XXV TERRITORIES AND DEPENDENCIES Introductory. The account of the organization of the State may appropriately be followed by an account of the organization of the Territory, for the Territory is simply an infant State,-a State in the first grade of government. This chapter, therefore, will treat of territorial government, but the treatment will include both Territories properly so-called and also those other territorial possessions that do not as yet bid fair to be incorporated into the Union. In the account it will be convenient to speak of Territories and Dependencies, but it need not be supposed that the distinction between a Territory and a Dependency is always sharp and clear. The student, however, will do well to bear in mind that a Territory is incorporated into and forms a part of the United States, while a Dependency belongs to but it is not an integral part of the United States. Moreover, it may be broadly stated that the inhabitants of a Territory are citizens of the United States, while the inhabitants of a Dependency are not. Territories and Dependencies Governed by Congress. All territory not included within the boundaries of a State, yet subject to the dominion of the United States, is wholly dependent upon Congress for its governmental powers. This is the fundamental principle underlying all questions relating to the government of territory subject to the sovereignty of the United States and not included within a State. "The Congress," says the Constitution, “shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the Territory or other property belong ing to the United States" (119). The power of Congress over federal territorial possessions of whatever kind or wherever located is practically supreme. "The Territories of the United States are entirely subject to the legislative authority of Congress. They are not organized under the Constitution nor subject to its complex distribution of powers of government as the organic law, but are the creation exclusively of the legislative department and subject to its supervision and control. The United States, having rightfully acquired the territories, and having become the only government that can impose laws upon them, have the entire domain and sovereignty, national and municipal, federal and State. It may legislate in accordance with the special needs of each locality and vary its regulations to meet the circumstances of the people. . . . In a Territory all of the functions of government are within the legislative jurisdiction of Congress."1 When planning for the government of federal territory from time to time, Congress has dealt with each case according to its merits. Now it has permitted a newly acquired possession to enter into an immediate enjoyment of statehood; now it has provided liberally for local selfgovernment; now it has held the reins of government tightly in its own hands. This policy of giving to each community a government suitable to its needs has led to the establishment of so many different kinds of governments in the Territories and Dependencies that a satisfactory classification of them cannot be made. Nevertheless, the inferior governments may be conveniently studied under two headings, namely: (1) Territories and Dependencies on the American Continent, and (2) Insular Territories and Dependencies. Territories and Dependencies on the American Continent. These are: New Mexico, organized as a Territory in 1850; 1 Endlemen, et al., v. United States. Quoted in Willoughby's "Territories and Dependencies. Arizona, separated from New Mexico and organized as a Territory in 1863; Oklahoma, formed out of a part of the Louisiana Purchase and made a Territory in 1890; Indian "Territory," set apart in 1832 as a home for certain tribes of Indians; Alaska, purchased from Russia in 1867; the District of Columbia, ceded to the United States by Maryland and Virginia in 1790 as the permanent seat of the federal government; and the Panama Canal Strip, acquired from the Republic of Panama in 1904. 1 I. Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma. These three Territories have substantially the same form of government. The executive power in each is vested in a governor appointed by the President of the United States for a term of four years. The duties of the governor correspond very closely to those of a governor of a State. The President also appoints for each Territory a secretary, who acts as governor in case of the absence or disability of that officer, and who performs such duties as are usually performed by the secretary of a State (p. 172). The legislative department of these Territories consists of a popularly elected legislature of two houses, the members of both of which are elected for a term of two years. The powers of the territorial legislature are almost as wide in their scope as those of a State legislature (p. 163) and extend to all rightful subjects. A law of a Territory, however, may be vetoed by the governor or may be annulled by Congress. The judicial department consists of a system of superior courts whose judges are appointed by the President, and of certain inferior courts whose judges are either elected by the people or appointed by territorial authority. The inferior courts are the probate court, the justice's court, and the municipal police court. The functions of the territorial courts are almost identical with those of the State courts. Territorial courts are not provided for in the Con The portion of the District granted by Virginia was afterwards retroceded to that State by the United States. stitution nor do they belong to the regular federal judiciary. They are simply judicial organs created by Congress to assist in the governing of Territories. The judges of territorial courts, since they are not in a strict sense federal judges, may be removed by the President.) Besides the executive officers appointed by the President each Territory has such other officers as are necessary for the proper administration of its affairs. For example, Oklahoma has a Territorial Superintendent of Instruction, a Territorial Treasurer, and a Territorial Attorney-General. Each Territory is divided into counties and has its own peculiar system of local and municipal governments. The political tie which binds the Territory to the federal government is the Delegate. The territorial delegate is elected every two years by popular vote. He has a right to a seat in the House of Representatives, and receives the same salary as other members of Congress. He serves on committees and may speak on all questions pertaining to his Territory, but he has no vote. The Indian "Territory." This is not a Territory in the strict sense; it is simply a tract of land set apart by Congress as a reservation or dwelling-place for five great Indian tribes. There are many Indian reservations scattered over the United States, but no other reservation lies wholly outside the boundary of any State (or Territory), and no other covers such an extensive area. Each of the five tribes occupying the Indian "Territory" has a government of its own modelled to some extent after the government of a State. The tribal governments have control over Indians only. In recent years large numbers of whites have been entering the "Territory," and under their influence the authority of the tribal governments has been diminishing. As a result, federal authority is being extended, and it seems only a question of time when the tribal governments will entirely disappear, and when the Indian "Territory" will either become a Territory in fact as well as in name or will be joined to Oklahoma. In dian "Territory" has no delegate in the House of Representatives. III. Alaska. After neglecting this region for a long time Congress at last, in 1900, provided for it a code of laws and a suitable form of government. The officers of government are a governor, a surveyor-general (who also acts as secretary), a district-attorney and three judges, all appointed by the President. There is no legislative body. Provision is made in the code for local self-government in the larger towns. Alaska has no territorial delegate in Congress. IV. The District of Columbia. The government of the District of Columbia, by the Constitution, is vested exclusively in Congress (61). Several methods of governing the District had been tried when in 1878 Congress established the present form of government, -a form as simple as anything known to American politics. The District is governed by a board of three commissioners appointed by the President. Two of the commissioners must be appointed from civil life, and one must be an officer of the army. This board exercises not only the executive power, but acts in many respects as a legislature. Its reasonable regulations in respect to matters affecting the life, health and comfort of the people have the force of laws. though Washington-the District of Columbia is but another name for the city of Washington-has no distinct legislature of its own, it nevertheless enjoys the services of the greatest legislative body of the country, for Congress keeps its eye upon the affairs of the District and devotes certain days to the consideration of District business. When legislating for the District, Congress acts as a city council, and visitors to the Capitol may hear senators and representatives discussing such topics of local government as the repairing of the streets or the regu 1 Al 1 Strictly speaking the District of Columbia is neither a Territory nor a Dependency; it is simply a "municipal corporation with such powers as are common to municipal corporations in general.'' |