USA > Oklahoma > A standard history of Oklahoma; an authentic narrative of its development from the date of the first European exploration down to the present time, including accounts of the Indian tribes, both civilized and wild, of the cattle range, of the land openings and the achievements of the most recent period, Vol. II > Part 42
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
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President of the Senate for the use of Congress; and in case of the death, removal, resignation, or other necessary absence of the gov- ernor from the territory, the secretary shall execute all the powers and perform all the duties of governor during such vacancy or absence, or until another governor is appointed and qualified.
Sec. 4. That the legislative power and authority of said terri- tory shall be vested in the governor and legislative assembly. The legislative assembly shall consist of a council and a house of repre- sentatives. The council shall consist of thirteen members, having the qualification of voters as hereinafter prescribed, whose terms of service shall continue two years. The house of representatives shall consist of twenty-six members, possessing the same qualifications as prescribed for members of the council, and whose term of service shall continue two years, and the sessions of the legislative assem- bly shall be biennial and shall be limited to sixty days' duration : Provided, however, That the duration of the first session of said legislative assembly may continue one hundred and twenty days.
That for the purpose of facilitating the organization of a tem- porary government in the Territory of Oklahoma, seven counties are hereby established therein, to be known, until after the first election in the territory, as the First County, the Second County, the Third County, the Fourth County, the Fifth County, and the Sixth County, the boundaries of which shall be fixed by the governor of the territory until otherwise provided by the legislative assembly thereof. The county seat of the First County shall be at Guthrie. The county seat of the Second County shall be at Oklahoma City. The county seat of the Third County shall be at Norman. The county seat of the Fourth County shall be at El Reno. The county seat of the Fifth County shall be at Kingfisher City. The county seat of the Sixth County shall be at Stillwater. The Seventh County shall embrace all that portion of the territory lying west of the one hundredth meridian, known as the Public Land Strip, the county seat of which shall be at Beaver: Provided, That the county seats located by this act may be changed in such manner as the territorial legislature may provide.
At the first election for members of the legislative assembly the people of each county may vote for a name for such county, and the name which receives the greatest number of votes shall be the name of such county. If two or more counties shall select the same name, the county which casts the greatest number of votes for such name shall be entitled to the same, and the names receiving the next highest number of votes in the other counties shall be the names of such counties. An apportionment shall be made by the governor as nearly equal as practicable among the several counties or districts for the election of the council and house of representa- tives, giving to each section of the territory representation in the ratio of its population (excepting Indians not taxed) as nearly as may be, and the members of the council and house of representa- tives shall reside in and be inhabitants of the district for which they may be elected, respectively. Previous to the first election, the
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governor shall cause a census or enumeration of the inhabitants of the several counties or districts of the territory to be taken, unless the same shall have been taken and published by the United States, in which case such census and enumeration shall be adopted, and the first election shall be held at such times and places and be con- ducted in such manner, both as to the persons who superintend such election and the returns thereof, as the governor shall appoint and direct, and he shall at the same time declare the number of the members of the council and house of representatives to which eaclı of the counties or districts shall be entitled, as shown by the census herein provided for. The number of persons authorized to be elected, having the highest number of legal votes in each of said council districts for members of the council, shall be declared by the governor to be duly elected to the council, and the person or persons authorized to be elected, having the greatest number of votes for the house of representatives equal to the number to which each county or district shall be entitled, shall be declared by the governor to be elected members of the house of representatives : Provided, That in case two or more persons voted for have an equal number of votes, and in case a vacancy otherwise occurs in either branch of the legislative assembly, the governor shall order a new election, and the persons thus elected to the legislative assembly shall meet at such place and on such day as the governor shall appoint, but after such first election, however, the time, place, and manner of holding elections by the people, and the apportion- ment of representation, and the day of the commencement of the regular sessions of the legislative assembly shall be provided by law: Provided, however, That the governor shall have power to call the legislative assembly together by proclamation, on an ex- traordinary occasion at any time.
Sec. 5. That all male citizens of the United States above the age of twenty-one years, and and all male persons of foreign birth over said age who shall have twelve months prior thereto declared their intention to become citizens of the United States, as now required by law, who are actual residents at the time of the passage of this act of that portion of said territory, which was declared by the proclamation of the President to be open for settlement on the twenty-second day of April, anno Domini eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and of that portion of said territory heretofore known as the Public Land Strip, shall be entitled to vote at the first elec- tion in the territory. At every subsequent election the qualifica- tions of voters and of holding office shall be such as may be pre- scribed by the legislative assembly, subject, however, to the follow- ing restrictions on the power of the legislative assembly, namely : First, The right of suffrage and of holding office shall be exercised only by citizens of the United States above the age of twenty-one years, and by persons of foreign birth above that age who have declared, on oath, before a competent court of record, as required by the naturalization laws of the United States their intention to become citizens, and have taken oath to support the Constitution
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of the United States, and who shall have been residents of the United States for the term of twelve months before the election at which they offer to vote. Second. There shall be no denial of the elective franchise or of holding office to a citizen on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Third. No officer, soldier, seaman, marine, or other person in the Army or Navy, or attached to troops in the service of the United States, shall be allowed to vote in said territory by reason of being on service therein. Fourth. No person belonging to the Army or Navy shall be elected to, or hold, any civil office or appointment in said territory.
Sec. 6. That the legislative power of the Territory shall extend to all rightful subjects of legislation not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States, but no law shall be passed interfering with the primary disposal of the soil; no tax shall be imposed upon the property of the United States, nor shall the lands or other property of non-residents be taxed higher than the lands or other property of residents, nor shall any law be passed impairing the right to private property, nor shall any unequal discrimination be made in taxing different kinds of property, but all property subject to the taxation shall be taxed in proportion to its value : Provided, That nothing herein shall be held to prohibit the levying and collecting license or special taxes in the Territory from persons engaged in any business therein, if the legislative power shall consider such taxes necessary. Every bill which shall have passed the council and the house of representatives of said Territory shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the governor of the Territory. If he approves he shiall sign it, but if not, he shall return it with his objections to the house in which it originated, who shall enter the objections at large upon their journal and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other houses, by which it shall likewise be recon- sidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house it shall become a law. But in all such cases the vote of both houses shall be de- termined by yeas and nays to be entered on the journal of each house, respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within five days (Sunday excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the assembly by adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.
Sec. 7. That all township, district, and county officers, not . herein otherwise provided for, shall be appointed or elected, as the case may be, in such manner as shall be provided by the governor and legislative assembly of the Territory. The governor shall nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of the council, appoint all officers not herein otherwise provided for, and in the first instance the governor alone may appoint all such officers, who shall hold their offices until the end of the first session of the legislative assembly; and he shall lay off the necessary districts
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for members of the council and house of representatives, and all other officers, and whenever a vacancy happens from resignation or death, during the recess of the legislative council in any office which is filled by appointment of the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the council, the governor shall fill such vacancy by granting a commission, which shall expire at the end of the next session of the legislative council. It is further pro- vided that the legislative assembly shall not authorize the issuing any bond, script, or evidence of debt by the Territory, or any county, city, town, or township therein for the construction of any railroad.
Sec. 8. That no member of the legislative assembly shall hold or be appointed to any office which has been created or the salary or emoluments of which have been increased while he was a member, during the term for which he was elected and for one . year after the expiration of such term, but this restriction shall not be applicable to members of the first legislative assembly pro- vided for by this act; and no person holding a commission or appointment under the United States, except postmasters, shall be a member of the legislative assembly, or shall hold any office under the government of said Territory.
Sec. 9. That the judicial power of said Territory shall be vested in a supreme court, district courts, probate courts, and justices of the peace. The supreme court shall consist of a chief justice and two associate justices, any two of whom shall con- stitute a quorum. They shall hold their offices for four years, and until their successors are appointed and qualified, and they shall hold a term annually at the seat of government of said Ter- ritory. The jurisdiction of the several courts herein provided for, both appellate and original, and that of the probate courts and of the justices of the peace, shall be as limited by law : Provided, That justices of the peace, who shall be elected in such manner as the legislative assembly may provide by law, shall not have jurisdiction of any matter in controversy when the title or boundaries of land may be in dispute, or where the debt or sum claimed shall exceed one hundred dollars; and the said supreme and district courts, respec- tively, shall possess chancery as well as common law jurisdiction and authority for redress of all wrongs committed against the Constitu- tion or laws of the United States or of the Territory affecting persons or property. Said Territory shall be divided into three judicial districts, and a district court shall be held in each county in said district thereof by one of the justices of the supreme court, at such time and place as may be prescribed by law, and each judge after assignment shall reside in the district to which he is assigned. The supreme court shall define said judicial districts, and shall fix the times and places at each county seat in each district where the district court shall be held and designate the judge who shall preside therein. And the territory not embraced in organized counties shall be attached for judicial purposes to such organized county or counties as the supreme court may determine. The
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supreme court of said Territory shall appoint its own clerk, who shall hold his office at the pleasure of the court for which he is appointed. Each district court shall appoint its clerk, who shall also be the register in chancery and shall keep his office where the court may be held. Writs of error, bills of exception, and appeals shall be allowed in all cases from the final decisions of said dis- trict courts to the supreme court under such regulations as may be prescribed by law, but in no case removed to the supreme court shall trial by jury be allowed in said court. Writs of error and appeals from the final decisions of said supreme court shall be allowed and may be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States in the same manner and under the same regulations as from the circuit courts of the United States, where the value of the property or the amount in controversy, to be ascertained by oath or affirmation of either party or other competent witness, shall exceed five thousand dollars; and each of the said district courts shall have and exercise, exclusive of any court heretofore estab- lished, the same jurisdiction in all cases arising under the Con- stitution and laws of the United States as is vested in the circuit and district courts of the United States. In addition to the juris- diction otherwise conferred by this act, said district courts shall have and exercise exclusive original jurisdiction over all offenses against the laws of the United States committed within that por- tion of the Cherokee Outlet not embraced within the boundaries of said Territory of Oklahoma as herein defined, and in all civil cases between citizens of the United States residing in such portion of the Cherokee Outlet, or between citizens of the United States, or of any State or Territory, and any citizen of or person or persons residing or found therein, when the value of the thing in controversy or damages or money claimed shall exceed one hundred dollars; writs of error, bills of exceptions, and appeals shall in all such cases, civil and criminal, be allowed from the district courts to the supreme court in like manner, and be pro- ceeded with in like manner as in cases arising within the limits of said Territory. For all judicial purposes as herein defined such portion of the Cherokee Outlet not embraced within the boundaries of the Territory of Oklahoma shall be attached to, and be a part of, one of the judicial districts of said Territory as may be designated by the Supreme court. All acts and parts of acts heretofore enacted, conferring jurisdiction upon United States courts held beyond and outside the limits of the Territory of Oklahoma as herein defined, as to all causes of action or offenses in said Territory, and in that portion of the Cherokee Outlet here- inbefore referred to, are hereby repealed, and such jurisdiction is hereby given to the supreme and district courts in said Terri- tory ;, but all actions commenced in such courts, and crimes com- mitted in said Territory and in the Cherokee Outlet, prior to the passage of this act, shall be tried and prosecuted, and proceeded with until finally disposed of, in the courts now having jurisdic- tion thereof, as if this act had not been passed. The said supreme
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and district courts of said Territory, and the respective judges thereof, shall and may grant writs of mandamus and habeas corpus in all cases authorized by law; and the first six days of every term of said courts, or so much thereof as shall be necessary, shall be appropriated to the trial of causes arising under said Constitu- tion and laws; and writs of error and appeals in all such cases shall be made to the supreme court of said Territory, as in other cases.
Sec. 10. Persons charged with any offense or crime in the Ter- ritory of Oklahoma, and for whose arrest a warrant has been issued, may be arrested by the United States marshal or any of his deputies, wherever found in said Territory, but in all cases the accused shall be taken, for preliminary examination, before a United States commissioner, or a justice of the peace of the county, whose office is nearest to the place where the offense or crime was com- mitted.
All offenses committed in said Territory, if committed within any organized county, shall be prosecuted and tried within said county, and if committed within territory not embraced in any organized county, shall be prosecuted and tried in the county to which such territory shall be attached for judicial purposes. And all civil actions shall be instituted in the county in which the de- fendant, or either of them, resides or may be found; and when such actions arise within any portion of said Territory, not organized as a county, such actions shall be instituted in the county to which such territory is attached for judicial purposes; but any case, civil or criminal, may be removed, by change of venue, to another county.
Sec. 11. That the following chapters and provisions of the Compiled Laws of the State of Nebraska, in force November first, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, in so far as they are locally applicable, and not in conflict with the laws of the United States or with this act, are hereby extended to and put in force in the Ter- ritory of Oklahoma until after the adjournment of the first session of the legislative assembly of said Territory, namely : the provisions of articles two, three, and four of chapter two, entitled "Agri- culture"; of chapter four, entitled "Animals"; of chapter six, entitled "Assignments"; of chapter seven, entitled "Attorneys"; of chapter ten, entitled "Bonds and oaths-official"; of chapter twelve, entitled "Chattel mortgages"; of chapter fourteen, entitled "Cities of the second class and villages"; of chapter fifteen, en- titled "Common law"; of chapter sixteen, entitled "Corporations"; of chapter eighteen, entitled "Counties and county officers"; of sections fifteen and sixteen of article six of the constitution of said State, and of chapter twenty of said laws, entitled "Courts-pro- bate"; of chapter twenty-three, entitled "Decedents"; of chapter twenty-four, entitled "Deputies"; of chapter twenty-five, entitled "Divorce and alimony"; of chapter twenty-six, entitled "Elec- tions"; of chapter twenty-eight, entitled "Fees"; of chapter thirty- two, entitled "Frauds"; of chapter thirty-four, entitled "Guar- dians and wards"; of chapter thirty-six, entitled "Homesteads";
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of chapter forty-one, entitled "Instruments negotiable"; of chapter forty-four, entitled "Interests"; of chapter forty-six, entitled "Jails"; of chapter fifty, entitled "Liquors"; but no licenses shall be issued under this chapter; of chapter fifty-two, entitled "Marriage"; of chapter fifty-three, entitled "Married women"; of chapter fifty-four, entitled "Mechanics' and laborers' liens"; of chapter sixty-one, entitled "Notaries public"; of chapter sixty- two, entitled "Oaths and affirmations"; of chapter sixty-three, en- titled "Occupying claimants"; of article one of chapter seventy- two, entitled "Railroads"; of chapter seventy-three, entitled "Real estate"; and the provisions of part two of said laws, entitled "Code of civil procedure," and of part three thereof, entitled "Criminal code."
The governor of said Territory is authorized to divide each county into election precincts and into such political sub-divisions other than school districts as may be required by the laws of the State of Nebraska; and he is hereby authorized to appoint all officers of such counties and subdivisions thereof as he shall deem necessary, and all election officers until their election or appoint- ment shall be provided for by the legislative assembly, but not more than two of the judges or inspectors of election in any election pre- cinct shall be members of the same political party, and the candi- dates of each political party who may be voted for at such election may designate one person who shall be present at the counting and canvassing of the votes cast in each precinct.
The supreme and district courts of said Territory shall have the same power to enforce the laws of the State of Nebraska hereby extended to and put in force in said Territory as courts of like jurisdiction have in said State; but county courts and justices of the peace shall have and exercise the jurisdiction which is author- ized by said laws of Nebraska: Provided, That the jurisdiction of justices of the peace in said Territory shall not exceed the sum of one hundred dollars, and county courts shall have jurisdiction in all cases where the sum or matter in demand exceeds the sum of one hundred dollars.
Sec. 12. That jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon the dis- trict courts in the Territory of Oklahoma over all controversies arising between members or citizens of one tribe or nation of Indians and the members or citizens of other tribes or nations in the Territory of Oklahoma, and any citizen or member of one tribe or nation who may commit any offense or crime in said Territory against the person or property of a citizen or member of another tribe or nation shall be subject to the same punishment in the Terri- tory of Oklahoma as he would be if both parties were citizens of the United States; and any person residing in the Territory of Oklahoma, in whom there is Indian blood, shall have the right to invoke the aid of courts therein for the protection of his person or property, as though he were a citizen of the United States : Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be so construed as to give jurisdiction to the courts established in said Territory
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in controversies arising between Indians of the same tribe, while sustaining their tribal relation.
Sec. 13. That there shall be appointed for said Territory a person learned in the law, who shall act as attorney for the United States, and shall continue in office for four years, and until his successor is appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the President. Said attorney shall receive a salary at the rate of two hundred and fifty dollars annually. There shall be appointed a marshal for said Territory, who shall hold his office for four years, and until his successor is appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the President, and who shall execute all process issuing from the said courts when exercising their jurisdiction as circuit and district courts of the United States; he shall have the power and perform the duties and be subject to the same regulations and penalties imposed by law on the marshal of the United States, and be entitled to a salary at the rate of two hundred dollars a year. There shall be allowed to the attorney, marshal, clerks of the supreme and district courts the same fees as are prescribed for similar services by such persons in chapter sixteen, title Judiciary, of the Revised Statutes of the United States.
Sec. 14. That the governor, secretary, chief-justice, and asso- ciate justices, attorney, and marshal shall be nominated and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appointed by the President of the United States. The governor and secretary to be appointed as aforesaid shall, before they act as such, respec- tively take an oath or affirmation before the district judge, or some justice of the peace, or other officer in the limits of said Territory duly authorized to administer oaths and affirmations by the laws now in force therein, or before the Chief-Justice or some associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, to support the Constitution of the United States and faithfully to discharge the duties of their respective offices, which said oaths, when so taken, shall be certified by the person by whom the same shall have been taken; and such certificates shall be received and recorded by the secretary among the executive proceedings, and the, chief-justice and associate justices, and all other civil officers in said Territory, before they act as such, shall take a like oath or affirmation before the said governor or secretary, or some judge or justice of the peace of the Territory, who may be duly com- missioned and qualified, which said oath or affirmation shall be certified and transmitted by the person taking the same to the secretary, to be recorded by him as aforesaid, and afterwards the like oath or affirmation shall be taken, certified, and recorded in such manner and form as may be prescribed by law. The governor shall receive an annual salary of two thousand six hundred dollars as governor ; the chief-justice and associate justices shall receive an annual salary of three thousand dollars, and the secretary shall receive an annual salary of one thousand eight hundred dollars. The said salaries shall be payable quarter-yearly at the
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