favor thereof, the Governor shall, by his proclamation, declare the said amendment or amendments, having received said majority of votes, to have been adopted by the people of Maryland as part of the Constitution thereof, and thenceforth said amendment or amendments shall be part of the said Constitution. When two or more amendments shall be submitted, in manner aforesaid, to the voters of this State at the same election, they shall be so submitted as that each amendment shall be voted on separately. Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide by law for taking, at the general election to be held in the year eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and every twenty years thereafter, the sense of the people in regard to calling a convention for altering this Constitution; and if a majority of voters at such election or elections shall vote for a convention, the General Assembly, at its next session, shall provide by law for the assembling of such convention, and for the election of delegates thereto. Each county and legislative district of the city of Baltimore shall have in such convention a number of delegates equal to its representation in both houses at the time at which the convention is called. But any Constitution, or change or amendment of the existing Constitution, which may be adopted by such convention shall be submitted to the voters of this State, and shall have no effect unless the same shall have been adopted by a majority of the voters voting thereon. ARTICLE XV. Section 1. Every person holding any office created by or existing under the Constitution or laws of the State (except justices of the peace, constables and coroners), or holding any appointment under any court of this State, whose pay or compensation is derived from fees or moneys coming into his hands for the discharge of his official duties, or in any way, growing out of or connected with his office, shall keep a book in which shall be entered every sum or sums of money received by him, or on his account, as a payment or compensation for his performance of official duties, a copy of which entries in said book, verified by the oath of the officer by whom it is directed to be kept, shall be returned yearly to the Comptroller of the State for his inspection, and that of the General Assembly of the State, to which the Comptroller shall, at each regular session thereof, make a report showing what officers have complied with this section; and each of the said officers, when the amount received by him for the year shall exceed the sum which he is by law entitled to retain as his salary or compensation for the discharge of his duties, and for the expenses of his office, shall yearly pay over to the Treasurer of the State the amount of such excess, subject to such disposition thereof as the General Assembly may direct; if any of such officers shall fail to comply with the requisitions of this section for the period of thirty days after the expiration of each and every year of his office, such officer shall be deemed to have vacated his office, and the Governor shall declare the same vacant, and the vacancy therein shall be filled as in case of vacancy for any other cause, and such officer shall be subject to suit by the State for the amount that ought to be paid into the treasury; and no person holding any office created by or existing under this Constitution or laws of the State, or holding any appointment under any court in this State, shall receive more than three thousand dollars a year as a compensation for the discharge of his official duties, except in cases specially provided in this Constitution. Sec. 2. The several courts existing in this State at the time of the adoption of this Constitution shall, until superseded under its provisions, continue with like powers and jurisdiction, and in the exercise thereof, both at law and in equity, in all respects as if this Constitution had not been adopted; and when said courts shall be so superseded, all causes then depending in said courts shall pass into the jurisdiction of several courts, by which they may be respectively superseded. Sec. 3. The Governor, and all officers, civil and military, now holding office under this State, whether by election or appointment, shall continue to hold, exercise and discharge the duties of their offices (unless inconsistent with, or otherwise provided in this Constitution) until they shall be superseded under its provisions, and until their successors shall be duly qualified. Sec. 4. If at any election directed by this Constitution, any two or more candidates shall have the highest and an equal number of votes, a new election shall be ordered by the Governor, except in cases specially provided by this Constitution. Sec. 5. In the trial of all criminal cases, the jury shall be the judges of law, as well as of fact. Sec. 6. The right of trial by jury of all issues of fact in civil proceedings in the several courts of law in this State, where the amount in controversy exceeds the sum of five dollars, shall be inviolably preserved. Sec. 7. All general elections in this State shall be held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November, in the year in which they shall occur; and the first election of all officers, who, under this Constitution, are required to be elected by the people, shall, except in cases herein spcially provided for, be held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday of November, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-seven. Sec. 8. The sheriffs of the several counties of this State, and of the city of Baltimore, shall give notice of the several elections authorized by this Constitution, in the manner prescribed by existing laws for elections to be held in this State, until said laws shall be changed. Sec. 9. The terms of office of all judges and other officers, for whose election provision is made by this Constitution, shall, except in cases otherwise expressly provided herein, commence from the time of their election; and all such other officers shall qualify as soon after their election as practicable, and shall enter upon the duties of their respective offices immediately upon their qualification; and the term of office of the State Librarian and of commissioner of the land office shall commence from the time of their appointment. Sec. 10. Any officer elected or appointed in pursuance of the provisions of this Constitution, may qualify, either according to the existing provisions of law, in relation to officers under the present Constitution, or before the Governor of the State, or before any clerk of any Court of Record in any part of the State; but in case an officer shall qualify out of the county in which he resides, an official copy of his oath shall be filed and recorded in the clerk's office of the Circuit Court for the county in which he may reside, or in the clerk's office of the Superior Court of the city of Baltimore, if he shall reside therein. VOTE ON THE CONSTITUTION. For the purpose of ascertaining the sense of the people of this State in regard to the adoption or rejection of this Constitution, the Governor shall issue his proclamation within five days after the adjournment of this convention, directed to the sheriffs of the city of Baltimore and of the several counties of this State, commanding them to give notice, in the manner now prescribed by law in reference to the election of members of the House of Delegates, that an election for the adoption or rejection of this Constitution will be held in the city of Baltimore, and in the several counties of this State, on Wednesday, the eighteenth day of September, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, at the usual place of holding elections for members of the House of Delegates in said city and counties. At the said election the vote shall be by ballot, and upon each ballot there shall be writ ten or printed the words "For the Constitution," or "Against the Constitution," as the voter may elect; and the provisions of the laws of this State, relating to the holding of general elections for members of the House of Delegates, shall in all respects apply to and regulate the holding of the said election. It shall be the duty of the judges of election in said city and in the several counties of the State to receive, accurately count and duly return the number of ballots so cast for or against the adoption of this Constitution, as well as any blank ballots which may be cast, to the several clerks of the Circuit Courts of this State, and to the clerk of the Superior Court of Baltimore city in the manner now prescribed by law, in reference to the election of members of the House of Delegates, and duplicates thereof directly to the Governor; and the several clerks aforesaid shall return to the Governor, within ten days after said election, the number of ballots cast for or against the Constitution, and the number of blank ballots; and the Governor, upon receiving the returns from the judges of election or the clerks as aforesaid, and ascertaining the aggregate vote throughout the State, shall, by his proclamation, make.known the same; and if a majority of the votes cast shall be for the adoption of this Constitution, it shall go into effect on Saturday, the fifth day of October, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven. Done in convention, the seventeenth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States the ninety-second. RICHARD B. CARMICHAEL, Attest. MILTON Y. KIDD, Secretary. President of the Convention. |