Rights in Washington by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 21, 1889

FromThe American Sentinel, Vol. 4, No. 30.

Rights in Washington.

By Editor

The following are the sections of the Bill of Rights of the new State of Washington, which have a bearing on religious liberty. The article is now under discussion in the Constitutional convention and we will note whatever changes there may be if any.

PREAMBLE.

We, the people of the State of Washington, to preserve our rights, do ordain this Constitution.

ARTICLE 1.

SECTION 1.—All political power abides with the people, and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights.

SEC. 2.—The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land.

SEC. 3.—No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

SEC. 5.—Every person may freely speak, write, and publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right.

SEC. 6.—The mode of administering an oath or affirmation shall be such as may be most consistent with, and binding upon, the conscience of the person to whom such oath or affirmation may be administered.

SEC. 11.—Absolute freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment, belief, and worship shall be guaranteed to every individual, and no one shall be molested or disturbed in person or property on account of religion, but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the State. No public money or property shall be appropriated for or applied to any religious worship, exercise, or instruction, or the support of any religious establishment. No religious qualification shall be required for any public office or employment, nor shall any person be incompetent as a witness or juror, in consequence of his opinion on matters of religion, nor be questioned in any court of justice touching religious belief to affect the weight of testimony.

SEC. 30.—The provisions of this Constitution are mandatory, unless by express words they are declared to be otherwise.

Upon the principle that the intention of the lawgiver is the law, we know that rights will be secure under this Constitution; because we personally know that every member of the committee is indeed in favor of "absolute freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment, belief, and worship." And if these sections shall be adopted as they are, and carried out in the spirit in which they are framed, the State of Washington will be the best in the Union.