Page:The Federal and state constitutions v5.djvu/301

Rh The Lieutenant-Governor shall preside in the Senate, but shall have no vote unless it may be equally divided.

The Senate shall choose its other officers and also a Speaker (pro tempore) in the absence of the Lieutenant-Governor, or when he shall exercise the office of Governor.

The style of the acts shall be: "The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact."

Each House shall be judge of the qualifications and election of its own members, shall sit upon its own adjournment from day to day, prepare bills to be passed into laws; and the two Houses may also jointly adjourn to any future day or other place.

All bills and resolutions of a legislative nature shall be read three times in each House, before they pass into laws; and shall be signed by the presiding officer of both Houses.

Each member of the General Assembly, before taking his seat, shall take an oath or affirmation that he will support the Constitution and laws of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of North Carolina, and will faithfully discharge his duty as a member of the Senate or House of Representatives.

The terms of office for Senator and members of the House of Representatives shall commence at the time of their election.

Upon motion made and seconded in either house by one-fifth of the members present, the yeas and nays upon any question shall be taken and entered upon the journals.

The election for members of the General Assembly shall be held for the respective districts and counties, at the places where they are now held, or may be directed hereafter to be held, in such manner as may be prescribed by law, on the first Thursday in August, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy, and every two years thereafter. But the General Assembly may change the time of holding the elections.

The members of the General Assembly for the term for which they have been elected shall receive as a compensation for their services the sum of four dollars per day for each day of their session, for a period not exceeding sixty days; and should they remain longer in session, they shall serve without compensation. They shall also be entitled to receive ten cents per mile, both while coming to the seat of government and while returning home, the said distance to be computed by the nearest line or route of public travel. The compensation of the presiding officers of the two Houses shall be six dollars per day and mileage. Should an extra session of the General Assembly be called, the members and presiding officers shall receive a like rate of compensation for a period not exceeding twenty days.

The Executive Department shall consist of a Governor, in whom shall be vested the supreme executive power of the State, a Lieutenant-Governor, a Secretary of State, an Auditor, a Treasurer, a Superintendent of Public Instruction, and an Attorney-General, who shall be elected for a term of four years by the qualified electors of the State, at the same time and places and in the same manner as