Alaska: Contents Page Treaty of Cessation Territorial Organic Act Statehood Act Constitution
District
Organic Act
An
act providing for a civil government for Alaska
(23
Stat. 24-May 17, 1884)
Be
it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled, That the territory ceded to the United
States by Russia by the treaty of March thirtieth, eighteen hundred and
sixty-seven and known as Alaska, shall constitute a civil and judicial
district, the government of which shall be organized and administered as
hereinafter provided. The temporary seat of government of said district is
hereby established at Sitka.
Authority
and duties of governor
SEC.
2. That there shall be appointed for the said district a governor, who shall
reside therein during his term of office and be charged with the interests of
the United States Government that may arise within said district. To the end
aforesaid he shall have authority to see that the laws enacted for said
district are enforced, and to require the faithful discharge of their duties
by the officials appointed to administer the same. He may also grant reprieves
for offences committed against the laws of the district or of the United
States until the decision of the President thereon shall be made known. He
shall be ex-officio commander-in-chief of the militia of said district, and
shall have the power to call out the same when necessary to the due execution
of the laws and to preserve the peace and to cause all able-bodied citizens of
the United States in said district to enroll and serve as such when the public
exigency demands; and he shall perform generally in and over said district
such acts as pertain to the office of governor of a territory, so far as the
same may be made or become applicable thereto. He shall make an annual report,
on the first day of October in each year, to the President of the United
States, of his official acts and doings, and of the condition of said
district, with reference to its resources, industries, population, and the
administration of the civil government thereof. And the President of the
United States shall have the power to review and to confirm or annul any
reprieves granted or other acts done by him.
Establishment
of district court
SEC.
3. That there shall be, and here is, established a district court for said
district, with the civil and criminal jurisdiction of district courts of the
United States, and the civil and criminal jurisdiction of district courts of
the United States exercising the jurisdiction of circuit courts, and such
other jurisdiction, not inconsistent with this act, as may be established by
law; and a district judge shall be appointed for said district, who shall
during his term of office reside therein and hold at least two terms of said
court therein in each year, one at Sitka, beginning on the first Monday in
May, and the other at;. Wrangel, beginning on the first Monday in November. He
is also authorized and directed to hold such special sessions as may be
necessary for the dispatch of the business of said court, at such times and
places in said district as he may deem expedient, and may adjourn such special
session to any other time previous to a regular session. He shall have the
authority to employ interpreters, and to make allowances for the necessary
expenses of his court.
Clerk of court
SEC.
4. That a clerk shall be appointed for said court, who shall be ex-officio
secretary and treasurer of said district, a district attorney, and a marshal,
all of whom shall during their terms of office reside therein. The clerk shall
record and preserve copies of all the laws, proceedings, and official acts
applicable to said district. He shall also receive all moneys collected from
fines, forfeitures, or in any other manner except from Violations of the torts
laws, and shall apply the same to the incidental expenses of the said district
court and the allowances thereof, as directed by the judge of said court, and
shall account for the same in detail, and for any balances on account thereof,
quarterly, to and under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury. He
shall be ex-officio recorder of deeds and mortgages and certificates of
location of mining claims and other contracts relating to real estate and
register of wills for said district, and shall establish secure offices in the
towns of Sitka and Wrangel, in said district, for the safekeeping of all his
official records, and of records concerning the reformation and establishment
of the present status of titles to lands, as hereinafter directed: Provided,
That the district court hereby created may direct, if it shall deem it
expedient, the establishment of separate offices at the settlements of Wrangel,
Oonalashka. and Juneau City, respectively, for the recording of such
instruments as may pertain to the several natural divisions of said district
most convenient to said settlements, the limits of which shall, in the event
of such direction, be defined by said court; and said offices shall be in
charge of the commissioners respectively as hereinafter provided.
Authority
and duties of commissioners
SEC.
5. There shall be appointed by the President four commissioners in and for the
said district who shall have the jurisdiction and powers of commissioners of
the United States circuit courts in any part of said district, but who shall
reside, one at Sitka, one at Wrangel, one at Oonalashka. and one at Juneau
City. Such commissioners shall exercise all the duties and powers, civil and
criminal, now conferred on justices of the peace under the general laws of the
State of Oregon, so far as the same may be applicable in said district, and
may not be in conflict with this act or the laws of the United States. They
shall also have jurisdiction, subject to the supervision of the district
judge, in all testamentary and probate matters, and for this purpose their
courts shall be opened at stated terms and be courts of record, and be
provided with a seal for the
authentication of their official acts. They shall also have power to grant
writs of habeas corpus for the purpose of inquiring into the cause of
restraint of liberty, which writs shall be made returnable before the said
district judge for said district; and like proceedings shall behad thereon as
if the same had been granted bysaid judge under the general laws of the United
States in such cases. Said commissioners shall also have the powers of
notaries public, and shallkeep a record of all deeds and other instruments of
writing acknowledged before them and relating to the title to or transfer of
property within said district, which record shall be subject to public
inspection. Said commissioners shall also keep a record of all fines and
forfeitures received by them, and shall pay over the same quarterly to the
clerk of said district court. The governor appointed under the provisions of
this act shall, from time to time, inquire into the operations of the Alaska
Seal and Fur Company, and shall annually report to Congress the result of such
inquiries and any and all violations by said company of the agreement existing
between the United States and said company.
Authority of marshal
SEC.
6. That the marshal for said districts hall have the general authority and
powers of the United States marshals of the States and Territories. He shall
be the executive officer of said court, and charged with the execution of all
process of said court and with the transportation and custody of prisoners,
and he shall be ex-officio keeper of the jail or penitentiary of said
district. He shall appoint four deputies, who shall reside severally at the
towns of Sitka, Wrangel, Oonalashka, and Juneau City, and they shall
respectively be ex-officio constables and executive officers of the
commissioners' courts herein provided, and shall have the powers and discharge
the duties of United States deputy marshals, and those of constables under the
laws of the State of Oregon now in force.
General
laws of Oregon made applicable
SEC. 7. That the general laws of the
State of Oregon now in force are
hereby declared to be
the law in said district, so far as the
same may be applicable and not in conflict with the provisions
of this act or the laws of the United
States; and the sentence of imprisonment in any criminal case shall be carried
out by confinement in the jail or penitentiary hereinafter provided for. But
the said district district court shall have exclusive jurisdiction in all
cases in equity or those involving a question of title to land, or mining
rights, or the constitutionality of a law, and in all criminal offenses which
are capital. In all civil cases, at common law, any issue of fact shall be
determined by a jury, at the instance of either party; and an appeal shall lie
in any case, civil or criminal, from the judgement of said commissioners
to the said district court where the amount involved in any civil case
is two hundred dollars or more, and in any criminal case where a fine of more
than one hundred dollars or imprisonment is imposed, upon the filing of a
sufficient appeal bond by the party appealing, to be approved by the court or
commissioner. Writs of error in criminal cases shall issue to the said
district court from the United States circuit court for the district of Oregon
in the cases provided in chapter one hundred and seventy-six of the laws of
eighteen hundred and seventy-nine; and the jurisdiction thereby conferred
upon circuit courts is hereby given to the circuit court of Oregon. And the
final judgements or decrees of said district court may be reviewed by the
Supreme Court of the United States as in other cases.
Creation
of land district
SEC.
8. That the said district of Alaska is hereby created a land district, and a
United States land-office for said district is hereby located at Sitka. The
commissioner provided for by this act to reside at Sitka shall be ex-officio
register of said land-office, and the clerk provided for by this act shall be
ex-officio receiver of public moneys and the marshal provided for by this act
shall be ex-officio surveyor-general of said district and the laws of the
United States relating to mining claims, and the rights incident thereto,
shall, from and after the passage of this act, be in full force and effect in
said district, under the administration thereof herein provided for, subject
to such regulations as may be made by the Secretary of the Interior, approved
by the President: Provided, That the Indians or other persons in said district
shall not be disturbed in the possession of any lands actually in their use or
occupation or now claimed by them but the terms under which such persons may
acquire title to such lands is reserved for future legislation by Congress:
And provided further, That parties who have located mines or mineral
privileges therein under the laws of the United States applicable to the
public domain, or who have occupied or exercised acts of ownership over such
claims, shall not be disturbed therein, but shall be allowed to perfect their
title to such claims by payment as aforesaid: And provided also, That the land
not exceeding six hundred and forty acres at any station now occupied as
missionary stations among the
Indian tribes in said section, with the improvements thereon erected by or for
such societies, shall he continued in the occupancy of the several religious
societies to which said missionary stations respectively belong until
action by Congress. But nothing contained
in this act shall be construed to put in force in said district the general
land laws of the United States.
Appointment
of governor, etc.
SEC.
9. That the governor, attorney, judge, marshal, clerk, and commissioners
provided for in this act shall be appointed by the President of the United
States, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, and shall hold their
respective offices for the term of four years, and until their successors are
appointed and qualified. They shall severally receive the fees of office
established by law for the several offices the duties of which have been
hereby conferred upon them, as the same are determined and allowed in respect
of similar offices under the laws of the United States, which fees shall be
reported to the Attorney-General and paid into the Treasury of the United
States. They shall receive respectively the following annual salaries. The
governor, the sum of three thousand dollars; the attorney, the sum of two
thousand five hundred dollars; the marshal, the sum of two thousand five
hundred dollars; the judge the sum of three thousand dollars, ; and the clerk,
the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars; payable to them quarterly from
the Treasury of the United States. The
District Judge, Marshal, and District Attorney shall be paid their actual,
necessary expenses when traveling in the discharge of their official duties.
A detailed account shall be rendered of
such expenses under oath and as to the marshal and, district attorney such
account shall be approved by the judge, and as to his expenses by the Attorney
General. The commissioners shall receive the usual fees of United States
commissioners and of justices of the peace for Oregon, and such fees for
recording instruments as are allowed by the laws of Oregon for similar
services, and in addition a salary of one thousand dollars each. The deputy
marshals, in addition to
the usual fees of constables in Oregon, shall receive each a salary
of seven hundred and fifty dollars, which salaries shall also be payable
quarterly out of the Treasury of the United States. Each of said officials
shall, before entering on the duties of his office, take and subscribe an oath
that he will faithfully execute the same, which said oath may be taken before
the judge of said district or any United States
district or circuit judge. That all
officers appointed for said district, before entering upon the duties of their
offices, shall take the oaths required by law and the laws of the United
States, not locally inapplicable to said district and not inconsistent with
the provisions of this act are hereby extended thereto; but there shall be no
legislative assembly in said district, nor shall any Delegate be sent to
Congress therefrom. And the said clerk shall execute a bond, with sufficient
sureties, in the penalty of
ten thousand dollars, for the faithful
performance of his duties, and file the same with the Secretary of the
Treasury before entering on the duties of his office; and the commissioners
shall each execute a bond, with sufficient sureties, in the penalty of three,
thousand dollars, for the faithful performance of their duties, and file the
same with the clerk before entering on the duties of their office.
Public
buildings
Printing of general laws
SEC.
11. The the Attorney-General is directed forthwith to compile and cause to be
printed, in the English language, in pamphlet form, so much of the general
laws of the United states as is applicable to the duties of the governor,
attorney, judge, clerk, marshals, and commissioners
appointed for said district, and shall furnish for the use of the
officers of said Territory so many copies as may be needed of
the laws of Oregon applicable to said
district.
Commission
to examine and report on condition of Indians
SEC. 12. That the Secretary of the
Interior shall select two of the officers to be appointed under this act, who,
together with the governor, shall constitute a commission to examine into and
report upon the condition of the Indians residing in said Territory, what
lands, if any, should be reserved for their use, what provision shall be made
for their education, what rights by occupation of settlers should be
recognized, and all other facts that may be necessary to enable Congress to
determine what limitations or
conditions should be imposed when the
land laws of the United States shall be extended to said district; and to
defray the expenses of said commission the sum of two thousand dollars is
hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise
appropriated.
Education of children
SEC.
13. That the Secretary of the Interior shall make needful and proper provision
for the education of the children of school age
in the Territory of Alaska, without reference to race, until such time as
permanent provision shall be made for the same, and the sum of twenty-five
thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary is hereby
appropriated for this purpose.
Intoxicating
liquors
SEC.
14. That the provisions of chapter three, title twenty-three, of the Revised
Statutes of the United States, relating to the unorganized Territory of
Alaska, shall remain in full force, except as herein specially otherwise
provided; and the importation, manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors in
said district except for medicinal, mechanical and scientific purposes is
hereby prohibited under the penalties which are provided in section nineteen
hundred and fifty-five of the Revised Statutes for the wrongful
importation of distilled spirits. And the
President of the United States shall make such regulations
as are necessary to carry out the
provisions of this section.
Approved, May 17, 1884
Alaska: Contents Page Treaty of Cessation Territorial Organic Act Statehood Act Constitution