[2] This ordinance of the Congress of the confederation, which became
the basis of all the Territorial governments, was sanctioned by the
Congress of the Union at its first session, with certain provisions
added to it in order to give it full effect under the constitution. The
following are the terms of this enactment:--
"WHEREAS that the ordinance of the United States in Congress
assembled, for the government of the Territory northwest of the
river Ohio may continue to have full effect, it is requisite
that certain provisions should be made, so as to adapt the same
to the present Constitution of the United States. THEREFORE,
_Be it enacted_, &c., That in all cases in which, by the said
ordinance, any information is to be given, or communication
made by the Governor of the said territory to the United States
in Congress assembled, or to any of their officers, it shall
be the duty of the said Governor to give such information,
and to make such communication to the President of the United
States; and the President shall nominate, and by and with the
consent of the Senate, shall appoint all officers which by the
said ordinance were to have been appointed by the United States
in Congress assembled, and all officers so appointed shall be
commissioned by him; and in all cases where the United States
in Congress assembled, might, by the said ordinance, revoke any
commission or remove from any office, the President is hereby
declared to have the same power of revocation and removal. SEC.
2.--_And be it further enacted_, That in case of the death,
removal, resignation, or necessary absence of the Governor of
the said Territory, the secretary thereof shall be, and he is
hereby, authorized and required to execute all the powers, and
perform all the duties of the Governor, during the vacancy
occasioned by the removal, resignation, or necessary absence of
said Governor."
This act of Congress, passed to give full effect to this ordinance by
adapting its working to the new Federal Constitution, was among the
earliest acts of the Federal Congress, being number eight in the list
of acts passed at the first session of the first Congress; and classes
with the acts necessary to the working of the new government. As such
it was modified; and as such preserved and applied to successive
Territories, as governments for them were given. That ordinance is, in
fact, the basis of all the Territorial governments, and is extended to
each of them by name, with such modifications as each one required; and
its benefits secured in their deeds of territorial cession by Georgia
and North Carolina. Thus, the fifth clause in the first article of the
Georgia deed of cession, dated April 24th, 1802, stipulates: "That
the Territory thus ceded shall form a State, and be admitted as such
into the Union, as soon as it shall contain 60,000 free inhabitants,
or at an earlier period, if Congress shall think it expedient, on the
same conditions and restrictions, with the same privileges, and in
the same manner, as is provided in the ordinance of Congress of the
13th day of July, 1787, for the government of the Western Territory
of the United States; which ordinance shall, in all its parts,
extend to the Mississippi Territory contained in the present act of
cession, that article only excepted which forbids slavery." The deed
of cession from North Carolina, for the Territory since forming the
State of Tennessee, and dated December ----, 1789, is equally express
in claiming the benefits of this ordinance; so that, made before the
constitution, it has been equally sanctioned by Congress and by States
since. Virginia sanctioned it immediately after its enactment, and
before the commencement of the present Federal Government, to wit, on
the 30th day of December, 1788. The ordinance being thus anterior to
the constitution, was not formed under it, but under the authority
of owners--sovereign owners--exercising the right of taking care of
their own property, subject only to the conditions and limitations
which accompanied its acquisition. And thus the Territories have been
constantly governed independently of the constitution, and incompatibly
with it, and by a statute made before it, and merely extended as a
pre-existing law to each Territory as it came into existence.
[3] The 6th, being the Anti-slavery article.
[4] This was the end of Mr. Jefferson's administration; and,
notwithstanding the purchase of Louisiana, (the annual interest on
the cost of which had to be paid,) and the greatly extended frontier
which required to be guarded, the system of order and economy which he
cherished enabled him to carry on the government (until the privations
of the embargo and non-intercourse) without increase of duties,
and with a moderation of cost which should form the study and the
imitation of succeeding administrations. The duties remained at the
same moderate rates as before--the _ad valorems_, 12-1/2, 15, and 20
per centum; the specifics (increased in number) were not increased in
rate; the free list not only remained undiminished, but was happily
augmented by the addition of salt. The average of the _ad valorems_
was still about 13 per cent., and almost all fell upon the 12-1/2
per centum class--the importations under the other two classes being
inconsiderable, _to wit_, only about half a million, ($520,000,)
subject to the 20 per centum; and only a little over nine millions
under the 15 per centum; while the imports under the 12-1/2 per centum
class amounted to above thirty-six millions of dollars. The articles
used by the body of the people fell into this class, (the other two
classes embracing articles which might be called luxuries,) so that
12-1/2 per centum upon the value may be considered as the duty which
fell upon the country. The expenses of collection still remained at
about 4 per centum, and the revenue cutter service (there being but
little temptation to smuggle under such low duties) cost but a trifle;
and the specific list being considerable, the number of custom house
officers and agents was inconsiderable. The revenue collected from the
_ad valorem_ duties was about seven millions of dollars; that from
specifics about nine millions--leaving sixteen millions for the net
revenue. Of that sum the one-half (just eight millions) went to meet
the interest, and part of the principal, of the public debt. Of the
remainder there went to the military and Indian departments about two
and three-quarter millions; to the navy about one million; to tribute
to Algiers, (masked under the name of foreign intercourse,) two hundred
thousand dollars; and to the civil list, embracing the whole machinery
of the civil government, with all its miscellaneous expenses, about
nine hundred thousand dollars--leaving some two millions surplus
after accomplishing all these objects. It was a model administration
of the government. Mr. Jefferson's administration terminated the
3d of March, 1809, but its fair financial working ceased two years
before--with the breaking up of our commerce under the British orders
in council, and the decrees of the French emperor, and the measures
of privation and of expense which the conduct of Great Britain and of
France brought upon us. The two last years of his administration were
a strong contrast to the six first, and a painful struggle against
diminished revenue and increased expenses, injuries and insults from
abroad, and preparation for war with one of the greatest powers in
the world, while doing no wrong ourselves, and only asking for what
the laws of nations and of nature allowed us--a friendly neutrality,
and exemption from the evils of a war with which we had no concern.
Preparation for war was then a tedious and expensive process; embargo,
non-intercourse, fortifications, ships, militia, regular troops. All
this is now superseded by railroads and volunteers, ready at any moment
to annihilate any invading force; and by privateers, ready to drive the
commerce of any nation from the ocean.