Part 184

Article 31. Citizens, who are freemen of towns, shall enjoy their privilege as heretofore, of proposing to the king three candidates for the office of burgomaster or mayor, one of whom the king selects. The aldermen and secretaries of the magistracy of Stockholm shall be elected in the same manner.

Article 32. The king appoints envoys to foreign courts and the officers of the embassies, in the presence of the minister of state for foreign affairs and the aulic chancellor.

Article 33. When offices, for which candidates are proposed, are to be filled up, the members of the council of state shall deliver their opinions on the qualifications and merits of the applicants. They shall also have right to make respectful remonstrances against the nomination of the king respecting other offices.

Article 34. The new functionaries created by this constitution, viz.—the ministers and counsellors of state and counsellors of justice, shall be paid by the crown, and may not hold any other civil offices. The two ministers of state are the highest functionaries of the realm. The counsellors of state shall hold the rank of generals, and the counsellors of justice that of lieutenant-generals.

Article 35. The minister of state for foreign affairs, the counsellors of state, the presidents of the public boards, the grand governor of Stockholm, the deputy governor, and the chief magistrate of police in the city, the aulic chancellor, the chancellor of justice, the secretaries of state, the governors or lord-lieutenants of provinces, field marshals, generals and admirals of all degrees, adjutant generals, adjutant in chief, adjutants of the staff, the governors of fortresses, captain lieutenants, and officers of the king's life guards, colonels of the regiments, and officers second in command in the foot and horse guards, lieutenant-colonels in the brigade of the life regiments, chiefs of the artillery of the royal engineers, ministers, envoys, and commercial agents with foreign powers, and official persons employed in the king's cabinet for the foreign correspondence, and at the embassies, as holding places of trust, can be removed by the king, when he considers it necessary for the benefit of the realm. The king shall, however, signify his determination in the council of state, the members whereof shall be bound to make respectful remonstrances, if they see it expedient.

Article 36. Judges, and all other official persons, not included in the preceding article, cannot be suspended from their situations without legal trial, nor be translated or removed to other places, without having themselves applied for these.

Article 31. The king has power to confer dignities on those who have served their country with fidelity, bravery, virtue, and zeal. He may also promote to the order of counts and barons, persons, who by eminent merits have deserved such an honour. Nobility and the dignity of a count and baron, granted from this time, shall no longer devolve to any other than the individual himself thus created a noble, and after him, to the oldest of his male issue in a direct descending line, and this branch of the family being extinct, to the nearest male descendant of the ancestor.

Article 38. All despatches and orders emanating from the king, excepting such as concern military affairs, shall be countersigned by the secretary who has submitted them to the council, and is responsible for their being conformable to the minutes. Should the secretary find any of the decisions made by the king to be contrary to the spirit of the constitution, he shall make his remonstrances respecting the same, in the council of state. Should the king still persist in his determination, it shall then be the duty of the secretary to refuse his countersign, and resign his place, which he may not resume until the estates of the realm shall have examined and approved of his conduct. He shall, however, in the mean time, receive his salary, and all the fees of his office as formerly.

Article 39. If the king wishes to go abroad, he shall communicate his resolution to the council of state, in a full assembly, and take the opinion of all its members, as enacted in the ninth article. During the absence of the king he may not interfere with the government, or exercise the regal power, which shall be carried on, in his name, by the council of state; the council of state cannot, however, confer dignities or create counts, barons, and knights; and all officers appointed by the council shall only hold their places ad interim.

Article 40. Should the king be in such a state of health as to be incapable of attending to the affairs of the kingdom, the council of state shall conduct the administration, as enacted in the preceding article.

Article 41. The king shall be of age after having completed eighteen years. Should the king die before the heir of the crown has attained this age, the government shall be conducted by the council of state, acting with regal power and authority, in the name of the king, until the estates of the realm shall have appointed a provisional government or regency; and the council of state is enjoined strictly to conform to the enactments of this constitution.

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Article 42. Should the melancholy event take place, that the whole royal family became extinct on the male side, the council of state shall exercise the government with regal power and authority, until the estates have chosen another royal house, and the new king has taken upon himself the government. All occurrences or things having reference to the four last articles, shall be determined by the whole council of state and the secretaries of state.

Article 43. When the king takes the field of battle, or repairs to distant parts of the kingdom, he shall constitute four of the members of the council of state to exercise the government in those affairs which he is pleased to prescribe.

Article 44. No prince of the royal family shall be permitted to marry without having obtained the consent of the king, and in the contrary case shall forfeit his right of inheritance to the kingdom, both for himself and descendants.

Article 45. Neither the crown prince, or any other prince of the royal family, shall have any appanage or civil place. The princes of the blood may, however, bear titles of dukedoms and principalities, as heretofore, but without any claims upon those provinces.

Article 46. The kingdom shall remain divided, as heretofore, into governments, under the usual provincial administrations. No governor-general shall, from this time, be appointed within the kingdom.

Article 47. The courts of justice, superior as well as inferior, shall administer justice according to the laws and statutes of the realm. The provincial governors, and all other public functionaries, shall exercise the offices entrusted to them according to existing regulations; they shall obey the orders of the king, and be responsible to him if any act is done contrary to law.

Article 48. The court of the king is under his own management, and he may at his own pleasure appoint or discharge all his officers and attendants there.

Article 49. The estates of the realm shall meet every fifth year. In the decree of every Diet the day shall be fixed for the next meeting of the estates. The king may, however, convoke the estates to an extraordinary Diet before that time.

Article 50. The Diets shall be held in the capital, except when the invasion of an enemy, or some other important impediment, may render it dangerous for the safety of the representatives.

Article 51. When the king or council convokes the estates, the period for the commencement of the Diet shall be subsequent to the thirtieth, and within the fiftieth day, to reckon from that day when the summons has been proclaimed in the churches of the capital.

Article 52. The king names the speakers of the nobles, the burghers and the peasants: the archbishop is, at all times, the constant speaker of the clergy.

Article 53. The estates of the realm shall, immediately after the opening of the Diet, elect the different committees, which are to prepare the affairs intended for their consideration. Such committees shall consist in,

a constitutional committee, which shall take cognizance of questions concerning proposed alterations in the fundamental laws, report thereupon to the representatives, and examine the minutes held in the council of state;

a committee of finances, which shall examine and report upon the state and management of the revenues;

a committee of taxation, for regulating the taxes;

a committee of the bank for inquiring into the administration of the affairs of the national bank;

a law committee for digesting propositions concerning improvements in the civil, criminal, and ecclesiastical laws;

a committee of public grievances and matters of economy, to attend to the defects in public institutions, suggest alterations, &c.

Article 54. Should the king desire a special committee for deliberating with him on such matters as do not come within the cognizance of any of the other committees, and are to be kept secret, the estates shall select it. This committee shall, however, have no right to adopt any resolutions, but only to give their opinion on matters referred to them by the king.

Article 55. The representatives of the realm shall not discuss any subject in the presence of the king, nor can any other committee than the one mentioned in the above article hold their deliberations before him.

Article 56. General questions started at the meetings or the orders of the estates, cannot be immediately discussed or decided, but shall be referred to the proper committees, which are to give their opinion thereupon. The propositions or report of the committees shall, in the first instance, without any alteration or amendment, be referred to the estates at the general meetings of all the orders. If at these meetings, observations should be made which may prevent the adoption of the proposed measure, these objections shall be communicated to the committee, in order to its being examined and revised. A proposition thus prepared having been again referred to the estates, it shall remain with them to adopt it, with or without alterations, or to reject it altogether. Questions concerning alterations in the fundamental laws, shall be thus treated:

If the constitutional committee approves of the suggestion of one of the representatives, or the committee reports in favour of or against a measure proposed by the king, the opinion of the committee shall be referred to the estates, who may discuss the topic, but not come to any resolution during that Diet.

If at the general meetings of the orders no observations are made against the opinion of the committee, the question shall be postponed till the Diet following, and then be decided solely by yes or no, as enacted in the 75th article of the ordinance of Diet.

If, on the contrary, objections are urged at the general meetings of the orders against the opinion of the committee, these shall be referred back for its reconsideration. If all the orders be of one opinion, the question shall be postponed for final decision, as enacted above. Should again a particular order differ from the other orders, twenty members shall be elected from among every order, and added to the committee, for adjusting the differences. The question being thus prepared, shall be decided at the following Diet.

Article 57. The ancient right of the Swedish people, of imposing taxes on themselves, shall be exercised by the estates only at a general Diet.

Article 58. The king shall at every Diet lay before the committee of finances the state of the revenues in all their branches. Should the crown have obtained subsidies through treaties with foreign powers, these shall be explained in the usual way.

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Article 59. The king shall refer to the decision of this committee to determine what the government may require beyond the ordinary taxation, to be raised by an extraordinary grant.

Article 60. No taxes of any description whatever can be increased without the express consent of the estates. The king may not farm or let on lease the revenues of state, for the sake of profit to himself and the crown; nor grant monopolies to private individuals, or corporations.

Article 61. All taxes shall be paid to the end of that term for which they have been imposed. Should, however, the estates meet before the expiration of that term, new regulations shall take place.

Article 62. The funds required by government having been ascertained by the committee of finances, it shall rest with the estates whether to assign proportionate means, and also to determine how the various sums granted shall be appropriated.

Article 63. Besides these means, two adequate sums shall be voted and set apart for the disposal of the king, after he has consulted the council of state,—for the defence of the kingdom, or some other important object;—the other sum to be deposited in the national bank, in case of war, after the king has ascertained the opinion of the council and convened the estates. The seal of the order for this latter sum may not be broken, nor the money be paid by the commissioners of the bank, till the summons to Diet shall have been duly proclaimed in the churches of the capital.

Article 64. The ordinary revenues of the land, as well as the extraordinary grants which may be voted by the estates, shall be at the disposal of the king for the civil list and other specified purposes.

Article 65. The above means may not be applied but for the assigned purposes, and the council of state shall be responsible if they permit any deviation in this respect, without entering their remonstrances in the minutes, and pointing out what the constitution in this case ordains.

Article 66. The funds of amortissement or national debt, shall remain, as heretofore, under the superintendence and direction of the estates, who have guaranteed or come under a responsibility for the national debt; and after having received the report of the committee of finances on the affairs of that establishment, the estates will provide, through a special grant, the requisite means for paying the capital as well as the interest of this debt, in order that the credit of the kingdom may be maintained.

Article 67. The deputy of the king shall not attend the meetings of the directors or commissioners of the funds of amortissement, on any other occasion than when the directors are disposed to take his opinion.

Article 68. The means assigned for paying off the national debt shall not, under any pretence or condition, be appropriated to other purposes.

Article 69. Should the estates, or any particular order, entertain doubts either in allowing the grant proposed by the committee of finances, or as to the participation in the taxes, or the principles of the management of the funds of amortissement, these doubts shall be communicated to the committee for their further consideration.—If the committee cannot coincide in the opinions of the estates, or a single order, it shall depute some members to explain circumstances. Should this order still persist in its opinion, the question shall be decided by the resolution of three orders. If two orders be of one, and the other two of a different opinion, thirty new members of every order shall be added to the committee—the committee shall then vote conjointly, and not by orders, with folded billets, for adopting, or rejecting, unconditionally the proposition of the committee.

Article 70. The committee of taxation shall at every Diet suggest general principles for dividing the future taxes, and the amount having been fixed, the committee shall also propose how these are to be paid, referring their proposition to the consideration and decision of the states.

Article 71. Should a difference of opinion arise between the orders, as to these principles and the mode of applying them, and dividing the taxes; or, what hardly can be presumed, any order decline participating in the proposed taxation, the order, which may thus desire some alteration, shall communicate their views to the other representatives, and suggest in what mode this alteration may be effected without frustrating the general object. The committee of taxation having again reported thereon to the estates, they, the estates, shall decide the question at issue. If three orders object to the proposition of the committee, it shall be rejected. If, again, three orders oppose the demands of a single order, or if two be of an opinion contrary to that of the other two, the question shall be referred to the committee of finances, with an additional number of members, as enacted in the above article. If the majority of this committee assent to the proposition of the committee of taxation, in those points concerning which the representatives have disagreed, the proposition shall be considered as the general resolution of the estates. Should it, on the contrary, be negatived by a majority of votes, or be rejected by three orders, the committee of taxation shall propose other principles for levying and dividing the taxes.

Article 72. The national bank shall remain, as formerly, under the superintendence and guarantee of the estates, and the management of directors selected from among all the orders, according to existing regulations. The states alone can issue bank-notes, which are to be recognized as the circulating medium of the realm.

Article 73. No troops, new taxes or imposts, either in money or kind, can be levied without the voluntary consent of the estates, in the usual order, as aforesaid.

Article 74. The king shall have no right to demand or levy any other aid for carrying on war, than that contribution of provisions which may be necessary for the maintenance of the troops during their march through a province. These contributions shall, however, be immediately paid out of the treasury, according to the fixed price-current of provisions, with an augmentation of a moiety, according to this valuation. Such contributions may not be demanded for troops which have been quartered in a place, or are employed in military operations, in which case they shall be supplied with provisions from the magazines.

Article 75. The annual estimation of such rentes as are paid in kind shall be fixed by deputies elected from among all the orders of the estates.

Article 76. The king cannot, without the consent of the estates, contract loans within or without the kingdom, nor burthen the land with any new debts.

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Article 77. He cannot also, without the consent of the estates, vend, pledge, mortgage, or in any other way alienate domains, farms, forests, parks, preserves of game, meadows, pasture-land, fisheries, and other appurtenances of the crown. These shall be managed according to the instructions of the estates.

Article 78. No part of the kingdom can be alienated through sale, mortgage, donation, or in any other way whatever.

Article 79. No alteration can be effected in the standard value of the coin, either for enhancing or deteriorating it, without the consent of the estates.

Article 80. The land and naval forces of the realm shall remain on the same footing, till the king and the estates may think proper to introduce some other principles. No regular troops can be raised, without the mutual consent of the king and the estates.

Article 81. This form of government and the other fundamental laws cannot be altered or repealed, without the unanimous consent of the king and the estates. Questions to this effect cannot be brought forward at the meetings of the orders, but must be referred to the constitutional committee, whose province it is to suggest such alterations in the fundamental laws, as may be deemed necessary, useful, and practicable. The estates may not decide on such proposed alterations at the same Diet. If all the orders agree about the alteration, it shall be submitted to the king, through the speakers, for obtaining his royal sanction, After having ascertained the opinion of the council, the king shall take his resolution, and communicate to the estates either his approbation or reasons for refusing it. In the event of the king proposing any alteration in the fundamental laws, he shall, after having taken the opinion of the council, deliver his proposition to the estates, who shall, without discussing it, again refer it to the constitutional committee. If the committee coincide in the proposition of the king, the question shall remain till next Diet. If again the committee is averse to the proposition of the king, the estates may either reject it immediately or adjourn it to the following Diet. In the case of all the orders approving of the proposition, they shall request that a day be appointed to declare their consent in the presence of his majesty, or signify their disapprobation through their speakers.

Article 82. What the estates have thus unanimously resolved and the king sanctioned, concerning alterations in the fundamental laws, or the king has proposed and the estates approved of, shall for the future have the force and effect of a fundamental law.

Article 83. No explanation of the fundamental laws may be established by any other mode or order, than that prescribed by the two preceding articles. Laws shall be applied according to their literal sense.

Article 84. When the constitutional committee find no reason for approving of the proposition, made by a representative concerning alterations or explanations of the fundamental laws, it shall be the duty of the committee to communicate to him, at his request, their opinion, which the proposer of the resolution may publish, with his own motion, and under the usual responsibility of authors.

Article 85. As fundamental laws of the present form of government, there shall be considered the ordinance of Diet, the order of succession, and the act concerning universal liberty of the press.