The Laws of Indiana Territory, 1809-1816 (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Laws of Indiana Territory, 1809-1816

The territorial assemblies, in size, more nearly resem bled our present committees than our Senate and House of Representatives with their fifty and one hundred mem bers respectively. In the old territorial Legislative Hall at Vincennes, recently restored, the Council table With one long side for the presiding officer and three short sides for the other members of the Council, is eloquent of the intimacy of territorial legislation.

The problems of legislators vary from period to period, from year to year. In the period covered by this volume the assemblies had to set up county governments and organize these and lesser local units of government; they had to establish and reorganize courts; they had to extend a very limited governmental control and a very limited legal procedure over a sparse and widely scattered popu lation suffering from great difficulty of communication. They were concerned with the elemental physical needs of a newly occupied region: attraction Of immigration, roads, navigation of streams, ferries, gristmills, armed defense against Indians, extermination of predatory animals.

Yet some advance may be noticed in these years as compared with the first ten years of territorial legislation. The assemblies were now looking forward to statehood; preparation for it, and efforts to hasten it, received much attention. The institution of a more settled civilization became the object of consideration. In the laws and memorials we see the incorporation of churches, of the Vincennes Library, the Vevay Literary Society, semina ries, provision for care of the insane, and for inspection of food such as beef, pork, and flour. I believe, also, that county records Show a quicker and more general knowl edge Oi legislation enacted than in the first decade, though there were still many instances of belated receipt of in formation by county officers.

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