3. Suspend or restrict the individual guarantees except in the cases of Article LXXXII. LXXXV. The prerogatives of the President are freedom from criminal accusation or prosecution during his Presidentship and one year afterwards, except for crimes of treason against the national independence and form of Government established in the law for convoking Congress; neither can he be accused of common crimes until he has ceased performing his functions for one year. Of the Ministry. LXXXVI. For the despatch of business the present Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Government, Justice, War, and Finance shall continue in office. LXXXVII. The requisites for a Minister are, to be a Mexican by birth, or to be included in case 3 of Article X, to be a citizen in the exercise of his rights, and to be 30 years of age. LXXXVIII. It is the duty of each one of the Ministers to consult with the President for the despatch of all the business connected with his Department. LXXXIX. All the business of the Government shall be transacted by the Ministry to whose Department they belong, nor can one Minister sanction or authorize what is within the province of another. XC. The orders which are issued contrary to this provision, and those of the President which do not appear with the due authorization, shall not be obeyed or fulfilled, and he who obeys them shall be personally responsible. XCI. All the authorities of the Republic, without any exception, shall yield full obedience to the orders sent to them, the same being delivered in the form prescribed by this Ordinance. XCII. The Ministers shall be responsible for the acts of the President which they have authorized with their signatures, and which are directed against the draft of the Constitution of Ayutla, amended in Acapulco, before the Supreme Court of Justice, it being previously declared by the Government Council, by an absolute majority of votes, that there are sufficient grounds for impeachment. XCIII. Every matter which requires some general measures, or which seriously affects the public revenue, shall be discussed in a Cabinet Council; the same shall be observed for the filling up of employments whose salaries exceed 1,000 dollars, and for whatever other matters the President or the Minister of the respective Department shall deem necessary. XCIV. All those who consent to the resolutions determined upon at a meeting of Ministers are responsible for them, and in all cases the Minister who authorizes them is so. The President, after hearing the opinions delivered by the Ministers at the Council, is at liberty, with the acquiescence of the Minister of the respective Department, to determine upon that which he considers necessary. XCV. The Government Council shall be heard in all matters in which the Minister of the department shall deem necessary. SECTION VII.-The Judicial Power. XCVI. The judicial power is independent in the exercise of its functions, which must be discharged conformably to the laws. XCVII. The judicial power, in general, shall be administered by the Supreme Court of Justice, the tribunals in eyre, and the district courts, as established by the law of the 23rd of November, 1855, and by the other laws thereunto relating. XCVIII. The Supreme Court of Justice shall exercise the functions conferred upon it by the special law, besides the following ones: 1. To take cognizance of the disputes which may arise between one and more States of the nation, provided always that the said disputes be reduced to the form of an action at law, upon which a formal sentence can be pronounced; as well as of those which arise between a State and one or more neighbouring ones, or between individuals, as to claims to lands ceded by different other States without prejudice to the using their right, the concession being claimed from the authority who granted it. 2. To settle disputes arising about contracts or negotiations entered into by the Supreme Government or its agents. 3. To adjust the differences which arise between the general tribunals, and between the latter and those of the States, as well as between such as take place between the courts of justice of one State and those of another one. 4. To take cognizance: (1.) Of the charges brought against the President, according to Article LXXXV. (2.) Of those brought against the Governors of the States, in the cases mentioned in Article CXXIII. (3.) Of those concerning the responsibility of the Secretaries of State, according to Article XCII. (4.) Of civil and criminal matters, connected with the diplomatic employés and Consuls of the Republic. (5.) Of Admiralty causes; captures on sea and land; and smuggling; of crimes committed on the high seas; and of offences against the nation. XCIX. The Supreme Court of Justice is not competent: 1. To make any regulation concerning matters belonging to the administration of justice, nor issue decrees which contain general provisions altering or expounding the laws. 2. To take any cognizance of matters appertaining to the Govern ment and the administration of the Nation and of the States. C. The judicial power of the States and territories shall remain in the tribunals and courts of justice in which it at present exists, reserving always that which may be determined by general laws. CI. All matters initiating in the lower courts of a State shall, in all instances, terminate therein; those which commence in the territories shall be decided conformably to the law of the 23rd of November, 1855, as well as to those promulgated since that time, or which may be hereafter decreed. SECTION VIII.-The Public Revenue. CII. The national property, the taxes, and the rents, already fixed, or which shall hereafter be fixed, are divided into three parts. 1. Property, rents, and general taxes. 2. Property, rents, and taxes of the States and territories. CIII. The general rents shall be collected by the agents of the general Government and administered by it, direct, or by means of its boards, juntas, or chief offices, without introducing in its order or collection any authority, unless it do so by the express authorization of the Supreme Government. CIV. The account of all the branches belonging to the general expenses, and which constitute the general exchequer of the nation, shall be drawn up by the general treasury, to which shall be sent in all the accounts by those who, whether appointed by law, filling fixed employments, or by virtue of a temporary commission, have the management of the funds in the exchequer. CV. The expenses shall be in conformity with the estimates, and the general treasury shall render an account to the AccountantGeneral's office for its observations on the same, and for the correction of the subsidiary accounts serving to verify the principal one. CVI. The employés whose duty it is to assess and collect the rents shall be specially nominated by the general Government. CVII. The rents of the States and territories shall be collected and administered by the Governors and Political Chiefs themselves, and disbursed conformably to the estimates which shall be published after having been approved by the general Government. CVIII. The account of the collection of the whole of the rents which belong to the States and territories shall be drawn up by the general treasuries of the same; these establishments shall forward the verified accounts to the Accountant-General's office, for inspection and correction. CIX. Landed property, manufactures, and foreign commerce shall, according to the laws and decrees of the general Government, pay one common and uniform tax throughout the Republic; and the Governors are not authorized to impose any greater duties upon these branches. CX. Neither the general Government, nor those of the States or territories, nor the municipal corporations, shall expend more than is set down in their estimates; every violation of this rule renders the party responsible. CXI. No extraordinary expense shall be incurred by the general Government, or by those of the estates and territories, without the consent of the Council of Ministers. In cases of pressing urgency the Governors and Political Chiefs may grant what they consider necessary, giving in immediately an account to the Supreme Government. CXII. The rents which belong to the general Government, to the estates and territories, shall be fixed by a special law for the classification of rents. CXIII. The provisions of this Ordinance do not extend to the municipal corporation of the capital of the Republic whose funds and duties shall be fixed by a special law. SECTION IX.-Government of the States and Territories. CXIV. The Governors of the States and district and the Political Chiefs of the territories shall be nominated by the President of the Republic, and they must be Mexicans either by birth or naturalization, and 30 years of age. CXV. The duties of the Governors are: 1. To watch over the preservation of public order. 2. To publish the laws and decrees of the general Government on the third day after receiving them. 3. To cause these instructions to be executed with the greatest punctuality. 4. To draw up, within 6 months, the statistics of the State and forward the same to the Governor-General with the necessary observations. 5. To draw up the estimates of the State, and forward them to the Governor-General for his approval. CXVI. The Governors are the sole and necessary medium of communication of the local authorities and of the citizens with the Supreme Government; except in the cases of accusation and complaint against themselves, the official correspondence of the higher tribunals with the Supreme Court of Justice in judicial matters, and that of the employés of the revenue and of the boards for the encouragement of the arts with their respective Ministries. CXVII. The powers of the Governors are: 1. To nominate the subaltern political authorities of the State. 2. To nominate judicial employés, with the exception of the superior magistrates for whose nomination, a list of three persons shall be laid before the President of the Republic. 3. To create the offices necessary for the collection and appli cation of the revenue belonging to the State, to assign their dotations, name the employés, and regulate their duties. 4. To regulate the expenditure and accounts of the State revenue. 5. To establish measures for meeting the ordinary expenses, and adopt such extraordinary ones as they may consider necessary. 6. To create funds for establishments of education, public utility, and benevolence. 7. To be the chief of the public revenue of the State. 8. To decree whatever is expedient and conformable to the laws respecting the acquisition, alienation, and exchange of the property belonging to the State. As regards the alienation of lands, the laws in force are to be obeyed as well as that by which colonization is regulated. 9. To make arrangements for the opening and repair of the roads of the State, subject to the approval of the general Government, and to be particularly careful of their preservation. 10. To promote public instruction in all its branches by creating and endowing literary establishments, restricting themselves to the bases to be given them by the Government as regards preparatory studies, courses, examinations, and degrees. 11. To found and regulate benevolent, useful, and protective establishments. 12. To regulate the contingent of men which is to be given to the State for the army. 13. To make the political division of the territory of the State, establish corporations, appoint municipal functionaries, and issue their respective ordinances. 14. To keep watch over the public health and take the necessary measures for preserving it. 15. To encourage agriculture, trade, and all the other branches of public prosperity; give effective protection to the landed interest and the establishments connected with it, and to propose to the general Government the means best calculated to promote its progress and improvement. 16. To approve the projects for municipal taxes, and sanction the estimates of the expenses of the municipalities. 17. To establish and organize the superior tribunals and the lower courts of justice; preserving always the interests of the present magistrates and judges; and to regulate the exercise of |