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SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That at said election the registered voters of each State shall vote for or against a convention to form a constitution therefor under this act. . . . If a majority of the votes given on that question shall be for a convention, then such convention shall be held as hereinafter provided; but if a majority of said votes shall be against a convention, then no such convention shall be held under this act: Provided, That such convention shall not be held unless a majority of all such registered voters shall have voted on the question of holding such convention.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the commanding general of each district shall appoint as many boards of registration as may be necessary, consisting of three loyal officers or persons, to make and complete the registration, superintend the election, and make return to him of the votes, lists of voters, and of the persons elected as delegates by a plurality of the votes cast at said election; and upon receiving said returns he shall open the same, ascertain the persons elected as delegates, according to the returns of the officers who conducted said election, and make proclamation thereof; and if a majority of the votes given on that question shall be for a convention, the commanding general, within sixty days from the date of election, shall notify the delegates to assemble in convention, at a time and place to be mentioned in the notification, and said convention, when organized, shall proceed to frame a constitution and civil government according to the provisions of this act, and the act to which it is supplementary; and when the same shall have been so framed, said constitution shall be submitted by the convention for ratification to the persons registered under the provisions of this act at an election to be conducted by the officers or persons appointed or to be appointed by the commanding general, as hereinbefore provided, and to be held after the expiration of thirty days from the date of notice thereof, to be given by said convention; and the returns thereof shall be made to the commanding general of the district.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That if, according to said

returns, the constitution shall be ratified by a majority of the votes of the registered electors qualified as herein specified, cast at said election, at least one half of all the registered voters voting upon the question of such ratification, the president of the convention shall transmit a copy of the same, duly certified, to the President of the United States, who shall forthwith transmit the same to Congress . . . ; and if it shall moreover appear to Congress that the election was one at which all the registered and qualified electors in the State had an opportunity to vote freely and without restraint, fear, or the influence of fraud, and if the Congress shall be satisfied that such constitution meets the approval of a majority of all the qualified electors in the State, and if the said constitution shall be declared by Congress to be in conformity with the provisions of the act to which this is supplementary, and the other provisions of said act shall have been complied with, and the said constitution shall be approved by Congress, the State shall be declared entitled to representation, and senators and representatives shall be admitted therefrom as therein provided.

No. 153.

Treaty with Russia for the Cession of Alaska

March 30, 1867

By the fourth article of the treaty of 1824 between the United States and Russia, it was agreed that for ten years the vessels of both powers might fish and trade in the interior waters on the northwest coast of North America, both north and south of 54° 40′. Negotiations for the continuance of the agreement failed, and the encroachments of American seamen in Russian territory were from time to time the subject of diplomatic correspondence. The friendly behavior of Russia towards the United States during the Civil War, though joined, doubtless, with an unwillingness on the part of the United States to see the power of Russia in North America increase, led to an acceptance of the offer of Russia to sell Alaska. The treaty was communicated to the Senate July 16, 1867, and the formal transfer of the territory was made October 18. Copies of the treaty and correspondence were laid before the House February 17, 1868. The debate in the House raised the question of the constitutional relation of the House to treaties involving the appropria

tion of money. The preamble of the bill making the appropriation, as it passed the House, asserted that the consent of that body was necessary to the ratification of such treaties. The Senate refused to accept the bill in that form, and the preamble was modified. The appropriation bill became law July 27. Another act of the same date extended the laws of the United States relating to customs, commerce, and navigation over Alaska, and established it as a collection district. REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XV., 539-543. For the documents and correspondence see Senate Exec. Doc. 17, 40th Cong., 1st Sess.; House Exec. Docs. 125 and 177, 40th Cong., 2d Sess. Banks's report in favor of ratification is House Report 37, 40th Cong., 2d Sess. For the House proceedings see the Cong. Globe, 40th Cong., 2d Sess.

ARTICLE I.

His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias agrees to cede to the United States . . . all the territory and dominion now possessed by his said Majesty on the continent of America and in the adjacent islands, the same being contained within the geographical limits herein set forth, to wit: The eastern limit is the line of demarcation between the Russian and the British possessions in North America, as established by the convention between Russia and Great Britain, of February 28–16, 1825, and described in Articles III and IV of said convention, in the following terms:

"Commencing from the southernmost point of the island called Prince of Wales Island, which point lies in the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes north latitude, and between the 131st and 133d degree of west longitude, (meridian of Greenwich,) the said line shall ascend to the north along the channel called Portland Channel, as far as the point of the continent where it strikes the 56th degree of north latitude; from this last-mentioned point, the line of demarcation shall follow the summit of the mountains situated parallel to the coast, as far as the point of intersection of the 141st degree of west longitude, (of the same meridian;) and finally, from the said point of intersection, the said meridian line of the 141st degree, in its prolongation as far as the Frozen Ocean.

"IV. With reference to the line of demarcation laid down in the preceding article, it is understood

"Ist. That the island called Prince of Wales Island shall

belong wholly to Russia," (now, by this cession to the United States.)

"2d. That whenever the summit of the mountains which extend in a direction parallel to the coast from the 56th degree of north latitude to the point of intersection of the 141st degree of west longitude shall prove to be at the distance of more than ten marine leagues from the ocean, the limit between the British possessions and the line of coast which is to belong to Russia as above mentioned, (that is to say, the limit to the possessions ceded by this convention,) shall be formed by a line parallel to the winding of the coast, and which shall never exceed the distance of ten marine leagues therefrom."

The western limit within which the territories and dominion conveyed are contained passes through a point in Behring's Straits on the parallel of sixty-five degrees thirty minutes north latitude, at its intersection by the meridian which passes midway between the islands of Krusenstern or Ignalook, and the island of Ratmanoff, or Noonarbook, and proceeds due north without limitation, into the same Frozen Ocean. The same western limit, beginning at the same initial point, proceeds thence in a course nearly southwest, through Behring's Straits and Behring's Sea, so as to pass midway between the northwest point of the island of St. Lawrence and the southeast point of Cape Choukotski, to the meridian of one hundred and seventy-two west longitude; thence, from the intersection of that meridian, in a southwesterly direction, so as to pass midway between the island of Attou and the Copper Island of the Kormandorski couplet or group, in the North Pacific Ocean, to the meridian of one hundred and ninety-three degrees west longitude, so as to include in the territory conveyed the whole of the Aleutian Islands east of that meridian.

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The inhabitants of the ceded territory, according to their choice, reserving their natural allegiance, may return to Russia within three years; but if they should prefer to remain in the ceded territory, they, with the exception of uncivilized native. tribes, shall be admitted to the enjoyment of all the rights, advan

tages, and immunities of citizens of the United States, and shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion. The uncivilized tribes will be subject to such laws and regulations as the United States may from time to time adopt in regard to aboriginal tribes of that country.

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In consideration of the cession aforesaid, the United States agree to pay at the Treasury in Washington, within ten months after the exchange of the ratifications of this convention, to the diplomatic representative or other agent of His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, duly authorized to receive the same, seven million two hundred thousand dollars in gold.

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THE difficulties encountered by the military commanders in enforcing the acts of March 2 and 23, 1867, especially in regard to the oath prescribed in the second of the two acts, led to the issue on June 20, through the Adjutant General's office, and with the approval of all the members of the Cabinet except Stanton, of instructions setting forth the view of the Executive as to the meaning and scope of the acts in question. From the standpoint of Congress, the instructions were a serious limitation on the effectiveness of the acts. A bill to interpret and give effect to the reconstruction acts of March 2 and 23 was reported in the Senate July 8, by Trumbull of Illinois, from the Committee on the Judiciary, but was laid aside on the 11th in favor of a bill of similar purport which had passed the House. The Senate then substituted its own bill for the House bill, the bill in this form passing by a vote of 32 to 6. The bill received its final form from a conference committee. July 19 President Johnson vetoed the bill, but it was at once passed over the veto, in the House by a vote of 109 to 25, 37 not voting, and in the Senate by a vote of 30 to 6. A joint resolution of the same date appropriated $1,000,000 to carry into effect the reconstruction acts.

REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XV., 14-16. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 40th Cong., 1st Sess., and the 'Signed: "William H. Seward, Edouard de Stoeckl." - Ed.

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