Selected Official Documents of the South African Republic and Great Britain Part 6

ARTICLE 13.--No military officer or official who enjoys a fixed yearly or monthly salary, as such, may offer himself for election as member of either Volksraad.

ARTICLE 14.--No coloured person or b.a.s.t.a.r.d, nor persons of public bad conduct, or those who have had a discreditable criminal sentence pa.s.sed on them, nor any non-rehabilitated bankrupts or insolvents whatsoever shall be eligible as members of either Volksraad.

ARTICLE 15.--To be able to take a seat as member of the First Volksraad, he who has been lawfully chosen must be thirty years old, and member of a Protestant church, live in the Republic, have obtained fixed property there and the burgher right, either before this law came into operation, or thereafter by birth, or have obtained the franchise for the First Volksraad according to Sub-section 2 of Article 9.

ARTICLE 16.--To be able to take a seat as member of the Second Volksraad, he who has been lawfully chosen must be thirty years old, have been enfranchised burgher during the two immediately preceding years, be a member of a Protestant church, live in the Republic, and have fixed property there.

ARTICLE 17.--Each Volksraad chooses its own chairman from among its own members.

ARTICLE 18.--Each Volksraad appoints, from outside its members, its own secretary on proposal of the Executive Council.

ARTICLE 19.--Each Volksraad shall have to judge if elections and the qualifications of its own members are according to law.

ARTICLE 20.--Each Volksraad shall establish its own arrangement of order, shall regulate the process of its transactions, and the power of the Chairman shall be defined by itself.

ARTICLE 21.--The President and the members of the Executive Council shall sit in both Volksraads, with right to take part in the discussions, but without a vote.

ARTICLE 22.--The quorum of both the First and the Second Volksraad shall consist of twelve members. If there is no quorum present in the Second Volksraad, its secretary shall at once give notice of the same to the First Volksraad.

ARTICLE 23.--The sessions of both Volksraads shall be held in public, unless the majority in special cases resolve to revoke the publicity.

ARTICLE 24.--Each Volksraad shall keep minutes of its transactions. It shall have these published regularly in the _Staats Courant_, except the notes of the secret sittings, which shall only be partly published with the consent of the First Volksraad.

ARTICLE 25.--Each Volksraad has the right to punish its own members for disorderly conduct. Each Volksraad has, in addition, the right to suspend a member with two-thirds of the votes given.

ARTICLE 26.--A period of three months shall be left to the people to enable those who so wish to express their judgment of a proposed law to the Volksraads, except those laws which can suffer no delay.

ARTICLE 27.--The Second Volksraad shall have the power to pa.s.s further regulations on the following subjects as is necessary, either by law or resolution:--

(1) The department of mines.

(2) The making and support of wagon and post roads.

(3) The postal department.

(4) The department of telegraphs and telephones.

(5) The protection of inventions, samples and trademarks.

(6) The protection of the right of the author.

(7) The exploitation and support of the woods and salt-pans.

(8) The prevention and coping with contagious diseases.

(9) The condition, the rights, and obligations of companies.

(10) Insolvency.

(11) Civil procedure.

(12) Criminal procedure.

(13) Such other subjects as the First Volksraad shall decide later by law or resolution, or the First Volksraad shall specially refer to the Second Volksraad.

ARTICLE 28.--All laws or resolutions accepted by the Second Volksraad are as soon as possible, that is to say at the outside within forty-eight hours, communicated both to the First Volksraad and to the President.

ARTICLE 29.--The President has the right, when he has received notice from the Second Volksraad of the adoption of a law or a resolution, to bring that law or resolution before the First Volksraad for consideration within fourteen days after the receipt of such notice.

The President is in any case bound, after the receipt of such a notice, to communicate it to the First Volksraad within the said time.

ARTICLE 30.--If the President has not brought the law or resolution as communicated before the First Volksraad for consideration, and the First Volksraad has not on its own part thought it necessary to take said law or resolution into consideration, the President shall, unless with the advice and consent of the Executive Council he thinks it undesirable in the interests of the State, be bound to have that law or resolution published in the first succeeding Volksraad, unless within the said fourteen days the First Volksraad may be adjourned, in which case the publication in the _Staats Courant_ shall take place after the lapse of eight days from the commencement of the first succeeding session of the First Volksraad.

ARTICLE 31.--The law or resolution adopted by the Second Volksraad shall have no force, unless published by the President in the _Staats Courant_.

ARTICLE 32.--The legal effect of a law or resolution published by the President in the _Staats Courant_ may not be questioned, saving the right of the people to make memorials about it.

ARTICLE 33.--This law comes into operation two months after publication in the _Staats Courant_.

S.J.P. KRUGER, _President._ DR. W.J. LEYDS, _Secretary of State._

GOVERNMENT OFFICES, PRETORIA, 23rd June, 1890.

CHAPTER III.

FULL TEXT OF THE FRANCHISE LAW. PUBLISHED JULY 26, 1899. LAW NO. 3.

WHEREAS, It has appeared desirable to amend and amplify certain provisions of the laws with reference to naturalization and the obtaining of the full franchise; and

WHEREAS, These amendments will not permit of delay by being published three months beforehand in terms of Article 12 of the Grondwet, and as they have already been accepted by the people in principle; it is hereby enacted that:

ARTICLE 1.--Each white male stranger, who has reached the age of sixteen years, and who settles or has settled in the South African Republic with the intention of residing there, shall in future be able to obtain letters of naturalization, provided that he fulfills the following provisions and enactments--

(_a_) The applicant shall produce a certificate from the Field-Cornet and the Landrost of his ward and district, countersigned by the Commandant of the district, to show that he was, during the time--required in his case--preceding the naturalization, continually registered on the Field-Cornet's list; was during this time domiciled in the South African Republic; and during this time obeyed the laws of the land and committed no crime against the independence of the South African Republic.

If the Field-Cornet and Landrost are not from their personal knowledge able to grant such certificate, they shall do so on the strength of affidavits of the applicant and two well known, fully enfranchised burghers of the ward and district, declaring that the applicant has, during the necessary period, been domiciled in the South African Republic, and has during that time obeyed the laws of the land, and has committed no crime against the independence of the South African Republic.

If the Field-Cornet and Landrost and Commandant refuse to grant such certificate or to sign it, the applicant may appeal to the Executive Council.

If the Field-Cornet's books are destroyed or lost the applicant shall prove to the satisfaction of the State Secretary and State Attorney, by means of affidavits, that he was registered.

(_b_) The applicant shall produce a sworn declaration made by himself to the effect that he has had no dishonouring sentence pa.s.sed on him, and shall produce further proof of good behavior.

By dishonouring sentence shall be understood a sentence for the crimes of high treason, murder, rape, theft, fraud, perjury, or forgery.

(_c_) The applicant shall produce proof that he possesses unmortgaged fixed property to the value of 150, or pays rent to the amount of 50 per annum, or draws a fixed salary or wage of 100 per annum, or makes an independent living by farming or cattle-breeding.