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Show THE POWERS Or CONGRESS IN THE TERRITORIES- Having showo hitherto that "The theory upon which the various governments govern-ments of tho territory of the United States have been organized, has ever been that oflcaving to tho inhabitants all the poiocrt of self-government consistent con-sistent with the supremacy and the supervision sup-ervision of national authority, and with certain fundamental principles established by conurW (such as the ri'ht to mnke their own law3, to bear arnia, to oroizi a militia, etc., eto.) Wo propose now to show from the opinion of the supremo court of the United Slates in tho case of Engol-brccht, Engol-brccht, that since congress first legislated legis-lated as to Territories, it has been consistent con-sistent with the constitution and decisions deci-sions of that august tribunal. We thus find the first plan for the establishment of governments in the I Torritories, authorized tho adoption of State iiovcrnmcnta from tho etart, and committed all matters of internal legislation legisla-tion t- the. discretion of the inliabitants, unrestricted otherwise than by the State constitution originally adopted by ,i , Tho Territories south of the Ohio, jn 1701; U U S. Stt.. 123;! of Mississippi, Mis-sissippi, in 1709; Ibid., 54y; of Indiana, in IS0O; 2 U. S. Stat., 5S; of Michigan, in 1805; Ibid., 309; of Illinois, in 1S09; Ibid., 514; were organized upon the eomo plan, except that the prohibition of slavery, embodied em-bodied in the ordinance of 1789, was not embraced among the fundamental provisions in the organization of the Territories south of tho Ohio; and the people in tho Territories of Michigan, Indiana and Illinois wero authorized to form a legislative assembly, as soon as they should sco fit, without waiting for a population of five thousand adult males. Upon tho acquisition of the foreign territory of Louisiana, in 1803, tlio plan for tho organization of the gov srnment was somewhat changed. The governor and council of the Territory of Orleans, which aftorwaids became the State of Louisiana, were appointed by tho President, but were invested with full legislative powers, except as specially limited. A district court of the United States distinct from tho courts of tho Territory was instituted. :2 U.S. Stat, 2S3. The rest of the Territory was called tho district of Louisiana, and was placed under the government of the governor and judges of Indiana. Ibid, 287. Jurisdiction oi cases in which the United States were concerned, subject to appeal to tho supreme court of the United States, was, for the first time, expressly given tn a Territorial court in 1805. (ii U. S. Stat., 338.) The Territory Ter-ritory of Missouri was organized in 1812, (2 U. S. Stat., 743.) and upon the same plan as tho Territories acquired ac-quired by cession of the States. In the act for the government of this Territory Ter-ritory appears for the first time a provision pro-vision concerning the qualifications of jurors. The sixteenth section of the act provided that all free 'white male adults, not disqualified by any legal proceeding, should be qualified as grand and petit jurors in the courts of the Territory, and should be selected until the general assembly should otherwise direct, in such manner as the court should rroFcribc. The Territory of Alabama, in 1817, Vl! tut., o7 1 ) was formed out of the Mississippi Territory, and npon the same plan. The superior court of the Territory was clothed with the federal jurisdiction given by the act of 1805. The Territory of Arkansas was organized or-ganized in 1S19, (3 Stat,, 403,) in the southern part of Missouri Territory. The powers of the government were distributed as executive, legislative and judicial, and vested respectively in the governor, general assembly and the courts. The governor and judges of the superior court were to be appointed by the President, and the governor was to exercise the legislative powers until the oreanization of the general assembly. assem-bly. The act for the organization of tho Territorial government of Florida made the same distribution of tho powers pow-ers of the government as was made in tho Territory of Arkansas, and contained con-tained the same provision in regard to jurors as the act of the Territorial government gov-ernment oi Missouri. In all (he Territories fidlpoicer was given to the legislature over all ordinary ordi-nary subjects of legislation. The terms in which it was granted were various, but the import was the same in all Except in the acts relating to Missouri Mis-souri and Arkansas, no power was given to the courts in respect to jurors, and tho limitation of this power until the organization of the general assem--bly indicates very c'early that, after such organization, tho whole powor in relation to jurors was to be exercised by that body. In 1836 the Territory of Wisconsin was organized under an act, which seems to have received full consideration, considera-tion, and from which all subsequent acts for the organization of Territories have been copied, with few and inconsiderable incon-siderable variations. Except thoso in the Kansas and Nebraska acts in relation rela-tion to slavery, and somo others grow-ine grow-ine out of local circumstances, they all contained the sama provisions in regard re-gard to the legislature and the legislative legisla-tive authority, and to the judiciary and the judicial authority, as the act organizing the Territory of Utah. In no one of them is there any provision in relation to jurors. The language of tho section confer-rini confer-rini the legislative authority in each of these act.- is this : "The lecislative power of said Territory shall extend to all rightid subnets of legislation, consistent with the constitution of the United States, and the provisions of this act; but no law shall be passed interfering with the primary disposal of tho soil. No tax r-haii be imposed upon the property of the l nitcd States, nor shall the lands it oilier property cf non-residents be taxed hi yher tfiaii the lands or other lironcrlv if r.'-;iil(r.ttf " As there A tl., provision relating to the i-eleeen i.fjrirnrs iD the Constitution Constitu-tion er li:.: iiisi.ij act, it cannot be Mid tl;.v Tiny i.-uUWtion upon this sub-j-vt i.- eou"-iMent with either. The me-thed me-thed (if i roc-jrins; jurors fr the trial of" jM-y istUnl'-n- a i ih t'u! Miljcct of hvi;!iou. a?id the whole matter of :ecni'c, imnanreiing and summoniog jurvr. ). lift to the territorial lecisla-tli:.'. lecisla-tli:.'. 7 ' .' " ;u'i"ai'1 'be legislatures of all il.ej t nitorit ha been in conformity wah 1 1: is. construction, hi the laws of every one . ihcui, from that organizes organiz-es uwU r the nr. i Mia nee of ITS 7 to tho Krutnryof Mnntana aro found acts ur-n -his fuUcct. And it is worth viiiic to remark that in three of the Krntones. Nevada. New Mexico, and the jude of probate has been a.- eeiated with other officials in the selection of the iists for the different counties. Tin-, uniformity of coimnictmn hy .-o i;j;.ry 1 anuria) legu-litureH ut" the or cane acts id relation lo their lei-Ia-tue authority, cxvialiy when taken in mGD'cttoo wiih the (act that nnDe o! truH jury laws have been dtsapprov-H dtsapprov-H h7 CuogjPFs-, though any of ihcrn wocll bo nouilcd by .sU.;h disapproval, rjnlinn the opinion, warranted by the plam liimruacf of the organic aet u?elf' tt-at an whole subject matter nf jurors iu tbu lerntoites is committed ta Territorial Ter-ritorial ri uhutMu. Vroai tho Ion-gym,, extract from the uuaniuicmg opinion of the supreme turt, it appears that from anterior to the adoption of tho constitution, con-gressha.i con-gressha.i invariably left with tho Tor-monal Tor-monal lcK Matures, the sXr and exctu-"uht exctu-"uht tu Ughtatt on ait ,ocai the domcsue relation,, tb0 Uwa of deaceut and nf property, lhtj Uw(J of divorcc; and that such a thing as an attempt to deprive a resident of any Territory, of any right which he has as a citizen of the United States in the State from which he came; has never yet been made, and we may add that it nover will be. Each citixen of the United States who cornea to Utah to seek a new home, brings with him every right that he had in the State from whence he came. The alleged crimes charged against the people of this Territory, ignoring tho charge that polygamy is a crime, were we'll known to congress, and to the various departments of the government years ago, and each succeeding congress has passed them by as offences not against the laws of the United States, but against the local laws. Under the constitution of the United States and the Territorial law, congress has no power to legislate on local erimcs, and for that reason has never attempted to do so. Members of congress are good lawyers and know their power and dutioB. They arc not ranting priests, political bummers, nor half educated shysters; they are statesmen judges lawyers who know their duties and dare perform them; and are not likely to usurp funotioDB unauthorized by the constitution, by proscriptive and special legislation to meet the malignant wishes of a miserable clique of adven- turcrs. "Honest" Voters. Oq the trial of Hon. Jj. D, Shoemaker for bribery at the Pennsylvania eleotion, somo curious disclosures were made. Patrick Corcoran, a judgo of eleotion, and Michael Judge, an inspector of election, elec-tion, at Soranton, Pa., testified under oath to Shoemaker's offer of bribery to them. They told him that in their distriot there were only six or seven Republican voters, out of tvo hundred and fifty. He wanted them to fix it so that he would have a majority, which they said they couldn't do; but they would to balance the void Honest soul? ! Christopher Eok-hart, Eok-hart, vice-president of a Democratic club of eighty-six members, also testified testi-fied under oath of the trading in which he participated for the vote of the olub. They were offered three dollars caoh for vote for Shoemaker, and three dollars and a half each for votes for Hartranft. This noble band of Democrats spurned the proposal at 1 the price, but agreed to vote as re-; quired for $2,000 ; which the equally noble and patriotic Republicans in turn rejected with disdain, but concluded to make the price nine dollars and a half a man 1 Oh, noble Democracy that is worth less than ten dollars ahead 1 Oh, glorious Republicanism, that can afford to pay the money I Who dare breath a syllable against the purity of cleotions in Pennsylvania, or say that a party can buy itself into power, and by a generous distribution of money keep in it ! If a stronger argument could Ibc used against a restricted franchise than Pennsylvania furnishes, we would like some person to offer it. |
