Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled:
That the following propositions shall be, and the same
hereby are, offered to the State of Texas, which, when agreed to by the said
State, in an act passed by the general assembly, shall be binding and
obligatory upon the United States, and upon the said State of Texas: Provided,
The said agreement by the said general assembly shall be given on or before the
first day of December, eighteen hundred and fifty:
FIRST. The State of Texas will agree that her boundary on
the north shall commence at the point at which the meridian of one hundred
degrees west from Greenwich is intersected by the parallel of thirty-six
degrees thirty minutes north latitude, and shall run from said point due west
to the meridian of one hundred and three degrees west from Greenwich; thence
her boundary shall run due south to the thirty-second degree of north latitude;
thence on the said parallel of thirty-two degrees of north latitude to the Rio
Bravo del Norte, and thence with the channel of said river to the Gulf of
Mexico.
SECOND. The State of Texas cedes to the United States all
her claim to territory exterior to the limits and boundaries which she agrees
to establish by the first article of this agreement.
THIRD. The State of Texas relinquishes all claim upon the
United States for liability of the debts of Texas, and for compensation or indemnity
for the surrender to the United States of her ships, forts, arsenals,
custom-houses, custom-house revenue, arms and munitions of war, and public
buildings with their sites, which became the property of the United States at
the time of the annexation.
FOURTH. The United States, in consideration of said
establishment of boundaries, cession of claim, to territory, and relinquishment
of claims, will pay to the State of Texas the sum of ten millions of dollars in
a stock bearing five per cent. interest, and redeemable at the end of fourteen
years, the interest payable half-yearly at the treasury of the United States.
FIFTH. Immediately after the President of the United States
shall have been furnished with an authentic copy of the act of the general
assembly of Texas accepting these propositions, he shall cause the stock to be
issued in favor of the State of Texas, as provided for in the fourth article of
this agreement: Provided, also, That no more than five millions of said stock
shall be issued until the creditors of the State holding bonds and other
certificates of stock of Texas for which duties on imports were specially
pledged, shall first file at the treasury of the United States releases of all
claim against the United States for or on account of said bonds or certificates
in such form as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury and
approved by the president of the United States: Provided, That nothing herein
contained. shall be construed to impair or qualify any thing contained in the
third article of the second section of the “ joint resolution for annexing
Texas to the United States,” approved March first, eighteen hundred and
forty-five; either as regards the number of States that may here- after be
formed out of the State of Texas, or otherwise.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That all that portion of
the Territory of the United States bounded as follows: Beginning at a point in
the Colorado River where the boundary line with the republic of Mexico crosses
the same; thence eastwardly with the said boundary line to the Rio Grande;
thence following the main channel of said river the parallel of the
thirty-second degree of north latitude ; thence east with said degree to its
intersection with the one hundred and third degree of longitude west of Greenwich;
thence north with said degree of longitude to the parallel of thirty-eighth
degree of north latitude; thence west with said parallel to the summit of the
Sierra Madre; thence south with the crest of said mountains to the
thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude; thence west with said parallel to
its intersection with the boundary line of the State of California; thence with
said boundary line to the place of beginning — be, and the same is hereby,
erected into a temporary government, by the name of the Territory of New
Mexico: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to
inhibit the government of the United States from dividing said Territory into
two or more Territories, in such manner and at such times as Congress shall
deem convenient and proper, or from attaching any portion thereof to any other
Territory or State: And provided, further, That, when admitted as a State, the
said Territory, or any portion of the same, shall be received into the Union,
with or without slavery, as their constitution may prescribe at the time of
their admission.
SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the executive power
and authority in and over said Territory of New Mexico shall be vested in, a
governor, who shall hold his office for four years, and until his successor
shall be appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the President of the
United States. The governor shall reside within said Territory, shall be
commander-in-chief of the militia thereof, shall perform the duties and receive
the emoluments of superintendent of Indian affairs, and shall approve all laws
passed by the legislative assembly before they shall take effect; he may grant
pardons for offences against the laws of said Territory, and reprieves for
offences against the laws of the United States, until the decision of the
President can be made known thereon. He shall commission all officers who shall
be appointed to office under the laws of the said Territory, and shall take
care that the laws be faithfully executed.
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That there shall be a
secretary of said Territory, who shall reside therein, and hold his office for
four years, unless sooner removed by the President of the United States ; .he
shall record and preserve all the laws and proceedings of the legislative
assembly hereinafter constituted and all the acts and proceedings of the governor
in his executive department; he shall transmit one copy of the laws and one
copy of the executive proceedings, on or before the first day of December in
each year, to the President of the United States, and, at the same time, two
copies of the laws to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the
President of the Senate, for the use of Congress. And, in case of the death,
removal, resignation, or other necessary absence of the governor from the Territory,
the secretary shall have, and he is hereby authorized and required to execute
and perform all the powers and duties of the governor during such vacancy or
necessary absence, or until another governor shall be duly appointed to fill
such vacancy.
SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the legislative
power and authority of said Territory shall be vested in the governor and a
legislative assembly. The legislative assembly shall consist of a Council and
House of Representatives. The Council shall consist of thirteen members, having
the qualifications of voters as hereinafter prescribed, whose term of service
shall continue two years. The House of Representatives shall consist of
twenty-six members, possessing the same qualifications as prescribed for
members of the Council, and whose term of service shall continue one year. An
apportionment shall be made, as nearly equal as practicable, among the several
counties or districts, for the election of the Council and House of Representatives,
giving to each section of the Territory representation in the ratio of its
population, (Indians excepted,) as nearly as may be. And the members of the
Council and of the House of Representatives shall reside in, and be inhabitants
of, the district for which they may be elected respectively. Previous to the
first election, the governor shall cause a census or enumeration of the
inhabitants of the several counties and districts of the Territory to be taken,
and the first election shall be held at such time and places, and be conducted
in such manner, as the governor shall appoint and direct; and he shall, at the
same time, declare the number of the members of the Council and House of
Representatives to which each of the counties or districts shall be entitled
under this act. The number of persons authorized to be elected having the
highest number of votes in each of said Council districts, for members of the
Council, shall be declared by the governor to be duly elected to the Council;
and the person or persons authorized to be elected having the greatest number
of votes for the House of Representatives, equal to the number to which each
county or district shall be entitled, shall be declared by the governor to be
duly elected members of the House of Representatives: Provided, That in case of
a tie between two or more persons voted for, the governor shall order a new
election to supply the vacancy made by such tie. And the persons thus elected
to the legislative assembly shall meet at such place and on such day as the
governor shall appoint; but thereafter, the time, place, and manner of holding
and conducting all elections by the people, and the apportioning the
representation in the several counties or districts to the Council and House of
Representatives according to the population, shall be prescribed by law, as
well as the day of the commencement of the regular sessions of the legislative
assembly: Provided, That no one session shall exceed the term of forty days.
SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That every free white
male inhabitant, above the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been a
resident of said Territory at the time of the passage of this act, shall be
entitled to vote at the first election, and shall be eligible to any office
within the said Territory; but the qualifications of voters and of holding
office, at all subsequent elections, shall be such as shall be prescribed by
the legislative assembly: Provided, That the right of suffrage, and of holding
office, shall be exercised only by citizens of the United States, including
those recognized as citizens by the treaty with the republic of Mexico,
concluded February second, eighteen hundred and forty-eight.
SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the legislative
power of the Territory shall extend to all rightful subjects 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
the soil; no tax shall be imposed upon the property of the United States; nor
shall the lands or other property of non-residents be taxed higher than the
lands or other property of residents. All the laws passed by the legislative
assembly and governor shall be submitted to the Congress of the United States,
and, if disapproved, shall be null and of no effect.
SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That all township,
district, and county officers, not herein otherwise provided for, shall be
appointed or elected, as the case may be, in such manner as shall be provided
by the governor and legislative assembly of the Territory of New Mexico. The
governor shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the
legislative Council, appoint, an officers not herein otherwise provided for;
and in the first instance the governor alone may appoint all said officers, who
shall hold their offices until the end of the first session of the legislative
assembly, and shall lay off the necessary districts for members of the Council
and House of Representatives, and all other officers.
SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That no member of the
legislative assembly shall hold, or be appointed to, any office which shall
have been created, or the salary or emoluments of which shall have been increased
while he was a member, during the term for which he was elected, and for one
year after the expiration of such term; and no person holding a commission or
appointment under the United States, except postmasters, shall be a member of
the legislative assembly, or shall hold any office under the government of said
Territory.
SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the judicial power
of said Territory shall be vested in a Supreme Court, District Courts, Probate
Courts, and in justices of the peace. The Supreme Court shall consist of a
chief justice and two associate justices, any two of whom shall constitute a
quorum, and who shall hold a term at the seat of government of said Territory
annually, and they shall hold their offices during the period of four years.
The said Territory shall be divided into three judicial districts, and a
District Court shall be held in each of said districts by one of the justices
of the Supreme Court, at such time and place as may be prescribed by law; and
the said judges shall, after their appointments, respectively, reside in the
districts which shall be assigned them. The jurisdiction of the several courts
herein provided for, both appellate and original, and that of the Probate
Courts and of justices of the peace, shall be as limited by law: Provided, That
justices of the peace shall not have jurisdiction of any matter in controversy
when the title or boundaries of land may be in dispute, or where the debt or
sum claimed shall exceed one hundred dollars; and the said Supreme and District
Courts, respectively, shall possess chancery as well as common law
jurisdiction. Each District Court, or the judge thereof, shall appoint its
clerk, who shall also be the register in chancery, and shall keep his office at
the place where the court may be held. Writs of error, bills of exception, and
appeals, shall be allowed in all cases from the final decisions of said
District Courts to the Supreme Court, under such regulations as may be pre-
scribed by law, but in no case removed to the Supreme Court shall trial by jury
be allowed in said court. The Supreme Court, or the justices thereof, shall
appoint its own clerk, and every clerk shall hold his office at the pleasure of
the court for which he shall have been ap- pointed. Writs of error and appeals
from the final decisions of said Supreme Court shall be allowed, and may be
taken to the Supreme Court of the United States, in the same manner and under
the same regulations as from the Circuit Courts of the United States, where the
value of the property or the amount in controversy, to be ascertained by the
oath or affirmation of either party, or other competent witness, shall exceed
one thousand dollars; except only that in all cases involving title to slaves,
the said writs of error or appeals shall be allowed and decided by the said
Supreme Court without regard to the value of the matter, property, or title in
controversy; and except also that a writ of error or appeal shall also be
allowed to the Supreme Court of the United States from the decision of the said
Supreme Court created by this act, or of any judge thereof, or of the District
Courts created by this act, or of any judge thereof, upon any writ of habeas
corpus involving the question of personal freedom; and each of the said District
Courts shall have and exercise the same jurisdiction in all cases arising under
the Constitution and laws of the United States as is vested in the Circuit and
District Courts of the United States; and the said Supreme and District Courts
of the said Territory, and the respective judges thereof, shall and may grant
writs of habeas corpus in all cases in which the same are grantable by the
judges of the United States in the District of Columbia; and the first six days
of every term of said courts, or so much thereof as shall be necessary, shall
be appropriated to the trial of causes arising under the said Constitution and
laws; and writs of error and appeals in all such cases shall be made to the
Supreme Court of said Territory, the same as in other cases. The said clerk
shall receive in all such cases the same fees which the clerks of the District
Courts of Oregon Territory now receive for similar services.
SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That there shall be
appointed an attorney for said Territory, who shall continue in office for four
years, unless sooner removed by the President, and who shall receive the same
fees and salary as the attorney of the United States for the present Territory
of Oregon. There shall also be a marshal for the Territory appointed, who shall
hold his office for four years, unless sooner removed by the president, and who
shall execute all processes issuing from the said courts when exercising their
jurisdiction as Circuit and District Courts of the United States: he shall perform
the duties, be subject to the same regulation and penalties, and be entitled to
the same fees as the marshal of the District Court of the United States for the
present Territory of Oregon, and shall, in addition, be paid two hundred
dollars annually as a compensation for extra services.
SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the governor
secretary, chief justice and associate justices, attorney and marshal shall be
nominated, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appointed by
the President of the United States. The governor and secretary, to be appointed
as aforesaid, shall, before they act as such, respectively take an oath or
affirmation, before the district judge, or some justice of the peace in the
limits of said Territory, duly authorized to administer oaths and affirmations
by the laws now in force therein, or before the chief justice or some associate
justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, to support the Constitution
of the United States, and faithfully to discharge the duties of their
respective offices; which said oaths, when so taken, shall be certified by the
person by whom the same shall have been taken, and such certificates shall be
received and recorded by the said secretary among the executive proceedings; and
the chief justice and associate justices, and all other civil officers in said
Territory, before they act as such, shall take a like oath or affirmation,
before the said governor or secretary, or some judge or justice of the peace of
the Territory, who may be duly commissioned and qualified, which said oath or
affirmation shall be certified and transmitted, by the person taking the same,
to the secretary, to be by him recorded as aforesaid; and afterwards, the like
oath or affirmation shall be taken, certified, and recorded, in such manner and
form as may be prescribed by law. The governor shall receive an annual salary
of fifteen hundred dollars as governor, and one thousand dollars as
superintendent of Indian affairs. The chief justice and associate justices
shall each receive an annual salary of eighteen hundred dollars. The secretary
shall receive an annual salary of eighteen hundred dollars. The said salaries
shall be paid quarter-yearly, at the treasury of the United States. The members
of the legislative assembly shall be entitled to receive three dollars each per
day during their attendance at the sessions thereof, and three dollars each for
every twenty miles' travel in going to and returning from the said sessions,
estimated according to the nearest usually travelled route. There shall be
appropriated annually the sum of one thousand dollars, to be expended by the
governor, to defray the contingent expenses of the Territory; there shall also
be appropriated annually a sufficient sum to be expended by the secretary of
the Territory, and upon an estimate to be made by the Secretary of the Treasury
of the United States, to defray the expenses of the legislative assembly, the
printing of the laws, and other incidental expenses; and the secretary of the
Territory shall annually account to the Secretary of the Treasury of the United
States for the manner in which the aforesaid sum shall have been expended.
SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the legislative
assembly of the Territory of New Mexico shall hold its first session at such
time and place in said Territory as the Governor thereof shall appoint and
direct; and at said first session, or as soon thereafter as they shall deem
expedient, the governor and legislative assembly shall proceed to locate and
establish the seat of government for said Territory at such place as they may deem
eligible; which place, however, shall thereafter be subject to be changed by
the said governor and legislative assembly.
SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That a delegate to the
House of Representatives of the United States, to serve during each Congress of
the United States, may be elected by the voters qualified to elect members of
the legislative assembly, who shall be entitled to the same rights and
privileges as are exercised and enjoyed by the delegates from the several other
Territories of the United States to the said House of Representatives. The
first election shall be held at such time and places, and be conducted in such
manner, as the governor shall appoint and direct; and at all subsequent
elections, the times, places, and manner of holding the elections shall be
prescribed by law. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be
declared by the governor to be duly elected, and a certificate thereof shall be
given accordingly: Provided, That such delegate shall receive no higher sum for
mileage than is allowed by law to the delegate from Oregon.
SEC. 15. 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 States and Territories hereafter to be erected out of the
same.
SEC. 16. 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. 17. And be it further enacted, That the Constitution,
and all laws of the United States which are not locally inapplicable, shall
have the same force and effect within the said Territory of New Mexico as
elsewhere within the United States.
SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That the provisions of
this act be, and they are hereby, suspended until the boundary between the
United States and the State of Texas shall be adjusted; and when such
adjustment shall have been effected, the President of the United States shall
issue his proclamation, declaring this act to be in full force and operation,
and shall proceed to appoint the officers herein provided to be appointed in
and for said Territory.
SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That no citizen of the
United States shall be deprived of his life, liberty, or property, in said
Territory, except by the judgment of his peers and the laws of the land.
APPROVED, September 9,
1850.
SOURCES: George Minot, Editor, The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America from December 1, 1845 to March 3, 1851, Volume 9, p. 446-52 Acts,
Resolutions and Memorials Adopted by the Second Legislative Assembly of the
Territory of Arizona: Session Begun on the Sixth Day and Ended on the Thirtieth
Day of December, A. D. 1865 at Prescott, p. 87-94
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