general assembly, as soon as practicable, to ascertain, by law, proper objects of improvement, in relation to roads, canals, and navigable streams, and to provide for a suitable application such funds as may be appropriated for such improvements.

ARTICLE XII

BOUNDARIES

SECTION 1. The jurisdiction of the State of Florida shall extend over the Territories of East and West Florida, which, by the treaty of amity, settlement, and limits, between the United States and His Catholic Majesty, on the 22d day of February, A. D. 1819, were ceded to the United States.

ARTICLE XIII

BANKS AND OTHER CORPORATIONS

SECTION 1. The general assembly shall pass a general law for the incorporation of all such churches, and religious or other societies, as may accept thereof; but no special act of incorporation thereof shall be passed.

SEC. 2. The general assembly shall pass no act of incorporation, or make any alteration therein, unless with the assent of at least twothirds of each house, and unless public notice in one or more newspapers in the State shall have been given for at least three months immediately preceding the session at which the same may be applied

for.

SEC. 3. No banking corporation shall be created, or continue, which is composed of a less number than twenty individuals, a majority of whom, at least, shall be residents of the State; and no other corporation shall be created, or continue, composed of a less number than ten, of whom at least five shall be residents of this State.

SEC. 4. No bank-charter, or any act of incorporation granting exclusive privileges, shall be granted for a longer period than twenty years; and no bank-charter shall ever be extended or renewed.

SEC. 5. The charters of banks granted by the general assembly shall restrict such banks to the business of exchange, discount, and deposit; and they shall not speculate or deal in real estate, or the stock of other corporations or associations, or in merchandise or chattels, or be concerned in insurance, manufacturing, exportation, or importation, except of bullion or specie; shall not act as trustee in any wise, nor shall they own real estate or chattels, except such as shall be necessary for their actual use in the transaction of business, or which may be pledged as further security, or received towards or in satisfaction of previously-contracted debts, or purchased at legal sales to satisfy such debts; of which they shall be required to make sale within two years after the acquisition thereof.

SEC. 6. The capital stock of any bank shall not be less than one hundred thousand dollars, and shall be created only by the actual payment of specie therein; and no bank shall borrow money to create or add to its capital or to conduct its business, and no loans shall be made on stock.

SEC. 7. All liabilities of such banks shall be payable in specie, and

the aggregate of the liabilities and issues of a bank shall at no time. exceed double the amount of its capital stock paid in.

SEC. 8. No bank shall make a note or security of any kind for a smaller sum than five dollars; and the general assembly may increase such restriction to twenty dollars.

SEC. 9. No dividends of profits exceeding ten per centum per annum on the capital stock paid in shall be made; but all profits over ten per centum per annum shall be set apart and retained as a safety fund.

SEC. 10. Stockholders in a bank, when an act of forfeiture of its charter is committed, or when it is dissolved or expires, shall be individually and severally liable for the payment of all its debts, in proportion to the stock owned by each.

SEC. 11. Banks shall be open to inspection, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law; and it shall be the duty of the governor to appoint a person or persons, not connected in any manner with any bank in the State, to examine at least once a year into their state and condition; and the officers of every bank shall make quarterly returns to the governor of its state and condition, and the names of the stockholders, and shares held by each.

SEC. 12. Non-user for the space of one year, or any act of a corporation, or those having the control and management thereof, or intrusted therewith, inconsistent with or in violation of the provisions of this constitution, or of its charter, shall cause its forfeiture; and the general assembly shall, by general law, provide a summary process for the sequestration of its effects and assets, the appointment of officers to settle its affairs; and no forfeited charter shall be restored. The foregoing provisions shall not be construed to prevent the general assembly from imposing other restrictions and provisions in the creation of corporations.

SEC. 13. The general assembly shall not pledge the faith and credit of the State to raise funds in aid of any corporation whatsoever.

SEC. 14. The general assembly shall, at its first session, have power to regulate, restrain, and control all associations claiming to exercise corporate privileges in the State, so as to guard, protect, and secure the interests of the people of the State, not violating vested rights or impairing the obligation of contracts.

ARTICLE XIV

AMENDMENTS AND REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION

SECTION 1. No convention of the people shall be called unless by the concurrence of two-thirds of each house of the general assembly. SEC. 2. No part of this constitution shall be altered unless a bill to alter the same shall have been read three times in the house of representatives and three times in the senate, and agreed to by two-thirds of each house of the general assembly; neither shall any alteration take place until the bill so agreed to be published six months previous to a new election for members to the house of representatives; and if the alteration proposed by the general assembly shall be agreed to, at their first session, by two-thirds of each house of the general assembly, after the same shall have been read three times on three several days in each house, then, and not otherwise, the same shall become a part of the constitution.

ARTICLE XV

THE SEAT OF GOVERN MENT

SECTION 1. The seat of government of the State of Florida shall be and remain permanent at the city of Tallahassee, for the term and time of five years from and after the end of the first session of the general assembly to be holden under this constitution; and, after the expiration of the said five years, the general assembly shall have power to remove the seat of government from Tallahassee, and fix the same at any other point: Provided. That the general assembly shall, immediately after the expiration of ten years from the end of the said first session thereof, fix permanently the seat of government.

ARTICLE XVI

GENERAL PROVISIONS

SECTION 1. The general assembly shall have no power to pass laws for the emancipation of slaves.

SEC. 2. They shall have no power to prevent emigrants to this State from bringing with them such persons as may be deemed slaves by the laws of any one of the United States: Provided. They shall have power to enact laws to prevent the introduction of any slaves who may have committed crimes in other States.

SEC. 3. The general assembly shall have power to pass laws to prevent free negroes, mulattoes, and other persons of color, from immigrating to this State, or from being discharged from on board any vessel in any of the ports of Florida.

SEC. 4. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war against it, or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or his confession in open court.

SEC. 5. Divorces from the bonds of matrimony shall not be allowed but by the judgment of a court, as shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 6. The general assembly shall declare by law what parts of the common law and what parts of the civil law, not inconsistent with this constitution, shall be in force in this State.

SEC. 7. The oaths of officers, directed to be taken under this constitution, may be administered by any judge or justice of the peace. of the Territory or State of Florida, until otherwise prescribed by law.

ARTICLE XVII

SCHEDULE AND ORDINANCE

In order that no inconvenience may arise from the organization and establishment of the State government, it is declared:

SECTION 1. That all laws or parts of laws now in force, or which may be hereafter passed by the governor and legislative council of the Territory of Florida, not repugnant to the provisions of this constitution, shall continue in force until, by operation of their provisions or limitations, the same shall cease to be in force, or until the general assembly of this State shall alter or repeal the same; and

all writs, actions, prosecutions, judgments, and contracts shall be and continue unimpaired; and all process which has heretofore issued, or which may be issued prior to the last day of the first session of the general assembly of this State, shall be as valid as if issued in the name of the State; and nothing in this constitution shall impair the obligation of contracts, or violate vested rights, either of individuals, or of associations claiming to exercise corporate privileges in this State.

SEC. 2. All fines, penalties, forfeitures, obligations, and escheats accruing to the Territory of Florida shall accrue to the use of the State of Florida.

SEC. 3. All recognizances heretofore taken, or which may be taken before the organization of the judicial department under this constitution, shall remain valid, and shall pass over to, and may be prosecuted in the name of the State; and all bonds executed to the governor of the Territory of Florida or to any other officer, in his official capacity, shall pass over to the governor or other proper State authority, and to their successors in office, for the uses therein respectively expressed, and may be sued for and recovered accordingly; and all criminal prosecutions and penal actions which have arisen, or which may arise before the organization of the judicial department under this constitution, and which shall then be depending, may be prosecuted to judgment and execution in the name of the State.

SEC. 4. All officers, civil and military, now holding their offices and appointments in the Territory under the authority of the United States, or under the authority of the Territory, shall continue to hold and exercise their respective offices and appointments until superseded under this constitution; and all actions at law or suits in chancery, or any proceeding pending, or which may be pending, in any court of the Territory of Florida, may be commenced in or transferred to such court of the State as may have jurisdiction of the subject-matter thereof.

SEC. 5. This constitution shall be submitted to the people for ratification at the election for delegate on the first Monday of May next. Each qualified voter shall express his assent or dissent to the constitution by directing the managers of said election to write opposite to his name on the poll-book either the word "Constitution" or " No constitution." And in case the time of election for delegate be changed to any other day than the first Monday of May next, then the judges or clerks of the county courts respectively shall appoint managers to hold an election on the said first Monday of May, for ratification of the constitution; and said managers shall conduct said election in the manner provided by the laws of the Territory respecting elections, and make return of the result of such vote forthwith, by depositing the original poll-book in the clerk's office of their counties, respectively, and by transmitting a certificate of the result to the president of the convention, who shall forthwith make proclamation of the same; and in case the constitution be ratified by the people, and immediately after official information shall have been received that Congress have approved the constitution, and provided for the admission of Florida, the president of this convention shall issue writs of election to the proper officers, in the different counties, enjoining them to cause an election to be held for governor,

Representative in Congress, and members of the general assembly in each of their respective counties. The election shall be held on the first Monday after the lapse of sixty days following the day of the date of the President's proclamation, and shall take place on the same day throughout the State. The said election shall be conducted according to the then existing election laws of the Territory of Florida: Provided, however, That in case of the absence or disability of the president of the convention to cause the said election to be carried into effect, the secretary of this convention shall discharge the duties hereby imposed upon the president; and, in case of the absence or disability of the secretary, a committee consisting of five, to wit, Leigh Read, George T. Ward, James D. Westcott, jr., Thomas Brown, and Leslie A. Thompson, or a majority of them, shall discharge the duties herein imposed on the secretary of the convention; and the members of the general assembly so elected shall assemble on the fourth Monday thereafter at the seat of government. The governor, Representative in Congress, and members of the general assembly shall enter upon the duties of their respective offices immediately after their election under the provisions of this constitution, and shall continue in office in the same manner, and during the same period, they would have done had they been elected on the first Monday in October.

SEC. 6. The general assembly shall have power, by the votes of twothirds of both houses, to accede to such propositions as may be made by the Congress of the United States upon the admission of the State of Florida into the national confederacy and Union, if they shall be deemed reasonable and just, and to make declaration of such assent by law; and such declaration, when made, shall be binding upon the people and the State of Florida as a compact; and the governor of the State of Florida shall notify the President of the United States of the acts of the general assembly relating thereto; and in case of declining to accede to such propositions, or any part thereof, the general assembly shall instruct the Senators and Representatives of the State of Florida in Congress to procure such modification or alteration thereof as may be deemed reasonable and just, and assent thereto, subject to the ratification of the general assembly by law as aforesaid.

SEC. 7. The courts of this State shall never entertain jurisdiction of any grants of land in the Floridas made by the King of Spain, or by his authority, subsequent to the twenty-fourth day of January, eighteen hundred and eighteen; nor shall the said courts receive as evidence, in any case, certain grants said to have been made by the said King of Spain in favor of the Duke of Alagon, the Count Punon Rostro, and Don Pedro de Vargas, or any title derived from either of said grants, unless with the express assent of the Congress of the United States.

Done in convention, held in pursuance of an act of the governor and legislative council of the Territory of Florida, entitled "An act to call a convention for the purpose of organizing a State government," passed 30th day of January, 1838, and approved 2d February, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight.

ROBERT RAYMOND REID,

President of the Convention.

JOSHUA KNOWLES, Secretary.