ing laws of the Territory of Wisconsin shall be extended over said Territory, so far as the same be not incompatible with the provisions of this act, subject, nevertheless, to be altered, modified, or repealed, by the Governor and Legislative Assembly of the said Territory of Iowa; and further, the laws of the United States are hereby extended over, and shall be in force in said Territory, so far as the same, or any provisions thereof, may be applicable.

SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Iowa shall hold its first session. at such time and place in said Territory as the Governor thereof shall appoint and direct; and at said session, or as soon thereafter as may by them be deemed expedient, the said Governor and Legislative Assembly shall proceed to locate and establish the seat of Government for said Territory, at such place as they may deem eligible, which place, however, shall thereafter be subject to be changed by the said Governor and Legislative Assembly. And the sum of twenty thousand dollars, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, is hereby granted to the said Territory of Iowa, which shall be applied by the Governor and LegislaBut independently of the ordinance of 1787, we should feel justified in coming to the same conclusion. Matters of national history are recognized by courts of justice. That the United States were originally colonized from England; and Illinois from those colonies or States formed from them are matters which need not be pleaded or proved. That emigrants carry with them the common law of the mother country is also well settled law.”-Holmes, Brown & Co. v. Mallett, Morris, 83.

The Ordinance of 1787 prohibited the Territory from impairing the obligation of contracts-See Temple v. Hays & Hendershott Morris, 11.

"For the purpose of the opinion, it may be conceded that the ordinance was in force in Iowa at the time of its admission as a State, and is now, except so far as it has been abrogated."--Higgins v. Farmers Ins. Co., 60 Iowa, 52.

"The adoption of the constitution of this state by the free will and vote of the people with the assent of the government of the United States, and the subsequent admission of the State into the Union, in our judgment, abrogates entirely the provisions of the ordinance wherever its provisions and those of the state constitution come in conflict."--Conn. Life Ins. Co. v. Cross et al., 18 Wisconsin, 115.

tive Assembly thereof to defray the expenses of erecting public buildings at the seat of Government.

SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That a delegate to the House of Representatives of the United States to serve for the term of two years, may be elected by the voters qualified to elect members of the Legislative Assembly, who shall be entitled to the same rights and privileges as have been granted to the delegates from the several Territories of the United States, to the said House of Representatives. The first election shall be held at such time and place or places, and be conducted in such manner as the Governor shall appoint and direct. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be declared by the Governor to be duly elected, and a certificate thereof shall be given to the person so elected.

SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That all suits, process, and proceedings, and all indictments and informations, which shall be undetermined on the third day of July next, in the district courts of Wisconsin Territory, west of the Mississippi river, shall be transferred to be heard, tried, prosecuted and determined in the district courts hereby established, which may include the said counties.1

SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That all justices of the peace, constables, sheriffs, and all other executive and judicial officers, who shall be in office on the third day of July next, in that portion of the present Territory of Wisconsin which will then, by this act, become the Territory of Iowa, shall be, and are hereby authorized and required to continue to exercise and perform the duties of their respective offices, as officers of the Territory of Iowa, temporarily and until they, or others, shall be duly appointed to fill their places by the Territorial Government of Iowa, in the manner herein directed: Provided, That no officer shall hold or continue

1"If, by the organic law, judgments rendered when Iowa was Wisconsin were transferred to the district courts of Iowa, and thereby became judgments in said courts, we think they are as much subject to the statute as if originally rendered in the courts of Iowa."-Woods v. Mains, I Green, 295.

in office by virtue of this provision, over twelve months from the said third day of July next.

SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That all causes which shall have been or may be removed from the courts held by the present Territory of Wisconsin, in the counties west of the Mississippi river, by appeal or otherwise, into the supreme court for the Territory of Wisconsin, and which shall be undetermined therein on the third day of July next, shall be certified by the clerk of the said supreme court, and transferred to the supreme court of said Territory of Iowa, there to be proceeded into final determination, in the same manner that they might have been in the said supreme court of the Territory of Wisconsin.

SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That the sum of five thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be expended by, and under the direction of, the Governor of said Territory of Iowa, in the purchase of a library, to be kept at the seat of Government, for the accommodation of the Governor, Legislative Assembly, judges, secretary, marshal, and attorney of said Territory, and such other persons as the Governor and Legislative Assembly shall direct.

SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That from and after the day named in this act for the organization of the Territory of Iowa, the term of the members of the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Wisconsin shall be deemed to have expired, and an entirely new organization of the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Wisconsin as constituted by this act shall take place as follows: As soon as practicable after the passage of this act, the Governor of the Territory of Wisconsin shall apportion the thirteen members of the Council and twenty-six members of the House of Representatives among the several counties or districts comprised within said Territory, according to their population, as nearly as may be (Indians excepted). The first election shall be held at such time as the Governor shall

appoint and direct; and shall be conducted, and returns thereof made, in all respects, according to the provisions of the laws of said Territory, and the Governor shall declare the persons having the greatest number of votes to be elected, and shall order a new election when there is a tie between two or more persons voted for, to supply the vacancy made by such tie. The persons thus elected shall meet at Madison, the seat of Government, on such day as he shall appoint, but thereafter the apportioning of the representation in the several counties to the Council and House of Representatives according to population, the day of their election, and the day for the commencement of the session of the Legislative Assembly, shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 20. And be it further enacted, That temporarily, and until otherwise provided by law of the Legislative Assembly, the Governor of the Territory of Iowa may define the judicial districts of said Territory, and assign the judges who may be appointed for said Terrritory to the several districts, and also appoint the times for holding courts in the several counties in each district, by proclamation to be issued by him; but the Legislative Assembly, at their first, or any subsequent session, may organize, alter, or modify such judicial districts, and assign the judges and alter the times of holding the courts or any of them.

Approved, June 12, 1838.

-Reprinted from U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. V., p. 235.

NOTE.

SOME OBSERVATIONS ON The Control OF TRANSPORTATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI River BY THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE TERRITORY OF IOWA.

"True, the Mississippi river and all the navigable waters leading into it are common highways and must be forever free. The legislature can make no law for obstructing the navigation of these streams.

"But the establishment of public roads traversing the country in various directions is a rightful subject of legislation, and the most judicious and effectual mode of establishing and keeping these in repair is a matter that is entrusted to the legislative discretion. The right to construct a road includes the power to provide for overcoming all obstacles in its course as

well those presented by a river as by any other object. A ferry (properly so-called) is merely the continuance of a road across a river. It is only a substitute for a bridge.

·Suppose a bridge should be resolved upon as the best mode of prolonging a road across a navigable stream. If made so as not to obstruct the navigation, the power of he legislature to authorize its construction is unquestionable. It is equally clear that the legislative power is competent to authorize the construction of such bridge by an individual or a company with power to compensate themselves by taking toll. Nor will it we think be doubted that the legislature may for the purpose of encouraging individuals to construct such bridge, grant them an exclusive privilege to a reasonable extent and prohibit all other persons from interfering therewith. The rule would be the same in relation to a ferry which is a floating bridge. The granting of an exclusive privilege to establish such a public convenience within certain reasonable limits, would be no violation of that provision of the ordinance of 1787, which declares the Mississippi and its tributaries common highways and forever free, provided the navigation proper of the river be not thereby interfered with or obstructed." ---United States v. Fanning, Morris, 351.

AN ACT TO ALTER AND AMEND THE ORGANIC LAW OF THE TERRITORIES OF WISCONSIN AND Iowa.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That every bill which shall have passed the Council and House of Representatives of the Territories of Iowa and Wisconsin shall, before it become a law, be presented to the Governor of the Territory; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered; and if approved by two thirds of that House it shall become a law. But, in all such cases, the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays; and the names of the persons voting