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ENABLING ACT
AN ACT to provide for the division of Dakota into two States and to enable
the people of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington
to form constitutions and State governments and to be admitted into
the Union on an equal footing with the original States, and to make
donations of public lands to such States.
(Approved February 22, 1889.) [25 U.S. Statutes at Large, c 180 p 676.]
[President’s proclamation declaring Washington a state: 26 St. at Large,
Proclamations, p 10, Nov. 11, 1889.]
persons resident in said proposed States, who are qualified
voters of said Territories as herein provided, shall be entitled
to vote upon the election of delegates, and under such rules
and regulations as said conventions may prescribe, not in
conflict with this act, upon the ratification or rejection of the
constitutions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That the inhabitants of all that part of the area of the United
States now constituting the Territories of Dakota, Montana,
and Washington, as at present described, may become the
States of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and
Washington, respectively, as hereinafter provided.
SEC. 4. That the delegates to the conventions elected as
provided for in this act shall meet at the seat of government
of each of said Territories, except the delegates elected in
South Dakota, who shall meet at the city of Sioux Falls, on
the fourth day of July, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine,
and, after organization, shall declare, on behalf of the people
of said proposed States, that they adopt the Constitution of
the United States; whereupon the said conventions shall be,
and are hereby, authorized to form constitutions and States
governments for said proposed states, respectively. The
constitutions shall be republican in form, and make no
distinction in civil or political rights on account of race or
color, except as to Indians not taxed, and not be repugnant
to the Constitution of the United States and the principles of
the Declaration of Independence. And said conventions shall
provide, by ordinances irrevocable without the consent of the
United States and the people of said States:
First. That perfect toleration of religious sentiment shall
be secured and that no inhabitant of said States shall ever be
molested in person or property on account of his or her
mode of religious worship.
Second. That the people inhabiting said proposed States
do agree and declare that they forever disclaim all right and
title to the unappropriated public lands lying within the
boundaries thereof, and to all lands lying within said limits
owned or held by any Indian or Indian tribes; and that until
the title thereto shall have been extinguished by the United
States, the same shall be and remain subject to the disposition of the United States, and said Indian lands shall remain
under the absolute jurisdiction and control of the Congress
of the United States; that the lands belonging to citizens of
the United States residing without the said States shall never
be taxed at a higher rate than the lands belonging to residents thereof; that no taxes shall be imposed by the States on
lands or property therein belonging to or which may hereafter be purchased by the United States or reserved for its use.
But nothing herein, or in the ordinances herein provided for,
shall preclude the said States from taxing as other lands are
taxed any lands owned or held by any Indian who has
severed his tribal relations, and has obtained from the United
States or from any person a title thereto by patent or other
grant, save and except such lands as have been or may be
granted to any Indian or Indians under any act of Congress
containing a provision exempting the lands thus granted from
taxation; but said ordinances shall provide that all such lands
shall be exempt from taxation by said States so long and to
such extent as such act of Congress may prescribe.
Third. That the debts and liabilities of said Territories
shall be assumed and paid by said States, respectively.
Fourth. That provision shall be made for the establishment and maintenance of systems of public schools, which
SEC. 2. The area comprising the Territory of Dakota
shall, for the purposes of this act, be divided on the line of
the seventh standard parallel produced due west to the
western boundary of said Territory; and the delegates elected
as hereinafter provided to the constitutional convention in
districts north of said parallel shall assemble in convention,
at the time prescribed in this act, at the city of Bismarck;
and the delegates elected in districts south of said parallel
shall, at the same time, assemble in convention at the city of
Sioux Falls.
SEC. 3. That all persons who are qualified by the laws
of said Territories to vote for representatives to the legislative assemblies thereof, are hereby authorized to vote for and
choose delegates to form conventions in said proposed
States; and the qualifications for delegates to such conventions shall be such as by the laws of said Territories respectively persons are required to possess to be eligible to the
legislative assemblies thereof; and the aforesaid delegates to
form said conventions shall be apportioned within the limits
of the proposed States, in such districts as may be established as herein provided, in proportion to the population in
each of said counties and districts, as near as may be, to be
ascertained at the time of making said apportionments by the
persons hereinafter authorized to make the same, from the
best information obtainable, in each of which districts three
delegates shall be elected, but no elector shall vote for more
than two persons for delegates to such conventions; that said
apportionments shall be made by the governor, the
chief-justice, and the secretary of said Territories; and the
governors of said Territories shall, by proclamation, order an
election of the delegates aforesaid in each of said proposed
States, to be held on the Tuesday after the second Monday
in May, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, which proclamation shall be issued on the fifteenth day of April, eighteen
hundred and eighty-nine; and such election shall be conducted, the returns made, the result ascertained, and the certificates to persons elected to such convention issued in the
same manner as is prescribed by the laws of the said
Territories regulating elections therein for Delegates to
Congress; and the number of votes cast for delegates in each
precinct shall also be returned. The number of delegates to
said conventions respectively shall be seventy-five; and all
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shall be open to all the children of said States, and free from
sectarian control.
SEC. 5. That the convention which shall assemble at
Bismarck shall form a constitution and State government for
a State to be known as North Dakota, and the convention
which shall assemble at Sioux Falls shall form a constitution
and State government for a State to be known as South
Dakota: Provided, That at the election for delegates to the
constitutional convention in South Dakota, as hereinbefore
provided, each elector may have written or printed on his
ballot the words "For the Sioux Falls constitution," or the
words "Against the Sioux Falls constitution," and the votes
on this question shall be returned and canvassed in the same
manner as for the election provided for in section three of
this act; and if a majority of all votes cast on this question
shall be "for the Sioux Falls constitution" it shall be the duty
of the convention which may assemble at Sioux Falls, as
herein provided, to resubmit to the people of South Dakota,
for ratification or rejection at the election hereinafter
provided for in this act, the constitution framed at Sioux
Falls and adopted November third, eighteen hundred and
eighty-five, and also the articles and propositions separately
submitted at the election, including the question of locating
the temporary seat of government, with such changes only
as relate to the name and boundary of the proposed State, to
the re-apportionment of the judicial and legislative districts,
and such amendments as may be necessary in order to
comply with the provisions of this act; and if a majority of
the votes cast on the ratification or rejection of the constitution shall be for the constitution irrespective of the articles
separately submitted, the State of South Dakota shall be
admitted as a State in the Union under said constitution as
hereinafter provided; but the archives, records, and books of
the Territory of Dakota shall remain at Bismarck, the capital
of North Dakota, until an agreement in reference thereto is
reached by said States. But if at the election for delegates to
the constitutional convention in South Dakota a majority of
all the votes cast at that election shall be "against the Sioux
Falls constitution", then and in that event it shall be the duty
of the convention which will assemble at the city of Sioux
Falls on the fourth day of July, eighteen hundred and
eighty-nine, to proceed to form a constitution and State
government as provided in this act the same as if that
question had not been submitted to a vote of the people of
South Dakota.
SEC. 6. It shall be the duty of the constitutional
conventions of North Dakota and South Dakota to appoint a
joint commission, to be composed of not less than three
members of each convention, whose duty it shall be to
assemble at Bismarck, the present seat of government of said
Territory, and agree upon an equitable division of all
property belonging to the Territory of Dakota, the disposition
of all public records, and also adjust and agree upon the
amount of the debts and liabilities of the Territory, which
shall be assumed and paid by each of the proposed States of
North Dakota and South Dakota; and the agreement reached
respecting the Territorial debts and liabilities shall be
incorporated in the respective constitutions, and each of said
States shall obligate itself to pay its proportion of such debts
and liabilities the same as if they had been created by such
States respectively.
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SEC. 7. If the constitutions formed for both North
Dakota and South Dakota shall be rejected by the people at
the elections for the ratification or rejection of their respective constitutions as provided for in this act, the Territorial
government of Dakota shall continue in existence the same
as if this act had not been passed. But if the constitution
formed for either North Dakota or South Dakota shall be
rejected by the people, that part of the Territory so rejecting
its proposed constitution shall continue under the Territorial
government of the present Territory of Dakota, but shall,
after the State adopting its constitution is admitted into the
Union, be called by the name of the Territory of North
Dakota or South Dakota, as the case may be: Provided,
That if either of the proposed States provided for in this act
shall reject the constitution which may be submitted for
ratification or rejection at the election provided therefor, the
governor of the Territory in which such proposed constitution was rejected shall issue his proclamation reconvening
the delegates elected to the convention which formed such
rejected constitution, fixing the time and place at which said
delegates shall assemble; and when so assembled they shall
proceed to form another constitution or to amend the rejected
constitution, and shall submit such new constitution or
amended constitution to the people of the proposed State for
ratification or rejection, at such time as said convention may
determine; and all the provisions of this act, so far as
applicable, shall apply to such convention so reassembled
and to the constitution which may be formed, its ratification
or rejection, and to the admission of the proposed State.
SEC. 8. That the constitutional convention which may
assemble in South Dakota shall provide by ordinance for
resubmitting the Sioux Falls constitution of eighteen hundred
and eighty-five, after having amended the same as provided
in section five of this act, to the people of South Dakota for
ratification or rejection at an election to be held therein on
the first Tuesday in October, eighteen hundred and
eighty-nine; but if said constitutional convention is authorized and required to form a new constitution for South
Dakota it shall provide for submitting the same in like
manner to the people of South Dakota for ratification or
rejection at an election to be held in said proposed State on
the said first Tuesday in October. And the constitutional
conventions which may assemble in North Dakota, Montana,
and Washington shall provide in like manner for submitting
the constitutions formed by them to the people of said
proposed States, respectively, for ratification or rejection at
elections to be held in said proposed States on the said first
Tuesday in October. At the elections provided for in this
section the qualified voters of said proposed States shall vote
directly for or against the proposed constitutions, and for or
against any articles or propositions separately submitted.
The returns of said elections shall be made to the secretary
of each of said Territories, who with the governor and
chief-justice thereof, or any two of them, shall canvass the
same; and if a majority of the legal votes cast shall be for
the constitution the governor shall certify the result to the
President of the United States, together with a statement of
the votes cast thereon and upon separate articles or propositions, and a copy of said constitution, articles, propositions,
and ordinances. And if the constitutions and governments of
said proposed States are republican in form, and if all the
provisions of this act have been complied with in the
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formation thereof, it shall be the duty of the President of the
United States to issue his proclamation announcing the result
of the election in each, and thereupon the proposed States
which have adopted constitutions and formed State governments as herein provided shall be deemed admitted by
Congress into the Union under and by virtue of this act on
an equal footing with the original States from and after the
date of said proclamation.
SEC. 9. That until the next general census, or until
otherwise provided by law, said States shall be entitled to
one Representative in the House of Representatives of the
United States, except South Dakota, which shall be entitled
to two; and the Representatives to the fifty-first Congress,
together with the governors and other officers provided for
in said constitutions, may be elected on the same day of the
election for the ratification or rejection of the constitutions;
and until said State officers are elected and qualified under
the provisions of each constitution and the States, respectively, are admitted into the Union, the Territorial officers shall
continue to discharge the duties of their respective offices in
each of said Territories.
SEC. 10. That upon the admission of each of said States
into the Union sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in
every township of said proposed States, and where such
sections, or any parts thereof, have been sold or otherwise
disposed of by or under the authority of any act of Congress,
other lands equivalent thereto, in legal subdivisions of not
less than one-quarter section, and as contiguous as may be
to the section in lieu of which the same is taken, are hereby
granted to said States for the support of common schools,
such indemnity lands to be selected within said States in
such manner as the legislature may provide, with the
approval of the Secretary of the Interior: Provided, That the
sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections embraced in permanent
reservations for national purposes shall not, at any time, be
subject to the grants nor to the indemnity provisions of this
act, nor shall any lands embraced in Indian, military, or
other reservations of any character be subject to the grants
or to the indemnity provisions of this act until the reservation shall have been extinguished and such lands be restored
to, and become a part of, the public domain.
SEC. 11. That all lands herein granted for educational
purposes shall be disposed of only at public sale, and at a
price not less than ten dollars per acre, the proceeds to
constitute a permanent school fund, the interest of which
only shall be expended in the support of said schools. But
said lands may, under such regulations as the legislatures
shall prescribe, be leased for periods of not more than five
years, in quantities not exceeding one section to any one
person or company; and such land shall not be subject to
pre-emption, homestead entry, or any other entry under the
land laws of the United States, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, but shall be reserved for school purposes only.
Reviser’s note: Section 11 has at various times been amended by
Congress as follows:
(1) August 11, 1921:
AN ACT To amend an Act approved February 22, 1889, entitled "An
Act to provide for the division of Dakota into two States and to enable the
people of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington to form
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constitutions and State governments, and to be admitted into the Union on
an equal footing with the original States, and to make donations of public
lands to such States."
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 11 of the Act
entitled "An Act to provide for the division of Dakota into two States and
to enable the people of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and
Washington to form constitutions and State governments, and to be admitted
into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, and to make
donations of public lands to such States," approved February 22, 1889, be,
and the same hereby is, amended by adding the following: Provided,
however, That the State may, upon such terms as it may prescribe, grant
such easements or rights in such lands as may be acquired in, to, or over the
lands of private properties through proceedings in eminent domain: And
provided further, That any of such granted lands found, after title thereto
has vested in the State, to be mineral in character, may be leased for a
period not longer than twenty years upon such terms and conditions as the
legislature may prescribe. [42 U.S. Statutes at Large, c 61 p 158. Approved,
August 11, 1921.]
(2) May 7, 1932:
AN ACT To amend section 11 of the Act approved February 22, 1889
(25 Stat. 676), relating to the admission into the Union of the States of
North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 11 of the Act
approved February 22, 1889 (25 Stat. 676), be, and the same is hereby,
amended to read as follows:
"That all lands granted by this Act shall be disposed of only at public
sale after advertising - tillable lands capable of producing agricultural crops
for not less than $10 per acre and lands principally valuable for grazing
purposes for not less than $5 per acre. Any of the said lands may be exchanged for other lands, public or private, of equal value and as near as
may be of equal area, but if any of the said lands are exchanged with the
United States such exchange shall be limited to surveyed, nonmineral,
unreserved public lands of the United States within the State.
"The said lands may be leased under such regulations as the legislature
may prescribe; but leases for grazing and agricultural purposes shall not be
for a term longer than five years; mineral leases, including leases for
exploration for oil and gas and the extraction thereof, for a term not longer
than twenty years; and leases for development of hydroelectric power for a
term not longer than fifty years.
"The State may also, upon such terms as it may prescribe, grant such
easements or rights in any of the lands granted by this Act, as may be
acquired in privately owned lands through proceedings in eminent domain:
Provided, however, That none of such lands, nor any estate or interest
therein, shall ever be disposed of except in pursuance of general laws
providing for such disposition, nor unless the full market value of the estate
or interest disposed of, to be ascertained in such manner as may be provided
by law, has been paid or safely secured to the State.
"With the exception of the lands granted for public buildings, the
proceeds from the sale and other permanent disposition of any of the said
lands and from every part thereof, shall constitute permanent funds for the
support and maintenance of the public schools and the various State
institutions for which the lands have been granted. Rentals on leased lands,
interest on deferred payments on lands sold, interest on funds arising from
these lands, and all other actual income, shall be available for the maintenance and support of such schools and institutions. Any State may,
however, in its discretion, add a portion of the annual income to the
permanent funds.
"The lands hereby granted shall not be subject to preemption,
homestead entry, or any other entry under the land laws of the United States
whether surveyed or unsurveyed, but shall be reserved for the purposes for
which they have been granted."
SEC. 2. Anything in the said Act approved February 22, 1889,
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed. [47 U.S.
Statutes at Large c 172 p 150. Approved, May 7, 1932.]
(3) June 25, 1938:
AN ACT To increase the period for which leases may be made for
grazing and agricultural purposes of public lands donated to the States of
North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington by the Act of
February 22, 1889, as amended.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That so much of the
second paragraph of section 11 of the Act relating to the admission into the
Union of the States of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and
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Washington, approved February 22, 1889, as amended, as reads "but leases
for grazing and agricultural purposes shall not be for a term longer than five
years", is amended to read as follows: "but leases for grazing and
agricultural purposes shall not be for a term longer than ten years". [52 U.
S. Statutes at Large c 700 p 1198. Approved, June 25, 1938.]
(4) April 13, 1948:
AN ACT To authorize the States of Montana, North Dakota, South
Dakota, and Washington to lease their State lands for production of
minerals, including leases for exploration for oil, gas, and other hydrocarbons and the extraction thereof, for such terms of years and on such
conditions as may be from time to time provided by the legislatures of the
respective States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled: That the second paragraph
of section 11 of the Act relating to the admission into the Union of the
States of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington, approved
February 22, 1889, as amended, is amended to read as follows: "Except as
otherwise provided herein, the said lands may be leased under such
regulations as the legislature may prescribe. Leases for the production of
minerals, including leases for exploration for oil, gas, and other hydrocarbons and the extraction thereof, shall be for such term of years and on such
conditions as may be from time to time provided by the legislatures of the
respective States; leases for grazing and agricultural purposes shall be for
a term not longer than ten years; and leases for development of hydroelectric power shall be for a term not longer than fifty years." [62 U.S. Statutes
at Large c 183 p 170. Approved April 13, 1948.]
(5) June 28, 1952:
AN ACT To authorize each of the States of North Dakota, South
Dakota, and Washington to pool moneys derived from lands granted to it
for public schools and various State institutions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the fourth paragraph
of section 11 of the Act relating to the admission into the Union of the
States of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington, approved
February 22, 1889, as amended (47 Stat. 151), is amended by adding at the
end thereof the following: "Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of
this section, each of the States of North Dakota, South Dakota, and
Washington may pool the moneys received by it from oil and gas and other
mineral leasing of said lands. The moneys so pooled shall be apportioned
among the public schools and the various State institutions in such manner
that the public schools and each of such institutions shall receive an amount
which bears the same ratio to the total amount apportioned as the number
of acres (including any that may have been disposed of) granted for such
public schools or for such institutions bears to the total number of acres
(including any that may have been disposed of) granted by this Act. Not
less than 50 per centum of each such amount shall be covered into the
appropriate permanent fund." [66 U.S. Statutes at Large c 480 p 283.
Approved June 28, 1952.]
(6) May 31, 1962:
AN ACT To amend the Act admitting the State of Washington into
the Union in order to authorize the use of funds from the disposition of
certain lands for the construction of State charitable, educational, penal, or
reformatory institutions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Act entitled "An
Act to provide for the division of Dakota into two States and to enable the
people of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington to form
constitutions and State governments and to be admitted into the Union on
an equal footing with the original States and to make donations of public
lands to such States", approved February 22, 1889 (25 Stat. 676, as
amended), is amended by inserting before the period at the end of the first
sentence in the fourth paragraph of section 11 a comma and the following:
"except that proceeds from the sale and other permanent disposition of the
two hundred thousand acres granted to the State of Washington for State
charitable, educational, penal, and reformatory institutions may be used by
such State for the construction of any such institution". [Public Law
87-473. 76 U.S. Statutes at Large p 91. Approved May 31, 1962.]
(7) June 30, 1967:
AN ACT To authorize the States of North Dakota, South Dakota,
Montana, and Washington to use the income from certain lands for the
construction of facilities for State charitable, educational, penal, and
reformatory institutions.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the second sentence
of the fourth paragraph of section 11 of the Act entitled "An Act to provide
for the division of Dakota into two States and to enable the people of North
Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington to form constitutions and
State governments and to be admitted into the Union on an equal footing
with the original States, and to make donations of public lands to such
States", approved February 22, 1889 (25 Stat. 676), as amended, is amended
to read as follows: "Rentals on leased land, proceeds from the sale of
timber and other crops, interest on deferred payments on land sold, interest
on funds arising from these lands, and all other actual income, shall be
available for the acquisition and construction of facilities, including the
retirement of bonds authorized by law for such purposes, and for the
maintenance and support of such schools and institutions." [Public Law
90-41. 81 U.S. Statutes at Large p 106. Approved June 30, 1967.]
(8) October 16, 1970:
AN ACT To amend section 11 of the Act approved February 22, 1889
(25 Stat. 676) as amended by the Act of May 7, 1932 (47 Stat. 150), and
as amended by the Act of April 13, 1948 (62 Stat. 170) relating to the
admission to the Union of the States of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the second sentence
of the first paragraph of section 11 of the Act approved February 22, 1889
(25 Stat. 676), as amended by the Act of May 7, 1932 (47 Stat. 150), is
hereby amended to read as follows:
"Any of the said lands may be exchanged for other lands, public or
private, of equal value and as near as may be of equal area, but if any of the
said lands are exchanged with the United States such exchange shall be
limited to Federal lands that are surveyed, nonmineral, unreserved public
lands within the State, or are reserved public lands within the State that are
subject to exchange under the laws governing the administration of such
Federal reserved public lands."
and that a new paragraph be added immediately following the above, as
follows :
"All exchanges heretofore made under section 11 of the Act approved
February 22, 1889 (25 Stat. 676), as amended by the Act approved May 7,
1932 (47 Stat. 150), for reserved public lands of the United States that were
subject to exchange under law pursuant to which they were being administered and the requirements thereof have been met, are hereby approved to
the same extent as though the lands exchanged were unreserved public
lands."
and that the present paragraph 2 of section 11 be amended to read as
follows:
"The said lands may be leased under such regulations as the legislature
may prescribe." [Public Law 91-463. 84 U.S. Statutes at Large p 987.
Approved October 16, 1970.]
SEC. 12. That upon the admission of each of said States
into the Union, in accordance with the provisions of this act,
fifty sections of the unappropriated public lands within said
States, to be selected and located in legal subdivisions as
provided in section ten of this act, shall be, and are hereby,
granted to said States for the purpose of erecting public
buildings at the capital of said States for legislative, executive, and judicial purposes.
Reviser’s note: Section 12 has been amended by Congress as follows:
AN ACT To amend section 12 of the Act approved February 22, 1889
(25 Stat. 676) relating to the admission into the Union of the States of North
Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington, by providing for the use
of public lands granted to the States therein for the purpose of construction,
reconstruction, repair, renovation, furnishings, equipment, or other
permanent improvement of public buildings at the capital of said States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 12 of the Act
relating to the admission into the Union of the States of North Dakota,
South Dakota, Montana, and Washington, approved February 22, 1889, is
amended to read as follows:
"That upon the admission of each of said States into the Union, in
accordance with the provisions of this act, fifty sections of unappropriated
public lands within such States, to be selected and located in legal
subdivisions as provided in section 10 of this Act, shall be, and are hereby,
granted to said States for public buildings at the capital of said States for
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legislative, executive, and judicial purposes, including construction,
reconstruction, repair, renovation, furnishings, equipment, and any other
permanent improvement of such buildings and the acquisition of necessary
land for such buildings, and the payment of principal and interest on bonds
issued for any of the above purposes."
SEC. 2. This Act shall take effect as of February 22, 1889. [Public
Law 85-6. 71 U.S. Statutes at large p 5. Approved February 26, 1957.]
SEC. 13. That five per centum of the proceeds of the
sales of public lands lying within said States which shall be
sold by the United States subsequent to the admission of said
States into the Union, after deducting all the expenses
incident to the same, shall be paid to the said States, to be
used as a permanent fund, the interest of which only shall be
expended for the support of common schools within said
States, respectively.
SEC. 14. That the lands granted to the Territories of
Dakota and Montana by the act of February eighteenth,
eighteen hundred and eighty-one, entitled "An act to grant
lands to Dakota, Montana, Arizona, Idaho, and Wyoming for
university purposes," are hereby vested in the States of South
Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana, respectively, if such
States are admitted into the Union, as provided in this act, to
the extent of the full quantity of seventy-two sections to each
of said States, and any portion of said lands that may not
have been selected by either of said Territories of Dakota or
Montana may be selected by the respective States aforesaid;
but said act of February eighteenth, eighteen hundred and
eighty-one, shall be so amended as to provide that none of
said lands shall be sold for less than ten dollars per acre, and
the proceeds shall constitute a permanent fund to be safely
invested and held by said States severally, and the income
thereof be used exclusively for university purposes. And
such quantity of the lands authorized by the fourth section of
the act of July seventeenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-four,
to be reserved for university purposes in the Territory of
Washington, as, together with the lands confirmed to the
vendees of the Territory by the act of March fourteenth,
eighteen hundred and sixty-four, will make the full quantity
of seventy-two entire sections, are hereby granted in like
manner to the State of Washington for the purposes of a
university in said State. None of the lands granted in this
section shall be sold at less than ten dollars per acre; but
said lands may be leased in the same manner as provided in
section eleven of this act. The schools, colleges, and
universities provided for in this act shall forever remain
under the exclusive control of the said States, respectively,
and no part of the proceeds arising from the sale or disposal
of any lands herein granted for educational purposes shall be
used for the support of any sectarian or denominational
school, college, or university. The section of land granted by
the act of June sixteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty, to the
Territory of Dakota, for an asylum for the insane shall, upon
the admission of said State of South Dakota into the Union,
become the property of said State.
SEC. 15. That so much of the lands belonging to the
United States as have been acquired and set apart for the
purpose mentioned in "An act appropriating money for the
erection of a penitentiary in the Territory of Dakota,"
approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-one,
together with the buildings thereon, be, and the same is
hereby, granted, together with any unexpended balances of
(2002 Ed.)
the moneys appropriated therefor by said act, to said State of
South Dakota, for the purposes therein designated; and the
States of North Dakota and Washington shall, respectively,
have like grants for the same purpose, and subject to like
terms and conditions as provided in said act of March
second, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, for the Territory of
Dakota. The penitentiary at Deer Lodge City, Montana, and
all lands connected therewith and set apart and reserved
therefor, are hereby granted to the State of Montana.
SEC. 16. That ninety thousand acres of land, to be
selected and located as provided in section 10 of this act, are
hereby granted to each of said States, except to the State of
South Dakota, to which one hundred and twenty thousand
acres are granted, for the use and support of agricultural
colleges in said States, as provided in the acts of Congress
making donations of lands for such purpose.
SEC. 17. That in lieu of the grant of land for purposes
of internal improvement made to new States by the eighth
section of the act of September fourth, eighteen hundred and
forty-one, which act is hereby repealed as to the States
provided for by this act, and in lieu of any claim or demand
by the said States, or either of them, under the act of
September twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and fifty, and
section twenty-four hundred and seventy-nine of the Revised
Statutes, making a grant of swamp and overflowed lands to
certain States, which grant it is hereby declared is not
extended to the States provided for in this act, and in lieu of
any grant of saline lands to said States, the following grants
of land are hereby made, to wit:
To the State of South Dakota: For the school of mines,
forty thousand acres; for the reform school, forty thousand
acres; for the deaf and dumb asylum, forty thousand acres;
for the agricultural college, forty thousand acres; for the
university, forty thousand acres; for State normal schools,
eighty thousand acres; for public buildings at the capital of
said State, fifty thousand acres, and for such other educational and charitable purposes as the legislature of said State
may determine, one hundred and seventy thousand acres; in
all five hundred thousand acres.
To the State of North Dakota a like quantity of land as
in this section granted to the State of South Dakota, and to
be for like purposes, and in like proportion as far as practicable.
To the State of Montana: For the establishment and
maintenance of a school of mines, one hundred thousand
acres; for State normal schools, one hundred thousand acres;
for agricultural colleges, in addition to the grant hereinbefore
made for that purpose, fifty thousand acres; for the establishment of a State reform school, fifty thousand acres; for the
establishment of a deaf and dumb asylum, fifty thousand
acres; for public buildings at the capital of the State, in
addition to the grant hereinbefore made for that purpose, one
hundred and fifty thousand acres.
To the State of Washington: For the establishment and
maintenance of a scientific school, one hundred thousand
acres; for State normal schools, one hundred thousand acres;
for public buildings at the State capital, in addition to the
grant hereinbefore made for that purpose, one hundred
thousand acres; for State charitable, educational, penal, and
reformatory institutions, two hundred thousand acres.
[Vol. 0 RCW—page 21]
Enabling Act
That the States provided for in this act shall not be
entitled to any further or other grants of land for any purpose
than as expressly provided in this act. And the lands granted
by this section shall be held, appropriated, and disposed of
exclusively for the purposes herein mentioned, in such
manner as the legislatures of the respective States may
severally provide.
SEC. 18. That all mineral lands shall be exempted from
the grants made by this act. But if sections sixteen and
thirty-six, or any subdivisions or portion of any smallest
subdivision thereof in any township shall be found by the
Department of the Interior to be mineral lands, said States
are hereby authorized and empowered to select, in legal
subdivisions, an equal quantity of other unappropriated lands
in said States, in lieu thereof, for the use and the benefit of
the common schools of said States.
SEC. 19. That all lands granted in quantity or as
indemnity by this act shall be selected, under the direction of
the Secretary of the Interior, from the surveyed, unreserved,
and unappropriated public lands of the United States within
the limits of the respective States entitled thereto. And there
shall be deducted from the number of acres of land donated
by this act for specific objects to said States the number of
acres in each heretofore donated by Congress to said
Territories for similar objects.
SEC. 20. That the sum of twenty thousand dollars, or so
much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated,
out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to each of said Territories for defraying the expenses of
the said conventions, except to Dakota, for which the sum of
forty thousand dollars is so appropriated, twenty thousand
dollars each for South Dakota and North Dakota, and for the
payment of the members thereof, under the same rules and
regulations and at the same rates as are now provided by law
for the payment of the Territorial legislatures. Any money
hereby appropriated not necessary for such purpose shall be
covered into the Treasury of the United States.
SEC. 21. That each of said States, when admitted as
aforesaid, shall constitute one judicial district, the names
thereof to be the same as the names of the States, respectively; and the circuit and district courts therefor shall be held at
the capital of such State for the time being, and each of said
districts shall, for judicial purposes, until otherwise provided,
be attached to the eighth judicial circuit, except Washington
and Montana, which shall be attached to the ninth judicial
circuit. There shall be appointed for each of said districts
one district judge, one United States attorney, and one
United States marshal. The judge of each of said districts
shall receive a yearly salary of three thousand five hundred
dollars, payable in four equal installments, on the first days
of January, April, July, and October of each year, and shall
reside in the district. There shall be appointed clerks of said
courts in each district, who shall keep their offices at the
capital of said State. The regular terms of said courts shall
be held in each district, at the place aforesaid, on the first
Monday in April and the first Monday in November of each
year, and only one grand jury and one petit jury shall be
summoned in both said circuit and district courts. The
circuit and district courts for each of said districts, and the
[Vol. 0 RCW—page 22]
judges thereof, respectively, shall possess the same powers
and jurisdiction, and perform the same duties required to be
performed by the other circuit and district courts and judges
of the United States, and shall be governed by the same laws
and regulations. The Marshal, district attorney, and clerks of
the circuit and district courts of each of said districts, and all
other officers and persons performing duties in the administration of justice therein, shall severally possess the powers
and perform the duties lawfully possessed and required to be
performed by similar officers in other districts of the United
States; and shall, for the services they may perform, receive
the fees and compensation allowed by law to other similar
officers and persons performing similar duties in the State of
Nebraska.
SEC. 22. That all cases of appeal or writ of error
heretofore prosecuted and now pending in the Supreme
Court of the United States upon any record from the supreme court of either of the Territories mentioned in this act,
or that may hereafter lawfully be prosecuted upon any record
from either of said courts may be heard and determined by
said Supreme Court of the United States. And the mandate
of execution or of further proceedings shall be directed by
the Supreme Court of the United States to the circuit or
district court hereby established within the State succeeding
the Territory from which such record is or may be pending,
or to the supreme court of such State, as the nature of the
case may require: Provided, That the mandate of execution
or of further proceedings shall, in cases arising in the
Territory of Dakota, be directed by the Supreme Court of the
United States to the circuit or district court of the district of
South Dakota, or to the supreme court of the State of South
Dakota, or to the circuit or district court of the district of
North Dakota, or to the supreme court of the State of North
Dakota, or to the supreme court of the Territory of North
Dakota, as the nature of the case may require. And each of
the circuit, district, and State courts, herein named, shall,
respectively, be the successor of the supreme court of the
Territory, as to all such cases arising within the limits
embraced within the jurisdiction of such courts respectively
with full power to proceed with the same, and award mesne
or final process therein; and that from all judgments and
decrees of the supreme court of either of the Territories
mentioned in this act, in any case arising within the limits of
any of the proposed States prior to admission, the parties to
such judgment shall have the same right to prosecute appeals
and writs of error to the Supreme Court of the United States
as they shall have had by law prior to the admission of said
State into the Union.
SEC. 23. That in respect to all cases, proceedings, and
matters now pending in the supreme or district courts of
either of the Territories mentioned in this act at the time of
the admission into the Union of either of the States mentioned in this act, and arising within the limits of any such
State, whereof the circuit or district courts by this act
established might have had jurisdiction under the laws of the
United States had such courts existed at the time of the
commencement of such cases, the said circuit and district
courts, respectively, shall be the successors of said supreme
and district courts of said Territory; and in respect to all
other cases, proceedings and matters pending in the supreme
or district courts of any of the Territories mentioned in this
(2002 Ed.)
Enabling Act
act at the time of the admission of such Territory into the
Union, arising within the limits of said proposed State, the
courts established by such State shall, respectively, be the
successors of said supreme and district Territorial courts; and
all the files, records, indictments, and proceedings relating to
any such cases, shall be transferred to such circuit, district,
and State courts, respectively, and the same shall be proceeded with therein in due course of law; but no writ, action,
indictment, cause or proceeding now pending, or that prior
to the admission of any of the States mentioned in this act,
shall be pending in any Territorial court in any of the
Territories mentioned in this act, shall abate by the admission of any such State into the Union, but the same shall be
transferred and proceeded with in the proper United States
circuit, district or State court, as the case may be: Provided,
however, That in all civil actions, causes, and proceedings,
in which the United States is not a party, transfers shall not
be made to the circuit and district courts of the United
States, except upon written request of one of the parties to
such action or proceeding filed in the proper court; and in
the absence of such request such cases shall be proceeded
with in the proper State courts.
SEC. 24. That the constitutional conventions may, by
ordinance, provide for the election of officers for full State
governments, including members of the legislatures and
Representatives in the fifty-first Congress; but said State
governments shall remain in abeyance until the States shall
be admitted into the Union, respectively, as provided in this
act. In case the constitution of any of said proposed States
shall be ratified by the people, but not otherwise, the
legislature thereof may assemble, organize, and elect two
senators of the United States; and the governor and secretary
of state of such proposed State shall certify the election of
the Senators and Representatives in the manner required by
law; and when such State is admitted into the Union, the
Senators and Representatives shall be entitled to be admitted
to seats in Congress, and to all the rights and privileges of
Senators and Representatives of other States in the Congress
of the United States; and the officers of the State governments formed in pursuance of said constitutions, as provided
by the constitutional conventions, shall proceed to exercise
all the functions of such State officers; and all laws in force
made by said Territories, at the time of their admission into
the Union, shall be in force in said States, except as modified or changed by this act or by the constitutions of the
States, respectively.
SEC. 25. That all acts or parts of acts in conflict with
the provisions of this act, whether passed by the legislatures
of said Territories or by Congress, are hereby repealed.
Approved, February 22, 1889. [25 U.S. Statutes at Large, c 180 p
676.]
(2002 Ed.)
[Vol. 0 RCW—page 23]
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