sand dollars was to be paid specifically to certain individuals named in the treaty, and the remaining one hundred and fifty thousand dollars were to be applied to the debts of the nation, which might be ascertained to be justly due, and which might be admitted by the Indians. If the debts amounted to more than that sum, the creditors were to be paid pro rata.

There was also set apart the further sum of one hundred thousand dollars, to be paid under the direction of the President to the relatives and friends of said Indians having not less than one quarter of Winnebago blood.

SIMON CAMERON, of Pennsylvania, and JAMES MURRAY, of Maryland, were appointed by the President commissioners to adjust and pay the debts of the Winnebagoes, and to distribute among their relatives and friends of mixed blood the sum so set apart for them. GEORGE W. FEATHERSTONHAUGH was appointed secretary of the commission.

The determination of the question who were the creditors of the Indians, and what was the amount of their creditsthe admission of the Indians having been obtained - as well also as the other question of what persons were to be allowed a share of the fund for those of mixed Winnebago blood, were left to the uncontrolled discretion and decision of the commissioners.

The commissioners gave public notice that their office would be open for business at Prairie du Chien on the 6th of September, when they would adjudicate upon all claims filed with the secretary in the order in which they were filed.

The whole Winnebago nation was assembled, amounting to about four thousand souls, men, women, and children, and "relatives and friends of mixed blood" innumerable. A large number of creditors was in attendance, and a proportionately large number and amount of claims were filed and acted upon.

It would be only natural that the action of the commissioners should subject them to censorious remarks. It was openly charged that collusion existed between a Mr. BRODHEAD, of Pennsylvania, and the commissioners. He was there in the capacity of attorney for claimants and persons of mixed blood, and it was alleged that he was always successful, and it was said that he received large commissions, which he divided with the commissioners.

At the first session of the Legislative Assembly, WILLIAM BULLEN was chosen President of the Council, and JOHN W. BLACKSTONE, Speaker of the House.

It met at Madison, on the 26th of November.

Upon convening, it was found that the capital was in an unfinished state, and so much dissatisfaction existed with the accommodations at Madison, that it was a matter of doubt for two weeks, whether a temporary adjournment to Milwaukee would not be had. A committee appointed for the purpose of investigating the extent of the accommodations, reported "that at the Madison House there was one room that would accommodate six persons, at the Madison Hotel two rooms that would accommodate four persons, and at the American Hotel eight rooms, sufficient to accommodate twenty-six persons. But they could not ascertain that more than fifty persons could be accommodated with sufficient rooms for the transaction of business."

A resolution to remove the session to some other place passed one House, and would probably have passed the other, if there had been any satisfactory evidence that the accommodations at any other place in the Territory were any better. Under the circumstances, the Legislative Assembly remained at Madison about four weeks, when they adjourned from the 22d of December to the 21st of January.

During this short session a committee of three members from each of the two branches was appointed to make a revision of the laws; and two other committees, of three members each, to investigate the banks of the Territory, which they were required to visit in person. The duty of serving upon these committees was practically a removal of twelve of the thirty-nine members from the scene of their labors on the floor of their respective houses, and was the ostensible reason for the recess.

A special messenger was appointed by joint resolution to proceed to Burlington and procure the quota of the laws of the last session, belonging to the Territory of Wisconsin.

A joint resolution was also adopted, that JAMES E. EDWARDS, with whom a contract had been entered into on the 30th of January, for printing and binding certain laws, and with which he had failed to comply, be directed not to proceed any further with the printing and binding of said laws.

The District Attorney of the United States was requested by joint resolution to examine and report whether the Territory had a title to the ground on which the Capitol stands.

MOSES M. STRONG was appointed fiscal agent with authority to adjust all accounts for any money appropriated by law to defray the expenses of that session of the Legislative Assembly, and to borrow for the use of the Legislature fifteen thousand dollars, in coin or in notes of the banks of Illinois or Missouri.

At this December session, twenty acts were passed nearly all of which were of a purely local or private nature.

The county of Walworth was organized and the county seat located at Elkhorn, and the counties of Manitowoc and Sheboygan were organized for county purposes, continuing attached to Brown county for judicial purposes.

The proceedings of the board of commissioners of Milwaukee county were declared legal and valid, and the commissioners were also authorized to prepare copies of the record of deeds, etc., from Brown county. Commissioners were appointed to locate the seat of justice of Green county.

Eleven of the twenty acts related to the locating, authorizing or establishing roads, bridges and ferries, two incorporated mining companies.

One changed the name of the Wisconsin University of Green Bay to Hobart University of Green Bay, while the only other and the last act of this short session, approved on the 22d December, was "to provide for the compensation of the officers of the Legislative Assembly and for other purposes." The appropriation made by this act amounted to $6,454.14.

After adopting a joint resolution

"That E. CHILDS, Chairman of the Committee on Arrangements of the House of Representatives, be instructed to procure, during the vacation, such articles as may be necessary for the accommodation of the Legislature during the next session,"

this first and necessarily short session was adjourned, and such of the members as were not engaged in committee work returned to their homes.

CHAPTER XX.

TERRITORY OF WISCONSIN IN 1839.

The proceedings of the third session of the twenty-fith Congress, commencing December 3, 1838, and ending March 3, 1839, so far as they affected the Territory of Wisconsin, were not subordinate in interest to those of any preceding session.

The first question which arose, affecting those interests, was, which of the two gentlemen claiming the right to represent the Territory during that session-GEORGE W. JONES or JAMES D. DOTY — was lawfully entitled to the seat?

It was claimed by Mr. JONES that by virtue of his election in October, 1836, and in accordance with the provisions of an act of Congress passed March 3, 1817, his term did not expire until March 3, 1839.

He took his seat at the opening of the third session, as members of the House did, having taken the oath and occupied the seat at the first (special) and second sessions of that Congress.

Mr. Dory presented 'the certificate showing that on the 10th of September, 1838, he had been duly elected, and claimed the seat occupied by Mr. JONES, contesting his right to hold it.

The matter was referred to the committee on elections. The first section of the act of March 3, 1817, which was still in force, prescribed:

"That in every Territory of the United States, in which a temporary government has been, or hereafter shall be, established, and which, by virtue of the ordinance of Congress of 13th July, 1787, or of any subsequent act of Congress, passed or to be passed, now hath or hereafter shall have the right to send a delegate to Congress; such delegate shall be elected every second year for the same term of two years for which members of the House of Representatives of the United States are elected."

It was claimed by Mr. JONES that under the act of 1817, a delegate must be elected only for one Congress, and not for parts of two congressional terms; that his term as a delegate from Wisconsin did not commence until the 4th of March, 1837, and consequently would not expire until the 4th of March, 1839. Of course, upon this hypothesis, it was claimed that his service as delegate previous to March, 1837,

was as a delegate from Michigan Territory, by virtue of his election as such in 1835.

It was claimed by Mr. Dory that the act of 1817 was controlled by the organic act of the Territory of Wisconsin, passed April 20, 1836, which gives the power to its citizens to elect a delegate to represent them in Congress, without fixing any time for the commencement of his services, and that the term of service commenced instanter upon the election of the delegate, and that Mr. JONES's duties as a delegate from Wisconsin commenced with his election in October, 1836, and terminated with Mr. Dory's election in 1838.

On the 21st of December, 1838, Mr. BUCHANAN, from the committee on elections, submitted a report, in which the committee say—

.."After all the consideration which the committee have been able to bestow on the subject, they have no hesitation in saying that considerable difficulty exists in reconciling the different acts which may be supposed to have a bearing on the matter; yet they feel a great degree of confidence in two positions; first, that it was the intention of Congress by the act of April, 1836, organizing the Territory, to afford the people of the Territory the priv ilege of an immediate representation in Congress by a delegate to be elected by themselves; and second, that the people of the Territory acted with a view to the enjoyment of that privilege in electing a delegate in October, 1836, and that Mr. Dory is entitled to a seat under his election in 1838."

The committee reported the following resolution:

"Resolved, That JAMES DUANE DOTY is entitled to a seat in this House as a delegate from Wisconsin Territory, and that GEORGE W. JONES is not so entitled."

On the 3d of January, 1839, the resolution reported by the committee being under consideration, its adoption was advocated by Mr. CRAIG, Mr. RANDOLPH of New Jersey and Mr. CARY of Michigan. Mr. JONES's right to the seat was advocated by Mr. THOMAS of Maryland and Mr. CUSHING of Massachusetts, when the previous question having been ordered, the resolution was adopted by a vote of 165 to 25, and Mr. Dory was qualified and took his seat.

On the 5th of January, Mr. MASON, of Ohio, offered a resolution that Mr. JONES was not entitled to mileage or per diem, which after a long debate was defeated by a vote of 96 to 89. So that he received his mileage and per diem, up to the 3d of January.

The GRAVES and CILLEY duel, to the details of which so much space was devoted in the preceding chapter, led to the passage of the act of Congress of February 20, 1839,

"To prohibit the giving or accepting within the District of Columbia of a challenge to fight a duel, and for the punishment thereof."