thirds, but were defeated in the House, the one lacking one and the other two votes of two thirds.

One of these four acts was entitled " an act extending the time for the redemption of certain lands in the Territory on the Canal Grant." It passed the Council by a vote of 13 to 0 and the House by 23 to 2.

Another was entitled "An act to provide for the payment of the expenses of the Legislative Assembly therein named." It originated in the House, where on re-consideration it passed by a vote of 17 to 4, and in the Council by 7 to 0.

Of the two defeated acts, one was entitled "An act to provide for the election of a printer to the Legislative Assembly," which passed the Council by a vote of 8 to 3, the vote in the House being 17 to 9 (not two thirds).

The other was entitled "An act to amend an act to provide for the election of Sheriffs, Judges of Probate, Justices of the Peace, and for other purposes." The vote in the Council upon reconsideration of this act was 11 to 0, and in the House was 16 to 10, being two less than the requisite two thirds.

It must not be supposed that the dignified attention of the members to their ordinary duties, was not occasionally relieved by some displays of wit and exhibitions of mirth. As an illustration the following incident is mentioned: A member from one of the western counties had introduced into the House of Representatives a memorial to the Secretary of the Treasury for the purpose of correcting some abuses which were complained of, in the manner in which the United States Marshal disbursed- or failed to disburse -the public moneys provided for paying expenses of the courts. The language of the memorial was mere fustian and rodomontade; and contained, among other things, the expression, that during a certain period of time the marshal had not paid out "one solitary cent." It was allowed to pass the House as an act of courtesy to the member who introduced it. When it came before the Council, Col. CROCKER moved to amend by inserting between the words "solitary" and "cent," the word "red," so as to read "one solitary red cent." The amendment was adopted, and the memorial returned to the House with the amendment. The House refused to concur, and the Council refused to recede, and the bombastic memorial was lost.

On the 17th of January the Adjutant General sent to the Council, in conformity with a resolution which it had adopted, a report stating that the moneys received by him during the years 1841, 1842 and 1843 were $316.82; expenditures $241.50, and balance on hand $75.32.

Memorials to Congress were adopted, asking for appropriations for the completion of the improvement of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers;

For a re-appropriation of certain moneys to complete a light house on Grassy Island, near the mouth of Fox River; For a donation of land to improve the Grant Slough; For the laying out of a road from Prairie du Chien to La Pointe on Lake Superior, and

For the indemnification of ELBERT DICKINSON for damages sustained by him, by reason of the forcible possession and occupation by Winnebago Indians of his farm and buildings near the site of the present village of Columbus, and the consumption of his provisions.

A joint committee who were instructed to report

"How long the present session of the Assembly can continue, consistent with keeping the expenses within the appropriation of $17,275, and the cause of the decrease of the appropriation from former years",

reported that with rigid economy the appropriation would defray the expenses of the session of sixty days. That the reason of the deficiency in the appropriation is an error of the Governor in making out his estimates of the expenses of this session.

On the 8th of January, a joint resolution was passed that the session should terminate on the 29th January. On Saturday, the 27th January, a resolution passed the House rescinding that resolution and declaring that the session should terminate on the 1st day of February. On the same day the resolution was amended in the Council by substituting the 31st of January, and late in the evening of that day the House concurred in the amendment of the Council, and on the 31st of January, after a session of fifty-nine days, both houses were adjourned sine die, having previously passed an act that hereafter the annual session of the Legislative Assembly should commence on the first Monday of January, in each year.

About the first of April, Mr. ROBERT D. LESTER, sheriff of Crawford county, while descending the Mississippi alone in

a canoe, was murdered by an Indian lying in ambush about one hundred miles above Prairie du Chien.

The year 1844, although in "the States" it witnessed a most exciting political contest, resulting in the election of JAMES K. POLK over HENRY CLAY, was comparatively devoid of political interest in Wisconsin. The interest was limited to the election of members of the House of Representatives, and county officers, there being no election for Delegate to Congress.

A convention of the Democratic Whig members of the Legislature and other Whigs of the Territory was held on the 30th of January, when JOHN M. CAPRON, JOHN H. ROUNTREE, GEORGE MESSERSMITH, GEORGE H. SLAUGHTER, M. M. JACKSON, ALONZO PLATT, GLENDOWER M. PRICE, A. W. STOWE, JARED THOMPSON and JAMES TRIPP were appointed delegates to attend the National Convention of the Whigs to be held at Baltimore, in May, for the purpose of nominating a Whig candidate for the presidency.

A committee of six was appointed to report a preamble and resolutions expressive of the sense of the convention, and report the same at the evening session. At the evening session the committee, through its chairman, M. M. JACKSON, reported a series of resolutions, of which he was the putative author, and which were unanimously adopted.

RUFUS PARKS was removed from the office of Receiver of Public Moneys at Milwaukee, and J. A. HELFENSTEIN appointed in his place.

NATHANIEL P. TALLMADGE was appointed Governor of the Territory, in place of JAMES D. DOTY. His appointment was announced as early as July, although his commission was not issued until September, when Governor Dory's term expired.

CHAPTER XXVI.

TERRITORY OF WISCONSIN 1845.

The ever ready and almost ever effective argument of the opponents of a change from a Territorial to State government, was the large appropriations annually made by Congress for the maintenance of civil government, and the consequent freedom of the people from taxation for this object.

This argument was deprived of much of its force and effect by the smallness and insufficiency of the appropriation made by the act of March 3, 1845.

The smallest appropriation ever before made for compensation and mileage of the members of the Legislative Assembly, pay of officers, printing, stationery, fuel, postage and other incidental and miscellaneous objects, for any session had been $17,275, while in other years they had ranged from $25,000 to more than $36,000. The appropriation in 1845 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1846, was only $13,700.

The only appropriation for harbors was $15,000,"for the purpose of aiding in the completion of the harbor already commenced at the town of Southport."

The harbor at the more important port of Milwaukee, which had attained the dignity of being placed among the works of national importance, shared the fate of all other works in the same category, which was to fail of being fostered or aided by any appropriations whatever. Nor did the harbor at Racine or any other lake port receive aid at this session of Congress.

The sum of ten thousand dollars was appropriated for the construction and improvement of roads in the Territory, which was distributed as follows:

"From Sheboygan by way of Taychedah and Fond du Lac to the Fox River in the vicinity of Green Lake, $3,000."

"For repairing the United States military road between Fort Howard and Fond du Lac, $2,000,"

"From Southport, by way of Geneva to Beloit, $5,000."

Pursuant to the law passed at the last session, changing the time of its annual meeting to the first Monday of January, the fourth Legislative Assembly commenced its third session on the 6th day of January, 1845.

Six of thirteen members of the Council had resigned and new members had been elected to fill the vacancies, while a new election had been had for the entire body of the House of Representatives.

In the Council, RANDALL WILCOX was elected, vice MORGAN L. MARTIN, resigned. In Milwaukee county JACOB H. KIMBALL, JAMES KNEELAND and ADAM E. RAY were elected, in place of HANS CROCKER, DAVID NEWLAND and LEMUEL WHITE, resigned. The place of THEOPHALUS LA'CHAPPELLE, of Crawford county, resigned, was filled by WIRAM KNOWLTON, and JOHN CATLIN, of Dane county, was chosen to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of LUCIUS I. BARBER, of Jefferson county, in the same district.

The following members constituted the House of Representatives:

Brown county and the counties attached: ABRAHAM BRAWLEY, MASON C. DARLING and WILLIAM FOWLER."

Crawford and St. Croix: JAMES FISHER.

Dane, Dodge, Green, Jefferson and Sauk: CHARLES S. BRISTOL, NOAH PHELPS and GEORGE H. SLAUGHTER.

Grant: THOMAS P. BURNETT, THOMAS CRUSON and FRANKLIN Z. HICKS.

Iowa: JAMES COLLINS, ROBERT C. HOARD and SOLOMON OLIVER.

Milwaukee and Washington: CHARLES E. BROWN, PITTS ELLIS, BYRON KILBOURN, BENJAMIN H. MOOERS, WILLIAM SHEW and GEORGE H. WALKER.

Racine: ROBERT MCCLELLAN, ALBERT G. NORTHWAY and ORSON SHELDON.

Rock and Walworth: STEPHEN FIELD, JESSE C. MILLS, JESSE MOORE and SALMON THOMAS.

Eight of the twenty-six members had formerly been members of the Territorial Legislature. Messrs. BURNETT and WALKER were elected to the abortive session held at Green Bay in 1836. The former was an unsuccessful applicant for a seat in the Council at Belmont in 1836, and Mr. WALKER was a member at the sessions of 1842-3 and 1843-4. Mr. COLLINS was a member of the House in June, 1837, and of the Council continuously from 1838 to 1842. Messrs. CRUSON and SHEW were both elected to the House in 1838 and served until 1840. Messrs. MILLS and DARLING were members at the sessions of 1840-1 and 1841-2, and Messrs. DARLING and HICKS at those of 1842-3 and 1843-4. The other eighteen