Iowa capitol reporter. [volume] (Iowa City, Iowa) 1841-1855, 1849-02-21
coNaREss1oNA1
Territory Of Minnesota.

ate proceed 10 Lie consllcIdtiCH VI tHc
bill to establish the Territorial govern
ment of Minnesota; which motion was a
greed to.
The question being upon the engross-
ment Of the bill
MI. KING. I should like to ask the
honorable senator who reported this bill
aquestion. have not myself examined
the case sufficiently to determine what
number Of citizens Of the United States
reside within the limits of the Territory
Mr.. DOUGLAS. / cannot answer the
question definitely, sir. My impression
is that there are now somewhere between
5000 and 10000 people scattered in the
different parts Of the Territory. Most of
them are in one settlement, and then il is
several hundred miles before you come
to many more. Emigrants are pouring
in with great rapidity; and there are al
ready more than the number usual for the
establishment Of Territorial govern
ment.
Mr.. KING. do not intend to throw
any obstacle in the way of extending The
laws of the United States over all our peo-
pie, wherever they be, provided they are
SO congregated that the laws can operate
upon them. But if they are but few in
viduals, scattered over an immense terri
tory, the senator will at once perceive
that it is utterly useless to attempt it. l
do not see any positive necessity for it in
such case, and 1t seems to me utterly i'm
possible to enforce such government.
Mr.. DODGE Of Iowa said the estab-
lishnent of a Territorial government for
the people Of Minnesota was a measure
in which the State that he in part repre-
scented felt the deepest interest. Every
consideration ofjustice and public policy
demanded that this government should ex
tend the segis Of its laws over that dis
tant portion Of the frontier. 1t had been
delayed from time to time until recently
the necessity for government had be-
come urgent. The House of Represen-
tativeS, more than two years since, had
passed, almost unanimously, just such a
bill as that now proposed by the honora-
bic chairman Of the committee on Terri
tories as the organic act for the govern
ment of the Territory Of Minnesota. That
bill had been opposed and defeated in the
Senate upon the most frivolous grounds.
1t was true, as stated by the senator from
Florida, Mr.. Westeott,) that there was a
population amply sufficient to demand a
territorial organization. BY the admis-
sion Of Wisconsin into tie Union as a
State, whole counties, with many -four
ishing towns, had been left without her
borders and without any civil jurisdiction,
unless il was decided that the Oh terrific
rial laws Of Wisconsin were in force
The eyes Of the whole people Of that Sec
ton OF the country are now anxiously
turned to Congress; and shall their long
cherished hopes be again disappointed? /
trust not. hope there will be no fur
Their opposition to measure SO long
needed, and SO important to that young
and rapidly growing community.
Mr.. BUTLER. As understand the
matter, part Of the territory now formed
as Minnesota in the bill before US was part
Of Wisconsin. The boundary Of NIneso-
Ia runs 10 the western side OF lake Supe~
ror: to the St. Croix, and the river forms.
therefore, q very important coln1nunica-
ton. Upon that part of the Territory, |
understand, there are good many inhab-
itants, who probably ought TO haze fallen
within the State Of Wisconsin, They
have formerly been in the same territori-
al organization, and, under The ordinance
Of 1877, ought to have been taken into
that State when it was organized as such.
It is impossible for Congress to retrocede
it, or compel Wisconsin to take it back;
so that now the inhabitants Of that Terri
tory are without law, while they have be-
fore been under the Territorial govern
ment Of Wisconsin. There is, no doubt,
difficulty in it, as with regard to all other
Territories similarly situated beyond the
Mississippi, where there are few settle
ments. The immigration, however, is We
ry rapid, requiring a jurisdiction of this
kind, in order to adjust TIE rights of indi-
v!dua!s living there. There are ten thou
sand inhabitants there, and do not see
how we can withhold frcm them such g
government as they require.
Mr.. KING. l wish the Senate to IN
dcrstand that my object is not to oppose
the organization of a government in Min
esota, provided the number OF inhabitants
there is such as 10 render it proper. /
think the action Of the House OF Repre-
sentatlves was premature. The state
ments made by my honorable friend from
Illinois remove from my mind the obiec-
tons which at first occurred to me. In
asmuch as the settlements are large, as
there 10000 persons there, and as they
are compact, it seems desirable to give
them a government. Whether the machi-
merry Of this bill is what it should be, is
another question. But shall make no
opposition.
Mr.. DODGE. l did not intend to init
mate that the gentleman from Alabama,
{ Mr.. King) was governed by any mar
row or sectional views. He had ALWAYS
regarded that gentleman as statesmen
who scared above anything Of that sort.
and the frontier people have always
viewed him as one Of our best friends.
He speaks of other Territories much
more populous than Minnesota. which are
without government and laws, and ex-
DrPSSeS fears fhot ,.,bo, LII r. a.