The Mexican System of Government--Establishment of the Legislative
Assembly of San Francisco--Seizure of the Town Records--Address of
the Assembly recommending the Formation of a State
Government--Interference of Brevet Brigadier-General Riley--Public
Meeting--Organization of the State Convention--The
Constitution--The Elections.
When I arrived in San Francisco, the causes had already been set in
operation which have worked out for California a state government; and
though they sprang out of a local question, the result was a general
one. The tracing of these causes may not be uninteresting to those who
are looking upon California now as a full-grown state.
As the town of San Francisco began to fill up with American citizens,
lovers of law and order, it was thought necessary that a better form of
town government than then existed was requisite to secure the rights of
person and property. Thus far the old Mexican system of _alcaldes_ or
chief-justices, and _ayuntamientos_ or town councils, had been retained,
and the people were living under a law which they did not understand; a
law subject to great abuses, in the hands of those who did not
themselves comprehend it; and it was determined that the system should
be changed, and one which was understood be substituted. In compliance
with a call signed by a large number of respectable citizens of the
town, a mass meeting was held in Portsmouth Square on the afternoon of
February 12th, 1849, when, after organizing in the usual form, and
hearing the remarks made by several gentlemen, a series of resolutions
were offered and unanimously carried, by which it was determined to
form, for the government of the district of San Francisco, a legislative
assembly, which should enact laws, and that three judges and other
necessary officers should be elected to administer them.
On the 21st day of February, an election was held, in compliance with
the above resolutions, and a legislative assembly, consisting of fifteen
members, three judges, a register, and sheriff, was elected. One of the
first acts of the Legislative Assembly, which only claimed authority
over the district of San Francisco, was to abolish the office of
alcalde, considering it not only unnecessary, but incompatible with
American institutions; and in compliance with the act of the Assembly,
Myron Norton, Esq., chief-magistrate, directed a note to T. M.
Leavenworth, late _alcalde_, requesting him to deliver to the new
government the records of the town. To this note Mr. Leavenworth made no
reply, and another one of the same tenor was sent by Mr. Norton. This
received the same treatment as the first. Trouble appeared to be
brewing, and, as is usual in such cases, many, who had been the first to
propose and aid the new movement, were found at this time most wofully
wanting. A code of laws had already been established by the Assembly,
and the wheels of the new local government were ready to be put in
operation, when it was found very difficult to procure a quorum for
business at the meetings of the Legislative Assembly, and it was decided
that additional members should be added thereto. On the 11th of May,
another election was held, at which a large and respectable vote was
cast, and ten members of the Assembly were chosen--and, some informality
having occurred at the previous election, a register, sheriff, and
treasurer. Among the newly-elected members was Peter H. Burnett, now
governor of the new state of California. Previous to this time, a letter
had been addressed by a committee of the Assembly to General Persifer F.
Smith, who was at the time principal military commander in California,
to which was received a decidedly non-committal reply. But it was
understood that Brevet Brigadier-General Riley, who had assumed the
civil government of the territory, would support the old authorities,
and, if possible, crush the Legislative Assembly.
California, and San Francisco in particular, were in a curious political
state of existence. From the time of the treaty of peace with Mexico
until the arrival of Generals Smith and Riley, Colonel R. B. Mason, who
had, during the war, been military commander and governor of California,
had continued in the exercise of his authority, and the country had been
ruled by the same laws and usages as during the war, when it was
actually a territory belonging to Mexico. In express contradiction of at
least the intention and understanding of the government at Washington,
Colonel Mason had appointed collectors, and collected revenue in the
ports of California, and in all respects the military government had
been continued; and now, when the people of San Francisco, in their
sovereign capacity, had established a local government for their own
protection, they found themselves interfered with by a military
commander.
The Legislative Assembly, however, went on, receiving, as it did, the
support of the whole community. A court-house was established, and
courts organized; and Judge Norton finding that Mr. Leavenworth still
made no reply to his note, after waiting a reasonable time, issued a
writ of replevin, and gave it into the hands of the sheriff, who called
upon Mr. Leavenworth at his office, presented it, and demanded the
surrender of the town records. Mr. Leavenworth refused to deliver them,
and the sheriff, calling to his assistance a number of the citizens,
seized the records, and deposited them in the court-house. Mr.
Leavenworth started for Monterey the same evening, to consult with
General Riley upon future proceedings. In the mean time, the Legislative
Assembly issued an address to the people of California, earnestly
calling upon them to assemble in convention, and organize a provisional
government for the territory, prior to an immediate application to
Congress for admission as a state.
This was in the early part of the month of June, and was the first
concerted movement coming from any authorized body to recommend the
formation of a state government for California. Mr. Leavenworth returned
from Monterey, and, acting in the double capacity of a “returned
officer” and a bearer of despatches, brought with him two proclamations
issued by Gen. Riley, which were dated, one the 3d, and the other the
4th of June, and were found posted up in several parts of the town the
morning after Mr. Leavenworth’s arrival. The streets of San Francisco,
on the morning of the 10th of June, presented a most exciting scene.
Little knots were gathered around the streets engaged in loud
discussion, and crowds were collected in the vicinity of the
proclamations reading them. The first was a long one, and commenced by
stating that as Congress had failed to extend a government over
California, it became the duty of the people to organize one; that he,
(Gen. Riley) “in accordance with instructions from _the Secretary of
War_,” had assumed, for the present, the civil government of the
territory, and that he conceived it his duty to organize the old Mexican
system, and put it in active operation until such time as a constitution
and laws should have been created. The document was one of the most
inconsistent and contradictory nature, assuming, firstly, that the
territory of California was, and must of necessity, as a conquered
territory, continue to be under the laws and usages of Mexico, until
Congress should extend over it those of the United States; and at the
same time calling upon the people to assemble and organize a government
for themselves. The whole broad ground which had been taken by the
Legislative Assembly of San Francisco, which was that, in the absence of
a government extended over us by Congress, we had the inherent right to
establish one for ourselves, although denied by Gen. Riley in the first
part of his proclamation, was essentially admitted and urged in the
latter portion.
The second proclamation was addressed merely to the citizens of San
Francisco, in relation to the seizure of the town records by order of
Judge Norton, and called upon all good citizens to assist in restoring
them to the “proper authorities.”
Various were the feelings excited, and as various the opinions expressed
in regard to these proclamations, but a large majority of the people of
San Francisco were fully decided in the idea that Gen. Riley had assumed
an authority, which, even if it was “in accordance with the instructions
of the Secretary of War,” was one which he had no right to assume, and
was in fact nothing more nor less than an unjust usurpation of power.
Trouble was again anticipated, and it was understood that, backed by
Gen. Riley’s proclamation, the former _alcalde_, Mr. Leavenworth, would
attempt the re-seizure of the town records. A few days after the
publication of this document, a writ was served upon the town Register,
calling for their delivery; he refused to give them up, and when an
attempt was made to seize them, a force of about fifty of the most
respectable citizens, gathered at the court-house, determined, if
necessary, to resist _vi et armis_. The _alcalde’s_ sheriff presented
his writ, and was replied to by Wm. M. Stewart, presiding judge, that
the records could not be removed, and seeing that a strong party was
arrayed against him, he left without making any forcible attempt to take
them. Gen. Riley refused to lend the alcalde the assistance of any
military force, and matters were soon progressing again as before.
On the 12th of June, a large meeting was held in Portsmouth Square, for
the purpose of taking steps towards the establishment of a state
government for California. The call for this meeting had been signed by
a large number of respectable citizens, and was issued before Gen.
Riley’s proclamations were published, and could therefore have no
connexion with them. This meeting was addressed by Hon. T. Butler King,
Hon. Wm. M. Gwin, William A. Buffum, Esq., and other speakers, all of
whom urged the propriety of the immediate formation of a state
government for California.
In reply to the proclamations of Gen. Riley, an address was issued by
the Legislative Assembly of San Francisco, written by Peter H. Burnett,
the present governor of California, setting forth in a clear and
succinct manner, the right of the people, in the absence of a
territorial government established by Congress, to legislate for
themselves, and justifying, in a masterly way, the course which had been
pursued by the Legislative Assembly.
In order to avoid all difficulty and confusion, and arrive, by the
shortest and most practicable mode, at the “consummation devoutly to be
wished,” the establishment of a state government for California, the
Assembly and their supporters united cordially with the other citizens
of California, and on the first day of August an election was held in
accordance with the proclamation of Gen. Riley, at which were chosen the
various local officers, and members of convention, to meet at Monterey,
on the first of September, for the purpose of forming a constitution.
The convention met, and a more sensible and dignified body of men never
assembled in any portion of the world. After six weeks’ severe labour, a
constitution was prepared and laid before the people of California for
their ratification or rejection. It was a constitution of the most
radically democratic character, and most admirably adapted to the wishes
and wants of the people over whom it was to be extended.
On the 13th day of November an election was held, at which the state
constitution received an almost unanimous ratification, and at the same
time a governor, and the necessary state officers, members of the state
legislature, and two members of Congress, were chosen. The choice for
governor fell upon Peter H. Burnett, Esq., one of the early emigrants to
Oregon, and who there received the appointment as judge of the Supreme
Court, an enterprising citizen of California, and one of the first to
declare the rights of her people. John M’Dougal, Esq., formerly of
Kentucky, was elected lieutenant-governor, and George W. Wright, and
Edward Gilbert, representatives to Congress. The first State Legislature
met at the capital, the Pueblo de San José, on the 15th of December, and
elected Hon. John C. Fremont, and Wm. M. Gwin, Senators to the Congress
of the United States. The action of Congress is thus alone necessary to
constitute California one of the sovereign states of the American Union,
and it is earnestly to be hoped that that august body will no longer
trifle with the interests or the demands of so great and powerful a
people. The struggles of California have been arduous, her trials
severe; she has been taxed for the support of the general government,
while not even a shadow of protection has been extended over her; and
has been ruled by a military power against her own wishes, till her
people have risen in their might and demanded that they should have a
voice and a representation in the councils of the nation.
In tracing the causes which have created California a state, it will be
seen that that little body of men, the Legislative Assembly of San
Francisco, were the first to set the ball in motion, and I cannot
refrain from giving them the credit which is their due. The proclamation
of General Riley would probably not have been issued to this day, had
not the body of which I have spoken taken the preliminary steps, and
although General Riley deserves gratitude from the people for what he
did, and as a man, is one of “nature’s noblemen,” I shall ever look upon
his assumption of power as Civil Governor of California as unwarranted
and unjust.