Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 3.djvu/389



Tuesday in June next, throughout the several counties above mentioned, and shall be conducted in the same manner as is prescribed by the laws of said territory, regulating elections therein for members of the House of Representatives.

. And be it further enacted, That the members of the convention, thus duly elected, be, and they are hereby authorized to meet at the town of Washington, on the first Monday in July next: which convention, when met, shall first determine, by a majority of the whole number elected; whether it be or be not expedient, at that time, to form a constitution and state government for the people within the said territory; and if it be determined to be expedient, the convention shall be, and hereby are, authorized to form a constitution and state government: Provided, That the same, when formed, shall be republican, and not repugnant to the principles of the ordinance of the thirteenth of July, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, between the people and states of the territory north-west of the river Ohio, so far as the same has been extended to the said territory by the articles of agreement between the United States and the state of Georgia, or of the constitution of the United States: And provided also, That the said convention shall provide, by an ordinance irrevocable without the consent of the United States, that the people inhabiting the said territory do agree and declare that they for ever disclaim all right or title to the waste or unappropriated lands lying within the said territory, and that the same shall be and remain at the sole and entire disposition of the United States; and moreover, that each and every tract of land sold by Congress, shall be and remain exempt from any tax laid by the order, or under the authority, of the state, whether for state, county, township, parish or any other purpose whatever, for the term of five years, from and after the respective days of sales thereof, and that the lands belonging to citizens of the United States, residing without the said state, shall never be taxed higher than the lands belonging to persons residing therein; and that no taxes shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States, and that the river Mississippi, and the navigable rivers and waters leading into the same, or into the Gulf of Mexico, shall be common highways, and for ever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said state, as to other citizens of the United States, without any tax, duty, impost, or toll, therefor, imposed by the said state.

. And be it further enacted, That five per cent. of the net proceeds of the lands lying within the said territory, and which shall be sold by Congress from and after the first day of December next, after deducting all expenses incident to the same, shall be reserved for making public roads and canals; of which three-fifths shall be applied to those objects within the said state, under the direction of the legislature thereof, and two-fifths to the making of a road or roads leading to the said state, under the direction of Congress: Provided, That the application of such proceeds shall not be made until after payment is completed of the one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars due to the state of Georgia, in consideration of the cession to the United States, nor until the payment of all the stock which has been or shall be created by the act, entitled “,” shall be completed: And provided also, That the said five per cent. shall not be calculated on any part of such proceeds as shall be applied to the payment of the one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars due to the state of Georgia, in consideration of the cession to the United States, or in payment of the stock which has or shall be created by the act, entitled “.”

. And be it further enacted, That until the next general census shall be taken, the said state shall be entitled to one Representative in the House of Representatives of the United States.

March 1, 1817.