Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 9.djvu/64

 52 Marie Merriman Bradley. adopted, making such changes as conditions required, and in many cases the laws of Iowa were embodied in the constitu- tion. A ''Bill of Rights" provided for: 1. Freedom of religious belief and worship. 2. Eight of habeas corpus and trial by jury. 3. Judicial procedure according to common law. 4. Moderate fines and reasonable punishment. 5. Proportionate representation. 6. Encouragement of morality and knowledge. 7. Maintenance of schools. 8. Good faith towards the Indians. 9. Prohibition of slavery. Provisions for the necessary organs of government were made by providing a legislative branch to consist of nine persons elected annually; an executive, to consist of a com- mittee of three; judicial, consisting of a supreme and associ- ate judges, and justice of the peace. Provisions for subordi- nate officers, a battalion of soldiers and grants of land to settlers, etc., were made. The military law provided that there should be one bat- talion of militia in the Territory, divided into three or more companies of mounted riflemen. It provided for the officering and governing of the companies and set forth at length the duties of the officers. The law of land claims was the most important. It re- quired that a claimant should designate the boundaries of his land, and have the same recorded in the office of the terri- torial recorder, in a book kept for that purpose, within twenty days of making his claim, unless he should be already in possession of his land, when he should be allowed a year for recording a description of his land. It required also that improvements be made by ''building or enclosing ' ' within six months, and that the claimant should 10 Ibid, pp. 29, 30. 11 Oregon Archives, pp. 33, 34. 12 Ibid, p. 35.