FORM NO. X.

Form of a warrant to be isssued by a Justice of the Peace for calling a town meeting upon an application as in Form No. IX.

STATE OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE.

To A. M. S. one of the freeholders of the town of H. in the county of Rockingham,

SEAL

GREETING.

WHEREAS application has been made in writing to me the undersigned, one of the Justices of the Peace for said county of Rockingham, by ten freeholders of said town of H. to call a meeting of the inhabitants of said town, to act upon the subjects hereinafter mentioned and whereas there are in said town no town officers who are by law authorized to call a meeting of the inhabitants of said town,

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Therefore you are commanded and required, in the name of the state of New-Hampshire, to notify and warn the inhabitants of said town qualified by law to vote in town affairs, to meet and assemble at the meeting house, in said town, on the first day of August next, at one of the clock in the afternoon, to act upon the following subjects:

1. To choose a moderator to preside at said meeting.

2. To choose all necessary town officers.

3. To, &c.

Hereof fail not, and make return of this warrant with your doings thereon at said meeting.

Given under my hand and seal, this first day of July, A. D. 1827.

A. M.

FORM NO. XI.

Form of the freeholder's return upon a warrant lo call a

meeting.

H-, August 1, 1827. Pursuant to the within warrant, I have notified and warned the inhabitants of the town of H., qualified to vote in town affairs, to meet at the time and place within mentioned, by posting up an attested copy of said warrant at the meeting house in said town, on the tenth day of July last, being more than fifteen days before the date hereof.

A. M. S.

SECTION 2.

OF THE QUALIFICATIONS OF VOTERS.

The constitution declares that "every male inhabitant of each town and parish with town privileges, and places unincorporated in this state, of twenty-one years of age and upwards, excepting paupers and persons excused from paying taxes at their own request, shall have a right, at the annual and other meetings of the inhabitants of said towns and parishes, to be duly warned and holden annually forever in the month of March, to vote in the town or parish wherein he dwells for the senator in the district whereof he is a member."

The constitution also declares that "all persons qualified to vote in the election of senator, shall be entitled to vote within the district where they dwell in the choice of representatives ;" and that the qualifications of electors of the governor shall be the same as those for senators."

The constitution of the United-States declares, "that the house of representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states, and the electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislature."

The statute of June 19,1828, entitled "an act directing the mode of choosing and appointing electors of president and vice-president of the United-States," provides, that the electors shall be chosen by the inhabitants of the town, qualified to vote for senators in the state legislature.

The statute of June 26, 1827, section 1, enacts," that every male inhabitant of each town in this state, and of each unincorporated place, whose inhabitants may be required to assess taxes upon themselves for the support of government, being a native or naturalized citizen of the United-States, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, excepting paupers and persons excused from paying taxes at their own request, shall have a right, at the annual and other meetings of the inhabitants of said towns and places, to vote in the town or place in which he dwells and has his home."

And the statute of June 28, 1827, section 1, enacts, "that every male inhabitant of each town, of the age of twenty one years, excepting paupers, and persons excused from paying taxes at their own request, shall have a right to vote in the town where he lives, or of which he is an inhabitant, in any town meeting, in any matter that may come before such town.'

SECTION 3.

OF THE CHOICE AND DUTIES OF MODERATORS.

The statute of June 28, 1827, section 6, enacts, "that at every town meeting a moderator shall be first chosen by ballot by a majority of votes, who shall then be empowered to manage and regulate the business of the meeting; and when any vote declared by the moderator, which vote shall have been taken in any other way than by ballot, shall immediately and before any other business is commenced, be scrupled or questioned by seven or more of the voters present, the moderator shall make the vote certain by polling the voters. And no person shall speak in the meeting without leave of the moderator, nor when any person is orderly speaking, and all persons shall be silent at the desire of the moderator, on pain of forfeiting one dollar for the breach of every such order, to the use of the town; and if any person, after being notified by the moderator of such offence, or being out of order, shall persist in such disorderly conduct, or shall in any way disturb the meeting, the moderator is hereby authorized and empowered to command any constable of said town to carry such disorderly person or persons out of the meeting, and detain him or them until the business of the meeting is finished, and it shall be the duty of the constable to obey such order and command, and he is hereby authorized to command such assistance as may be necessary."

Any person who is guilty of disorderly behaviour in a town meeting, is by the common law liable to be indicted and punished.-16 Mass. R. 385, Commonwealth vs. Hoxey.

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SECTION 4.

OF THE MANNER OF HOLDING TOWN MEETINGS FOR THE CHOICE OF TOWN, COUNTY, STATE, AND OTHER OFFICERS.

The statute of June 26, 1827, entitled "an act more effectually to secure to the citizens of this state their rights of suffrage," section 2, enacts, "that the selectmen of the several towns and places aforesaid, shall lodge with the clerk of the town or place, and shall cause to be posted up in some public place or places in such towns or places respectively, fifteen days prior to any meeting for the choice of state and county officers, representatives in the congress of the United-States, or electors of president and vice-president of the United-States, an alphabetical list of all the legal voters in such town or places; and it shall be the duty of the selectmen to place on said list the name of any legal voter which may have been omitted, on receiving satisfactory evidence thereof; and at every town meeting for the purposes aforesaid, the town clerk shall check on said list the name of each voter, and in case any person shall offer to vote, whose name is not on said list, the moderator, in presence of the selectmen, whose duty it shall be to attend, shall decide whether such person be a legal voter; and if it be decided that such person is entitled to vote at said meeting, his name shall be entered on said list, and checked in manner aforesaid; and the selectmen and town clerk shall assist in sorting and counting the ballots, but no other person shall in any wise interfere therewith. And it shall be the duty of the moderator to cause the avenues to and from the place of voting to be kept clear, so that the legal voters may have free access thereto, and pass without interruption."

"That the selectmen of the several towns and places, shall provide, at the expense of such towns and places, a suitable box or boxes to receive the ballots of the legal voters, on which ballots shall be written or printed the name or names of the person or persons voted for; and the ballots shall be given in, in the manner following, that is to say, each voter shall deliver his ballot to the moderator in open meeting, and the moderator, on receiv