disability be removed or his successor be elected and qualified. Every such vacancy shall be filled by election at the first general election that occurs more than thirty days after the vacancy has taken place, and the person chosen shall hold the office for the remainder of the unexpired term fixed in the first section of this article.

Sec. 14. The Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer and Superintendent of Public Instruction shall constitute, ex officio, the Council of State, who shall advise the Governor in the execution of his office, and three of whom shall constitute a quorum. Their advice and proceedings in this capacity shall be entered in a journal to be kept for this purpose exclusively, and signed by the members present, from any part of which any member may enter his dissent; and such journal shall be placed before the General Assembly when called for by either house. The Attorney-General shall be, ex officio, the legal adviser of the executive department.

Sec. 15. The officers mentioned in this article shall, at stated periods, receive for their services a compensation to be estab lished by law, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the time for which they shall have been elected, and the said officers shall receive no other emolument or allowance whatever.

Sec. 16. There shall be a seal of the State, which shall be kept by the Governor, and used by him as occasion may require, and shall be called "The Great Seal of the State of North Carolina." All grants and commissions shall be issued in the name and by the authority of the State of North Carolina, sealed with "the Great Seal of the State," signed by the Governor and countersigned by the Secretary of State.

Sec. 17. The General Assembly shall establish a Department of Agriculture, Immigration and Statistics, under such regulations as may best promote the agricultural interests of the State, and shall enact laws for the adequate protection and encourage ment of sheep husbandry.

ARTICLE IV.
Judicial Department.

Section 1. The distinctions between actions at law and suits in equity, and the forms of all such actions and suits, shall be

abolished; and there shall be in this State but one form of action, for the enforcement or protection of private rights or the 'redress of private wrongs, which shall be denominated a civil action; and every action prosecuted by the people of the State as a party against a person charged with a public offense, for the punishment of the same, shall be termed a criminal action. Feigned issues shall also be abolished, and the fact at issue tried by order of court before a jury.

Sec. 2. The judicial power of the State shall be vested in a court for the trial of impeachments, a Supreme Court, Superior Courts, Courts of Justices of the Peace, and such other courts inferior to the Supreme Court as may be established by law.

Sec. 3. The court for the trial of impeachments shall be the Senate. A majority of the members shall be necessary to a quorum, and the judgment shall not extend beyond removal from, and disqualification to hold office in, this State; but the party shall be liable to indictment and punishment according to law.

Sec. 4. The House of Representatives solely shall have the power of impeaching. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senators present. When the Governor is impeached, the chief justice shall preside.

Sec. 5. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war against it, or 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 on confession in open court. No conviction of treason or attainder shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture.

The Supreme Court shall consist of a chief justice and four associate justices.

Sec. 7. The terms of the Supreme Court shall be held in the city of Raleigh, as now, unless otherwise provided by the General Assembly.

Sec. 8. The Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction to review, upon appeal, any decision of the courts below, upon any matter of law or legal inference. And the jurisdiction of said court over "issues of fact" and "questions of fact" shall be the same exercised by it before the adoption of the Constitution of one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, and the court shall have the power to issue any remedial writs necessary to give it a general supervision and control over the proceedings of the inferior courts.

Sec. 9. The Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction to hear claims against the State, but its decisions shall be merely recommendatory; no process in the nature of the execution shall issue thereon; they shall be reported to the next session of the General Assembly for its action.

Sec. 10. The State shall be divided into nine judicial districts, for each of which a judge shall be chosen; and there shall be held a Superior Court in each county at least twice in each year, to continue for such time in each county as may be prescribed by law. But the General Assembly may reduce or increase the number of districts.

Sec. 11. Every judge of the Superior Court shall reside in the district for which he is elected. The judges shall preside in the courts of the different districts successively, but no judge shall hold the courts in the same district oftener than once in four years; but in case of the protracted illness of the judge assigned to preside in any district, or of any other unavoidable accident to him, by reason of which he shall be unable to preside, the Governor may require any judge to hold one or more specified terms in said district, in lieu of the judge assigned to hold the courts of the said district.

Sec. 12. The General Assembly shall have no power to deprive the judicial department of any power or jurisdiction which rightfully pertains to it as a co-ordinate department of the government; but the General Assembly shall allot and distribute that portion of this power and jurisdiction which does not pertain to the Supreme Court, among the other courts prescribed in this Constitution or which may be established by law, in such manner as it may deem best; provide also a proper sys tem of appeals, and regulate by law, when necessary, the methods of proceeding in the exercise of their powers, of all the courts below the Supreme Courts, so far as the same may be done without conflict with other provisions of this Constitution.

Sec. 13. In all issues of fact, joined in any court, the parties may waive the right to have the same determined by a jury, in which case the finding of the judge upon the facts shall have the force and effect of a verdict by a jury.

Sec. 14. The General Assembly shall provide for the establishment of Special Courts, for the trial of misdemeanors, in cities and towns where the same may be necessary.

Sec. 15. The clerk of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the court, and shall hold his office for eight years.

Sec. 16. A clerk of the Superior Court for each county shall be elected by the qualified voters thereof, at the time and in the manner prescribed by law for the election of members of the General Assembly.

Sec. 17.

Clerks of the Superior Courts shall hold their offices

for four years.

Sec. 18. The General Assembly shall prescribe and regulate the fees, salaries and emoluments of all officers provided for in this article; but the salaries of the judges shall not be dimin ished during their continuance in office.

Sec. 19. The laws of North Carolina, not repugnant to this Constitution, or the Constitution and laws of the United States, shall be in force until lawfully altered.

Sec. 20. Actions at law, and suits in equity, pending when this Constitution shall go into effect, shall be transferred to the courts having jurisdiction thereof, without prejudice by reason of the change; and all such actions and suits commenced before, and pending at the adoption by the General Assembly of the rules of practice and procedure herein provided for, shall be heard and determined according to the practice now in use, unless otherwise provided for by said rules.

Sec. 21. The justices of the Supreme Court shall be elected. by the qualified voters of the State, as is provided for the election of members of the General Assembly. They shall hold their offices for eight years. The judges of the Superior Courts, elected at the first election under this amendment, shall be elected in like manner as is provided for justices of the Supreme Court, and shall hold their offices for eight years. The General Assembly may, from time to time, provide by law that the judges of the Superior Courts, chosen at succeeding elections, instead of being elected by the voters of the whole State, as is herein provided for, shall be elected by the voters of their respective districts.

Sec. 22. The Superior Courts shall be, at all times, open for the transaction of all business within their jurisdiction, except the trial of issues of fact requiring a jury.

Sec. 23. A solicitor shall be elected for each judicial district by the qualified voters thereof, as is prescribed for members of the General Assembly, who shall hold office for the term of four

years, and prosecute on behalf of the State, in all criminal actions in the Superior Courts, and advise the officers of justice in his district.

Sec. 24. In each county a sheriff and coroner shall be elected by the qualified voters thereof, as is prescribed for members of the General Assembly, and shall hold their offices for two years. In each township there shall be a constable elected in like manner by the voters thereof, who shall hold his office for two years. When there is no coroner in a county, the clerk of the Superior Court for the county may appoint one for special cases. In case of a vac-ncy existing for any cause in any of the offices created by this section, the commissioners of the county may appoint to such office for the unexpired term.

Sec. 25. All vacancies occurring in the offices provided for by this article of the Constitution shall be filled by the appointments of the Governor, unless otherwise provided for, and the appointees shall hold their places until the next regular election for mem bers of the General Assembly, when elections shall be held to fill such offices. If any person, elected or appointed to any of said offices, shall neglect and fail to qualify, such offices shall be appointed to, held and filled as provided in case of vacancies occurring therein. All incumbents of said offices shall hold until their successors are qualified.

Sec. 26. The officers elected at the first election held under this Constitution shall hold their offices for the terms prescribed for them respectively, next ensuing after the next regular elec tion for members of the General Assembly. But their terms shall begin upon the approval of this Constitution by the Congress of the United States.

Sec. 27. The several justices of the peace shall have jurisdic tion, under such regulations as the General Assembly shall prescribe, of civil actions founded on contract, wherein the sum demanded shall not exceed two hundred dollars, and wherein the title to real estate shall not be in controversy; and of all criminal matters arising within their counties where the punishment cannot exceed a fine of fifty dollars or imprisonment for thirty days. And the General Assembly may give to justices of the peace jurisdiction of other civil actions, wherein the value of the property in controversy does not exceed fifty dollars. When an issue of fact may be joined before a justice, on demand of either party thereto, he shall cause a jury of six men to be sum