The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1845-05-05

o. eiucs anu ohehcos, commtued against inc tdrs Q
llth. Original jurisdiction in all civil cases in law
and equity, whether arising under the laws Of the
said Territory, otherwise, where the sum in con-
troyersy shall amount 500; and in all suits il
which the United States shall be parties, whatever
4 the amount
q 18th Appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases orr
gnatng in the inferior courts of the Territory, what
Y ever may be the amount in controversy.
D 18th, All other jurisdiction of general nature
which pertains to courts of the United States such
and per Sc, wherever they may be holden, and per-
Such were the repositories of the judicial power
in Florida, and such the jurisdiction which perained
to them atand before the act ofhe Sd Of March, 1645
by virtue whereof Florida admitted into the
Union equal footing with the original States in
all respects whatever" II is allimportant to the
tainment Of right results in the premises, that
should know, with all attainabe precision, when
this act takes effect, took effect, upon the existing
government of Florida. Let us inquire, then,
II l. Whether the act admitting Florida into the
Union took effect from and after is passage?
If did, it is plain that the territorial government
of Florida is at end and if the circumstances at
tributed TO the demise of the government have en-
sued its executive, legislative and judicial powers
have shared its fate The very Offices through which
those powers were enforced and felt, are extinct
The very functonaries who mnstered therein, being
Invested OF jurisdiction, void of authority. The
newly created offices not being filed up, void Of
all capacities for business and destitute Of all the
means to enforce authority. Suits prosecutions and
processes abaed by inaction are "without day. in
in court and a suen inleregntm pervades all Flor
ida Chaos, seizng upon the scepre of order, reigns
| in triumph over reason and the laws, and all the
most valued rights of citizenship are under the ca
PRECIOUS and ruthless dominion of the law of the
strongest.
/ If these to be deemed some of the general and
necessary results of aboishing one government be-
fore and until another was constituted to stand in
its stead, and perform its functions, they re-
| suits, of surety, which Congress could neither
have designed nor expected. Its own organic
laws had called the territorial government into
being, and, under .4merican usages, had parceled
out Its jurisdiction to appropriate departments. No
express provision in the act of admission abroeaed
these laws, Instant with its passages and fthey
were not ahrogated then, how are they abrogated
yeti II they stand repealed it is plain that n,plca.
tion has overcome intention, and done it ALL That
intention, Of making the government and its auhor-
~ and jurisdiction survive the passage Of the act
erred to, Is everywhere conspicuous in the act en
tied IAN act supplemental to the act for the admis-
sion of Florida and Iowa into the Union, and for
other purposes" which was rassed on the same dan
with the act to whchit is supplemental and is 9TH
erwise and plainly manifest. Proofs of this are
readily adduced:
LIST. The I'd section proyides-"That all the laws
OF the United States, which not locally inappica-
bic, shall have the force and effect within the
said State OF Florida elsewhere within the United
States"
What laws could those have been which were to |
have force and effect in the Stale, but those which
had previously force and effect" in the Tsrrito,y of
Florida, which could not have been 'localy map
plicable" until the territorial government to which
Congress had made them locally applicable, had
passed away, IN the presence, and by virtue of an
actual change of government, and when most Of
those laws which conferred jurisdiction Gas | shall
show hereater) viii and survive ali changes Of
government in Floridai
I'd. The third section provides for the establish
ment of district court which shall be held in said
district, to consist of one judge &C., &C.. who shall
in all things, have and exercise the same jurisdiction
and powers which by law given to the Judge of
the Kentucky district &c. All this is the language Of
the future and not Of the present. The Judge is to be
appointed. The Jurisdiction and powersn are to
be vested in him. They cannot vest until he is ap.
pointed, and then, and not till then, he sssLan
have and exercise the jurisdiction and powers,
intended to be conferred. And wha. becomes Of
the jurisdiction and powers" ad interim? Are
they IN allegiance. The act does not say So Ii
No reason is assignablc why it should be So No
conflict or repugnancy can arise, unless and until
there are co udicatures IN esse claiming the invest
iture and exercise of the same jurisdiction. No
motive 10 produce an interegnum is attributable to
Congress-no purpose of doing SO is anywhere man
ifest; and in the silence of the laws and where the
motive and the purpose are both wanting it would
be both illogical and visionary to conclude that such
an effect had been wrought. /
nc SIKH SeClIOn provides THAT there shall
be allowed to the Judge aforesaid an annual compen
sation of $1,000, to commence from the date of his a
poinfmef TO be paid quarer-yearly at the treasury
Of the the United Stateso This vests an UNQUALIFIED
discretion in the President and Senate to determine
lchen the appointment shall be made, and allows I
hem an indefinite locus pene,tiG in which to con-
cur and fix their choice; and thus at one and the
same time legalizcs such delays as may intervene
md saves the office and its Jurisdiction from apsng,
Or non-user, adj interim.
4th. The appropriation act, whose passage bears a
wen date with those of the two acts referred S
o, I'D March, l845) provides for the payment d
u the public functionares who administer the terri
oriai OF Florida IN its various departments by vir Il
ne Of previous laws and appointments, until they
hall DC regularly superseded by the organization Of
he substituted State government and Of the newly ii
reated district court Of the United States for the Il
State Of Florida. Il
9TH, In point of fact, Of the disastrous re-
ults attributed TO the inmeddcy with which the act @
vas supposed to take effect from and after its pas
age, have ensued. The old government remains o
full and effective operation All the public off, 81
ers continue to perform the duties and receive the
aares which prior laws prescribed and establish ca
d. The courts are still open to all to enforce their 9,
lghs and redress their wrongs; penalties are still b
Aacteu, ana punishments inflicted, for dsobedence :,
Q the laws; and all submit, and none compain di
Practically, therefore, the act, yet has been with
ut effect and as similar delays attended the en-
rance of all the other new States into the Union :
no no ,ntersgnu'n took place in any, we are bound
conclude that these practical results were at once
oreseen and designed. Both in fact and in mr.. 81
ose, then, the territorial government of Florida
urvves the passage of the act of admission. None
tribute to that measure instantaneous effects upon
ne existing state of things. The government Of at
he Union still maintains and exercises its accus ca
omed authority over the people of Florida. and ri
hey still recognise its power and jurisdiction and wi
abnlt TO its authority We can expect therefore. in
othng less than that this state of things will con-
nue. as it now is, up to the time when the State mi
oyernment shall be organized and put in operation mi
lu consequently that the superior courts with all to-
e branches ofursdction which the analysis have lo
ade IN a previous page enumerates, from No l BIZ
No ID, both inclusive) and assigns to them, lai
III remain unchanged during that interval Our ho
xtinquiry will naturally be: tai
II. w that changes will be wrought In the cx- no
state of things by the actual oresnizaton NJ Tho hs
ate government, and its entrance upon the func- an
2ns assigned to it by its own constitution and hu