Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/38

18 the instrument divides the powers of the supreme government into three branches, to wit, the legislative, executive, and judicial. The instrument is epitomized in a note.The legislative power is vested in a congress consisting of a house of deputies and a senate; the members of the former to be chosen every two years, one for every 80,000 inhabitants, as well as for every fraction exceeding 40,000. A deputy must not be under 25 years of age; must have resided two consecutive years in the state electing him. Adopted citizens with eight years' residence and property to the value of $8,000, or an occupation yielding $1,000 yearly, could be chosen. Natives of other Spanish colonies needed only three years' residence. The president and vice-president, members of the supreme court, secretaries of state, and employés of their departments could not be elected deputies; neither could governors of states or territories, military commandants, archbishops, bishops, vicars-general, judges of districts, and commissaries general of finance and war, for the states or territories in which they exercised their functions. To become deputies, such officials had to resign their offices at least six months before the election. The senate is composed of two senators from each state, chosen by a plurality of votes in the state legislature or congress. The junior or last chosen senator is replaced by a new appointment at the end of two years; the first chosen holds his place for four years. Both must be 30 years of age or upwards, and possess all the qualifications requisite for a deputy. Deputies and senators are made inviolable. The congress is required to meet every year on the 1st of January, closing its session on the 15th of April, unless it or the executive deem it necessary to prolong the session for 30 days more. It nay also hold an extra session between the dates of the ordinary sessions. Either chamber may impeach the president, supreme judges, secretaries of state, and the governors of states for infractions of the constitution; if two thirds of the votes sustain the impeachment, the accused is suspended from office and surrendered to a competent court to try him for the offence.

The executive power is placed in the hands of a president; in the event of his becoming morally or physically disqualified, the vice-president assumes his functions, temporarily or for the rest of the term, as the case may be. None but a Mexican-born, at least 35 years old, and a resident of the country is eligible for president or vice-president. The president cannot be reëlected till four years have elapsed after his term. The election of president and vice-president is made by the congresses of the states, each of which, on the 1st of September of the year immediately preceding the installation of a new president, names two individuals as candidates, one of whom at least must not be a native of the state. A committee of the lower house of the national congress, composed of one deputy from each state, passes upon the validity of the certificates received from each state, and the chamber then declares who arc the elect. Should two candidates have an equal number of votes, or no one have an absolute majority, then the house of deputies chooses the president or vice-president from among the candidates having the greatest number of votes from the state congresses. Many precautions are enjoined against possible encroachments on the part of the president.

The judicial power is vested in a supreme court of justice, and in superior courts of departments and districts. The supreme court is composed of eleven judges and the attorney-general. The members must be natives of Mexico, and 35 years of age or upwards. They are elected by the legislatures of the states in the sane manner and with the same formalities as the president of the republic.

The state governments are also divided into three branches, the same as the federal government. The states have the management of their local