The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1860-08-31

which such alteration is proposed to be
made" stood on the statute book when the
Convention assembled at Philadelphia in
1877, and proceeded to form the Constitu-
ton of the United States.
Now, let US examine the main provisions
OF the Jefersonian plan:
LIST. "That the territory ceded or to be coded
by the individual States to the United States,
whenever the same shall have been purchased
of the Indian inhabitants and offered for sale
by the United States, shall be formed into od'
ditional States," etc., etc.
The plan proceeds to designate the bound
aries and territorial extent OF the proposed
" additional States" and then provides:
I'd. 'That the settlers within the territory
so to be purchased and offered for sale shall,
either on their own petition or on the order OF
Congress, receive authority from them, with
appointments of time and place, for their free
males of full age to meet together for the pur-
pose of establishing temporary government
to adopt the constitution and laws OF any one
of these States 1.-THE original States, so that
such laws nevertheless shall be subject to al
iteration by their ordinary legislature; and to
erect, subject to like alteration, counties or
townships for the election of members for their
legislature"
Having thus provided mode by which
the first inhabitants or settlers of the terri
tory may assemble together and choose tor
themselves the constitution and laws of
some one of the original thirteen States, and
declare the same in force for the govern
ment of their territory temporarily, with
the right on the part of the people to change
the same, through their local legislature, as
they may see proper, the plan then proceeds
to point out the mode in which they may
establish for tn smselves " a permanent con-
stitution and government" whenever they
shall have twenty thousand inhabitants, as
follows
50. "That such temporary government only
shall continue in force in any State until it shall
have acquired twenty thousand free inhabit-
ants. when, giving due proof thereof to Con-
gress, they shall receive from them authority,
with appointments of time and place, to cali a
convention of representatives to establish
permanent constitution and government for
themselves"
Having thus provided for the first settlers
"a temporary government in these adj
ditiOnal States" and for a permanent con-
stitution and government when they shall
have acquired twenty thousand inhabitants,
the plan contemplates that they shall con-
tinue to govern themselves as States, having,
as provided in the Virginia deed of cession,
the same rights of sovereignty, freedom,
and independence" in respect to their do
nestle affairs and internal polity, cas- the
other States" until they shall have popu-
Iation equal to the least numerous of the
original thirteen States and in the mean
time shall keep sitting member in Con-
gress, with a right of debating but not of
voting, when they shall be admitted into
the Union on an equal footing with the
other States, as follows:
4th. "That whenever any of the said States
shall have of free inhabitants as many as shall
then be in any one of the least numerous OF
the thirteen original States, such State shall
be admitted by its delegates into the Congress
of the United States on an equal footing with
the said original States."
And
"Until such admission by their delegates
into Congress any of the said States, after the
establishment of their temporary government,
shall have authority to keep sitting member
in Congress, with the right of debating, but
not of voting"
Attached to the provision which appears
in this paper under the third head is a
proviso, containing five propositions, which,
when agreed to and accepted by the people
of said additional States, were to be
formed into charter of compact" and to
remain forever unalterable," except by the
consent of such States as we'll as Of the
United States-to wit j.:
Provided that both the temporary and per-
manent governments be established on these
principles as their basis"
lst-" That they shall forever remain part
of the United States OF America"
ID That in their persons, property and
territory, they shall be subject to the govern.
ment of the United States in Congress assem-
bled, and to the Articles of Confederation in
all those cases in which the original States
shall be so subject" ..
3D.. That they shall be subject to pay a
part of the federal debts contracted, or to be
contracted-to be apportioned on them 10y
and measure by which appointments thereof
shall be made on the other States"
4fh-"That their respective governments
shall be in republican form, and shall admit nc
person to be citizen who holds any heredita
ry title"
The fifth article, which relates to the pro-
hibition of slavery after the year 1900
having been rejected by Congress, never
became part of the Jeffersonian plan Of
government for the territories, as adopted
April %, 1874.
The concluding paragraph of this plan Of
government, which emphatically ignores the
right of Congress to bind the people of the
territories without their consent, and recog.
nizes the people therein as the true source
of all legitimate power in respect to their
internal policy, is in these words:
" That all the preceding articles shall be
formed into charter Of compact, shall be duly
executed by the President of the United States,
in Congress assembled, under his hand and the
seal of the United States, shall be promul-
gated, and shall stand as fundamental condi.
tions between the thirteen original States and
those newly described, unalterable but by the
Joint consent of the United States in Congress
assembled, and of the particular State within
which such alteration is proposed to be made. u
This Jeffersonian plan Of government en-
bodies and carries out the ideas and princi-
pies of the fathers of the Revolution-that
the people of every separate political com.
munity dependent colonies, provinces, and
territories as we'll as sovereign States) have
an inalienable right to govern themselves il
respect to their internal polity and repudi.
ates the dogma OF the British Ministry AND
the Tories Of that day that all colonies, pro
vinces and territories were the property o.
"a La