THE FORMATION OF A STATE GOVERNMENT.
The state of things which induced the people of California to form a
state government deserves to be fully set forth. Their condition was
without precedent in history; and from a statement of that condition,
it will be seen that the framing of a constitution and the
organization of a state government was the only resource of the
Californians. The representations of the report of Thomas Butler King
to the government of the United States will not be contradicted, and
these we insert.
"The discovery of the gold mines had attracted a very large number of
citizens of the United States to that territory, who had never
been accustomed to any other than American law, administered by
American courts. There they found their rights of property and person
subject to the uncertain, and frequently most oppressive, operation of
laws written in a language they did not understand, and founded on
principles, in many respects, new to them. They complained that the
alcaldes, or judges, most of whom had been appointed or elected before
the immigration had commenced, were not lawyers by education or
profession; and, being Americans, they were, of course, unacquainted
with the laws of Mexico, or the principles of the civil law on which
they are founded.
"As our own laws, except for the collection of revenue, the
transmission of the mails, and establishment of postoffices, had not
been extended over that territory, the laws of Mexico, as they existed
at the conclusion of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, regulating the
relations of the inhabitants of California with each other,
necessarily remained in force;[11] yet, there was not a single volume
containing those laws, as far as I know or believe, in the whole
territory, except, perhaps, in the governor's office at Monterey.
"The magistrates, therefore, could not procure them, and the
administration of justice was, necessarily, as unequal and fluctuating
as the opinions of the judges were conflicting and variable.
"There were no fee-bills to regulate costs; and, consequently, the
most cruel exactions, in many instances, were practised.
"The greatest confusion prevailed respecting titles to property, and
the decision of suits involving the most important rights, and very
large sums of money depended upon the dictum of the judge.
"The sale of the territory by Mexico to the United States had
necessarily cut off or dissolved the laws regulating the granting or
procuring titles to land; and, as our own land-laws had not been
extended over it, the people were compelled to receive such titles as
were offered to them, without the means of ascertaining whether they
were valid or not.
"Litigation was so expensive and precarious that injustice and
oppression were frequently endured, rather than resort to so uncertain
a remedy.
"Towns and cities were springing into existence; many of them without
charters or any legal right to organize municipal authorities, or to
tax property or the citizens for the establishment of a police, the
erection of prisons, or providing any of those means for the
protection of life and property which are so necessary in all civil
communities, and especially among a people mostly strangers to each
other.
"Nearly one million and a half of dollars had been paid into the
custom-house, as duties on imported goods, before our revenue laws had
been extended over the country; and the people complained bitterly
that they were thus heavily taxed without being provided with a
government for their protection, or laws which they could understand,
or allowed the right to be represented in the councils of the nation.
"While anxiously waiting the action of Congress, oppressed and
embarrassed by this state of affairs, and feeling the pressing
necessity of applying such remedies as were in their power, and
circumstances seemed to justify, they resolved to substitute laws of
their own for the existing system, and to establish tribunals for
their proper and faithful administration.
"In obedience, therefore, to the extraordinary exigencies of their
condition, the people of the city of San Francisco elected members to
form a legislature, and clothed them with full powers to pass laws.
"The communities of Sonoma and of Sacramento city followed the
example.
"Thus were three legislative bodies organized; the two most distant
being only one hundred and thirty miles apart.
"Other movements of the kind were threatened, and doubtless would have
followed, in other sections of the territory, had they not been
arrested by the formation of a State government.
"While the people of California were looking to Congress for a
territorial government, it was quite evident that such an organization
was daily becoming less suited to their condition, which was entirely
different from that of any of the territories out of which the new
States of the Union had been formed.
"Those territories had been at first slowly and sparsely peopled by a
few hunters and farmers, who penetrated the wilderness, or traveled
the prairies, in search of game or a new home; and, when thus
gradually their population warranted it, a government was provided for
them. They, however, had no foreign commerce, nor any thing beyond the
ordinary pursuits of agriculture, and the various branches of business
which usually accompany it, to induce immigration within their
borders. Several years were required to give them sufficient
population and wealth to place them in a condition to require, or
enable them to support, a State government.
"Not so with California. The discovery of the vast metallic and
mineral wealth in her mountains had already attracted to her, in the
space of twelve months, more than one hundred thousand people. An
extensive commerce had sprung up with China, the ports of Mexico on
the Pacific, Chili, and Australia.
"Hundreds of vessels from the Atlantic ports of the Union, freighted
with our manufactures and agricultural products, and filled with our
fellow-citizens, had arrived, or were on their passage round Cape
Horn; so that, in the month of June last, (1849) there were more than
three hundred sea-going vessels in the port of San Francisco.
"California has a border on the Pacific of ten degrees of latitude,
and several important harbors which have never been surveyed; nor is
there a buoy, a beacon, a lighthouse, or a fortification, on the whole
coast.
"There are no docks for the repair of national or mercantile vessels
nearer than New York, a distance of some twenty thousand miles round
Cape Horn.
"All these things, together with the proper regulations for the gold
region, the quicksilver mines, the survey and disposition of the
public lands, the adjustment of land titles, the establishment of a
mint and of marine hospitals, required the immediate formation of a
more perfect civil government than California then had, and the
fostering care of Congress and the Executive.
"California had, as it were by magic, become a State of great wealth
and power. One short year had given her a commercial importance but
little inferior to that of the most powerful of the old States. She
had passed her minority at a single bound, and might justly be
regarded as fully entitled to take her place as an equal among her
sisters of the Union.
"When, therefore, the reality became known to the people of that
territory that the government had done nothing to relieve them from
the evils and embarrassments under which they were suffering, and
seeing no probability of any change on the subject which divided
Congress, they adopted, with most unexampled unanimity and
promptitude, the only course which lay open to them--the immediate
formation of a State government.
"They were induced to take this step not only for the reason that it
promised the most speedy remedy for present difficulties, but because
the great and rapidly growing interests of the territory demanded it;
and all reflecting men saw, at a glance, that it ought not to be any
longer, and could not, under any circumstances, be much longer
postponed.
"They not only considered themselves best qualified, but that they had
the right to decide, as far as they were concerned, the embarrassing
question which was shaking the Union to its centre, and had thus far
deprived them of a regularly organized civil government. They believed
that, in forming a constitution, they had a right to establish or
prohibit slavery, and that, in their action as a _State_, they would
be sustained by the North and the South.
"In taking this step, they proceeded with all the regularity which has
ever characterized the American people in discharging the great and
important duties of self-government.
"The steamer in which I was a passenger did not stop at Monterey; I
therefore did not see General Riley, nor had I any communication with
him until about the middle of the month, when he came to San
Francisco. A few days after my arrival, his proclamation calling a
Convention to form a State constitution, _dated the third of June_,
was received.
"The people acted in compliance with what they believed to be the
views of Congress, and conformably to the recommendations of the
proclamation; and proceeded, on the day appointed, to elect members to
a Convention for the purpose of forming a constitution, to be
regularly submitted to the people for their ratification or rejection,
and, if approved, to be presented to Congress, with a prayer for the
admission of California, as a State, into the Union."
According to the recommendation of General Riley, the civil governor
of California, an election of delegates to form a Convention was held
on the 1st of August, 1849. The number of delegates to be elected was
thirty-seven. General Riley, General Smith, and Thomas Butler King,
used every means to stimulate the people to hold the preparatory
meetings, and they were generally successful. But in some districts
scarcely any move was made until a few days before the election. In
one or two instances, the election was not held upon the day
appointed; but the Convention nevertheless admitted the delegates
elected in such cases.
The Convention was to meet on the 1st of September, at Monterey; but
it did not get regularly organized until the 4th of that month, when
Dr. Robert Semple, of the Sonoma district, was chosen president. The
proportion of the native Californian members to the American was about
equal to that of the population. Among the members was Captain John
Sutter, the pioneer settler of California, General Vallejo and
Antonio Pico, who had both been distinguished men in California,
before the conquest. The body, as a whole, commanded respect, as being
dignified and intellectual.
The Declaration of Rights was the first measure adopted by the
Convention. Its sections being general and liberal in their character,
were nearly all adopted by a unanimous vote. The clause prohibiting
the existence of slavery was the unanimous sentiment of the
Convention. The Constitution will be found in another part of this
work, and we will not here recapitulate its provisions. It combines
the best features of the Constitutions of the States east of the Rocky
Mountains, and is in most respects similar to that of the State of New
York.
The most exciting questions discussed were, a clause prohibiting the
entrance of free people of color into the State, the boundary line,
and the great seal of the State. The first, the clause prohibiting the
entrance of free people of color into the State, passed first reading,
but was subsequently rejected by a large majority. The question of
suffrage occasioned some discussion, widely differing opinions being
entertained by the members. An article was adopted by the Convention,
excluding Indians and negroes, with their descendants, from the
privilege of voting; but it was subsequently modified by a proviso,
which gave the Legislature power of admitting Indians, or the
descendants of Indians to the right of suffrage by a two-thirds
concurrent vote. Under this provision, some of the most wealthy and
influential Californians are excluded from voting until permitted by
the Legislature.
The boundary question, which came up towards the close of the
Convention, was the most exciting theme. The point of dispute was the
eastern boundary line. The Pacific formed the natural boundary on the
west; the parallel of 42 degrees, the boundary on the north, and the
Mexican line, run in conformity with the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,
the boundary on the south. The discussion, reconsideration and voting
upon the various propositions occupied nearly two days. Finally, the
line detailed in the Constitution was adopted.
The discussion upon the adoption of the Great Seal for the State was
amusing. Eight or ten designs were offered, and the members from the
different districts were all anxious to have their particular district
represented. The choice finally fell upon one offered by a Major
Garnett. The principal figure is Minerva, with spear and shield,
emblematic of the manner in which California was born, full-grown,
into the confederacy. At her feet crouches the grizzly bear. Before
him is the wheat-sheaf and vine, illustrating the agricultural
products of the country. Near them is the miner, with his implements.
In the distance is the Bay of San Francisco, and beyond that, the
Sierra Nevada, over which appears the word "Eureka." The closing
scenes of the Convention are described in graphic and vivid colors by
one who was an eye-witness to them, and recorded them upon the
spot.[12]
"The members met this morning at the usual hour, to perform the last
duty that remained to them--that of signing the Constitution. They
were all in the happiest humor, and the morning was so bright and
balmy that no one seemed disposed to call an organization. Mr. Semple
was sick, and Mr. Steuart, of San Francisco, therefore called the
meeting to order by moving Captain Sutter's appointment in his place.
The chair was taken by the old pioneer, and the members took their
seats around the sides of the hall, which still retained the
pine-trees and banners, left from last night's decorations. The
windows and doors were open, and a delightful breeze came in from the
bay, whose blue waters sparkled in the distance. The view from the
balcony in front was bright and inspiring. The town below--the
shipping in the harbor--the pine-covered hills behind--were mellowed
by the blue October haze, but there was no cloud in the sky, and I
could plainly see, on the northern horizon, the mountains of Santa
Cruz and the Sierra de Gavilan.
"After the minutes had been read, the Committee appointed to draw up
an Address to the people of California, was called upon to report, and
Mr. Steuart, Chairman, read the Address. Its tone and sentiment met
with universal approval, and it was adopted without a dissenting
voice. A resolution was then offered to pay Lieutenant Hamilton, who
is now engaged in engrossing the Constitution upon parchment, the sum
of $500 for his labor. This magnificent price, probably the highest
ever paid for a similar service, is on a par with all things else in
California. As this was their last session, the members were not
disposed to find fault with it, especially when it was stated by one
of them that Lieutenant Hamilton had written day and night to have it
ready, and was still working upon it, though with a lame and swollen
hand. The sheet for the signer's names was ready, and the Convention
decided to adjourn for half an hour and then meet for the purpose of
signing.
"I amused myself during the interval by walking about the town. Every
body knew that the Convention was about closing, and it was generally
understood that Captain Burton had loaded the guns at the fort, and
would fire a salute of thirty-one guns at the proper moment. The
citizens, therefore, as well as the members, were in an excited mood.
Monterey never before looked so bright, so happy, so full of pleasant
expectation.
"About one o'clock the Convention met again; few of the members,
indeed, had left the hall. Mr. Semple, though in feeble health, called
them to order, and, after having voted General Riley a salary of
$10,000, and Mr. Halleck, Secretary of State, $6000 a year, from the
commencement of their respective offices, they proceeded to affix
their names to the completed Constitution. At this moment a signal was
given; the American colors ran up the flag-staff in front of the
government buildings, and streamed out on the air. A second afterward
the first gun boomed from the fort, and its stirring echoes came back
from one hill after another, till they were lost in the distance.
"All the native enthusiasm of Captain Sutter's Swiss blood was
aroused; he was the old soldier again. He sprang from his seat, and,
waving his hand around his head, as if swinging a sword, exclaimed;
'Gentlemen, this is the happiest day of my life. It makes me glad to
hear those cannon: they remind me of the time when I was a soldier.
Yes, I am glad to hear them--this is a great day for California!'
Then, recollecting himself, he sat down, the tears streaming from his
eyes. The members with one accord, gave three tumultuous cheers, which
were heard from one end of the town to the other. As the signing went
on, gun followed gun from the fort, the echoes reverberating grandly
around the bay, till finally, as the loud ring of the _thirty-first_
was heard, there was a shout: 'That's for California!' and every one
joined in giving three times three for the new star added to our
Confederation.
"There was one handsome act I must not omit to mention. The captain of
the English bark Volunteer, of Sidney, Australia, lying in the harbor,
sent on shore in the morning for an American flag. When the first gun
was heard, a line of colors ran fluttering up to the spars, the stars
and stripes flying triumphantly from the main-top. The compliment was
the more marked, as some of the American vessels neglected to give any
token of recognition to the event of the day.
"The Constitution having been signed and the Convention dissolved, the
members proceeded in a body to the house of General Riley. The visit
was evidently unexpected by the old veteran. When he made his
appearance, Captain Sutter stepped forward, and having shaken him by
the hand, drew himself into an erect attitude, raised one hand to his
breast as if he were making a report to his commanding officer on the
field of battle, and addressed him as follows:
"'GENERAL: I have been appointed by the delegates, elected by the
people of California to form a Constitution, to address you in their
names and in behalf of the whole people of California, and express the
thanks of the Convention for the aid and coöperation they have
received from you in the discharge of the responsible duty of creating
a State government. And, sir, the Convention, as you will perceive
from the official records, duly appreciates the great and important
services you have rendered to our common country, and especially to
the people of California, and entertains the confident belief that you
will receive from the whole of the people of the United States, when
you retire from your official duties here, that verdict so grateful to
the heart of the patriot: 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant.'
"General Riley was visibly affected by this mark of respect, no less
appropriate than well deserved on his part. The tears in his eyes, and
the plain, blunt sincerity of his voice and manner, went to the heart
of every one present. 'Gentlemen,' he said, 'I never made a speech in
my life. I am a soldier--but I can _feel_; and I do feel deeply the
honor you have this day conferred upon me. Gentlemen, this is a
prouder day to me than that on which my soldiers cheered me on the
field of Contreras. I thank you all from my heart. I am satisfied now
that the people have done right in selecting delegates to frame a
Constitution. They have chosen a body of men upon whom our country may
look with pride; you have framed a Constitution worthy of California.
And I have no fear for California while her people choose their
representatives so wisely. Gentlemen, I congratulate you upon the
successful conclusion of your arduous labors; and I wish you all
happiness and prosperity.'
"The General was here interrupted with three hearty cheers which the
members gave him, as Governor of California, followed by three more,
'as a gallant soldier, and worthy of his country's glory.' He then
concluded in the following words: 'I have but one thing to add,
gentlemen, and that is, that my success in the affairs of California
is mainly owing to the efficient aid rendered me by Captain Halleck,
the Secretary of State. He has stood by me in all emergencies. To
him I have always appealed when at a loss myself; and he has never
failed me.'
[Illustration: RANCHE--UPPER CALIFORNIA.]
"This recognition of Captain Halleck's talents and the signal service
he has rendered to our authorities here, since the conquest, was
peculiarly just and appropriate. It was so felt by the members, and
they responded with equal warmth of feeling by giving three
enthusiastic cheers for the Secretary of State. They then took their
leave, many of them being anxious to start this afternoon for their
various places of residence. All were in a happy and satisfied mood,
and none less so than the native members. Pedrorena declared that this
was the most fortunate day in the history of California. Even Carillo,
in the beginning one of our most zealous opponents, displayed a
genuine zeal for the Constitution, which he helped to frame under the
laws of our republic."
The elections for the various officers under the new Constitution took
place on the 13th of November, 1849. Peter H. Burnett was chosen
Governor, and John McDougall, Lieutenant-Governor. George W. Wright
and Edward Gilbert were chosen to fill the posts of representatives in
Congress. The first State Legislature met at the capital, the pueblo
de San José, on the 15th of December, and elected John C. Fremont and
Wm. M. Gwin, Senators to Congress. Every branch of the civil
government went at once into operation, and admission into the Union
as a State seems all that is necessary to complete the settlement of
affairs in California.
FOOTNOTES:
[11] See American Insurance Company, et al. _vs._ Canter, 1st Peters'
Supreme Court Reports, 542.
[12] Bayard Taylor, El Dorado, or Adventures in the Path of Empire.