Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the house of representatives shall be composed of members elected every second year by the people of the said territory, to serve for two years. For every five hundred free white male inhabitants there shall be one representative, and so on progressively with the number of free white male inhabitants shall the right of representation increase until the number of the representatives shall amount to twenty-five, after which the number and proportion of representatives shall be regulated by the general assembly. No person shall be eligible or qualified to be a representative, who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-one years, and who shall not have resided in the territory one year next preceding the day of election, and who shall not be a freeholder within the county in which he may be elected; and no person holding an office under the United States or an office of profit under the territory shall be a representative. In case of vacancy by death, resignation, removal or otherwise of a representative, the governor shall issue a writ to the county, whenever a vacancy may be as aforesaid, to elect another person to serve the residue of the term. That all free white male citizens of the United States,. above the age of twenty-one years, who have resided in said territory twelve months next preceding an election, and who shall have paid a territorial or county tax, assessed at least six months previous thereto, shall be entitled to vote for representatives to the general assembly of said territory.

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That in order to carry the same into operation, the governor of the said territory shall cause to be elected thirteen representatives, and for that purpose shall proceed, as circumstances may require, to lay off the parts of the said territory to which the Indian title hath been extinguished, into convenient counties, on or before the first Monday in October next, and give notice thereof throughout the same, and shall appoint the most convenient time and place within each of the said counties for holding the elections, and shall nominate a proper officer or officers to

preside at and conduct the same, and to return to him the names of the persons who shall have been elected. All subsequent elections shall be regulated by the general assembly, and the number of representatives shall be determined and the apportionment made in the manner herein before prescribed.

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the representatives elected as aforesaid, shall be convened by the governor in the town of St. Louis on the first Monday in December next; and the first general assembly shall be convened by the governor, as soon as may be convenient, at St. Louis, after the members of the legislative council shall be appointed and commissioned. The general assembly shall meet once in each year, at St. Louis, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December annually, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. The legislative council and the house of representatives, when assembled, shall each choose a speaker and its other officers, and determine the rules of its proceedings. Each house shall sit on its own adjournments from day to day. Neither house shall during the session, without consent of the other, adjourn for more than two days, nor to any other place than that where the two houses shall be sitting. The members of the general assembly shall, in all cases except treason, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That all and every free white male person who, on the twentieth day of December, in the year one thousand eight hundred and three, was an inhabitant of the territory of Louisiana, and all free white male citizens of the United Sates, who, since the said twentieth day of December, in the year one thousand eight hundred and three emigrated, or who hereafter may emigrate to the said territory, being otherwise qualified according to the provisions of this act, shall be capable to hold any office of honour,

trust or profit, in the said territory, under the United States, or under the said territory, and to vote for members of the general assembly and a delegate to Congress during the temporary government provided for by this act.

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That the judicial power shall be vested in a superior court, and in inferior courts and justices of the peace. The judges of the superior court and . justices of the peace shall hold their offices for the term of four years, unless sooner removed; the superior court shall consist of three judges, who shall reside in the said territory, any two of whom shall constitute a court; the superior courts shall have jurisdiction in all criminal cases, and exclusive jurisdiction in all those that are capital; and original and appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of the value of one hundred dollars; the said judges shall hold their courts at such times and places as shall be prescribed by the general assembly. The sessions of the superior and inferior courts shall continue until all the business depending shall be disposed of, or for such time as shall be prescribed by the general assembly. The superior and inferior courts shall respectively appoint their clerks, who shall be commissioned by the governor, and shall hold their offices during the temporary government of the said territory, unless sooner removed by the court.1

Sec. II. And be it further enacted, That all free male white persons of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have resided one year in the said territory, and are not disqualified by any legal proceeding, shall be qualified to serve as grand or petit jurors in the courts of the said territory; and they shall, until the general assembly thereof shall otherwise direct, be selected in such manner as the said courts shall respec

1 By the act of January 27th, 1814, provision was made for an additional judge for the Territory of Missouri, who was to possess and exercise within the limits of the District of Arkansas such jurisdiction as had been previously possessed and exercised in that District by the court of common pleas and by the superior court of the Territory.-U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. III., p. 95.

tively prescribe, so as to be most conducive to an impartial trial, and least burthensome to the inhabitants of the said territory.

Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That the governor, secretary and judges for the territory of Missouri, authorized by this act, and all general officers of the militia, during the temporary government thereof, shall be appointed and commissioned by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; and the governor, secretary and judges shall respectively receive for their services the compensations established by law, to be paid quarter yearly out of the treasury of the United States; the governor, secretary, judges, members of the legislative council, members of the house of representatives, justices of the peace, and all other officers civil and military, before they enter on the duties of their respective offices, shall take an oath or affirmation to support the constitution of the United States, and for the faithful discharge of the duties of their office; the governor before a judge of the supreme or a district court of the United States, or a judge of the said territory; the secretary and judges before the governor; the members of the legislative council and house of representatives before a judge of the said territory; and the justices of the peace and all other officers before such person as the governor shall appoint and

direct.

Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That the citizens of the said territory entitled to vote for representatives to the general assembly thereof, shall, at the time of electing their representatives to the said general assembly, also elect one delegate from the said territory to the Congress of the United States; and the delegate so elected, shall possess the same powers, shall have the same privileges and compensation for his attendance in Congress, and for going to and returning from the same, as heretofore have been granted to and provided for a delegate from any territory of the United States.

Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That the people of the

said territory shall always be entitled to a proportionate representation in the general assembly; to judicial proceedings according to the common law and the laws and usages in force in the said territory; to the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus. In all criminal cases the trial shall be by jury of good and lawful men of the vicinage. All persons shall be bailable unless for capital offences where the proof shall be evident or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate, and no cruel or unusual punishment shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his life, liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers and the law of the land. If the public exigencies make it necessary for the common preservation to take the property of any person, or to demand his particular services, full compensation shall be. made for the same. No ex post facto law or law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be made. No law shall be made which shall lay any person under restraint, burthen or disability, on account of his religious opinions, professions or mode of worship, in all which he shall be free to maintain his own, and not burthened for those of another. Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be encouraged and provided for from the public lands of the United States in the said territory, in such manner as Congress may deem expedient.

Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, That the general assembly shall never interfere with the primary 'disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled, nor with any regulation Congress may find necessary to make for securing the title in the bona fide purchasers; no tax shall ever be imposed on lands the property of the United States. The lands of non-resident proprietors shall never be taxed higher than those of residents. The Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and the navigable waters flowing into them, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways and forever free to the people of the said territory and