NEW CONSTITUTION-1832.-A convention was held this year to amend the constitution of the state, and P. Rutilius R. Pray was ap. pointed president. The amended constitution is too long for insertion in this volume. Among the amend. ments were the following: The town of Jackson is agreed upon as the permanent seat of government until the year 1853. The right of suffrage is extended to all free white males over twenty-one years of age, who have resided in the state twelve months preceding an election. In the senatorial branch the members of the legislature shall hereafter be thirty years of age, and shall have resided four years in the state, and twelve months in the county or dis trict choosing them. Members of the other house are required to be twenty-two years of age-to have resided two years in the state, and twelve months in the county they are to represent. No property qualification is required for members of the legislature, nor for any other officer of the state. Great efforts were made in convention to substitute biennial for annual sessions, and a strong dislike to such a clause in the constitution was shown, not only in convention, but among the people. In the executive department, it is agreed that the governor shall be chosen every two years; and that he shall be ineligible for a longer period than four out of six years; that he shall be allowed no velo power upon the acts of the general assembly, uniess those acts involve constitutional points. The president of the senate is constituted by virtue of his office, the lieutenant governor. The proposition to elect the state house officers (the secreta

ry of state, auditor and treasurer) by the people, was lost. The sher. iffs are to remain in office so long as the people choose to continue them. By a vote of 26 to 19, the convention determined that judges of the supreme court shall be chosen by the people. A session of the legislature was authorized under the new constitution for the winter of 1833, and the general elections will hereafter take place on the first Monday of May.

LEGISLATION.-At the sixteenth session of the legislature of this state, begun on January 7, 1833, at Jackson, one hundred acts and eighteen resolutions were passed.

ACADEMIES.-Four academies were incorporated.,

act

ATTORNEY GENERAL.-An was passed prescribing the duties of the attorney general and district at torney. The attorney general is to be chosen by the qualified electors of the state, for the term of four years; his salary is to be $1,000; that of the district attorney is to be $600.

BANKS.-An act was passed to establish the Agricultural Bank of Mississippi; its capital stock is not to exceed $2,000,000. By another act, authority was given to the Planters' Bank to increase its capital stock $1,000,000.

CENSUS. An act was passed providing for the enumeration of the free white inhabitants of the state.

CHURCHES.-Acts were passed incorporating three churches.

COURTS, &c.-An act was passed to establish circuit courts, and to define their powers and jurisdiction in law and equity; the judges are to be elected by the qualified electors of their respective districts; the 14th

section provides, that for the better preservation of the sanctity of the right of trial by jury, pure and uninfluenced, no judge before whom any issue of fact may hereafter be tried by a jury, shall sum up or comment upon the evidence; nor shall said judge charge the jury on points or principles of law applicable to the case before them, unless the parties to such issue or their counsel differ in opinion as to the same, or one of the parties or counsel shall ask the charge of said judge to be given upon some point in controversy in said issue, which shall be distinctly specified in writing by the party asking such charge; and the judge shall charge to no other point than that to which his opinion is required.

An act was also passed to establish a separate superior court of chancery, and to define the powers and jurisdiction thereof; the chan. cellor is to be elected by the qualified voters of the state; salary $2,000.

Provision is made for the esta blishment of a board of police, consisting of five members, in each county of the state; these boards, in addition to the jurisdiction vested in them by the constitution, are to exercise all such jurisdiction as is at present vested in the county courts, provided they shall have no jurisdiction over matters given to courts of probate; they are to divide the public roads into districts, apportion the labour on such roads, appoint overseers of roads, &c.

An act to establish a court of errors and appeals, and to define the powers and jurisdiction thereof; the court are required, in every case they may decide or decree, to deliver their opinions in writing, which are to be recorded by the clerk;

and if any judge of this court neglect to comply with this provision, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor in office, and shall be liable to removal.

An act was passed to carry into effect the article in the constitution, providing for the establishment of courts of probate in the several counties of the state.

CONSTITUTION.-By this act it is proposed to amend the second section of the seventh article of the constitution, so that it may read as follows: The legislature of this state shall have, and are hereby vested with power to pass, from time to time, such laws regulating or prohibiting the introduction of slaves into this state, as may be deemed proper and expedient.

resolutions

DIVORCES.--Eight DIVORCES. -Eight were passed (two thirds of both branches of the legislature concurring therein) to confirm decrees of the court of chancery, granting divorces.

ELECTIONS.-An act was passed to regulate elections in this state.

INFANTS. This act empowers certain minors to take charge of, manage, and administer their estates, and to enter into all civil contracts, which may be made and entered into by persons who have attained the age of twenty-one years.

GOVERNOR.-This is an act to define certain duties of the governor, and to establish his salary; it prescribes the duty of the governor in relation to the removal from office of state and county officers, &c.; salary, $2,500.

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.-Justices of the peace are to be elected for the term of two years.

LITERARY FUND.-An act was passed for the distribution of the literary fund, now amounting to

$50,000, among the several counties of the state; the divisions alone are to be appropriated.

FREE-MASONS. Two masonic lodges were incorporated.

INSURANCE COMPANY.-The Mississippi Insurance Company, in Vicksburg, was incorporated; its capital is $500,000.

BILLS OF EXCHANGE.-All inland bills, drawn after the passage of this act, are placed on the same footing, and the same liability is incurred in every respect, in all cases of protest, without regard to the business or occupation of the drawer or drawee.

SUITS AGAINST THE STATE.-It shall be competent for any person, to exhibit and file a bill in equity, in the superior court of chancery, against the state of Mississippi; the complainant is to enter into bond with sureties, in the sum of $250, conditioned to indemnify the state against all costs; and it shall be the duty of the attorney general to answer, defend, or demur to said bill; either party may appeal to the high court of errors and appeals; no execution whatever shall ever issue on any decree in chancery against the state, whereby the state may be dispossessed of lands and tenements, goods and chattels.

SEMINARY LANDS.-An act was passed to provide for selling the thirty-six sections of land, granted by the United States to the state for a seminary of learning, and for investing the proceeds in stock of the Planters' Bank.

STATE HOUSE.The sum of $95,000 was appropriated for the erection of a state house; and $10,000 for the erection of a house for the governor, in the town of Jackson.

NOTARIES PUBLIC.-When it may be necessary to have the testimony

of any notary public in any suit or controversy, arising on any protested promissory note, bill of exchange, or other instrument of writing, the official act of such notary public, certified under his hand and notarial seal, shall be deemed conclusive evidence of the protest; and the notary shall not be required by any subpoena to go beyond the limits of the county of his residence. When any notary public shall protest any such instrument, he shall make and certify, on oath, a full and true record of what shall have been done thereon by him, in relation thereto; and such record shall have the same effect, in all courts of record, as if the notary were present and interrogated in court; and if any notary public shall falsely and wilfully set down and certify any matter untruly in his record, he shall, on conviction, be deemed guilty of perjury, and be liable to punishment accordingly; but all notaries public are required to attend the courts of the counties of their respective residences, when thereto required by subpoena. Parties to suits, in any court of this state out of the county of the residence of any notary public, may cause his testimony to be taken by deposition or interrogatories, before a justice of the peace of the county in which he may reside.

RESOLUTIONS.--Resolutions were passed, non-concurring in a resolution of the legislature of Louisiana, requesting the president to order the United States engineers to make all the necessary surveys and estimates for a rail-road from New-Orleans to Washington City; disapproving strongly of the doctrine of nullification; and non-concurring in a resolution of the state of Georgia, in relation to the calling of a convention of the people of the United States, to amend the federal constitution.

ELECTIONS.-Dec. 1833.-Alexander Porter was elected senator, in the place of J. S. Johnston deceas. ed, by a vote of 32 to 30.

1833. The legislature of Louis. iana met at New-Orleans on the 7th of January. The leading topic in the communication of Governor Roman, is the state of the controversy between South Carolina and the U. States. Governor Roman de. clares his conviction, that the principles avowed by the majority in that state "inevitably tend to the total disorganization of public order, and to destroy the very foundations of the Union.

There is a paragraph against the lottery system, recommending its discouragement by an onerous tax. The message recommends the erection of a new penitentiary, on the plan of those in the northern states, in which the labour of the convicts is made to exceed the costs of confining and maintaining them. The support of criminals in Louisiana last year cost the state $20,809.

The treasury is in a flourishing condition. The unexpected bal. ance is $95,018 28; and after pay. ing all the current expenses, and all the appropriations of the last two legislatures, there will still remain a surplus of receipts during the year of about $20,000.

He recommends the establishment of an annual appropriation, as a fund for internal improvement.

LEGISLATION.-Acts passed by the legislature of Louisiana, at its session in New-Orleans, begun on January 7, 1833.

ACADEMIES.-The sum of $2,500 is to be paid annually out of the state treasury, for four years, for

the support of the Montpelier Academy, and the sum of $1,000, to be paid annually, for ten years, for the maintenance of an academy in Alexandria.

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.-An act was passed to incorporate the Agricultural Society of Louisiana; "the corporation is empowered to raise, by subscription or otherwise, a capital fund not exceeding $500,000; a model plantation is to be purchased, on which experiments shall be made in agriculture and horticulture.

BANKS.-The Commercial Bank of New-Orleans was incorporated, the chief object of which is to be the conveying of water from the river into the city of New-Orleans and its faubourgs, and into the houses of its citizens; the original capital stoek of the company is to be $3,000,000, and is to be exempt from taxation.

The Mechanics' and Traders' Bank of New-Orleans was incorporated, with a capital stock of $2,000,000.

An act was passed,to establish, in New-Orleans, a bank under the name of the Citizens' Bank of Lou isiana, with a capital of $12,000,000,which is to be formed and procured by a loan; subscriptions to the ca pital stock are to be guarantied and secured by mortgages of real estate and slaves, which shall form the basis and stand as a full security for such loan or loans and the interest thereon; the state is at all times to be entitled to a credit with the said bank, of at least $500,000, on the bonds or obligations of the state, being furnished in such manner as may be provided by law, bearing an interest which shall not exceed

five per cent.; and every stock. holder, on pledging his certificate of stock, shall be entitled to a credit equal to one half of the total amount of his stock; and in proportion as any such stockholder shall use the said credit, he shall give his notes or obligations to the said corporation for the amount so lent him. The charter is to continue in force fifty

one years.

CENSUS. An act was passed to provide for taking a census of the voters in the state.

CHURCHES.-Acts were passed to incorporate four churches.

COLLEGE.-The sum of $20,000 was appropriated for the benefit of the college of Jefferson.

COMMITTEES.-The chairman, or person acting as chairman of any committee of the legislature, is authorized to administer oaths to witnesses called before them, to testify in relation to any subject referred to their consideration.

COTTON PRESS COMPANY.-An act was passed to incorporate the Orleans Cotton Press Company; its capital is $600,000, and may be increased to $1,000,000.

EDUCATION.-An act was passed supplementary to the several acts relative to public education.

FERRY COMPANY.-An act was passed, granting to the New-Orleans Steam Ferry Company, the exclusive privilege of establishing and maintaining one or several steamboats in front of the city, for the purpose of crossing the river, during the term of ten years.

GAS LIGHTS.-Certain persons were invested with the exclusive right of introducing and vending gas lights in the city of New-Orleans and its fauxbourgs, during the term of twenty-five years.

INJUNCTIONS.-The power granted to clerks of courts, to grant or

ders of injunction, was withdrawn.

BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS.-An act was passed to establish a board of public works, and to create a fund for internal improvement.

LYCEUM. The New Orleans Lyceum was incorporated.

LOTTERIES.-Any person who shall sell, or otherwise dispose of any lottery ticket, in this state, after January 1, 1834, shall, on conviction, be subject to a fine of not less than $1,000, and not more than $5,000, and to imprisonment for not less than three months, nor more than one year.

MAYOR OF NEW-ORLEANS.-The city council are authorized to increase his salary to any amount not exceeding $6,000.

NAVIGATION COMPANY.-An act was passed to incorporate the Bayou Boeuf and Red River Navigation Company.

PENITENTIARY.-The commission ers appointed to superintend the erection of a penitentiary at Baton Rouge, are not to be required to adhere to the plan of the penitentiary at Weathersfield in Connecticut.

RAIL-ROADS.-If any person place any obstructions upon any rail-road with an intent to obstruct or endan ger the free passing thereon, he shall, if a free person, on conviction, be imprisoned for a term not exceeding six months, nor less than one month, and fined in a sum not exceeding $500, nor less than $100; but if a slave, he shall be sentenced to receive twenty-five lashes, and to wear a chain, in the service of his master, for the term of twelve months.

Acts were passed to incorporate the New-Orleans and Carrolton Rail-road Company, with a capital of $300,000; the Clinton and Port Hudson Rail-road Company, with a' capital of $100,000, which may be