officers, the attorney-general, auditor, important administrative boards, coroners and certain naval and military officers; they have power to pardon offences; and they may exercise some control over expenditure through the constitutional requirement of the governor’s warrant for drawing money from the treasury. The governor may veto within five days, besides Sunday, after it has been presented to him, any bill or resolution of which he disapproves, and a two-thirds vote of the members of both houses is required to pass over his veto.
A Senate and a House of Representatives, which together constitute the General Court, meet at Concord on the first Wednesday in January of every odd-numbered year, and at such other times as the governor may appoint for a special session, principally for the making of laws and for the election of the secretary of state, the state treasurer, and the commissary-general. The Senate is composed of 24 members, one from each senatorial district, and these districts are formed so as to be approximately equal with respect to the amount of direct taxes paid in each; representation in this body is therefore apportioned on the basis of property. In the House of Representatives, which has the large membership of 390, representation is on the basis of population, but is so arranged as to favour the rural districts; thus every town or ward of a city having 600 inhabitants is allowed one representative, but, although for every additional representative 1200 additional inhabitants are required, any town having less than 600 inhabitants is allowed a representative for such proportionate part of the time the legislature is in session as the number of its inhabitants bears to 600. Senators and representatives are elected for a term of two years. A representative must have been an inhabitant of the state for at least two years next preceding his election, and must be an inhabitant of the town, parish or ward he is chosen to represent; a senator must be at least thirty years of age, must have been an inhabitant of the state for at least seven years next preceding his election, and must be an inhabitant of the district by which he is chosen. The constitution of New Hampshire places scarcely any restrictions on the powers of the legislature. By an amendment of 1877, however, it is forbidden to authorize any town to lend money or give credit for the benefit of any corporation whose object is profit. Although money bills may originate only in the House of Representatives the Senate may propose amendments. In 1909 the office of state auditor was created.
For the administration of justice the state has a supreme court and a superior court, each county has a probate court, and some towns as well as the cities have a police court. The supreme court and the superior court consist each of one justice and four associate justices. The supreme court holds one general term each year at Concord and on the first Tuesday of every month except July and August sits to hear arguments, make orders and render decisions; the superior court holds one or two sessions a year in every county. Both of these courts have extensive jurisdiction. Each probate court, consisting of a single judge, has jurisdiction within its county of the probate of wills, of the granting of administration, in insolvency proceedings, and in relation to the adoption of children; it may appoint and remove guardians of minors, insane persons and spendthrifts, and, upon application, may change a person’s name. The court of a justice of the peace has jurisdiction in criminal cases only where the punishment is by fine not exceeding twenty dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding six months, or by both, and in civil cases only where the title to real estate is not involved and the damage demanded does not exceed thirteen dollars and thirty-three cents. A police court has the same jurisdiction as that of a justice of the peace, and, in addition, concurrent jurisdiction with the superior court in certain cases where the title to real estate is not involved and the damage demanded does not exceed one hundred dollars. Judges and justices are appointed by the governor and council, and with the exception of justices of the peace they hold office during good behaviour or until they have attained the age of seventy years; justices of the peace are appointed for a term of five years only, but they may be reappointed.
Local affairs are administered by counties, towns (townships), village districts and cities. In each county a convention, composed of representatives from the towns, meets every two years to levy taxes and to authorize expenditures for grounds and buildings whenever more than one thousand dollars are required. For the discharge of other county functions the qualified electors of each county elect every two years three commissioners, a sheriff, a solicitor, a treasurer, a register of deeds and a register of probate; two auditors also are appointed annually by the supreme court. The county commissioners have the care of county buildings, consisting chiefly of a court house, gaol and house of correction, but are not allowed to expend more than one thousand dollars for repairs, new buildings or grounds, without authority from the county convention; the commissioners have the care also of all other county property, as well as of county paupers; and once every four years they are required to visit each town of their county, inspect the taxable property therein, determine whether it is incorrectly assessed and report to the state board of equalization. In each town a regular annual meeting of the qualified electors is called on the second Tuesday in March for the transaction of miscellaneous business and the election of town officers. These officers always include three selectmen, a clerk, a treasurer and one or more auditors, and they may include any or all of the following: assessors, who together with the selectmen constitute a board for the assessment of taxes, one or more collectors of taxes, overseers of the poor, constables, surveyors of highways, fence-viewers, sealers of weights and measures, measurers of wood and bark, surveyors of lumber, cullers of staves, a chief fireward or engineer and one or more assistants, a clerk of the market and a pound keeper. The moderator of the town meeting is elected at the general election in November for a term of two years, and a board of health, consisting of three members, is appointed by the selectmen, one member each year. The general business of the town, other than that which comes before the town meeting, is managed by the selectmen, and they are specially intrusted with the regulation of the highways, sidewalks and commons. A village district is a portion of a town, including a village, which is set apart and organized for protection from fire, for lighting or sprinkling the streets, for providing a water-supply, for the construction and maintenance of sewers, and for police protection; to serve these interests three commissioners, a moderator, a clerk, a treasurer and such other officers as the voters of the district may deem necessary are chosen, each for a term of one year. The government of cities is in part determined by general laws and in part by individual charters. In accordance with the general laws each city elects a mayor, a board of aldermen, and a common council in whom is vested the administration of its “fiscal, prudential and municipal affairs”; the mayor presides at the meetings of the board of aldermen, and has a veto on any measure of this body, and no measure can be passed over his veto except by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of all the aldermen; each ward elects three selectmen, a moderator and a clerk in whom is vested the charge of elections; the city marshal and assistant marshals are appointed by the mayor and aldermen, but the city clerk and city treasurer are elected by the aldermen and common council in joint session.
Under the laws of New Hampshire the property rights of husband and wife are nearly equal. The wife may hold, acquire and manage property the same as if she were single; she is also subject to the same liabilities in relation to her property as a single woman except that no contract or conveyance by her as surety or guarantor for her husband is binding. Rights of dower and courtesy both obtain. Where there is no will or its provisions are waived, the right of a widow, in addition to her dower and homestead rights, in the personal estate of a deceased husband is the same as that of a widower, in addition to his estate by courtesy and homestead right, in the personal estate of a deceased wife, i.e. one-half if there is no surviving issue and one-third if there is such issue. By releasing his or her right of dower or courtesy together with the homestead right, if any, the surviving widower or widow is also entitled, in fee, to one-half the real estate, if said deceased leaves no issue surviving; if the husband leaves issue by the widow surviving, she is entitled in fee to one-third of his real estate; if the wife leaves issue by him surviving, the husband also is entitled in fee to one-third of her estate; but if the wife leaves issue not by him, he is entitled only to a life interest in one-third of her real estate. Among the grounds for a divorce are adultery, impotency, extreme cruelty, conviction of a crime punishable in the state with imprisonment for more than a year and actual imprisonment under such conviction, treatment seriously injuring the health or endangering the reason, wilful desertion for three years, or joining a religious sect or society which professes to believe the relation of husband and wife unlawful, and conduct in accordance therewith for six months.
The homestead law of New Hampshire exempts from seizure for debt five hundred dollars’ worth of any person’s homestead except for the enforcement of a mortgage upon it, for the collection of debts incurred in making repairs or improvements, or for the collection of taxes. The law also provides that except where a mortgage is given to secure payment of the purchase money, the homestead right of a married person shall not be encumbered without the consent of both husband and wife. The surviving wife or husband and the minor children, if any, may occupy the homestead right during the minority of the children, and the surviving wife or husband is entitled to the right during the remainder of her or his lifetime.
From 1855 to 1903 the liquor law was essentially prohibitory, but in the latter year an act licensing the traffic was passed. However, some option still remains with each town and city. Once every four years in cities and once in two years in towns the question of licence or no-licence must be submitted to a vote of the electorate, and in a no-licence town or city no bar-room or saloon is to be permitted; in such a town or city, however, malt liquor, cider and light wines may be sold at a railway restaurant and an inn-keeper may serve liquors to his bona-fide registered guests.
Capital punishment for murder in the first degree is inflicted only upon the request of a jury.
The general supervision of railways is vested in a board of three commissioners appointed by the governor and council for a term of three years, one each year. The board is specially directed to prescribe the manner in which the railway corporations shall keep their accounts, to examine these accounts from time to time, to examine the railways at least once a year, to investigate the cause of
