SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That all grants for lands within the territories ceded by the French Republic to the United States, by the treaty of the thirtieth of April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and three, the title whereof was, at the date of the treaty of San Ildefonso, in the crown, government, or nation of Spain, and every act and proceeding subsequent thereto, of whatsoever nature, towards the obtaining any grant, title, or claim to such lands, and under whatsoever authority transacted, or pretended, be, and the same are hereby declared to be, and to have been from the beginning, null, void, and of no effect in law or equity: Provided, nevertheless, That anything in this section contained shall not be construed to make null and void any bona-fide grant, made agreeably to the laws, usages, and customs of the Spanish government, to an actual settler on the lands so granted, for himself and for his wife and family; or to make null and void any bona-fide act or proceeding done by an actual settler, agreeably to the laws, usages, and customs of the Spanish government, to obtain a grant for lands actually settled on by the person or persons claiming title thereto, if such settlement in either case was actually made prior to the twentieth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and three: And provided further, That such grant shall not secure to the grantee or his assigns more than one mile square of land, together with such other and further quantity as heretofore has been allowed for the wife and family of such actual settler, agreeably to the laws, usages, and customs of the Spanish government. And that if any citizen of the United States, or other person, shall make a settlement on any lands belonging to the United States, within the limits of Louisiana, or shall survey, or attempt to survey, such lands, or to designate boundaries by marking trees, or otherwise, such offender shall, on conviction thereof, in any court of record of the United States, or the Territories of the United States, forfeit a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars, and suffer imprisonment not exceeding twelve months; and it shall, moreover, be lawful for the President of the United States to employ such military force as he may judge necessary to remove from lands belonging to the United States any such citizen or other person who shall attempt a settlement thereon.

SEC. 15. The President of the United States is hereby authorized to stipulate with the Indian tribes owning lands on the east side of the Mississippi, and residing thereon, for an exchange of lands, the property of the United States, on the west side of the Mississippi, in case the said tribe shall remove and settle thereon; but in such stipulation, the said tribes shall acknowledge themselves to be under the protection of the United States, and shall agree that they will not hold any treaty with any foreign power, individual State, or with the individuals of any State or power; and that they will not sell or dispose of the said lands, or any part thereof, to any sovereign power, except to the United States, nor to the subjects or citizens of any other sovereign power, nor to the citizens of the United States. And, in order to maintain peace and tranquillity with the Indian tribes who reside within the limits of Louisiana, as ceded by France to the United States, the act of Congress, passed on the thirtieth of March, one thousand eight hundred and two, entitled "An act to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes, and to preserve peace on the frontiers," is hereby extended to the Territories erected and established by this act; and the sum of fifteen thousand dollars of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated by law is hereby appropriated to enable the President of the United States to effect the object expressed in this section.

SEC. 16. The act passed on the thirty-first day of October, one thousand eight hundred and three, entitled "An act to enable the President of the United States to take possession of the territories ceded by France to the United States by the treaty concluded at Paris on the thirtieth day of April last, and for the temporary government thereof," shall continue in force until the first day of October next, anything therein to the contrary notwithstanding; on which said first day of October, this act shall commence and have full force, and shall continue in force for and during the term of one year, and to the end of the next session of Congress which may happen thereafter.

APPROVED, March 26, 1804.

THE TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF ORLEANS-1805.

[EIGHTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION.]

An Act further providing for the territorial government of Orleans.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to establish within the Territory of Orleans a government in all respects similar (except as is herein otherwise provided) to that now exercised in the Mississippi Territory; and shall, in the recess of the Senate, but to be nominated at their next meeting, for their advice and consent, appoint all the officers necessary therein, in conformity with the ordinance of Congress, made on the thirteenth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven; and that from and after the establishment of the said government, the inhabitants of the Territory of Orleans shall be entitled to and enjoy all the rights, privileges, and advantages secured by the said ordinance, and now enjoyed by the people of the Mississippi Territory.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That so much of the said ordinance of Congress as relates to the organization of a general assembly, and prescribes the powers thereof, sha!!, from and after the fourth day of July next, be in force in the said Territory of Orleans; and in order to carry the same into operation, the governor of the said Territory shall cause to be elected twenty-five representatives, for which purpose he shall lay off the said Territory into convenient election-districts, on or before the first Monday of October next, and give due notice thereof throughout the same; and shall appoint the most convenient time and place within each of the said districts, for holding the elections; and shall nominate a proper officer or officers to preside at and conduct the same, and to return to him the names of the persons who may have been duly elected. All subsequent elections shall be regulated by the legislature; and the number of representatives shall be determined, and the apportionment made, in the manner prescribed by the said ordinance.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the representatives to be chosen as aforesaid shall be convened by the governor, in the city of Orleans, on the first Monday in November next; and the first general assembly shall be convened by the governor as soon as may be convenient, at the city of Orleans, after the members of the legislative council shall be appointed and commissioned; and the general assembly shall meet, at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, annually, unless they shall, by law, appoint a different day. Neither house, during the session, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two branches are sitting.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the laws in force in the said Territory at the commencement of this act, and not inconsistent with the provisions thereof, shall continue in force until altered, modified, or repealed by the legislature.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the second paragraph of the said ordinance, which regulates the descent and distribution of estates; and also the sixth article of compact which is annexed to and makes part of said ordinance, are hereby declared not to extend to but are excluded from all operation within the said Territory of Orleans.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the governor, secretary, and judges to be appointed by virtue of this act shall be severally allowed the same compensation which is now allowed to the governor, secretary, and judges of the Territory of Orleans. And all the additional officers authorized by this act shall respectively receive the same compensation for their services as are by law established for similar offices in the Mississippi Territory, to be paid quarter-yearly out of the revenues of impost and tonnage accruing within the said Territory of Orleans.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That whenever it shall be ascertained by an actual census or enumeration of the inhabitants of the Territory of Orleans, taken by proper authority, that the number of free inhabitants included therein shall amount

to sixty thousand, they shall thereupon be authorized to form for themselves a constitution and State government, and be admitted into the Union upon the footing of the original States, in all respects whatever, conformably to the provisions of the third article of the treaty concluded at Paris on the thirteenth of April, one thousand eight hundred and three, between the United States and the French Republic: Frovided, That the constitution so to be established shall be republican, and not inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States, nor inconsistent with the ordinance of the late Congress, passed the thirteenth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, so far as the same is made applicable to the territorial government hereby authorized to be established: Provided, however, That Congress shall be at liberty, at any time prior to the admission of the inhabitants of the said Territory to the right of a separate State, to alter the boundaries thereof as they may judge proper: Except only, That no alteration shall be made which shall procrastinate the period for the admission of the inhabitants thereof to the rights of a State government according to the provision of this act.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That so much of an act entitled "An act erecting Louisiana into two Territories, and providing for the temporary government thereof," as is repugnant with this act, shall, from and after the first Monday of November next, be repealed. And the residue of the said act shall continue in full force until repealed, anything in the sixteenth section of the said act to the contrary notwithstanding.

APPROVED, March 2, 1805.

THE TERRITORY OF LOUISIANA-—1805.*

[EIGHTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION.]

An Act to provide for the government of the Territory of Louisiana.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all that part of the country ceded by France to the United States, under the general name of Louisiana, which, by an act of the last session of Congress, was erected into a separate district, to be called the District of Louisiana, shall henceforth be known and designated by the name and title of the Territory of Louisiana, the government whereof shall be organized and administered as follows: The executive power shall be vested in a governor, who shall reside in said Territory, and hold his office during the term of three years, unless sooner removed by the President of the United States. He shall be commander-in-chief of the militia of the said Territory, superintendent ex officio of Indian affairs, and shall appoint and commission all officers in the same below the rank of general officers; shall have power to grant pardons for offences against the same, and reprieves for those against the United States until the decision of the President thereon shall be known.

SEC. 2. There shall be a secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four years, unless sooner revoked by the President of the United States, who shall reside in the said Territory, and whose duty it shall be, under the direction of the governor, to record and preserve all the papers and proceedings of the executive and all the acts of the governor and of the legislative body, and transmit authentic copies of the same every six months to the President of the United States. In case of a vacancy of the office of governor, the government of the said Territory shall be exercised by the secretary.

*This was originally called the District of Louisiana, but no part of it is included in the present State of Louisiana, which was originally the Territory of Orleans.

SEC. 3. The legislative power shall be vested in the governor and in three judges, or a majority of them, who shall have power to establish inferior courts in the said Territory, and prescribe their jurisdiction and duties, and to make all laws which they may deem conducive to the good government of the inhabitants thereof: Provided, however, That no law shall be valid which is inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States, or which shall lay any person under restraint or disability on account of his religious opinions, profession, or worship, in all of which he shall be free to maintain his own and not be burdened with those of another: And provided also, That in all criminal prosecutions the trial shall be by a jury of twelve good and lawful men of the vicinage, and in all civil cases of the value of one hundred dollars the trial shall be by jury, if either of the parties require it. And the governor shall publish throughout the said Territory all the laws which may be made as aforesaid, and shall, from time to time, report the same to the President of the United States, to be laid before Congress, which, if disapproved of by Congress, shall thenceforth cease and be of no effect.

SEC. 4. There shall be appointed three judges, who shall hold their offices for the term of four years, who, or any two of them, shall hold annually two courts within the said District, at such place as will be most convenient to the inhabitants thereof in general; shall possess the same jurisdiction which is possessed by the judges of the Indiana Territory, and shall continue in session until all the business depending before them shall be disposed of.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That for the more convenient distribution of justice, the prevention of crimes and injuries, and execution of process, criminal and civil, the governor shall proceed, from time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay out those parts of the Territory in which the Indian title shall have been extinguished into districts, subject to such alterations as may be found necessary, and he shall appoint thereto such magistrates and other civil officers as he may deem necessary, whose several powers and authorities shall be regulated and defined by law.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the governor, secretary, and judges to be appointed by virtue of this act shall respectively receive the same compensations for their services as are by law established for similar offices in the Indiana Territory, to be paid quarter-yearly out of the Treasury of the United States.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the governor, secretary, judges, justices of the peace, and all other officers, civil or military, before they enter upon the duties of their respective offices, shall take an oath, or affirmation, to support the Constitution of the United States and for the faithful discharge of the duties of their office; the governor before the President of the United States, or before such other person as the President of the United States shall authorize to administer the same; the secretary and judges before the governor; and all other officers before such person as the governor shall direct.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the governor, secretary, and judges, to be appointed by virtue of this act, and all the additional officers authorized thereby, or by the act for erecting Louisiana into two Territories, and providing for the temporary government thereof, shall be appointed by the President of the United States in the recess of the Senate, but shall be nominated at their next meeting for their advice and

consent.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the laws and regulations in force in the said District at the commencement of this act, and not inconsistent with the provisions thereof, shall continue in force until altered, modified, or repealed by the legislature. SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That so much of an act entitled "An act erecting Louisiana into two Territories, and providing for the temporary government thereof," as is repugnant to this act, shall, from and after the fourth day of July next, be repealed; on which said fourth day of July this act shall commence and have full force.

APPROVED, March 3, 1805.

ENABLING ACT FOR LOUISIANA-1811.

[ELEVENTH CONGRESS, THIRD SESSION.]

An Act to enable the people of the Territory of Louisiana to form a constitution and State

government.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the inhabitants of all that part of the territory or country ceded under the name of Louisiana, by the treaty made at Paris on the thirtieth of April, one thousand eight hundred and three, between the United States and France, contained within the following limits, that is to say: Beginning at the mouth of the river Sabine; thence by a line to be drawn along the middle of the said river, including all islands, to the thirty-second degree of latitude; thence due north to the northernmost part of the thirty-third degree of north latitude; thence along the said parallel of latitude to the river Mississippi; thence down the said river to the river Iberville; and from thence, along the middle of the said river and Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, to the Gulf of Mexico; thence bounded by the said gulf to the place of beginning, including all islands within three leagues of the coast, be, and they are hereby, authorized to form for themselves a constitution and State government, and to assume such name as they may deem proper, under the provisions and upon the conditions hereinafter mentioned.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That all free white male citizens of the United States, who shall have arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and resided within the said Territory at least one year previous to the day of election, and shall have paid a territorial, county, or district, or parish tax, and all persons having in other respects the legal qualifications to vote for representatives in the general assembly of the said Territory, be, and they are hereby, authorized to choose representatives to form a convention, who shall be apportioned amongst the several counties, districts, and parishes in the said Territory, of Orleans in such manner as the legislature of the said Territory shall by law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed sixty, and the elections for the representatives aforesaid shall take place on the third Monday in September next, and shall be conducted in the same manner as is now provided by the laws of the said Terri.ory for electing members for the house of representatives. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the members of the convention, when duly elected, be, and they are hereby, authorized to meet at the city of New Orleans, on the first Monday of November next, which convention, when met, shall first determine, by a majority of the whole number elected, whether it be expected or not, at that time, to form a constitution and State government for the people within the said Territory, and if it be determined to be expedient, then the convention shall in like manner declare, in behalf of the people of the said Territory, that it adopts the Constitution of the United States; whereupon the said convention shall be, and hereby is, authorized to form a constitution and State government for the people of the said Territory: Provided, The constitution to be formed, in virtue of the authority herein given, shall be republican, and consistent with the Constitution of the United States; that it shall contain the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty; that it shall secure to the citizen the trial by jury in all criminal cases, and the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, conformable to the provisions of the Constitution of the United States; and that after the admission of the said Territory of Orleans as a State into the Union, the laws which such State may pass shall be promulgated and its records of every description shall be preserved, and its judicial and legislative written proceedings conducted in the language in which the laws and the judicial and legislative written proceedings of the United States are now published and conducted: And provided also, That the said convention shall provide by an ordinance, irrevocable without the consent of the United States, that the people inhabiting the said Territory do agree and declare that they forever disclaim all right or title to the waste or unappropriated lands lying within the said Territory, and that the same shall be and remain at the sole and entire disposition of the United States, and moreover that each and every tract of land sold by Congress shall be and remain exempt from any tax laid by the order or under the authority of the State, whether for State, county, town