Territory.

Those decisions of the returning officers and of the governor are final,
except that by the parliamentary usage of the country applied to the
organic law it may be conceded that each house of the assembly must have
been competent to determine in the last resort the qualifications and
the election of its members. The subject was by its nature one
appertaining exclusively to the jurisdiction of the local authorities
of the Territory. Whatever irregularities may have occurred in the
elections, it seems too late now to raise that question. At all events,
it is a question as to which, neither now nor at any previous time, has
the least possible legal authority been possessed by the President of
the United States. For all present purposes the legislative body thus
constituted and elected was the legitimate legislative assembly of the
Territory.

Accordingly the governor by proclamation convened the assembly thus
elected to meet at a place called Pawnee City; the two houses met and
were duly organized in the ordinary parliamentary form; each sent to and
received from the governor the official communications usual on such
occasions; an elaborate message opening the session was communicated by
the governor, and the general business of legislation was entered upon
by the legislative assembly.

But after a few days the assembly resolved to adjourn to another place
in the Territory. A law was accordingly passed, against the consent
of the governor, but in due form otherwise, to remove the seat of
government temporarily to the "Shawnee Manual Labor School" (or
mission), and thither the assembly proceeded. After this, receiving
a bill for the establishment of a ferry at the town of Kickapoo, the
governor refused to sign it, and by special message assigned for reason
of refusal not anything objectionable in the bill itself nor any
pretense of the illegality or incompetency of the assembly as such, but
only the fact that the assembly had by its act transferred the seat of
government temporarily from Pawnee City to the Shawnee Mission. For
the same reason he continued to refuse to sign other bills until in the
course of a few days he by official message communicated to the assembly
the fact that he had received notification of the termination of his
functions as governor, and that the duties of the office were legally
devolved on the secretary of the Territory; thus to the last recognizing
the body as a duly elected and c