[No. 5.]

JOINT RESOLUTION for the relief of certain purchasers of University Lands.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan, That the Treasurer of the State of Michigan be and he is hereby authorized and it shall be his duty to receive the money, principal and interest, unpaid upon any one or either of the certificates following, to wit: certificates respectively number 619, issued by the Commissioner of the Land Office to William Oliver; 637, 638 and 639, Issued to Albert V. Stebbins: Provided, The same shall be paid on or before the first day of March, A. D. 1855. Upon the payment of the amount of the principal and interest, unpaid, within the time aforesaid, upon any one of the aforesaid certificates, and upon the surrender of the same, the land in such certificate mentioned shall be conveyed to the purchaser named therein, or his heirs or assigns, in like manner as if the same had been fully paid before forfeiture. This joint resolution to take effect immediately. Approved January 26, 1855.

[ No. 6.]

JOIN RESOLUTION respecting Slavery in the Territories of the United States.

Whereas, Slavery is regarded by the people of this State as a great moral, social and political evil, at war with the principles of the Declaration of Independence, and the great object contemplated by our forefathers in establishing the constitution of the United States; an impediment to the prosperity of our common country, and an element of do.mestic weakness and discord; and

Whereas, The people of Michigan owe it to the early and prudent exercise of the power of Congress over the Territories of the United States, in applying the anti-slavery restriction contained in the ordinance of 1787, that she is not now a slaveholding State; and

Whereas, The people have heretofore, through their Legislature, repeatedly and earnestly remonstrated against the further extension of slavery in the National Territories; and

Whereas, Our present Senators, and two of our Representatives in Congress, did, at the session thereof now last past, vote for the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, so called, and for the passage of an act organizing the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, thereby permitting slavery to be introduced into a region equal in extent to the thirteen original States, from which territory, by the solemn legislative compact of 1820, it was forever excluded; and

Whereas, Such repeal has been effected without petition, without discussion by the people, and in defiance of the well known wishes and opinions of a large majority of the people of this State and of the United States; and

Whereas, The violation by Congress of the compact of 1820, has released the people of this State from all obligation to respect Congressional compromises for the extension or perpetuation of slavery; therefore

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan, That we hold the said repeal and the permission granted by said Territorial act, to introduce slavery into said Territories, to be a violation of a mutual covenant between the free States and the slaveholding States of the Union, justified by no necessity, present or prospective, injurious to the rights of the former, tending to interrupt the internal harmony of the country, and to frustrate the well known purpose of the framers of the constitution, who by gradual legislation designed ultimately to put an end to slavery.

Resolved, That we are opposed to the further extension of slavery, or the recognition or permission thereof in any territory now owned or which may hereafter be acquired by the United States.

'Resolved, That we hold it to be within the constitutional power of Congress to abolish slavery and the slave trade in all the Territories of ` the United States, including the District of Columbia, and that it is their duty, in view of the great and permanent interests of the nation, to pass laws for its immediate suppression and extinction in all such Territories and in said District.

Resolved, That our Senators in Congress be and they are hereby irstructed, and our Representatives requested, to vote for and use their best exertions to procure the passage of an act of Congress that shall prohibit the introduction or existence of slavery in any of the Territories

of the United States, and especially in Kansas and Nebraska, and to introduce, without delay, a bill for this latter purpose.

Resolved, That the act of Congress of 1850, known as the Fugitive Slave Law, was, in the opinion of the people of this State, an unnecessary measure; that it contains provisions of doubtful constitutionality; that the mode of proceeding under it is harsh, unjust, and repugnant to the moral sense of the people of the free States, cruel and despotic towards the person claimed as a fugitive, and that we are in favor of its immediate repeal; therefore,

Resolved, That our Senators in Congress be and they are hereby instructed, and our Representatives requested, to use their best exertions to procure the immediate repeal of the act of 1850, known as the Fugitive Slave Law.

Resolved, That the Governor be requested to forward copies of the foregoing preamble and resolutions to our Senators and Representatives in Congress.

Approved January 26, 1855.

[No. 7.]

JOINT RESOLUTION relative to United States Military Reservations in the State of Michigan.

Whereas, The government of the United States has, from the time it came in possession of the territory of Michigan, reserved large tracts of land for military purposes in the vicinity of Fort Mackinac, embracing the entire island of Bois Blanc, and nearly all of the island of Mackinac, making over thirty-two thousand acres of valuable farming land:

And whereas, The reservation of much land in an important section of our State is entirely unnecessary for the purpose of supporting a military defence on the Straits of Mackinac, and is repugnant to the sovreignty of the State, and seriously retards the growth and prosperity of that section of Michigan; therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and our Representatives requested, to use their influence in procuring an order

or law authorizing the Commissioner of the General Land Office to subject the land above recited, and all other lands now held as military reserves in this State, to public sale, excepting so much territory as may be absolutely necessary for military defence, and as is usually held by forts similarly situated.

....Resolved, That a copy of this preamble and resolution, properly attested by the Governor, be transmitted to each of our Senators and .Representatives in Congress, and to the President of the United States, the Secretary of War, and to the Commissioner of the General Land Office...

Approved February 2, 1855.

[ No. 8.]

JOINT RESOLUTION relative to the distribution of the session laws, journals and documents of the Legislature for the year eighteen hundred and fifty-five.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan, That the members and officers of the presen' Legislature be and they are hereby entitled to one copy of the session laws passed in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-five; also, the journals and documents of the Legislature of said year; and the Secretary of State be and he is hereby authorized and directed to forward one copy of each to the several members and officers of this Legislature, by forwarding the same to the county clerk of the several counties of this State in which the members or officers reside, so soon as the same are printed, bound, and ready for delivery.

Approved February 7, 1855.

[ No. 9.]

JOINT RESOLUTION relative to certain, appropriations of public lands. made by the Legislature in the year 1848.,.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan, That the Attorney General be and is hereby instructed to make inquiry into the manner, which certain lande, appropriated

under acts numbers 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, and 295, "approved Apr 3d, 1848," have been applied; and if it shall appear to him that there has been mis-applications of any or all of the lands so appropriated, and that the interests of the State shall be promoted thereby, that he commence suits against parties entrusted * with said lands.

Approved February 10, 1855.

[No. 10.]

JOINT RESOLUTION relative to the claim of John Van Fossen, against the State of Michigan.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan, That the Board of State Auditors be instructed to audit the claim of John Van Fossen, against the State, for materials furnished by him for the Michigan Central Railroad, and that they be instructed to allow and pay to said Van Fossen such amount as they shall deem just and equitable.

This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.
Approved February 10, 1855.

[No. 11.]

JOINT RESOLUTION relative to the claim of the State against Peter Holmes, and others.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan, That the Board of State Auditors be and they are hereby authorized and empowered to adjust and cancel, upon such terms as they shall deem just and equitable, the claim of the State against Peter Holmes, Charles D. Holmes, and Patterson P. Holmes, founded upon a judgment rendered against them in the circuit court for the county of Calhoun, on or about the 15th day of November, A. D. 1845. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.

Approved February 10, 1855.