each township, for the future disposal of the United States. One-half of the townships, taken alternately, were to be subdivided into thirty-six sections, each containing six hundred and forty acres.

Section 4 provided that whenever seven ranges of townships had been surveyed, and the plats transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury, the lands should be offered for sale at public vendue, under the direction of the governor or secretary of the Territory and the surveyor-general, in sections; lands below the Great Miami to be sold at Cincinnati, and those between the Scioto and the seven ranges, and north of the Ohio Company's purchase, at Pittsburgh. The townships remaining undivided were to be offered for sale in like manner at the seat of government | of the United States, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, in tracts of one-quarter of a township, excluding the four central sections and the other reserves before mentioned. It was further provided that none of the lands to be offered for sale under this act should be sold at a price less than two dollars per acre. The time of the sale was to be advertised in the newspapers of the different States and Territories, and the sales at the different places must not commence within less than a month of each other.

Immediately after the passage of this act the Secretary of the Treasury was to advertise for sale the lands which remained unsold in the seven ranges, including the lands drawn for the army by the Secretary

of War; also those lands before sold but not paid for. The townships which, by the ordinance of 1785, were to be sold entire, should be sold at Philadelphia in quarter-townships, the four central sections being reserved; the townships to be sold in sections were to be sold in Pittsburgh.

. The highest bidder for any tract. was required to deposit one-twentieth of the purchase money at the time of sale, and to pay one-half of the sum bid within thirty days; this being done he was entitled to a credit of one year on the balance, patents to be issued on the final payment being made. Any purchaser paying in full at the time the first moiety was due should be entitled to a deduction of ten per cent.

The compensation of the surveyorgeneral was fixed at $2,000 per annum, and the expense of the survey was limited to three dollars per mile for each mile surveyed.

The fees for each certificate were as follows: For a tract of a quarter of a township, $20; for a section, $6, and for each patent the same sums.

An act passed May 10, 1800, changed and repealed several of the provisions of the foregoing law. Four land-offices were established in the Northwest Territory: at Cincinnati, Chillicothe, Marietta and Steubenville.

The townships west of the Muskingum which, by the act of 1796, were directed to be sold in quartertownships, were to be subdivided into half-sections; and all townships east of the Muskingum and all inter

sected by that river which had not before been subdivided were required to be run and marked in sections.

The lands thus subdivided were ordered to be offered for sale in sections and half-sections at the respective land offices at specified dates, the sales to continue for three weeks and no more. The sale at Marietta was to begin on the first Monday in May, 1801. All lands remaining unsold at the closing of the public sales could be sold at private sale by the register. No lands to be sold either privately or publicly at less than two dollars per acre. The terms as to payment and the amount of fees were also modified.

The subsequent acts in relation to public lands were so multifarious that it would be tedious to chronicle them; therefore, having shown how public lands could be acquired in the beginning, we will drop the subject. Allusion has been made in the beginning of this chapter to the first ordinance for the government of the Northwest Territory. Another and far superior measure was enacted on the 13th of July, 1787, which is known in history as the Ordinance of Freedom, and was the fundamental law from the time of its enactment until the Territory ceased to exist. The text of the ordinance is as follows:

"An ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the River Ohio.

"Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled: That the said territory, for the purposes of temporary government, be one

district, subject, however, to be divided into two districts as future circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient.

"Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid: That the estates both of resident and non-resident proprietors in the said territory dying intestate shall descend to and be distributed among their children and the descendants of a deceased child in equal parts; the descendants of a deceased child or grandchild to take the share of their deceased parent in equal parts among them; and where there shall be no children or descendants then in equal parts to the next of kin in equal degree; and among collaterals, the children of a deceased brother or sister of the intestate shall have in equal parts among them their deceased parent's share; and there shall in no case be a distinction between kindred of the whole and half blood, saving, in all cases, to the widow of the intestate her third part of the real estate for life and onethird part of the personal estate; and this law relative to descents and dowers shall remain in full force until altered by the legislature of the district. And until the governor and judges shall adopt laws as hereinafter mentioned, estates in said territory may be devised or bequeathed by wills in writing, signed and sealed by him or her in whom the estate may be (being of full age) and attested by three witnesses, and real estates may be conveyed by lease and release, or bargain and sale, signed, sealed and delievered by the person (being of full age) in whom

the estate may be, and attested by two witnesses; provided such wills be duly proved and such conveyances be acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly proved, and be recorded within one year after proper magistrates, courts and registers shall be appointed for that purpose, and personal property may be transferred by delivery; saving, however, to the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskies, St. Vincents and the neighboring villages who have heretofore professed themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs now in force among them relative to the descent and conveyance of property.

"Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid: That there shall be appointed from time to time by Congress a governor, whose commission shall continue in force for three years unless sooner revoked by Congress. He shall reside in the district and have a freehold estate therein in one thousand acres of land while in the exercise of his office.

"There shall be appointed from time to time a secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four years unless sooner revoked; he shall reside in the district and have a freehold estate therein in five hundred acres of land while in the exercise of his office; it shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by the legislature and the public records of the district and the proceedings of the governor in his executive department, and transmit authentic copies of such acts and

proceedings every six months to the Secretary of Congress. There shall also be appointed a court, to consist of three judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall have a common law jurisdiction and reside in the district, and have each therein a freehold estate in five hundred acres of land while in the exercise of their offices; and their commissions shall continue in force during good behavior.

"The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and publish in the district such laws of the original States, criminal and civil, as may be necessary and best suited to the circumstances of the district, and report them to Congress from time to to time; which laws shall be in force in the district until the organization of the general assembly therein, unless disapproved by Congress; but afterward the legislature shall have authority to alter them as they shall think fit.

"The governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same below the rank of general officers. All general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by Congress.

"Previous to the organization of the general assembly the governor shall appoint such magistrates and other civil offiers in each county or township as he shall find necessary for the preservation of the peace and good order in the same. After the general assembly shall be organized, the powers and duties of magistrates and other civil officers shall be regu

lated and defined by the said assembly; but all magistrates and other civil officers not herein otherwise directed, shall, during the continuance of this temporary government, be appointed by the governor.

"For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district, and for the execution of process, criminal and civil, the governor shall make proper divisions thereof; and he shall proceed from time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay out the parts of the district in which the Indian titles shall have been extinguished into counties and townships-subject, however, to such alterations as may thereafter be made by the legisla

ture.

"So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants of full age in the district upon giving proof thereof to the governor, they shall receive authority, with time and place, to elect representatives from their counties or townships to represent them in the general assembly: Provided, That for every five hundred free male inhabitants there shall be one representative, and so on progressively; with the number of free male inhabitants shall the right of representation increase, until the number of representatives shall amount to twenty-five; after which the number and proportion of representatives shall be regulated by the legislature: Provided. That no person be eligible or qualified to act as a representative unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the

United States three years, and be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the district three years; and in either case shall likewise hold in his own right in fee simple two hundred acres of land within the same: Provided, also, That a freehold in fifty acres of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the States, and being resident in the district, or the like freehold and two years' residence in the district, shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative.

"The representatives thus elected shall serve for the term of two years; and in the case of the death of a representative, or removal from office, the government shall issue a writ to the county or township for which he was a member to elect another in his stead to serve for the residue of the term.

"The general assembly, or legislature, shall consist of the governor, legislative council and a house of representatives. The legislative council shall consist of five members, to continue in office five years, unless sooner removed by Congress, any three of whom to be a quorum; and the members of the council shall be nominated and appointed in the following manner, to wit: As soon as representatives shall be elected, the governor shall appoint a time and place for them to meet together, and when met they shall nominate ten persons, residents of the district, and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of land, and return their names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and

commission to serve as aforesaid; and whenever a vacancy shall happen in the council by death or removal from office, the house of representatives shall nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return their names to Congress, one of whom Congress shall appoint and

commission for the residue of the term. And every five years, four months at least before the expiration of the time of service of the members of the council, the said house shall nominate ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as members of the council five years unless sooner removed. And the governor, legislative council and house of representatives shall have authority to make laws in all cases for the government of the district not repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance established and declared. And all bills, having passed by a majority in the house, and by a majority in the council, shall be referred to the governor for his assent; but no bill or legislative act whatever shall be of any force without his assent. The governor shall have power to convene, prorogue and dissolve the general assembly when in his opinion it shall be expe

dient.

"The governor, judges, legislative council and such other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district shall take an oath of affirmation of fidelity and of office- the governor before the President of Congress, and all other officers before the gov

ernor. As soon as a legislature shall be formed in the district, the council and house, assembled in one room, shall have authority by joint ballot to elect a delegate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a right of debating, but not of voting, during this temporary government.

"And for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions are erected; to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions and governments, which forever hereafter shall be established in the said territory; to provide also for the establishment of States and permanent government therein, and for their admission to a share in the Federal Councils on an equal footing with the original States, at as early periods as may be consistent with the general interests:

"Be it ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid: That the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact between the original States and the people and States in the said territory, and forever remain unalterable unless by common consent, to wit:

"ARTICLE 1. No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments in the said territory.

"ART. 2. The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus and of the trial by jury; of a