Constitution of the United States (1885)

Washington Convention

We the People of the United States, humbly invoking the blessings of the Supreme Legislator of the World, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the inalienable rights and the blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to ourselves, our posterity, and all the people, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

So that the general, great, and essential principles of liberty and free government may be recognized and established, we declare—

We hold it to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that all men endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Slavery being incompatible with a republican form of government, is forever prohibited in the United States, and all territories under its jurisdiction; and involuntary servitude is permitted only as punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.

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.

There shall be no oligarchy, aristocracy, or caste invested with peculiar privileges or powers.

There shall be no denial of rights, civil or political, on account of race, color, nativity, property, education, or religious creed anywhere within the limits of the United States or the jurisdiction thereof, but all persons therein shall be equal before the law whether in the exercise of suffrage, or in courts of jurisdiction.

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Neither Congress nor the States shall make any law respecting an establishment of religion, or favoring any particular form of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Letters sent through the postal and telegraph service shall not be subject to any sort of censorship, anywhere in the United States.

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.

Neither soldier nor police guardsman 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 to be prescribed by law.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of the Censors or a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the National Volunteers, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, in the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, except for trials for treason or other high crimes if the administration of Justice shall be interrupted or impeded at the time by rebellion or war; and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

In Trials of Crimes except Impeachment, and in Suits at common law where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by an impartial jury, selected by lot in the State and District in which the Case shall take place except in cases of Treason and other high Crimes, and paid a renumeration only of demurrage-money and journey-money according to law, shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital offenses, when the proof is evident or the presumption great.

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

No person shall be subjected to the death penalty, unless found guilty of murder, treason or other high crimes, banditry, or offences under military law.

No person shall ever be imprisoned for debt.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.

Indians, residing within the United States but not subject to the jurisdiction thereof, who speak English, French, Spanish, or German, believe in a Supreme Being, and have never taken up arms against the United States or else received amnesty therein, shall be immediately admitted to citizenship upon an oath or affirmation thereof.

Every citizen is entitled to and shall receive the full protection of the federal Government of the United States at home and abroad.

There shall be only one class of Citizenship across the United States; therefore, the Citizens who reside in any specific State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens who reside in the several States.

No religious test shall ever be required as a condition of suffrage, or as a qualification to any office or public trust, in any State; and no person shall ever be deprived of any of his or her rights, privileges or capacities, or disqualified for the performance of any public or private duty, or rendered incompetent to give evidence in any court of jurisdiction, in any consequence of any opinions he may hold on the subject of religion.

All citizens of the United States over the age of twenty-one, except those barred by the following paragraph, or duly convicted of treason or some other high crime, or married to a citizen over the age of twenty-one so ineligible, have the right to vote at any election for President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, or the officers of territorial, county, and municipal governments; and every election thereof shall be held by ballot, printed by the government thereof, selected from concealed name-boxes, and cast in ballot-boxes in such manner that no observer should see the name selected.

Provided, that no person who willingly participated in the late rebellion, or duly convicted of treason or some other high crime, or married to a citizen over the age of twenty-one so disqualified, shall ever vote at any election so named in the previous paragraph, without an Act of Congress granting amnesty; nor shall they ever take up offices therein.

Every citizen shall put an eye of vigilance to the conduct of public affairs, to guard the treasure of our liberty, not only from invasion, but from decay and corruption.

Every citizen owes plenary Allegiance to the federal Government of the United States.

Every able-bodied adult male citizen, and persons of foreign birth who shall have declared on oath their intention to become citizens under and in pursuance of the laws thereof, shall be liable to perform military or civil duty in the service of the United States when called out by the president, as Congress may provide, in cases when the public safety may require it; and no commutation may be paid whatsoever, except by persons conscientiously opposed to the bearing of arms.

Every citizen shall, if eligible to vote in federal elections, vote therein; and if called to a jury, sit therein.

Every citizen shall forever act in a spirit of fraternal cooperation towards the common good.

Land is and ought to be the common heritage of the people, and it may therefore be taxed for common benefit; but land title shall continue to be private property.

Private property shall not be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Provided, that land held by railway, canal, veloway, wagonway, and other general transportation companies shall be considered held by the people, and therefore the governments shall be able to take such land with less than just compensation, if it should not be used not for lines of transport or for stations conducting the same, but rather for other purposes; and such companies may not sell surplus land, but shall instead surrender it to the government.

Provided also, that the owners of land estates exceeding two thousand two hundred forty acres where tenants have land exceeding twenty acres for lease terms longer than twelve years, shall grant their tenants the option of purchasing their land upon the end of their lease term, at price less than just compensation.

Citizens, and persons intending to be citizens, shall have the right to settle public lands not reserved from settlement, by filing a claim, proving residency, and improving the land thereof, under such terms as Congress may provide.

No estate shall be entailed; and if a person dies intestate, their estate shall be divided between their children, and the widow shall receive a child's portion, or her dower, as the case may be.

No person under contract of labor shall be made to work more than eight hours a day and six days a week.

No person under the age of fourteen shall ever be contracted to labor or work in a manufactory, and no person under the age of sixteen shall ever work in a mine or quarry; and no person under the age of sixteen shall work more than six hours a day and six days a week, nor shall they work after the hour of seven o'clock postmeridian or before the hour of six o'clock antemeridian.

Persons under contract of labor shall be paid wages monthly, or sooner; and all wages shall be in the form of actual currency.

Persons under contract of labor shall have the right to peaceably petition a Board of Industrial Relations, to resolve disputes by bringing them together with their employers on equitable grounds.

All producers shall have the right to sell their goods at public markets.

At no time shall convicts be contracted for labor for any federal, state, territorial, county, or municipal government, or for the benefit of manufactories, agriculture, or industry.

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the United States, from Districts divided from the several States and organized Territories pending statehood; but they shall represent not the Places from which they are elected, but the whole United States.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been three Years a Citizen of the United States.

Elections to the House of Representatives shall be held as follows:

(i) Candidatures shall be duly made by petition of no less than five hundred persons from the district therein;

(ii) The persons who should be duly nominated by convention for the District therein, or else petition of no less than the minimum of five thousand persons from, or one sixteenth of the population of, the district therein, shall become nominees for election;

(iii) The people of the District shall elect from among the nominees the Representative.

Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. The actual Enumeration and Division of congressional Districts shall be made within every Term of ten Years, in such Manner as the Congress shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not be less than twice the Number of Senators, but each State, and Organized Territory pending Statehood, shall have at Least one Representative.

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any District, the Tribune shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

On the Petition of one tenth of the whole number of Electors in a District for the Election of a Member of the House of Representatives, the Electors in the District therein shall, as Congress may direct, hold an Election on whether the Representation shall be held vacant, and in the case a majority shall vote for vacancy, the Representation of the District shall be held Vacant; and for the ensuing election, the former Member shall be ineligible.

The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other Officers.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people of the several States, for six years; twenty-four Senators elected by the people of the United States at Large with the preferential ballot, for six years; and former Presidents of the United States, who have not been impeached and convicted, for life; and each Senator shall have one vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, the elective Senators shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year.

No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and the Senators of each State shall, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

Elections to the Senate, for the Senators of the several States, shall be held as follows:

(i) Candidates shall be duly nominated by petition of no less than five thousand persons therein, or by the legislature of the state therein;

(ii) The persons who should be duly nominated by convention for the State therein, or else petition of no less than twenty thousand persons, or one sixteenth of the electors, in the state therein, shall become nominees for election;

(iii) The people of the State shall elect from among the nominees the Senator.

Elections to the Senate, for the Senators at Large, shall be held as follows:

(i) Candidates shall be duly nominated by petition of no less than one thousand electors per state in no less than one third of the several states, or else by a house of a State legislature;

(ii) The persons who should be duly nominated by the national Convention, or else petition of no less than the minimum of ten thousand electors, or one sixteenth of the population, per state in no less than one third of the several states, shall become nominees for election;

(iii) The election shall be held by rank, and the four nominees having the greatest number of votes, after a process of rank transferrence, shall be Senators;

When Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, the Executive of the State thereof, or for Senators at Large the Tribune, shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. Provided, that no Senator for Life shall ever resign from the Senate, except upon election to the Presidency.

On the Petition of one twentieth of the whole number of Electors in a State, the Electors in the state therein shall, as Congress may direct, hold an Election on whether the state seat for the Senator named by the Petition shall be held vacant, and in the case a majority shall vote for vacancy, the Executive Authority of the state thereof shall issue a Writ of Election for the seat of the Senate therein for which the former Senator shall be ineligible; and on the Petition of one twentieth of the whole number of Electors in the United States, the Electors of the United States shall, in like manner, hold Elections for the Senator at Large named by the Petition.

The Senate shall choose their President and other Officers.

The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Representatives shall be prescribed by the Congress. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations.

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 1d Monday of January unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

The House of Representatives shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of the House of Representatives and more than one third of the Senate shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and at least once publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

In case a federal election shall see a disputed return, a joint session of Congress shall constitute a Tribunal of Elections, of not more than eleven members; this Tribunal shall determine which votes are legal, and present them to Congress.

A joint session of Congress shall serve as the judge of returns and qualifications of all election returns, save for elections to the House of Representatives.

Congress shall appoint a Continuing Council of fifteen members, which shall sit when Congress is adjourned or out of session; and it may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them.

Congress shall have appoint, in joint Session assembled, a Questor.

The Questor shall oversee the financial administration of the government of the United States, including incorporated Companies established for the public Benefit, make audits therein, and levy charges for maladministration and corruption.

The House of Representatives shall appoint, in Session assembled, six of its number to serve as Censors.

The Censors shall sit as a Grand Jury for holding the accused liable for Treason and other high Crimes, and at no time shall any person be accused of Treason and other high Crimes without the concurrence of the Censors, except for Impeachment.

The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office. Provided only, that the President may from time to time, with the Advice and Consent of the House of Representatives, send the principal Officer to the House of Representatives, for the discussing of Bills proposed by Presidential Proclamation.

Nor shall any Senator or Representative be, during the time in which he was elected, be appointed to any Office of any incorporated Company, or else make any Contract with or under the Authority of the United States; and no person holding any Office of any incorporated Company, or any Contract with or under the Authority of the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in the Office thereof.

The House of Representatives shall have the sole Power of Impeachment, over the President and all civil Officers of the United States, including members of Congress, and officers of the Bank of the United States, the National Railway System, and any other incorporated Company established for the public Benefit, for:

(i) Treason;

(ii) Bribery;

(iii) Abuse of the public Trust;

(iv) Subversion of the Constitution; or

(v) Other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

The High Court for the Trial of Impeachment shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. Its Judges shall consist of the Justices of the Supreme Court, and it shall have a Jury of twenty-four, from a stamen of thirty-six Senators chosen by lot from which the Managers of the House of Representatives and the Accused shall strike six each. When sitting for that Purpose, Judges and Jurymen shall all be on Oath or Affirmation. The Chief Justice shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of three fifths of the Jury.

A Guilty Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall result in removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Judges of the High Court shall nevertheless hold the Party liable and subject to Punishment, according to Law.

Bills may be proposed by Members of either House, by the Tribune as provided in Article III, Section 4, and by Proclamation of the President; provided, that all Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may not propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills, and that Congress shall pass no Bill which embraces more than one subject, this subject being clearly expressed in the title.

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he deem it Constitutional he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his constitutional Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration three fifths of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by three fifths of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall be taken to the Continuing Council of Congress, which shall return it to the next Session of Congress for its reconsideration as above.

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall if he deem it Constitutional be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by three fifths of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

If the House of Representatives shall pass a bill, Order, Resolution, or Vote, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass or it, or else passes it in a form in which the House of Representatives does not agree, the President shall, upon resolution of the House of Representatives, convene a joint session of Congress, and the members of Congress present shall deliberate and vote on the bill as passed by the House of Representatives, and if the bill or order, resolution, or vote, with any amendments as may be carried, is affirmed by a total majority of the members of Congress, it shall be taken as having passed the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The Congress shall have Power:

(i) To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

(ii) To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

(iii) To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations and with the Indian Tribes;

(iv) To establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization, enact uniform Mining, Marriage, Property, Commercial, Criminal, and Procedure Codes throughout the United States, and propose model Laws which the Legislatures of the several States shall treat as Bills;

(v) To establish a Bank of the United States, which shall surrender any surplus land it may acquire, through foreclosure or otherwise, to the government;

(vi) To issue Money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign money, and fix the standard of Weights and Measures;

(vii) To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Money of the United States;

(viii) To establish Post Offices, post Roads, and Telegraphs;

(ix) To construct roads, canals, and railroads anywhere in the United States;

(x) To establish and manage a National Railway System for the public welfare, and to regulate the rates and fares of railways, canals, steamship lines, car companies and associations, and other means of transportation;

(xi) To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; and grant, protect, and regulate the right to use and adopt trademarks, for limited times;

(xii) To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

(xiii) To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

(xiv) To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

(xv) To provide and maintain a Navy and an Aeronautic Corps;

(xvi) To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

(xvii) To provide and regulate the Civil Guard, for keeping the public Peace and protecting the States against domestic Violence;

(xviii) To provide for calling forth the National Volunteers to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

(xix) To appoint a Commandant-General, and Deputy Commandants for the States, and other Officers of the National Volunteer Force, and to provide for organizing, arming, disciplining, and governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States;

(xx) To establish and regulate additional Militias, as the case may be;

(xxi) To charter universities and other educational institutions in the United States, or any territory under its jurisdiction;

(xxii) To establish and regulate a system of public markets, to facilitate the exchange of the productions of farmers and mechanics;

(xxiii) To regulate the hours of labor for which persons may be employed in manufacture and other industries, and to limit, regulate, and prohibit the labor of persons under eighteen years of age;

(xxiv) To ensure the security of all registration of voters and holding of elections in the United States and their jurisdiction, and to protect citizens of the United States in the exercise and enjoyment of their rights, privileges, and immunities, and to assure to them the equal protection of the laws;

(xxv) To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over federal lands reserved for government buildings and grounds, and to exercise like authority over all Places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state, or else reserved from existing federal land, in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings, and for parks, forests, warrens and other national preserves;

(xxvi) To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof;

(xxvii) To legislate in all cases for the general interests of the union, and also in those in which the states are separately incompetent, or in which the harmony of the United States may be interrupted by the exercise of individual legislation;

(xxviii) To set penalties for non-observance of the duties of the citizen; and

(xxix) To declare the Stars and Stripes to be the national Emblem of the United States of America.

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed, but laws may be passed for the public acquisition of Lands abandoned by Persons guilty of Treason or other high Crimes.

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under it, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; issue Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but Money authorized by the federal Government a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

No State shall nullify any Act of Congress with a view of unconstitutionality, purported or otherwise; nor shall any State separate from the Union.

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Control of the Congress.

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of six Years, and be elected, as follows:

(i) Candidates for the presidency shall be nominated by petition of no less than two thousand five hundred electors per state in no less than one third of the several states, or else by a house of a State legislature.

(ii) The persons who should be duly nominated by national Convention or else petition of no less than the minimum twenty thousand electors, or one sixteenth of the electors, per state in no less than one third of the several states, shall become nominees for election;

(iii) The people of the United States shall elect the President. Each voter shall cast a single vote for one nominee.

(iv) The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President.

(v) The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for President, shall be prescribed by the Congress.

(vi) The term of the President shall end at noon on the 30th day of April; and the terms of his successor shall then begin.

No Person except a Citizen of the United States, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States; and nor shall any person elected to the presidency, or having discharged its powers or duties or acted as president for more than three years, ever be eligible for the office of the presidency ever again.

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office by Impeachment or Conviction, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Secretary of State shall ascend to the Same, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Secretary of State, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any state therein.

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army, Civil Guard, Navy, and Aeronautic Corps of the United States, and of the National Volunteer Force, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment and Treason.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Congress in joint Session assembled, to make Treaties, provided three fifths of the Members present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Congress in joint Session assembled, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President shall also have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Congress in joint Session assembled, to appoint a Board of Examiners.

The President shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Continuing Council of Congress, to suspend habeas corpus in cases of rebellion or invasion, along such routes of transportation as to provide for the meeting of Congress; and to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Congress, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

The Board of Examiners shall consist of not less than five and not more than eleven Examiners, and at no time shall any Examiner serve in any other office in the United States.

No person shall be appointed to any civil office under the United States, whether by way of original appointment or promotion, unless recommended by a certificate of the Board, except for offices reserved, by Constitution or Act of Congress, to the President by and with the advice and consent of Congress: but applicants for such offices shall be examined by the Board, if they present themselves, and shall receive certificates in the same manner as other applicants.

The Board shall hold examinations of applicants for civil office under the United States at such places as they may designate, and at times to be determined by consideration of the needs of the service, and the number of vacancies to be filled.

The Board shall, upon the conclusion of an examination, assign the rank of the applicants, according to the degree of merit shown, and shall grant certificates to all candidates who exceed a minimum of merit, or else may require a further examination for the determination of merit; and the President, courts, or heads of departments, as the case may be, shall appoint from among those with a certificate.

After the appointment of a candidate recommended by the Board, he shall not be removed except for good cause, and promotions shall be according to seniority or else, with the advice and consent of the Board, by merit.

The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, several division Courts, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, of the supreme Court, shall hold their Offices for terms of fourteen years, and of division and inferior Courts, shall hold their offices for good behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

The several States shall be grouped into several contiguous Judicial Divisions with as close to equal Numbers of Persons as Possible, provided that the State of Olympia may be grouped along with the state that shall, excluding Olympia, be furthest to the northwest; and the Supreme Court shall consist of residents of each Judicial Division as close to equal number as possible; and each Justice of the Supreme Court shall have been resident of their Judicial Division for a period of not less than fourteen Years.

Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States shall serve for terms of twelve years, and they shall be divided equally as may be into three Classes, so that one Class may be vacated every four years; and no Justice, having been appointed for a full twelve year term, shall be eligible for appointment ever again.

Any person who is or has served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States shall be ineligible to the Presidency, or appointment to any executive office, for-ever.

Each Judicial Division shall have a Court, administered by one Supreme Court Justice appointed from the Division thereof, and several additional Justices.

On the Petition of one tenth of the whole number of Electors in a Judicial Division, the Electors in the Judicial Division therein shall, as Congress may direct, hold an Election on whether the judge of the supreme or division Court named in the petition shall be removed, and in the case a majority shall vote for removal, his office shall be held vacant from the day of such a vote.

Whenever the House of Representatives and the Senate shall concur in an address to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for the removal of any judge, his office shall be held vacant from the day of such an address.

The judicial Power shall extend:

(i) To all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;

(ii) To all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;

(iii) To all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;

(iv) To Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;

(v) To Controversies between two or more States, between a State and Citizens of another State, between Citizens of different States, between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State; nor shall it be construed to extend to declaring any Act of Congress null and void, provided that the Judicial power of the United States may recommend bills to the Clerk of the House of Representatives for the amelioration of the Law of the United States.

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction as to Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

Trials of Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed; and if the administration of Justice shall be interrupted or impeded at the time by rebellion or war, Congress shall provide by law that trials for treason and other high crimes shall be held in places where Justice may be administered without hindrance.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only:

(i) In levying War against it, or in adhering to its Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort; or

(ii) In assisting them in forcible attempts to establish a pretended Government in hostility to the constitutionally elected and recognized authority of the United States, over any State, Territory, or unorganized District, or any Parts thereof; or

(iii) In applying, or in intending to apply, to foreign governments, or aid or support for such purpose; or

(iv) In attempting to assassinate the President.

High crimes against the United States, shall consist in addition to treason:

(i) In inciting armed resistance to the constitutionally elected and recognized authority of the United States; or

(ii) In establishing or to join Societies or Combinations, secret or public, the object of which is to offer armed resistance to the constitutionally elected and recognized authority of the United States, or to prepare for the same by collecting arms, organizing men, or otherwise; or

(iii) In knowingly taking part in any Slave-trade, directly or indirectly; or

(iv) In abducting, or aid in taking, human beings, for the purpose of holding them as slaves or selling them, whether within this Country or beyond its limits; or

(v) In Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; or

(vi) In obtaining information relating to national defence, to be used to the injury of the United States, or to the advantage of foreign nations; or

(vii) In willfully burning, or otherwise destroying, ships of the Navy, naval dockyards, or armories; or

(viii) In counterfeiting the currency of the United States.

No Person shall be convicted of Treason or any other high Crime unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same positive Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishments of Treason and other high Crimes.

The electoral power shall be headed by a Tribune, appointed by Congress, in joint Session assembled, and a System of Conventions, elected by the People.

The Tribune shall serve as the principal Officer of the Federal Election Office, and shall provide for the nomination and election of candidates to national office, under such terms as Congress shall provide, and shall issue forth Writs of Election for elections for the President, Members of the House of Representatives, and Senators at Large, and to fill vacancies therein; and shall arrange for the convening of Congress and the inauguration of the President, and shall, upon a dispute of election, present such dispute to a joint session of Congress.

The Tribune shall additionally superintend the nomination and election of candidates to state office, shall hold conventions for the debate and discussion among candidates and nominees in federal elections, and shall from time to time give to Congress information on the conduct of elections; and if an election to state office shall, in his view, violate the Constitution, he shall make a Report for Action to be taken by the State therein and send his Report to Congress.

The Tribune shall provide for the establishment of polling-offices across the United States, so that every citizen shall have access to the ballot box; and upon a petition of no less than two thousand citizens in no less than three States or Territories, or else twenty thousand citizens in fewer, he shall put the petition on ballot, so that any citizen may put his affirmation or negative to such petition with secrecy, and the Tribune shall, from time to time, as Congress may provide, post the tallies and submit the petitions to the appropriate authorities; and if a general Petition to Congress for a Law should receive more than twenty thousand affirmations, he shall propose the petition as a Bill to Congress.

The Tribune shall further have power to issue writs of habeas corpus, to any court, prison, or jail within the United States.

The System of Conventions shall be composed of several Delegates chosen every second Year by the People of the United States, from the several States and organized Territories pending statehood.

No Person shall be a Delegate who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been one Year a Citizen of the United States.

Initial elections to the System of Conventions, shall be held as follows:

(i) Candidates shall be duly nominated by petition of no less than fifty persons from the district therein;

(ii) The election shall be held by rank, and the persons having the greatest number of votes, after a process of rank transferrence, shall be Delegates.

Delegates shall be apportioned among the several Districts for congressional Election, counting the whole number of persons in each District, excluding Indians not taxed. The actual Enumeration of Delegates shall be made within every Term of ten Years, in such Manner as the Congress shall by Law direct. The Number of Delegates shall be such that for every two thousand persons there shall be one delegate.

When vacancies happen in the Delegations, the Tribune shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

The Tribune shall, before regular elections to the Congress, assemble the districted Delegates into several district Conventions, for which a majority shall be a quorum

The Conventions for the several Districts shall examine candidacies for the Representatives of the state. Candidates for whom one fourth of Delegates to the Convention shall concur, shall be nominated for election as a Representative for the District therein.

The Delegations for the several Districts who have, on the list of votes for election, more votes than no less than nine tenth of other Delegates, shall additionally serve as Delegates to the Convention for their respective States.

The Tribune shall, before regular elections to the Congress and the presidency, assemble the Delegates into a national Convention, for which a majority shall be a quorum.

The Conventions for the several States shall examine candidacies for the Senators of the state. Candidates for whom one fourth of Delegates to the Convention shall concur, shall be nominated for election as a Senator for the State therein.

The Delegates for the several States who have, on the list of votes for election within their states, more votes than no less than nine tenth of other Delegates, shall additionally serve as Delegates to the National Convention.

The Tribune shall, before regular elections to the Congress and the presidency, assemble the Delegates into a national Convention, for which a majority shall be a quorum.

The National Convention shall examine candidacies for the presidency and Senators at large. Candidates for the Presidency for whom one fourth of Delegates to the Convention shall concur, shall be nominated for election as President; and candidates for Senator at large for whom one Twentieth of Delegates to the Convention shall concur, shall be nominated for election as a Senator at Large.

The several Conventions shall convene as bodies in open Session, with free admittance to the public. Candidates shall present themselves to their respective Convention; and the Convention shall have full authority to inquire on all affairs which should deal with the respective Candidate, and subpoena if necessary.

The National Convention shall elect seven of its members to constitute a Board of Correctors, of whom four shall be a quorum, who shall:

(i) sit in all sessions of Congress to examine all functioning of Government,

(ii) survey the execution of the law,

(iii) send for papers, persons and records to examine within and without closed session, and

(iv) publish its findings in the National Gazette no less than six times a year, distributed so that every Citizen may read it without expense or inconvenience.

In cases of vacancies for elective Office, the Tribune shall assemble the relevant Convention for a special Session for nominations.

Industry shall be superintended by a National Board of Industrial Relations and in such inferior Boards that Congress shall, from time to time, establish.

The National Board of Industrial Relations shall consist of twenty-four members, who shall serve for terms of six years.

Its membership shall consist of:

(i) Eight members, representing the government, consisting of four members elected by a joint session of Congress, and four members appointed by the President;

(ii) eight members, representing trade and commerce, shall be elected by boards of directors of the several Chambers of Commerce chartered under Act of Congress, provided that such boards shall be duly elected by company members therein; and

(iii) eight members, representing mechanics and laborers, shall be elected by the boards of directors of the several Chambers of Labor chartered under Act of Congress, provided that such boards shall be duly elected by such persons who should be active mechanics under a company, or else have worked such roles in time no more than three years and have no current vocation.

The power of the several Boards of Industrial Relations shall extend:

(i) to procure materials and goods that the government should need for its operations;

(ii) to review disputes between employers and employees, and arbitrate for mutual benefit;

(iii) to provide for the cooperation of companies within trades or industries for the prevention of waste, provided that such cooperation does not create a monopoly;

(iv) to establish codes and rules for trades or industries, for the benefit of both employer and employee; and

(v) to certify materials and goods, that should follow such requirements that the government shall make.

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

The United States shall only acquire States or Territories contiguous by land to existing States or Territories, provided that the United States may make treaties to acquire non-contiguous territories not exceeding in size ten thousand kilometers square for coaling or like purposes.

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States, and to reserve certain Territories from settlement to preserve as pleasure-grounds for the People; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Free, Democratic, and Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

The United States shall have the power to protect each State against domestic violence whenever it shall be shown to the President, in such such manner as Congress may by law prescribe, that such violence exists in such State.

The United States shall have the power, by vote of three fourths of Congress, to place States which experience domestic violence that make it unable to function, under the direct rule of the federal Government.

The Union is perpetual; therefore, it shall never be dissolved, nor shall any State, Territory, or unorganized districts, or parts thereof, be separated from the United States.

Each State shall recognize settlements within their jurisdiction which have more than 5000 inhabitants as a City, under a Charter to provide for its administration by a council chosen by direct, popular vote, and collection and spending of local funds, without the interference of the State.

Each City with more than 100,000 inhabitants, and a density equal to or greater than five hundred per kilometer square, shall have power to prepare and propose a new Charter, which shall be submitted for the consideration of Congress; and if it, with whatever amendments Congress may propose, shall be confirmed by the City, this shall be the new Charter of the City, its former Charter shall be considered abolished, and the State in which the City is located may not amend the Charter without its advice and consent.

If two Cities, with densities equal to or greater than five hundred per kilometer square, with Charters granted by Congress, have a space between then at any point equal to or less than five kilometers, Congress shall immediately make legislation to merge them, and space between them, into a single City, for the prevention of waste and graft.

The Bank of the United States, the National Railway System, and any other incorporated Company established for the public Benefit, shall be chartered by Act of Congress, which may be amended as with other Acts of Congress; and at no time shall the Government own less than one third of such incorporated Companies; and no Stock therein shall ever be sold to persons not Citizens of the United States; and no person shall ever be Director of any such incorporated Company who shall also serve in an Office, Director or otherwise, of any other incorporated Company; and no person shall ever be permitted to own any stock, or else have any position in, any incorporated Company established for the public Benefit if also holding more than one twentieth in stock in any other incorporated Company which should have a capitalization exceeding five hundred thousand dollars.

No lottery shall be authorized by the United States, nor any state, nor any territorial, county, or municipal government therein; nor shall the sale of lottery tickets be allowed.

On the Petition of one tenth of the whole number of Electors in a State, the Electors in the state therein shall, as Congress may direct, hold a Plebiscite on whether the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the state shall be prohibited. In the case a majority shall vote for prohibition, the State may make laws to enforce this paragraph by appropriate legislation; and in the case a majority shall vote against prohibition, the State may not make laws therein.

A general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence being necessary for a republican form of government, each state, and in each territory the Congress of the United States, is mandated to establish and forever maintain a system of free public schools not under the control of any religious sect, sufficiently numerous for the accommodation of all persons between the ages of five and sixteen years for the jurisdiction therein, and every person shall be required to send their child between the ages therein to some school; and each state and territory shall also establish and forever maintain a system of free public libraries, for the perusal of the whole population of the state or territory; and in the case a state shall fail to carry out these provisions, the Congress shall have power to establish therein such a system and cause the same to be maintained at the expense of such State.

This section shall not be construed to deny states, or the Congress of the United States, the power to establish or maintain additional educational institutions.

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Constitution of the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred Eighty Eight.

Neither the United States nor any State shall assume debts incurred or hereafter incurred in aid of insurrection or war against the United States, nor shall they make payment of claims to any disloyal persons, or for emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State or City to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall take and be bound by the following Oath or Affirmation:

"I, A. B., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am well acquainted with the Constitution of the United States, adopted in the year eighteen hundred and ninety two; that I have never voluntarily borne arms against the constitutionally elected and recognized authority of the United States since I have been a citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility thereto; that I have neither sought nor accepted nor attempted to exercise the functions of any office whatever, under any authority or pretended authority in hostility to the constitutionally elected and recognized authority of the United States; that I have not yielded a voluntary support to any pretended government, authority, power or constitution within the constitutionally elected and recognized authority of the United States, hostile or inimical thereto. And I do further swear (or affirm) that, to the best of my knowledge and ability, I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter."

Provided, that if such Persons have been granted amnesty by Act of Congress, they may substitute the first sentence of the previous Oath or Affirmation with an Oath or Affirmation that they have received and accepted Amnesty from the constitutionally elected and recognized authority of the United States; and that they have neither sought nor accepted nor attempted to exercise the functions of any office whatever, under any authority or pretended authority in hostility to the constitutionally elected and recognized authority of the United States.

The Congress, whenever three fifths of the House of Representatives and the Senate shall deem it necessary, may propose Amendments to this Constitution, or may call a Convention for proposing Amendments, and shall be required to call such a Convention on the application of the legislatures of any number of States, embracing three fifths of the enumerated population of the several States, and Amendments proposed in either case shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures, or else approved and ratified by a majority of electors voting thereon, of three fifths of the several States, qualified to vote for Representatives in Congress, in several States representing a majority of the population of the United States; Provided that no Amendment which may be made shall in any Manner affect the United States' free, democratic, republican form of government.

The Ratification of the Conventions, or Legislatures, or the People in popular Plebiscite, of twenty-five States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.

Done by the Delegates of the People of the United States of America in Convention Assembled, in the City of Washington, on the Eighth of April, in the Year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one.