such person in said county, shall be a charge against the state, and their payment by the state shall be provided for by law.

[Am. 1874, art. 15, § 4.]

The provision making the expenses in bribery cases a charge against the state does not apply to investigations of the character included in chapter 323, Laws of 1874, under which the expenses incurred in proceedings before the governor for the removal of a county officer are made a county charge, payable on the audit of the board of supervisors. People ex rel. Benner v. Queens County (1886) 39 Hun, 442. This provision in the act of 1874 has been continued in § 230, subd. 16 of the county law (1892, chap. 686).

ARTICLE XIV.

[AMENDMENTS AND CONVENTIONS.]

§ 1. [Legislative amendments.]—Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution may be proposed in the senate and assembly; and if the same shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each of the two houses, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be entered on their journals, and the yeas and nays taken thereon, and referred to the legislature to be chosen at the next general election of senators, and shall be published for three months previous to the time of making such choice; and if, in the legislature so next chosen, as aforesaid, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be agreed to by a majority of all the members elected to each house, then it shall be the duty of the legislature to submit such proposed amendment or amendments to the people for approval in such manner and at such times as the legislature shall prescribe; and if the people shall approve and ratify such amendment or amendments by a majority of

the electors voting thereon, such amendment or amendments shall become a part of the Constitution from and after the first day of January next after such approval.

[Const. 1821, art. 8, § 1; 1846, art. 13, 8 1.]

It has been pointed out in former volumes that the first Constitution contained no provision for its own amendment, nor any provision authorizing a constitutional convention. The difficulties of the situation were appreciated when the Convention of 1801 was called, and again while the legislature was considering the question of holding a convention to revise the Constitution, which became the Convention of 1821. The latter convention authorized legislative amendments, but made no provision for future conventions. This section does not limit the number or character of legislative amendments, and the legislature may undoubtedly propose a new or revised constitution. This result was possible under the authority conferred on the Commission of 1872, which had general power to propose amendments to any part of the Constitution. It might have proposed a new constitution, and did propose numerous amendments to existing provisions, together with several additional sections which introduced new subjects. In the history of that commission the fact has been noted that the legislature considered the propriety of an extra session for the purpose of considering the amendments. Such a session would have been equivalent to a constitutional convention; for while the primary purpose of the session would have been the consideration of amendments proposed by the Commission, the legislature itself might have recommended amendments which did not originate in the Commission. While the legislature might make and propose a new constitution which the people would be bound to accept or reject, such legislative action would not be like

ly to receive popular approval, for the reason that the Constitution provides by the next section a means by which the people have the right to choose a convention for the express purpose of framing a constitution by delegates who would not possess any ordinary legislative power. The legislature is chosen for the purpose of making laws, and the power to propose constitutional amendments is only incidental.

Six

The provision authorizing legislative amendments has now (1905) been in force eighty-two years. Many amendments have been proposed in the legislature; a few have been adopted by two legislatures, and not submitted to the people. Prior to 1905 thirty-four were submitted, besides the amendments of 1874, twenty-eight of which were approved; these appear in the Introduction. were rejected; namely, 1860, extending equal suffrage to colored persons; 1865, commission of appeals; 1892, transferring to courts the power to determine elections of members of the legislature; 1892, additional justices of the supreme court; 1892, authorizing the sale of the salt springs; and 1896, forest preserve.

A legislative amendment may be submitted at a general or a special election, and its submission may be postponed to a subsequent year, in the discretion of the legislature, but by § 6 of the election law it must be submitted at the first general election after its final adoption by the legislature, unless the legislature directs its submission at another time.

The legislature of 1903 adopted four amendments, all of which were to be submitted in 1905. The legislature of 1905 adopted three amendments, to be submitted at the general election in that year. These seven amendments, which may be found in this volume, affect respectively article 6, §§ 1 and 2, article 7, § 4, article 7, adding §§ II and 12, article 8, § 10, and article 12, § 1.

§ 2. [Conventions.] At the general election to be held in the year one thousand nine hundred and sixteen, and every twentieth year thereafter, and also at such times. as the legislature may by law provide, the question, "Shall there be a convention to revise the Constitution and amend the same?" shall be decided by the electors of the state; and in case a majority of the electors voting thereon shall decide in favor of a convention for such purpose, the electors of every senate district of the state, as then organized, shall elect three delegates at the next ensuing general election at which members of the assembly shall be chosen, and the electors of the state voting at the same election shall elect fifteen delegates-at-large. The delegates so elected shall convene at the capitol on the first Tuesday of April next ensuing after their election, and shall continue their session until the business of such convention shall have been completed. Every delegate shall receive for his services the same compensation and the same mileage as shall then be annually payable to the members of the assembly. A majority of the convention shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and no amendment to the Constitution shall be submitted for approval to the electors as hereinafter provided, unless by the assent of a majority of all the delegates elected to the convention, the yeas and nays being entered on the journal to be kept. The convention shall have the power to appoint such officers, employees, and assistants as it may deem necessary, and fix their compensation, and to provide for the printing of its documents, journal, and proceedings. The convention shall determine the rules of its own proceedings, choose its own officers, and be the judge of the election, returns, and qualifications of its members. In case of a vacancy by death, resignation, or other cause, of any district delegate elected to the convention, such vacancy shall be filled by a vote of the remaining

delegates representing the district in which such vacancy occurs. If such vacancy occurs in the office of a delegateat-large, such vacancy shall be filled by a vote of the remaining delegates-at-large. Any proposed constitution or constitutional amendment which shall have been adopted by such convention shall be submitted to a vote of the electors of the state at the time and in the manner provided by such convention, at an election which shall be held not less than six weeks after the adjournment of such convention. Upon the approval of such constitution or constitutional amendments, in the manner provided in the last preceding section, such constitution or constitutional amendment shall go into effect on the first day of January next after such approval.

[Const. 1846, art. 13, § 2; Am. 1874, art. 16, § 1.]

The plan of holding a convention once every twenty years was included in the Constitution by the Convention of 1846. The subject is considered in the chapter on that convention. A proposition for a convention was accordingly submitted to the people in 1866 and adopted, and it was followed by the Convention of 1867. A similar proposition was submitted and adopted in 1886, but the convention was not held until 1894. The history of the intervening period will be found in previous volumes, and in the first part of the chapter on that convention some of the causes which led to the delay in holding the convention have been noticed. The work of the convention in revising this section, with the general purpose of making it self-executing so far as practicable, has also been described in that chapter.

The legislature may at any time submit to the people the question of holding a constitutional convention, but with the power to submit amendments, conferred on the legislature by the last section, it is not probable that an