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 vi rasrxcm. the small number of decisions which interpret or in any manner touch the Ordinance for the Government of the Northwestern Territory. The Appendix contains the various statutes which provide for or relate to the "revision and consolidation of the statute laws of the United States," and also a cross index by which the various provisions of the Revised Statutes may be traced to the original enactments in the Statutes at Large. In the preparation of the index, I have had the best assistance which I could command, and no labor has been avoided that could contribute in the least to the perfectness of the work. While it is not probable that the end sought has been attained, I indulge the hope that the character of the index may, in some reasonable degree, meet the expectation of Congress, the executive officers of the Government, the judiciary, and the profession generally. The analytical index to the Constitution was prepared by W. J. McDonald, esq., late Chief Clerk of the United States Senate. The historical notes to the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution are taken from a work entitled, "The Organic Laws of the United States of America," prepared by Maj. Ben: Perley Poore, and printed by authority of Congress. GEO. S. BOUTWELL, Oammiaaioner. Wssnmeros, September, 1878.