WASHINGTON, D.C., _May 15, 1866_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I return to the Senate, in which House it originated, the bill, which
has passed both Houses of Congress, entitled "An act for the admission
of the State of Colorado into the Union," with my objections to its
becoming a law at this time.
First. From the best information which I have been able to obtain
I do not consider the establishment of a State government at present
necessary for the welfare of the people of Colorado. Under the existing
Territorial government all the rights, privileges, and interests of the
citizens are protected and secured. The qualified voters choose their
own legislators and their own local officers, and are represented in
Congress by a Delegate of their own selection. They make and execute
their own municipal laws, subject only to revision by Congress--an
authority not likely to be exercised unless in extreme or extraordinary
cases. The population is small, some estimating it so low as 25,000,
while advocates of the bill reckon the number at from 35,000 to 40,000
souls. The people are principally recent settlers, many of whom are
understood to be ready for removal to other mining districts beyond
the limits of the Territory if circumstances shall render them more
inviting. Such a population can not but find relief from excessive
taxation if the Territorial system, which devolves the expenses of the
executive, legislative, and judicial departments upon the United States,
is for the present continued. They can not but find the security of
person and property increased by their reliance upon the national
executive power for the maintenance of law and order against the
disturbances necessarily incident to all newly organized communities.
Second. It is not satisfactorily established that a majority of the
citizens of Colorado desire or are prepared for an exchange of a
Territorial for a State government. In September, 1864, under the
authority of Congress, an election was lawfully appointed and held for
the purpose of ascertaining the views of the people upon this particular
question. Six thousand one hundred and ninety-two votes were cast, and
of this number a majority of 3,152 was given against the proposed
change. In September, 1865, without any legal authority, the question
was again presented to the people of the Territory, with the view of
obtaining a reconsideration of the result of the election held in
compliance with the act of Congress approved March 21, 1864. At this
second election 5,905 votes were polled, and a majority of 155 was given
in favor of a State organization. It does not seem to me entirely safe
to receive this, the last-mentioned, result, so irregularly obtained, as
sufficient to outweigh the one which had been legally obtained in the
first election. Regularity and conformity to law are essential to the
preservation of order and stable government, and should, as far as
practicable, always be observed in the formation of new States.
Third. The admission of Colorado at this time as a State into the
Federal Union appears to me to be incompatible with the public interests
of the country. While it is desirable that Territories, when
sufficiently matured, should be organized as States, yet the spirit of
the Constitution seems to require that there should be an approximation
toward equality among the several States composing the Union. No State
can have less or more than two Senators in Congress. The largest State
has a population of 4,000,000; several of the States have a population
exceeding 2,000,000, and many others have a population exceeding
1,000,000. A population of 127,000 is the ratio of apportionment of
Representatives among the several States.
If this bill should become a law, the people of Colorado, 30,000 in
number, would have in the House of Representatives one member, while New
York, with a population of 4,000,000, has but thirty-one; Colorado would
have in the electoral college three votes, while New York has only
thirty-three; Colorado would have in the Senate two votes, while New
York has no more.
Inequalities of this character have already occurred, but it is believed
that none have happened where the inequality was so great. When such
inequality has been allowed, Congress is supposed to have permitted it
on the ground of some high public necessity and under circumstances
which promised that it would rapidly disappear through the growth and
development of the newly admitted State. Thus, in regard to the several
States in what was formerly called the "Northwest Territory," lying east
of the Mississippi, their rapid advancement in population rendered it
certain that States admitted with only one or two Representatives in
Congress would in a very short period be entitled to a great increase
of representation. So, when California was admitted, on the ground of
commercial and political exigencies, it was well foreseen that that
State was destined rapidly to become a great, prosperous, and important
mining and commercial community. In the case of Colorado, I am not aware
that any national exigency, either of a political or commercial nature,
requires a departure from the law of equality which has been so
generally adhered to in our history.
If information submitted in connection with this bill is reliable,
Colorado, instead of increasing, has declined in population. At an
election for members of a Territorial legislature held in 1861, 10,580
votes were cast; at the election before mentioned, in 1864, the number
of votes cast was 6,192; while at the irregular election held in 1865,
which is assumed as a basis for legislative action at this time, the
aggregate of votes was 5,905. Sincerely anxious for the welfare and
prosperity of every Territory and State, as well as for the prosperity
and welfare of the whole Union, I regret this apparent decline of
population in Colorado; but it is manifest that it is due to emigration
which is going on from that Territory into other regions within the
United States, which either are in fact or are believed by the
inhabitants of Colorado to be richer in mineral wealth and agricultural
resources. If, however, Colorado has not really declined in population,
another census or another election under the authority of Congress would
place the question beyond doubt, and cause but little delay in the
ultimate admission of the Territory as a State if desired by the people.
The tenor of these objections furnishes the reply which may be expected
to an argument in favor of the measure derived from the enabling act
which was passed by Congress on the 21st day of March, 1864. Although
Congress then supposed that the condition of the Territory was such as
to warrant its admission as a State, the result of two years' experience
shows that every reason which existed for the institution of a
Territorial instead of a State government in Colorado at its first
organization still continues in force.
The condition of the Union at the present moment is calculated to
inspire caution in regard to the admission of new States. Eleven of the
old States have been for some time, and still remain, unrepresented
in Congress. It is a common interest of all the States, as well those
represented as those unrepresented, that the integrity and harmony of
the Union should be restored as completely as possible, so that all
those who are expected to bear the burdens of the Federal Government
shall be consulted concerning the admission of new States; and that
in the meantime no new State shall be prematurely and unnecessarily
admitted to a participation in the political power which the Federal
Government wields, not for the benefit of any individual State or
section, but for the common safety, welfare, and happiness of the whole
country.