serters who are claimed shall appear in the one or the other, they shall be arrested, held in custody, and delivered to the vessel to which they shall belong.

ARTICLE XIV

The United States hereby certify that they have not received any compensation from France for the injuries they suffered from her privateers, Consuls, and tribunals on the coasts and in the ports of Spain, for the satisfaction of which provision is made by this treaty; and they will present an authentic statement of the prizes made, and of their true value, that Spain may avail herself of the same in such manner as she may deem just and proper.

ARTICLE XV

The United States, to give to His Catholic Majesty a proof of their desire to cement the relations of amity subsisting between the two nations, and to favor the commerce of the subjects of His Catholic Majesty, agree that Spanish vessels, coming laden only with productions of Spanish growth or manufactures, directly from the ports of Spain, or of her colonies, shall be admitted, for the term of twelve years, to the ports of Pensacola and St. Augustine, in the Floridas, without paying other or higher duties on their cargoes, or of tonnage, than will be paid by the vessels of the United States. During the said term no other nation shall enjoy the same privileges within the ceded territories. The twelve years shall commence three months after the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty.

ARTICLE XVI

The present treaty shall be ratified in due form, by the contracting parties, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in six months from this time, or sooner if possible.

In witness whereof we, the underwritten Plenipotentiaries of the United States of America and of His Catholic Majesty, have signed, by virtue of our powers, the present treaty of amity, settlement, and limits, and have thereunto affixed our seals, respectively.

Done at Washington this twenty-second day of February, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen.

TEMPORARY GOVERNMENT OF FLORIDA-1819 @

[FIFTEENTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION]

An Act to authorize the President of the United States to take possession of East and West Florida, and establish a temporary government therein.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to take possession of, and occupy, the territories of East and West Florida, and the appendages and appurtenances thereof; and to remove and transport the officers and soldiers of the king of Spain, being there, to the Havana, agreeably to the stipulations of a treaty between the United States and Spain, executed at Washington, on the twentysecond day of February, in the year one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, providing for the cession of said territories to the United States; and he may, for these purposes, and in order to maintain in said territories the authority of the United States, employ any part of the army and navy of the United States, and the militia of any state or territory which he may deem necessary.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That, until the end of the first session of the next Congress, unless provision for the temporary government of said territories be sooner made by Congress, all the military, civil, and judicial, powers, exercised by the officers of the existing government of the same territories, shall be vested in such person and persons, and shall be exercised in such manner, as the President

a For other statutes of an organic nature relating to Florida subsequent to 1819 see the act to protest against occupation of Florida by any other power, joint resolution of January 15, 1811; to authorize the president to occupy Florida, January 15, 1811; tó authorize the president to take possession of certain territory, March 3, 1811; to authorize the president to take possession of West Florida, February 12, 1812 (all these resolutions are printed in Statutes at Large III, 471-472, under year 1818); to establish a government in, act of March 3, 1821; to regulate commerce and trade in, March 30, 1822; to relieve the people from certain ordinances. May 7, 1822; to amend act establishing a government, March 3, 1823: to settle claims arising in, March 3, 1823; to consent to an act of Florida levying a poll-tax, April 22, 1824; to reorganize the courts of, May 26, 1824; to settle land claims and provide for the preservation of public archives, March 3, 1825; to reorganize courts and provide for elective legislative council, May 15, 1826; to provide for erection of election districts, April 28, 1828; to establish a southern judicial district, May 23, 1828; to give citizens right to elect officers, and to apportion members of legislative council, January 21, 1829; to erect a town on school lands, March 2, 1829; to authorize governor to appoint to certain vacancies, May 8, 1830; to alter time of holding sessions of legislative council, May 14, 1830; to elect additional members of the legislative council, March 22, 1832; to fix jurisdiction of court of appeals, July 14, 1832; to equalize representation in, June 18, 1834; to increase salaries of judges, June 30, 1834; repeal of Florida act laying tax on slaves of nonresidents, June 30, 1834; to regulate sessions of courts, February 25, 1836; to disapprove and annul certain acts of legislature of Florida, July 1, 1836; to confirm a Florida act incorporating a railroad. June 28, 1838; to reorganize the legislative council, establishing two houses called senate and house of representatives, July 7, 1838; to authorize legislature to regulate apportionment of representatives, and to provide for popular election of justices of the peace and militia officers, June 15, 1844: to supplement the act for the admission of Florida and Iowa into the union, March 3, 1845.

of the United States shall direct, for the maintaining the inhabitants of said territories in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion; and the laws of the United States, relative to the collection of revenue, and the importation of persons of colour, shall be extended to the said territories; and the President of the United States shall be, and he is hereby, authorized, within the term aforesaid, to establish such districts, for the collection of the revenue, and, during the recess of Congress, to appoint such officers, whose commissions shall expire at the end of the next session of Congress, to enforce the said laws, as to him shall seem expedient.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the sum of twenty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated for the purpose of carrying this act into effect, to be paid out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, and to be applied under the direction of the President of the United States.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect. and be in force, whenever the aforesaid treaty, providing for the cession of said territories to the United States, shall have been ratified by the king of Spain, and the ratifications exchanged, and the king of Spain shall be ready to surrender said territory to the United States, according to the provisions of said treaty. Approved, March 3, 1819.

TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF FLORIDA-1822

[SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION]

An Act for the establishment of a territorial government in Florida «

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all that territory ceded by Spain to the United States, known by the name of East and West Florida, shall constitute a territory of the United States, under the name of the territory of Florida, the government whereof shall be organized and administered as follows:

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the executive power shall be vested in a governor, who shall reside in the said territory, and hold his office during the term of three years, unless sooner removed by the President of the United States. He shall be commanderin-chief of the militia of the said territory, and be ex-officio superintendent of Indian affairs; and shall have power to grant pardons for offences against the said territory, and reprieves for those against the United States, until the decision of the President of the United States thereon shall be made known; and to appoint and commission all officers, civil and of the militia, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

@ This act was amended by acts approved March 23, 1823; May 26, 1824: May 15, 1826; April 28. 1828; January 1, 1829; March 22, 1832; July 14, 1832; and June 18, 1834.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted. That the secretary of the territory shall also be appointed, who shall hold his office during the term of four years, unless sooner removed by the President of the United States; whose duty it shall be, under the direction of the governor, to record and preserve all the papers and proceedings of the executive, and all the acts of the governor and legislative council, and transmit authentic copies of the proceedings of the governor, in his executive department, every six months, to the President of the United States. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That, in case of the death, removal, resignation, or necessary absence, of the governor of the said territory, the secretary thereof shall be, and he is hereby, authorized and required to execute all the powers, and perform all the duties, of the governor, during the vacancy occasioned by the removal, resignation, or necessary absence, of the said governor.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the legislative power shall be vested in the governor, and in thirteen of the most fit and discreet persons of the territory, to be called the legislative council, who shall be appointed annually, by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, from among the citizens of the United States residing there. The governor, by and with the advice and consent of the said legislative council, or a majority of them, shall have power to alter, modify, or repeal the laws which may be in force at the commencement of this act. Their legislative powers shall also extend to all the rightful subjects of legislation; but no law shall be valid which is inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the United States, or which shall lay any person under restraint, burthen, or disability, on account of his religious opinions, professions, or worship; in all which he shall be free to maintain his own, and not burthened with those of another. The governor shall publish, throughout the said territory, all the laws which shall be made, and shall, on or before the first day of December in each year, report the same to the President of the United States, to be laid before Congress, which, if disapproved by Congress, shall thenceforth be of no force. The governor and legislative council shall have no power over the primary disposal of the soil, nor to tax the lands of the United States, nor to interfere with the claims to lands within said territory: the legislative council shall hold a session once in each year, commencing its first session on the second Monday of June next, at Pensacola, and continue in session not longer than two months; and thereafter on the first Monday in May, in each and every year; but shall not continue longer in session than four weeks: to be held at such place in said territory as the governor and council shall direct. It shall be the duty of the governor to obtain all the information in his power in relation to the customs, habits, and dispositions, of the inhabitants of the said territory, and communicate the same, from time to time, to the President of the United States.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the judicial power shall be vested in two superior courts, and in such inferior courts and justices of the peace, as the legislative council of the territory may, from time to time, establish. There shall be a superior court for that part of the territory known as East Florida, to consist of one judge; he shall hold a court on the first Mondays in January, April, July, and October, in each year, at St. Augustine, and at such other times and places

as the legislative council shall direct. There shall be a superior court for that part of the territory known as West Florida, to consist of one judge; he shall hold a court at Pensacola on the first Mondays in January, April, July, and October, in each year, and at such other times and places as the legislative council shall direct. Within its limits, herein described, each court shall have jurisdiction in all criminal cases, and exclusive jurisdiction in all capital cases, and original jurisdiction in all civil cases of the value of one hundred dollars, arising under, and cognisable by, the laws of the territory, now of force therein, or which may, at any time, be enacted by the legislative council thereof. Each judge shall appoint a clerk for his respective court, who shall reside, respectively, at St. Augustine and Pensacola, and they shall keep the records there. Each clerk shall receive for his services, in all cases arising under the territorial laws, such fees as may be established by the legislative council.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That each of said superior courts shall, moreover, have and exercise the same jurisdiction within its limits, in all cases arising under the laws and constitution of the United States, which, by an act to establish the judicial power [courts] of the United States, approved the twenty-fourth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, and "An act in addition to the act, entitled 'An act to establish the judicial courts of the United States," approved the second day of March, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three, was vested in the court of the Kentucky district. And writs of error and appeal from the decisions in the said superior court, authorized by this section of this act, shall be made to the Supreme Court of the United States, in the same cases, and under the same regulations, as from the circuit courts of the United States. The clerks, respectively, shall keep the records at the places where the courts are held, and shall receive, in all cases arising under the laws and constitution of the United States, the same fees which the clerk of the Kentucky district received for similar services, whilst that court exercised the powers of the circuit and district courts. There shall be appointed, in the said territory, two persons learned in the law, to act as attorneys for the United States as well as for the territory; one for that part of the territory known as East Florida, the other for that part of the territory known as West Florida: to each of whom, in addition to his stated fees, shall be paid, annually, two hundred dollars, as a full compensation for all extra services. There shall also be appointed two marshals, one for each of the said superior courts, who shall each perform the same duties, be subject to the same regulations and penalties, and be entitled to the same fees, to which marshals in other districts are entitled for similar services; and shall, in addition, be paid the sum of two hundred dollars, annually, as a compensation for all extra services.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the governor, secretary, judges of the superior courts, district attorneys, marshals, and all general officers of the militia, shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. All judicial officers shall hold their offices for the term of four years, and no longer. The governor, secretary, judges, members of the legislative council, justices of the peace, and all other officers, civil and of the militia, before they enter upon the duties of their respective.