to the house in which it originated, and the house is properly notified that it is a message from the governor, neither the house nor the speaker can prevent its effect by refusing to receive it. The duty of the governor is performed when he returns the bill, with his objections, to the house in which the bill originated, and gives them proper notice, whether it is received or not. Nor are we by any means prepared to say that the legislative day was ended necessarily by the adjournment of the house, even though it might have been at the usual hour in the afternoon; or that the return of the bill at any convenient time during the day to the speaker, although after the house adjourned for the day, would not have been sufficient. The provision of the Constitution in relation to this subject should receive a reasonable construction, and it can hardly be supposed that the time limited for the return of the bill has expired because that branch of the legislature in which the bill originated has adjourned for the day, if the five days limited by the Constitution have not expired. The word 'day' in its common acceptation, means a civil day of twenty-four hours, beginning and ending at midnight.'

The governor has absolute control of a bill during the ten days, subject only to its recall, with his permission, by the legislature. If a bill is inadvertently signed, or if, having signed it, the governor should conclude not to approve it, it is under his control until delivered to the secretary of state, and he may rescind his action or erase his signature. This subject was considered in People ex rel. Lanphier v. Hatch (1857) 19 Ill. 283, where the court say that "the governor may, within the period fixed by the Constitution, deliberate as to the propriety of approving an act of the general assembly, and may sign such act and erase his signature thereto at pleasure; and until it has passed his control by the constitutional and cus

tomary modes of legislation, he may reconsider and retract any approval previously made. If the governor shall deposit an act of the general assembly, approved by him, with the secretary of state, it is then beyond his further action, although his approval was put to the act by mistake. The fact that the governor has inadvertently placed his approval and name to an act of the general assembly, which signing and approving has been announced by his private secretary in his routine of business, but without the knowledge of the governor, does not deprive the governor of his privilege of striking his approval from the act, if the bill remains in his custody. A power to rectify an error at the proper time exists with all departments of the government."

In the chapter on the Convention of 1867 I have given a summary of the discussion on the proposition submitted by Thomas G. Alvord to give the governor power to veto separate items in the appropriation and supply bills. That Convention did not adopt the proposition. It was renewed by Governor Hoffman in his message of 1872, and acted upon by the commission created that year to recommend constitutional amendments. The authority conferred on the governor to veto separate items in appropriation bills was included in the amendments of 1874. The constitutional provision is not limited to the regular appropriation and supply bills, but embraces any bill containing several appropriations of money.

The thirty day period was established by an amendment adopted in 1874. The history of the causes which led to the adoption of this rule will be found in an article on the thirty day period, in the chapter on the Convention of 1867. It will there be seen that, beginning soon after 1846, the governor gradually, and with increasing frequency, asserted the power to approve bills after the adjournment of the legislature. This power was sus

tained in People v. Bowen (1860) 21 N. Y. 517, which is also cited in the article above mentioned. The executive custom of prolonging the consideration of bills several months after the legislature adjourned suggested the establishment of a fixed rule, resulting in the thirty day period prescribed by the amendment of 1874. It will be observed that the provision relating to thirty day bills gives the governor absolute control of all such bills, and consequently he alone can determine whether a bill left in his hands by the legislature on its adjournment shall become a law; but no bill can become a law during this period without the governor's positive approval, thus reversing the situation which exists during the ten day period, for by his mere omission to act upon a bill it becomes a law at the expiration of that time. While the legislature is in session the governor's power over legislation is qualified, because the legislature may pass a bill over his veto; but after the adjournment his power is absolute. His failure to sign a thirty day bill is an implied veto, for it indicates his disapproval of the

measure.

The governor sometimes deems it proper to state his reasons for the approval of a bill. This is done in the form of a memorandum accompanying the bill. A similar memorandum is sometimes made on a ten day bill which the governor is unwilling to approve, but which he permits to become a law without his approval. A veto memorandum is also often made in connection with a thirty day bill which is not approved; the legislature not being in session, the governor's reasons cannot be communicated to that body, but they are given to the public through the memorandum. Thus the governor, by veto messages and memorandums, communicates to the people of the state his views regarding particular bills, and endeavors to meet the responsibility and perform the duty

devolved upon him by the Constitution as a part of the lawmaking power of the state.

The chapter number of a bill is usually assigned in the executive chamber when the bill is approved. The bill, when signed by the governor and finally acted upon by him, is delivered to the secretary of state, there to be kept as a part of the records of his office. The legislative law, § 42, provides that

"Every concurrent resolution upon its passage, and every bill upon its becoming a law, with the certificate of the presiding officer of each house appended thereto, shall be deposited with the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall forthwith upon such deposit indorse upon each bill his certificate of the day, month, and year it was filed in his office, and his certificate to such effect shall be presumptive evidence thereof. The secretary

of state shall cause the original laws and concurrent resolutions passed at each session to be bound together in a volume of convenient size to be kept in his office. He shall compare with the original a volume of the printed laws, and having noted therein at the end of each law or resolution any error in the printed volume, shall deposit such printed volume with the original volume in his office. Each such volume shall be lettered on its back with its title and the session at which the laws were passed."

ARTICLE V.

[STATE OFFICERS; CIVIL SERVICE.]

1. [State officers, election and compensation.]-The secretary of state, comptroller, treasurer, attorney general, and state engineer and surveyor shall be chosen at a general election, at the times and places of electing the

governor and lieutenant governor, and shall hold their offices for two years, except as provided in section two of this article. Each of the officers in this article named, excepting the speaker of the assembly, shall, at stated times during his continuance in office, receive for his services a compensation which shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which he shall have been elected; nor shall he receive to his use any fees or perquisites of office or other compensation. No person shall be elected to the office of state engineer and surveyor who is not a practical civil engineer.

[Const. 1777, art. 23; 1821, art. 4, § 6; 1846, art. 5, §§ 1, 2.]

A sketch of the offices mentioned in this section will be found in the chapter on the Commission of 1872.

"The prohibition against fees, perquisites, or other compensation is absolute." The power to receive compensation is attached to the office and is a perquisite of the office. The Code of Civil Procedure, § 1986, which requires the attorney general to obtain security for costs in certain actions to be commenced by him, and which provides that "where security is so given, the attorney general is entitled to compensation for his services, to be paid by the relator, in like manner as the attorney and counsel for a private person," is unconstitutional. People ex rel. Gould v. Mutual U. Teleg. Co. (1882) 2 N. Y. Civ. Proc. Rep. 295, Special Term, per Arnoux, J.

§ 2. [First election under this Constitution.] The first election of the secretary of state, comptroller, treasurer, attorney general, and state engineer and surveyor, pursuant to this article, shall be held in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-five, and their terms of office shall begin on the first day of January following, and shall be for three years. At the general election in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, and every two years