"And in order to prevent unnecessary delays, be it further ordained that if any bill shall not be returned by the council within ten days after it shall have been presented, the same shall be a law, unless the Legislature shall, by their adjournment, render a return of the said bill within ten days impracticable; in which case the bill shall be returned on the first day of the Legislature after the expiration of the ten days."
The Veto Provision in the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 ran:—
"Article II. No bill or resolve of the senate or house of representatives shall become a law, and have force as such, until it shall have been laid before the governor for his revisal; and if he, upon such revision, approve thereof, he shall signify his approbation by signing the same. But if he have any objection to the passing of such bill or resolve, he shall return the same, together with his objections thereto, in writing, to the senate or house of representatives, in whatsoever the same shall have originated, who shall enter the objections sent down by the governor, at large, on their records, and proceed to reconsider the said bill or resolve; but if after such reconsideration, two-thirds of the said senate or house of representatives shall, notwithstanding the objections, agree to pass the same, it shall, together with the objections, be sent to the other branch of the legislature, when it shall also be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of the members present, shall have the force of law; but in all such cases, the vote of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays; and the names of the persons voting for or against the said bill or resolve shall be entered upon the public records of the Commonwealth.
"And in order to prevent unnecessary delays, if any bill or resolve shall not be returned by the governor within five days after it shall have been presented, the same shall have the force of law."
The Virginia Plan recommended essentially the New York method. The Massachusetts delegates at Philadelphia, however, contended strenuously for the plan in use in their State, and finally carried their point. The "pocket-veto" clause (the last provision of the text above) was original in the Federal Constitution.
[172] Observe punctuation and paragraphing; and see for comment American History and Government, § 204 a.
[173] Citizenship, in practice, comes by birth or by admission by a court of record under authority of a law of Congress. Two classes of people are citizens by birth: (1) according to the Fourteenth Amendment, all who are born within the limits of the United States (except children of official representatives of foreign states, of a foreign army occupying part of our territory); (2) according to a law of Congress, all who are born of parents who are American citizens but who were temporarily residing abroad. No one not included in one of the above classes can become a citizen except by (1) a special Act of Congress, or (2) by admission by a court of record under authority of the general law passed by Congress. That law has varied from time to time (cf. index, for some of the more important variations); but the usual period of residence required for an alien, previous to admission, has been five years,—which is also the present requirement (1913). The present law (passed in 1906) requires also a two years' previous "notice of intention," and excludes all who cannot "speak" English (unless homesteaders), all polygamists, and all who disbelieve in "organized government." Some States, however, permit aliens to vote after receiving their "first papers,"—i.e., after making the preliminary "declaration of intention," before a clerk of court. The final admission rests with a judge,—who may make his examination of the applicant rigid or a mere matter of form. The power has been sometimes abused for political purposes, both in excluding and in admitting unfit aliens.
[174] For comment and reference, see American History and Government, §§ 204 b, 222, 280 b. Cf. also with enumeration of powers in Articles of Confederation.
[175] Modified, so far as "direct" income taxes are concerned, by the Sixteenth Amendment.
[176] With what clause in Section 8 might this paragraph have been combined?