Page:The Federal and state constitutions v2.djvu/580

Rh 23. Free negroes shall not be permitted to live in this State under any circumstances.

24. This enumeration of rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people; and to guard against any encroachments on the rights herein retained, or any transgression of any of the higher power herein delegated, we declare that everything in this article is excepted out of the general powers of government, and shall forever remain inviolate, and that all laws contrary thereto, or to the other provisions herein contained, shall be void.

That no inconvenience may arise by reason of a change from a territorial to a permanent State government, it is declared that all rights, actions, prosecutions, judgments, claims, and contracts, as well of individuals as of bodies-corporate, except the bill incorporating banks by the last territorial legislature, shall continue as if no such change had taken place, and all processes which may have issued under the authority of the Territory of Kansas shall be as valid as if issued in the name of the State of Kansas.

All laws now of force in the Territory of Kansas which are not repugnant to this constitution shall continue and be of force until altered, amended, or repealed, by a legislature assembled under the provisions of this constitution.

All fines, penalties, and forfeitures to the Territory of Kansas shall inure to the use of the State of Kansas.

All recognizances heretofore taken shall pass to, and be prosecuted in, the name of the State of Kansas, ana all bonds executed to the governor of the Territory, or to any other officer of the court in his or their official capacity, shall pass to the governor and corresponding officers of the State authority and their successors in office, and for the use therein expressed, and may be sued for and recovered accordingly; and all the estates or property, real, personal, or mixed, and all judgments, bonds, specialties, choses in action, and claims or debts of whatever description, of the Territory of Kansas, shall inure to and vest in the State of Kansas, and be sued for and recovered in the same manner and to the same extent as the same could have been by the Territory of Kansas.

All criminal prosecutions and penal actions which may have arisen before the change from a territorial to a State government, and which shall then be pending, shall be prosecuted to judgment in the name of the State of Kansas. All actions at law and suits in equity which may be pending in the courts of the Territory of Kansas, at the time of a change from a territorial to a State government, may be continued and transferred to any court of the State which shall have jurisdiction of the subject-matter thereof.

All officers, civil and military, holding their offices under authority of the Territory of Kansas, shall continue to hold and exercise their respective offices until they shall be superseded by the authority of the State.

This constitution shall be submitted to the Congress of the United States at its next ensuing session, and as soon as official