Territory, and which provided that "there shall be reserved the lot No. 16, of every township for the maintainance of public schools within the said territory; also one third part of all gold, silver, lead and copper mines to be sold or otherwise disposed of as Congress shall hereafter direct." These provisions were applicable to all that part of the United States and its territories not included in the original thirteen states to which the Indian title had been extinguished, the same being at the time a territory proper of the United States. The control over the lands, mines and minerals could not be questioned in any part that remained a territory of the United States, as attached to the sovereignty of the federal government.

It is a position universally claimed, and as universally conceded to have been settled by the principles of the common law and the acquiescence of all independent sovereignties, that gold and silver and the baser metals with which either is connected, within the territorial limits of an independent government, attaches to, and belongs to such government by virtue of its sovereignty, saving the rights of individuals acquired therein.

The states of this Union, separately considered, are absolute sovereignties, independent of each other, and of every other government or country. As a federal compact they have delegated certain powers to the general government, which are defined by the constitution, and all powers not thus delegated, are "reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."

The right to lease the public lands within the territorial limits and jurisdiction of a sovereign state, is not a right delegated to the fede ral government by the constitution, or reserved by the consent of the states or the people, and is in contravention of the provisions of the act of 15th Jane, 1836, admitting Michigan into the Union, "on a footing, equal in all respects with the original states."

Not only is it inconsistent with the provisions of the constitution, and the act admitting Michigan into the Union, but no law of Congress since the ordinance of 1785, above referred to, has claimed the right exercised by the federal government in the matter now under consideration, relative to copper, or the other minerals, except lead and salt springs. That ordinance, so far as regards minerals, was only declaratory of what should be thereafter done, and could have

no binding force, even in the territories proper, without the subsequent action of Congress. What that subsequent action has been, your committee propose briefly to recapitulate.

By the act of Congress, of 7th May, 1800, the North-western territory, including that portion of the United States North-west of the river Ohio, was divided into two territories, one portion called the Indiana territory, included the country in question, and on the 11th January, 1805, the Indiana territory was again divided into two separate governments, one of which was called the Michigan territory, the western boundary of which, was a line drawn north from the northern extremity of Lake Michigan, leaving the copper region west of this line, a part of the Indiana territory.

The act of 19th April, 1816, admitting Indiana into the Union, left this country a part of the Illinois territory, until the act of 18th April, 1818, admitting Illinois into the Union, when it became a part of the Michigan territory:

In all the legislation of Congress, from the ordinance of 1785, down to 1838, no reservation of gold, silver or copper was made, and at the latter period, the various laws on the subject of the public lands, was compiled, and the compiler, in a note to page 13 of the compilation, says: "salt springs and lead mines are reserved by subsequent laws, (meaning subsequent to the ordinance of 1785,) but the reservation has been discontinued in respect to gold, silver and copper mines."

The ordinance of 1787, for the government of the North-west territory, contained nothing effecting the present subject, and the subsequent act of 18th May, 1796, directed all mines, salt springs, salt licks and mill sites to be noted by the surveyors. The act of third March, 1807, contains the following proviso to section 2 :

"And Provided also, That in all cases where the tract of land upplied for, includes either lead mines or salt spring, no permission to work the same shall be granted without the approbation of the President of the United States, who is hereby authorized to cause such mines or spring to be leased for a term not exceeding three years, and on such conditions as he shall think proper,"

This authorizes the President to lease for three years, lead mines or salt springs only; and by sec. 5 of the subsequent act of the same

date, it is provided, "that the several lead mines in the Indiana territory, together with as many sections contiguous to each as shall be deemed necessary by the President of the United States, shall be reserved for the future disposal of the United States, and any grant which may hereafter be made for a tract of land containing a lead mine which had been discovered previous to the purchase of such tract from the United States, shall be considered fraudulent and null: and the President of the United States shall be and is hereby authorized to lease any lead mine which has been or may hereafter be discovered, in the Indiana Territory, for a term not exceeding five years."

This law was applicable to the "lead mines" only of the Indiana territory, which at the time embraced the copper region of Lake Superior.

In 1821 the management of the mineral region was taken from the General Land office and placed under the control of the War Department, and under the act of third March, 1807, above referred to, the present leases were granted.

The Commissioner of the General Land Office, in his report of December 8th, 1845, in speaking of the mineral lands and the policy of the government in relation thereto, says:

"All lands, not thus reserved, are subject to sale and entry; and, consequently, land officers are selling mineral lands from day to day without being conscious of it. The evil, however, does not stop here. When the mineral agents discover that mineral lands have been sold, sometimes with, and sometimes without the knowledge of purchasers, they consider it their duty, in order to protect the interest of the government, to institute judicial proceedings to set aside the sales and recover back the mines. The dockets in some of the Northwestern states and territories, are crowded at this time with suits of this character. These suits are likely to be strenuously contested; and after a lapse of years, and large outlays of public money, the United States may succeed in recovering back a quantity of land stripped of timber and exhausted of ore. The system itself is odious to the people. Its tendency is to convert the government into an immense land-lord, and the settlers into tenantry. Upwards of a million of acres, embracing some of the richest agricultural lands of the northwest, are re

served from sale and settlement, under the mistaken notion of preserving the minera! wealth, in which the country is supposed to abound, for the use of the government; whereas, in fact, there exists no possible process by which the exact locality of mineral can be determined by superficial indications. A million of acres, at the present minimum price, would bring $1,250,000 into the treasury, the annual interest upon which, at the rate of six per cent., would be $75,000; while it appears, by the report of the secretary of war of 16th of February, 1843, that the whole amount of rent lead received by the government, for the years 1841 and 1842, was only 74,924 pounds-worth about $1,600; a sum hardly sufficient to pay the annual salary of one of the superintendents. This report clearly shows that, in a financial point of view, the United States are not likely to be much benefitted by the reservation of the mineral lands.

The exhibits of 1843 and 1844 will make' this still more evident, From a statement of the War Department, now before me, it appears that the government has expended on account of the mineral lands, including officers, agents, laborers, &c., for the years 1843 and 1844, the sum of $20,729 11; while the rent received for the same period only amounted to 242,814 pounds of lead, worth about $4,856 28 at Galena. Here is an actual loss in cash of $15,872 83, upon the mineral system, within the last two years; and to effect this extraordinary result, the settlement and prosperity of a large portion of our country are retarded, litigation promoted, and an opportunity afforded for the practice of the most enormous frauds upon the public. To enlarge upon this view of the subject, would extend it far beyond the limits of a report. I therefore respectfully, but earnestly, recommend that the mineral region be opened to public sale and private entry, and that the pre-emption principle be so extended as to embrace the diggings, discoveries, and improvements of resident miners and settlers in that region."

It would seem, therefore, by the whole tenor of the legislation of Congress relative to the public lands, that all mineral reservations, except as to lead and salt springs, have not been claimed or exercised, save as to the leases of portions of the copper regions of Lake Superior, within the territorial limits and jurisdiction of this state.

The discretionary power of the President of the United States, to

be exercised relative to the public domain only relates to the quantity, time and place of exposing the same to sale, which shall be by his proclamation. No other or further power is given to the President, except those contained in the acts hereinbefore referred to.

The question then arises, how far are the leases in question in accordance with the policy of the federal government, its constitutional authority, and the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the State of Michigan?

If, as we have seen, this policy has never been pursued by the federal government, in the cases of gold, silver and copper mines, except in the present instance, we are naturally led to the conclusion, that it is an experiment attempted to be introduced without the consent and against the interests of this state. No policy which is not settled, and bearing a uniform and equal character, can rightfully be applied to a particular state against its consent.

By article four of section four of the constitution of the United States, it is provided that "the United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union a republican form of government.”

Under this guarantee the sovereignty and jurisdiction of every state is acknowledged, and its right to regulate its internal affairs, not inconsistent to the powers delegated to the United States, or subversive of a "republican form of government," cannot be questioned.

Among the essential attributes of a "republican form of government," is the abolition of entailed estates and perpetual tenantries, and the right of the federal government to introduce and establish in that regard, a policy different from that adopted by the state acting within the legitimate sphere of its authority cannot for a moment be maintained. If the right of the federal government to lease the mineral lands in this state is acknowledged, then it is right to lease the wheat lands, timbered lands, and in fact, all the public lands within its limits cannot be questioned, for no line of demarcation could be drawn, and a conflict of interest and jurisdiction between the federal and state governments would inevitably follow. An interest antagonist to that of the state could thus be established, and receiving the protection of the federal government, might become of sufficient magnitude to control, if not to swallow up the state government itself; thus virtually establishing one independent government within the limits of another.