one years, who shall have been an inhabitant of said Territory at the time of its organization, shall be entitled to vote at the first election, and shall be eligible to any office within the said Territory; but the qualifications of voters at all subsequent elections shall be such as shall be determined by the Legislative Assembly: Provided, That the right of suffrage shall be exercised only by citizens of the United States.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the legislative power of the Territory shall extend to all rightful subjects of legislation;1 but no law shall be passed interfering with the primary disposal of the soil; no tax shall be imposed upon property of the United States; nor shall the lands or other property of non-residents be taxed higher than the lands or other property of residents. All the laws of the Governor and Legislative Assembly shall be submitted to, and, if disapproved by the Congress of the United States, the same shall be null and of no effect.2

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That all township officers and all county officers, except judicial officers, justices of the peace, sheriffs, and clerks of courts, shall be elected by the people, in such manner as may be provided by the Governor and Legislative Assembly. The Governor shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council, shall appoint, all judicial officers, justices of the

1 The statutes of the Territory afford the most satisfactory interpretation of the phrase "all rightful subjects of legislation:" for, while the legislative power was, perhaps, not fully exercised, the statutes indicate the scope and content of that power, and in the absence of judicial data offer the only legitimate interpretation.

"By the sixth section of the organic law, the legislative power of the Territory is extended to all rightful subjects of legislation. This extends to the legislative assembly, the power to direct the manner in which all writs may be obtained. It has the power to prescribe all rules, requirements, forms and ceremonies in obtaining, issuing and serving writs and it can, by law, declare what officers shall or may administer oaths.”—Smith et al. v. Odell, 1 Pinney, 451.

"That is, the laws passed by the legislature are valid until annulled by the disapproval of congress."-The Territory of Wisconsin v. Doty and Others, Pinney, 406.

peace, sheriffs, and all militia officers, except those of the staff, and all civil officers not herein provided for.1 Vacancies occurring in the recess of the Council shall be filled by appointments from the Governor, which shall expire at the end of the next session of the Legislative Assembly; but the said Governor may appoint, in the first instance, the aforesaid officers, who shall hold their offices until the end of the next session of the said Legislative Assembly.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That no member of the Legislative Assembly shall hold or be appointed to any office created or the salary or emoluments of which shall have increased whilst he was a member, during the term for which he shall have been elected, and for one year after the expiration of such term; and no person holding a commission under the United States, or any of its officers, except as a militia officer, shall be a member of the said Council, or shall hold any office under the Government of the said Territory. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the Judicial power of the said Territory shall be vested in a supreme court, district courts, probate courts, and in justices of the peace. The

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1 ་་ "By this last clause it would seem, that some other officers might be created in addition to those enumerated in that law. In the exercise of the power granted to the legislative assembly, acts have been passed, and are now in force, authorizing the appointment of supreme court commissioners and conferring upon them extensive powers. There is no doubt, but that the legislative assembly can by law, create such a commissioner, and confer upon him the power to perform such ministerial duties, as may be deemed necessary in the administration of the laws." -Smith et al. v. Odell, 1 Pinney, 451.

"These are the courts for the disposition of all the judicial business of the Territory-and it is not competent for the legislative assembly to create any more. The creation of any additional judicial tribunal, is in the congress of the United States. The legislative assembly is authorized to limit, by law, the jurisdiction of the several courts above mentioned, both appellate and original—but no farther.”—Smith et al. v. Odell, 1 Pinney, 451.

"The first legislature that convened in and for this Territory, at Belmont, enacted a law on the 8th December, 1836, entitled 'An act concerning the supreme and district courts, and defining their jurisdiction and powers.' This act was evidently passed in pursuance of the organic law.” -Judson v. Hindman and Others, I Pinney, 94.

supreme court shall consist of a chief justice and two associate judges, any two of whom shall be a quorum, and who shall hold a term at the seat of Government of the said Territory, annually, and they shall hold their offices during good behavior.1 The said Territory shall be divided into three judicial districts; and a district court or courts shall be held in each of the three districts, by one of the judges of the supreme court, at such times and places as may be prescribed by law. The jurisdiction of the several courts herein provided for, both appellate and original, and that of the probate courts, and of the justices of the peace, shall be as limited by law: Provided, however, That justices of the peace shall not have jurisdiction of any matter of controversy, when the title or boundaries of land may be in dispute, or where the debt or sum claimed exceeds fifty dollars. And the said supreme and district courts, respectively, shall possess chancery as well as common law jurisdiction. Each district court shall appoint its clerk, who shall keep his office at the place where the court may be held, and the said clerks shall also be the registers in chancery; and any vacancy in said office of clerk happening in the vacation of said court, may be filled by the judge of said district, which appointment shall continue until the next term of said court. And writs of error, bills of exception, and appeals in chancery causes, shall be allowed in all cases, from the final decisions of the said district courts to the supreme court, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law; but in no case removed to the supreme court, shall a trial by a jury be allowed in said court. The supreme court may appoint its own clerk, and every clerk shall hold his office at the pleasure of the court by which he shall have been

1 "The supreme court of the Territory of Wisconsin, while adjudicating in cases arising under the laws of the Territory, is a legislative court, must conform its decisions to the laws of the Territory, and is not subject to the restriction referred to in the said seventh article of the amendments to the constitution, as would be the case were it deciding causes arising under the constitution and laws of the United States."-Rogers v. Bradford, I Pinney, 427.

appointed. And writs of error and appeals from the final decisions of the said supreme court shall be allowed and taken to the Supreme Court of the United States, in the same manner, and under the same regulations, as from the circuit courts of the United States, where the value of the property, or the amount in controversy, to be ascertained by the oath or affirmation of either party, shall exceed one thousand dollars. And each of the said district courts shall have and exercise the same jurisdiction, in all cases arising under the constitution and laws of the United States as is vested in the circuit and district courts of the United States. And the first six days of every term of the said courts, or so much thereof as shall be necessary, shall be appropriated to the trial of causes arising under the said constitution and laws. And writs of error, and appeals from the final decisions of the said courts, in all such cases, shall be made to the supreme court of the Territory, in the same manner as in other cases. The said clerks shall receive, in all such cases, the same fees which the clerk of the district court of the United States in the northern district of the State of New York receives for similar services.

SEC. IO. And be it further enacted, That there shall be an Attorney for the said Territory appointed, who shall continue in office four years, unless sooner removed by the President, and who shall receive the same fees and salary as the attorney of the United States for the Michigan Territory. There shall also be a Marshal for the Territory appointed, who shall hold his office for four years, unless sooner removed by the President, who shall execute all process issuing from the said courts when exercising their jurisdiction as circuit and district courts of the United States. He shall perform the same duties, be subject to the same regulations and penalties, and be entitled to the same fees, as the Marshal of the district court of the United States for the northern district of the State of New York; and shall, in addition, be paid the sum of two hundred dollars, annually, as a compensation for extra services.

SEC. II. And be it further enacted, That the Governor, Secretary, Chief Justice and Associate Judges, Attorney, and Marshal, shall be nominated, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appointed by the President of the United States. The Governor and Secretary, to be appointed as aforesaid, shall, before they act, as such respectively take an oath or affirmation before some judge or justice of the peace in the existing Territory of Michigan, duly commissioned and qualified to administer an oath or affirmation to support the constitution of the United States, and for the faithful discharge of the duties of their respective offices; which said oaths, when so taken, shall be certified by the person before whom the same shall have been taken, and such certificate shall be received and recorded by the said Secretary among the Executive proceedings. And, afterwards, the Chief Justice and associate Judges, and all other civil officers in said Territory, before they act as such, shall take a like oath or affirmation before the said Governor or Secretary, or some judge or justice of the Territory who may be duly commissioned and qualified, which said oath or affirmation shall be certified and transmitted by the person taking the same to the Secretary, to be by him recorded as aforesaid; and, afterwards, the like oath or affirmation shall be taken, certified, and recorded, in such manner and form as may be prescribed by law. The Governor shall receive an annual salary of two thousand five hundred dollars for his services as Governor and as superintendent of Indian affairs. The said Chief Justice and Associate Judges shall. each receive an annual salary of eighteen hundred dollars. The Secretary shall receive an annual salary of twelve hundred dollars. The said salaries shall be paid quarteryearly, at the Treasury of the United States. The members of the Legislative Assembly shall be entitled to receive three dollars each per day, during their attendance at the sessions thereof, and three dollars each for every twenty miles' travel in going to and returning from the said sessions, estimated according to the nearest usually-traveled route. There shall