USA > Ohio > History of the state of Ohio > Part 41
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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
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be necessary and best suited to the circumstances of the district, and report them to Congress from time to time; which laws shall be in force in the district until the organization of the General Assembly therein, unless dis- approved of by Congress ; but, afterwards, 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 officers, in each county or town- slip, 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 the magistrates and other civil officers, shall be regu- lated and defined by the said assembly ; but all magistrates and other civil officers, not hercin 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 tlicrcof; 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, liowever, to such alterations as may tlicreafter be made by the legislature.
So soon as there shall be 5000 free malo inhabitants of full age in the district, upon giving proof thercof to the governor, they shall receive authority, with time and place, to elect representatives from their counties or townships to represent thiem in the General Assembly : Provided, That, for every 500 free male inhabitants, there shall be one representative, and so on progressively with the number of free male inhabitants, shall the right of representation inercase, until the number of representatives shall amount to 25; after which, thic 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 cither case, shall likewise hold in his own right, in fcc simple, 200 acres of land within the same : Provided, also, That a frechold in 50 acres of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the States, and being resident in the dis- trict, or thic like frechold and two years residence in the district, shall be necessary to qualify a man as an clector of a representative.
The representatives thus elected, shall serve for the term of two years ; and, in case of the death of a representative, or removal from office, tlie
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governor 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 mem- bers 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 in the district, and cach pos- sessed of a freehold in 500 acres of land, and return their names to Con- gress ; 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 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 good government of the dis- trict, not repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance estab- lished 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 forco 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, secretary, and such other offi -- cers as Congress shall appoint in the district, shall take an oath or affirma- tion of fidelity and of office; the governor before the president of Con- gress, and all other officers before the governor. 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, whichi form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and con- stitutions are erected; to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory : to provide also for the establishment of States,
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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 interest :
It is hereby ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid, That the fol- lowing articles shall be considered as articles of compact between the ori- ginal States and the people and States in the said territory, and forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent, to wit :
ART. 1st. No person, demcaning himself in a peaccable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or reli- gious sentiments, in the said territory.
ART. 2d. The inliabitants 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 proportionate representation of the people in the legislature; and of judi- cial proceedings according to the course of the common law. All persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offences, where the proof shall be evi- dent or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate ; and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land; and, should the public exigencies make it necessary, for the common preservation, to take any person's property, or to demand his particular services, full compensation shall be made for the same. And, in the just preservation of rights and property, it is understood and declared, that no law ought ever to be made, or have force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever, interfere with or affect private contracts or en- gagements, bona fide, and without fraud, previously formed.
ART. 3d. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of cdu- cation shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and, in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity, shall, from time to time, be made for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them.
ART. 4th. The said territory, and the States which may be formed thercin, shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United States of America, subject to the Articles of Confederation, and to such altera- tions therein as shall be constitutionally made; and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress assembled, conformable thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of government, to be apportioned on them by Con- gress according to the same common rule and measure by which appor-
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tionments thereof shall be made on the other States; and the taxes, for paying their proportion, shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the district or districts, or new States, as in the original States, within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. The legislatures of those districts or new States, shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find necesary for sceuring the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States; and, in no case, shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the citi- zens of the United States, and those of any other States that may be ad- mitted into the Confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty, therefor.
ART. 5th. There shall be formed in the said territory, not less than three nor more than five States; and the boundaries of the States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession, and consent to the same, shall be- come fixed and established as follows, to wit: The Western State in the said territory, shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and Wabash rivers; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post St. Vincent's, due North, to the territorial line between the United States and Canada ; and, by the said territorial line, to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle State shall be bounded by the said dircet line, the Wabash front Post Vincent's, to the Ohio ; by the Ohio, by a direct line, drawn duc North from the mouth of the Great Miami, to the said territorial line, and by the said territorial line. The Eastern State shall be bounded by the last men- tioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line: Provided, however, and it is further understood and declared, that the boun- daries of these three States shall be subject so far to be altered, that, if Congress sliall hereafter find it expedient, they shall liave authority to form one or two States in that part of the said territory whiieli lics North of an East and West line drawn through the Southerly bend or extreme of lake Michigan. And, whenever any of the said States shall have 60,000 free inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original States in all respcets whatever, and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and State government : Provided, the constitution and govern- ment so to be formed, shall be republican, and in conformity to the princi- ples contained in these articles ; and, so far as it can be consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an carlier period, and when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in the State than 60,000.
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ART. 6th. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted : Provided, always, That any person cscaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid.
Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the resolutions of the 23d of April, 1781, relative to the subject of this ordinance, be, and the same are hereby repealed and declared null and void. Donc, &c.
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