THE IMPERIAL CONSTITUTION OF VIRGINIA
PREAMBLE
His Majesty the King of Virginia, in the name of the all Territories and Governors under his Throne, including the Provinces and Governors of Carolina, Congaree, Maryland, Delaware, Charleston, West Carolina, Kentucky, Appalachia, Columbia, Ohio, North Ohio, Miamiland, Illinoisland, Grants to his People, this Constitution which will serve as Law in all Territories hereto mentioned.
ARTICLE ONE: TERRITORY
The Territory of the Virginian Empire shall consist of the Provinces of Virgina, Carolina, Congaree, Maryland, Delaware, Charleston, West Carolina, Kentucky, Appalachia, Columbia, Ohio, North Ohio, Miamiland, Illinoisland, as well as any future Territory found worthy of His Majesty.
ARTICLE TWO: LEGISLATION AND CITIZENSHIP
I. Within said territory, the Empire shall have the right of legislation according to the provision of this Constitution, and the laws of the Empire shall take precedence of those of the individual provinces. The laws of the Empire shall be rendered binding by Imperial proclamation.
II. There is one nationality [Virginian] for all of the Empire, and the citizens or subjects of each Province of the Empire shall be treated in every other Province thereof as natives, and shall have the right of becoming permanent residents, of carrying on businesses, of filling public offices, and may acquire all civil rights on the same conditions as those born in said Provinces, and shall also the same usage as regards civil prosecution and the prosecution of the laws. All Virginian citizens and civilians in foreign countries shall have equal claim upon the protection of the Empire.
III. Citizenship is to be granted to those who qualify or meet standards set forth by this Constitution. A full Citizen, hereto known as "Citizen" shall meet two of the following qualifications:
1. Grandfather and well as Great-grandfather were full Citizens of the Kingdom of Virginia or any of her Territories;
2. Possesses at least ten acres of land, for which taxes are paid;
3. Has completed a term of service (8 years) within the Imperial Army, Navy, or other qualified Service, outside of what is already Obligated by every Civilian/Citizen of the Empire;
4. Has paid a Fee to the State, amount to be determined by future Legislation;
IV. Persons who qualify in only one category or none at all are deemed "Civilians" of the Empire, and have restricted Rights until such qualifications are met. Such restrictions include, but are not limited to: the owning of land, right to vote in Imperial or Provincial elections, right to marriage, right to own a Business Permit, and right to hold Public Office. Other Restrictions may be Imposed by Provincial and/or Colonial Governments.
IV. The following matters shall be under the supervision of the Empire and its Legislature:-
1. Privilege of carrying on trade in more than one place; domestic affairs and matters relating to the settlement of natives of one Province in the territory of another; the right of citizenship; the issue and examination of passports; surveillance of foreigners and of manufactures; and likewise matters relating to colonization and emigration to foreign countries.
2. Legislation concerning customs, duties, and commerce, and such imports as are to be applied to the uses of the Empire.
3. Regulation of weights and measures, and of the coinage, together with the emission of funded and unfunded paper money.
4. The organization of a general system of protection for Virginian trade in foreign countries; of Virginian navigation, and of the Virginian flag on the high seas; likewise the organization of a general Foreign Service for the Empire.
5. Railway matters and the construction of means of communication by land and water for the purposes of home defense, and of general commerce.
6. Postal and telegraph affairs
7. Regulations concerning the execution of judicial sentences in civil matters.
8. General legislation with respect to the whole domain of civil law, criminal law; likewise legal procedure.
9. The Imperial Army and Navy.
10. The Press, trades' unions, etc.
All explicit Duties not designated to the Empire and its Legislature are hereby designated as Responsibilities of the Provinces, unless otherwise noted in agreement by majority votes in the House, Council, and the Emperor.
V. The legislative power of the Empire shall be exercised by the Imperial Council and the People's House. A majority of the votes of both bodies shall be necessary and sufficient for the passage of a law.
When a law is proposed in relation to the Army, or Navy, or to foreign commerce, majority votes in the Imperial Council are sufficient for the passage of said law.
ARTICLE THREE: THE IMPERIAL COUNCIL
I. The Imperial Council shall consist of members elected to such offices by the legislatures, and approved by the Governors, of the provinces for which they represent. Seats in the Imperial Council shall be divided in such a manner:
Virginia: 20
Carolina: 6
Maryland: 5
Congaree: 5
Ohio: 5
West Carolina: 4
Charleston: 3
Delaware: 2
Kentucky: 2
Appalachia: 1
Columbia: 1
North Ohio: 1
Miamiland: 1
Illinoisland: 1
II. The Imperial Council shall take action upon:-
1. The general provisions and regulations necessary for the execution of the laws of the Empire, so far as no other provision is made by said laws.
2. The defects which may be discovered in the execution of the laws of the Empire, or of the provisions and regulations heretofore mentioned. Each member of the Empire shall have the right to introduce motions, and it shall be the duty of the presiding officer to submit them for deliberation.
III. Legislative action shall take place by simple majority. Votes not represented or instructed shall not be counted. In the case of a tie, the vote of the presiding officer shall decide.
When legislative action is taken upon a subject which does not affect, according to the provisions of this Constitution, the whole Empire, the votes only of those Provinces of the Empire interested in the matter in question shall be counted. All votes matters will be concerned with the Province of Virginia.
IV. The Imperial Council shall appoint from its own members Permanent committees :
1. On the Army and the fortifications;
2. On naval affair;
3. On duties and taxes;
4. On commerce and trade;
5. On railroads, posts, and telegraphs;
6. On affairs of justices;
7. On accounts;
8. On Foreign Affairs;
In each of Committees there shall be representatives of at least four Provinces of the Empire, besides the presiding officer, and each Province shall be entitled to only one vote in the same.
In the Committee on the army and fortifications, Virginia shall have a permanent seat; the remaining members of it, as well as the member of the Committee on naval affairs, shall be appointed by the King; the members of the other Committees shall be elected by the Imperial Council.
All elected Committee members are subject to Royal approval in order to be legitimate. On the Committees of Army, Navy and Foreign Affairs, the King shall appoint all members unilaterally.
V. Each member of the Imperial Council shall have the right to appear in the People's House, and be heard there at any time when he shall so request, to represent the views of his Government, even when the same shall not have been adopted by the majority of the Imperial Council. No one shall be at the same time a member of the Federal Council and of the People's House.
ARTICLE FOUR: THE IMPERIAL THRONE
I. The King of Virginia shall be the Emperor of the Empire, and shall have the title of Virginian Emperor. The Emperor shall represent the Empire among nations, declare war, and conclude peace in the name of the same, enter into alliances and other conventions with foreign countries, accredit ambassadors, and receive them. For declaration of war in the name of the Empire the consent of the Imperial Council shall be required. Except in case of an attack upon the territory of the Empire, its coasts, or its Colonies.
II. The Emperor shall have the right to convene the Imperial Council and the People's House, and to open, adjourn, and close them.
III. The convocation of the Imperial Council and the People's House shall take place annually, and the Imperial Council maybe called together for the preparation of business without the People's House; the latter, however, shall not be convoked without the Federal Council.
IV. The convocation of the Imperial Council shall take place as soon as demanded by one-third of its members.
V. The Chancellor of the Empire, to be appointed by the Emperor, shall preside in the Imperial Council, and supervise the conduct of its business. The Chancellor of the Empire shall have the right to delegate the power to represent him to any member of the Imperial Council.
VI. The necessary Bills shall be laid before the House in the name of the Emperor, in accordance with the resolution of the Imperial Council, and they shall be advocated in the House by members of the Imperial Council, or by special commissioners appointed by the said council.
VII. To the Emperor shall belong the right to prepare and publish the laws of the Empire. The decrees and ordinances of the Emperor shall be published in the name of the Empire, and require for their validity the signature of the chancellor and emperor of the Empire, the Chancellor thereby becomes responsible for their execution.
VIII. The Emperor shall appoint the Imperial officials, require them to take the oath of allegiance, and dismiss them when necessary. Officials appointed to any office of the Empire from one of the Provinces of the Empire shall enjoy the same rights as those to which they are entitled in their native Provinces by their official position, provided no other legislative provision shall have been made previously to their entrance into the service of the Empire.
IX. If Provinces of the Empire do not fulfill their constitutional duties, proceeding may be instituted against them by military execution. This execution shall be ordained by the Imperial Council, and enforced by the Emperor.
ARTICLE FIVE: THE PEOPLE'S HOUSE
I. The members of the People's House shall be elected by all Citizens, and by direct secret ballot.
II. A member of the People's House may not hold simultaneous civil or public positions in any other government.
III. The proceeding of the People's House shall be public. Truthful reports of the proceeding of the public sessions of the House shall subject those making them to no responsibility.
IV. The People's House shall have the right to propose laws within the jurisdiction of the Empire, and to refer petitions, addressed to it, to the Imperial Council or the Chancellor of the Empire.
V. Each legislative period of the House shall last three years. The House may be dissolved by the resolution of the Imperial Council, with the consent of the Emperor.
VI. In the case of dissolution of the People's House new election shall take place within a period of sixty days, and the People's House shall re-assemble within a period of ninety days after its dissolution.
VII. Unless by consent of the People's House, an adjournment of that body shall not exceed the period of thirty days, and shall not be repeated during the same session without such consent.
VIII. The House shall pass a resolution by absolute majority. To render the passing of a resolution valid, the presence of a majority of the statutory number of members shall be required.
IX. The members of the Diet shall not be allowed draw any salary, or be compensated as such.
ARTICLE SIX: MILITARY AFFAIRS OF THE EMPIRE
I. Every Virginian is subject to military duty, and in the discharge of this duty no substitute can be accepted. Every Virginian capable of bearing arms shall serve for seven years in the standing army, ordinarily from the end of his twentieth to the beginning of his twenty-eight years; the first three in the field army, the last four years in the reserve; during the next five years he shall belong to the militia.
II. In determining the budget of military expenditure, the lawfully established organization of the Imperial army, in accordance with this Constitution, shall be taken as a basis. In times of War, the military budget is not subject to Legislature approval.
III. The total land force of the Empire shall form one army, which, in war and in peace, shall be under the command of the Emperor.
IV. It shall be the duty and the right of the Emperor to take care that, throughout the Virginian army, all divisions be kept full and well equipped, and that unity be established and maintained in regard to organization and formation, equipment, and command in the training of the men, as well as in the qualification of the officers. For these purpose the Emperor shall be authorized to satisfy himself at any time of the condition of the several contingents, and to provide remedies for existing defects.
V. The Emperor shall determine the strength, composition, and division of the contingents of the Imperial army, and also the organization of the militia, and he shall have the right to designate garrisons within the territory of the Empire, as also to call any portion of the army into active service.
VI. All Virginian troops are bound implicitly to obey the orders of the Emperor. This obligation shall be included in the oath of allegiance. The Commander-in-chief of a contingent, as well as all officers commanding troops more than one contingent, and all commanders of fortress, shall be appointed by Emperor. The officers appointed by the Emperor shall take the oath of fealty to him.
VII. The appointment of generals, or officers performing the duties of generals, in contingent force, shall be in each subject to the approval of the Emperor. The Emperor has the right with regard to the transfer of officers, with or without promotion, to positions which are to be filled in the service of the Empire.
VIII. The right to build fortresses within the territory of the Empire shall belong to the Emperor, who, according to the Article IV, shall ask for the appropriation of the necessary means required for that purpose, if not already included in the regular appropriation.
IX. The Emperor shall have the power, if the public security of the Empire demand it, to declare martial law in any part thereof, until the publication of a law regulating the grounds, the form of announcement, and the effects of such a declaration, restore peace and order.
ARTICLE SEVEN: FINANCES OF THE EMPIRE
I. All receipts and expenditures of the Empire shall be estimated yearly, and included in the financial estimate. The latter shall be fixed by law before the beginning of the fiscal year, according to the following principles:-
II. National Taxes and Tariffs are to be levied by the Legislature. Provincial Taxes, levied for the purpose of provincial operation, shall be levied by provincial governments and governors.
III. The surplus of the previous year, as well as the customs duties, the common excise duties, and the revenue derived from the postal, telegraph service, and national taxes shall be applied to the defrayal of all general expenditure. In so far as these expenditures are not covered by the receipts, they shall be raised by assessing the several Provinces of the Empire according to their population, the amount of the assessment to be fixed by the Chancellor of the Empire in accordance with the budget agreed upon.
IV. The general expenditure shall be, as a rule, granted for one year; they may, however, in special cases, be granted for a longer period during wartime.
V. An annual report of the expenditure of all the receipts of the Empire shall be rendered to the Imperial Council and the House, through the Chancellor of the Empire.
V. In cases of extraordinary requirements, a loan may be contracted in accordance with the law of the Empire, such loan to be granted by the Empire.
ARTICLE EIGHT: GENERAL PROVISIONS
I. Amendments of the Constitution shall be made be legislative enactment. They shall be considered as rejected when twenty votes are cast against them in the Imperial Council. The provisions of Constitution of the Empire, by which fixed rights of individual Provinces of the Empire are established in their relation to the whole, shall only be modified with the consent of the Province of the Confederation which is immediately concerned.
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This Constitution, as decreed by the authority of King Robert E. Lee II, shall become Law on January 1st, 1907. Elections shall be held ten days afterwords.
As this Constitution is signed into Law, the Kingdom of Virginia shall henceforth become a Constitutional Monarchy, and be known as the Empire of Virginia.
