4 July 1864. or certificates of deposit, payable at the treasury or any sub-treasury of the United States, to any depositor electing to receive payment in that form. Ibid. § 7. 23. All the laws and parts of laws now in force for the regulation of the mint of the Laws regulating United States, and for the government of the officers and persons employed therein, and the mint extend for the punishment of all offences connected with the mint or coinage of the United States, shall be and they are hereby declared to be in full force in relation to the branch of the mint by this act established, as far as the same may be applicable thereto. ed to this branch. 19 Feb. 1869 1. 15 Stat. 270. Assay office at Boise City, in Idaho. Officers. Salaries. Ibid. 2. Oath of office. Bond. Ibid. 3. III. ASSAY OFFICE. 24. That a United States assay office be located and established at Boise City, in the terri- occupations. 26. The general direction of the business of said assay office of the United States shall be under the control and regulation of the director of the mint at Philadelphia, the control of the subject to the approbation of the secretary; and for that purpose, it shall be the duty To be subject to director of the mint. Ibid. 4. To be a public depository. Ibid. 25. of the said director to prescribe such regulations, and to require such returns periodically and occasionally, and to establish such charges for parting, assaying, melting and refining, as shall appear to him to be necessary for the purpose of carrying into effect the intention of this act in establishing said assay office. 27. Said assay office shall be a place of deposit for such public moneys as the secretary of the treasury may direct; and the superintendent of said assay office who shall perform the duties of treasurer thereof, shall have the custody of the same, and also perform the duties of assistant treasurer; and for that purpose shall be subject to all the provisions contained in an act [entitled] "An act to provide for the better organization of the treasury, and for the collection, safe-keeping, transfer and disbursement of the public revenue," approved August 6th 1846, which relates to the treasury of the branch mint of New Orleans.(b) 28. That the superintendent of said assay office be authorized, under the direction Certificates of de- of the secretary of the treasury, and on terms to be prescribed by him, to issue in Fosit to be issued payment of the gold dust and bullion deposited for assay and coinage or bars, drafts or certificates of deposit, in sums of not less than one hundred dollars, payable at the treasury, or any sub-treasury of the United States, to any depositor electing to receive payment in that form. for bullion. Ibid. 27. Certain laws extended to this office. 29. All the laws and parts of laws now in force for the regulation of the United States assay office at New York, and for the government of the officers and persons employed therein, and for the punishment of all offences connected with said assay office, or with the mint of the United States, shall be and they are hereby declared to be in full force in relation to the assay office by this act located and established, so far as the same may be applicable thereto. (a) See tit. "Oath," 1. (b) 1 vol. 884, pl. 44. Mississippi. 1. District court to be held at Oxford. I. DISTRICT COURTS. 14 Stat. 48. 1. The district courts of the United States for the northern district of Mississippi, 16 May 1866 1. now required to be held at the town of Pontotoc, shall hereafter be held at the town of Oxford, in said state. 13 Stat. 85. Montana. Boundaries. 1. That all that part of the territory of the United States included within the limits, 26 May 1864 31. to wit: commencing at a point formed by the intersection of the twenty-seventh degree of longitude west from Washington with the forty-fifth degree of north latitude; thence Territory of due west on said forty-fifth degree of latitude to a point formed by its intersection with the thirty-fourth degree of longitude west from Washington; thence due south along said thirty-fourth degree of longitude to its intersection with the forty-fourth degree and thirty minutes of north latitude; thence due west along said forty-fourth degree and thirty minutes of north latitude to a point formed by its intersection with the crest of the Rocky Mountains; thence following the crest of the Rocky Mountains northward till its intersection with the Bitter Root Mountains; thence northward along the crest of said Bitter Root Mountains to its intersection with the thirty-ninth degree of longitude west from Washington; thence along said thirty-ninth degree of longitude northward to the boundary line of the British possessions; thence eastward along said boundary line to the twenty-seventh degree of longitude west from Washington; thence southward along said twenty-seventh degree of longitude to the place of beginning, be and the same is hereby created into a temporary government by the name of the Territory of Montana: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be con- May be divided strued to inhibit the government of the United States from dividing said territory or other states or changing its boundaries in such manner and at such time as congress shall deem con- territories. venient and proper, or from attaching any portion of said territory to any other state or territory of the United States: Provided further, That nothing in this act contained Indian rights not shall be construed to impair the rights of person or property now pertaining to the to be impaired. Indians in said territory, so long as such rights shall remain unextinguished by treaty between the United States and such Indians, or to include any territory which, by treaty with any Indian tribes, is not, without the consent of said tribe, to be included within the territorial limits or jurisdiction of any state or territory; but all such territory shall be excepted out of the boundaries, and constitute no part of the territory of Montana, until said tribe shall signify their assent to the president of the United States to be included within said territory; or to affect the authority of the government of the United States to make any regulations respecting such Indians, their lands, or attached to 26 May 1864. 26 May 1864 2. 13 Stat. 86. Governor. Term of office. His powers, &c. Ibid. 3. When to act as governor. 26 May 1864 24. 13 Stat. 87. Constitution of the legislative assembly. Council. sentatives. Residence. Census. property or other rights, by treaty, law or otherwise, which it would have been competent for the government to make if this act had never passed. II. EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY. 2. The executive power and authority in and over said territory of Montana shall be vested in a governor, who shall hold his office for four years, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the president of the United States. The governor shall reside within said territory, and shall be commander-inchief of the militia and superintendent of Indian affairs thereof. He may grant pardons and respites for offences against the laws of said territory, and reprieve for offences against the laws of the United States until the decision of the president of the United States can be made known thereon; he shall commission all officers who shall be appointed to office under the laws of the said territory, and shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. 3. There shall be a secretary of said territory who shall reside therein, and hold his office for four years, unless sooner removed by the president of the United States; he shall record and preserve all laws and proceedings of the legislative assembly hereinafter constituted, and all the acts and proceedings 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 president 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. III. LEGISLATIVE POWER. 4. The legislative power and authority of said territory shall be vested in the governor and a legislative assembly. The legislative assembly shall consist of a council and house of representatives; the council shall consist of seven members, having the qualifications of voters, as hereinafter prescribed, whose term of service shall continue two years; the house of representatives shall, at its first session, consist of thirteen House of repre- members, possessing the same qualifications as prescribed for the members of the council, and whose term of service shall continue one year; the number of representatives may be increased by the legislative assembly, from time to time, to twenty-six, in proportion to the increase of qualified voters; and the council in like manner to thirteen. Apportionment. An apportionment shall be made, as nearly equal as practicable, among the several counties or districts for the election of the council and representatives, giving to each section of the territory representation 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 inhabitants and qualified voters of the several counties and districts 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 manner, 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 representatives 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 respectively, 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 representatives in each of said representative districts respectively, 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 Subsequent elec 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 representation 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 commencement of the regular sessions of the legislative First election. New election in case of a tie. tions. assembly: Provided, That no session in any one year shall exceed the term of forty 26 May 1864. days, except the first session, which may continue sixty days. Duration of ses- voters. 5. All citizens of the United States and those who have declared their intentions to sions. become such, and who are otherwise described and qualified under the fifth section of the act of congress providing for a temporary government for the territory of Idaho, Qualifications of approved March 3d 1863, shall be entitled to vote at said 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. Ibid. 26. Extent of legis lative power. 6. The legislative power of the territory shall extend to all rightful subjects of legislation consistent with the constitution of the United States, (a) and the provisions of this act; 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. Every bill which shall have passed the council and house of representatives of the said territory shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the governor of the territory; if he approve, he shall sign it; but if not he shall return it with his objec- Veto power. tions to the house in which it originated, who shall enter the objections at large upon their journal, and proceed to reconsider it; if, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by twothirds of that house it shall become a law; (b) but in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, to be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within three days (Sunday excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the assembly by adjournment prevent its return; in which case it shall not be a law. 7. All township, district and county officers not herein otherwise provided for, shall be appointed or elected, as the case may be, in such manner as shall be provided by the governor and legislative assembly of the territory of Montana. The governor shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the legislative council appoint all officers not herein otherwise provided for; and in the first instance the governor alone may appoint all said officers, who shall hold their offices until the end of the first session of the legislative assembly, and shall lay off the necessary districts for the members of the council and house of representatives and all other officers. Ibid. 7 Appointment of township, disofficers. trict and county office. Ibid. 28. 8. 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 Exclusion of increased while he was a member, during the term for which he was elected, and for members from one year after the expiration of such term; but this restriction shall not be applicable to members of the first legislative assembly; and no person holding a commission or appointment under the United States, except postmasters, shall be a member of the legislative assembly, or shall hold any office under the government of said territory. 14 Stat. 426. tricts. 9. For the purpose of reviving the legislative functions of the territory of Montana, 2 March 1867 2 5. which have been adjudged therein to have lapsed, the governor of said territory be and he is hereby authorized, on or before the first day of July 1867, to divide said Legislative dis territory into legislative districts for the election of members of the council and house of representatives, and to apportion among said districts the number of members of the legislative assembly provided for in the organic act of said territory, and the election Elections. of said members of the legislative assembly shall be held at such time and shall be conducted in the manner prescribed by the legislative assembly of said territory at the session thereof, begun and holden at the city of Bannack, in 1864 and 1865, and the qualifications of voters shall be the same as that prescribed by said organic act, saving Qualifications of and excepting the distinction therein made on account of race or color; and the legislative assembly, so elected, shall convene at the time prescribed by said legislative assembly at the session last aforesaid. The apportionment provided for in this section Appointments. shall be based upon such an enumeration of the qualified electors of the several legislative districts as shall appear from the election returns in the office of the secretary of said territory, and from such other sources of information as will enable the governor, without taking a new census, to make an apportionment which shall fairly represent the people of the several districts, in both houses of the legislative assembly, but the legislature may at any time change the legislative districts of the territory as fixed by the governor. (~) Congress has no power, either directly, or by a delegation of its power to a territorial legislature, to deprive a citizen of the right of trial by jury, in a common-law case; a territorial act providing that in all civil cases, if three-fourths of the jurors agree upon a verdict, it shall stand, and have the same force and voters. effect as if agreed upon by the whole of the jurors," is unconstitutional and void. Kleinschmidt v. Morse, I Chicago Leg. News 437. (b) Two-thirds of a quorum are sufficient to pass a bill over the governor's veto. 9 Opin. 410. 2 March 1867 3 6. 10. All acts passed at the two sessions of the so-called legislative assembly of the Certain acts dis- territory of Montana, held in 1866, are hereby disapproved and declared null and void, approved. Saving rested rights. 1 March 1869 § 1. 15 Stat. 281. except such acts as the legislative assembly herein authorized to be elected shall by special act in each case re-enact: Provided, however, That in all claims of vested rights thereunder, the party claiming the same shall not, by reason of anything in this section contained, be precluded from making and testing said claim in the courts of said territory: And provided further, That no legislation or pretended legislation in said territory, since the adjournment of the first legislative assembly, shall be deemed valid until the election of the legislative assembly herein provided for shall take place. 11. Hereafter the members of the house of representatives (a) of the territory of Montana shall be elected for the term of two years, and the stated sessions of the legislaBiennial sessions. tive assembly shall be biennial; and the said legislative assembly, at its first session after the passage of this act, shall provide by law for carrying this act into effect. 26 May 1864 9. 13 Stat. 88. Supreme court. District courts. Jurisdiction. Justices of the peace. &c. courts. Errors and appeals. IV. JUDICIARY. 12. 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 government of said territory annually; and they shall hold their offices during the period of four years, and until their successors shall be appointed and qualified. The said territory shall be divided into three judicial districts, and a district 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 limited by law: Provided, That justices of the peace shall not have jurisdiction of any matter in controversy when the title of land may be in dispute, or where Chancery powers, 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. Clerks of district 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 exceptions and appeals shall be allowed in all cases from the final decisions of said district courts to the supreme court, under such regulations as Clerk of supreme may be prescribed by law. The supreme court or the justices 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 supreme court of said supreme court shall be allowed, and may be taken to the supreme court of the United States, in the same manner and under the same regulations 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 witnesses, shall exceed one thousand dollars, except that a writ of error or appeal shall be allowed to the supreme court of the United States from the decision of the said supreme court created by this act, or of any judge thereof, or of the district courts created by this act, or of any judge thereof, upon any writs of habeas corpus involving Federal jurisdic- the question of personal freedom. 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, as is vested in the circuit and district courts of the United States; (b) and the first six days of every term of said courts, or so much thereof as shall be neceshave precedence. sary, shall be appropriated to the trial of causes arising under the said constitution and laws; and 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 clerks shall receive, in all such cases, the same fees which the clerks of the district courts of Washington territory now receive for similar services. court. Jurisdiction of the United States. Habeas corpus. tion of the district courts. What causes to Fees of clerks. Ibid. 10. District attorney. Marshal. 13. There shall be appointed an attorney for said territory, who shall continue in office four years, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the president of the United States, and who shall receive the same fees and salary as the attorney of the United States for the present territory of Washington. 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 of the United States, 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 subject to the same regu (a) By act 3 March 1869, & 1, the members of both branches of the several territorial assemblies are to be chosen for the term of two years. 15 Stat. 300. Tit. "Territories" 8. as local tribunals, and also as exercising the jurisdiction of federal courts; when sitting in the latter capacity, trial by jury, is a constitutional right. in a civil cause. Kleinschmidt v. Morse, (b) The territorial district courts sit in two distinct capacities, 1 Chicago Leg. News 437. |