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Show ' 104 ) (4HAPTER III~ ,.fhe state of Mississippi was designated by the following act of cnn!!,re!'~. Jln rtct to enable the people of the western part of the Mississippi territory to fo>·m a constitu.tion~l and state governn;ent, r:nd for t!w. admission of .such state into the umon on an equalfoottng w'tth the ongtnal states. Be it enacted by the Senate and House 9f Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the inhabitants of the western part of the Mississippi territory be, and they hereby are authorized to form for tbemsel ves a con:osti tutional and state goj vernment, and to assume such name as they shall deem proper; and the said state, when formed, shall be aJmitted into the union upon the same footin~ with tbe original states, in all resrJt-cts whatever. Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, fhat the S(liu state shall consist ~fall t}Je territory incluued within the following boundaries, to wit;Beginning on the Mississippi river at the point where t.he south'em boundary line of .the s.ta,te .of Tennessee strikes the same; thence eas~ along the said boundary line to the Tennessee river ; thence up the ~me to the mouth of Bear <.reek; thence by a direct line to the northlVest corner of the county of Washington ; thence due south to the gulf of Mexico; thence westwardly, including all the islands within ~ix leagm·s of the shore, to the most eastern junction of Pe!2rl river with lake Borgne; thence up ~aiu river to the thirty-first degree of north latttude ; thence west alcng the said degree of latitude to the fdississippi river; thence up the same to the beginning. Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That all free white malfi! citizens of the United States, who shall have arrived at the age of twenty-one year~, and resi~ed in the said territory at least one year previous to the tune of holdmg the el~ction, and shaH have paid a county or terri· t?rial tax, and alJ persons h~vin~ in other respects the JegaJ qualifica~ wn~ to vote for representatives m tlJe general assembly of the said terntory, be, and tbry are hereby authorized to choose representatives to for~ a. convent~cm, w.ho shaJl be apportioned among the respective counttes m the sa1d terntory as f<,Jlows, to wit :-From the county of . Warren, t.wo representatives ; from the county of Claiborne, four re· pr!'.sentataves ; from the county of Jefferson, four representatives ; from t?e county of Adam~, eight representatives; from the county of Frank- 1m? two represeutattves ; from .the county of Wilkinson, six reprei:en· tahves; from the county of Am1te, six representatives · from the coun· ty of Pike,. four representatives ; from the county of Lawrence, two represetJtatJves ; fr~>m the county of Marion, two representatives ; from the county ot Hancock, two reprcseutatives ; from the county of Wayn~, two r~presentati v.es; from the county of Greene, two representat. aves ; from the county of Jackson, two representative.B ; and Jhe elect10n of . the representatives aforesaid, shall be holden ou tb~ first Monday and Tuesday in J nne next throucrhout the several coun· ' -.r· ' 0 EMIGRANT'S riUIDE. ties above mentioned, and shall be conducted in the ssme manner as is prescribed by the laws of s~id territory'. regulating el('ctions there~ in for members of the houa;e ot represerJtattves. Sec. 4. And be it further t:nacted, That the mem~ers of the con~ vention, thus duly elf"cted . be, and they hereby ar~ authorized to m~et at the town of W ashin~tou on the first Munday m .T uly next; wh1ch convPntion, when met. shall fir!-lt detern1ine by a ~1ajority of the. whole number electetl whether it be or be not expechent, at that time, to foruJ a constitu~ion and state government for the people within the said territory : and if it be determined to be expedi~nt, t.be ~onvention 'shall be, anJ hereby are authorized to form a constJtutaon and st<~te crovernrnf'nt :-Provit!ed that the same, when formed, shall be renublican anJ not rer,u~rnant to tbP. principles of the orJinance of the 13t"t h of Ju' ly. J 787, bettw- P,en the people and Gtates o f t he tern. tory northwest of th<" river Ohio, so far as the same has been extendet! to the said territory by the articles of agreement: between the United States and the state of Georgia, or of the constitution of the United States ;-aud providet! also, That the said conven~ion sha~l provide, by an ort!inanc~ irrevocable without t~e consent ot the UmteJ States, that the people inh<lbiting the said terra tory, do agree and declare t~at they for ever disclaim all right or title to the waste and unappropriated lands lying within the said territory, and that the same shaJl be anJ remain at the sole and entire disposition of the United States; and moreover, and each ~nd every tract of land 'sold by congress, shall be and remain exempt from any tax hid by the order or under the authority of the state, whether for state , county, town:,hip. parish, or other purpo!:le whatever, for tbe term of fi've years from and a~ter the respective Jays of the sJies ther~of, and that the lands beJongrng to citizens of the Un itP.d States, n~siding without the said state, shall never be taxed higher than thf:' lands belonging to persons re11iding therein; and that no taxes shall be impo.sed on lands lhe property of the United States, and that the river Mississippi, and the navigable rivers and waters leading into the same, or into the gulf of Mexico~ shall be common highways, ami for ever free, as weiJ to the inhabitants of the said state as to other citizens of the United States, with4 out any tax, duty, impost or toll the refor, imposed by the said state. Sec. 5. And be it further en acted, That fivP. per cent. of the nett pro .. ceeus of the lands lying within the said territory' and which shall be sold by congress from ant! after the first day of December next, after deducting all expenses incident to the same, shall be reserved for making public roads and canals ; of which three-fifths shall be applied to tho. e objects within the said state, under the direction of congress ! Provided, that the application of such proceeds shall not be made until after payment is completed of the one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, due to the state of Georgia in consideration of the cession to the United States, nor until the payment of the stock which has been or shall be created by the act, entitled " An act providmg for the indemnification of certain claimants of publi~ lands in ,the Mississippi territory," sh<lll be completed: And prov1deJ also, That the sa·id five per cent. shall not be calculateJ on any pa.rt .of such rroceeds as shall be applied to tbe payment of the on" ml}hon tw. ) .. • |
