WISCONSIN CONSTITUTION                                    67
taken, or which may be taken before the change from territorial to a permanent state
government, shall remain valid, and shall pass to and may be prosecuted in the name
of the state; and all bonds executed to the governor of the territory, or to any other
officer or court in his or their official capacity, shall pass to the governor or state
authority and their successors in office, for the uses therein respectively expressed,
and may be sued for and recovered accordingly; and all the estate, or property, real,
personal or mixed, and all judgments, bonds, specialties, choses in action and claims or
debts of whatsoever description of the territory of Wisconsin, shall enure to and
vest in the state of Wisconsin, and may be sued for and recovered in the same man-
ner and to the same extent by the state of Wisconsin as the same could have been by
the territory of Wisconsin. All criminal prosecutions and penal actions which may
have arisen, or which may arise before the change from a territorial to a state gov-
ernment, and which shall then be pending, shall be prosecuted to judgment and exe-
cution in the name of the state. All offenses committed against the laws of the
territory of Wisconsin before the change from a territorial to a state government, and
which shall not be prosecuted before such change, may be prosecuted in the name and
by the authority of the state of Wisconsin with like effect as though such change had
not taken place; and all penalties incurred shall remain the same as if this consti-
tution had not been adopted. All actions at law and suits in equity which may be
pending in any of the courts of the territory of Wisconsin at the time of the 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.
Existing officers hold over. Section 5. All officers, civil and military, now holding
their offices under the authority of the United States or of the territory of Wisconsin
shall continue to hold and exercise their respective offices until they shall be super-
seded by the authority of the state.
Seat of government. Section 6. The first session of the legislature of the state of
Wisconsin shall commence on the first Monday in June next, and shall be held at the
village of Madison, which shall be and remain the seat of government until otherwise
provided by law.
Local officers hold over. Section 7. All county, precinct and township officers shall
continue to hold their respective offices, unless removed by the competent authority,
until the legislature shall, in conformity with the provisions of this constitution, pro-
vide for the holding of elections to fill such offices respectively.
Copy of constitution for president. Section 8. The president of this convention shall,
immediately after its adjournment, cause a fair copy of this constitution, together with
a copy of the act of the legislature of this territory, entitled "An act in relation to
the formation of a state government in Wisconsin, and to change the time of holding
the annual session of the legislature," approved October 27, 1847, providing for the
calling of this convention, and also a copy of so much of the last census of this terri-
tory as exhibits the number of its inhabitants to be forwarded to the president of the
United States to be laid before the congress of the United States at its present session.
Ratification of constitution; election of officers. Section 9. This constitution shall
be submitted at an election to be held on the second Monday in March next, for ratifi-
cation or rejection, to all white male persons of the age of twenty-one years or up-
wards, who shall then be residents of this territory and citizens of the United States,
or shall have declared their intention to become such in conformity with the laws of
congress on the subject of naturalization; and all persons having such qualifications
shall be entitled to vote for or against the adoption of this constitution, and for all
officers first elected under it. And if the constitution be ratified by the said electors it
shall become the constitution of the state of Wisconsin. On such of the ballots as are
for the constitution shall be written or printed the word "yes," and on such as are
against the constitution the word "no." The election shall be conducted in the manner
now prescribed by law, and the returns made by the clerks of the boards of super-
visors or county commissioners (as the case may be) to the governor of the territory
at any time before the tenth day of April next. And in the event of the ratification
of this constitution by a majority of all the votes given, it shall be the duty of the
governor of this territory to make proclamation of the same, and to transmit a digest
of the returns to the senate and assembly of the state on the first day of their session.
An election shall be held for governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer, attorney-
general, members of the state legislature, and members of congress, on the second
Monday of May next; and no other or further notice of such election shall be required.
Congressional apportionment. Section 10. Two members of congress shall also be
elected on the second Monday of May next; and until otherwise provided by law, the
counties of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Jefferson, Racine, Walworth, Rock and Green,
shall constitute the first congressional district, and elect one member; and the counties
of Washington, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Calumet, Brown, Winnebago, Fond du Lac,
Marquette, Sauk, Portage, Columbia, Dodge, Dane, Iowa, Lafayette, Grant, Richland,
Crawford, Chippewa, St. Croix and La Pointe, shall constitute the second congressional
district, and shall elect one member.
First elections. Section 11. The several elections provided for in this article shall
be conducted according to the existing laws of the territory; provided, that no elector