population of 220,149. They are mostly inhabited by wild tribes of native Indians, but are rapidly being settled up from the states and by foreign emigration. These territories are under the control of Congress, but any of them may be admitted into the Union as states on the same footing as the other states on enumerating a population necessary for one representative in Congress, viz., 124,000.

Each territory is established under the provision that Congress may hereafter divide the same or annex any portion of it to another state or territory. The relation sustained by each of them to the general Government are nearly identical.

The first and second clauses of section third, article fourth, of the Constitution, are the foundations upon which Congress erect and administer the territorial governments, and subsequently admit them into the Union. Under the old confederation no such provision existed; and so little anticipation was had of the growth and prosperity of those wild regions-whose population has since more than trebled the original states-that no provision existed for forming or admitting them. Since the adoption of the Constitution, however, by the thirteen original states, twenty-one new states have been formed out of the territories, and have adopted, assented to, and ratified the Constitution, and become integral parts of the Union-making thirty-four states in all-eight territories still remaining.

The power given by the Constitution to do this is one of the new principles introduced into this system of government, and is perhaps the most anomalous and most influential upon its future destiny of any. Many of the nations of antiquity held immense provinces, which constituted a part of the state, for the purposes of revenue and armies, but were never admitted upon terms of equality, and whose inhabitants were never citizens. The idea of constituting a government, to be increased as to the source of law-by its own colonization, is wholly new. The principle is simply this, that a colony settled upon

an adjacent territory, and within the jurisdiction of the United States, whether it be composed of citizens of the Union or emigrants from foreign nations, shall on enumerating a specific population, be admitted to equal rights, privileges, and powers with the original states. This principle is likewise unlimited in respect to the number, distance, or settlement of the colonies. The consequence is, that the original thirteen states, are left in a minority as to power in that government which they formed, and of which they were the sole possessors. The states thus added were not strictly foreign; at least they were not conquered, but they are just as subversive of the powers of the old states as if they had been taken from foreign countries. In the case of Lousiana, which was pur chased, it was the accession of foreign territory. In the same manner the territory of Florida is an accession from a foreign country; and so also should the government hereafter acquire any district or territory whatever, according to the existing laws, it would first become an organised territory of the United States, and then a state. The term used in the Constitution, however, as to the admission of states, is may, and not shall. Hence, it is not imperative in the government of the United States to admit new states whenever they may demand it. The Constitution has provided for the government of territories, and Congress may undoubtedly keep them as territories.

The power of Congress over the public territory is exclusive and universal, except so far as they are restrained by stipulations in the cessions. This is not the case, however, with merely national property, such as forts and arsenals, where the states have not ceded the jurisdiction in such cases, the jurisdiction of the state continues; subject, however, to the just exercise of the proper powers of the national government.

In the year 1820, upon the admission of Missouri into the Union as a state by an Act of Congress, a question was raised, whether a clause in the Act restricting the admission of slaves into the state was constitutional.

That question was not directly decided, but it was indirectly, by the Act passed, which declared that, in all the territory north of lat. 36 deg. 30 min., not included within the limits of Missouri, slavery and involuntary servitude should for ever be prohibited.

The right of suffrage in the territory is granted to every free white male citizen of the age of twenty-one years. The Governor is appointed for each territory by the President for four years.

The Legislative Assembly of each territory consists of a council and House of Representatives elected by the people.

All laws passed by the Legislatures and approved by the Territorial Governors must be submitted to the National Congress, and if disapproved are null and void.

The Secretary of the Territory is also appointed by the President for four years; also the United States Attorney and Marshall.

The Judiciary of each territory is vested in a supreme court and other inferior courts, from which there is an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States.

The constitution and laws of the United States have the same force within the territories as elsewhere in the United States.

Each territory sends a delegate to the Lower House of the National Congress, who is entitled to speak and debate on all matters in which his territory is interested, but is not entitled to a vote in the House.

Two sections (of 640 acres) of land in each townhip of six miles square are reserved for common schools.

THE PUBLIC LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Since the adoption of the United States Constitution, the public lands owned by the Colonies have been ceded

* Act of Congress, March 6,1820, known as the Missouri compromise. This Act has since been repealed.

to the General Government, and a separate department has been established for their regulation, and a system enacted by congress for their survey and disposal.

The whole public domain is surveyed and divided by parallel lines into "townships" of six miles square or thirty-six square miles. These are again divided by parallel lines exactly one mile apart. These last squares are called "sections," and contain 640 acres, which are again divided into half and quarter sections, and also eighths. These lands are offered for sale at the several land offices located in the districts to be sold. The price is fixed at one dollar and a quarter per acre. The purchaser comes in as the assignee of the United States, and receives a patent from the President. There are some fifty different land offices, and from two to three million acres are sold annually.

The Confederate States Government.

ON the 4th day of February, 1861, delegates from the states of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana-which had recently seceded from the United States-met at Montgomery, Alabama, and on the 8th organized the Government of the Confederate States of America, adopted a Constitution, and elected Jefferson Davis as President. The following states have also since seceded from the United States, and joined the Confederacy-viz., Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas, making eleven states in all. Four of these states-viz., Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia-were among the original thirteen colonies which achieved their independence from Great Britain in 1783, and had been living under the national Government of the United States since that period. The other seven states had been organised and admitted into the Union at different times under the Constitution.

It will be seen by a comparison of the Federal and Confederate Constitutions that both are based on the same theory of government—the latter being constructed from the former-and that the Confederate Constitution bears the same relation to the several Confederate States that the Federal Constitution does to the several