-for taxes, debts, &c.

These terms to be incorporated into the constitution of Maine.

ters, on the

question of sep

aration.

votes, and

transmit them

to the Secretary's office on or

before fourth Monday of August.

in Massachusetts Proper, either by taking bail, making attach ments, arresting and detaining persons, or otherwise, where execution remains to be done; and in such suits, the courts within Massachusetts Proper, and within the proposed State, shall continue to have the same jurisdiction as if the said District still remained a part of the Commonwealth. And this Commonwealth shall have the same remedies, within the proposed State, as it now has, for the collection of all taxes, bonds, or debts, which may be assessed, due, made, or contracted, by, to, or with the Commonwealth, on or before the said fifteenth day of March, within the said District of Maine; and all officers within Massachusetts Proper, and the District of Maine, shall conduct themselves accordingly.

Ninthly. These terms and conditions, as here set forth, when the said District shall become a separate and independent State, shall, ipso facto, be incorporated into, and become, and be a part of any constitution, provisional, or other, under which the gov ernment of the said proposed State shall, at any time hereafter, be administered; subject, however, to be modified or annulled, by the agreement of the Legislature of both the said States; but by no other power or body whatsoever.

SECT. 2. Be it further enacted, That the inhabitants of the Time of meet- several towns, districts, and plantations, in the District of Maine, ing, and qualification of vo- qualified to vote for Governor or Senators, shall assemble in regular meeting, to be notified by warrants of the proper officers, on the fourth Monday of July next, and shall, in open meeting, give in their votes on this question: "Is it expedient, that the District of Maine shall become a separate and independent State, upon the terms and conditions, provided in an Act, entitled An Act relating to the separation of the District of Maine from Massachusetts Proper, and forming the same inSelectmen, &c. to a separate and independent State ?" And the selectmen of the towns and districts, and the assessors of the plantations, shall, in open meeting, receive, sort, count, and declare, and the clerks thereof, respectively, shall record the votes given for and against the measure; and the said selectmen, assessors and clerks, respectively, shall make out an exact return thereof, under their hands, and shall scal up and transmit the same to the office of the Secretary of this Commonwealth, on or before the fourth Monday of August next; and all returns, not then made, shall be rejected in the counting; and the Governor and Council shall open and examine the said returns, made as aforesaid, and shall count the votes given on the said question: And the Governor shall, by public proclamation, to be made as soon as the state of the votes can be ascertained, after the said fourth proclamation. Monday of August next, make known the result, by declaring the number of votes appearing in favour of the separation of said District, as aforesaid, and the number of votes appearing against it. And, if the number of votes for the measure shall exceed the number of votes against it, by fifteen hundred, then, and not otherwise, the people of said District shall be deemed to have expressed their consent and agreement, that the said District shall become a separate and independent State, upon the terms

Governor to make known the result by

Fifteen hundred majority required.

Governor to

meet in con

and conditions above stated; and in case of such majority, the In case of such Governor, in his said proclamation, shall call upon the people majority, the of said District to choose delegates to meet in convention for call on the peothe purposes, and in the manner hereinafter provided; and in ple to choose addition to publishing said proclamation, in one or more of the delegates to public newspapers printed in Boston, and in the District of vention, Maine, copies of the same, duly authenticated, shall, as soon as can conveniently be done, after the making of the same, be transmitted to the office of the clerks of the Courts of Common Pleas, in the several counties of the District of Maine, for public examination; and one such copy, at least, shall be transmitted to the convention of delegates, hereinafter mentioned, when said convention shall be formed.

delegates that may be chosen.

SECT. 3. Be it further enacted, That if it shall be declared by said proclamation, that the said majority of fifteen hundred votes appeared by the said returns to be in favour of the separation of the said District as aforesaid, the inhabitants of the several towns and districts, now entitled to send one or more representatives to the General Court, and all other incorporated towns, shall, on the third Monday of September next, assemble in town meeting, to be notified by warrant of the selectmen, and Number of shall elect one or more delegates (not exceeding the number of representatives which such town is now entitled to; each town, however, to be at liberty to elect at least one,) to meet delegates from other towns within the said District, in convention, for the purpose of forming a Constitution, or frame of government, for the said District. And at such meeting of the said inhabitants, every person qualified to vote for senators, shall for delegates. have a right to vote in the choice of delegates. And the selectmen shall preside at such meeting, and shall, in open meeting, receive, sort, count and declare the votes, and the clerk shall make a record thereof, in presence of the selectmen, and in open meeting. And fair copies of the said record shall be attested by the selectmen and town clerk, and one such copy shall be delivered by the selectmen to each of the persons duly elected a delegate.

Who may vote

Where and

SECT. 4. Be it further enacted, That the persons, so elected delegates, shall meet in convention, at the court house, in Port- when delegates land, in the county of Cumberland, on the second Monday, of shall convene. October next, and they shall be the judges of the returns and elections of their own members, and may adjourn from time to time, and sixty of the persons elected shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; and the said delegates shall, as soon as may be, proceed to organize themselves in convention, by choosing a president, and such other officers as they may judge expedient, and establishing proper rules of proceedings; and it shall be the duty of said convention to apply to the Con- Application to gress of the United States, for its assent to be given, before the made by them to Congress. last day of January next, that the said District should be admitted into the Union, as a separate and independent State. And it shall also be the duty of the said convention to form a Constitution, or frame of government, for said new State, and to

be formed.

Constitution to

Constitution to determine the style and title of the same; and such Constitu tion, when adopted, and ratified by the people of said District, in the manner hereinafter mentioned, shall, from and after the fifteenth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and twenty, (the consent of the Congress of the United States then being first had as aforesaid,) be the Constitution of said new State. And the said convention shall, as soon as may be, after having formed such Constitution, or frame of government, for such new State, cause the same to be published, and sent to the several towns, districts, and plantations, within the said District of Maine; and there shall be a meeting of the inhabitants in each be approved by of said towns, districts, and plantations, to be called and warnthe people. ed by the selectmen and assessors, respectively, in due course of law, and on the day named by said convention: at which meeting, every male inhabitant, having the personal qualifications herein declared requisite in the election of delegates to said convention, shall have a right to vote; and the people so assembled shall give in their votes in writing, expressing their approbation or disapprobation of the Constitution so prepared, and proposed by said convention. And the selectmen of the several towns, and the assessors of the several districts, and plantations respectively, shall preside at such meetings, and shall receive the votes of all the inhabitants duly qualified as aforesaid, and shall sort and count them in open meeting of the town, district, or plantation; and the same shall be then and there recorded in the books of the town, district, or plantation ; and a fair copy of such record shall be attested by the selectmen or assessors, and the clerk of the town, district, or plantation, respectively, and shall be, by the said selectmen or assesReturn of votes sors, transmitted and delivered to the said convention, or the president thereof, for the time being, or to any committee appointed to receive the same, on or before the first day of January next; on which day, or within ten days thereafter, the said convention shall be in session, and shall receive and count all the votes returned, and declare and publish the result; and if a majority of the votes so returned shall be in favour of the a majority of Constitution proposed, as aforesaid, the said Constitution shall go into operation, according to its own provisions; otherwise the Constitution of Massachusetts, with the addition of the terms and conditions herein provided, shall be, and be considered as the Constitution of the said proposed State, in manner as hereinafter provided. And to the end, that no period of anarchy constitution of may happen to the people of said proposed State, in case a Massachusetts new Constitution shall not be so adopted and ratified by the force, except people of said District of Maine, the present Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts shall, with the terms and conditions aforesaid, and with the exception hereinafter made, be, provisionally, the Constitution or frame of government for said District; except only such parts of said Constitution of Massachusetts, as relate to the style or title of said State, or may be otherwise inconsistent with, or repugnant to the situation and condition of said new State; and except, that the people of said District shall choose in their Senatorial Districts

to the convention.

Constitution to

take effect, if

votes are in favour of it

- otherwise,

to remain in

of first meeting

as now established, three times the number of Senators now 1819 ch. 162. allowed them, and that the Legislature shall choose such a number of Counsellors, not exceeding nine, as they shall determine to be proper. And the said convention shall desig- Convention to nate the place for the first meeting of the Legislature of said appoint place new State, and for the organization of its government, and shall of legislature, appoint a secretary, pro tempore, for said new State; and the &c. said convention shall regulate the pay of its members; and the person, authorized by said convention, may draw upon the treasury of the Commonwealth for the amount of the pay roll, not, however, to exceed the amount of the money paid into the treasury by the several banks within the said District, for the tax upon the same, due and payable on the first Monday of October next; and the sum or sums so drawn for, and paid out of the treasury, shall be a charge upon the new State in the division of the property, provided for in the fourth article of the terms and conditions stated in the first section of this Act.

Governor, until

SECT. 5. Be it further enacted, That until a Governor of President of the proposed State shall be chosen and qualified according to convention to the Constitution which may be in operation in said State, the have powers of person dast chosen president of the said convention shall, from a new Governand after the fifteenth day of March next, have all the power or is chosen, of the Governor and Council under the Constitution of Massa- exceptchusetts, until a new Governor shall be chosen and qualified in the said proposed State; excepting only, that the said president shall not have the power to remove from office any officer who may be duly qualified and executing the duties of his office, according to the intent and meaning of this Act.

And in order that there may be no failure of justice, and that no danger may arise to the people of the said District of Maine, after the fifteenth day of March next, and before the government of the said State shall be fully organized: Therefore,

or repealed,

SECT. 6. Be it further enacted, That all the laws which shall Laws to conbe in force within said District of Maine, upon the said fifteenth tinue in force, day of March next, shall still remain, and be in force, within until altered the said proposed State, until altered or repealed by the govern- exceptment thereof, such parts only excepted as may be inconsistent with the situation and condition of said new State, or repugnant to the Constitution thereof. And all officers, who shall, on the said fifteenth day of March next, hold commissions, or Officers to exexercise any authority within the said District of Maine, under ercise their the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, or by virtue of the laws powers until thereof, excepting only the Governor, Lieutenant Governor their offices anand Council, the members of the Legislature, and the justices nulled. of the Supreme Judicial Court of the said Commonwealth of Massachusetts, shall continue to have, hold, use, exercise and enjoy all the powers and authority to them respectively granted or committed, until other persons shall be appointed in their stead, or until their respective offices shall be annulled by the government of the said proposed State. And all courts of law whatsoever, within the said proposed State, excepting

superseded or

And all courts Courts of law-

Actions pend-
ing, &c. in Sup.

Court in
Maine, to be

transferred to
the court of the

new State.

Provision for appeals.

Proviso.

Chap. 37.

only the Supreme Judicial Court, shall proceed to hear and determine all causes, matters and things, which are or may be commenced or depending before them, respectively, upon the said fifteenth day of March next, or at any time afterwards, and before the government of the said proposed State shall establish new courts within the same; and shall continue, from and after the said fifteenth day of March next, to exercise the like power and authority, and in like manner, as they now by law may do, until such new courts shall be so established, in their stead.

SECT. 7. Be it further enacted, That all actions, suits, and causes, civil and criminal, and all matters and things whatsoever, that shall, on the said fifteenth day of March next, be in any manner depending in the Supreme Judicial Court of the said Commonwealth of Massachusetts, then last holden within any county in the said District of Maine, and all writs, recognizances, and other processes whatsoever, that may be then returnable to the said Supreme Judicial Court, shall be respectively transferred and returned to, have day in, and be heard, tried, and determined in the highest court of law that shall be established in the said new State, by the government thereof; and at the first term of such court, that shall be held within the county in which such action, writ, process, or other matter or thing may be so pending or returnable. And in all cases of appeals from any Circuit Court of Common Pleas, or Probate, or other court, which shall be made after the said fifteenth day of March next, in any action, cause, or suit whatsoever, and which would by law be made to the said Supreme Judicial Court thereof, it shall be sufficient for the appellant to claim an appeal, without naming or designating the court appealed to; and such appeal shall be entered at the Supreme or Superior Judicial Court, or highest court of law, to be established by the government of the said new State, which shall first thereafter be held within or for the county in which such action, cause, or suit may be pending, and shall there be heard, tried, and determined, according to law: Provided however, That nothing contained in this section shall be understood or construed to controul, in any degree, the right of the people of the said new State, or the government thereof, to establish judicial courts, in such manner, and with such authority as they shall see fit; nor to prevent the said people or their government from making any other provisions, pursuant to their Constitution, and not repugnant to the terms and conditions above set forth, respecting all the said actions, suits, processes, matters and things, herein above mentioned, as they shall think most proper, to prevent the discontinuance thereof, and to avoid any delay or failure of justice. [June 19, 1819.] Add. acts— 1819 ch. 162: 1821 ch. 41.

An ACT in furtherance of Good Discipline in the Colleges of this Commonwealth.

SECT. 1. BE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That no innholder, tavern-keeper, retailer, confectioner, or