when this act shall take effect, shall be and they are reby authorized and required to continue to exercise and perform the duties of their respective offices as officers of the territory of Minnesota, temporarily, and until they or others shall be duly appointed and qualified to fill their places in the manner herein directed, or until their offices shall be abolished.

SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That the sum of $5,000 be and the same is hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be expended by and under the direction of the said governor of the territory of Minnesota, in the purchase of a library, to be kept at the seat of government for the use of the governor, legislative assembly, judges of the supreme court, secretary, marshal, and attorney of said Territory, and such other persons and under such regulations as shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That when the lands 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 said Territory, and in the state and territories hereafter to be erected out of the same.

SEC. 19. 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 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.

SEC. 20. And be it further enacted, That every bill which shall or may pass the council and house of representatives, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the governor of the Territory; if he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to the house in which it originated; which shall cause the objections to be entered at large upon their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the

bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall also be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house it shall become a law; but in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for or against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house, respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within three days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the legislative assembly, by adjournment, prevent it; in which case it shall not become a law.

АСТ

AUTHORIZING A STATE GOVERNMENT.

[Passed Feb. 26, 1857.]

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the inhabitants of that portion of the territory of Minnesota which is embraced within the following limits, to wit: beginning at the point in the centre of the main channel of the Red River of the North, where the boundary line between the United States and the British Possessions crosses the same; thence up the main channel of said river to that of the Bois de Sioux river; thence up the main channel of said river to Lake Traverse; thence up the centre of said lake to the southern extremity thereof; thence in a direct line to the head of Big Stone lake; thence through its centre to its outlet; thence by a due south line to the north line of the state of Iowa; thence along the northern boundary of said state to the main channel of the Mississippi river; thence up the main channel of said river, and following the boundary line of the state of Wisconsin, until the same intersects the St. Louis river; thence down the said river to and through Lake Superior on the boundary line of Wisconsin and Michigan, until it intersects the dividing line between the United States and the British Possessions; thence up Pigeon river and following said dividing line to the place of beginning, be and they hereby are authorized to form for themselves a constitution and state government by the name of the state of Minnesota, and to come into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, according to the Federal Constitution.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the state of Minnesota shall have concurrent jurisdiction on the Mississippi and all other rivers and waters bordering on the said state of Minnesota, so far as the same shall form a common boundary to said State and

any state or states now or hereafter to be formed or bounded by the same; and said river or waters leading into the same shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of said State as to all other citizens of the United States, without any tax, duty, impost, or toll therefor.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That on the first Monday in June next, the legal voters in each representative district then existing within the limits of the proposed state, are hereby authorized to elect two delegates for each representative to which said district may be entitled according to the apportionment for representatives to the territorial legislature, which election for delegates shall be held and conducted, and the returns made, in all respects in conformity with the laws of said Territory regulating the election of representatives; and the delegates so elected shall assemble at the capital of said Territory on the second Monday in July next, and first determine by a vote whether it is the wish of the people of the proposed state to be admitted into the Union at that time; and if so, shall proceed to form a constitution, and take all necessary steps for the establishment of a state government, in conformity with the Federal Constitution, subject to the approval and ratification of the people of the proposed state.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That in the event said convention shall decide in favor of the immediate admission of the proposed state into the Union, it shall be the duty of the United States marshal for said Territory to proceed to take a census or enumeration of the inhabitants within the limits of the proposed state, under such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by the secretary of the interior, with the view of ascertaining the number of representatives to which said State may be entitled in the Congress of the United States. And said State shall be entitled to one representative, and such additional representatives as the population of the State shall, according to the census, show it would be entitled to according to the present ratio of representation.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the following propositions be and the same are hereby offered to the said convention of the people of Minnesota for their free acceptance or rejection; which, if accepted by the convention, shall be obligatory on the United States, and upon the said state of Minnesota, to-wit:

First-That sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in every township of public lands in said State, and where either of said.

sections, or any part thereof, has been sold or otherwise disposed of, other lands, equivalent thereto, and as contiguous as may be, shall be granted to said State for the use of schools.

Second-That seventy-two sections of land shall be set apart and reserved for the use and support of a state university, to be selected by the governor of said State, subject to the approval of the commissioner at the general land office, and to be appropriated and applied in such manner as the legislature of said State may prescribe, for the purpose aforesaid but for no other purpose.

Third-Ten entire sections of land to be selected by the governor of said State, in legal subdivisions, shall be granted to said State for the purpose of completing the public buildings, or for the erection of others at the seat of government, under the direction of the legislature thereof.

Fourth-That all salt springs within said State, not exceeding twelve in number, with six sections of land adjoining or as contiguous as may be to each, shall be granted to said State for its use; and the same to be selected by the governor thereof within one year after the admission of said State, and, when so selected, to be used or disposed of on such terms, conditions and regulations as the legislature shall direct; provided, that no salt spring or land the right whereof is now vested in any individual or individuals, or which may be hereafter confirmed or adjudged to any individual or individuals, shall by this article be granted to said State.

Fifth-That five per centum of the net proceeds of sales of all public lands lying within said State, which shall be sold by Congress after the admission of said State into the Union, after deducting all the expenses incident to the same, shall be paid to said State for the purpose of making public roads and internal improvements as the legislature shall direct; provided, the foregoing propositions herein offered are on the condition that the said convention which shall form the constitution of said State, shall provide, by a clause in said constitution, or an ordinance, irrevocable without the consent of the United States, that said State shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil within the same by the United States, or with any regulations Congress may find necessary for securing the title in said soil to bona fide purchasers thereof; and that no tax shall be imposed on lands belonging to the United States, and that in no case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents.