But this is a mistake. The principle is well known
and recognized by the jurisprudence of all civilized nations,
that in the transfer of a territory from one territorial
sovereign to another, the laws in force under the old sovereign
remain in force after the change, till abrogated, or others are
enacted in their place by the new sovereign, except such as are
necessarily abrogated by the change itself of the sovereign; not,
indeed, because the old sovereign retains any authority, but,
because such is presumed by the courts to be the will of the new
sovereign. The principle applies in the case of the death of a
State in the Union. The laws of the State are territorial, till
abrogated by competent authority, remain the lex loci, and are in
full force. All that would be vacated would be the public rights
of the State, and in no case the private rights of citizens,
corporations, or laws affecting them.
But the same conclusion is reached in another way. In the lapse
of a State or its return to the condition of a Territory, there
is really no change of sovereignty. The sovereignty, both before
and after, is the United States. The sovereign authority that
governs in the State government, as we have seen, though
independent of the General government, is the United States. The
United States govern certain matters through a General
government, and others through particular State governments.
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