Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 3.djvu/535



. And be it further enacted, That the judicial power of the territory shall be vested in a superior court, and in such inferior courts as the legislative department of the territory shall, from time to time, institute and establish, and in justices of the peace. The superior court shall be composed of three judges, who shall reside in the territory and continue in office for the term of four years, unless sooner removed by the President. The superior court shall have jurisdiction in all criminal and penal cases, and exclusive cognisance of all capital cases, and shall have and exercise original jurisdiction, concurrently with the inferior courts, and exclusive appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases in which the amount in controversy shall be one hundred dollars or upwards. The superior court shall be holden at such times and place, or places, as the legislative department shall direct, and continue in session until the business therein shall be disposed of, or as long as shall be prescribed by law. Provided, That any two of the judges shall constitute a court of appellate, and any one a court of original jurisdiction.

. And be it further enacted, That the governor, secretary, judges and all other officers, of the territory, civil and military, shall, before they enter on the duties of their respective offices, take an oath or affirmation to support the constitution of the United States, and to discharge, with fidelity, the duties of their offices; the governor before a judge of the supreme or district court of the United States, or a judge of the superior court of the said territory; the secretary and judges, before the said governor, or a judge of the supreme or district court of the United States; and all other officers, before the governor, or any of the judges of the supreme or inferior courts, or justices of the peace, of said territory.

. And be it further enacted, That the governor, secretary, and judges of the superior court authorized for said territory, during the temporary government thereof, shall be appointed by the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the Senate: Provided, That the President shall have full power, during the recess of the Senate, to commission all or any of the said officers, until the end of the session of Congress next succeeding the date of the commission. The governor, secretary, and judges of the superior court, shall receive the same compensation, payable quarter yearly, which the governor, secretary, and superior judges, of the Missouri territory are entitled to by law.

. And be it further enacted, That all the laws which shall be in force in the territory of Missouri, on the fourth day of July next, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, and which shall be applicable to the territory of Arkansaw, shall be, and continue, in force in the latter territory, until modified or repealed by the legislative authority thereof.

. And be it further enacted, That the bounty lands granted, or hereafter to be granted, for military services during the late war, shall, while they continue to be held by the patentees or their heirs, remain exempt from all taxes, for the term of three years from and after the date of the patents respectively.

. And be it further enacted, That whenever, according to the provisions of this act, the people of the Arkansaw territory shall have a right to elect members of the house of representatives of their general assembly, they shall also have the right to elect a delegate from the said territory to the Congress of the United States, who shall possess the same powers, enjoy the same privileges, and receive the same compensation, granted and secured by law to the delegates from other territories.

. And be it further enacted, That until otherwise directed by the legislative department of the said territory of Arkansaw, the seat of the territorial government thereof shall be the post of Arkansaw, on the Arkansaw river.

. And be it further enacted, That the line now established by law, between the land offices at the seat of justice in the county of