Part 36 (1/2)
SECTION II.
ARTICLE 1. _Be it enacted_ by the authority aforesaid, That the officers elected on the 2d of May instant shall continue in office until the second Tuesday of May, 1844, and until others are elected and qualified.
ART. 2. An election for civil and military officers shall be held annually upon the second Tuesday in May in the several districts, at such places as shall be designated by law.
ART. 3. Each officer heretofore elected, or that shall hereafter be elected, shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take an oath or affirmation to support the laws of the Territory, and faithfully discharge the duties of his office.
ART. 4. _Every free male descendant of a white man_, inhabitant of this Territory, of the age of twenty-one years and upward, who shall have been an inhabitant of this Territory at the time of its organization, shall be ent.i.tled to vote at the election of officers, civil and military, _and be eligible to any office_ in the Territory; _Provided_, That all persons of the description ent.i.tled to vote by the provision of this section, who shall emigrate to this Territory after the organization, shall be ent.i.tled to the rights of citizens after having resided six months in the Territory.
ART. 5. The executive power shall be vested in a committee of three persons, elected by the qualified voters at the annual election, who shall have power to grant pardons and reprieves for offenses against the laws of the Territory, to call out the military force of the Territory, to repel invasions or suppress insurrections, to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, and to recommend such laws as they may consider necessary to the representatives of the people for their action. Two members of the committee shall const.i.tute a quorum for the transaction of business.
ART. 6. The legislative power shall be vested in a committee of nine persons, to be elected by the qualified electors at the annual election; giving to each district a representation in the ratio of its population, excluding Indians; and the said members shall reside in the district for which they shall be chosen.
ART. 7. The judicial power shall be vested in a Supreme Court, consisting of the supreme judge and two justices of the peace; a Probate Court and Justice Court. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court shall be both appellate and original; that of the Probate Court and Justice Court as limited by law; _Provided_, That individual justices of the peace shall not have jurisdiction of any matter or controversy when the t.i.tle or boundaries of land may be in dispute, or when the sum claimed exceeds fifty dollars.
ART. 8. There shall be a Recorder, elected by the qualified electors at the annual election, who shall keep a faithful record of the proceedings of the Legislative Committee, Supreme and Probate courts; also record all boundaries of land presented for that purpose, and brands used for marking live stock; procure and keep a record of the same; and also record wills, deeds, and other instruments of writing required by law to be recorded. The Recorder shall receive the following fees, viz.: For recording wills, deeds, and other instruments of writing, twelve cents for every hundred words; and for every weight or measure sealed, twenty-five cents. For granting other official papers and the seal, twenty-five cents; for services as clerk of the Legislature, the same daily pay as members of the Legislature; and for all other services required of him by this act, the same fees as allowed for similar services by the laws of Iowa.
ART. 9. There shall be a Treasurer, elected by the qualified electors of the Territory, who shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, give bonds to the Executive Committee in the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, with two or more sufficient sureties, to be approved by the Executive Committee of the Territory, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duty of his office. The Treasurer shall receive all moneys belonging to the Territory that may be raised by contribution, or otherwise, and shall procure suitable books in which he shall enter an account of his receipts and disburs.e.m.e.nts.
ART. 10. The Treasurer shall in no case pay money out of the Treasury but according to law, and shall annually report to the Legislative Committee a true account of his receipts and disburs.e.m.e.nts, with necessary vouchers for the same, and shall deliver to his successor in office all books, moneys, accounts, or other property belonging to the Territory, as soon as his successor shall become qualified.
ART. 11. The Treasurer shall receive for his services the sum of five per cent. upon all moneys received and paid out according to law, and three per cent. upon all money in the Treasury when he goes out of office, and two per cent. upon the disburs.e.m.e.nt of money in the Treasury when he comes into office.
ART. 12. The laws of Iowa Territory shall be the laws of this Territory in military and criminal cases, _where not otherwise provided for_; and where no statute of Iowa Territory applies, the principle of common law and equity shall govern.
ART. 13. The law of Iowa regulating weights and measures shall be the law of this Territory; _Provided_, The Supreme Court shall perform the duties required of the commissioners, and the recorder shall perform the duties of the clerk of the county commissioners, as prescribed in said laws of Iowa; and proved, that sixty pounds avoirdupois shall be the standard weight of a bushel of wheat, whether the same be more or less than two thousand one hundred and fifty and two-fifths cubic inches.
ART. 14. The laws of Iowa respecting wills and administrators shall be the laws of this Territory in all cases not otherwise provided for.
ART. 15. The laws of Iowa respecting vagrants is hereby adopted as far as adapted to the circ.u.mstances of the citizens of Oregon.
ART. 16. The Supreme Court shall hold two sessions annually, upon the third Tuesdays of April and September, the first session to be held at Champoeg upon the third Tuesday of September, 1843, and the second session at Tualatin Plains, upon the third Tuesday of April, 1844. At the sessions of the Supreme Court the judge shall preside, a.s.sisted by two justices; _Provided_, That no justice of the peace shall a.s.sist in trying any case that has been brought before the court by appeal from his judgment. The Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction in cases of treason and felony, or breach of the peace, and in civil cases where the sum claimed exceeds fifty dollars.
ART. 17. All male persons of the age of sixteen years and upward, and all females of the age of fourteen years and upward, shall have the right to marry. When either of the parties shall be under twenty-one years of age, the consent of the parents, or guardians of such minors, shall be necessary to the validity of such matrimonial engagement. Every ordained minister of the gospel, of any religious denomination, the supreme judge, and all justices of the peace, are hereby authorized to solemnize marriage according to law, to have the same recorded, and pay the recorder's fee. The legal fee for marriage shall be one dollar; and for recording, fifty cents.
ART. 18. All offices subsequently made shall be filled by election and ballot in the several districts upon the day appointed by law, and under such regulations as the laws of Iowa provide.
1. _Resolved_, That a committee of three be appointed to draw up a digest of the doings of this Territory with regard to an organization, and transmit the same to the United States government for their information.
2. _Resolved_, That the laws of Iowa--as laid down in the ”Statute Laws of the Territory of Iowa, enacted at the first session of the Legislative a.s.sembly of said Territory, held at Burlington, A.D.
1838-9, published by authority in Dubuque, Russell & Reeves, printers, 1839;” certified to be a ”correct copy,” by William B. Conway, secretary of Iowa Territory--be adopted as the laws of this Territory.
The Legislative Committee recommend that the Territory be divided into four districts, as follows:--
First District, to be called the _Tualatin District_, comprising all the country south of the northern boundary line of the United States, west of the Wallamet or Multnomah River, north of the Yamhill River, and east of the Pacific Ocean.