the Electors to which each ticket shall be found to be entitled shall be chosen by the Electors of the several tickets chosen by the States, already in the Electoral College; and such Electors shall be entitled to vote, the same as though regularly elected by the people.

5. During the month of December following the Presidential Election, the President shall issue a proclamation convening the Electoral College in the Hall of the House of Representatives of the United States, on a stated day in the following month, where they shall organise by electing from their number a Presiding Officer, a Secretary and Tellers; and they shall then proceed to elect by ballot:

1st. A President.
2d. A Vice-President.
3d. A Secretary of the Department of International Relations.
4th. A Secretary of the Department of Home Relations.
5th. A Secretary of the Department of Finance.
6th. A Secretary of the Department of Revenue.
7th. A Secretary of the Department of Expenditures.
8th. A Secretary of the Department of Internal Improvements.
9th. A Secretary of the Department of Postal and Telegraphic Service.
10th. A Secretary of the Department of War.
llth. A Secretary of the Department of Navy.
12th. A Secretary of the Department of Commerce.
13th. A Secretary of the Department of Criminal Jurisprudence and of Common Law.
14th. A Secretary of the Department of Education.
15th. A Secretary of the Department of Reformatory and Criminal Labor.
16th. A Secretary of the Department of National Insurance.
17th. A Secretary of the Department of Statistics.
18th. An Attorney-General of the United States.
19th. The Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, when there shall be vacancies.

6. The election shall be conducted in the following manner, to wit: If no candidate shall receive a majority of the votes of all the Electors constituting the College within the first ten ballots, then the candidate receiving the smallest number of votes shall be dropped from the list of candidates, after each ballot, until an election shall be had; and the candidates thus elected for the respective offices shall be declared duly elected to fill them for the next term of ten years.

7. In case of death or unavoidable absence of Electors entitled to be present and vote in the Electoral College, the Electors present, on the ticket to which they belong, shall provide substitutes to act in the stead of the absentees, and they shall have the power to perform the functions as though regularly elected.

8. No person shall be eligible to the offices of President, Vice-President, or to the Ministerial Cabinet, for a second term; nor shall any person once occupying either of these offices be eligible to any of them for the succeeding term.

9. The President, on retiring from the office, shall succeed to a seat in the Senate of the United States, as Presidential Senator, with the same powers and entitled to the same pay as other Senators, but to be paid by the United States; and shall be excluded from all Professional pursuits.

10. In case of a vacancy occuring in the office of President, the Vice-President shall succeed to the office for the unexpired term.

11. In case of a vacancy occurring in the Ministerial Cabinet, it shall be filled by an election on joint ballot by the Congress of the United States.

12. The duties pertaining to each department of the Ministerial Cabinet shall be defined and prescribed by the Congress, according to their respective and appropriate spheres, indicated by their names.

SEC. 2. - 1. The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia when in the service of the United States; and may require the opinion, in writing, of the Secretary of any Executive Department upon any subject relating to the Department.

2. The President shall have power, by and with the consent of the Senate, to make treaties with other nations, provided two-thirds of the Senate concur; and shall nominate, and by and with the consent of the Senate shall appoint, all foreign officers, and all other officers of the United States not herein otherwise provided, and which shall be established by law.

3. The President shall on each assembling of Congress, and at such other times as may be deemed necessary, give to the Congress information of the state of the country, or its foreign relations, and recommend to their consideration such measures as shall be deemed expedient or necessary.

4. The President may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses of Congress.

5. The President shall receive ambassadors from other nations, as well as all public ministers.

6. The President shall see that all the laws are faithfully executed, and shall exercise a general supervision over the entire Executive of the United States, and commission all officers of the United States.

7. The Vice-President shall preside over the Senate of the United States, and vote when the Senate is tied.

ARTICLE VIII.

SEC. 1. - 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State; and Congress shall by general law prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.

2. A person charged with crime who shall be found in another State, shall, on demand of the Executive authority of the State having jurisdiction of the crime, be delivered up to be removed to such State.

ARTICLE IX.

SEC. 1. - 1. No incorporated company existing in the United States, or under the authority of any law of the United States, shall, upon any pretext, issue stock certificates to represent a greater sum than the actual amount of money paid in; nor shall any incorporated company make any stock or scrip dividends, nor money dividends to exceed four per cent., for any current year, upon its entire stock; nor shall any such company be permitted to, in any manner whatever, evade the letter or the spirit of these provisions; but whenever the earnings shall produce a sum in excess of the operating expenses, and four per cent, upon the capital stock, then the rate of charges shall be changed so as to reduce the earnings to the standard of four per cent. Any net earnings in excess of four per cent, for any current year, shall be paid over to the General Government.

2. Any company or corporation which shall evade or attempt to evade any of the provisions of this Article, shall upon proof of the same forfeit their charter to the people; and the Government, for and in the name of the people, shall assume the conduct of the Affairs of such company, either paying to the stockholders the original amount of their investment, or the net earnings up to four per cent, per annum.

3. The provisions of Article IV., Section 8, for taxation, shall apply to the individuals comprising stock companies; but the taxes shall be collected from the companies.

4. The Congress shall have power to enforce and carry out the provisions of this Article by appropriate legislation.

ARTICLE X.

SEC. 1. - 1. New States may be admitted into the Union whenever the people within the limits of the proposed jurisdiction shall, by vote of the majority, decide to organize as a State under the General State Constitution; provided, however, that such proposed State shall contain a sufficient population to entitle it to at least one Representative in Congress.

2. The Congress shall have power to make all needed rules and regulations for all the Territorial and other public property, provided, however, that they shall have no power to in any manner dispose by sale of any property whatever, except as provided by law for property other than land.

3. The Congress shall grant to any adult citizen of the United States, applying for the same, any desired and unoccupied part of the public land, excepting mineral, coal, oil and salt lands, not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres, so long as such citizens shall pay regularly to the Government the yearly tax required, and to be ascertained by law for such occupancy; but such tax shall not exceed the general rate for other property elsewhere in the Union.

4. Whenever the inhabitants of any Territory not already included in the Union shall have signified, by a vote of the majority, their desire to be admitted, they shall be admitted, after organizing as a State, under the General State Constitution and when not having sufficient population to be admitted as a State, then as a Territory under the General Law established by Congress for the government of Territories.

5. All Territories shall be entitled to one Representative to Congress, who shall be entitled to vote upon all questions which do not specially refer to the Government of the States, or to the States as such.

ARTICLE XI.

SEC. 1. - 1. The Judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court of the United States, to consist of five Judges – one from each Congressional Division of the Union; and of a Supreme Court of the several States, to consist of three Judges; and of District Courts in the several States, one for each Congressional District; and of such other Inferior Courts as may be ordained and established by the Legislature of the States, by authority of the State Constitutions.

2. The Judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and equity arising under this Constitution, and the laws which shall be made by its authority; and to all treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; to all cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers, or Consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more States; between a State and citizens of another State; between the citizens of different States; between the citizens of the same State claiming under grants of different States; and between a State or the citizens thereof and foreign States, citizens, or subjects.

3. The District Courts of the several States shall have original jurisdiction over all cases occurring within the limits of their respective districts, with such exceptions, and under such regulations, as the Congress may make.

4. Appeals may be made from the District Courts of the States to the Supreme Courts of the States, and from the Supreme Courts of the States to the Supreme Court of the United States, in all cases where the Supreme Courts of the States are not a unit, under such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by Congress.

5. The Congress may provide Courts for the several Territories.

ARTICLE XII.

The United States shall guarantee equality of rights, privileges and duties to all the States as States; to all the citizens of the several States as individuals, and shall see to it that no State shall enforce any law which shall trespass upon individual rights as declared to be such by this Constitution.

ARTICLE XIII.

SEC. 1. - 1. All persons born, or who shall have been, or shall hereafter be, naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the State wherein they reside.

2. The citizens of the United States shall consist of two classes, to wit: Adult citizens and Minor citizens.

3. Adult citizens shall consist of all citizens who shall have attained to the age of eighteen years and upward.

4. Minor citizens shall consist of all citizens who shall not have attained the age of eighteen years.

5. All adult citizens except Idiots and the Insane shall exercise the Elective Franchise at their pleasure, for all purposes, subject to the following regulation only: -

For all United States officers, without reservations;
For all State officers and Representatives to Congress, after a residence in the State for three months;
For all other officers, after a residence within the limits of their jurisdiction for one month;
When not restrained of their liberty, being charged with, or after conviction of and restraint for, some crime. In all other cases the elective franchise shall be absolutely unabridged.

6. All citizens, while serving in the Army or Navy of the United States, or as officers of the United States, shall be entitled to vote for United States officers only, except as may be provided by Congress for officers within their respective organizations.

ARTICLE XIV.

SEC. 1. - 1. All elections in all the States shall be held simultaneously on the first Monday in November of each year, beginning at six o'clock in the morning and closing at six o'clock in the evening.

2. All judicial officers, all legislative officers, except United States Senators, and all executive officers provided by or under the authority of this Constitution to officiate as heads of departments, divisions, and sub-divisions, shall be elected by the votes of the people among whom they are to have jurisdiction; and all other officers in such jurisdiction shall be appointed by them, and hold their offices during good behavior; and shall be removed for cause only and in such manner as shall be ascertained by law.

3. Representatives to Congress, Representatives and Senators to the several State Legislatures, by Congressional districts, and all lesser legislative bodies, and all Judges of all Courts, shall be elected in the same manner by which it is provided that the Electoral College shall be elected, except that the districts having the largest fractional remainder of votes shall be taken to complete the quota of officers, and that the officers elected shall be those who shall have received the largest vote instead of in the order of numbered districts or divisions on each ticket.

4. All executive officers not otherwise provided, whether of the United States or the States, may be elected by a majority or plurality vote, or by minority representation, as may be provided by law.

5. No officer elected by the people shall ever be required to take an oath of office or to give bond for the performance of the duties of the office; the fact of election being prima facie evidence that the people accept the officer as capable and honest.

6. No officer elected by the people shall be removed from office during the term for which the election was had, except by a vote of the people in the same manner as in the election of the officer.

ARTICLE XV.

SEC. 1. - 1. The Congress shall have power to pass no law that shall in any manner deny, abridge, or interfere with the most complete exercise of every power, capacity, and talent possessed by the individual; but shall guarantee every individual peaceful pursuit therein, as against all other individuals.

2. That shall in any manner deny, abridge, or interfere with the right of two or more individuals to contract together in whatever manner, but shall guarantee protection to all contracting parties as against all interference.

SEC. I. [sic] All contracts between individuals shall stand upon their own merits and upon the integrity and capacity of the parties involved, without appeal by them to any power for redress; provided, however, that when contracting parties, at the time of making a contract, shall declare in the contract that they, not having mutual confidence in their ability and integrity to faithfully perform the same, desire the guarantee of other parties, or that Government shall enforce them, then the Government may have the power to take cognizance of an appeal to it, through proper forms, to be prescribed by law, but not otherwise.

2. Laws may be made to compel the enforcement of pecuniary contracts on the part of incorporated companies organized under the authority of law; since their integrity and capacity may depend upon the perfectness of the laws by which they exist, which are the people's provisions, and not upon the honor and integrity of the individuals composing the company; and to require the record or publication of such contracts as may affect and indirectly involve the community.

3. No oath or affirmation shall be required by law of any person upon any pretext, or for any purpose whatever. But in any processes of law where evidence is required or given, if it be established that such evidence is false testimony, the person giving it may be held accountable in a manner to be ascertained by law.

ARTICLE XVI.

SEC. 1. - 1. It is expressly understood that the Government thus organized has no power conferred upon it except that which is necessary to carry out the instructions of the people, as expressed through the laws framed by their representatives, and approved by themselves, according to the provisions of this Constitution.

2. The people may, by direct vote at any time, instruct their chosen representatives in regard to any issue before them, and all legislative bodies are to be held to be the representatives of the people, and not of their own ideas as opposed to the will of the people.

ARTICLE XVII.

The United States shall compel every State to maintain within its limits a Republican form of government upon all matters in all its legislation and administration; and such a form is pronounced to be one in which the rights of all adult citizens to participate is absolutely unabridged except by forfeiture; and in which the equal interests of all minor citizens are secured.

ARTICLE XVIII.

This Constitution may be amended in the same manner in which all laws are required to be passed, by the Congress of the United States and the approval of the people; provided, however, that all such amendments shall be approved by a vote of three-fifths of the entire vote cast.

ARTICLE XIX.

SEC. 1. - 1. The House of Representatives shall have the power, whenever in the judgment of three-fifths of its members it shall be proper to do so, to submit to the people an Amendment to this Constitution abolishing all Senatorial bodies, which shall become the law when approved by the requisite vote of the people.

2. The people may, at any time, without the initiative on the part of the Congress, amend, or abolish parts of this Constitution by a vote of three-fifths of the adult citizens, and the people shall have the right to vote upon any proposition of this kind at any General Election; and all such votes shall have the same force and effect as though made upon subjects submitted to them by the Congress.

3. This Constitution shall be held to be adopted by the people whenever three-fifths of the whole number of adult citizens of the United States, according to the last census, shall have given it their approval; and they may then consitutionally proceed to organize the government as herein provided; but all other and previous legislation under the old Constitution shall continue in full force and effect, until the necessary legislation supplementary to, and in place of it, shall have been provided.

4. Nothing in this Constitution or in the legislation authorized under it shall be held as invalidating contracts existing at the time of its adoption, except in cases herein otherwise expressly provided.