The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-07-02
SPEECH OF
Mr.. soULE, OF Louisiana,
In SENATE, June 25, 1850.

Mr.. S0ULE resumed anu 'oho'uu'u GO '''
lows: x,r,.,,- -, ,,osterdav. tbrouob
H. ;nduIoence OF the Senate, | was permltted 10
rssume NV seat was commenting upon the ie
a;slat;on of Mexico with respect 10 the 'iiihes.
onose now To resume that subject, and TO dispose
If 4 ms briefly as il may be In my power 10 DO.
But before proceed IN my remarks, VIII express
NV regret that anything which SAID on yesterday,
,,h resnect to the ordinance enacted by the Cali
fnrnio Convention should have been construed as
cost;np the least reproach upon those persons who
,sere in any way connected with the transmission
OF II to This Government. 1t is with me an object
not only of taste, but of scrupulous observance,
never to bring names into debate when il can be
avoided; and above all, never to cast the remoest
suspicion on any individual when he has not fair
chance of defending himself. l was dealing with
facts, and l most sedulously avoided connecting
them with any person to whom they bore not an
official and undenable relation. IL names were
brought forth during the debate, it was not through
my agency, but through that of others; and for
this decline all responsibility.
Returning, then, to the question of the mines,
the Senate will have perceived that the only right
which the United States, sovereign, and under
the stipulation of the treaty of GUADALUPE HI
pALeo, can set up, and are entitled to set up, and
to exercise over the mining regions, is the right
reserved by Philip ii, when he Invested himself Of
that part Of the domain, to wit the right of levy
ing duty upon, and of requiring portion OF, the
proceeds of the diggings And as this right Is one
that belongs essentially to the sovereign, ask
whether, even under any reservation of the public
lands, the United States could exercise 1t after
transferring their sovereignty to the State OF Cali
fornia, without any specific reservation for Its pro-
lection,
The present gold-diggers will, then, have ac-
uuired in the intervening time between the cesslon
TO the United States by Mexico of the territory
which California embraces within her boundaries,
and the time when the clause in this bill extending
to them in the Constitution and laws of the United
States shall go into operation, certain rights
should have been disposed of by you in some way
or other, while you retain the sovereignty in your
hands What will become of them when your
sovereignty has passed away, and you have sur
rendered the only power that gave you any con-
troll over them? 1t is fit that the Senate should
deeply ponder upon the consequences, before haz-
arding step which must subject these vast inter-
ests to the fate of an irretrievable abandonment.
Having shown yesterday, as ! think, that
the ordinance enacted by the California Conven-
ton amounts to nothing that the Sd section OF the
bill under debate affords (nor could through any
notifications which could be made in it) no pro-
lection whatever for the invaluable public domain
of the United States, which will be saved or sacrl
feed as we shall decide;-att the most deliberate
I, and anxious reflection, my mind rests under the
conviction that it is past the wit of man to devise
plan which will protect this interest from es
cheating to the State, unless there be conven-
tional ordinance from California preceding her
admission as sovereign State into the Union.
And / think may satisfy the Senate that Califor-
MIA is very much of that opinion, and, what Is
more ominous still, that she is resolved and intent
upon maintaining it the moment the occasion arises
TO nut it to the test. 1t was under this conviction
that prepared substitute for the three first sec
tons Of the bill under debate, which, think, safely
and amply provides not only for all these eXigen
cies, but places Northern and Southern territorial
f,ir 1,asIs Of Inc am
constitutional equality, that its adoption would a
once secure not only the peace, but the fraerna
harmony of the Union. If there be any plan
different from this in any of its essential features
adequate to the objects we all profess to have IL
view confess have no reach of mind of power
or visor enough to compass or to grasp II. BE-
assured, sir, that if it shall be the pleasure OF
Congress TO pass this bill in its present form, we
shall have parted with the last opportunity and
the only means of securing any one of the great
interests at stake; and the only chance that will b'
left u.s. if there be a chance-the only hope tina
remains, if there be hope-is, that California
will voluntarily surrender and rcllnqulsh her it'll
to that which the provisions OF this bill VIII max
indisputably her own. We may form some estl
mate OF the importance and value of such chance
and hopes in turning to few startling passage
which struck my attention while glancng throug
the volume Of debates Of the California Conven
tion.-(See Debates, p. 3l6.)
Mr. McCarver submitted the following resolu
tons:
Resolved, las the deliberate opinion OF this con
vention,) That the public domain within the lin
its of this State in right and justice belongs Il
the people of California, and tile undisturbed en-
joyment thereof ought to be secured to them.
Resolved, That the Legislature of this State, a
its first session, be requested to take such steps Il
it may deem necessary to carry out the object o
the foregoing resolution.
Mr. McCarver said | conceive the object o
L.. - Il a.
citizens Of California, and hope the house vii
generally unite with me, at least so far as to taxi
the matter into serious consideration These res
olutions refer to the ri ht of the new States to thu
public domain within their limits. The question
has been before the American people, and ha.
been advocated by the people Of the West espe
cially for many years; and the right of the new
States to the public domain within their borders
has been generally conceded through the United
States.
Mr.. Bolts, following, said shall vote against
The resolution, &c. As to the principle avowed
by the gentleman from Sacramento, Mr. McCar-
yer ), that the public lands necessarily belong to
the State, | am willing to acknowledge it; but
shall vote against the action of this convention
upon that subject, simply because think it is a
proper object of Legislative action.
That ground am ready to take; but will take
it at the polls do not object to the
principle avowed in the resolutions, &c, but tc
any action of this house upon the subject
Now, will the Senate follow me to page 349 o
the same volume'
Mr.. Stewart, of San Francisco, in abiding tc
what Mr. Gwin had stated before in these words
..We have the privilege, whenever we become 6
State, of taking 500, 900 acres of land. AS amat
of course we will select the best from the gold
mines, >" &c, says:
Il concur entirely with my colleague from San
Francisco lMr. Gwinl in regard to the 100000
of land granted by Congress for the purpo-
SEES Of education"
sit is (says Mr.. Sherwood in the same page)
on the supposition that the 100000 acres, or a
portion of them, may be located in the mining dis
tricts, and that from those lands a large revenue
may be derived, which properly should go to de-
fray the expenses of the government, that think
this proviso should stand. y
BY going back to page All, the Senate will find
the reassertion of that right in the State, first
claiming absolutely the public domain exclusively
and then, at all events, of locating the lands
claimed by California as donation in the mining
regions, wi,hou, dissenting opinion, so far as |
can find