two, and until a successor be duly qualified; and on the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, shall be the first election for sheriff in Sussex County, under this amended constitution. And the term of the present coroner for Sussex County is hereby extended to the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, and until a successor shall be duly qualified; and on the said last-mentioned day shall be the first election for coroner in Sussex County under this amended constitution.

The terms of the present sheriffs and coroners for Kent County and New Castle County are hereby extended to the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, and until successors to them respectively be duly qualified; and on or after the first Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, the governor shall have power to appoint a sheriff and a coroner for New Castle County, and a sheriff and coroner for Kent County, to continue in office until the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, and until successors to them respectively be duly qualified. And on the said last-mentioned day shall be the first election for sheriff and for coroner in New Castle County and in Kent County under this amended constitution, unless a vacancy happen in the office of sheriff or coroner of New Castle or Kent County, or of coroner for Sussex County, before the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two; in which case an election shall be held on that day for a sheriff or a coroner under this amended constitution, in place of the sheriff or coroner whose office had become vacant.

SEC. 3. The first election for representatives under this amended constitution shall be held on the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, which shall be the commencement of biennial elections. At this election one senator shall be chosen in each county for four years. Also, at the biennial election to be held in the several counties on the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, two senators in each county will eight hundred and thirty-four, two senators shall be chosen in each county for four years each. But as the term of one senator in each county will expire on the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, when no election will be held to provide for this special case, a senator shall be chosen in each county, at the election held on the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, for one year, to succeed the senator for such county whose term shall expire on the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, and to continue in office until the second Tuesday in November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, when two senators shall be chosen in each county as afore provided.

SEC. 4. The term of office of the present governor shall not be vacated nor extended by amendment made to the constitution in this convention; but the said office shall continue during the original term thereof; but the ninth and fourteenth sections of the third article of

this constitution shall be immediately in force as amended. An election for governor shall be held on the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two. SEC. 5. This constitution as amended, so far as shall concern the judicial department, shall commence and be in operation from and after the third Tuesday of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two. All the courts of justice now existing shall continue with their present jurisdiction, and the chancellor and judges and the clerks of the said courts shall continue in office until the said third Tuesday of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two; upon which day the said courts shall be abolished, and the offices of the said chancellor, judges, and clerks shall expire. All writs of error and appeals and proceedings which, on the third Tuesday of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, shall be depending in the high court of errors and appeals, and all the books, records, and papers of said court, shall be transferred to the court of errors and appeals established by this amended constitution; and the said writs of errors, appeals, and proceedings shall be proceeded in, in the said court of errors and appeals, to final judgment, decree, or other determination.

All suits, proceedings, and matters which, on the third Tuesday of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, shall be depending in the supreme court, or court of common pleas, and all books, records, and papers of the said courts, shall be transferred to the superior court established by this amended constitution, and the said suits, proceedings, and matters shall be proceeded in to final judgment or determination in the said superior court. All indictments, proceedings, and matters which, on the third Tuesday of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, shall be depending in the court of general quarter sessions of the peace and jail-delivery, shall be transferred to and proceeded in to final judgment and determination in the court of general sessions of the peace and jail-delivery established by this amended constitution, and all books, records, and papers of said court of general quarter sessions of the peace and jail-delivery shall be transferred to the said court of general sessions of the peace and jaildelivery. All suits, proceedings, and matters which, on the third Tuesday of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, shall be depending in the court of chancery or in the orphans court, and all records, books, and papers of said courts, respectively, shall be transferred to the court of chancery or orphans' court, respectively, established by this amended constitution, and the said suits, proceedings, and matters shall proceed in to final decree, order, or other determination.

SEC. 6. The registers' courts and justices of the peace shall not be affected by any amendments of the constitution made in this convention; but the said courts and the terms of office of registers and justices of the peace shall remain the same as if said amendments had not been made.

SEC. 7. The general assembly shall have power to make any law necessary to carry into effect this amended constitution.

SEC. 8. The provision in the twentieth section of the sixth article of this amended constitution (being the thirtieth section of the sixth

article of the original constitution) of limitation of writs of error, shall have relation to, and take date from, the twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, the date of said original constitution.

SEC. 9. The governor shall have power to issue writs of election to supply vacancies in either house of the general assembly that have happened or may happen.

SEC. 10. It is declared that nothing in this amended constitution gives a writ of error from the court of errors and appeals to the court of over and terminer, or court of general sessions of the peace and jail-delivery, nor an appeal from the court of general sessions of the peace and jail-delivery.

The acts of the general assembly, increasing the number of justices of the peace, shall remain in force until repealed by the general assembly; and no office shall be vacated by the amendment to this constitution, unless the same be expressly vacated thereby, or the vacating the same is necessary to give effect to the amendments.

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF 1831

(Ratified January 30, 1855)

ART. IV. SECTION 1. Strike out the date, and insert" on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November of the year;" so that it will read:

"All elections for governor, senators, representatives, sheriffs, and coroners shall be held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November of the year in which they are to be held, and be by ballot."

(Ratified January 28, 1875)

ARTICLE 1. Add SEC. 17. The legislature shall have power to enact a general incorporation act to provide incorporation for religious, charitable, literary, and manufacturing purposes, for the preservation of animal and vegetable food, building and loan associations, and for draining low lands; and no attempt shall be made, in such act or otherwise, to limit or qualify the power of revocation reserved to the legislature in this section.

CONSTITUTION OF DELAWARE-1897 *

We the people, hereby ordain and establish this constitution of government for the State of Delaware.

PREAMBLE

Through Divine goodness, all men have by nature the rights of worshiping and serving their Creator according to the dictates of their consciences, of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring and protecting reputation and property, and in general of attaining objects suitable to their condition, without injury by one to

* Constitution of the State of Delaware. Adopted in Convention June 4th, A. D. 1897. Published by the Secretary of State, by authority of a resolution of the constitutional convention. Republished by Joseph L. Cahall, Secretary of State. Press of the Delawarean, Dover, Delaware. 50 pp.

another; and as these rights are essential to their welfare, for the due exercise thereof, power is inherent in them; and therefore all just authority in the institutions of political society is derived from the people, and established with their consent, to advance their happiness; and they may for this end, as circumstances require, from time to time, alter their Constitution of government.

ARTICLE I

BILL OF RIGHTS

SECTION 1. Although it is the duty of all men frequently to assemble together for the public worship of Almighty God; and piety and morality, on which the prosperity of communities depends, are thereby promoted; yet no man shall or ought to be compelled to attend any religious worship, to contribute to the erection or support of any place of worship, or to. the maintenance of any ministry, against his own free will and consent; and no power shall or ought to be vested in or assumed by any magistrate that shall in any case interfere with, or in any manner control the rights of conscience, in the free exercise of religious worship, nor a preference given by law to any religious societies, denominations, or modes of worship.

SECTION 2. No religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, under this State.

SECTION 3. All elections shall be free and equal.
SECTION 4. Trial by jury shall be as heretofore.

SECTION 5. The press shall be free to every citizen who undertakes to examine the official conduct of men acting in a public capacity; and any citizen may print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. In prosecutions for publications, investigating the proceedings of officers, or where the matter published is proper for public information, the truth thereof may be given in evidence; and in all indictments for libels the jury may determine the facts and the law, as in other cases.

SECTION 6. The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers and possessions, from unreasonable searches and seizures; and no warrant to search any place, or to seize any person or thing, shall issue without describing them as particularly as may be; nor then, unless there be probable cause supported by oath or affirmation. SECTION 7. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused hath a right to be heard by himself and his counsel, to be plainly and fully informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him, to meet the witnesses in their examination face to face, to have compulsory process in due time, on application by himself, his friends or counsel, for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury; he shall not be compelled to give evidence against himself, nor shall he be deprived of life, liberty or property, unless by the judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

SECTION 8. No person shall for any indictable offence be proceeded against criminally by information, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger; and no person shall be for the same offence twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall any man's property

be taken or applied to public use without the consent of his representatives, and without compensation being made.

SECTION 9. All courts shall be open; and every man for an injury done him in his reputation, person, movable or immovable possessions, shall have remedy by the due course of law, and justice administered according to the very right of the cause and the law of the land, without sale, denial, or unreasonable delay or expense; and every action shall be tried in the county in which it shall be commenced, unless when the judges of the court in which the cause is to be tried shall determine that an impartial trial thereof cannot be had in that county. Suits may be brought against the State, according to such regulations as shall be made by law.

SECTION 10. No power of suspending laws shall be exercised but by authority of the General Assembly.

SECTION 11. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel punishments inflicted; and in the construction of jails a proper regard shall be had to the health of prisoners.

SECTION 12. All prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, unless for capital offences when the proof is positive or the presumption great; and when persons are confined on accusation for such offences their friends and counsel may at proper seasons have access to them.

SECTION 13. 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.

SECTION 14. No commission of oyer and terminer, or jail delivery, shall be issued.

SECTION 15. No attainder shall work corruption of blood, nor except during the life of the offender forfeiture of estate. The estates of those who destroy their own lives shall descend or vest as in case of natural death, and if any person be killed by accident no forfeiture shall thereby be incurred.

SECTION 16. Although disobedience to laws by a part of the people, upon suggestions of impolicy or injustice in them, tends by immediate effect and the influence of example not only to endanger the public welfare and safety, but also in governments of a republican form contravenes the social principles of such governments, founded on common consent for common good:/yet the citizens have a right in an orderly manner to meet together, and to apply to persons intrusted with the powers of government, for redress of grievances or other proper purposes, by petition, remonstrance or address.

SECTION 17. No standing army shall be kept up without the consent of the General Assembly, and the military shall in all cases and at all times be in strict subordination to the civil power.

SECTION 18. No soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war but by a civil magistrate, in manner to be prescribed by law.

SECTION 19. No hereditary distinction shall be granted, nor any office created or exercised, the appointment to which shall be for a longer term than during good behaviour; and no person holding any office under this State shall accept of any office or title of any kind whatever from any king, prince, or foreign State.

We declare that every thing in this article is reserved out of the general powers of government hereinafter mentioned.