the power of government for redress of grievances, or other proper purposes, by address, or remonstrance.

"That the free white men of this state shall have a right to keep and to bear arms for their common defence.

"That no soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in manner prescribed by law.

"The military shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power.

"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 powers 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."

§ 118. The legislative power of this state is vested in a general assembly, which consists of a senate and house of assembly. Two-thirds of each house constitutes a quorum. Bills may originate in either house, and be amended or rejected in the other. Every bill must be read on three different days in each house, unless twothirds of the house in which it shall be pending shall dispense with the rule. Every bill, having passed each house, shall be signed by the president of the senate and the speaker of the house.

The style of the laws is, "Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas."

Every bill, when passed both houses, must be presented to the governor for approval. If not approved it must be returned with his objections; when, upon reconsideration, it may be passed by a vote of a majority

of the whole number elected to each house. If not returned within three days it becomes a law, unless prevented by an adjournment; in which case it does not become a law. The same rule obtains in reference to concurrent orders and resolutions, except on questions of adjournment.

The constitution of this state also contains the following restrictions upon legislative power:

The general assembly shall have no power to pass laws for the emancipation of slaves, without the consent of the owners. They shall have no power to prevent emigrants to this state from bringing with them such persons as are deemed slaves by the laws of any one of the United States.(a)

No lottery shall be authorized by this state, nor shall the sale of lottery tickets be allowed.(b)

The person of a debtor, except where there is a strong presumption of fraud, shall neither be imprisoned nor continued in prison, after delivering up his estate for the benefit of his creditors, in such manner as may be prescribed by law.(c)

All revenue shall be raised by taxation, to be fixed by law. All property subject to taxation shall be taxed according to its value, and that value to be ascertained in such manner as the general assembly shall direct, making the same equal and uniform throughout the state. No one species of property from which a tax may be collected, shall be taxed higher, than another species of property of equal value: Provided, the general assembly shall have power to tax merchants, bankers, pedlers, and privileges, in such manner as may from time to time be prescribed by law; and provided further, that no other or greater amounts of revenue shall at any time be levied,

(a) Art. 9, sec. 81. (c) Art. 9. sec. 11.

(b) Art. 9, sec. 6.

than required for the necessary expenses of government, unless by a concurrence of two-thirds of both houses of the general assembly. No poll tax shall be assessed for other than county purposes. No other or greater tax shall be levied on the productions or labor of the country than may be required for expenses of inspection.

CHAPTER VII.

OF LEGISLATIVE POWER IRRESPECTIVE OF CONSTITUTIONAL RESTRICTIONS.

§ 119. In the preceding chapter we have stated generally the provisions contained in the respective state constitutions, relating to the power of the respective state legislatures. In subsequent chapters we shall take occasion to consider the restrictive clauses, and the construction which such restrictive clauses have received. In the present chapter we shall proceed to a consideration of the extent of legislative authority, irrespective of any constitutional restrictions upon legislative power.

The law making power in almost all modern civilized governments, is vested in the representatives of the people, selected in the manner prescribed by the fundamental law or municipal regulations of each particular government; whose powers are regulated either by an express written compact, or limited only by what is tacitly reserved to the people, on whose consent their right of government is founded. In the legislative department of government in this respect is usually vested the sovereign power of the state. By sovereignty is commonly understood supremacy, supreme power, unlimited and uncontrolled. The word sovereignty, however, is used in different senses, and is susceptible of various applications. When applied to states and nations in relation to each other, it means nothing more than independence. A sovereign state in a political sense, is a state or nation in the free and uncontrolled possession of self-government. In this application of the term there is no idea of supremacy but simply that of

national independence. But when applied to the internal government of a state, it is made to signify a power somewhere vested, competent to regulate, control, and direct the will of the whole and of every subordinate member of the community. To this end it is by some supposed to be absolute, unlimited, and incapable of being controlled. As to the extent of sovereign power, in whatever department of the government it may be lodged, and whether it is to be considered as absolute and beyond control, where there is no written fundamental law setting limits to such power, there is great diversity of opinion among ethical and judicial writers. Among the former, Paley considers it a well settled principle, that the sovereign power is necessarily lodged in some department where it is absolute and uncontrolled. His reasonings on this point are, "as a series of appeals must be finite, there necessarily exists in every government, a power from which the constitution has provided no appeal, and which power for that reason may be termed absolute, uncontrollable, arbitrary, despotic, and is alike in all countries. The person in whom this power resides is called the sovereign, or supreme power of the state, and since to the same power, universally pertains the office of establishing public laws; it is called also the legislative power of the state."(a)

§ 120. Burlamaqui contends, "That the first characteristic of this sovereign power, and that from which all the others flow, is its being a supreme and independent power; that is, a power that judges in the last resort of whatever is susceptible of human direction, which relates to the welfare and advantage of society, insomuch that this power acknowledges no other superior on earth.” When he says the civil power is, of its own nature, supreme and independent, he does not thereby mean

(a) Mor. Phi. 2 pt. 185.