as there are Judges thereof. The said Judges shall choose from their own number a presiding Judge, who may be removed at their pleasure. He shall distribute the business of the Court among the Judges thereof, and prescribe the order of business. The judgments, orders, and proceedings of any session of the Superior Court, held by any one or more of the Judges of said Courts, respectively, shall be equally effectual, as if all the Judges of said respective Courts presided at such session. In each of the Counties of Sacramento, San Joaquin, Los Angeles, Sonoma, Santa Clara, and Alameda there shall be elected two such Judges. The term of office of Judges of the Superior Courts shall be six years from and after the first Monday of January next succeeding their election; provided, that the twelve Judges of the Superior Court elected in the City and County of San Francisco, at the first election held under this Constitution, shall at their first meeting so classify themselves, by lot, that four of them shall go out of office at the end of two years, and four of them shall go out of office at the end of four years, and four of them shall go out of office at the end of six years, and an entry of such classification shall be made in the minutes of the Court, signed by them, and a duplicate thereof filed in the office of the Secretary of State. The first election of Judges of the Superior Courts shall take place at the first general election held after the adoption and ratification of this Constitution. If a vacancy occur in the office of Judge of a Superior Court, the Governor shall appoint a person to hold the office until the election and qualification of a Judge to fill the vacancy, which election shall take place at the next succeeding general election, and the Judge so elected shall hold office for the remainder of the unexpired term.

SEC. 7. In any county, or city and county, other than the City and County of San Francisco, in which there shall be more than one Judge of the Superior Court, the Judges of such Court may hold as many sessions of said Court at the same time as there are Judges thereof, and shall apportion the business among themselves as equally as may be.

SEC. 8. A Judge of any Superior Court may hold a Superior Court in any county, at the request of a Judge of the Superior Court thereof, and upon request of the Governor it shall be his duty so to do. But a cause in a Superior Court may be tried by a Judge pro tempore, who must be a member of the bar, agreed upon in writing by the parties litigant or their attorneys of record, approved by the Court, and sworn to try the cause.

SEC. 9. The Legislature shall have no power to grant leave of absence to any judicial officer; and any such officer who shall absent himself from the State for more than sixty consecutive days shall be deemed to have forfeited his office. The Legislature of the State may, at any time, two-thirds of the members of the Senate and two-thirds of the members of the Assembly voting therefor, increase or diminish the number of Judges of the Superior Court in any county, or city and county, in the State; provided, that no such reduction shall affect any Judge who has been elected.

SEC. 10. Justices of the Supreme Court and Judges of the Superior Courts may be removed by concurrent resolution of both Houses of the Legislature, adopted by a two-thirds vote of each house. All other judicial officers, except

Justices of the Peace, may be removed by the Senate on the recommendation of the Governor, but no removal shall be made by virtue of this section, unless the cause thereof be entered on the Journal, nor unless the party complained of has been served with a copy of the complaint against him, and shall have had an opportunity of being heard in his defence. On the question of removal, the ayes and noes shall be entered on the Journal.

SEC. 11. The Legislature shall determine the number of Justices of the Peace to be elected in townships, incorporated cities and towns, or cities and counties, and shall fix by law the powers, duties, and responsibilities of Justices of the Peace; provided, such powers shall not in any case trench upon the jurisdiction of the several Courts of record, except that said Justices shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the Superior Courts in cases of forcible entry and detainer, where the rental value does not exceed twenty-five dollars per month, and where the whole amount of damages claimed does not exceed two hundred dollars, and in cases to enforce and foreclose liens on personal property when neither the amount of the liens nor the value of the property amounts to three hundred dollars.

SEC. 12. The Supreme Court, the Superior Courts, and such other Courts as the Legislature may prescribe, shall be Courts of record.

SEC. 13. The Legislature shall fix by law the jurisdiction of any inferior Courts which may be established in pursuance of section one of this article, and shall fix by law the powers, duties, and responsibilities of the Judges thereof.

SEC. 14. The Legislature shall provide for the election of a Clerk of the Supreme Court, and shall fix by law his duties and compensation, which compensation shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which he shall have been elected. The County Clerks shall be ex officio Clerks of the Courts of record in and for their respective counties, or cities and counties. The Legislature may also provide for the appointment, by the several Superior Courts, of one or more Commissioners in their respective counties, or cities and counties, with authority to perform chamber business of the Judges of the Superior Courts, to take depositions and perform such other business connected with the administration of justice as may be prescribed by law.

SEC. 15. No judicial officer, except Justices of the Peace and Court Commissioners, shall receive to his own use any fees or perquisites of office.

SEC. 16. The Legislature shall provide for the speedy publication of such opinions of the Supreme Court as it may deem expedient, and all opinions shall be free for publication by any person.

SEC. 17. The Justices of the Supreme Court and Judges of the Superior Courts shall severally, at stated times during their continuance in office, receive for their services a compensation which shall not be increased or diminished after their election, nor during the term for which they shall have been elected. The salaries of the Justices of the Supreme Court shall be paid by the State. One-half of the salary of each Superior Court Judge shall be paid by the State; the other half thereof shall be paid by the county for which he is elected. During the term of the first Judges elected under this Con

stitution, the annual salaries of the Justices of the Supreme Court shall be six thousand dollars each. Until otherwise changed by the Legislature, the Superior Court Judges shall receive an annual salary of three thousand dollars each, payable monthly, except the Judges of the City and County of San Francisco, and the Counties of Alameda, San Joaquin, Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Yuba and Sutter combined, Sacramento, Butte, Nevada, and Sonoma, who shall receive four thousand dollars each.

SEC. 18. The Justices of the Supreme Court and Judges of the Superior Courts shall be ineligible to any other office or public employment than a judicial office or employment during the term for which they shall have been elected.

SEC. 19. Judges shall not charge juries with respect to matters of fact, but may state the testimony and declare the law.

SEC. 20. The style of all process shall be, "The People of the State of California," and all prosecutions shall be conducted in their name and by their authority.

SEC. 21. The Justices shall appoint a Reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court, who shall hold his office and be removable at their pleasure. He shall receive an annual salary not to exceed twenty-five hundred dollars, payable monthly.

SEC. 22. No Judge of a Court of record shall practise law in any Court of this State during his continuance in office.

SEC. 23. No one shall be eligible to the office of Justice of the Supreme Court, or to the office of Judge of a Superior Court, unless he shall have been admitted to practise before the Supreme Court of the State.

SEC. 24. No Judge of a Superior Court, nor of the Supreme Court, shall, after the first day of July one thousand eight hundred and eighty, be allowed to draw or receive any monthly salary unless he shall take and subscribe to an affidavit before an officer entitled to administer oaths, that no cause in his Court remains undecided that has been submitted for decision for the period of ninety days.

ARTICLE VII

PARDONING POWER

SECTION 1. The Governor shall have the power to grant reprieves, pardons, and commutations of sentence, after conviction, for all offences except treason and cases of impeachment, upon such conditions, and with such restrictions and limitations, as he may think proper, subject to such regulations as may be provided by law relative to the manner of applying for pardons. Upon conviction for treason, the Governor shall have power to suspend the execution of the sentence until the case shall be reported to the Legislature at its next meeting, when the Legislature shall either pardon, direct the execution of the sentence, or grant a further reprieve. The Governor shall communicate to the Legislature, at the beginning of every session, every case of reprieve or pardon granted, stating the name of the convict, the crime for which he was

convicted, the sentence, its date, the date of the pardon or reprieve, and the reasons for granting the same. Neither the Governor nor the Legislature shall have power to grant pardons, or commutations of sentence, in any case where the convict has been twice convicted of felony, unless upon the written recommendation of a majority of the Judges of the Supreme Court.

ARTICLE VIII

MILITIA

SECTION 1. The Legislature shall provide, by law, for organizing and disciplining the militia, in such manner as it may deem expedient, not incompatible with the Constitution and laws of the United States. Officers of the militia shall be elected or appointed in such manner as the Legislature shall, from time to time, direct, and shall be commissioned by the Governor. The Governor shall have power to call forth the militia to execute the laws of the State, to suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.

SEC. 2. All military organizations provided for by this Constitution, or any law of this State, and receiving State support, shall, while under arms, either for ceremony or duty, carry no device, banner, or flag of any State or nation, except that of the United States or the State of California.

ARTICLE IX

EDUCATION

SECTION 1. A general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence being essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people, the Legislature shall encourage by all suitable means the promotion of intellectual, scientific, moral, and agricultural improvement.

SEC. 2. A Superintendent of Public Instruction shall, at each gubernatorial election after the adoption of this Constitution, be elected by the qualified electors of the State. He shall receive a salary equal to that of the Secretary of State, and shall enter upon the duties of his office on the first Monday after the first day of January next succeeding his election.

SEC. 3. A Superintendent of Schools for each county shall be elected by the qualified electors thereof at each gubernatorial election; provided, that the Legislature may authorize two or more counties to unite and elect one Superintendent for the counties so uniting.

SEC. 4. The proceeds of all lands that have been or may be granted by the United States to this State for the support of common schools, which may be, or may have been, sold or disposed of, and the five hundred thousand acres of land granted to the new States under an Act of Congress distributing the proceeds of the public lands among the several States of the Union, approved A.D. one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, and all estates of deceased persons who may have died without leaving a will or heir, and also such per cent as may be granted, or may have been granted, by Congress

on the sale of lands in this State, shall be and remain a perpetual fund, the interest of which, together with all the rents of the unsold lands and such other means as the Legislature may provide, shall be inviolably appropriated to the support of common schools throughout the State.

SEC. 5. The Legislature shall provide for a system of common schools by which a free school shall be kept up and supported in each district at least six months in every year, after the first year in which a school has been established.

SEC. 6. The public school system shall include primary and grammar schools, and such high schools, evening schools, normal schools, and technical schools, as may be established by the Legislature, or by municipal or district authority; but the entire revenue derived from the State School Fund, and the State school tax, shall be applied exclusively to the support of primary and grammar schools.

SEC. 7. The Governor, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Principals of the State Normal Schools, shall constitute the State Board of Education, and shall compile, or cause to be compiled, and adopt a uniform series of text-books for use in the common schools throughout the State. The State Board may cause such text-books, when adopted, to be printed and published by the Superintendent of State Printing, at the State Printing Office, and when so printed and published, to be distributed and sold at the cost price of printing, publishing, and distributing the same. The text-books so adopted shall continue in use not less than four years; and said State Board shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law. The Legislature shall provide for a Board of Education in each county in the State. The County Superintendents and the County Boards of Education shall have control of the examination of teachers and the granting of teachers' certificates within their respective jurisdictions. [Amendment adopted November 4, 1884.]

SEC. 8. No public money shall ever be appropriated for the support of any sectarian or denominational school, or any school not under the exclusive control of the officers of the public schools; nor shall any sectarian or denominational doctrine be taught, or instruction thereon be permitted, directly or indirectly, in any of the common schools of this State.

SEC. 9. The University of California shall constitute a public trust, and its organization and government shall be perpetually continued in the form and character prescribed by the organic Act creating the same, passed March twenty-third, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight (and the several Acts amendatory thereof), subject only to such legislative control as may be necessary to ensure compliance with the terms of its endowments and the proper investment and security of its funds. It shall be entirely independent of all political or sectarian influence, and kept free therefrom in the appointment of its Regents, and in the administration of its affairs; provided, that all the moneys derived from the sale of the public lands donated to this State by Act of Congress, approved July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two (and the several Acts amendatory thereof), shall be invested as provided by