ENABLING
ACT FOR
[twenty-fourth
congress, first
session]
An
Act for the admission of the State of
of
the laws of the
Approved,
Whereas,
the people of the Territory of Arkansas did, on the thirtieth
day of January, in the present year, by a convention of delegates called and
assembled for that purpose, form for themselves a constitution
and State government, which constitution and State government, so formed, is
republican: And whereas the number of inhabitants within the said
Territory exceeds forty-seven thousand seven hundred
persons, computed according to the rule prescribed by the Constitution
of the United States; and the said convention have, in their
behalf, asked the Congress of the United States to admit the said Territory
into the Union as a State, on an equal footing with the original
States:
Be
it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That
the State of Arkansas shall be one, and is hereby declared to be one, of the
United States
of America, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with
the original States in all respects whatever; and the said State shall
consist of all the territory included within the following boundaries,
to wit: Beginning in the middle of the main channel of the
Mississippi River, on the parallel of thirty-six degrees north latitude,
running from thence west, with the said parallel of latitude, to the
Saint Francis River; thence up the middle of the main channel of said river to
the parallel of thirty-six degrees, thirty minutes, north;
from thence west to the southwest corner of the State of Missouri;
and from thence to be bounded on the west, to the north bank
of Red River, by the lines described in the first article of the treaty
between the United States and the Cherokee Nation of Indians, west of the
Mississippi, made and concluded at the city of Washington,
on the twenty-sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and twenty-eight; and to be bounded on the
south side of Red River by the Mexican boundary-line, to the northwest
corner of the State of Louisiana; thence east, with the Louisiana
State line, to the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi
River; thence up the middle of the main channel of the said river
to the thirty-sixth degree of north latitude, the point of beginning.
SECTION
2.
And be it further enacted, That until the next general census
shall be taken, the said State shall be entitled to one Represent-tative
in the House of Representatives of the
SECTION
3.
And be it further enacted, That
all the laws of the
SECTION
4.
And be it further enacted, That the said State shall be one judicial
district, and be called the
SECTION
5.
And be it further enacted, That there shall be allowed to the
judge of the said district court the annual compensation of two thousand
dollars, to commence from the date of his appointment, to be
paid quarter-yearly at the Treasury of the United States.
SECTION
6.
And be it further enacted, That there shall be appointed in
the said district a person learned in the law, to act as attorney for the
United States, who shall, in addition to his stated fees, be paid by
the United States two hundred dollars, as a full compensation for
all extra services.
SECTION
7.
And be it further enacted, That a marshal shall be appointed for
the said district, who shall perform the same duties, be subject to the
same regulations and penalties, and be entitled to the same fees, as
are prescribed to marshals in other districts; and he shall, moreover,
be entitled to the sum of two hundred dollars annually, as a compensation for
all extra services.
SECTION
8.
And be it further enacted, That the State or Arkansas is admitted
into the Union upon the express condition, that the people of
the said State shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the public
lands within the said State, nor shall they levy a tax on any of
the lands of the United States within the said State; and nothing in
this act shall be construed as an assent by Congress to all or to any of
the propositions contained in the ordinance of the said convention of
the people of Arkansas, nor to deprive the said State of Arkansas of
the same grants, subject to the same restrictions, which were made to
the State of Missouri, by virtue of an act entitled "An act to authorize
the people of the Missouri Territory to form a constitution and
State government, and for the admission of such State into the Union,
on an equal footing with the original States, and to prohibit slavery in
certain Territories, " approved the sixth day of March, one thousand
eight hundred and twenty.
.
SUPPLEMENTARY
ENABLING ACT FOR
An
Act supplementary to the act entitled, "An act for the admission of the
State of
and
to provide for the due execution of the laws of
the
Approved,
Be
it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That
in lieu of the propositions submitted to
the Congress of the United States, by an ordinance passed by the
convention of delegates at Little Rock, assembled
for the purpose of making a constitution for the State of Arkansas,
which are hereby rejected; and that the following propositions be,
and the same are hereby, offered to the general assembly of the State of
Arkansas, for their free acceptance or rejection, which, if accepted,
under the authority granted to the said general assembly for this purpose, by
the convention which framed the constitution of the said
State, shall be obligatory upon the United States:
First.
That section numbered sixteen in every township, and, when such
section has been sold or otherwise disposed of, other lands equivalent
thereto, and as contiguous as may be, shall be granted to the
State for the use of the inhabitants of such township for the use of
schools.
Second.
That all salt-springs not exceeding twelve in number, with
six sections of land adjoining to each, shall be granted to the said
State, for the use of said State, the same to be selected by the
general assembly thereof on or before the first day of January, one thousand
eight hundred and forty; and the same, when so selected, to
be used under such terms, conditions, and regulations, as the general
assembly of the said State shall direct: Provided, That no salt-spring,
the right whereof is now vested in any individual or individuals,
or which may hereafter be confirmed or adjudged to any individual
or individuals, shall by this section be granted to said State: And
provided, also, That
the general assembly shall never sell or lease
the same, at any one time, for a longer period than ten years, without
the consent of Congress; and that nothing contained in the act
of Congress entitled, "An act authorizing the governor of the Territory
of Arkansas to lease the salt-springs in said Territory, and for
other purposes, " or in any other act, shall be construed to give to the
said State any further or other claim whatsoever, to any salt-springs
or lands adjoining thereto, than to those hereby granted.
Third.
That five per cent of the net proceeds of the sale of lands lying
within the said State, and which shall be sold by Congress from and
after the first day of July next, after deducting all expenses incident
to the same, shall be reserved for making public roads and canals within the
said State, under the direction of the general assembly
thereof.
Fourth.
That a quantity of land not exceeding five sections be, and the
same is hereby, granted to the said State, in addition to the ten sections
which have already been granted, for the purpose of completing
the public buildings of the said State, at Little Rock; which said five
sections shall, under the direction of the general assembly of said State,
be located, at any time, in legal divisions of not less than one quarter-section,
in such townships and ranges as the general assembly aforesaid
may select, on any of the unappropriated lands of
the United
States within the said State.
Fifth.
That the two entire townships of land which have already been
located by virtue of the act entitled "An act concerning a seminary
of learning in the Territory of Arkansas, " approved the second of
March, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven, are hereby vested in, and
confirmed to, the general assembly of the said State, to be
appropriated solely to the use of such seminary by the general assembly:
Provided, That the five foregoing propositions herein offered
are on the condition that the general assembly or legislature of the said
State, by virtue of the powers conferred upon it by the convention
which framed the constitution of the said State, shall provide, by an
ordinance irrevocable without the consent of the United States,
that the said general assembly of said State shall never interfere
with the primary disposal of the soil within the same by the United
States, nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for
securing the title in such soil to the bona-fide purchasers thereof;
and that no tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States;
and that in no case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than
residents; and that the bounty-lands granted, or hereafter
to be granted, for military services during the late war, shall, whilst
they continue to be held by the patentees or their heirs, remain exempt
from any tax laid by order or under the authority of the State,
whether for State, county, township, or any other purpose, for the
term of three years from and after the date of the patents respectively.
ORDINANCE
OF
ACCEPTANCE BY
Be
it ordained by the general assembly of the State of Arkansas, By
virtue of the authority vested in said general assembly by the provisions
of the ordinance adopted by the convention of delegates assembled
at Little Rock, for the purpose of forming a constitution and system
of government for said State, that the propositions set forth in
"An act supplementary to the act entitled 'An act for the admission of
the State of Arkansas into the Union, and to provide for the due execution of
the laws of the United States within the same, and for other purposes, '' be,
and the same are hereby, freely accepted, ratified, and irrevocably
confirmed, as articles of compact and union between the State of Arkansas and
the United States.
And
be it further ordained by the authority aforesaid, That
the general
assembly of the State of Arkansas shall never interfere, without
the consent of the United States, with the primary disposal of the soil
within said State, owned by the United States, nor with any regulations
Congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the
bona--fide purchasers thereof; and that no tax shall be imposed
on lands the properly of the United States; and that in no case
shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than resident; and
that the bounty-lands granted, or hereafter to be granted, for military
services during the late war, shall, while they continue to be
held by the patentees or their heirs, remain exempt from any tax laid by
order, or under the authority, of the State, whether for State, county,
township, or any other purpose, for the term of three years from and after the
date of the patents respectively.
Approved,