In colonial days the superior judges were appointed by the governors, except in Rhode Island and Connecticut, where the legislatures elected them.
This demand has in many instances led to ill-considered legislation, has frequently ignored the prerogatives and even the existence of the state commissions, and has brought about the passage by state legislatures of maximum freight and passenger rate laws, with rates so low in many cases that they have been set aside by the courts as unconstitutional.
It called for a legislature of two branches, one chosen by the people and based on free population (or on wealth) and the other chosen by the first out of candidates nominated by the state legislatures; a majority vote only was required in each house; and Congress was to have a negative on such state legislation as seemed to the Congress to contravene the articles of the Union.
In many states the legislatures have taken action in the development of law by adopting statutory codes of procedure, and in some instances have even enacted codes embodying the substance of the common law fused with the statutes.
The legislative power is vested in a congress of two chambers - the senate, composed of 30 members (two from each province and two from the capital), elected by the provincial legislatures and by a special body of electors in the capital for a term of nine years; and the chamber of deputies, of 120 members (1906), elected for four years by direct vote of the people, one deputy for every 33,000 inhabitants.