elections.

Proviso.

At subsequent fications 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 exercised only by citizens of the United States and those who shall have declared on oath their intention to become such, and shall have taken an oath to support the constitution of the United States.

Extent and limits of legisla

tive power.

Township, district, and county officers.

Persons disqualified to hold office.

Judicial power.

SECT. 6. And be it further enacted, That the legislative power of the territory shall extend to all rightful subjects of legislation consistent with the constitution of the United States 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; nor shall any law be passed impairing the rights of private property; nor shall any discrimination be made in taxing different kinds of property; but all property subject to taxation shall be in proportion to the value of the property taxed.

SECT. 7. And be it further enacted, That 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. 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 members of the council and house of representatives, and all other officers.

SECT. 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; 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.

SECT. 9. And be it further enacted, That the judicial power of said territory shall be vested in a supreme court, district courts, probate Supreme court. 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. The said territory shall be divided

District courts.

the

Jurisdiction.

Of justices of peace.

Of supreme

and district

Clerk of district court, and

cerv.

Writs of error,

&c.

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 time and place 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 the 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 or boundaries of land 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, and authority for courts. redress of all wrongs committed against the constitution or laws of the United States, or of the territory, affecting persons or property. 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 register in chanplace where the court may be held. Writs of error, bills of exception, 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 justices thereof, shall appoint its own clerk, and clerk every 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 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 witness, shall exceed one thousand dollars; 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; and the said supreme and district courts of the said territory, and the respective judges thereof, shall and may grant writs of habeas Habeas Corpus. corpus in all cases in which the same are grantable by the judges of the United States in the District of Columbia; and the first six days of every term of said courts, or so much thereof as shall be necessary, shall be appropriated to the trial of causes arising under the said constitution and laws; and writs of error and appeals in all such cases shall be made to the supreme court of said territory the same

Clerk of supreme court.

Writs of error.

&c.

as in other cases. The said clerk shall receive, in all such cases, the Fees of Clerk. same fees which the clerks of the district courts of Nebraska Terri tory now receive for similar services.

Attorney, &c.

Marshal, &c.

Appointment of governor, &c.

SECT. 10. And be it further enacted, That there shall be appointed an attorney for said territory, who shall continue in office for four years, 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 Territory of Nebraska. There shall also be a marshal for the territory appointed, who shall hold his office for four years, 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 subject to the same regulations 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 Nebraska, and shall, in addition, be paid two hundred dollars annually as a compensation for extra services.

SECT. 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, How qualified. 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 whom the same shall have been taken; and such certificates shall be received and recorded by the 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 certified and transmitted by the person taking the same to the secretary, to be by him recorded as aforesaid; and afterwards the like oath or affirmation shall be taken, certified, and recorded in such man[n]er and form as may be prescribed by law. The governor shall receive an annual salary of fifteen hundred dollars as governor, and one thousand dollars as superintendent of Indian affairs; the chief justice and associate justices shall each receive an annual salary of eighteen hundred dollars; the secretary shall receive an annual salary of eighteen hundred dollars. The said salaries shall be paid quarteryearly at the treasury of the United States. The members of the legislative assembly shall be entitled to receive three dollars each per day during their attendance at the session thereof, and three dollars

Salaries.

Pay of the legislature.

T

penses.

Expenses of

legislative as

sembly, &c.

for every twenty miles' travel in going to and returning from the said sessions, estimated according to the nearest usually travelled route. There shall be appropriated annually the sum of one thousand dol-Contingent exlars, to be expended by the governor, to defray the contingent expenses of the territory. 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 secretary of the territory shall annually account to the secretary of the treasury of the United States for the manner in which the aforesaid sum shall have been expended. SECT. 12. And be it further enacted, That the legislative assembly Time and place of the Territory of Dakota shall hold its first session at such time legislature. and place in said territory as the governor thereof shall appoint and direct; and at said first session, or as soon thereafter as they shall deem expedient, the governor and legislative assembly shall proceed 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 changed by the said governor and legislative assembly.

of first session of

Seat of govern

ment.

congress.

SECT. 13. And be it further enacted, That a delegate to the house Delegate to of representatives of the United States, to serve during each congress 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. The first election shall be held at Election of, &c. 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 elections shall be prescribed by law. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be declared by the governor to be duly elected, and a certificate thereof shall be given accordingly.

SECT. 14. And be it further enacted, That when the land in said territory shall be surveyed, under the direction of the government of the United States, preparatory to bringing the same into market, sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in each township in said territory shall be, and the same are hereby, reserved for the purpose of being applied to schools in the states hereafter to be erected out of the same.

SECT. 15. And be it further enacted, That temporarily, and until otherwise 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

School sections of land.

Judicial dis tricts.

Constitution and laws of Uited States made applicable.

Surveyor-gen

eral.

Land district.

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.

SECT. 16. And be it further enacted, That the constitution and all laws of the United States which are not locally inapplicable shall have the same force and effect within the said Territory of Dakota as elsewhere within the United States.

SECT. 17. And be it further enacted, That the president of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to appoint a surveyor-general for Dakota, who shall locate his office at such place as the Secretary of the Interior shall from time to time direct, and whose duties, powers, obligations, responsibilities, compensation, and allowances for clerk hire, office rent, fuel, and incidental expenses, shall be the same as those of the surveyor-general of Nebraska and Kansas, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and such instructions as he may from time to time deem it advisable to give him.

SECT. 18. And be it further enacted, That so much of the public lands of the United States in the Territory of Dakota, west of its eastern boundary and east and north of the Niobrara, or Running Name a dlo- Water river, be formed into a land district, to be called the Yankton district, at such time as the president may direct, the land-office for which shall be located at such point as the president may direct, and shall be removed from time to time to other points within said district whenever, in his opinion, it may be expedient.

catiou.

Register and receiver.

Dakota river.

Portions of Utah and Washington added to Nebraska.

SECT. 19. And be it further enacted, That the president be, and he is hereby, authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, a register and receiver for said district, who shall respectively be required to reside at the site of said office, and who shall have the same powers, perform the same duties, and be entitled to the same compensation, as are or may be prescribed by law in relation to other land-offices of the United States.

SECT. 20. And be it further enacted, That the river in said territory heretofore known as the "River aux Jacques," or "James river," shall hereafter be called the Dakota river.

SECT. 21. And be it further enacted, That, until congress shall otherwise direct, that portion of the territories of Utah and Washington between the forty-first and forty-third degrees of north latitude, and east of the thirty-third meridian of longitude west from Washington, shall be, and is hereby, incorporated into and made a part of the Territory of Nebraska.

Approved March 2, 1861.