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The parishes of St. Charles and St. John the Baptist shall compose one district, with one Senator.

The parish of St. James shall compose one district, with one Senator.

The parish of Ascension shall compose one district, with one Senator.

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche Interior and Terrebonne shall compose one district, with two Senators.

The parishes of Iberville and West Baton Rouge shall compose one district, with one Senator.

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall compose one district, with one Senator.

The parish of Pointe Coupée shall compose one district, with one Senator. The parish of Avoyelles shall compose one district, with one Senator. The parish of St. Mary shall compose one district, with one Senator. The parish of St. Martin shall compose one district, with one Senator. The parishes of Lafayette and Vermilion shall compose one district, with one Senator.

The parishes of St. Landry and Calcasieu shall compose one district, with two Senators.

The parish of West Feliciana shall compose one district, with one Senator. The parish of East Feliciana shall compose one district, with one Senator. The parishes of St. Helena and Livingston shall compose one district, with One Senator.

The parishes of Washington and St. Tammany shall compose one district, with one Senator.

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas shall compose one district, with one Senator.

The parishes of Carroll and Madison shall compose one district, with one Senator.

The parishes of Jackson, Union, Morehouse and Ouachita shall compose one district, with one Senator.

The parishes of Caldwell, Franklin and Catahoula shall compose one district, with one Senator.

The parish of Rapides shall compose one district, with one Senator.

The parishes of Bossier and Claiborne shall compose one district, with one Senator.

The parish of Natchitoches shall compose one district, with one Senator. The parishes of Sabine, De Soto and Caddo shall compose one district, with one Senator.

ART. 144. In order that no inconvenience may result to the public service from the taking effect of this Constitution, no office shall be superseded thereby, but the laws of the State relative to the duties of the several officers, executive, judicial and military, shall remain in full force, though the same be contrary to

this Constitution, and the several duties shall be performed by the respective officers of the State, according to the existing laws, until the organization of the Government, under this Constitution, and the entering into office of the new officers, to be appointed under said Government, and no longer.

ART. 145. Appointments to office by the executive under this Constitution. shall be made by the Governor to be elected under its authority.

ART. 146. The provisions of article twenty-eight, concerning the inability of members of the Legislature to hold certain offices therein mentioned, shall not be held to apply to the members of the first Legislature elected under this Constitution.

ART. 147. The time of service of all officers chosen by the people, at the first election under this Constitution, shall terminate as though the election had been holden on the first Monday of November, 1845, and they had entered on the discharge of their duties at the time designated therein.

ART. 148. The Legislature shall provide for the removal of all causes now pending in the Supreme or other courts of the State under the Constitution of 1812, to courts created by this Constitution.

ART. 149. Appeals to the Supreme Court from the parishes of Jackson, Union, Morehouse, Catahoula, Caldwell, Ouachita, Franklin, Carroll, Madison, Tensas and Concordia, shall, until otherwise provided for, be returnable to New Orleans.

TITLE X.

ORDINANCE.

ART. 150. Immediately after the adjournment of the Convention, the Governor shall issue his proclamation, directing the several officers of this State authorized by law to hold elections for members of the General Assembly, to open and hold a poll in every parish of the State, at the places designated by law, upon the first Monday of November next, for the purpose of taking the sense of the good people of this State in regard to the adoption or rejection of this Constitution; and it shall be the duty of said officers to receive the votes of all persons entitled to vote under the old Constitution and under this Constitution. Each voter shall express his opinion by depositing in the ballot box a ticket whereon shall be written "The Constitution accepted," or "The Constitution rejected," or some such words as will distinctly convey the intention of the voter. At the conclusion of the said election, which shall be conducted in every respect as the general State election is now conducted, the parish judges and commissioners designated to preside over the same shall carefully examine and count each ballot so deposited, and shall forthwith make due returns thereof to the Secretary of State, in conformity to the provisions of the existing law upon the subject of elections.

ART. 151. Upon the receipt of the said returns, or on the first Monday of December, if the returns be not sooner received, it shall be the duty of the Governor, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General and State Treasurer, in the presence of all such persons as may choose to attend, to compare the votes given at the said poll for the ratification and rejection of this Constitution; and if it shall appear from said returns that a majority of all the votes given are for ratifying this Constitution, then it shall be the duty of the Governor to make proclamation of that fact, and thenceforth this Constitution shall be ordained and established as the Constitution of the State of Louisiana. But whether this Constitution be accepted or rejected, it shall be the duty of the Governor to cause to be published in the State paper the result of the polls, showing the number of votes cast in each parish for and against the said Constitution.

ART. 152. Should this Constitution be accepted by the people, it shall also be the duty of the Governor forthwith to issue his proclamation, declaring the present Legislature, elected under the old Constitution, to be dissolved, and directing the several officers of the State authorized by law to hold elections for members of the General Assembly, to hold an election, at the places designated by law, upon the third Monday in January next (1846), for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, members of the General Assembly, and all other officers whose election is provided for pursuant to the provisions of this Constitution. And the said election shall be conducted, and the returns thereof made, in conformity with existing laws upon the subject of State elections.

ART. 153. The General Assembly elected under this Constitution shall convene at the State House, in the city of New Orleans, upon the second Monday of February next (1846), after the elections; and the Governor and Lieutenant Governor elected at the same time, shall be duly installed in office during the first week of their session, and before it shall be competent for the said General Assembly to proceed with the transaction of business.

Adopted May 14, 1845.

Attest:

JOSEPH WALKER,

President of the Convention. HORATIO DAVIS,

Secretary of the Convention.

CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA OF 1852.

PREAMBLE.

WE, the People of the State of Louisiana, do ordain and establish this. Constitution.

TITLE I.

DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS.

ART. 1. The powers of the Government of the State of Louisiana shall be divided into three distinct departments, and each of them be confided to a separate body of magistracy, to wit: those which are legislative to one; those which are executive to another; and those which are judicial to another.

ART. 2. No one of these departments, nor any person holding office in one of them, shall exercise power properly belonging to either of the others, except in the instances hereinafter expressly directed or permitted

TITLE II.

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.

ART. 3. The legislative power of the State shall be vested in two distinct branches, the one to be styled the "House of Representatives," the other "The Senate," and both, the "General Assembly of the State of Louisiana."

ART. 4. The members of the House of Representatives shall continue in service for the term of two years from the day of the closing of the general elections.

ART. 5. Representatives shall be chosen on the first Monday in November, every two years; and the election shall be completed in one day. The General Assembly shall meet annually, on the third Monday in January, unless a different day be appointed by law, and their sessions shall be held at the seat of Government.

ART. 6. Every duly qualified elector under this Constitution shall be eligible to a seat in the General Assembly; Provided, That no person shall be a Representative or Senator, unless he be at the time of his election a duly qualified voter of the Representative or Senatorial District from which he is elected.

ART. 7. Elections for members of the General Assembly shall be held at the several election precincts established by law. The Legislature may dele

gate the power of establishing election precincts to the parochial or municipal authorities.

ART. 8. Representation in the House of Representatives shall be equal and uniform, and shall be regulated and ascertaised by the total population of each of the several parishes of the State. Each parish shall have at least one Representative. No new parish shall be created with a territory less than six hundred and twenty-five square miles, nor with a population less than the full number entitling it to a Representative, nor when the creation of such new parish would leave any other parish without the said extent of territory and amount of population.

The first enumeration by the State authorities under this Constitution shall be made in the year 1853, the second in the year 1858, the third in the year 1865; after which time the General Assembly shall direct in what manner the census shall be taken, so that it be made at least once in every period of ten years, for the purpose of ascertaining the total population in each parish- and election district.

At the first regular session of the Legislature after the making of each enumeration, the Legislature shall apportion the representation among the several parishes and election districts on the basis of the total population as aforesaid. A representative number shall be fixed, and each parish and election district shall have as many Representatives as its aggregate population shall entitle it to, and an additional Representative for any fraction exceeding one-half the representative number. The number of Representatives shall not be more than one hundred nor less than seventy.

Until an apportionment shall be made, and elections held under the same, in accordance with the first enumeration to be made as directed in this article, the representation in the Senate and House of Representatives shall be and remain as at present established by law.

The limits of the parish of Orleans are hereby extended, so as to embrace the whole of the present city of New Orleans, including that part of the parish of Jefferson, formerly known as the city of Lafayette.

All that part of the parish of Orleans which is situated on the left bank of the Mississippi river, shall be divided by the Legislature into not more than ten Representative Districts, and until a new apportionment shall be made according to the first census to be taken under this Constitution, the part of the city of New Orleans which was comprised within the former limits of the city of Lafayette, shall vote for Senators from the parish of Orleans, and form the Tenth Representative District, and shall elect two out of the three Representatives now apportioned by law to the parish of Jefferson; the other Representative Districts shall remain as they are now established.

ART. 9. The House of Representatives shall choose its Speaker and other officers.

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