congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have author ity to form one or two states in that part of the said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan;"

And whereas it is stipulated in the said article that the said three states shall be bounded on the north either by the territorial line between the United States and Canada, or the said east and west line;

And whereas congress has not admitted the said three states into the union according to the boundaries mentioned in the said article;

And whereas it is provided in and by an act of congress, entitled "an act to divide the Indiana territory into two separate governments," approved January 11, 1805, as follows, to wit:

"SEC. 1. That all that part of the Indiana territory which lies north of a line drawn east from the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan, until it shall intersect Lake Erie, and east of a line drawn from the said southerly bend through the middle of said lake to its northern extremity, and thence due north to the northern boundary of the United States, shall, for the purposes of temporary government, constitute a separate territory, and be called Michigan.

"SEC. 2. The inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to, and enjoy, all and singular, the rights, privileges, and advantages granted and secured to the people of the territory of the United States north-west of the river Ohio, by the said ordinance."

And whereas it was the right and privilege of sixty thousand free inhabitants within the limits of Indiana, according to the said ordinance, to form for themselves a permanent constitution and state government;

And whereas the same right and privilege is granted by the act aforesaid to the people of Michigan, whenever there shall be sixty thousand free inhabitants within the limits mentioned in the said act;

And whereas it is ascertained, under the authority of an act of the legislative council, passed on the 6th day of September, 1834, that there now are eighty-seven thousand two hundred and seventy-three free inhabitants within the limits prescribed for Michi gan by the act aforesaid; Therefore, for the purpose of enabling the free inhabitants of the said territory to secure to themselves

the rights and privileges guaranteed to them by the said ordinance and acts of Congress:

SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Legislative Council of the territory of Michigan, that the said free inhabitants of the territory of Michigan, as the said territory was established by the act of congress, entitled, " an act to divide the Indiana territory into two separate governments," approved January 11, 1805, that is to say, of all that territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan, east of a line drawn from the said southerly bend through the middle of said lake to its northern extremity, and thence due north to the northern boundary of the United States, and west and south of the said boundary of the United States, be, and they are hereby authorized to assemble to choose delegates in the manner and at the time and place hereinafter mentioned, to form for themselves a constitution and state government, upon the principles, and according to the provisions, contained in the ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States north-west of the river Ohio," adopted in congress the 13th day of July, 1787.

SEC. 2. That the free white male inhabitants of the said territory, above the age of twenty-one years, who shall reside therein three months immediately preceding Saturday the fourth day of April next, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirtyfive, be, and they are hereby, authorized to choose delegates to form a convention, who shall be elected in the several districts as follows, to wit: the county of Wayne shall form the first election district, and shall be entitled to elect seventeen delegates to the said convention; the county of Monroe shall form the second district, and shall be entitled to elect nine delegates; the county of Lenawee shall form the third district, and shall be entitled to elect eight delegates; the county of Washtenaw, and the country attached thereto for judicial purposes shall form the fourth district, and shall be entitled to elect fifteen delegates; the county of Oakland and the country attached thereto for judicial purposes, shall form the fifth district, and shall be entitled to elect fourteen delegates; the county of Macomb shall form the sixth district, and shall be entitled to elect six delegates; the county of St. Clair shall form the seventh district, and shall be entitled to elect two delegates; the county of Jackson shall form the eighth

district, and shall be entitled to elect two delegates; the counties of Hillsdale and Branch, and all that part of the territory lying south of the county of Branch, shall form the ninth district, and be entitled to elect one delegate; the county of Calhoun shall form the tenth district, and shall be entitled to elect two delegates; the county of Kalamazoo, and the country attached thereto for judicial purposes, shall form the eleventh district, and shall be entitled to elect three delegates; the county of Cass, and all that part of the territory lying south of the said county, shall form the twelfth district, and be entitled to elect three delegates; the county of St. Joseph, and all that part of the territory lying south thereof, shall form the thirteenth district, and be entitled to elect three delegates; the county of Berrien, and all that part of the territory situated south and south-west thereof, shall form the fourteenth district and be entitled to elect two delegates; the county of Michilimackinac shall form the fifteenth district, and shall be entitled to elect one delegate; and the county of Chippewa shall form the sixteenth district, and be entitled to elect one delegate. The aforesaid delegates shall be citizens of the United States of at least the age of twenty-one years.

SEC. 3. The election for the said delegates shall be holden on Saturday, the fourth day of April next, in the several townships within the said several election districts, and shall be in every respect held and conducted in the same manner and under the same regulations, and the result certified, transmitted and declared in the same manner, as near as may be, agreeably to the provisions of an act entitled "an act to provide for the election of a delegate in the congress of the United States," approved April 12th, 1827, and whenever any person shall present his vote or ballot at such election for delegates, if he shall be challenged by either of the inspectors, or by any elector, said inspectors shall cause to be read to such person so much of the second section of this act as relates to the qualifications of voters, and shall then tender and administer to him the following oath: "I, A. B., do solemnly swear, [or affirm,] that I am duly qualified to vote at this election according to law;" and thereupon the said inspectors shall receive the vote of the person so taking the oath or affirmation as aforesaid; and in case such person shall refuse to take such oath or affirmation, he shall not be permitted to vote at such election.

SEC. 4. That it shall not be lawful for any officer or minister

of justice to serve any civil process on any person entitled to vote at said election on the day preceding the said election, on the day of election, nor on the day immediately succeeding the same.

SEC. 5. The delegates elected as aforesaid, shall meet at the capitol, in the city of Detroit, on the second Monday of May next; and they, or a majority of them, are authorized to adjourn the said convention to any other place within the said territory for the transaction of business,

MORGAN L. MARTIN, President of the Legislative Council.

Approved December 26, 1834.

STEVENS T. MASON.

DOCUMENT NO. 2.

Journals of the Council 1839-'40, page 250.

The committee on territorial affairs to whom was referred so much of the governor's message as relates to the admission of Wisconsin as a state into the union, have attended to that duty, and ask leave to make the following

REPORT:

The subject of the formation of a constitution and state government in the territory of Wisconsin, in order to an early admission. into the union on a footing of equality with the other states, is one of deep interest to all her citizens.

It is a laudable ambition in the people of Wisconsin to aspire early at a state of independency, when they may take a rank among the states of this union, and participate on a footing of equality with the other states in the enactment of all laws by which they are to be governed. But your committee are of opinion that it is inexpedient to go into a state government at any time without the union and co-operation of all who rightfully belong to us.

It has been declared as the opinion of a former legislative assembly of this territory, "that all that district of country lying be

tween the northern boundary line of the state of Illinois and a line drawn west from the southern extreme of Lake Michigan to the Mississippi river rightfully belongs to the territory of Wisconsin." This opinion, with the arguments and reasons in support of it, have been spread before congress.

To recede now from the grounds at that time taken, or to relinquish in any manner the just rights of the territory to the juris diction of that district, in the opinion of your committee, would be to disappoint the hopes and defeat the most cherished desires and wishes of both the inhabitants of that district, and the people of the territory. It is, therefore, the opinion of your committee that it would be impolitic and unwise to take any measure towards forming a constitution and state government within the limits of the territory as prescribed by the existing laws of congress.

In order, therefore, to the attainment of an object which the true interest and the united wishes of all parties seem to demand, your committee submit the following resolutions.

DOCUMENT NO. 3.

Extract from the Journal of the Council, page 87, Dec. 31, 1839.

"Mr. Martin, from the select committee to whom had been referred resolutions Nos. 5 and 6, in relation to the southern boundary line of this territory, and the substitute for the latter (reported by a committee of the whole) reported a substitute as follows: No. 7, 'Resolution relative to the southern boundary, and the admission of Wisconsin into the union as a state.""

The following are the resolutions as they passed and were approved by Gov, Dodge, January 13, 1840:

"Resolutions relative to the southern boundary, and the admission of Wisconsin into the union as a state.

Whereas, the southern boundary of this territory, and of the state to be formed therein, is fixed and established by the ordinance of July 13th, 1787, on a line running due west from "the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan" to the Mississippi ⚫ river;