Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

THIRTIETH CONGRESS—FIRST SESSION.
H. R. 20[1].
(No Report.)
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
February 9, 1848.
Read twice, committed to a Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, and made the special order for the 14th of March.
Mr. Caleb B. Smith, from the Committee on Territories reported the following bill:
A BILL
To establish the territorial government of Oregon.

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12 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, That from and after the passage of this act, all
that part of the territory of the United States which lies
west of the summit of the Rocky mountains, known as the
territory of Oregon, shall be organized into and constitute
a temporary government by the name of the territory of
Oregon: Provided, That nothing in this act contained
shall be construed to impair the rights of person or prop-
erty now pertaining to the Indians in said territory, so long
as such rights shall remain unextinguished by treaty be-
tween the United States and such Indians, or to affect the

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authority of the government of the United States to make
any regulation respecting such Indians, their lands, prop-
erty, or other rights, by treaty, law, or otherwise, which it
would have been competent to the government to make if
this act had never passed; And provided, further, That
nothing in this act contained shall be construed to inhibit
the government of the United States from dividing said
territory into two or more territories, in such manner and
at such times as Congress shall deem convenient and
proper, or from attaching any portion of said territory to
any other State or Territory of the United States.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the executive
power and authority in and over said territory of Oregon
shall be vested in a governor, who shall hold his office for
four years, and until his successor shall be appointed and
qualified, ^“ûnless sooner removed by the President of the
United States.^”^ The governor shall reside within said ter-
ritory, shall be commander-in-chief of the militia thereof,
^“^shall perform the duties and receive the emoluments of
superintendent of Indian affairs,^”^ and shall approve of all
laws passed by the legislative assembly before they shall
take effect; ” he may grant pardons and respites for offences
against the laws of said territory, and reprieves for offences
against the laws of the United States until the decision of
the President can be made known thereon; he shall com

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mission all officers who shall be appointed to office under
the laws of the said territory, where, by law, such commis-
sions shall be required, and shall take care that the laws be
faithfully executed.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That there shall
be a secretary of said territory, who shall reside therein,
and hold his office for five years, unless sooner removed
by the President of the United States; he shall record and
preserve all the laws and proceedings of the legislative
assembly hereinafter constituted, and all the acts and pro-
ceedings of the governor in his executive department; he
shall transmit one copy of the laws and journals of the
legislative assembly within thirty days after the end of each
session, and one copy of the executive proceedings, and
official correspondence, semi-annually, on the first days of
January and July, in each year, to the President of the
United States, and two copies of the laws to the Presi-
dent of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, for the use of Congress. And in case
of the death, removal, resignation, or absence of the
governor from the territory, the secretary shall be, and he
is hereby, authorized and required to execute and perform
all the powers and duties of the governor during such
vacancy or absence, or until another governor shall be
duly appointed and qualified to fill such vacancy.

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Sec 4. And be it further enacted, That the legis-
lative power and authority of said territory shall be vested
^“în ^“^the governor and ^”^ a legislative assembly. The legisla-
tive assembly shall consist of a council and house of rep-
resentatives. The council shall consist of nine members,
having the qualifications of voters as hereinafter pre-
scribed, whose term of service shall continue two ^three^ years.
The house of representatives shall, at its first session, con-
sist of eighteen members, possessing the same qualifica-
tions as prescribed for members of the council, and whose
term of service shall continue one year. The number of
representatives may be increased by the legislative assem-
bly from time to time, in proportion to the increase of
qualified voters: Provided, That the whole number shall
never exceed thirty. An apportionment shall be made, as
nearly equal as practicable, among the several counties
or districts, for the election of the council and representa-
tives, giving to each section of the territory representa-
tation in the ratio of its qualified voters, as nearly as may
be. And the members of the council and of the house of
representatives shall reside in and be inhabitants of the
district, or county, or counties, for which they may be
elected respectively. Previous to the first election, the
governor shall cause a census or enumeration of the inhabi-
tants and qualified voters of the several counties and dis

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49 tricts of the territory to be taken by such persons, and in
such mode, as the governor shall designate and appoint;
and the persons so appointed shall receive a reasonable
compensation therefor; and the first election shall be held
at such time and places, and be conducted in such man-
ner, both as to the persons who shall superintend such
election, and the returns thereof, as the governor shall
appoint and direct; and he shall, at the same time, declare
the number of members of the council and house of rep-
resentatives to which each of the counties or districts shall
be entitled under this act. The persons having the highest
number of legal votes in each of said council districts for
members of the council shall be declared by the governor
to be duly elected to the council; and the persons having
the highest number of legal votes for the house of repre-
sentatives shall be declared by the governor to be duly
elected members of said house: Provided, That, in case
two or more persons voted for shall have an equal number
of votes, and in case a vacancy shall otherwise occur, in
either branch of the legislative assembly, the governor
shall order a new election, and the persons thus elected to
the legislative assembly shall meet at such place, and on
such day, as the governor shall appoint; but, thereafter
the time, place, and manner of holding and conducting all
elections by the people, and the apportioning the repre

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19 sentation in the several counties or districts to the council
and house of representatives, according to the number of
qualified voters, shall be prescribed by law, as well as the
day of the commencement of the regular sessions of the
legislative assembly: Provided, That no session in any
one year shall exceed the term of sixty days.
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That every ^“^ free ^”^
white male inhabitant above the age of twenty-one years,
who shall have been a resident of said territory at the time of
the passage of this act, and shall possess the qualifications
hereinafter prescribed, 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 and of holding
office, at all subsequent elections, shall be such as shall be
prescribed by the legislative assembly: Provided, That
the right of suffrage and of holding office shall be exer-
cised only by citizens of the United States, ^“^ and ^35^ those ^”^ who
shall have declared, on oath, their intention to become
such, and shall have taken an oath to support the constitu-
tion of the United States and the provisions of this act:
And provided, further, That no officer, soldier, seaman,
or marine, or other person in the army or navy of the
United States, or attached to troops in the service of the
United States, shall be allowed to vote, ^“^ or hold office ^”^ in
said territory, by reason of being on service therein ^“^ for

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22 six months ,^”^ unless said territory is and has been for ^“^that
period otherwise^”^ his permanent domicil, residence, habi-
tation, and home.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the legisla-
tive power of the territory shall extend to all rightful sub-
jects of legislation; but no law shall be passed interfering
with the primary disposal of the soil; no tax shall be
imposed upon the 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 passed by the legislative assembly ^“^ and
governor ^”^ shall be submitted to the Congress of the United
States, and if disapproved, shall be null and of no effect:
Provided, That nothing in this act shall be construed to
give power to incorporate a bank, or any institution with
banking powers, or to borrow money in the name of the
territory, or to pledge the faith of the people of the same
for any loan whatever, either directly or indirectly. No
charter granting any privilege of making, issuing, or
putting into circulation any notes or bills in the likeness
of bank notes, or any bonds, scrip, drafts, bills of exchange
or obligations, or granting any other banking powers or
privileges, shall be passed by ^“^the governor and^”^ legislative
assembly; nor shall the establishment of any branch or
agency of any such corporation, derived from other

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7 authority, be allowed in said territory; nor shall said ^“^ gov-
ernor and ^”^ legislative assembly authorize the issue of any
obligation, scrip, or evidence of debt by said territory, in any
mode or manner whatever, except certificates for services to
said territory; and all such laws shall be utterly null and
void; ^“ând all (laws) shall be equal and uniform,^”^ and no dis-
tinction shall be made in assessments between different
kinds of property, but the assessments shall be according
to the value thereof. To avoid improper influences which
may result from intermixing in one and the same act such
things as have no proper relation to each other, every law
shall embrace but one object, and that shall be expressed
in the title.
Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That all township,
district, and county officers, not herein otherwise provided
for, shall be appointed or elected^ “âs the case may^”^ be, in
such manner as shall be provided by ^“^ the “ governor and ^”^
legislative assembly of the territory of Oregon.
Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That no member
of the legislative assembly shall hold, or be appointed to,
any office which shall have been created, or the salary or
emoluments of which shall have been increased, while he
was a member, during the term for which he was elected,
and for one year after the expiration of such term; but this
restriction shall not be applicable to members of the first

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20 legislative assembly; and no person holding a commission
or appointment under the United States, ^“^ except postmas-
ters, ^”^ shall be a member of the legislative assembly, or shall
hold any office under the government of said territory.
Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That the judicial
power of said territory shall be vested in a supreme court,
district courts, probate courts, and in justices of the peace.
The supreme court shall consist of a chief justice and two
associate justices, any two of whom shall constitute a
quorum, and who shall hold a term at the seat of govern-
ment of said territory annually, and they shall hold their
offices during the period of four years, and until their suc-
cessors shall be appointed and qualified. The said terri-
tory shall be divided into three judicial districts, and a dis-
trict court shall be held in each of said districts by one of
the justices of the supreme court, at such times and places
as may be prescribed by law; and the said judges shall,
after their appointments, respectively, reside in the districts
which shall be assigned them. The jurisdiction of the
several courts herein provided for, both appellate and
original, and that of the probate courts and of justices of
the peace, shall be as limited by law: Provided, That
justices of the peace shall not have jurisdiction of any
matter in controversy when the title or boundaries of land

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45 may be in dispute ,^”^ or where the debt or ^“^ sum ^”^ claimed shall
exceed one hundred dollars; and the said supreme and
district courts, respectively, shall possess chancery, as well
as common law, jurisdiction. Each district court, or the
judge thereof, shall appoint its clerk, who shall also be the
register in chancery, and shall keep his office at the place
where the court may be held. Writs of error, bills of ex-
ception, and appeals, shall be allowed in all cases from the
final decisions of 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 trial by jury
be allowed in said court. The supreme court, or the jus-
tices thereof, shall appoint its own clerk, and every clerk
shall hold his office at the pleasure of the court for which
he shall have been appointed. Writs of error and appeals
from the final decisions of said supreme court shall be
allowed, and may be taken to the supreme court of the Uni-
ted States, in the same manner and under the same regula-
tions 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, or
other competent witness, shall exceed two thousand dol-
lars; 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 and the laws

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18 of said territory as is vested in the circuit and district
courts of the United States; writs of error and appeal in
all such cases shall be made to the supreme court of said
territory, the same as in other cases. The said clerk shall
receive, in all such cases, the same fees which the clerks
of the district courts of Wisconsin Territory ^“^ now receive ^”^
for similar services.
Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That there shall
be appointed an attorney for said territory, who shall con-
tinue in office for four years, and until his successor shall
be appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the
President, and who shall receive the same fees and salary
as the attorney of the United States for the present Terri-
tory of Wisconsin. There shall also be a marshal for the
territory appointed, who shall hold his office for four years,
and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified,
unless sooner removed by the President, and who shall
execute all processes issuing from the said courts, when
exercising their jurisdiction as circuit and district courts
of the United States; he shall perform the duties, be sub-
ject to the same regulation and penalties, and be entitled
to the same fees, as the marshal of the district court of the
United States for the present Territory of Wisconsin;
and shall, in addition, be paid two hundred dollars annu-
ally as a compensation for extra services.

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Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That the
governor, secretary, chief justice and associate justices
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
the district judge, or some justice of the peace in the limits
of said territory, duly authorized to administer oaths and
affirmations by the laws now in force therein, or before
the chief justice or some associate justice of the Supreme
Court of the United States, to support the constitution of
the United States, and faithfully to discharge the duties of
their respective offices; which said oaths, when so taken,
shall be certified by the person by^before/^ whom the same shall
have been taken, and such certificates shall be received
and recorded by the said secretary among the executive
proceedings, and the chief justice and associate justices,
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 peace of the territory, who may be duly commissioned
and qualified, which said oath or affirmation shall be cer-
tified and transmitted, by the person taking the same^before whom the same shall have been taken^, to
the secretary, to be by him recorded as aforesaid; and,

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50 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 fifteen hundred dollars as governor, and
fifteen hundred dollars as superintendent of Indian affairs.
The chief justice and associate justices shall each receive
an annual salary of two thousand dollars. The secretary
shall receive an annual salary of fifteen hundred dollars.
The said salaries shall be paid quarter-yearly, from the
dates of the respective appointments, at the treasury of
the United States; but no such payment shall be made
until said officers shall have entered upon the duties of
their respective appointments. The members of the legis-
lative 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 travelled route.
And a chief clerk, one assistant clerk, a sergeant-at-arms,
and doorkeeper, may be chosen for each house; and the
chief clerk shall receive five dollars per day, and the said
other officers three dollars per day, during the session of
the legislative assembly; but no other officers shall be
paid by the United States: Provided, That there shall be
but one session of the legislature annually, unless on an

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4 extraordinary occasion, the governor shall think proper to
call the legislature together. There shall be appropriated,
annually, the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, to be
expended by the governor to defray the contingent
expenses of the territory, including the salary of a clerk
of the executive department; and there shall also be
appropriated, annually, a sufficient sum, to be expended
by the secretary of the territory, and upon an estimate to
be made by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United
States, to defray the expenses of the legislative assembly,
the printing of the laws, and other incidental expenses;
and the governor and secretary of the territory shall, in
the disbursement of all moneys intrusted to them, be
governed solely by the instructions of the Secretary of
the Treasury of the United States, and shall semi-annually
account to the said Secretary for the manner in which the
aforesaid (sum) moneys shall have been expended; and
no expenditure shall be made by said legislative assembly
for objects not specially authorized by the acts of Con-
gress making the appropriations, nor beyond the sums
thus appropriated for such objects.
Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That the inhabi-
tants of said territory shall be entitled to enjoy all and sin-
gular the rights, privileges, and advantages ^ immunities ^ granted and
secured to the people of the territory of the United States

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9 northwest of the river Ohio, by the articles of compact
contained in the ordinance for the government of said ter-
ritory, on the thirteenth day of July, seventeen hundred
and eighty-seven; ^(ând shall be subject to all the condi-
tions, and restrictions, and prohibitions in said articles of
compact imposed upon the people of said Territory;^)^ and^)^
the existing laws now in force in the territory of Oregon,
under the authority of the provisional government estab-
lished by the people thereof, shall continue to be valid and
operative therein, so far as the same be not incompatible
with the principles and provisions of this act; subject, never-
theless, to the altered, modified, or repealed, by the ^“^ gov-
ernor” and legislative assembly of the said territory of Ore-
gon; and the laws of the United States are hereby extend-
over and declared to be in force in said territory, so far as
the same, or any provision thereof, may be applicable.
Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That the legisla-
tive assembly of the territory of Oregon shall hold its first
session at such time and place in said territory as the gov-
ernor thereof shall appoint and direct; and at said first
session, or as soon thereafter as they shall deem ex-
pedient, the ^“^ governor and ^”^ legislative assembly shall pro-
ceed 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

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18 changed by the said ^“^ governor and ^”^ legislative assembly.
And the sum of ^“^five^”^ thousand dollars, out of any money
in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, is hereby ap-
propriated and granted to said territory of Oregon, to be
there applied, by the governor, to the erection of suitable
buildings at the seat of government.
Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That a dele-
gate to the House of Representatives of the United
States, to serve for the term of two years, who shall be a
citizen of the United States, 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
^“^ are ^”^ exercised and enjoyed by the delegates from the
several other Territories of the United States to the said
House of Representatives, but the delegate first elected,
shall hold his seat only during the term of the Congress
to which he shall be elected. The first election shall be
held at such time and places, and be conducted in such
manner, as the governor shall appoint and direct; and at
all subsequent elections, the times, places, and manner of
holding the elections shall be prescribed by law. The per-
son having the greatest number of votes shall be declared
by the governor to be duly elected, and a certificate there-
of shall be given accordingly.

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4 Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, That all suits,
process, and proceedings, civil and criminal, at law and in
chancery, and all indictments and informations, which
shall be pending and undetermined in the courts estab-
lished by authority of the provisional government of
Oregon, within the limits of said territory, when this act,
shall take effect, shall be transferred to be heard, tried
prosecuted, and determined in the district courts hereby
established, which may include the counties or districts
where any such proceedings may be pending, All bonds,
recognizances, and obligations of every kind whatsoever,
valid under the existing laws within the limits of said ter-
ritory, shall be valid under this act; and all crimes and
misdemeanors against the laws in force within said limits
may be prosecuted, tried, and punished in the courts
established by this act; and all penalties, forfeitures,
actions, and causes of action, may be recovered under
this act, in like manner as they would have been under
the laws in force within the limits composing said terri-
tory at the time this act shall go into operation.
Sec. 16. And be it further enacted, That all justices
of the peace, constables, sheriffs, and all other judicial and
ministerial officers, who shall be in office within the limits
of said territory when this act shall take effect, shall be,

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9 and they are hereby, authorized and required to continue
to exercise and perform the duties of their respective
offices as officers of the territory of Oregon until they, or
others, shall be duly appointed and qualified to fill their
places in the manner herein directed, or until their offices
shall be abolished.
Sec. 17. And be it further enacted, That the sum of
five thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropri-
ated, out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise
appropriated, to be expended, by and under the direction
of the said governor of the territory of Oregon, in the
purchase of a library, to be kept at the seat of government
for the use of the governor, legislative assembly, judges of
the supreme court, secretary, marshal, and attorney of said
territory, and such other persons and under such regula-
tions as shall be prescribed by law.
Sec. 18. And be it further enacted, That when the
lands in the said territory shall be surveyed under the
direction of the government of the United States, prepara-
tory to bringing the same into market, sections numbered
sixteen and thirty-six in each township in said territory
shall be, and the same is hereby, reserved for the purpose
of being applied to schools in said territory, and in the
States and territories hereafter to be erected out of the
same.

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9 Sec. 19. And be it further enacted, That, until other-
wise provided by law, the governor of said territory may
define the judicial districts of said territory, and assign
the judges who may be appointed for said territory to the
several districts, and also appoint the times and places for
holding courts in the several counties or subdivisions in
each of said judicial districts 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
and places of holding the courts, as to them shall seem
proper and convenient.
Sec. 20. And be it further enacted, That all officers
to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate, for the territory of Oregon,
who, by virtue of the provisions of any law now existing,
or which may be enacted during the present Congress,
are required to give security for moneys that may be
intrusted with them for disbursement, shall give such secu-
rity at such time and place, and in such manner, as the
Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe.

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H R Nô 201

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To establish the Territorial government of Oregon

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Oregon

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Aug 2^d 1848

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H R. Passed

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With amend’ts