The following is the proclamation of
Colonel Baylor, the commander of Confederate forces in
Arizona, to which a brief allusion was made yesterday:
The social and political condition of
Arizona being little short of general anarchy, and the people being literally destitute of law, order and protection, the said Territory from the date hereof is hereby declared temporarily organized as a military government, until such time as Congress may otherwise provide.
I,
John R. Baylor,
Lieut.-Col. commanding the Confederate Army in the
Territory of Arizona, hereby take possession of the said Territory in the name and behalf of the
Confederate States of America.
For all the purposes herein specified, and until otherwise decreed or provided, the
Territory of Arizona shall comprise all that portion of the recent Territory of
New Mexico lying South of the 34th parallel of North latitude.
All offices, both civil and military, heretofore existing in this Territory, either under the laws of the late
United States or the
Territory of
New Mexico, are hereby declared vacant, and from the date hereof shall forever cease to exist.
That the people of this Territory may enjoy the full benefits of law, order and protection, and, as far as possible, the blessings and advantages of a free Government, it is hereby decreed that the laws and enactments existing in this Territory prior to the date of this proclamation, and consistent with the
Constitution and laws of the
Confederate States of America and the provisions of this decree, shall continue in full force and effect, without interruption, until such time as the Confederate Congress may otherwise provide.
The said Territory from the date hereof is hereby declared temporarily organized under a military government, until such time as Congress shall otherwise provide.
The two Governments shall be divided into two separate and distinct departments, to wit — the
Executive and Judicial.
The Executive authority of this Territory shall be vested in the commandant of the Confederate army in
Arizona.
The Judicial power of this Territory shall be vested in a Supreme Court, two District Courts, two
Probate Courts and a Justice of the Peace, together with such municipal and other inferior courts as the wants of the people may from time to time require.
The two District Judges shall constitute the Supreme Court, each of whom shall determine all appeals, exceptions, and writs of error removed from the District Court wherein the other presides.
One of the said Judges shall be designated as the
Chief Justice of the
Supremes Court.
There shall be but one session each year, which shall be holden at the seat of Government.
The District Judges shall hold two terms of court every year in their respective judicial districts.
They may likewise hold special terms whenever, in their opinion, the ends of public justice require it.
The Judicial districts of this Territory shall be divided as follows:‘The first Judicial district shall comprise all that portion of
Arizona lying east of the
Apache Pass; the
District and Probate Courts whereof shall be holden at La Masila.
The second Judicial district shall comprise the remainder of the
Territory; the
District and Probate Courts shall be holden at
Tucson.
The Governor shall likewise appoint one Probate
Judge and
Sheriff, and the necessary Justice of the Peace in and for each Judicial district.
The Constables shall be appointed by the respective Justices of the Peace.
’
Each District
Judge shall appoint his own clerk, also shall be
ex officio Clerk of the
Probate Court within his district.
The District and Probate Courts of the two districts shall be holden at such times as heretofore provided by the Legislature of
New Mexico for the counties of
Dona Ana and Arizona.
All suits and other business now pending in any of the late Courts of
New Mexico, within the
Territory, shall be immediately transferred to the corresponding Courts of this Territory as herein established.
The style of all process shall be the
Territory of Arizona, and all prosecutions shall be carried on in the name of the
Territory of Arizona.
There shall likewise be appointed by the
Governor, an
Attorney-General,
Secretary of the
Territory, Treasurer, and
Marshal, whose duty and compensation shall be the same as heretofore under the laws of
New Mexico.
The city of
Mesilla is hereby designated as the seat of Government of this Territory.
All Territorial officers shall hold their respective terms of office until otherwise provided by Congress, unless sooner removed by the power appointing them.
The salaries, fees and compensation of all Territorial offices shall remain the same as heretofore in the
Territory of
New Mexico.
The Treasurer,
Marshal, Sheriffs and Constables, before acting as such, shall execute to the
Territory a bond, with good and sufficient securities, conditioned for the faithful discharge of their official duties, in the same manner as heretofore provided under the laws of
New Mexico.
All Territorial officers, before entering upon their official duties, shall take an oath or affirmation to support the
Constitution and laws of the
Confederate States and of this Territory, and faithfully to discharge the duties lucumbent upon them.
The
Bill of Rights of the
Territory of
New Mexico, so far as consistent with the
Constitution and laws of the
Confederate States and the provisions of this decree, are hereby declared in full force and effect in the
Territory of Arizona.
Given under my hand, at
Mesilla, this 1st day of August, 1861.
Jno. R. Baylor.
Lieut. Col. Com. Mounted Rifles, C. S A.
Concerning this proclamation, the Mesilla Times discourses as follows:
Dawning of a golden Rea.
In another column will be found the proclamation of
Lieut. Col. Jno. R. Baylor, commanding the Confederate forces of
Arizona, by which the
Territory of Arizona is taken possession of in the name of the
Confederate States of America, establishing temporarily and until the action of Congress a form of government.
The importance and necessity of this movement is self evident.
We should emerge from the chains and anarchy which have beset us, and assume the form and fact of a Territory, prepare to receive its organization and set in motion the machinery of courts, resolving that law and justice shall be enforced and sustained, and zealously set to work to develop, to improve and to adorn the land in which we have made our homes.
The effect of this proclamation will be to give us relief from the numerous obstacles which have surrounded us. The rights and privileges for which we have so long petitioned, and which have been so repeatedly denied us by the Federal Congress, has been afforded us by this simple act. We can by this authority immediately commence the solid foundation of a State, enjoy the security of certain protection and support from the law, secure that individuality of the nation which our extent and manifold resources demand, and initiate a golden era of prosperity, plenty and happiness.
Our star is now most brilliantly in the ascendant; our fondest hope and anticipation era on the eve of being realized.
Let each of us put our shoulder to the wheel of progress, and succor and support by a very exertion these first movements which will give us a happy, peaceful, substantial greatness.
