Telegraph and Texas Register (Columbia, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 24, Ed. 1, Tuesday, August 9, 1836 Page: 1 of 4
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T E X A
1ST
VOE. I.
WE GO FOR OUR COUNTRY
NO. 24.
PUBLISHED WEEKLY,
BY G. & T. H. BORDE
.l
COLUMBIA, TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 1836.
TERMS, $5 PER ANN., IN ADVANCE.
ADVERTISING, USUAL PRICES.
CONSTITUTION
OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS.
We, the People of Texas, in order to form a Government,
establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the
common defence and general welfare, and to secure the blessings
of-4iberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish
this Constitution.
ARTICLE I.
Section 1. The powers of tMs Government shall be di-
vided into three departmentsviz : Legislative, Executive and
Judicial, which shall remain' forever separate and distinct.
Sec. 2. The Legislative power shall be vested in a Sen-
ate and House of Representatives, to be styled The Congress
of the Republic of Texas.
Sec- 3. The members of the House of Representatives
shall "be chosen annually, on the first Monday of September
each year, until Congress shall otherwise provide by law, and
shall hold their offices one year from the date of their election.
Sec. 4. No person shall be eligible to a seat in the House of
Representatives until he shall have attained the age of twenty-five
years, shall be a citizen of the Republic, and shall have resided
in the county or district six months next preceding his election.
Seo 5. The House of Representatives shall not consist
o less than twenty-four, nor more than forty members, until the
population shall amount to one hundred thousand souls, after
which time the whole number of Representatives shall not be less
than forty nor more than one hundred: provided, however, that
each countyshall be entitled to at least one Representative.
Sec. S. The House of Representatives shall choose their
speaker and other officers, and shall have the sole power of
impeachment.
y Sec. 7. The Senators shall be chosen by districts, as
fearly equal in free population (free negroes and Indians ex
cepted) as practicable, and the number of Senators shall never
be less than one-third nor more than one-half the number of
Representatives, and each district shall be entitled to one mem-
ber and no more.
Sec 8. The Senators shall be chosen for the term of
three years, on the first Monday in September, shall be citizens
of the Republic, reside in the district for which they are respec-
tively chosen at least one year before the election, and shall
have attained the age of thirty years.
Sec. 9. At the fiist session of the Congress after the
adoption of this Constitution, the Senators shall be divided by
lot into three classes, as nearly equal as practicable; the seats
of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the end of
the first year, of the second class at the end of the second j ear,
the third class at the end of the third year, in such a manner
that one-third shall be chosen each year thereafter.
Sec 10. The Vice President of the Republic shall be
President of the Senate, but shall not vote on any question,
unless the Senate be equally divided.
Sec 11. The Senate shall choose all other officers of
their body, and a President pro tempore, in the absence of the
Vice President, or whenever he shall exercise the office of
President; shall have the sole power to try impeachments, and
when sitting as a court of impeachment, shall be under oath:
but no conviction shall take place without the concurrence of
two-thirds ol all the members present.
Sec 12. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall only
extend to removal from office, and disqualification to hold any
office of honor, trust, or profit under this Government; but the
party shall nevertheless be liable to indictment, trial, judgment
and punishment, according to law.
Sec 13. Each House shall be the judge of the elections,
qualifications and returns of its own members. Two-thirds
of each House shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a
smaller number may adjourn from day to day and may compel
the attendance of absent members.
Sec 14. Each House may determine the rules of its own
proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behaviour, and
with the concurrence of two-thirds, may expel a member, but
not a second time for the same offence.
Sec 15. Senators and Representatives shall receive a
compensation for their services, to be fixed by law, but no in-
crease of compensation, or diminution, shall take effect during
the session at which such increase or diminution shall have been
made. They shall, except in case of treason, felonv or breach
of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of
fTnryiiawi ir i " ., .T r i , n ,. i
jongrefcS, ana in going to anurerauiing irom tnejsgnie; ana ior
any speecn or aeDate in eitner jtiouse, tney snail not De ques-
tioned in any other place.
Sec 16. Each House may punish, by imprisonment, dur-
ing the session any person not a member, who shall be guilty
of any disrespect to the House, by any disorderly conduct in
their presence.
Sec 17. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceed-
ings, and publish the same, except such parts as, in its judgment,
require secrecy. When any three members shall desire the yeas
jand nays on any question, they shall be entered on the journals.
Sec. 18. Neither House, without the consent of the other,
shall adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place
than that in which the two Houses may be sitting.
Sec 19. When vacancies happen in either House, the
Executive shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.
Sec 20. - No bill shall become a law until it shall have
been read on three several days in each House, and passed by
the same, unless, in cases of emergencj, two-thirds of the mem-
bers of the House where the bill originated, shall deem it expe-
dient to dispense with the rule.
Sec 21. After a bill shall have been rejected, no bill
containing the same substance shall be passed into a law during
the same session.
Sec 22. The style of the laws of the Republic shall be
i( Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the Republic of lexas m Congress assembled."
Sec 23. No person holding an office of profit under the
Government shall be eligible to a seat in either House of Con-
gress, nor shall any member of either House be eligible to ani-
onic e which may be created, or the -profits of which shall be
increased during his term of service.
Sec 24. JjLoJiolder of public moaejs, or collector there-
of, shall be eligible to a seat in either House of Congress, until
he shall have fully acquitted himself of all responsibility, and
shall produce the proper officers receipt thereof. Members of
either House may protest against any act or resolution, and may-
have such protest entered on the journals of their respective
Houses.
Sec 25. No money shall be diawn fiom the public trea-
sury but in strict accordance with appropriations made by law;
and no appropriations shall be made for private or local purposes,
unless two-thirds of each House concur in such appropriations.
Sec 26. Every act of Congress shall be approved and
signed by the President before it becomes a law; but if the
President will not approve and sign such act, he shall return it
to the House in which it shall have originated, with his reasons
for not approving the same, which shall be spread upon the
journals of such House, and the bill shall then be reconsidered,
and shall not become a law unless it shall then pass by a vote
of two-thirds of both Houses. If any act shall be disapproved
by the President, the vote on the reconsideration shall be re-
corded by ayes and noes. If the President shall fail to return
a bill within five days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have
been presented for his approval and signature, the same shall
become a law, unless the Congress prevent its return within
the time above specified, by adjournment.
Sec 111. All bills, acts, orders, or resolutions, to which the
concurrence of both Houses may be necessary, (motions or reso
lutions for adjournment excepted,) shall be approved and signed
by the President, or being disapproved, shall be passed by two-
thirds of both Houses, in manner and form as specified in section
twenty.
ARTICLE II.
Sec 1. Congress shall have power to levy and collect
taxes and imposts, excise and tonnage duties, to borrow money
on the faith, credit and property of the Government, to pay the
debts and to provide for the common defence and general wel
fare of the Republic.
Sec 2. To regulate commerce, to coin money, to regu
late the value theieof and of foreign coin, to fix the standard" of
weights and measures, but nothing but gold and silver shall be
made a lawlul tender.
Sec 3. To establish post offices and post roads, to grant
charters of incorporation, patents, and copy-rights and secure
to the authors and inventors the exclusive use thereof for a
limited time.
Sec 4. To declare war, grant lelteis of marque and re
prisal, and to regulate captures.
Sec 5. lo provide and maintain an aimy and navy, and
to make all laws and regulations necessary for their Government.
sec 6. lo call out the militia to execute the law, to
suppress insurrections and repel invasion.
Sec 7. To make all laws which shall be deemed neces-
sary and proper to carry into effect the foregoing express grants
of power, and all other powers vested in the Government of
the Republic, or in any officer or department thereof.
ARTICLE III.
Sec 1. The Executive authority of this Government shall
be vested in a chief magistrate, who shall be styled The Presi-
dent of the Republic of Texas.
Sec 2. The first President elected by the People shall
hold his office for the ternyof two years, and shall be ineligible
during the next succeeding term; and all subsequent Presidents
shall be elected for three years, and be alike ineligible; and
in the event of a tip, the House of Representatives shall deter-
iiunu ueuYctJii me iwu mgiiua iamuuovn a viva voce vote.
Sec 3. The returns of the electionsfor3jBrcoIdont and
Vice President shall be sealed up and transmitted to the Spea
ker of the House of Representatives, by the holders of elections
of each county; and the speaker of the House of Representa
tives shall open and publish the returns, in presence of a
majority of each House of Congress.
ARTICLE IV.
Sec 1. The Judicial powers of the Government shall be
vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the
Congress may, from time to time, ordain and establish. The
judges of the supreme and inferior courts shall hold their offices
for lour years, be eligible to re-election, and shall, at stated
periods, receive for their sendees a compensation not to be
increased or diminished during the period for which the were
elected.
Sec 2. The Republic of Texas shall be divided into
convenient judicial districts, not less than three nor more than
eight. There shall be appointed for each district, a judge, who
shall reside in the same, and hold the courts at such times and
places as Congress may by law direct.
sec 6. In all admiralty and maritime cases, in all cases
affecting ambassadors, public ministers or consuls, and in all capi
tal cases, the district courts shall have exclusive original jurisdic-
tion, and original jurisdiction in all civil cases when the matter in
controversy amounts to one hundred dollars.
Sec 4. The judges, by virtue of their offices, shall be
conservators of the peace, throughout the Republic. The
style of all process shall be, The Republic of Texas; and all
prosecutions shall be earned on in the name and by the autho
rity oi tne same, and conclude, Against the peace and dignity
of the Republic.
Sec 5. There shall be a district attornej appointed for
each district, whose duties, salaries, perquisites and term of ser-
vice shall be fixed by law.
Sec 6. The clerks of the district courts shalr be elected
by the qualified voters for members of Congress in the counties
where the courts are established, and shall hold their offices for
four years, subject to removal by presentment of a grand jury,
and conviction of a petit jury.
Sec 7. The Supreme Court shall consist of a chief jus-
tice and associate judges; the district judges shall compose the
associate judges, a majority of whom, with the chiejusfice,
shall constitute a quoTumT-
Sec 8. The Supreme Court shall have appellate juris
diction only, which shall be conclusive, within the limits of" the
Republic; and shall hold its sessions annually at'such times and
places as may be fixed by law; provided that no judge shall, sit
in a case in the Supreme Court, tried by him in the court below.
Sec 9. The judges of the supreme and district courts
shall be elected by joint ballot of both Houses of Congress.
Sec 10. There shall be in each county, a county court,
and such justices' courts as the Congress may, from time to time,
establish.
Sec 11. The Republic shall be divided into convenient
counties, but no new county shall be established, unless it be
done on the petition of one hundred free male inhabitants of
the territory sought to be laid off and established, and unless
the said territory shall contain nine hundred square miles.
Sec 12. There shall be appointed, for each county, a
convenient number of justices of the peace, one sheriffj one
coroner, and a sufficient number of constables, who shall hold
their offices for two years, to He elected by the qualified voters
of the district or county, as Congress may direct. Justices of
the peace and sheriffs shall be commissioned by the President.
Sec 13. The Congress shall, as early as practicable, in-
troduce, by statute, the common law of England with such
modifications as our circumstances, in their judgment, may re
quire; and in all criminal cases the common law shall be the
rule of decision.
ARTICLE V.
Sec 1. Ministers of the gospel being, by their profession,
dedicated to God and the care of souls, ought not to be diverted
from the great duties of their functions, therefore, no minister
of the gospel or priest of any denomination whatever, shall be
eligible to the office of the Executive of the Republic, nor to a
seat in either branch of the Congress of the same.
Sec Z. Each member of the Senate and House of Re
presentatives shall, before they proceed to business, take an oath
to support the Constitution, as follows :
I. A B, do solemnly swear for affirm, as the case may bej
that, as a member of this General Congress, 1 will support the
Constitution of the Republic, and that I will not propo5f"6r
assent to any bill, vote, or resolution, which shall appear to me
injurious to the People.
Sec 6. Every person who shall be chosen or appomted
to any office of trust or profit shall, before entering on the
duties thereof, take an oath to support the Constitution of the
Republic, and also an oath of office.
ARTICLE VI.
Sec 1. No person shall be eligible to the office of Presi
dent who shall not have attained -the age of thirty-five years,
shall be a citizen of the Republic at the time of the adoption
ol this L-onstitution, or an inhabitant ol this Republic at least
three years immediately prsceding his election.
Sec 2. Ihe President shall enter on the duties of his
office on the second Monday in December next succeeding his
election, ana snail remain in omce until ms successor snail do
duly qualified.
Sec 3. The President shall, at stated times, receive a
compensation for his services, which shall not be increased oi
diminished during his continuance in office; and before entering
upon the duties of his office, he shall take and subscribe the
following oath or affirmation: I, A B, President of the Republic
of Texas, do solemnly and sincerely swear or affirm, as the
case may be that I will faithfully execute the duties of my
office, and to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and de-
fend the Constitution of the Republic.
Sec 4. He shall be commander-in.chief of the army and
navjvc the Republic, and the militia thereof, but he shall not com-
mand in pero.: without the authority of a resolution of Congress.
He shall have power to remit hnes hT forfeitures ,and to grant
reprieves and pardons, except in cases of impeachment.
Sec 5. He shall, with the advice and consent of two-thirds
of the Senate, make treaties ; and with the consent of tlie Senate,
appoint ministers and consuland all officers whose offices are es-
tablished by this Constitution, not herein otherwise provided for.
ec b. Ihe President shall have power to fill all vacan-
cies that may happen during the recess of the Senate; but he
shall report the bame to the Senate within ten days after the
next Congress shall convene; and should the Senate reject the
same, the PresidenFshTrll not re-nominate the same individual to
the same office.
Sec 7. He shall, fiom time to time, give Congress infor- v
mation of the state of the Republic, and recommend for their
consideration, such measures as he may deem necessary. He
may, upon extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses or
either of them. In the event of a disagreement as to the time
of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he may
think proper. He shall receive all foreign ministers. He shall
see that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission
all the officers of the Republic.
Sec 8. There shall be a seal of the Republic, which shall
be kept by the President and used by him officially; it shall be
called the great seal of the Republic of Texas.
Sec 9. All grants and commissions shall be in the name
and by the authority of the Republic of Texas, shall be sealed
with the great seal, and signed by the President.
Sec 10. The President shall have power, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint a Secretary of
State and such other heads of Executive departments as may be
established by law, who shall remain in office during the term
of service.of the President, unless sooner removed by the Pre-
sident, with the advice and consent of the Senate.
rori,rrrp ov im fourth tagf.
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G.& T.H. Borden. Telegraph and Texas Register (Columbia, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 24, Ed. 1, Tuesday, August 9, 1836, newspaper, August 9, 1836; Columbia, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth47873/m1/1/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.