Sec. 11. The Attorney-General shall be chosen annually by joint ballot of the Senators and Representatives in the convention. Vacancy in said office, occurring when the Legislature is not in session, may be filled by the appointment of the Governor with the advice and consent of the Council.

Sec. 12. But citizens of this State, absent therefrom in the military service of the United States or of this State, and not in the regular army of the United States, being otherwise qualified electors, shall be allowed to vote for judges and registers of probate, sheriffs, and all other county officers on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and their votes shall be counted and allowed in the same manner and with the same effect as if given on the second Monday of September in that year. And they shall be allowed to vote for all such officers on the second Monday in September annually thereafter forever. And the votes shall be given at the same time and in the same manner, and the names of the several candidates shall be printed or written on the same ballots with those for Governor, Senators and Representatives, as provided in section four, article second of this Constitution.

Sec. 13. The Legislature may enact laws excluding from the right of suffrage, for a term not exceeding ten years, all persons convicted of bribery at any election, or of voting at any election under the influence of a bribe.

Sec. 14. The credit of the State shall not be directly or indirectly loaned in any case. The Legislature shall not create any debt or debts, liability or liabilities, on behalf of the State, which shall singly or in the aggregate, with previous debts and liabili ties hereafter incurred at any one time, exceed three hundred thousand dollars, except to suppress insurrection, to repel invasion, or for purposes of war; but this amendment shall not be construed to refer to any money that has been or may be deposited with this State by the government of the United States, or to any fund which the State shall hold in trust for any Indian tribe.

Sec. 15. The State is authorized to issue bonds payable within twenty-one years, at a rate of interest not exceeding six per cent a year, payable semi-annually, which bonds or their proceeds shall be devoted solely towards the reimbursement of the expenditures incurred by the cities, towns and plantations of the State

for war purposes during the rebellion, upon the following basis: Each city, town and plantation shall receive from the State one hundred dollars for every man furnished for the military service of the United States under and after the call of July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and accepted by the United States towards its quota for the term of three years, and in the same proportion for every man so furnished and accepted for any shorter period; and the same shall be in full payment for any claim upon the State on account of its war debts by any such municipality. A commission appointed by the Governor and Council shall determine the amount to which each city, town and plantation is entitled; to be devoted to such reimbursement, the surplus, if any, to be appropriated to the soldiers who enlisted or were drafted and went at any time during the war, or if deceased to their legal representatives. The issue of bonds hereby authorized shall not exceed in the aggregate three million five hundred thousand dollars, and this amendment shall not be construed to permit the credit of the State to be directly or indirectly loaned in any other case or for any other purpose.

Sec. 16. The Legislature may by law authorize the dividing of towns having not less than four thousand inhabitants, or having voters residing on any island within the limits thereof, into voting districts for the election of representatives to the Legislature, and prescribe the manner in which the votes shall be received, counted, and the result of the election declared.

ARTICLE X.
Schedule.

Section 1. All laws now in force in this State, and not repugnant to this Constitution, shall remain, and be in force, until altered or repealed by the Legislature, or shall expire by their own limitation.

Sec. 2. The Legislature, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, may propose amendments to this Constitution; and when any amendments shall be so agreed upon, a resolution shall be passed and sent to the selectmen of the several towns, and the assessors of the several plantations, empowering and directing them to notify the inhabitants of their respective towns and plantations, in the manner prescribed by law, at their next annual meetings in the month of September, to give in their

votes on the question, whether such amendment shall be made; and if it shall appear that a majority of the inhabitants voting on the question are in favor of such amendment, it shall become a part of this Constitution.

Sec. 3. After the amendments proposed herewith shall have been submitted to popular vote, the chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court shall arrange the Constitution, as amended, under appropriate titles, and in proper articles, parts and sections, omitting all sections, clauses and words not in force, and making no other changes in the provisions or language thereof, and shall submit the same to the Legislature at its next session. And the draft, and arrangement, when approved by the Legislature, shall be enrolled on parchment and deposited in the office of the Secretary of State; and printed copies thereof shall be prefixed to the books containing the laws of the State. And the Constitution, with the amendments made thereto, in accordance with the provisions thereof, shall be the supreme law of the State.

Sec. 4. Sections one, two and five, of article ten of the existing Constitution, shall hereafter be omitted in any printed copies. thereof prefixed to the laws of the State; but this shall not impair the validity of acts under those sections; and section five shall remain in full force, as part of the Constitution, according to the stipulations of said section, with the same effect as if contained in said printed copies.

Amendments to the amended Constitution of Maine, adopted in pursuance of the second section of the tenth article of the amended Constitution.

ARTICLE XXII.

Limitation of Municipal Indebtedness.

No city or town shall hereafter create any debt or liability, which singly, or in the aggregate with previous debts or liabili ties, shall exceed five per centum of the last regular valuation of said city or town: Provided, however, that the adoption of this article shall not be construed as applying to any fund received in trust by said city or town, nor to any loan for the purpose of renewing existing loans or for war, or to temporary loans to be paid out of money raised by taxation, during the year in which they are made.

ARTICLE XXIII.

Biennial Elections and Biennial Sessions.

The Governor, Senators and Representatives in the Legislature shall be elected biennially, and hold office two years from the first Wednesday in January next succeeding their election; and the Legislature, at the first session next after the adoption of this article, shall make all needful provisions by law concerning the tenure of office of all county officers, and concerning the annual or biennial reports of the State Treasurer and other State officers and institutions; and shall make all such provisions by law as may be required in consequence of the change from annual to biennial elections, and from annual to biennial sessions of the Legislature. The first election under this article shall be in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty; and the first meeting of the Legislature under this article shall be on the first Wednesday of January, eighteen hundred and eighty-one.

Section four, article two; section five, part one, article four; section four, part two, article four; section one, part three, article four; section thirteen, part one, article five; section two, part two, article five; section one, part three, article five; section one, part four, article five; section four, part four, article five; section three, article seven; section four, article nine, and section eleven, article nine, are amended, by substituting the word "biennial " for the word "annual" wherever it occurs.

Section two, part one, article five, is amended, by striking out all after the word "office" and substituting therefor the following words: "For two years from the first Wednesday of January next following the election." Section seven, article six, and section two, article ten, are hereby amended by striking out the word "annual" and inserting in place thereof the word "biennial."

ARTICLE XXIV.

Election of Governor by Plurality Vote.

The Constitution of this State shall be amended, in the third section of the first part of article five, by striking out the word * majority," wherever it occurs therein, and inserting in place thereof the word "plurality."

ARTICLE XXV.

Biennial Legislative Terms.

Section two, article four, part first, of the Constitution of this State, as amended under the "resolution concerning an amendment of the Constitution of Maine," approved the fourth day of March, in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, shall be further amended by striking out the words "first Wednesday in January next succeeding their election," and inserting in place thereof the words "day next preceding the biennial meeting of the Legislature, and the amendment herein proposed, if adopted, shall determine the term of office of Senators and Representatives to be elected at the annual meeting in September, in the year eighteen hundred and eighty, as well as the term of Senators and Representatives thereafter to be elected," so that said section, as amended, shall read as follows:

"Sec. 2. The House of Representatives shall consist of one hundred and fifty-one members, to be elected by the qualified electors, and hold their office two years from the day next preceding the biennial meeting of the Legislature, and the amendment herein proposed, if adopted, shall determine the term of office of Senators and Representatives to be elected at the annual meeting in September, in the year eighteen hundred and eighty, as well as the term of Senators and Representatives thereafter to be elected. The Legislature, which shall first be convened under this Constitution, shall on or before the fifteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one, and the Legislature, within every subsequent period of at most ten years, and at least five, cause the number of the inhabitants of the State to be ascertained, exclusive of foreigners not naturalized and Indians not taxed. The number of Representatives shall, at the several periods of making such enumeration, be fixed and apportioned among the several counties, as near as may be, according to the number of inhabitants, having regard to the relative increase of population. The number of Representatives shall, on said first apportionment, be not less than one hundred and not more than one hundred and fifty."