164 HISTORY OF OHIO. 



a delegate to congress. William Henry Harrison, received 

 eleven votes, and was elected. Arthur St. Clair junior, receiv- 

 ed ten votes for the same office. This was St. Clair's son. 



Harrison being the secretary of the territory at the time, 

 resigned that office, and the governor took charge of his official 

 papers, until a successor was appointed. Any act, which pass- 

 ed both houses, was sent to the governor, for his approbation. 

 If he approved, it was returned by him, to the house in which 

 it originated, where it was signed by the committee of enroll- 

 ment, the great seal of the territory was affixed to it, and 

 then it was deposited with the governor, for safe keeping. 



But if the act was not approved by the governor, he kept it 

 in his possession until at the end of the session, he assigned 

 his reasons for not approving it. In this way, St. Clair retain- 

 ed the act regulating marriages, one regulating taverns, one 

 to create the office of county surveyor, one to take the census 

 of the eastern division of the territory, (all east of the Scioto 

 river,) and all the acts for erecting new counties, or changing 

 the lines of old ones. St. Clair, in true military style, said; 

 in his proroguing speech, " it appears to mc, that the erecting 

 new counties, is the proper business of the executive." In as- 

 signing his reasons for not approving the erection of the county 

 of Clark, St. Clair expressed his doubts whether the people in it 

 were able to support a county. And he expressed his belief 

 that nearly every man in the county had signed the petition 

 for it, and their number was only about one hundred. This 

 territorial legislature, which commenced its session on the 

 16th day of September, continued to sit until the 19th of De- 

 cember, when the governor, in true British style, prorogued 

 them. During this term, of about three months, they passed 

 about thirty public acts, many of them long and complicated 

 ones. From these first laws of the territory, we have derived 

 many of our present ones. Hence the value of Chase's stat- 

 utes, in which volumes they are collected, and to which, we 

 respectfully refer the reader. Near the close of the session, 

 this general assembly, prepared an address to the people of 

 the territory, It was drawn up by Return J- Meigs, of the 



