CHAPTER XVI.

EVENTS IN CALIFORNIA FROM THE ADMISSION OF THE STATE INTO

THE UNION TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF 1853.

Since the foregoing chapters were written, events of considerable

importance have transpired in California. Remarkable political steps

have been taken, and disastrous accidents by flood and fire have

happened.

The crimes of robbery and murder becoming of so frequent occurrence in

San Francisco that all security of person and property was threatened

with destruction, a meeting of citizens was called, and it was

resolved to organize a Vigilance Committee, for the summary trial and

execution of offenders. This was an open manifestation of contempt for

the constituted authorities, and they protested against it. But a

majority of the citizens of San Francisco, feeling that extraordinary

measures were necessary, supported those persons who were appointed

upon the Committee. Such officers generally abuse the extensive

authority conferred upon them; but justice requires that we should

say, that the members of the San Francisco Vigilance Committee acted

throughout with a due appreciation of an awful responsibility. Several

persons were arrested, tried, convicted and hung. One or two were

notorious criminals, who had often been up before the regular courts,

and always contrived to elude justice. By the certain and summary

measures of the Committee, security was in a great measure restored,

and the members then surrendered their authority--acknowledging the

entire supremacy of the courts.

In October, 1851, the State elections occurred. The contest was

spirited. The Democrats were generally successful. John Bigler, their

gubernatorial candidate, was elected by about thirteen hundred

majority over Mr. Reading, the candidate of the Whigs. At the

succeeding session of the Legislature, John B. Weller, formerly of

Ohio, was elected to the Senate of the United States, to succeed John

C. Fremont, who had resigned his seat. Mr. Weller had long been a

prominent member of the Democratic party. He commanded the Ohio

regiment in the Mexican war. It was believed that he would be an

efficient colleague of the industrious and practical Senator Gwin.

The Chinese portion of the population of California has gradually

become quite numerous. They have proved themselves steady, energetic

and useful citizens. Gov. Bigler, however, had a different estimation

of them. As they do not respect the oaths and forms established by law

for the regulation of business in California, he thought they could

not be bound sufficiently in their bargains to suit the business

community; and accordingly he recommended to the Legislature, that

some measures should be adopted for checking Chinese immigration. This

called forth a spirited remonstrance from the Chinese citizens of San

Francisco. They argued with much reason, that they had conducted

themselves properly ever since they had entered California, and that

there was no real ground of complaint against them. The methods of

binding them were explained, it is believed, to the general

satisfaction of the business community. We should think that Chinese

labor would be in great demand in California, as the "Celestials" not

only work for less than the Americans, but can endure more toil and

exposure.

In October, 1852, events occurred in the Mexican State of Sonora,

which the Californians could not but regard with much interest. Count

de Raousset-Boulbon, a French adventurer, was the prime actor, in a

brief but stirring drama, in that quarter. He had come to California

in search of fortune. Being unsuccessful, he went to Mexico.

At the period of his arrival there the Province of Sonora was

devastated by the Alpaca Indians, who committed all sorts of

depredations with impunity. Count de Raousset-Boulbon presented

himself to the Mexican Government, and offered to deliver Sonora from

the red-skins with which it was infested. The Mexican Government was

ready to fall upon the neck of M. de Raousset-Boulbon. "I am a

Frenchman. I know the country. I understand war. I will answer for

every thing," said the Count. "Good," said the government, "we will

place an army of ten thousand men at your disposal." "Thank you," said

M. de Raousset-Boulbon, "keep your army; it would only get in my way.

Give me some muskets, and two hundred thousand francs, and leave the

rest to me." He received the required sum, returned to Sonora,

organized a corps of Frenchmen, resolute men like himself, and

proceeded to hunt down the Indians. The merchants of the country,

delighted with the successes obtained by their defender against a set

of rascals who had so long been masters of their provinces, sent

subsidies to M. de Raousset-Boulbon, put themselves under his

protection, and assured him that neither he nor his troops should ever

want for any thing if he would only continue the war. The Count closed

with the offer. But the popularity of the young general, and the

success of his little army, alarmed the Mexican Government.

They issued an order requiring him to quit the country with his

forces. Count de Raousset-Boulbon replied, that the merchants and

land-owners of the country having placed Sonora under his immediate

protection, he felt it due to his honor not to abandon them, and

consequently he distinctly refused to obey the order. The Mexican

Government then sent a frigate to blockade the principal port of

Sonora. Count de Raousset-Boulbon took the frigate. The government

sent Gen. Blanco, at the head of an army, against the French

commander. A battle was fought, and after a short but fierce struggle,

superior numbers triumphed, and the French were defeated. A treaty

was then negotiated, by the terms of which, Count Boulbon agreed to

quit Sonora, in consideration of receiving a large sum of money.

It is the prevailing opinion that this movement originated in a mere

restless spirit of adventure. But there are some sagacious statesmen

at Washington and some keen-eyed politicians in California, who regard

it as having had the object of organizing a powerful French state,

which might check the progress of the great North American

confederacy. Senator Bell, of Tennessee, predicted that such a design

would be entertained, and such a movement executed by the French. It

is well that the people of California should be upon their guard. A

republic can have no safe neighbors but republics. There are a large

number of Frenchmen in California; but if the Americans are vigilant

there is nothing to be feared from them.

On the 2d of November, 1852, the presidential election was held

throughout the United States. The Democrats carried California for

their electoral ticket, pledged to vote for Franklin Pierce, of New

Hampshire, and William R. King, of Alabama. The state election

occurred at the same time, and in this, also, the Democrats were

completely successful.

About the same time, destructive fires occurred in various parts of

California. The greater part of the city of Sacramento was laid in

ashes by a conflagration, which occurred on the 2d of November. Of

this terrible disaster, the San Francisco Herald of the 4th of

November, gives the following account:--

At 11½ o'clock on Tuesday evening, a fire broke out in the millinery

shop of Madam Lanos, on J street, near the corner of Fourth. The

inspectors were counting the votes, and a numerous crowd were awaiting

the decision of the judges, so that no time was lost in delay. With

astonishing rapidity the fire spread from building to building--up,

down and across the street, in five minutes. The Crescent City Hotel,

on the opposite side of the street, was in flames, and being of

inflammable materials and of large size, sent the fiery torrent in

every direction. The hardware store of Pawoth, Eels & Co. communicated

the flames to the brick block adjoining, which was speedily burned to

the ground, and carried the fire up street on both sides, until it

reached Eighth street, and on the south side of J street. On the

corner side, from Brown, Kenny & Co.'s brick block, which caught from

the Crescent City fire, there was nothing to stay its progress but the

Overton Block, on the corner of Third and J streets, on the one side,

and Scudder, Carroll & Co. on the other. For a time the superhuman

exertions put forth seemed to check, and it was hoped would entirely

subdue the fire, and the boom of the powder, like artillery, that was

deposited in every building, by the hook and ladder boys, was deemed

the signal for the arrest and staying of the fire on this line. In

vain, however; the wind, heretofore blowing towards the levee,

increased to a gale and changed to the north, thus turning the fire

broadside on, and in five minutes it had spread to M. street.

[Illustration: CAFE RESTAURANT, SAN FRANCISCO--MADE OUT OF A SHIP

GALLEY.]

From J and Third, the fire curled around Scudder & Carroll's, and

extended to Dr. Morrell's drug store, on the south side of J street,

which proved a barrier for a time. These buildings, of wood, were

built in 1849, and as combustible as powder. The flames caught the

wooden building opposite, and spread to the rear on I street. At this

time, W. R. McCall & Co.'s building caught on the roof. The burning of

their building sealed the fate of all to the levee, on both sides of

the street, and bearing down the length of the city, the flames

extended, soon wrapping the Orleans Hotel. The buildings all around

were blown up with the rapidity of magic, carts standing ready with

25lb. kegs of powder. The Union office next fell, the proprietors

saving two presses, type and paper sufficient for a few days' supply.

The Tahama block, containing Page, Bacon & Co.'s, Swift's and Grimes'

banking offices, saved, wind changing, blowing directly south from

them. J. B. Starr's store also made a wall to prevent the further

spread of the fire in that direction. At this moment the fire reached,

from the levee, J and K street to Tenth, one sea of fire, crumbling

every thing to ashes. The large brick store of J. A. Haines, the brick

blocks on K--with the exception of that of the Lady Adams Co. on K,

between First and K streets--are a pile of ruins. The L. A. Co.'s

buildings stand prominent and erect this morning, a monument to the

proprietor's sagacity and good sense. The families on the line below K

street, were busy removing their valuables and furniture, when the

flames crossed the brick barrier, and swept with remorseless fury down

and across, licking with its forked tongue from street to alley,

apparently shrivelling the wooden buildings with a single breath. The

inmates of the hospital, seventy in number, were taken in season to

the levee, and from thence to a suitable house, by Drs. Briarly and

Williams. The City market, filled with hay, and the hospital, were the

last on that line of the fire, where the citizens effectually stopped

its further progress. On F street the brick building of Reynolds & Co.

made but a light barrier, the roof falling in almost immediately, with

three of No. 3's engine men, who were burned to death. Every thing to

Eighth street, on the north, and Ninth Street on the south side of J

street to Twelfth street, on K down to N street on the southeast,

through N and M to the levee--the El Dorado, supposed impregnable

hitherto, as also Merritt's, Dr. Morrill's, Scudders', and Case &

Co.'s are completely gutted.

Thus far the number of lives ascertained to be lost are six. Three of

No. 3's Engine Company's men, who fell with the roof of Reynolds &

Co.'s building, were swallowed up alive; the confusion of the morning,

and the scattering of people, prevented a roll call to ascertain the

names of the gallant but unfortunate firemen. A lady, next door to the

place where the fire originated, is also reported burnt. The number

scorched is enormous, all of whom, however, are carefully attended to

by surgeons on board the Camanche. Every assistance possible was

proffered by the captains and agents of the steamers, whose vessels

were soon crowded with females. The levee was strewn with merchandise

of every description, and the wind blowing from the northwest threw

the sparks from the goods and saved them all. At 5 A.M., the fire had

nearly ceased, the smouldering embers throwing huge clouds of smoke

and lurid flashes, bringing desolation to the hearts of all who

witnessed the sickening sight. The losses cannot be less than

$5,000,000.

On the evening of the 9th of November, another great fire occurred at

San Francisco. Of this the California Whig of Nov. 10, gives the

following account:--

Last evening, at half past eight o'clock, our citizens were alarmed by

the dreadful cry of fire, which proved to be too well founded, for in

less than five minutes the whole city was illumed by the lurid glare

of the flames.

There is much contradiction as to where the fire originated, but it is

pretty generally conceded that it was in the upper story of the frame

building on the corner of Merchant and Kearny streets, occupied by

some lodgers.

In a very short time all the buildings on the corner of the street

were in a blaze, and wholly beyond the power of human aid to save. The

close proximity of the building to the Union, on the opposite corner,

rendered the probability of its destruction almost certain. In a very

few minutes the latter building caught. In the meantime the frame

buildings on Merchant, and between that and Clay streets caught, and

were in a blaze.

The whole force of the fire department were promptly on the spot, with

their apparatus, and put into the most effective service. Never since

they have been in organization have they displayed their unequalled

energy and training as they did on this occasion.

Fortunately for the safety of the lower part of the city, there was

but little air stirring, and a slight misty rain had fallen during the

day and evening, which checked the tendency of the fire to spread

towards the bay. Had it not been for this, the mass of sparks falling

upon the roofs of the frame buildings on the east side of Montgomery

street, must have extended it to the whole lower side of the city.

These buildings were covered with men provided with wet blankets,

buckets of water, and every thing necessary to extinguish the flames,

should they communicate to their roofs.

The fire burnt eastward to the buildings of Messrs. Austin & Lobdell,

fronting on Clay street, and that of Mr. Naglee, fronting on Merchant

street. On the north side of Merchant it took the Union Hotel, and all

the buildings fronting on that street, down towards Montgomery, to

Bolton and Barron's building. It did not cross over to Washington in

any instance. This is the second time that the building of Messrs.

Austin & Lobdell has proved an effectual barrier to the progress of a

fire, and without receiving the least injury itself, or damaging the

goods within it.

Nothing but the determined and unparalleled efforts of the firemen

prevented the fire from extending to the south side of Clay street; as

it was, some $10,000 damage was done to goods and buildings upon that

side.

The fire broke out, as we have said, at half past eight o'clock, and

it was not until a quarter past ten that it was checked or its further

spread prevented, and the engines worked for some time longer.

The records of the different courts in the old City Hall were removed,

but thrown into the utmost confusion.

In the midst of the excitement, Mr. Masalski, a gentleman well known

to the community as the former keeper of the Sacramento House, rushed

to the scene of disaster, and shortly afterwards returned to his

dwelling. He was immediately seized with the most alarming symptoms,

and in a few moments breathed his last. Dr. Guatier, who attended him

in his last moments, says that it is difficult to pronounce upon the

cause of his death, other than that it was brought about by congestion

of the brain, but what was the immediate cause of this congestion he

is unable to say at present.

It is of course impossible for us to give a correct estimate of the

losses sustained, but we have heard it variously estimated as from

$150,000 to $200,000.

Other destructive fires occurred at Marysville, Sonora, Stockton, San

Diego and in the agricultural districts, an immense amount of property

being destroyed. In the cities, the damage was repaired, with an

astonishing rapidity, but some individuals were utterly ruined--the

results of years of labor being swept away in a single night. The

cities of California are now generally supplied with fire engines and

hook and ladder companies. But these machines are not always

available.

The mining news contained in California papers of November, 1852, is

very interesting.

A letter dated Nevada, Oct. 24, says that the continued dry weather

has given unusual opportunities and facilities to miners now working

in the river channels. At the best these operations are very

precarious in their nature--necessarily attended with a vast outlay,

and frequently, where the most sanguine hopes were entertained, the

results have been most unfortunate. The time for working in the rivers

is usually confined to a very limited period, the water being seldom

or never sufficiently low to work to advantage earlier than September;

it follows, therefore, that every additional week of dry weather is of

the utmost value to such as are thus engaged. Luckily for them, the

present dry season has been unusually protracted, consequent upon

which, the rivers are at an exceedingly low stage, and the success of

the miner proportionate to this advantage. On the other hand, those

interested in ravine and hill mining (by far the greater proportion of

the miners,) are anxiously awaiting the wet season for a supply of

water--without which, all their labor is fruitless.

The Bear River and Auburn Water Company's canal is so far completed as

to be available to the miners by the first rains, notwithstanding the

great expense and time attending its construction, arising from a want

of experience, and so far beyond the calculations of its projectors.

This work traverses an extensive and rich mining country, totally

dependent upon the canal for water, which cannot be exhausted for many

years.

The discovery of a continuation of the celebrated Coyote lead, in

Nevada, from which so many millions of the precious metals were

extracted in '50 and '51, is now established beyond a doubt. As yet it

is not developed to any great extent, but enough, however, to give

employment to a goodly number of miners. The character of the lead

continues to be similar to the old mines, in appearance and

productiveness. A few weeks' further investigation of the locality

will no doubt give a new impetus to mining operations here, which have

latterly been somewhat stagnant.

The Sacramento Journal says:--We have been shown a lot of the gold

taken out of the Mokelumne run, valued at $2,500, which was superior

to any thing we ever examined before. The pieces of glittering ore

were of sizes varying from a cucumber seed up to a pumpkin seed, and

all in that flat, oval shape so peculiarly characteristic of Mokelumne

gold. It was sent down from the store of D. L. Angier, in Calaveras

county, and we are informed that the same company of six men that

disposed of it, have taken out of the claim $36,000 of the same kind

of specimens.

Gold has been found in considerable quantities in the mountains back

of San Buenaventura. The existence of the gold was made known by the

Indians to some white men, who, on visiting the spot indicated, were

rewarded with six ounces of the precious metal. The prospect is said

to be good.

Three quartz mills have recently commenced operations in Scott valley.

We have not received any definite information as to what these mills

have accomplished, but are informed that one of them is producing gold

in great abundance.

The Columbia Mining Company took out 12 lbs. of gold in one day, and 8

lbs. at night--making in all 20 lbs. The same gentleman informs us

that miners generally in that vicinity are doing remarkably well.

New diggings have been discovered near the American ranche. Those

working there are getting well paid, in coarse, heavy gold. They are

making from $12 to $20 per day to the man. The diggings are ravine

diggings, and can be worked all winter.

A convention of the quartz miners of Nevada county was to have been

held at Nevada on the 13th of November, to adopt measures having for

their purpose more unity of operation and greater security of labor

and capital.

The San Francisco papers of Jan. 1, 1853, contain most interesting

intelligence of the state of the gold region. The following is the

most important:--

The present winter is conceded to be the most severe experienced in

this country since it has been populated by Americans. During the last

fortnight it has been raining and snowing continually in the

mountains and valleys, and we are daily in the receipt of accounts of

disasters and suffering in all parts of the state. The waters have

been unusually high, and communication through the mining regions

almost entirely cut off, either by snow or overflowed streams. The

rivers have been swelled to such an extent as to inundate all the low

lands, causing immense damage, destroying stock and agricultural

products.

The whole country between Tehama and Sacramento city was entirely

under water, whilst Marysville was partly inundated, and though

Sacramento city was well protected by a levee, the lower portions were

submerged. The waters at the present time have subsided, although the

rains still continue. On the mountain streams, the loss of mining

implements has been great, and all work for the present is suspended.

Bridges have been swept away, and ferries destroyed, and some few

lives lost. The southern portion of the mining district has suffered

equally with the northern. Stockton has been inundated partially, and

property to a considerable amount destroyed. The bridges on the

Calaveras, Stanislaus, and other streams have been swept away, and

communication with the mining towns for a while suspended. The flood

has been universal, and the waters higher than in the memorable winter

of 1849.

The great scarcity of provisions, and the consequent high prices, have

occasioned much suffering and distress already, and it is feared that

many will actually die from starvation. Many miners subsist entirely

on beef and potatoes, whilst in other portions of the mines there are

hundreds who have nothing at all but barley and potatoes. In portions

of Yuba and Sierra county the snow was already ten feet deep, and

still falling, and the miners actually reduced to absolute want.

In one place they held a meeting and forced a trader to sell what

flour he had on hand at 45 cents per pound, and all who were able to

leave did so, thus leaving the provisions for those who were unable to

find their way through the snows to the valleys. In some places cabins

are entirely covered with snow, and the roofs of many have been

crushed in, thus cutting off the last chance of protection. The

accounts received may be greatly exaggerated--nevertheless, there is

much suffering and distress, and it is not improbable that some may

perish by starvation.

A few days since, we were visited with a terrible southeast gale,

which prevailed for two days. Several light tenements were blown down,

and some injury done to the shipping in the harbor. For a day or two,

communication by stage with San Jose was cut off, owing to the sudden

rise of the intermediate streams.

Several important decisions have been rendered in our courts, among

which is the decision of the State Supreme Court, recognizing the

right of native claimants of land to the summary remedy of ejectment

where they are disturbed by squatters. This applies to parties who are

in possession of their claims, and relieves them from what, by a

previous decision of the court, was a necessity, that they should

incur first the expensive process of a writ of right in order to prove

their title.

The Land Commission are making considerable progress in the

adjudication of claims. Of these, the most important, perhaps, is

that of Mr. Fremont, to a large tract of land on the head waters of

the Mariposa river. The Commission recognizes his claim to the land,

but does not undertake to decide upon his title to the mineral wealth,

which, as is well known, is embraced within the limits of the grant.

A convention of Quartz Miners, held at Nevada, have adopted a code of

laws for the government of those working quartz veins in that country.

Barley has been used for bread in some places in the interior, and is

found to be a good substitute for flour.

Farmers are getting their lands ready for the crops of the next year,

and it is understood that considerable quantities of wheat will be

sown. Preparations are also being made for the erection of grist

mills, and it is not likely another season will find us so dependant

upon foreign supply for breadstuffs.

There was considerable excitement in California, during the latter

part of December, about a supposed monopoly of flour. The article had

been very scarce and high for some time, and the exorbitant rates it

commanded were attributed in a great measure to an organized effort to

force up prices. Indignation meetings were held in the interior, and

in San Francisco several of the public prints endeavored to expose the

supposed plots of the speculators. The timely arrival of cargoes from

Chili and elsewhere, however, soon caused a decline, and the

excitement on the subject consequently abated.

Vallejo has been made the capital of the state. It possesses many

advantages of situation, and promises to be a large city. If the

government should continue to have its seat there, Vallejo may prove

a formidable rival to San Francisco.

At Sacramento city much alarm prevailed, in consequence of the rise of

the water in the river and its tributaries. The papers say:--

The warm and unprecedented heavy rains of the last forty-eight hours

have brought down upon us an avalanche of water from the snowy regions

skirting the forks of the American River, and swollen the latter

stream to a greater height than at any former period of the present

season.

At 9 o'clock, yesterday morning, the water was even with its natural

banks, and soon after commenced percolating through the unfinished

embankments at the gaps of the old levee. These were speedily torn

away by the force of the current, and the water, now running on

unobstructed through the breach of the new levee, and so on down

towards the city.

By dusk last evening, that portion of the town lying south of J and

east of Fifth street, was entirely submerged, to the depth of from one

to three feet. During the whole of yesterday the rain poured down in

torrents, and the weather was warmer than we have known it for a month

past. The American river continued to rise, up to a very late hour,

and, at last accounts, was eleven and a half feet higher than on

Wednesday.

It is useless to deny the fact that the highest mark has not yet been

reached, for there is a great body of snow that, under the influence

of the present storm, must dissolve, and find its way to the

Sacramento. The latter stream also rose steadily during Thursday, but

still lacks some two feet of being up to the top of the levee.

There is no danger whatever of the embankment yielding at any point in

front of the city--the only danger to be apprehended is that it may

not prove sufficiently high to retain the stream within its

appropriate bounds.

A small breach was discovered early yesterday morning in the new

levee, near Dudley's farm, but it was repaired before any damage was

done.

There was a rumor prevailing last evening that Lisle's bridge had been

swept away, but could be traced to no reliable source.

Every body is busily engaged in making preparations to meet the

anticipated flood. Merchants and shopkeepers, and all having property

on the ground floor, are raising them above high water mark--boats are

moored at the doors--vehicles of every description, stock, grain,

tents, hay, provisions and people, are crowded together on the public

square, and every available dry nook and corner is occupied.

The Marysville Express of the 20th, says: "The water is within three

or four inches as high as it was at the last flood, when it was 6½

inches higher than ever known before. The rain is still falling

heavily, and when we consider the enormous, almost frightful, quantity

of snow in the mountains, the most alarming fears may most reasonably

be entertained. All seem to join in the belief that the present will

exceed any previous flood known."

The accounts we receive from the mining districts are really heart

rending; death by cold and starvation has visited many poor

unfortunates, while as yet the tale of horrors is but half told. It

was feared that as intelligence should be received from the

mountains, we shall have to record the sad fate of many more.

Great quantities of gold are still obtained in California. The average

value of the gold dust brought by each steamer of the Panama line is

about $500,000. This is an astonishing production; and we are almost

ready to believe the enthusiastic declarations of the first

adventurers in this El Dorado, that the gold region is inexhaustible.

Emigration to California continues to be extensive. Most of those who

intend to become permanent settlers proceed by the overland route,

from Independence, Missouri, to Sacramento City. Late in the summer of

every year, a relief train is sent from the settled portion of

California, to meet the emigrants. Many persons are thus saved from

death by starvation. The expense of the relief train is a

consideration of little importance, when its object is borne in mind.

Had the same measure been adopted soon after the gold discovery, many

of those whose bones are bleaching on the plains, would have survived

to become useful citizens of California.

Interesting proceedings have taken place in the United States Senate,

in regard to the Tehuantepec route to California. The Mexican

government has shown a disposition to prevent the construction of a

road across Tehuantepec, which some senators think should be promptly

rebuked. In a recent speech upon the subject, Mr. Mason, of Virginia,

said that the acquisition of California and the intervening territory,

placed this Government in the position of having some of its

dependencies almost inaccessible. The discovery of the gold in

California, made the subject of a communication with that region, of

the deepest importance, and has naturally drawn the eyes of the world

to the necessity of securing some safe, reliable, and speedy right of

way to the Pacific Ocean. Panama has been sought, and it has been used

as a place of transit, without any serious objection on the part of

any government there. Mexico alone has interposed an obstacle to this

desired communication with the Pacific. Mexico, from whom our

territory was derived, and who is our neighbor and sister Republic,

has alone refused the right of way to the world, and has not only

refused the right of transit to other nations, but has also set aside

an existing grant of that right. For years, enterprises have been

projected to connect the two Oceans at Tehuantepec. In view of the

vast importance of this connection, the minds of the people of the

United States have been concentrated upon the discovery of that plan

which shall be the least expensive, and at the same time the most

certain and efficient, to unite the two Oceans by means of travel or

transportation. Mr. Mason read a table showing the distance between

New York and San Francisco by the Chagres route, to be 6650 miles;

between New Orleans and San Francisco, by way of Chagres, 5675 miles;

between New York and San Francisco, by the Tehuantepec route, 4970;

between New Orleans and San Francisco, by the Tehuantepec, 3740 miles.

The average time from New York to San Francisco, by the Chagres route,

was 28 days, and the shortest 24 days. The average time by the

Tehuantepec route was 19 days, and the shortest 15. From New Orleans,

by way of Tehuantepec, the average time would be 14 days and

the shortest 12 days.

It is believed that spirited action on the part of our government will

secure from Mexico the recognition of a right of way across

Tehuantepec, which, according to Senator Mason's able representation,

is but a matter of justice. Mexico is at present almost ready to fall

to pieces, most of its states, or provinces, being in successful

rebellion. She is not, therefore, in a condition to resist a

formidable foreign power. It is lamentable when a government is weak,

and yet dares to be unjust. The people of California have a

considerable stake in the decision of the Tehuantepec question.

The gold region is constantly being extended by new

discoveries--especially in the north-eastern section of the state. In

the meantime the old mines continue to yield a good profit to

industrious laborers. Before the recent flood, the mining news from

the Mariposa diggings was very favorable--the miners averaging from

$25 to $30 a day. On Cottonwood Creek, Shosta Valley, operations were

also well rewarded--one company making $100 per day to the hand. The

number of persons engaged in mining and crushing the gold-bearing

quartz is very large, and the yield rewards the toil.

The miners still occasionally take upon themselves the punishment of

offenders. Recently, a half-breed Mexican, named John Bathus, having

stolen $800 in gold dust from S. B. Star, on the Klamath, was caught,

tried by the miners of the district, convicted, sentenced to be shot,

and executed accordingly. About the same time, a man named Morrison,

having committed a theft among the miners on Humbug Creek, was caught,

and received twelve lashes on his bare back. These cases, however,

occurred in wild districts, where the laws of the State are but

imperfectly executed, and where summary measures can alone secure the

miner in possession of his hard-earned property.

The Indians in the State are very troublesome, in spite of the strong

regular force kept in vigilant service. The most recent disturbances

have occurred in Trinity County, whither Gen. Hitchcock was compelled

to despatch a company of United States troops. Prompt and vigorous

measures being adopted, the savages were quieted. Other disturbances

in that section of the country about the mouth of the Klamath, were

terminated as promptly.

A late number of the Shasta Courier says, the Indians on Churn Creek,

on the east side of the Sacramento river, have become very annoying to

the whites. They have stolen a great many mules, and are constantly

watching for opportunities to take human life. But recently, a man

named Henry Welden, was pursued for several miles by a band of these

Indians, and narrowly escaped with his life. In consequence of these

outrages, a company of miners was formed for the purpose of driving

the savages to a safer distance, or exterminating them. The company

was equipped for efficient service in the mountains. The Indians fled

before them, and could not be overtaken.

Several months previous the Indians on the Gila were incited to war by

some reckless Mexicans. Several expeditions were sent against them

from Fort Yumas, and recently the savages have been so far quieted,

that the country is now considered safe for emigrants.

Among the new and most remarkable _placers_, are the gold bluffs,

situated near the mouth of the Klamath river, about thirty miles north

of Trinidad. The approach to them by land is over a plain of sand,

into which the traveller sinks ankle-deep at every step. The bluffs

stretch along some five or six miles, and present a perpendicular

front to the ocean of from 100 to 400 feet in height. In ordinary

weather the beach is from 20 to 50 feet in width, composed of a

mixture of gray and black sand, the latter containing the gold in

scales so fine that they cannot be separated by the ordinary process

of washing; so that resort must be had to chemical means. The beach

changes with every tide, and sometimes no black, auriferous sand is to

be seen on the surface. By digging down, it is found mixed with gray

sand, which largely predominates. The violence of the surf renders

landing in boats impracticable. When the beach was discovered early in

1851, several tons of goods were landed from a steamer despatched

thither, by means of lines from the vessel to the shore. The Pacific

Mining Company have made good profits in working the bluffs and the

sand of the beach.

Tunneling has been carried on quite extensively in the mining region.

Some of the tunnels through solid rock are wonderful achievements. At

Duggan's Flat, a party bored 150 feet in the solid rock before finding

the gold.

Professor Forrest Shepherd, of New Haven, has made some remarkable

discoveries of thermal action in California. In one place where there

was nothing on the surface to attract attention, on digging down the

heat increased so rapidly that at the depth of two feet he could not

bear his hand in the earth, and the thermometer indicated a

temperature of 130 degrees. At another place, after wandering for four

days through dense thickets, he came upon a chasm a thousand feet

deep, through which flowed a stream, the banks of which, on the 8th of

February, were covered with vegetation. Following up the stream, the

earth grew so hot as to burn the feet through the boots. There was no

appearance of lava, and the rocks were being dissolved by a powerful

_catalytic_ action. From innumerable orifices steam was forced to the

height of two hundred feet. The number of spouting geysers and boiling

springs, on a half mile square, exceeded two hundred. The Professor,

in the course of a lecture delivered at San Jose, said he did not

doubt that silver, lead, and iron abounded in California.

The legislation of Congress in regard to California has sometimes been

of a very unsatisfactory character. By an act passed in 1850, the

Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to contract upon the most

reasonable terms with the proprietors of some well-established

assaying works then in successful operation in California, who should

perform such duties in assaying and fixing the value of gold in grains

and lumps, and in forming the same into bars, as should be prescribed

by the Secretary of the Treasury, and the assayer was to fix the stamp

of the United States, indicating the degree of fineness and value,

upon each bar or ingot. This was a measure of convenience, and the

merchants of the California ports had then ample means of paying their

custom house duties. In 1852, however, Congress passed an act,

creating a branch mint of the United States in California: and to this

act was appended a clause, repealing the act which authorized the

office of Assayer, as soon as public notice was given of the creation

of the branch mint. In consequence of this legislation, the Assayer's

office was abolished, and yet there was no mint for coining in the

golden land. Time was required for making the necessary appropriation

of money, erecting buildings, and constructing machinery, all of which

had not been considered. The clause of the former act which made the

stamped ingots receivable for duties was repealed. The merchants of

California had no means of paying their duties at the custom house,

and great excitement and confusion ensued. Finally, an arrangement was

made with the Collector of San Francisco, under which uncoined gold

could be received in payment of duties, and then business went on as

usual. Care is one of the first essentials of beneficial legislation.

The circumstance that the people of California are so far from the

seat of the federal government, requires a strict attention in

legislators, to prevent evils which cannot be quickly remedied.

The people of California seem to be deeply interested in the

construction of a great railroad from the Mississippi to the Pacific.

At San Diego, several meetings have been held, and reports adopted,

advocating and exhibiting the advantages of a southern route for the

proposed railroad. The route which the meetings favored is to start

from the Gulf of Mexico or some of its tributaries, and passing

through Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico to California, and strike the

Pacific at San Diego. Its entire length would not exceed sixteen

hundred miles, whilst it would have the advantages, as alleged by the

report, of passing through a section in which universal summer

prevails, and of affording opportunities for lateral roads connecting

with the cities of Mexico, through which a large trade might be

obtained. The subject has been brought to the consideration of

Congress, and that body has prudently appropriated a large sum for a

survey of the various routes proposed.

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX A.

CONSTITUTION OF CALIFORNIA.

PROCLAMATION TO THE PEOPLE OF CALIFORNIA

The delegates of the people assembled in Convention, have formed a

constitution, which is now presented for your ratification. The time

and manner of voting on this constitution, and of holding the first

general election, are clearly set forth in the schedule. The whole

subject is, therefore, left for your unbiassed and deliberate

consideration.

The Prefect (or person exercising the functions of that office) of

each district, will designate the places for opening the polls, and

give due notice of the election, in accordance with the provisions of

the constitution and schedule.

The people are now called upon to form a government for themselves,

and to designate such officers as they desire, to make and execute the

laws. That their choice may be wisely made, and that the government

so organized may secure the permanent welfare and happiness of the

people of the new State, is the sincere and earnest wish of the

present Executive, who, if the constitution be ratified, will, with

pleasure, surrender his powers to whomsoever the people may designate

as his successor.

Given at Monterey, California, this 12th day of October, A.D., 1849.

(Signed)

B. RILEY,

Brevet Brig. General, U.S.A., and Governor of California.

(Official)

H. W. HALLECK,

Brevet Captain and Secretary of State.

* * * * *

WE THE PEOPLE OF CALIFORNIA, GRATEFUL TO ALMIGHTY GOD FOR

OUR FREEDOM, IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS BLESSINGS, DO ESTABLISH

THIS CONSTITUTION:--

ARTICLE I.

DECLARATION OF RIGHTS.

SEC. 1. All men are by nature free and independent, and have certain

inalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending

life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and

pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.

SEC. 2. All political power is inherent in the people. Government is

instituted for the protection, security, and benefit of the people;

and they have the right to alter or reform the same, whenever the

public good may require it.

SEC. 3. The right of trial by jury shall be secured to all, and remain

inviolate for ever; but a jury trial may be waived by the parties, in

all civil cases, in the manner to be prescribed by law.

SEC. 4. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and

worship, without discrimination or preference, shall for ever be

allowed in this State; and no person shall be rendered incompetent to

be a witness on account of his opinions on matters of religious

belief; but the liberty of conscience, hereby secured, shall not be so

construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices

inconsistent with the peace or safety of this State.

SEC. 5. The privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_ shall not be

suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public

safety may require its suspension.

SEC. 6. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines

imposed, nor shall cruel or unusual punishments be inflicted, nor

shall witnesses be unreasonably detained.

SEC. 7. All persons shall be bailable, by sufficient sureties: unless

for capital offences, when the proof is evident or the presumption

great.

SEC. 8. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise

infamous crime (except in cases of impeachment, and in cases of

militia when in actual service, and the land and naval forces in time

of war, or which this State may keep with the consent of Congress in

time of peace, and in cases of petit larceny under the regulation of

the Legislature,) unless on presentment or indictment of a grand jury;

and in any trial in any court whatever, the party accused shall be

allowed to appear and defend in person and with counsel, as in civil

actions. No person shall be subject to be twice put in jeopardy for

the same offence; nor shall he be compelled, in any criminal case, to

be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or

property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be

taken for public use without just compensation.

SEC. 9. Every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his

sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that

right; and no law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty

of speech or of the press. In all criminal prosecutions on indictments

for libels, the truth may be given in evidence to the jury; and if it

shall appear to the jury that the matter charged as libellous is true,

and was published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the

party shall be acquitted: and the jury shall have the right to

determine the law and the fact.

SEC. 10. The people shall have the right freely to assemble together,

to consult for the common good, to instruct their representatives, and

to petition the legislature for redress of grievances.

SEC. 11. All laws of a general nature shall have a uniform operation.

SEC. 12. The military shall be subordinate to the civil power. No

standing army shall be kept up by this State in time of peace; and in

time of war no appropriation for a standing army shall be for a longer

time than two years.

SEC. 13. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any

house, without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, except in

the manner to be prescribed by law.

SEC. 14. Representation shall be apportioned according to population.

SEC. 15. No person shall be imprisoned for debt in any civil action on

_mesne_ or final process, unless in cases of fraud; and no person

shall be imprisoned for a milita fine in time of peace.

SEC. 16. No bill of attainder, _ex post facto_ law, or law impairing

the obligation of contracts, shall ever be passed.

SEC. 17. Foreigners who are, or who may hereafter become, _bona fide_

residents of this State, shall enjoy the same rights in respect to the

possession, enjoyment, and inheritance of property, as native born

citizens.

SEC. 18. _Neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude, unless for the

punishment of crimes, shall ever be tolerated in this State._

SEC. 19. The right of the people to be secure in their persons,

houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable seizures and

searches, shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue but on

probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly

describing the place to be searched, and the persons and things to be

seized.

SEC. 20. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war

against it, adhering to its enemies, or giving them aid and comfort.

No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the evidence of two

witnesses to the same overt act, or confession in open court.

SEC. 21. This enumeration of rights shall not be construed to impair

or deny others retained by the people.

ARTICLE II.

RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE.

SEC. 1. Every white male citizen of the United States, and every white

male citizen of Mexico, who shall have elected to become a citizen of

the United States, under the treaty of peace exchanged and ratified at

Queretaro, on the 30th day of May, 1848, of the age of twenty-one

years, who shall have been a resident of the State six months next

preceding the election, and the county or district in which he claims

his vote thirty days, shall be entitled to vote at all elections which

are now or hereafter may be authorized by law: Provided, that nothing

herein contained shall be construed to prevent the Legislature, by a

two-thirds concurrent vote, from admitting to the right of suffrage,

Indians or the descendants of Indians, in such special cases as such a

proportion of the legislative body may deem just and proper.

SEC. 2. Electors shall, on all cases except treason, felony, or breach

of the peace, be privileged from arrest on the days of the election,

during their attendance at such election, going to and returning

therefrom.

SEC. 3. No elector shall be obliged to perform militia duty on the day

of election, except in time of war or public danger.

SEC. 4. For the purpose of voting, no person shall be deemed to have

gained or lost a residence by reason of his presence or absence while

employed in the service of the United States; nor while engaged in the

navigation of the waters of this State, or of the United States, or of

the high seas; nor while a student of any seminary of learning; nor

while kept at any almshouse, or other asylum, at public expense; nor

while confined in any public prison.

SEC. 5. No idiot or insane person, or person convicted of any infamous

crime, shall be entitled to the privileges of an elector.

SEC. 6. All elections by the people shall be by ballot.

ARTICLE III.

DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS.

The powers of the government of the State of California shall be

divided into three separate departments: the Legislature, the

Executive, and Judicial; and no person charged with the exercise of

powers properly belonging to one of these departments, shall exercise

any functions appertaining to either of the others; except in the

cases hereinafter expressly directed or permitted.

ARTICLE IV.

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.

SEC. 1. The legislative power of this State shall be vested in a

Senate and Assembly, which shall be designated the Legislature of the

State of California, and the enacting clause of every law shall be as

follows: "The people of the State of California, represented in Senate

and Assembly, do enact as follows."

SEC. 2. The sessions of the Legislature shall be annual, and shall

commence on the first Monday of January, next ensuing the election of

its members; unless the Governor of the State shall, in the interim,

convene the Legislature by proclamation.

SEC. 3. The members of the Assembly shall be chosen annually, by the

qualified electors of their respective districts, on the Tuesday next

after the first Monday in November, unless otherwise ordered by the

Legislature, and their term of office shall be one year.

SEC. 4. Senators and Members of Assembly shall be duly qualified

electors in the respective counties and districts which they

represent.

SEC. 5. Senators shall be chosen for the term of two years, at the

same time and places as Members of Assembly; and no person shall be a

Member of the Senate or Assembly, who has not been a citizen and

inhabitant of the State one year, and of the county or district for

which he shall be chosen six months next before his election.

SEC. 6. The number of Senators shall not be less than one third, nor

more than one half, of that of the Members of Assembly; and at the

first session of the Legislature after this Constitution takes effect,

the Senators shall be divided by lot as equally as may be, into two

classes; the seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated

at the expiration of the first year, so that one half shall be chosen

annually.

SEC. 7. When the number of Senators is increased, they shall be

apportioned by lot, so as to keep the two classes as nearly equal in

number as possible.

SEC. 8. Each house shall choose its own officers, and judge of the

qualifications, elections, and returns of its own members.

SEC. 9. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum to do

business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may

compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under

such penalties as each house may provide.

SEC. 10. Each house shall determine the rules of its own proceedings,

and may with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members elected,

expel a member.

SEC. 11. Each house shall keep a journal of its own proceedings, and

publish the same; and the yeas and nays of the members of either

house, on any question, shall, at the desire of any three members

present, be entered on the journal.

SEC. 12. Members of the Legislature shall, in all cases except

treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest,

and they shall not be subject to any civil process during the session

of the Legislature, nor for fifteen days next before the commencement

and after the termination of each session.

SEC. 13. When vacancies occur in either house, the Governor, or the

person exercising the functions of the Governor, shall issue writs of

election to fill such vacancies.

SEC. 14. The doors of each house shall be open, except on such

occasions as in the opinion of the house may require secrecy.

SEC. 15. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other,

adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in

which they may be sitting.

SEC. 16. Any bill may originate in either house of the Legislature,

and all bills passed by one house may be amended in the other.

SEC. 17. Every bill which may have passed the Legislature, shall,

before it becomes a law, be presented to the Governor. If he approve

it, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his

objections, to the house in which it originated, which shall enter the

same upon the journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such

reconsideration, it again pass both houses, by yeas and nays, by a

majority of two-thirds of the members of each house present, it shall

become a law, notwithstanding the Governor's objections. If any bill

shall not be returned within ten days after it shall have been

presented to him (Sunday excepted,) the same shall be a law, in like

manner as if he had signed it, unless the Legislature, by adjournment,

prevent such return.

SEC. 18. The Assembly shall have the sole power of impeachment; and

all impeachments shall be tried by the Senate. When sitting for that

purpose, the Senators shall be upon oath or affirmation; and no person

shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the

members present.

SEC. 19. The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State,

Comptroller, Treasurer, Attorney General, Surveyor-General, Justices

of the Supreme Court, and Judges of the District Courts, shall be

liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office; but judgment in

such cases shall extend only to removal from office, and

disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust or profit, under

the State; but the party convicted, or acquitted, shall nevertheless

be liable to indictment, trial and punishment, according to law. All

other civil officers shall be tried for misdemeanors in office, in

such manner as the Legislature may provide.

[Illustration: CROSSING THE ISTHMUS.]

SEC. 20. No Senator or member of Assembly shall, during the term for

which he shall have been elected, be appointed to any civil office of

profit, under this State, which shall have been created, or the

emoluments of which shall have been increased, during such term,

except such office as may be filled by elections by the people.

SEC. 21. No person holding any lucrative office under the United

States, or any other power, shall be eligible to any civil office of

profit, under this State; provided, that officers in the militia, to

which there is attached no annual salary, or local officers and

postmasters whose compensation does not exceed five hundred dollars

per annum, shall not be deemed lucrative.

SEC. 22. No person who shall be convicted of the embezzlement or

defalcation of the public funds of this State, shall ever be eligible

to any office of honor, trust, or profit, under the State; and the

Legislature shall, as soon as practicable, pass a law providing for

the punishment of such embezzlement, or defalcation as a felony.

SEC. 23. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence

of appropriations made by law. An accurate statement of the receipts

and expenditures of the public moneys shall be attached to, and

published with, the laws, at every regular session of the Legislature.

SEC. 24. The members of the Legislature shall receive for their

services, a compensation to be fixed by law, and paid out of the

public treasury; but no increase of the compensation shall take effect

during the term for which the members of either house shall have been

elected.

SEC. 25. Every law enacted by the Legislature, shall embrace but one

object, and that shall be expressed in the title; and no law shall be

revised, or amended, by reference to its title; but in such case, the

act revised, or section amended, shall be re-enacted and published at

length.

SEC. 26. No divorce shall be granted by the Legislature.

SEC. 27. No lottery shall be authorized by this State, nor shall the

sale of lottery tickets be allowed.

SEC. 28. The enumeration of the inhabitants of this State shall be

taken, under the direction of the Legislature, in the year one

thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, and one thousand eight hundred

and fifty-five, and at the end of every ten years thereafter; and

these enumerations, together with the census that may be taken, under

the direction of the Congress of the United States, in the year one

thousand eight hundred and fifty, and every subsequent ten years,

shall serve as the basis of representation in both houses of the

Legislature.

SEC. 29. The number of Senators and Members of Assembly, shall, at the

first session of the Legislature, holden after the enumeration herein

provided for are made, be fixed by the Legislature, and apportioned

among the several counties and districts to be established by law,

according to the number of white inhabitants. The number of Members of

Assembly shall not be less than twenty-four, nor more than thirty-six,

until the number of inhabitants within this State shall amount to one

hundred thousand: and after that period, at such ratio that the whole

number of Members of Assembly shall never be less than thirty, nor

more than eighty.

SEC. 30. When a congressional, senatorial, or assembly district, shall

be composed of two or more counties, it shall not be separated by any

county belonging to another district; and no county shall be divided,

in forming a congressional, senatorial, or assembly district.

SEC. 31. Corporations may be formed under general laws, but shall not

be created by special act, except for municipal purposes. All general

laws and special acts passed pursuant to this section may be altered

from time to time, or repealed.

SEC. 32. Dues from corporations shall be secured by such individual

liability of the corporators, and other means, as may be prescribed by

law.

SEC. 33. The term corporations, as used in this article, shall be

construed to include all associations and joint-stock companies,

having any of the powers or privileges of corporations not possessed

by individuals or partnerships. And all corporations shall have the

right to sue, and shall be subject to be sued, in all courts, in like

cases as natural persons.

SEC. 34. The Legislature shall have no power to pass any act

granting any charter for banking purposes; but associations may be

formed under general laws, for the deposit of gold and silver; but no

such association shall make, issue, or put in circulation, any bill,

check, tickets, certificate, promissory note, or other paper, or the

paper of any bank, to circulate as money.

SEC. 35. The Legislature of this State shall prohibit, by law, any

person or persons, association, company, or corporation, from

exercising the privileges of banking, or creating paper to circulate

as money.

SEC. 36. Each stockholder of a corporation, or joint-stock

association, shall be individually and personally liable for his

proportion of all its debts and liabilities.

SEC. 37. It shall be the duty of the Legislature to provide for the

organization of cities and incorporated villages, and to restrict

their power of taxation, assessment, borrowing money, contracting

debts, and loaning their credit, so as to prevent abuses in

assessments, and in contracting debts, by such municipal corporations.

SEC. 38. In all elections by the Legislature, the members thereof

shall vote _viva voce_, and the votes shall be entered on the journal.

ARTICLE V.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.

SEC. 1. The supreme executive power of this State shall be vested in a

chief magistrate, who shall be styled the Governor of the State of

California.

SEC. 2. The Governor shall be elected by the qualified electors, at

the time and places of voting for Members of Assembly, and shall hold

his office two years from the time of his installation, and until his

successor shall be qualified.

SEC. 3. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor (except

at the first election) who has not been a citizen of the United States

and a resident of this State two years next preceding the election,

and attained the age of twenty-five years at the time of said

election.

SEC. 4. The returns of every election for Governor shall be sealed up

and transmitted to the seat of government, directed to the Speaker of

the Assembly, who shall, during the first week of the session, open

and publish them in presence of both houses of the Legislature. The

person having the highest number of votes shall be Governor; but in

case any two or more have an equal and the highest number of votes,

the Legislature shall by joint-vote of both houses, choose one of said

persons, so having an equal and the highest number of votes, for

Governor.

SEC. 5. The Governor shall be commander-in-chief of the militia, the

army, and navy of this State.

SEC. 6. He shall transact all executive business with the officers of

government, civil and military, and may require information in writing

from the officers of the executive department, upon any subject

relating to the duties of the respective offices.

SEC. 7. He shall see that the laws are faithfully executed.

SEC. 8. When any office shall, from any cause, become vacant, and no

mode is provided by the constitution and laws for filling such

vacancy, the Governor shall have power to fill such vacancy by

granting a commission, which shall expire at the end of the next

session of the Legislature, or at the next election by the people.

SEC. 9. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the Legislature by

proclamation, and shall state to both houses, when assembled, the

purpose for which they shall have been convened.

SEC. 10. He shall communicate by message to the Legislature, at every

session, the condition of the State, and recommend such matters as he

shall deem expedient.

SEC. 11. In case of a disagreement between the two houses, with

respect to the time of adjournment, the Governor shall have power to

adjourn the Legislature to such time as he may think proper; Provided

it be not beyond the time fixed for the meeting of the next

Legislature.

SEC. 12. No person shall, while holding any office under the United

States, or this State, exercise the office of Governor, except as

hereinafter expressly provided.

SEC. 13. The Governor shall have the power to grant reprieves and

pardons after conviction, for all offences except treason, and cases

of impeachment, upon such conditions, and with such restrictions and

limitations, as he may think proper, subject to such regulations as

may be provided by law relative to the manner of applying for pardons.

Upon conviction for treason he shall have the power to suspend the

execution of the sentence until the case shall be reported to the

Legislature at its next meeting, when the Legislature shall either

pardon, direct the execution of the sentence, or grant a further

reprieve. He shall communicate to the Legislature, at the beginning of

every session, every case of reprieve, or pardon granted, stating the

name of the convict, the crime of which he was convicted, the sentence

and its date, and the date of the pardon or reprieve.

SEC. 14. There shall be a seal of this State, which shall be kept by

the Governor, and used by him officially, and it shall be called "The

Great Seal of the State of California."

SEC. 15. All grants and commissions shall be in the name and by the

authority of the people of the State of California, sealed with the

great seal of the State, signed by the Governor, and countersigned by

the Secretary of State.

SEC. 16. A Lieutenant-Governor shall be elected at the same time and

place, and in the same manner as the Governor; and his term of office,

and his qualifications, shall also be the same. He shall be President

of the Senate, but shall only have a casting vote therein. If, during

a vacancy of the office of Governor, the Lieutenant-Governor shall be

impeached, displaced, resign, die, or become incapable of performing

the duties of his office, or be absent from the State, the President

of the Senate shall act as Governor, until the vacancy be filled, or

the disability shall cease.

SEC. 17. In case of the impeachment of the Governor, or his removal

from office, death, inability to discharge the powers and duties of

the said office, resignation or absence from the State, the powers and

duties of the office shall devolve upon the Lieutenant-Governor for

the residue of the term, or until the disability shall cease. But when

the Governor shall, with the consent of the Legislature, be out of the

State in time of war, at the head of any military force thereof, he

shall continue commander-in-chief of all the military forces of the

State.

SEC. 18. A Secretary of State, a Comptroller, a Treasurer, an

Attorney-General and Surveyor-General, shall be chosen in the manner

provided in this Constitution; and the term of office, and eligibility

of each, shall be the same as are prescribed for the Governor and

Lieutenant-Governor.

SEC. 19. The Secretary of State shall be appointed by the Governor, by

and with the advice and consent of the Senate. He shall keep a fair

record of the official acts of the Legislature and Executive

Departments of the Government; and shall, when required, lay the same,

and all matters relative thereto, before either branch of the

Legislature: and shall perform such other duties as shall be assigned

him by law.

SEC. 20. The Comptroller, Treasurer, Attorney-General and

Surveyor-General, shall be chosen by joint vote of the two Houses of

the Legislature, at their first session under this Constitution, and

thereafter shall be elected at the same time and places, and in the

same manner, as the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor.

SEC. 21. The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State,

Comptroller, Treasurer, Attorney-General, and Surveyor-General, shall

each at stated times during their continuance in office, receive for

their services a compensation, which shall not be increased or

diminished during the term for which they shall have been elected; but

neither of these officers shall receive for his own use any fees for

the performance of his official duties.

ARTICLE VI.

JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.

SEC. 1. The judicial power of this State shall be vested in a Supreme

Court, in District Courts, in County Courts, and in Justices of the

Peace. The Legislature may also establish such municipal and other

inferior courts as may be deemed necessary.

SEC. 2. The Supreme Court shall consist of a Chief Justice, and two

Associate Justices, any two of whom shall constitute a quorum.

SEC. 3. The Justices of the Supreme Court shall be elected at the

general election, by the qualified electors of the State, and shall

hold their office for the term of six years from the first day of

January next after their election; provided that the Legislature

shall, at its first meeting, elect a Chief Justice and two Associate

Justices of the Supreme Court, by joint vote of both houses, and so

classify them that one shall go out of office every two years. After

the first election, the senior Justice in commission shall be the

Chief Justice.

SEC. 4. The Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction in all

cases when the matter in dispute exceeds two hundred dollars, when the

legality of any tax, toll, or impost, or municipal fine is in

question: and in all criminal cases amounting to felony, or questions

of law alone. And the said court and each of the Justices thereof, as

well as all district and county judges, shall have power to issue

writs of habeas corpus, at the instance of any person held in actual

custody. They shall also have power to issue all other writs and

process necessary to the exercise of the appellate jurisdiction, and

shall be conservators of the peace throughout the State.

SEC. 5. The State shall be divided by the first Legislature into a

convenient number of districts, subject to such alteration from time

to time as the public good may require; for each of which a district

judge shall be appointed by the joint vote of the legislature, at its

first meeting, who shall hold his office for two years from the first

day of January next after his election; after which, said judges shall

be elected by the qualified electors of their respective districts, at

the general election, and shall hold their office for the term of six

years.

SEC. 6. The District Courts shall have original jurisdiction, in law

and equity, in all civil cases where the amount in dispute exceeds two

hundred dollars, exclusive of interest. In all criminal cases not

otherwise provided for, and in all issues of fact joined in the

probate courts, their jurisdiction shall be unlimited.

SEC. 7. The Legislature shall provide for the election, by the people,

of a Clerk of the Supreme Court, and County Clerks, District

Attorneys, Sheriffs, Coroners, and other necessary officers; and shall

fix by law their duties and compensation. County Clerks shall be,

_ex-officio_, Clerks of the District Courts in and for their

respective counties.

SEC. 8. There shall be elected in each of the organized counties of

this State, one County Judge who shall hold his office for four years.

He shall hold the County Court, and perform the duties of Surrogate,

or Probate Judge. The County Judge, with two Justices of the Peace, to

be designated according to law, shall hold courts of sessions, with

such criminal jurisdiction as the Legislature shall prescribe, and he

shall perform such other duties as shall be required by law.

SEC. 9. The County Courts shall have such jurisdiction, in cases

arising in Justices Courts, and in special cases, as the Legislature

may prescribe, but shall have no original civil jurisdiction, except

in such special cases.

SEC. 10. The times and places of holding the terms of the Supreme

Court, and the general and special terms of the District Courts within

the several districts, shall be provided for by law.

SEC. 11. No judicial officer, except a Justice of the Peace, shall

receive to his own use, any fees, or perquisites of office.

SEC. 12. The Legislature shall provide for the speedy publication of

all statute laws, and of such judicial decisions as it may deem

expedient; and all laws and judicial decisions shall be free for

publication by any person.

SEC. 13. Tribunals for conciliation may be established, with such

powers and duties as may be prescribed by law; but such tribunals

shall have no power to render judgment to be obligatory on the

parties, except they voluntarily submit their matters in difference,

and agree to abide the judgment, or assent thereto in the presence of

such tribunal, in such cases as shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 14. The Legislature shall determine the number of Justices of the

Peace, to be elected in each county, city, town, and incorporated

village of the State, and fix by law their powers, duties, and

responsibilities. It shall also determine in what cases appeals may be

made from Justices' Courts to the County Court.

SEC. 15. The Justices of the Supreme Court, and Judges of the District

Court, shall severally, at stated times during their continuance in

office, receive for their services a compensation, to be paid out of

the treasury, which shall not be increased or diminished during the

term for which they shall have been elected. The County Judges shall

also severally, at stated times, receive for their services a

compensation to be paid out of the county treasury of their respective

counties, which shall not be increased or diminished during the term

for which they shall have been elected.

SEC. 16. The Justices of the Supreme Court and District Judges shall

be ineligible to any other office, during the term for which they

shall have been elected.

SEC. 17. Judges shall not charge juries with respect to matters of

fact, but may state the testimony and declare the law.

SEC. 18. The style of all process shall be "The People of the State of

California;" the prosecutions shall be conducted in the name and by

the authority of the same.

ARTICLE VII.

MILITIA.

SEC. 1. The Legislature shall provide by law, for organizing and

disciplining the militia, in such manner as they shall deem expedient,

not incompatible with the constitution and laws of the United States.

SEC. 2. Officers of the militia shall be elected, or appointed, in

such manner as the Legislature shall from time to time direct; and

shall be commissioned by the Governor.

SEC. 3. The Governor shall have power to call forth the militia, to

execute the laws of the State, to suppress insurrections, and repel

invasions.

ARTICLE VIII.

STATE DEBTS.

The Legislature shall not in any manner create any debt or debts,

liability or liabilities, which shall singly, or in the aggregate,

with any previous debts or liabilities exceed the sum of three hundred

thousand dollars, except in case of war, to repel invasion, or

suppress insurrection, unless the same shall be authorized by some law

for some single object or work, to be distinctly specified therein,

which law shall provide ways and means, exclusive of loans, for the

payment of the interest of such debt or liability, as it falls due,

and also pay and discharge the principal of such debt or liability

within twenty years from the time of the contracting thereof, and

shall be irrepealable until the principal and interest thereon shall

be paid and discharged; but no such law shall take effect until, at a

general election, it shall have been submitted to the people, and have

received a majority of all the votes cast for and against it at such

election; and all money raised by authority of such law shall be

applied only to the specific object therein stated, or to the payment

of the debt thereby created; and such law shall be published in at

least one newspaper in each judicial district, if one be published

therein, throughout the State, for three months next preceding the

election at which it is submitted to the people.

ARTICLE IX.

EDUCATION.

SEC. 1. The Legislature shall provide for the election, by the people,

of a Superintendent of Public Instruction, who shall hold his office

for three years, and whose duties shall be prescribed by law, and who

shall receive such compensation as the Legislature may direct.

SEC. 2. The Legislature shall encourage, by all suitable means, the

promotion of intellectual, scientific, moral and agricultural

improvement. The proceeds of all lands that may be granted by the

United States to this State for the support of schools, which may be

sold or disposed of, and the five hundred thousand acres of land

granted to the new States, under an act of Congress distributing the

proceeds of the public lands among the several States of the Union,

approved A.D. 1841; and all estates of deceased persons who may have

died without leaving a will, or heir, and also such per cent. as may

be granted by Congress on the sale of lands in this State, shall be

and remain a perpetual fund, the interest of which, together with all

the rents of the unsold lands, and such other means as the Legislature

may provide, shall be inviolably appropriated to the support of Common

Schools throughout the State.

SEC. 3. The Legislature shall provide for a system of Common Schools,

by which a school shall be kept up and supported in each district at

least three months in every year: and any school district neglecting

to keep up and support such a school, may be deprived of its

proportion of the interest of the public fund during such neglect.

SEC. 4. The Legislature shall take measures for the protection,

improvement, or other disposition of such lands as have been, or may

hereafter be, reserved or granted by the United States, or any person

or persons to this State for the use of a University; and the funds

accruing from the rents or sale of such lands, or from any other

source, for the purpose aforesaid, shall be and remain a permanent

fund, the interest of which shall be applied to the support of said

university, with such branches as the public convenience may demand

for the promotion of literature, the arts and sciences, as may be

authorized by the terms of such grant. And it shall be the duty of the

Legislature, as soon as may be, to provide effectual means for the

improvement and permanent security of the funds of said University.

ARTICLE X.

MODE OF AMENDING AND REVISING THE CONSTITUTION.

SEC. 1. Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution may be

proposed in the Senate or Assembly; and if the same shall be agreed to

by a majority of the members elected to each of the two houses, such

proposed amendment or amendments shall be entered on their journals,

with the yeas and nays taken thereon, and referred to the Legislature

then next to be chosen, and shall be published for three months next

preceding the time of making such choice. And if, in the Legislature

next chosen, as aforesaid, such proposed amendment or amendments shall

be agreed to by a majority of all the members elected to each house,

then it shall be the duty of the Legislature to submit such proposed

amendment or amendments to the people, in such manner, and at such

time, as the Legislature shall prescribe; and if the people shall

approve and ratify such amendment or amendments, by a majority of the

electors qualified to vote for members of the Legislature voting

thereon, such amendment or amendments shall become part of the

Constitution.

SEC. 2. And if, at any time, two-thirds of the Senate and Assembly

shall think it necessary to revise and change this entire

Constitution, they shall recommend to the electors, at the next

election for members of the Legislature, to vote for or against the

convention; and if it shall appear that a majority of the electors

voting at such election have voted in favor of calling a convention,

the Legislature shall, at its next session, provide by law for calling

a convention, to be holden within six months after the passage of

such law; and such convention shall consist of a number of members not

less than that of both branches of the Legislature.

ARTICLE XI.

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

SEC. 1. The first session of the Legislature shall be held at the

Pueblo de San Jose, which place shall be the permanent seat of

government, until removed by law; provided, however, that two-thirds

of all the members elected to each house of the Legislature shall

concur in the passage of such law.

SEC. 2. Any citizen of this State who shall, after the adoption of

this Constitution, fight a duel with deadly weapons, or send or accept

a challenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons, either within the

State or out of it; or who shall act as second, or knowingly aid or

assist in any manner those thus offending, shall not be allowed to

hold any office of profit, or to enjoy the right of suffrage under

this Constitution.

SEC. 3. Members of the Legislature, and all officers, executive, and

judicial, except such inferior officers as may be by law exempted,

shall, before they enter on the duties of their respective offices,

take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation.

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be,) that I will

support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of

the State of California: and that I will faithfully discharge the

duties of the office of ----, according to the best of my ability."

And no other oath, declaration, or test, shall be required as a

qualification for any office or public trust.

SEC. 4. The Legislature shall establish a system of county and town

governments, which shall be as nearly uniform as practicable,

throughout the State.

SEC. 5. The Legislature shall have power to provide for the election

of a board of supervisors in each county; and these supervisors shall,

jointly and individually, perform such duties as may be prescribed by

law.

SEC. 6. All officers whose election or appointment is not provided for

by this constitution, and all officers whose offices may hereafter be

created by law, shall be elected by the people, or appointed as the

Legislature may direct.

SEC. 7. When the duration of any office is not provided for by this

constitution, it may be declared by law; and if not so declared, such

office shall be held during the pleasure of the authority making the

appointment; nor shall the duration of any office, not fixed by this

constitution, ever exceed four years.

SEC. 8. The fiscal year shall commence on the first day of July.

SEC. 9. Each county, town, city, and incorporated village, shall make

provision for the support of its own officers, subject to such

restrictions and regulations as the Legislature may prescribe.

SEC. 10. The credit of the State shall not in any manner be given or

loaned to, or in aid of, any individual, association, or corporation;

nor shall the State, directly or indirectly, become a stockholder in

any association or corporation.

SEC. 11. Suits may be brought against the State, in such manner, and

in such courts, as shall be directed by law.

SEC. 12. No contract of marriage, if otherwise duly made, shall be

invalidated, for want of conformity to the requirements of any

religious sect.

SEC. 13. Taxation shall be equal and uniform throughout the State. All

property, in this State, shall be taxed in proportion to its value, to

be ascertained as directed by law; but assessors and collectors of

town, county, and State taxes, shall be elected by the qualified

electors of the district, county, or town, in which the property taxed

for State, county, or town purposes is situated.

SEC. 14. All property, both real and personal, of the wife, owned or

claimed by her before marriage, and that acquired afterwards by gift,

devise, or descent, shall be her separate property; and laws shall be

passed more clearly defining the rights of the wife, in relation as

well to her separate property, as to that held in common with her

husband. Laws shall also be passed providing for the restoration of

the wife's separate property.

SEC. 15. The Legislature shall protect by law, from forced sale, a

certain portion of the homestead and other property of all heads of

families.

SEC. 16. No perpetuities shall be allowed, except for eleemosynary

purposes.

SEC. 17. Every person shall be disqualified from holding any office of

profit in this State, who shall have been convicted of having given or

offered a bribe, to procure his election or appointment.

SEC. 18. Laws shall be made to exclude from office, serving on juries,

and from the right of suffrage, those who shall hereafter be convicted

of bribery, perjury, forgery, or other high crimes. The privilege of

free suffrage shall be supported by laws regulating elections, and

prohibiting, under adequate penalties, all undue influence thereon,

from power, bribery, tumult, or other improper practice.

SEC. 19. Absence from this State on business of the State, or of the

United States, shall not affect the question or residence of any

person.

SEC. 20. A plurality of the votes given at any election shall

constitute a choice, where not otherwise directed in this

constitution.

SEC. 21. All laws, decrees, regulations and provisions, which from

their nature require publication, shall be published in English and

Spanish.

ARTICLE XII.

BOUNDARY.

The boundary of the State of California shall be as follows:--

Commencing at the point of intersection of the 42d degree of north

latitude with the 120th degree of longitude west from Greenwich, and

running south on the line of said 120th degree of west longitude until

it intersects the 39th degree of north latitude; thence running in a

straight line in a south-easterly direction to the River Colorado, at

a point where it intersects the 35th degree of north latitude; thence

down the middle of the channel of said river, to the boundary line

between the United States and Mexico, as established by the treaty of

May 30th, 1848; thence running west and along said boundary line to

the Pacific Ocean, and extending therein three English miles; thence

running in a north-westerly direction, and following the direction of

the Pacific coast to the 42d degree of north latitude; thence on the

line of said 42d degree of north latitude to the place of beginning.

Also all the islands, harbors and bays, along and adjacent to the

Pacific coast.

SCHEDULE.

SEC. 1. All rights, prosecutions, claims and contracts, as well of

individuals as of bodies corporate, and all laws in force at the time

of the adoption of this Constitution, and not inconsistent therewith,

until altered or repealed by the Legislature, shall continue as if the

same had not been adopted.

SEC. 2. The Legislature shall provide for the removal of all causes

which may be pending when this Constitution goes into effect, to

courts created by the same.

SEC. 3. In order that no inconvenience may result to the public

service, from the taking effect of this Constitution, no office shall

be superseded thereby, nor the laws relative to the duties of the

several officers be changed, until the entering into office of the new

officers to be appointed under this Constitution.

SEC. 4. The provisions of this Constitution concerning the term of

residence necessary to enable persons to hold certain offices therein

mentioned, shall not be held to apply to officers chosen by the people

at the first election, or by the Legislature at its first session.

SEC. 5. Every citizen of California, declared a legal voter by this

Constitution, and every citizen of the United States, a resident of

this State on the day of election, shall be entitled to vote at the

first general election under this Constitution, and on the question of

the adoption thereof.

SEC. 6. This Constitution shall be submitted to the people, for their

ratification or rejection, at the general election to be held on

Tuesday, the thirteenth day of November next. The Executive of the

existing government of California is hereby requested to issue a

proclamation to the people, directing the Prefects of the several

districts, or in case of vacancy, the Sub-Prefects, or senior Judge of

First Instance, to cause such election to be held, on the day

aforesaid, in their respective districts. The election shall be

conducted in the manner which was prescribed for the election of

delegates to this convention, except that the Prefect, Sub-Prefect, or

senior Judge of First Instance ordering such election in each

district, shall have power to designate any additional number of

places for opening the polls, and that, in every place of holding the

election, a regular poll-list shall be kept by the judges and

inspectors of election. It shall also be the duty of these judges and

inspectors of election, on the day aforesaid, to receive the votes of

the electors qualified to vote at such election. Each voter shall

express his opinion, by depositing in the ballot-box a ticket, whereon

shall be written, or printed "For the Constitution," or "Against the

Constitution," or some such words as will distinctly convey the

intention of the voter. These Judges and Inspectors shall also receive

the votes for the several officers to be voted for at the said

election, as herein provided. At the close of the election, the judges

and inspectors shall carefully count each ballot, and forthwith make

duplicate returns thereof to the Prefect, Sub-Prefect, or senior Judge

of First Instance, as the case may be, of their respective districts;

and said Prefect, Sub-Prefect, or senior Judge of First Instance shall

transmit one of the same, by the most safe and rapid conveyance, to

the Secretary of State. Upon the receipt of said returns, or on the

tenth day of December next, if the returns be not sooner received, it

shall be the duty of a board of canvassers, to consist of the

Secretary of State, one of the Judges of the Superior Court, the

Prefect, Judge of First Instance, and an Alcalde of the District of

Monterey, or any three of the aforementioned officers, in the presence

of all who shall choose to attend, to compare the votes given at said

election, and to immediately publish an abstract of the same in one or

more of the newspapers of California. And the Executive will also,

immediately after ascertaining that the Constitution has been ratified

by the people, make proclamation of the fact; and thenceforth this

Constitution shall be ordained and established as the Constitution of

California.

SEC. 7. If this Constitution shall be ratified by the people of

California, the Executive of the existing government is hereby

requested, immediately after the same shall be ascertained, in the

manner herein directed, to cause a fair copy thereof to be forwarded

to the President of the United States, in order that he may lay it

before the Congress of the United States.

SEC. 8. At the general election aforesaid, viz: the thirteenth day of

November next, there shall be elected a Governor, Lieutenant-Governor,

members of the Legislature, and also two members of Congress.

SEC. 9. If this constitution shall be ratified by the people of

California, the Legislature shall assemble at the seat of government,

on the fifteenth day of December next, and in order to complete the

organization of that body, the Senate shall elect a President _pro

tempore_, until the Lieutenant-Governor shall be installed into

office.

SEC. 10. On the organization of the Legislature, it shall be the duty

of the Secretary of State, to lay before each house a copy of the

abstract made by the board of canvassers, and, if called for, the

original returns of election, in order that each house may judge of

the correctness of the report of said board of canvassers.

SEC. 11. The Legislature, at its first session, shall elect such

officers as may be ordered by this Constitution, to be elected by that

body, and within four days after its organization, proceed to elect

two Senators to the Congress of the United States. But no law passed

by this Legislature shall take effect until signed by the Governor,

after his installation into office.

SEC. 12. The Senators and Representatives to the Congress of the

United States, elected by the Legislature and people of California, as

herein directed, shall be furnished with certified copies of this

Constitution, when ratified, which they shall lay before the Congress

of the United States, requesting, in the name of the people of

California, the admission of the State of California into the American

Union.

SEC. 13. All officers of this State, other than members of the

Legislature, shall be installed into office on the fifteenth day of

December next, or as soon thereafter as practicable.

SEC. 14. Until the Legislature shall divide the State into counties,

and senatorial and assembly districts, as directed by this

Constitution, the following shall be the apportionment of the two

houses of the Legislature, viz: the districts of San Diego and Los

Angeles shall jointly elect two senators; the districts of Santa

Barbara and San Luis Obispo shall jointly elect one senator; the

district of Monterey, one senator; the district of San Jose, one

senator; the district of San Francisco, two senators; the district of

Sonoma, one senator; the district of Sacramento, four senators; and

the district of San Joaquin, four senators:--And the district of San

Diego shall elect one member of assembly; the district of Los Angeles,

two members of assembly; the district of Santa Barbara, two members of

assembly; the district of San Luis Obispo, one member of assembly; the

district of Monterey, two members of assembly; the district of San

Jose, three members of assembly; the district of San Francisco, five

members of assembly; the district of Sonoma, two members of assembly;

the district of Sacramento, nine members of assembly; and the district

of San Joaquin, nine members of assembly.

SEC. 15. Until the Legislature shall otherwise direct, in accordance

with the provisions of this Constitution, the salary of the Governor

shall be ten thousand dollars per annum; and the salary of the

Lieutenant-Governor shall be double the pay of a state senator; and

the pay of members of the Legislature shall be sixteen dollars per

diem, while in attendance, and sixteen dollars for every twenty miles

travel by the usual route from their residences, to the place of

holding the session of the Legislature, and in returning therefrom.

And the Legislature shall fix the salaries of all officers, other than

those elected by the people, at the first election.

SEC. 16. The limitation of the powers of the Legislature, contained in

article 8th of this Constitution, shall not extend to the first

Legislature elected under the same, which is hereby authorized to

negotiate for such amount as may be necessary to pay the expenses of

the State government.

R. SEMPLE,

President of the Convention

and Delegate from Benecia.

WM. G. MARCY, Secretary.

J. Aram,

C. T. Botts,

E. Brown,

J. A. Carillo,

J. M. Covarrubias,

E. O. Crosby,

P. De La Guerra,

L. Dent,

M. Dominguez,

K. H. Dimmick,

A. J. Ellis,

S. C. Foster,

E. Gilbert,

W. M. Gwinn,

H. W. Halleck,

Julian Hanks,

L. W. Hastings,

Henry Hill,

J. Hobson,

J. McH. Hollingsworth,

J. D. Hoppe,

J. M. Jones,

T. O. Larkin,

Francis J. Lippitt,

B. S. Lippincott,

M. M. McCarver,

John McDougal,

B. F. Moore,

Myron Norton,

P. Ord,

Miguel Pedrorena,

A. M. Pico,

R. M. Price,

Hugo Reed,

Jacinto Rodriguez,

Pedro Sansevaine,

W. E. Shannon,

W. S. Sherwood,

J. R. Snyder,

A. Stearns,

W. M. Steuart,

J. A. Sutter,

Henry A. Tefft,

S. L. Vermule,

M. G. Vallejo,

J. Walker,

O. M. Wozencraft.

B.

ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF CALIFORNIA.

The undersigned, delegates to a convention authorized to form a

Constitution for the State of California, having, to the best of their

ability, discharged the high trust committed to them, respectfully

submit the accompanying plan of government for your approval.

Acknowledging the great fundamental principles, that all political

power is inherent in the people, and that government is instituted for

the protection, security and benefit of the people, the Constitution

presented for your consideration is intended only to give such organic

powers to the several departments of the proposed government, as shall

be necessary for its efficient administration: and while it is

believed no power has been given, which is not thus essentially

necessary, the convention deem individual rights, as well as public

liberty, are amply secured, by the people still retaining not only the

great conservative power of free choice and election of all officers,

agents, and representatives, but the unalienable right to alter or

reform their government, whenever the public good may require.

Although born in different climes, coming from different States,

imbued with local feelings, and educated, perhaps, with predilections

for peculiar institutions, laws, and customs, the delegates assembled

in convention as Californians, and carried on their deliberations in a

spirit of amity, compromise, and mutual concession for the public

weal.

It cannot be denied that a difference of opinion was entertained in

the convention, as to the policy and expediency of several measures

embodied in the Constitution; but looking to the great interests of

the State of California, the peace, happiness, and prosperity of the

whole people,--individual opinions were freely surrendered to the will

of the majority, and, with one voice, we respectfully but earnestly

recommend to our fellow citizens the adoption of the Constitution

which we have the honor to submit.

In establishing a boundary for the State, the convention conformed, as

near as was deemed practicable and expedient, to great natural

landmarks, so as to bring into a union all those who should be

included by mutual interest, mutual wants, and mutual dependence. No

portion of territory is included, the inhabitants of which were not or

might not have been legitimately represented in the convention, under

the authority by which it was convened; and in unanimously resolving

to exclude slavery from the State of California, the great principle

has been maintained, that to the people of each State and Territory,

alone, belongs the right to establish such municipal regulations, and

to decide such questions as affect their own peace, prosperity and

happiness.

A free people, in the enjoyment of an elective government, capable of

securing their civil, religious, and political rights, may rest

assured these inestimable privileges can never be wrested from them,

so long as they keep a watchful eye on the operations of their

government, and hold to strict accountability those to whom power is

delegated. No people were ever yet enslaved, who knew and dared

maintain the co-relative rights and obligations of free and

independent citizens. A knowledge of the laws--their moral force and

efficacy, thus becomes an essential element of freedom and makes

public education of primary importance. In this view, the Constitution

of California provides for, and guarantees in the most ample manner,

the establishment of common schools, seminaries and colleges, so as to

extend the blessings of education throughout the land, and secure its

advantages to the present and future generations. Under the peculiar

circumstances in which California becomes a State--with an unexampled

increase of a population coming from every part of the world, speaking

various languages, and imbued with different feelings and prejudices,

no form of government, no system of laws, can be expected to meet with

immediate and unanimous assent. It is to be remembered, moreover, that

a considerable portion of our fellow-citizens are natives of Old

Spain, Californians, and those who have voluntarily relinquished the

rights of Mexicans to enjoy those of American citizens. Long

accustomed to a different form of government, regarding the rights of

person and of property as interwoven with ancient usages and

time-honored customs, they may not at once see the advantages of the

proposed new government, or yield an immediate approval of new laws,

however salutary their provisions, or conducive to the general

welfare. But it is confidently believed, when the government as now

proposed shall have gone into successful operation, when each

department thereof shall move on harmoniously in its appropriate and

respective sphere, when laws, based on the eternal principles of

equity and justice, shall be established, when every citizen of

California, shall find himself secure in life, liberty, and

property--all will unite in the cordial support of institutions, which

are not only the pride and boast of every true-hearted citizen of the

Union, but have gone forth, a guiding light to every people groping

through the gloom of religious superstition or political

fanaticism--institutions, which even now, while all Europe is agitated

with the convulsive efforts of nations battling for liberty, have

become the mark and model of government for every people who would

hold themselves free, sovereign, and independent.

With this brief exposition of the views and opinions of the

convention, the undersigned submit the Constitution and plan of

government for your approval. They earnestly recommend it to your calm

and deliberate consideration, and especially do they most respectfully

urge on every voter to attend the polls.

The putting into operation of a government which shall establish

justice, insure domestic tranquillity, promote the general welfare,

and secure the blessings of civil, religious, and political liberty,

should be an object of the deepest solicitude to every true-hearted

citizen, and the consummation of his dearest wishes. The price of

liberty is eternal vigilance, and thus it is not only the privilege

but the duty of every voter to vote his sentiments. No freeman of this

land who values his birthright, and would transmit unimpaired to his

children an inheritance so rich in glory and honor, will refuse to

give one day to the service of his country. Let every qualified voter

go early to the polls, and give his free vote at the election

appointed to be held on Tuesday, the 13th day of November next, not

only that a full and fair expression of the public voice may be had,

for or against a constitution intended to secure the peace, happiness

and prosperity of the whole people, but that their numerical and

political strength may be made manifest, and the world see by what

majority of freemen California, the bright star of the West, claims a

place in the diadem of that glorious republic, formed by the Union of

thirty-one sovereign States.

(Signed)

Joseph Aram,

Chas. T. Botts,

Elam Brown,

Jose Anto. Carillo,

Jose M. Covarrubias,

Elisha O. Crosby,

Lewis Dent,

Manuel Dominguez,

K. H. Dimmick,

A. J. Ellis,

Stephen G. Foster,

Pablo De La Guerra,

Benj. S. Lippincott,

M. M. McCarver,

John McDougal,

Benj. F. Moore,

Myron Norton,

P. Ord,

Miguel De Pedrorena,

Rodman M. Price,

Antonio M. Pico,

Jacinto Rodrigues,

Hugh Reed,

John A. Sutter,

Edw. Gilbert,

Wm. M. Gwin,

Julian Hanks,

Henry Hill,

J. D. Hoppe,

Joseph Hobson,

H. W. Halleck,

L. W. Hastings,

J. McH. Hollingsworth,

Jas. McHall Jones,

Thomas O. Larkin,

Francis J. Lippitt,

Jacob R. Snyder,

W. Scott Sherwood,

Wm. C. Shannon,

Pedro Sansevain,

Abel Stearns,

W. M. Steuart,

R. Semple,

Henry A. Tefft,

M. G. Vallejo,

Thos. L. Vermule,

Joel P. Walker,

O. M. Wozencraft.

[Illustration: GOLD ROCKER, WASHING PAN, AND GOLD BORER.]

APPENDIX C.

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

_Transmitting information in answer to a resolution of the

House of the 31st of December, 1849, on the subject of

California and New Mexico._

TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES.--I transmit to

the House of Representatives, in answer to a resolution of that body

passed on the 31st of December last, the accompanying reports of heads

of departments, which contain all the official information in the

possession of the Executive asked for by the resolution.

On coming into office, I found the military commandant of the

department of California exercising the functions of civil governor in

that Territory; and left, as I was, to act under the treaty of

Guadalupe Hidalgo, without the aid of any legislative provision

establishing a government in that Territory, I thought it not best to

disturb that arrangement, made under my predecessor, until Congress

should take some action on that subject. I therefore did not interfere

with the powers of the military commandant, who continued to exercise

the functions of civil governor as before; but I made no such

appointment, conferred no such authority, and have allowed no

increased compensation to the commandant for his services.

With a view to the faithful execution of the treaty, so far as lay in

the power of the Executive, and to enable Congress to act, at the

present session, with as full knowledge and as little difficulty as

possible, on all matters of interest in these Territories, I sent the

honorable Thomas Butler King as bearer of despatches to California,

and certain officers to California and New Mexico, whose duties are

particularly defined in the accompanying letters of instruction

addressed to them severally by the proper departments.

I did not hesitate to express to the people of those Territories my

desire that each Territory should, if prepared to comply with the

requisitions of the Constitution of the United States, form a plan of

a State Constitution and submit the same to Congress, with a prayer

for admission into the Union as a State; but I did not anticipate,

suggest, or authorize the establishment of any such government without

the assent of Congress; nor did I authorize any government agent or

officer to interfere with or exercise any influence or control over

the election of delegates, or over any convention, in making or

modifying their domestic institutions, or any of the provisions of

their proposed Constitution. On the contrary, the instructions given

by my orders were, that all measures of domestic policy adopted by the

people of California must originate solely with themselves; that while

the Executive of the United States was desirous to protect them in the

formation of any government republican in its character, to be at the

proper time, submitted to Congress, yet it was to be distinctly

understood that the plan of such a government must, at the same time,

be the result of their own deliberate choice, and originate with

themselves, without the interference of the Executive.

I am unable to give any information as to laws passed by any supposed

government in California, or of any census taken in either of the

Territories mentioned in the resolution, as I have no information on

those subjects.

As already stated, I have not disturbed the arrangements which I found

had existed under my predecessor.

In advising an early application by the people of these Territories

for admission as States, I was actuated principally by an earnest

desire to afford to the wisdom and patriotism of Congress the

opportunity of avoiding occasions of bitter and angry dissensions

among the people of the United States.

Under the Constitution, every State has the right of establishing,

and, from time to time, altering its municipal laws and domestic

institutions, independently of every other State and of the general

government; subject only to the prohibitions and guaranties expressly

set forth in the Constitution of the United States. The subjects thus

left exclusively to the respective States were not designed or

expected to become topics of national agitation. Still, as, under the

Constitution, Congress has power to make all needful rules and

regulations respecting the Territories of the United States, every new

acquisition of territory has led to discussions on the question

whether the system of involuntary servitude which prevails in many of

the States should or should not be prohibited in that Territory. The

periods of excitement from this cause which have heretofore occurred

have been safely passed; but during the interval, of whatever length,

which may elapse before the admission of the Territories ceded by

Mexico as States, it appears probable that similar excitement will

prevail to an undue extent.

Under these circumstances, I thought, and still think, that it was my

duty to endeavor to put it in the power of Congress, by the admission

of California and New Mexico as States, to remove all occasion for the

unnecessary agitation of the public mind.

It is understood that the people of the western part of California

have formed a plan of a State Constitution, and will soon submit the

same to the judgment of Congress, and apply for admission as a State.

This course on their part, though in accordance with, was not adopted

exclusively in consequence of, any expression of my wishes inasmuch as

measures tending to this end had been promoted by the officers sent

there by my predecessor, and were already in active progress of

execution before any communication from me reached California. If the

proposed Constitution shall, when submitted to Congress, be found to

be in compliance with the requisitions of the Constitution of the

United States, I earnestly recommend that it may receive the sanction

of Congress.

The part of California not included in the proposed State of that name

is believed to be uninhabited, except in a settlement of our

countrymen in the vicinity of Salt Lake.

A claim has been advanced by the State of Texas to a very large

portion of the most populous district of New Mexico. If the people of

New Mexico had formed a plan of a State government for that Territory

as ceded by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and had been admitted by

Congress as a State, our Constitution would have afforded the means of

obtaining an adjustment of the question of boundary with Texas by a

judicial decision. At present, however, no judicial tribunal has the

power of deciding that question, and it remains for Congress to

devise some mode for its adjustment. Meanwhile, I submit to Congress

the question whether it would be expedient, before such adjustment, to

establish a territorial government, which, by including the district

so claimed, would practically decide the question adversely to the

State of Texas or, by excluding it, would decide it in her favor. In

my opinion, such a course would not be expedient, especially as the

people of this Territory still enjoy the benefit and protection of

their municipal laws, originally derived from Mexico, and have a

military force stationed there to protect them against the Indians. It

is undoubtedly true that the property, lives, liberties, and religion

of the people of New Mexico are better protected than they ever were

before the treaty of cession.

Should Congress, when California shall present herself for

incorporation into the Union, annex a condition to her admission as a

State affecting her domestic institutions, contrary to the wishes of

her people, and even compel her temporarily, to comply with it, yet

the State, could change her Constitution at any time after admission,

when to her it should seem expedient. Any attempt to deny to the

people of the State the right of self-government, in a matter which

peculiarly affects themselves, will infallibly be regarded by them as

an invasion of their rights; and, upon the principles laid down in our

own Declaration of Independence, they will certainly be sustained by

the great mass of the American people. To assert that they are a

conquered people, and must, as a State, submit to the will of their

conquerors in this regard, will meet with no cordial response among

American freemen. Great numbers of them are native citizens of the

United States not inferior to the rest of our countrymen in

intelligence and patriotism; and no language of menace, to restrain

them in the exercise of an undoubted right, guarantied to them by the

treaty of cession itself, shall ever be uttered by me, or encouraged

and sustained by persons acting under my authority. It is to be

expected that, in the residue of the Territory ceded to us by Mexico,

the people residing there will, at the time of their incorporation

into the Union as a State, settle all questions of domestic policy to

suit themselves. No material inconvenience will result from the want,

for a short period, of a government established by Congress over that

part of the Territory which lies eastward of the new State of

California; and the reasons for my opinion that New Mexico will, at no

very distant period, ask for admission into the Union, are founded on

un-official information, which, I suppose, is common to all who have

cared to make inquiries on that subject.