than thirty-nine. Members of either body must reside in their district, and every district shall be represented in proportion to its qualified voters. A census shall be taken before the first election, and the Governor shall appoint the places of voting, the number of councillors or representatives to a district, the manner of conducting the election, and the place of meeting of the Assembly. In case of a tie, or of a vacancy, the Governor shall order a new election. Thereafter, these points shall be regulated by the Assembly; but no session shall exceed forty days, except the first, which shall not exceed sixty days, and there shall be but one session annually, unless the Governor orders otherwise.

No law shall be passed interfering with the primary disposal of the soil; no tax shall be imposed on the property of the United States; nor shall the property of non-residents be taxed higher than that of residents. Members of the Assembly receive $3 per day, and $3 for every twenty miles' travel. The presiding officer of each house receives $3 a day additional. The chief Clerk has $4 a day; the other officers, i. e. an Assistant Clerk, Sergeant-at-arms, and Door-Keeper for each house, $3 a day. The first session of the Assembly shall be held at a time and place appointed by the Governor, at which session the Governor and Assembly may establish the seat of government. No member of the Assembly, except the first Assembly, shall be appointed to any office created or increased in pay during his term, or for one year thereafter; and no officeholder under the general government, except Postmasters, shall hold office under the territorial government, or be a member of the Assembly. All township, district, and county officers, not otherwise provided for, shall be elected or appointed as the Assembly may direct; and all other officers, not otherwise provided for, shall be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Council.

EXECUTIVE, &c. The Governor, appointed by the President and Senate for four years, and until his successor is appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the President, shall reside within the territory; shall receive a salary of $5,500; shall be commander-inchief of the militia; may grant pardons and respites for offences against territorial laws, and reprieves, until the decision of the President be known, for offences against the laws of the United States, and shall commission all officers appointed to office under the laws of the territory. He has the veto power; but any vetoed bill may be passed by two thirds vote of both houses, taken by yeas and nays, and entered on the journal of each house. If a bill presented to the Governor, for signature, be not returned within three days (Sundays excepted), it shall become a law, unless the Assembly, by adjournment, prevent its return, when it shall not become a law. If the Governor vacate the office, or be necessarily absent from the territory, his place shall be filled by the Secretary, who is appointed by the President and Senate for five years, unless sooner removed, and whose salary is $2,000 per The Secretary shall record and preserve all laws, &c., and shall transmit, within thirty days after the end of each session, one copy of the laws and journals of the Assembly, and, on the first days of January and July, one copy of the executive proceedings, to the President, and two copies of the laws to the President of the Senate, and to the Speaker of the House, to be deposited in the libraries of Congress.

annum.

JUDICIAL POWER, &c. There shall be a Supreme Court, District Courts, Probate Courts, and Justices of the Peace. The Supreme Court shall consist of a chief justice and two associates, at an annual salary each of $2,000, appointed by the President and Senate for four years, and until their successors are qualified, two of whom shall constitute a quorum, and who shall hold an annual term at the seat of government. The territory shall be divided into three districts, in each of which one of the three Justices shall reside, and hold a District Court, at prescribed times and places, having the jurisdiction of United States District and Circuit Courts, in all cases arising under the laws or Constitution of the United States, for jury trials, subject to writs of error, exceptions, and appeal to the Supreme Court, in which issues of law only are heard. From the Supreme Court, writs of error and appeals shall lie to the Supreme Court of the United States (as from a Circuit Court), where the matter in dispute exceeds in value $1,000, except in cases involving title to slaves, or in questions upon any writ of habeas corpus, involving the question of personal freedom; but nothing herein contained shall apply to or affect the provisions of the "act respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from the services of their

masters," approved February 12, 1793, and the act to amend the same of September 18, 1850; and the provisions of said acts are declared to extend to, and be in full force within the limits of the territory. Both the District and Supreme Courts shall possess chancery powers. Each Judge may grant writs of habeas corpus in all cases in which the same are granted by the United States Judges in the District of Columbia; and the first six days of every term of said Courts, if so much be necessary, shall be devoted to the trial of causes arising under the said Constitution and laws. Justices of the Peace shall have no jurisdiction where the title to land is concerned, or where the sum claimed exceeds $100. The judicial districts shall be defined, the judges assigned to them, and the times and places of holding the courts appointed, by the Governor, subject to alteration by the Legislative Assembly. An Attorney and Marshal shall be appointed by the President and Senate, for four years, and until a successor is qualified, unless sooner removed by the President. The courts may appoint their own.clerks, who, as well as the Attorney and Marshal, shall receive the same fees as the like officers in Utah.

All civil officers, before they enter upon office, shall be duly sworn to the proper discharge of their duties, and to support the Constitution of the United States, and the oath shall be recorded. The salaries under this act are to be paid quarterly; no payment to be made until the officers have entered upon the duties of their appointments.

Sufficient sums shall be appropriated annually by Congress, to defray the necessary, contingent, and incidental expenses of the territory; and for the erection of suitable public buildings, and the purchase of a library. In the expenditure of moneys, the Governor and Secretary shall be governed solely by the instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury, and shall account to him semiannually. No expenditure by the Legislature of money appropriated by Congress shall be made, except as authorized, nor beyond the appropriations therefor. All disbursing officers shall give bond, as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe.

A delegate to Congress shall be chosen by a plurality of votes, for two years; but the first delegate shall hold only for the term of Congress to which he is elected. When the lands are surveyed, sections sixteen and thirty-six in every township shall be reserved for schools.

"The Constitution and all laws of the United States which are not locally inapplicable, shall have the same force and effect within the said territory of Nebraska as elsewhere within the United States, except the eighth section of the act preparatory to the admission of Missouri into the Union, approved March 6, 1820, which, being inconsistent with the principle of non-intervention by Congress with slavery in the states and territories, as recognized by the legislation of 1850, commonly called the Compromise measures, is hereby declared inoperate and void; it being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any territory or state, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to revive or put in force any law or regulation which may have existed prior to the act of March 6, 1820, either protecting, establishing, prohibiting, or abolishing slavery."

BOUNDARIES OF KANZAS, &c. All the territory of the United States included within the following limits, except such portions thereof as are hereinafter expressly exempted from the operations of this act, to wit: beginning at a point on the western boundary of the State of Missouri, where the parallel of 370 N. crosses the same; thence west on said parallel to the eastern boundary of New Mexico; thence north on said boundary to latitude thirty-eight; thence following said boundary westward to the east boundary of the Territory of Utah, on the summit of the Rocky Mountains; thence northward on said summit to the parallel of 400 N.; thence east on said parallel to the western boundary of the State of Missouri; thence south with the western boundary of said State to the place of beginning, is constituted the Territory of Kanzas; and, when admitted as a State or States, the said territory, or any portion of the same, shall be received into the Union with or without slavery, as their constitutions may prescribe at the time of their admission.

The exemptions of territory, the provisos as to a future division of the territory, the reservation of Indian rights, are the same as in Nebraska; and, in a word, the portion

of the act organizing Kanzas, with the exception of the boundaries, is precisely the same as that portion of the act which organizes Nebraska, a complete abstract of which is above given. May 30, 1854.

No. 24. Ch. LX. An Act to supply deficiencies in the appropriations for the service of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1854, and for other purposes. $1,901,284.06 are appropriated. The office for paying privateer pensions in Boston is abolished; the time limited for the appointment of Commissioner, Surveyor, and Chief Astronomer, by the act of May 15, 1850 (Ch. 10), is extended to June 30, 1855. The seal of the Department of the Interior is recognized as legal; when a seal is made necessary by any law of Congress, the seal may be affixed by making an impression therewith directly on the paper, and this shall be as valid as if made on wax. When there are different printers for the House and Senate, each shall do the printing ordered by the house which elected him. May 31, 1854.

No. 25. Ch. LXI. An Act regulating the pay of Deputy-Postmasters. In lieu of their present compensation, the Postmaster-General may allow Deputy-Postmasters commissions at the following rates, -on the postage collected each quarter at their offices, and proportionally for less than a quarter. On any sum not exceeding $100, 60 per cent.; and when the mail arrives regularly between 9 o'clock, P. M., and 5 o'clock, A. M., 70 per cent.; on over $100, and not exceeding $400, 50 per cent.; on over $400, but not exceeding $2,400, 40 per cent.; on all sums over $2,400, 15 per cent.; and two mills for delivery to subscribers of each newspaper not chargeable with postage. On the amount of postage on letters and packages received at a distributing office for distribution, 124 per cent. Postmasters receiving not over $500 per quarter, shall have one cent for every free letter delivered from his office, except such as are for himself. Postmasters who are required to keep a register of the arrival and departure of the mails, shall receive ten cents for each monthly return. Additional allowances may be made to the Postmasters at distributing and separating offices, to defray actual and necessary expenses, when the commissions, allowances, and emoluments are insufficient for that purpose. June 22, 1854.

No. 26. Ch. LXII. An Act to authorize the selection of School Districts in lieu of the Sixteenth Sections, within the Twelve Miles Square Reservation, in the State of Alabama. June 22, 1854.

No. 27. Ch. LXVIII. An Act confirming certain land claims in Louisiana, in the Bastrop Grant. June 29, 1854.

No. 28. Ch LXIX. An Act to reimburse to the Common Council of New York City expenditures made for the First Regiment of New York Volunteers. An amount not exceeding $3,672.90 is appropriated. June 29, 1854.

No. 29. Ch. LXX. An Act to authorize the issue of Registers to Vessels owned by the "Accessory Transit Company." Registers may be issued in the name of the President of the Company, which is incorporated by the State of Nicaragua, for steamboats or vessels owned by the Company, and employed in the transportation of merchandise and passengers between the Atlantic and Pacific ports, through the territory of said State; the President first making oath that the vessel is owned by said Company; that all the officers, and at least two-thirds of the crew, are citizens of the United States, or not subjects of any foreign power; that all the officers and directors of the Company are citizens of the United States, and that two thirds of the stock is owned by such citizens, and giving satisfactory bond in the sum of $ 25,000 for the proper use of the vessel and her register; and satisfying the Secretary of the Treasury that the vessel was wholly built and equipped in the United States. The register is to be good but for a year, unless the President renews the oath. June 29, 1854.

No. 30. Ch. LXXI. An Act to enable the President of the United States to fulfil the third article of the Treaty between the United States and the Mexican Republic, of December 30, 1853, as amended by the Senate of the United States. $10,000,000 are appropriated; $7,000,000 upon the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty, and $3,000,000 as soon as the boundary line is surveyed, marked, and established. June 29, 1854.

No. 31. Ch. LXXII. An Act to aid the Territory of Minnesota in the construction of a Railroad therein.* There is granted to the Territory of Minnesota for the purpose exclu

*Repealed. See No. 72, p. 141.

+

sively of aiding in the construction of a railroad from-the southern line of said territory, commencing at a point between township ranges 9 and 17, thence by the way of St. Paul, by the most practicable route to the eastern line of said territory, in the direction of Lake Superior, every alternate section of land designated by odd numbers for six sections in width on each side of said road within said territory. In case any of these lands have been previously sold, or pre-emption rights have attached thereto, an equal quantity may be selected in alternate sections, from the nearest tier of sections; but in no case shall the lands be selected more than 15 miles from the line of the road. Lands previously reserved are exempted from the provisions of this act, except that the right of way over the same is granted. The sections remaining on each side of the road, for a depth of six miles, shall not be sold for less than double the minimum price. When the Secretary of the Interior is satisfied that a continuous length of 20 miles of the road is completed, he may issue patents to the territory for not exceeding 120 sections; and so, on the completion of each continuous section of 20 miles. If the road is not completed in 10 years, there shall be no further sale, and the land unsold shall revert to the United States. These lands shall be subject to the disposal of any Legislature of the territory, but they shall not be subject to private entry, until they have been first offered for sale at public auction at the increased price; nor shall they enure to the benefit of any company heretofore constituted and organized. No toll shall be charged the United States for the transportation of troops or property over it, and the mail shall be carried over it, at such price as Congress shall fix. June 29, 1854.

No. 32. Ch. LXXIX. An Act for the construction of certain Military Roads and Wells in the Territory of New Mexico. $20,000 are appropriated for the construction and repair of a road from Taos to Santa Fe; and $12,000 for one from Santa Fe to Dona Ana, of which any portion may be applied to the sinking of wells, if required by the necessities of said road. July 17, 1854.

No. 33. Ch. LXXX. An Act for the payment of the civil officers employed in the Territory of New Mexico, while under military government. The civil officers in New Mexico, while it was under military government, shall be paid their salaries from September 22, 1846, until March 3d, 1851, at the rate established by General Kearney; deducting what is already paid by said territory, but no compensation shall be paid to any army officer for discharging the duties of a civil office. July 17, 1854.

No. 34. Ch. LXXXI. An Act to provide for the continuation of the Military Road from Myrtle Creek to Scottsburg, in Oregon. $20,000 are appropriated. July 17, 1854. No. 35. Ch. LXXXII. An Act to provide for the Construction of a Military Road in the Territory of Utah. $25,000 are appropriated to construct a road commencing at Great Salt Lake City, and running by way of Provo City, Fillmore City, Paravan Cedar City, to the eastern boundary of California, in the direction of the Cajon Pass. July 17, 1854.

No. 36. Ch. LXXXIII. An Act to authorize the President of the United States to cause to be surveyed the tract of Land in the Territory of Minnesota belonging to the Half-breeds or Mixed-Bloods of the Dacotah or Sioux nation of Indians, and for other purposes. The President is authorized to obtain, by exchange, the land from the Indians, and then to have it surveyed. July 17, 1854.

No. 37. Ch. LXXXIV. An Act to amend the Act approved September 27, 1850, to create the office of Surveyor-General of the Public Lands in Oregon, &c., and also the Act amendatory thereof, approved February 19 (14), 1853. Donations hereafter to be surveyed in Oregon and Washington Territories, claimed under the act of September 27, 1850 (Ch. 76), shall not include a town site, or lands settled upon for the purposes of business, and all legal subdivisions, included in whole or in part, in such town sites, &c. shall be subject to the act of May 23, 1844 (Ch. 17). The two years' occupancy required by the act of February 14, 1853 (Ch. 69), is reduced to one year. The proviso to the 4th section of act of 27th September, 1850, is repealed, but no sale shall be valid unless the vendor shall have resided four years on the land. The pre-emption privilege granted by the act of September 4, 1841 (Ch. 16), is extended to Oregon and Washington, with certain limitations. Two townships of land are reserved for Oregon, and two for Washington, for University purposes. The orphans of parents who would have been entitled to a donation under

this act, shall be entitled to a quarter section of good agricultural land. A Register and Receiver are to be appointed for each of said territories, at a salary of $2,500 each, and office rent. Washington shall be made a separate surveying district, and there shall be a Surveyor-General thereof, with the powers and pay of the Surveyor-General of Oregon. July 17, 1854.

No. 38. Ch. LXXXV. An Act making further appropriations for continuing the construction of roads in the Territory of Minnesota, in accordance with the estimates made by the War Department. $50,000 are appropriated. July 17, 1854.

No. 39. Ch. LXXXVI. An Act to refund to the Territory of Utah the expenses incurred by said Territory in suppressing Indian hostilities. An amount, to be determined by the Secretary of War, not exceeding $20,940.65, is appropriated. The hostilities were in 1850 and 1851. July 17, 1854.

No. 40. Ch. LXXXVII. An Act to authorize the Secretary of War to settle and adjust the expenses of the Rogue River Indian War. July 17, 1854.

No. 41. Ch. XCIX. An Act regulating the time of holding the sessions of the District and Circuit Courts of the United States in the Eastern District of Louisiana. (See times and places of holding Federal Courts, ante, pp. 111-115.) July 20, 1854.

No. 42. Ch. CII. An Act making further appropriation for the improvement of the Cape Fear River, North Carolina. $120,000 are appropriated, for the year ending June 30, 1855.

No. 43. Ch. CIII. An Act to establish the offices of Surveyor-General of New Mexico, Kanzas, and Nebraska, to grant donations to actual settlers therein, and for other purposes. The appointment of a Surveyor-General for New Mexico, at a salary of $3,000, and allowances for fuel, &c., with the powers and duties of the Surveyor-General of Oregon, is authorized. There is given a quarter section (160 acres) of land to every white male citizen of the United States, or to every white male, above 21 years of age, who has declared his intention to become a citizen, and who was a resident of the Territory January 1, 1853, and is still a resident; or shall remove to and settle in said Territory between January 1, 1853, and prior to January 1, 1858, on condition of actual settlement and cultivation, for not less than four years. Each donation must include the actual settlement and improvement of the donee, and be selected in legal sub-divisions within three months after the settlement is made; or, if there was no survey at the time of the settlement, within three months after the survey; and the failure to designate the boundaries within that time shall forfeit all right thereto. When the Surveyor-General, or other proper officer, is satisfied of the proof of settlement and cultivation, a certificate shall be issued to the person entitled, on presentation of which, and approval by the Secretary of the Interior, a patent shall issue. If the settler dies before the completion of the four years, and has continuously occupied and cultivated the premises to the time of his death, the patent shall go to his heirs at law. If the settler is not a citizen, the patent shall not issue to him until he becomes a citizen.

None of the provisions of this act extend to mineral or school lands, salines, military or other reservations, or lands settled on and occupied for purposes of trade and commerce, and not for agriculture; and all legal sub-divisions settled on and occupied, in whole or in part, for purposes of trade and commerce, and not for agriculture, shall be subject to the provisions of the act of May 23, 1844 (Ch. 17), whether so settled and occupied before or after the survey of said lands, except said lands shall be donated instead of sold.

In each township, sections 16 and 36 shall be reserved for Schools; and in each territory, two townships, to be selected in legal subdivisions, of not less than half a section, are reserved for the establishment of a University in the territory. The provisions of the pre.emption act of September 4, 1841, extend to lands taken under this act, and to all lands in Nebraska and Kanzas, to which the Indian title is extinguished; but notice of the claim must be made within three months after the survey.

The Surveyor-General for New Mexico shall ascertain the origin, nature, and extent of all claims to lands under the laws, usages, and customs of Spain and Mexico; and, for this purpose, may issue notices, summon witnesses, and administer oaths, and do all other necessary acts, and shall report fully on all such claims, their validity, or invalidity, and