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to your posterity the sure inheritance of freedom. The American people receive you as brothers; and will hasten to extend to you a participation in those inestimable rights, which have formed the basis of their own unexampled prosperity. Under the auspices of the American Government, you may confidently rely upon the security of your liberty, your property, and religion of your choice. You may with equal certainty rest assured, that your commerce will be promoted and your agriculture cherished; in a word, that your true interests will be among the primary objects of our national Legislature. In return for these benefits, the United States will be amply remunerated, if your growing attachment to the constitution of our country, and your veneration for the principles on which it is founded, be duly proportioned to the blessings which they will confer. Among your first duties, therefore, you should cultivate with assiduity among yourselves the advancement of political information; you should guide the rising generation in the paths of republican economy and virtue; you should encourage literature; for, without the advantages of education, your descendants will be unable to appreciate the intrinsic worth of the Government transmitted. to them.

As for myself, fellow-citizens, accept a sincere assurance, that, during my continuance in the situation in which the President of the United States has been pleased to place me, every exertion will be made on my part to foster your internal happiness, and forward your general welfare; for it is only by such means that I can secure to myself the approbation of those great and just men who preside in the councils of our nation.

WILLIAM C. C. CLAIBORNE. -Reprinted from American State Papers, Foreign Relations, Vol. II., p. 583.

LOUISIANA DIVIDED INTO TWO TERRITORIES.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES.

U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. II., pp. 283-289; Annals of Congress, 8th Cong., 1st Sess., passim. McMaster's History of the People of the United States, Vol. III., pp. 22-23; Henry Adams' History of the United States, Vol. II., pp. 120-125; Hildreth's History of the United States, Vol. II., pp. 495-497; Dillon's History of Indiana, p. 414; Dunn's History of Indiana, American Commonwealths Series, pp. 317-319.

AN ACT ERECTING LOUISIANA INTO TWO TERRITORIES, AND

PROVIDING FOR THE TEMPORARY GOVERNMENT THEREOF.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all that portion of country ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies south of the Mississippi territory, and of an east and west line to commence on the Mississippi river, at the thirty-third degree of north latitude, and to extend west to the western boundary of the said cession, shall constitute a territory of the United States, under the name of the territory of Orleans; the government whereof shall be organized and administered as follows:

[Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 relate exclusively to the Territory of Orleans. They are omitted in this connection since the Territory of Orleans in no way concerns the history of Iowa.]

Sec. 12. The residue of the province of Louisiana, ceded to the United States, shall be called the district of Louisiana, the government whereof shall be organized and administered as follows:

The executive power now vested in the governor of the Indiana territory shall extend to, and be exercised in the said district of Louisiana. The governor and judges of the Indiana territory shall have power to establish, in the said district of Louisiana, inferior courts, and prescribe their jurisdiction and duties, and to make all laws which they may deem conducive to the good government of the inhabitants thereof: Provided however, that no law shall be valid which is incon

sistent with the constitution and laws of the United States, or which shall lay any person under restraint or disability on account of his religious opinions, professsion, or worship; in all of which he shall be free to maintain his own, and not burthened for those of another: And provided also, that in all criminal prosecutions, the trial shall be by a jury of twelve good and lawful men of the vicinage, and in all civil cases of value of one hundred dollars, the trial shall be by jury, if either of the parties require it. The judges of the Indiana territory, or any two of them, shall hold annually two courts within the said district, at such place as will be most convenient to the inhabitants thereof in general, shall possess the same jurisdiction they now possess in the Indiana territory, and shall continue in session until all the business depending before them shall be disposed of. It shall be the duty of the secretary of the Indiana territory to record and preserve all the papers and proceedings of the governor, of an executive nature, relative to the district of Louisiana, and transmit authentic copies thereof every six months to the President of the United States. The governor shall publish throughout the said district, all the laws which may be made as aforesaid, and shall from time to time report the same to the President of the United States, to be laid before Congress, which, if disapproved of by Congress, shall thenceforth cease, and be of no effect.

The said district of Louisiana shall be divided into districts by the governor, under the direction of the President, as the convenience of the settlements shall require, subject to such alterations hereafter as experience may prove more convenient. The inhabitants of each district, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, shall be formed into a militia, with proper officers, according to their numbers, to be appointed by the governor, except the commanding officer, who shall be appointed. by the President, and who whether a captain, a major or a colonel, shall be the commanding officer of the district, and as such, shall, under the governor, have command of the regular

officers and troops in his district, as well as of the militia, for which he shall have a brevet commission, giving him such command, and the pay and emoluments of an officer of the same grade in the regular army; he shall be specially charged with the employment of the military and militia of his district, in cases of sudden invasion or insurrection, and until the orders of the governor can be received, and at all times with the duty of ordering a military patrol, aided by militia if necessary, to arrest unauthorized settlers in any part of his district, and to commit such offenders to jail to be dealt with according to law.

Sec. 13. The laws in force in the said district of Louisiana, at the commencement of this act, and not inconsistent with any of the provisions thereof, shall continue in force until altered, modified or repealed by the governor and judges of the Indiana territory, as aforesaid.

Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That all grants for lands within the territories ceded by the French Republic to the United States, by the treaty of the thirtieth of April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and three, the title whereof was, at the date of the treaty of St. Ildefonso, in the crown, government or nation of Spain, and every act and proceeding subsequent thereto, of whatsoever nature, towards the obtaining any grant, title, or claim to such lands, and under whatsoever authority transacted, or pretended, be, and the same are hereby declared to be, and to have been from the beginning, null, void, and of no effect in law or equity. Provided nevertheless, that anything in this section contained shall not be construed to make null and void any bona fide grant, made agreeably to the laws, usages and customs of the Spanish government to an actual settler on the lands so granted, for himself, and for his wife and family; or to make null and void any bona fide act or proceeding done by an actual settler agreeably to the laws, usages and customs of the Spanish government, to obtain a grant for lands actually settled on by the person or persons claiming title thereto, if such settlement in either case was actually made prior to the twentieth day of

December, one thousand eight hundred and three: And provided further, that such grant shall not secure to the grantee or his assigns more than one mile square of land, together with such other and further quantity as heretofore hath been allowed for the wife and family of such actual settler, agreeably to the laws, usages and customs of the Spanish government. And that if any citizen of the United States, or other person, shall make a settlement on any lands belonging to the United States, within the limits of Louisiana, or shall survey, or attempt to survey, such lands, or to designate boundaries by marking trees, or otherwise, such offender shall, on conviction thereof, in any court of record of the United States, or the territories of the United States, forfeit a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars, and suffer imprisonment not exceeding twelve months; and it shall, moreover, be lawful for the President of the United States to employ such military force as he may judge necessary to remove from lands belonging to the United States any such citizen or other person, who shall attempt a settlement thereon.

Sec. 15. The President of the United States is hereby authorized to stipulate with any Indian tribes owning lands on the east side of the Mississippi, and residing thereon, for an exchange of lands, the property of the United States, on the west side of the Mississippi, in case the said tribes shall remove and settle thereon; but in such stipulation, the said tribes shall acknowledge themselves to be under the protection of the United States, and shall agree that they will not hold any treaty with any foreign power, individual state, or with the individuals of any state or power; and that they will not sell or dispose of the said lands, or any part thereof, to any sovereign power, except to the United States, nor to the subjects or citizens of any other sovereign power, nor to the citizens of the United States. And in order to maintain peace and tranquility with the Indian tribes who reside within the limits of Louisiana, as ceded by France to the United States, the act of Congress, passed on the thirtieth day of

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