9. To decree the creation or suppression of publick Offices, to determine the Salaries thereof, and to diminish or increase them.

10. To establish Rules for Naturalization.

11. To grant Personal Rewards and Remunerations to those who may have rendered great Services to Colombia.

12. To decree publick Honours to the memory of great Men.

13. To decree the levy and organization of the Armies; to determine their force in Peace and War, and to fix the time during which they are to continue serving.

14. To decree the building and equipment of the Navy, and also to increase or diminish it.

15. To form Regulations for the conducting of the Sea and Land Forces.

16. To declare War, on the information which the Executive Power may have communicated.

17. To require of the Executive Power to negociate for Peace.

18. To give their consent and approbation to the Treaties of Peace, Alliance, Friendship, Commerce, Neutrality, and all others, which may be entered into by the Executive Power.

19. To promote, by means of Laws, publick Education, and the progress of the Sciences, Arts, and useful Establishments, and also to grant, for a limited period, exclusive rights, to stimulate and encourage them.

20. To grant general Amnesties, whenever great motives of publick expediency require them.

21. To make choice of the City that is to serve for the Seat of Government, and to change it when they may deem it advisable.

22. To fix the limits of the Departments, Provinces, and Divisions of the Territory of Colombia, as may be most expedient for their better Administration.

23. To allow, or refuse, the passage of Troops belonging to another State, through the Territory of Colombia.

24. To allow, or refuse, the presence of Fleets belonging to another State, in the Ports of Colombia, for more than a month.

25. To grant, during the present War of Independence, to the Executive Power, those Extraordinary Powers which may be deemed indispensably necessary in the places actually the theatre of Military Operations, as well as in those recently liberated from the Enemy; defining them, nevertheless, as clearly as possible, and also restricting the time, which shall not exceed what may be absolutely necessary.

26. To decree all other Laws and Regulations, of whatsoever nature they may be, as well as to alter, amend and annul those already established. The Executive Power shall be allowed to lay before Congress any subject, for consideration; but uever under the form of a Law.

SECTION III. Of the particular Functions and Prerogatives common to both Chambers, and to the Members thereof.

LVI. Each Chamber has the right of establishing the Regulations to be observed in its Sittings, Debates, and Proceedings. In conformity to them, they may punish any of its Members for an infringement of the same, or who in any other manner may render himself culpable, by imposing such penalties as they shall respectively establish, and even by expelling and declaring them unworthy of obtaining any other Office of trust or honour in the Republick, whenever it shall be so decided by the votes of two-thirds of the Members present.

LVII. Neither Chamber shall be allowed to open its Session without the attendance of an absolute majority of its Members; but, in all cases, the existing number, whatever it may be, shall meet and compel the absent to attend, in such manner, and under such penalties, as the Chambers themselves may think proper to establish.

LVIII. The Session of each Year being opened, the attendance of two-third parts of the Members shall be sufficient for the continuation of the Sittings, provided the said two-thirds are never less than two-thirds of the absolute majority.

LIX. The Chambers shall enjoy the exclusive right of their own internal Regulations, in the Hall of their Sittings, and elsewhere, in every thing that may tend to the free exercise of their own attributes. In pursuance of this right they shall be allowed to punish, or cause to be punished, with such Penalties as they may think proper to establish, every one wanting in the respect that is due to them, who may threaten to conspire against the Body or the immunity of any of its Members, or who may in any other manner disobey, or thwart their orders and proceedings.

LX. The Sittings of both Chambers shall be publick; but they may be secret whenever they may deem it necessary.

LXI. The Proceedings of each Chamber shall regularly appear from the Journal in which their Debates and Resolutions are entered, which shall be published, from time to time, except such things as ought to be kept secret, as may be determined by them respectively; and, whenever it shall be so required by a fifth part of the Members present, the votes of each Member, on any Motion or Resolution, shall be recorded.

LXII. Each Chamber shall elect, from among its own Members, a President and Vice-President, whose duties shall be annual, from one ordinary Session till the next; and also a Secretary, from within or without the Chamber. They shall moreover nominate the Clerks and Officers deemed necessary for the performance of the respective duties, appointing for them adequate Salaries.

LXIII. The communications between the two Chambers and the

Executive Power, or between themselves, shall be made through the medium of the respective Presidents, or by means of Deputations.

LXIV. The Senators and Representatives hold their respective character, for the Nation, and not on behalf of the Department or Province which names them; it shall not be lawful for them to receive orders or particular Instructions from the Electoral Assemblies, which shall only be allowed to forward Petitions to them.

LXV. From serving as Senators or Representatives are excluded, the President and Vice-President of the Republick, the Ministers of the High Court of Justice, the Secretaries of State, the Intendants, the Governors, and other publick Functionaries, who may be prohibited by Law; the rest shall be allowed to serve as such, provided they suspend the personal exercise of their duties, during the period of the Session. Whenever a Senator or Representative is appointed to another publick Situation, it depends on his own choice whether he accept or refuse it.

LXVI. The Members of Congress shall enjoy perfect immunity in their Persons and Property, during the Session, and whilst they are going to Congress, or returning to their Homes, except in cases of treason, or other grievous crime against social order; and they shall not be responsible for Speeches pronounced or sentiments expressed in the Chambers, to any Authority, or at any period of time.

LXVII. The Senators and Representatives shall receive from the National Treasury, a compensation, to be determined by Law, and cal-[ culated according to the time they may have occupied, from their coming to the Place of Assembly, to that of returning to their Homes at the close of the Session.

SECTION IV. Of the time, duration, and Place of the Sittings of Congress.

LXVIII. The Congress shall, without fail, meet in every Year and uniformly open its Ordinary Session on the 2d of January.

LXIX. Each Ordinary Session of the Congress shall last 90 days In case it be necessary, the Session may be prolonged as far as 30 day beyond that period.

LXX. The 2 Chambers shall meet in the same Parish, and whil they are assembled, neither of them shall be allowed to suspend i sittings for more than 2 days, nor appoint to meet in any other Pla than the one previously fixed upon, unless by mutual consent; bu having agreed on the change, should they differ as to time and plac the Executive Power shall have the right to interpose, by fixing middle term between the 2 extremes in dispute.

SECTION V. Of the Scrutiny and Elections relating to Congress. LXXI. In the years in which the Elections take place, the Congr shall meet in the Chamber of the Senate; in their presence the sea

Returns of the Elections for President and Vice-President of the Republick, as well as for the Senators of the Department, shall be opened, and lists made out of all the Votes of the Electoral Assemblies, the same being entered in a Register corresponding to each class of Elections. The Returns shall be publickly ascertained by 4 Members of Congress and the Secretaries.

LXXII. To be President of the Republick, it is requisite to have two third parts of the votes of the Electors who were present at the Provincial Assemblies. He, therefore, shall be declared President, who has obtained this Majority.

LXXIII. Whenever the aforesaid Majority is not established, the Congress shall ascertain the 3 who may have obtained most Votes, and proceed to elect one from among them. The Person who, in this Election, obtains the Votes of the two third parts of the Members present shall be President of the Republick.

LXXIV. If, in summing up the latter Votes, no one should appear to have been elected, the Congress shall then confine their Votes to the 2 who may have obtained the greatest number of Votes on the preceding division.

LXXV. The Election of President shall take place in a single Sitting, which shall be a permanent one.

LXXVI. The Vice-President shall be elected under the same formalities as the President.

LXXVII. The Congress shall declare those to be Senators who may have obtained an absolute majority of Votes of the Electors of each Department assisting at the Election.

LXXVIII. Should the aforesaid Majority not appear to be in favour of any one or more Persons, the Congress shall select those who have an equal number; and should there not be any such, they shall select three times the number of Members required, from amongst those who have received most Votes. Having made this selection, they shall then proceed to elect from among the latter, one by one, those who are to be nominated. When, in the division, no Election is made, the formalities prescribed in Article LXXIV. shall be observed.

LXXIX. In cases of doubt, on account of an equality resulting from the Elections, the same shall be decided by lot.

LXXX. When the Seat of Senator or Representative is vacant, in consequence of death, resignation, expulsion, or other cause, the Vacancy shall be filled up by the Congress choosing one from among the Three who, on the Registers of the Electoral Assemblies, have obtained the greatest number of votes; but, if this number should not appear to be established on the Registers, the respective Chamber shall issue Orders for another Person to be named, in the manner prescribed in this Constitution. The time of serving of the Person so named shall last only till the ensuing Ordinary Election.

LXXXI. Should the same Person be nominated, both for the Department in which he was born, and for that in which he resides, or for the Province in which he was born, and for that in which he resides, the nomination for his Native Place shall prevail.

LXXXII. The Congress shall send a notification to those who may be returned as elected to the Situations of President, Vice-President, and Senators, in order that they may attend to take possession of their Places on the day appointed.

LXXXIII. For the first time, the present Congress shall nominate the President and Vice-President of the Republick, as well as the Senators.

SECTION VI. Of the Chamber of Representatives.

LXXXIV. The Chamber of Representatives shall be composed of the Deputies nominated by all the Provinces of the Republick, agreeably to the present Constitution.

LXXXV. Each Province shall elect one Representative for every 30,000 souls of the Population it may contain; but if, after the calculation of the latter has been made, there should remain a surplus of 15,000 souls, another Representative shall be allowed for it; and every Province, whatever may be its Population, shall nominate at least one Representative. The present Congress, by means of a Decree, shall determine the number of Representatives which each Province is to nominate, until a new census is made of the Population.

LXXXVI. This proportion of one for every 30,000 shall continue to be the rule for the Representation until the number of Representatives amounts to 100; and, although the Population should increase, the number shall not, on that account, be augmented, but the proportion shall be raised till one Representative corresponds to each 40,000 souls. The proportion of one for every 40,000 souls shall then continue until the Representatives amount to 150, when, as in the preceding case, the proportion shall be advanced to 50,000 for one.

LXXXVII. No Person shall be a Representative who, besides the qualifications for an Elector:

1. Is not a Native of, or a Resident in, the Province which elects him. 2. Has not resided 2 Years in the Territory of the Republick, immediately previous to the Election. This provision shall not exclude Persons absent in the Service of the Republick, or with the permission of the Government; nor shall it affect Prisoners, Exiles, or Fugitives, who have fled from the Country, on account of their attachment, or of Services rendered, to the Cause of Independence.

3. Does not possess a real estate to the full amount of 2,000 dollars, or an annual rent or income of 500 dollars, or who does not profess some science.

LXXXVIII. Persons not born in Colombia, in order to be Re