a law which had been passed by a state, but afterwards altered or repealed, and how far the repeal of a law by a state, after its adoption by the territory, affected its subsequent validity. But no cases occurred which rendered it necessary to decide these questions. In the body of laws now passed, three alone did not receive entire approbation. So much of the law establishing the courts as vests the appointment of the clerk of the court in the judicial, and not in the executive department of the government, met with the dissent of the governor. The governor apprehended that the power given by the ordinance to appoint and commission magistrates, and civil officers, vested this authority in the executive. The judges considered that provision as not extending to this subject, and on that account, as well as the exception not herein otherwise provided, resorted to the previous regulation which confides to the judicial department the powers given under the common law; most of the corresponding offices in the courts of king's bench, and of common pleas, as well as of the counties in England, being, by prescription, filled by the judicial, and not by the executive department of the government. The associate judge dissented to the act empowering aliens to hold lands in this territory. The presiding judge dissented to so much of the act relative to taxes as imposes poll-taxes, or taxes on particular professions of life. All the other laws have been passed unanimously. I have the honor to be, Sir, With the greatest respect, The Honorable James Madison, Secretary of State. A. B. Woodward. -Reprinted from the Laws of the Territory of Michigan, Vol. I., p. 1. THE STATUTES OF THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES. Laws of the Territory of Michigan, Vol. I., pp. 900-903; Laws of the Territory of Michigan, condensed, arranged and passed by the fifth Legislative Council, pp. 563-565; Shambaugh's Documentary Material relating to the History of Iowa, No. II., p. 41, No. III., p. 58. Compare the following act with an act of the Governor and Judges of the Territory of Michigan, adopted February 24th, 1809, which repealed "all the acts or laws adopted and published by the governor and judges, or by the legislative authority of the Northwestern Territory or the Indiana Territory."-Laws of the Territory of Michigan, Vol. IV., p. 84, Sec. 2. AN ACT TO REPEAL ALL ACTS OF THE PARLIAMENT OF ENGLAND, AND OF THE PARLIAMENT OF GREAT Britain, WITHIN THE TERRITORY OF MICHIGAN IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. Whereas the good people of the territory of Michigan, may be ensnared by ignorance of acts of the parliament of England, and of acts of the parliament of Great Britain, which are not published among the laws of the territory, and it has been thought advisable by the Governor and judges of the territory of Michigan, hereafter specially to enact such of the said acts as shall appear worthy of adoption, Be it therefore enacted by the Governor and Judges of the Territory of Michigan, That no act of the parliament of England, and no act of the parliament of Great Britain, shall have any force within the territory of Michigan: Provided, That all rights arising under any such act shall remain as if this act had not been made; the same being adopted from the laws of one of the original states, to wit, the state of Virginia, as far as necessary and suitable to the circumstances of the territory of Michigan. Section 3. And whereas, the good people of the territory of Michigan may be ensnared by ignorance of laws adopted and made by the governor and judges of the ancient territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, and of laws made by the general assembly of the said territory, and of laws adopted and made by the governor and the judges of the territory of Indiana, under all of which respective governments, this territory has heretofore been, and which said laws do not exist of record or in manuscript in this country, and are also out of print, as well as intermingled with a multiplicity of laws which do not concern or apply to this country, and therefore may not be expected to be reprinted in a body, and may not be expected to be selected and reprinted in a detached form without much uncertainty, delay and difficulty, and it has been thought advisable by the governor and the judges of the territory of Michigan, heretofore specially to re-enact such of the said laws as appeared worthy of adoption, and hereafter also to re-enact such of the said laws as shall appear worthy of adoption, Be it therefore enacted by the Governor and Fudges of the Territory of Michigan, That the laws adopted and made by the governor and the judges of the territory of the United States north-west of the river Ohio, and the laws made by the general assembly of the said territory, and the laws adopted and made by the governor and judges of the territory of Indiana, shall be of no force within the territory of Michigan: Provided, That all rights accruing under the said laws, or any of them, shall remain valid; * * Made, adopted and published at the city of Detroit, within the territory of Michigan, this sixteenth day of September, one thousand eight hundred and ten. WILLIAM HULL, Governor of the Territory of Michigan. AUGUSTUS B. WOODWARD, One of the fudges of the Territory of Michigan. One of the Fudges of the Territory of Michigan. -Reprinted from the Laws of the Territory of Michigan, Vol. I., p. 900. 76 Territory West of Mississippi attached to Michigan. THE TERRITORY WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER ATTACHED TO AND MADE A PART OF THE TERRITORY OF MICHIGAN. AN ACT TO ATTACH THE TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, AND NORTH OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI, TO THE TERRITORY OF MICHIGAN. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That all that part of the territory of the United States bounded on the east by the Mississippi river, on the south by the state of Missouri, and a line drawn due west from the north-west corner of said state to the Missouri river; on the south-west and west. by the Missouri river and the White Earth river, falling into the same; and on the north, by the northern boundary of the United States, shall be, and hereby is, for the purpose of temporary government, attached to, and made a part of, the territory of Michigan, and the inhabitants therein shall be entitled to the same privileges and immunities, and be subject to the same laws, rules, and regulations, in all respects, as the other citizens of Michigan territory. Approved, June 28, 1834. -Reprinted from U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. IV., p. 701. NUMBER IV. INTRODUCTION. THE act of June 28th, 1834,1 gave to the territory west of the Mississippi river a local constitutional status. It did more than this. It brought the inhabitants of that territory within the pale of constitutional government. Practically, however, they were still without the benefits of organized constitutional government. And it was not until the Territory of Wisconsin was established July 4th, 1836, that they became possessed of such benefits.3 B. F. S. 1 See No. III. of this series, p. 76. 2 Ibid., p. 45. a See p. 78 of this number. |