HOW A TERRITORY DIFFERS FROM A STATE
from Statehood for Alaska
by George Sundborg, Sr.
THE TERRITORIAL plan of government was devised for regions under the sovereignty of the United States to which Congress felt itself
HOW A TERRITORY DIFFERS FROM A STATE
from Statehood for Alaska
by George Sundborg, Sr.
THE TERRITORIAL plan of government was devised for regions under the sovereignty of the United States to which Congress felt itself compelled to allow a measure of self-government, but to which it was unwilling at once to grant full membership in the Union. The status of territory has always been regarded as a sort of governmental adolescence, from which, with increasing population, the area would eventually grow into adult statehood. When a territory has acquired about 60,000 people, it has usually been regarded as of age. Every state west of the Alleghenies, except Texas and California, passed through this stage of development.
COURTS UNCERTAIN WHAT CLAUSE MEANS
Since the whole theory of territorial government was based on the assumption that the period of territorial tutelage would be short, and would be followed by statehood, not too much time or effort was ever expended by Congress in perfecting it. As applied to the continental area, the ill consequences of any imperfections in the territorial system could only be temporary. What is this system, and how well adapted is it to provide government on a more or less permanent basis to such an area as Alaska?
The fundamental law of the land has very little to say on the subject of the relationship of American territories to the Union. The only indication of the intention of the makers of the Constitution is in Article IV, Section 3, which reads: "The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States." The rest of the instrument seems to postulate, both in spirit and in wording, a group of states and nothing else. Since the time of the annexation of Louisiana in the early 1800's the interpretation of this clause has vexed the nation.
The Supreme Court has answered that the power to govern all the areas not admitted to statehood resides in Congress. The extent of this congressional authority was a subject of contention before the courts all during the last century and is not yet entirely settled. Territories such as Alaska and Hawaii are sometimes classified as "incorporated" territories as distinguished from such "unincorporated" possessions as the Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Guam. The term refers to the fact that territories like Alaska and Hawaii have been incorporated into the Union, that is, brought entirely under the protection of the Constitution. The treaty with Russia providing for annexation of Alaska declared that: The inhabitants of the ceded territory, shall be admitted to the enjoyment of all the right, advantages, and immunities of citizens of the United States; and shall be maintained and protected in the full enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion."
Of course, the people of Alaska are to this day conspicuously denied one of the rights and advantages which citizens of the United States hold most dear. This is the right, through the ballot to control in some measure the functioning of the national government.
It is obvious, but not often appreciated by those who do not reside in the territories, that American citizens participate in determining the policies of the national federation only through the medium of the states. The President is selected by an electoral college composed of members from each state. The Senate is made up of two members from each state. The House of Representatives is apportioned according to the population of the states.
PEOPLE DENIED MANY BASIC RIGHTS
An amendment to the Constitution must be approved by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress - houses chosen by the states - and approved by the legislatures of or conventions in three-fourths of the states. From beginning to end, the reins which guide the progress of the national government lead only from the states and citizens of the states. The territories and possessions are out of it. Apparently it was inconceivable to the founding fathers that Americans anywhere or of any era should exist for long under a form of government in which the benefits of suffrage and representation are denied them.
It is true that Alaska sends a Delegate to Congress. But this representative has no vote. His influence, if any, is personal. It is also true that both of the major political parties grant representation to the territories in their nominating conventions. But this results in only indirect, indefinite power. As for any share in the formal, legal control of the federal government, such as the citizens of the states have, the people of Alaska have no more than the bears in the hills, the salmon in the sea, the trees in the forest or indeed the stones in the field.
Not only are territories inferior to the states in that they exercise no influence over the federal government but also in that the federal government has much more authority over the territories than over the states: first, from the general theory of the federation itself; and, second, from the interpretation which the courts have put upon the constitutional restrictions on Congress.
FINAL AUTHORITY RESTS WITH STATES
It is fundamental in the constitutional theory of the American federation that the states are sovereign in certain fields; that they have certain inherent powers, certain authority which is neither granted nor delegated to them. The federal government, on the other hand, has only the powers specially delegated to it, s