31. The Volksraad shall consist of at least twelve members possessing the following qualifications, namely :— They shall be between 30 and 60 years of age. They shall have been enfranchised burgers during three They shall be members of the Nederduitsch Hervormde They shall be resident, and shall possess fixed property in the Republic. Anybody of notoriously bad character, or who has had a degrading sentence passed on him, shall not be eligible. Volksraad members shall not be related to each other in the degree of father and son, full or half brothers, or uncle and nephew by consanguinity. Coloured persons and bastards shall not be admitted to the Councils of the State. Everybody who can supply proof contrary to the above shall be at liberty to send the same to the President of the Executive Council before any such member shall have taken his seat. In case such evidence shall be sufficiently convincing, the President of the Executive Council shall hand the same, before the opening of the session, to the Chairman of the Volksraad, and shall urge the removal of the member in question. 32. The members of the Volksraad shall be elected by a majority of the votes of the People. Every burger who has attained the age of twenty-one years or more shall be entitled to vote, provided he be a member of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Church. The members of the Volksraad shall be elected for a term of two years. 33. The election of Volksraad members shall be absolutely free (public), and an equal number of members shall be elected for each district. The electors of any one district may also record their votes for a person residing in any other district. 34. Any enfranchised burger who shall deem it his duty to bring charges against the President or any member of the Executive Council on account of misdemeanours or crimes in connection with their respective offices, shall be at liberty to hand in such charges to the Chairman of the Volksraad (addressed to "The Honourable the Chairman of the Volksraad "), who shall deal with the same as the circumstances may require. 35. The election of members for the Volksraad shall take place in the month of March. Six members shall be elected in each district by a majority of votes to take their seats as representatives of the People. The Field-Cornets shall make timely provision for the handing of the election lists to the respective Landdrosts, and the latter shall see that these lists are immediately sent to the Executive Council. At the end of the first year one-half of the members shall retire by lot, and the remaining half shall retire at the end of the second year, and so forth. New members of the Volksraad shall be elected in those districts whose members shall retire as above. The retiring members shall be re-eligible. 36. The Executive Council shall be obliged to provide a competent Secretary for the Volksraad during its session. 37. If persons elected as members of the Volksraad wish to be excused after having been elected, they shall send in notice of their reasons for wishing to be so excused to the Executive Council by the first mail immediately after having been notified of their election. Whoever does not comply herewith, or declines his election without satisfactory reasons, shall be mulcted in a fine of 25 rixdollars.* If he does not give notice as above by the first mail after the result of the election has been notified, then he shall be fined 50 rixdollars. Should any member of the Volksraad absent himself from any session without having resigned, and should he not comply with the notice convoking a session, he shall be fined 75 rixdollars. 38. Reasons for excusing members of the Volksraad from attending its sessions are as follows: (a) Indisposition and bodily infirmities, proof whereof must be produced by the member elected or summoned to attend in the form of a declaration signed by the Landdrost, Commandant, or Field-Cornet of his division; and (b) Such unforeseen circumstances as being actually proved have made it impossible for the member to attend or remain present during the session. 39. All considerations, excuses, and notices referred to in Articles 37 and 38 shall be sent in to the President of the Executive Council, and shall be taken into consideration by the Executive Council. Provision shall be made as soon as possible for filling the seats which have thus become vacant. 40. Prior to entering upon their duties, members of the Volksraad shall be sworn by those Volksraad members who are present at that day's session, and the oath shall be as follows: B "As member-elect of the Volksraad of this Republic, I solemnly declare, promise, and swear that I have not made or promised any gift to anyone in order to attain to that office; that I shall be faithful to the People in that position; that I shall conduct myself in accordance with the Constitution ('Grondwet') of this Republic to the best of my knowledge and conscience, and that my sole aim shall be the promotion of the happiness and welfare of the inhabitants in general." * A rixdollar is equal to Is. 6d. sterling. 41. The members of the Volksraad who shall be present shall elect a Chairman, after the opening of the session, for the yearly term during which they shall sit. 42. Every matter deliberated upon shall be decided by three-fourths of the number of votes. 43. The Volksraad shall not disperse before all matters for discussion shall have been disposed of, and the session shall have been closed by the Chairman. Any Volksraad member may receive liberty to leave the session if his case should fall under sub-section (b) of Article 38. 44. As long as members of the Volksraad occupy their position as such they shall be exempt from personal service to the country, and they shall also be exempt from those costs which the Martial Authority ("Krijgsmagt ") might otherwise exact from them; and they shall have their expenses paid during their attendance while their respective businesses shall be at a stand-still. 45. The meetings shall be held with open doors, unless the Chairman or the President of the Executive Council should deem it necessary to have the deliberations concerning any proposition conducted in secret session. Persons who may be present but are not members of the Volksraad shall not be allowed to speak, except in reply to questions of the Chairman. 46. The procedure shall be as follows :— (a) The Chairman shall open the session. (b) The Chairman shall notify the President of the Executive Council to make report according to Article 74. (c) The Volksraad shall nominate a Commission consisting of three of its members to render a written report concerning the Report of the President of the Executive Council. (d) The President of the Executive Council shall hand the draft laws to the Chairman of the Volksraad, and the Volksraad shall determine the order in which the same shall be considered. (e) The Commission mentioned in sub-section (c) shall render its report, and the Volksraad shall resolve what reply to make to the President of the Executive Council. (ƒ) The Volksraad shall reply to the Report of the President of the Executive Council. (g) The draft laws handed in shall be deliberated upon, as well as the period at which any of these laws shall come into operation, in accordance with Article 12. (h) The appointment of those officials proposed by the President of the Executive Council shall be taken into consideration. (i) Any other business shall be dealt with. The session shall be closed according to Article 43. 47. The Chairman shall bring under discussion all proposed laws handed in to the Volksraad, whether the same have been made known to the public three months before being handed in to the Volksraad, or whether they have been handed in during the session. 48. If the notification of laws and Government notices to the public shall not have taken place in time, the President of the Executive Council shall investigate who is to blame for the delay. A Landdrost found responsible for any such delay shall be mulcted in a fine of 50 rixdollars, and a Field-Cornet or minor official in a fine of 25 rixdollars. 49. A copy of every law passed by the Volksraad shall be sent in by the Chairman to the President of the Executive Council for the purpose of being carried out. 50. Whenever a new President of the Executive Council shall have been elected, the Volksraad shall depute four of its members and the Secretary to invite him to take the oath of office in the Volksraad. 51. Upon being appointed, the members of the Executive Council and the Commandant-General shall receive written notice from the Volksraad to that effect, and they shall at the same time be invited to take the oath of office before the Volksraad at an appointed time (see Article 91). 52. The instruments appointing officials of the State who have been duly proposed by the President of the Executive Council, in accordance with Article 13, shall be signed by the Chairman and the Secretary of the Volksraad, and shall be sent in to the Executive Council. 53. If the High Court, mentioned in Article 143, should declare the President, or any member of the Executive Council, or the Commandant-General, unworthy to occupy his position, then the Chairman of the Volksraad shall, upon receipt of the decision of the Court, call the members of the Volksraad together, who shall be bound according to their duty to attend the session in order to remove the convicted party from office, and to provide as soon as possible for filling the vacancy thus created. 54. The members of the Volksraad shall assemble in the Raad Chamber ("Raadszall ") annually on the second Monday of September, or at such other time whenever the President shall consider it necessary for the Volksraad to meet as may be appointed by the notice convening such session; and the Raad shall sit daily at nine o'clock in the morning in order to be engaged not less than four to five hours per diem. The Volksraad sitting shall be opened and closed with a suitable prayer. 55. The Chairman of the Volksraad shall be responsible for the holding of the meetings as provided in Article 54, and in case of default the Volksraad may fine him from five to fifty rixdollars. 56. The Chairman shall keep order during the deliberations, and if he should have had to call any member to order for a second time, he shall fine that member. For every infringement of this regulation, or of Article 54, by any member a fine of 5 rixdollars shall be imposed. 57. The maintenance of order among those persons present, and indicated in Article 45, shall be entrusted to a Field-Cornet authorised thereto by the Landdrost of the district where the session is held. 58. The said Landdrost shall also appoint a messenger to be at the service of the Volksraad during its meetings. 59. The Volksraad shall adjudge all breaches of its regulations committed in the Chamber, and shall accordingly punish the offenders without further recourse. 60. Notice of all fines inflicted by the Volksraad shall be given by the Secretary to the respective Landdrosts in whose jurisdiction the fined members reside, and the Landdrosts shall see to the collection of the fines. Concerning the President and the Executive Council. 61. The President of the Executive Council shall be elected for a term of five years by a majority of the votes of those burgers who are entitled to vote. He shall have been an enfranchised burger for five years, and shall also be a member of a Nederduitsch Hervormde congregation; he shall not have had any degrading sentence passed on him, and he shall have attained the age of thirty years. 62. The President of the Executive Council shall be the first or highest official of the State, all other State officials being subordinate to him; those, however, who are entrusted with the carrying out of the judicial power shall be entirely free and independent in the exercise of that power. 63. As long as the President holds office as such he shall hold no other position, not even in connection with the Church, neither shall he conduct any business, nor leave the country without the consent of the Volksraad. 64. In the event of his being removed from his position, or by reason of death, dismissal, or incapacity, the discharge of his office shall be entrusted to the oldest member of the Executive Council, who shall notify the Volksraad as soon as possible to make provision for filling the vacancy. 65. The President shall be dismissed or removed from his position by the Volksraad in the event of that body feeling convinced that he |