The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-06-20

KIND has ever made II essary for the people to
create Governments for heir protection against
its bauefuf influence @ overnment is the soul
Of society and where a people have been attract
ed together by the co he ,iveness Of the root of
all evil there must be, evidently, greater ne
cessity for the inestimT,bte blessings Of Govern
ment, than under any OF her circumstances imagi-
nable
From what | have armed, sir, and have the
best reason to believe rr de more bold and patri
otto people than our l1 ethren in California have
never sought home iIs wild and trackless will
derness- But another reason for her spesdy adj
mission is, the evidsn't Deficiencies in her land
titles. 1t is supposed by many persons, that the
yesuits, who were the first missionaries and the
Franciscans, their sIc essors hold titles from the
Spanish Crown to II lands which the settlers
occupy. BY delay in the investigation Of these
titles, they may bee on ,e exceedingly difficult and
troubleness for sdjuih alton. These are subjects
Tor judicial exsminst ion and hence arises the
great necessity Of C slifornia being placed in
position where she ct uld have legally organized
courts to settle thes,e perplexing questions which
are already arising mong her people.
why, sir, the AMOUNT Of revenue which this
Government has De rived from California for the
hrst year, is sor ,e 5000, 900 and the amount
which IL Is suppos ell will be received the ensuing
year will probab ly reach S2000000. This in
itself Is an argum eut for her admission az power
u. 4.
his late able repol Z, has furnished us with an est
mate Of the value Of trade between California and
the States of the U,nion. He says land no one is
better able to fOl,n, correct estimatel that it
Will amount TO NOT less than S25 900 900. Here
is an opening into, one Of the most important mar
kets Of the world for the introduction of our sur.
plus produce, and one which ought most assuredly
to receive the i'm nediste attention Of Congress II
Is market wher the mere products Of our gar
and n.h
us Take some eI amples OF the prices Of articles
now selling In c klifornia. Potatoes bring sixteen
= = s''A rse 81, and ,9rsser frop tSxy-1 -
cents to sixty-wo' cents each while coal commands
from sixty dollar TO one hundred dollars per ton
and lumber from seventy-fye dollars to one hun.
dred dollars per. thousand, and almost all other
articles in propo rti on Such state of things well
merits the aten ion and fostering Of the Gov
eminent.
There is anot her consideration, Mr.. Chairman,
which should ugh in favor of the admission Of
California. tn ere has been a calculation made,
| by those who I'VE been there, that some ! 900
foreigners, who anne in armed bands, have carried
away, already, N ore than twenty millions worth
of gold dust ! would inquire, why we shoald so
long delay her drnission at the loss Of such vast
treasures, while our Government is so deeply in
volved in debit As well might we suffer the
agricultural products of the rich and teeming val
leys of Pennsyf fania to be carried off without re-
compense, as to allow the productions Of the rich
mines of Califor MIA to be thus spirited away-pro
ductions which have caused this nation so vast an
| expenditure of lood and treasure. The character
of those brave m en- who are knocking at our doors
with the Califoi mia Constitution in their hands
entities their to a speedy consideration. One
of them Colonel FREMoNT) is a bold and chivalric
pioneer, who, in the spirit Of Columbus, made his
trackless way aoi s0ss the snow bounded wilderness
and he is now awaiting the action of Congress, at
this most momen.tous issue in order to present the
wishes and want of our brethren in his far-dstant
| home. He has high claims upon his country, and
his friends are o doubt anxiously anticipating bis
taking his seat q the other House, one of their
Senators. | tru st that he will not be detained
much longer FROM the seat to which he is so justly
| entitled.
Having thus, Mr.. Chairman, stated some of the
considerations which favor the admission Of Cali
fornia ~,iu hri,eay aotioo some Of the objections
4 which have bessa raised against her admissi5a
Some persons ha We pretended to argue az objec-
tion that the pc ople Of California not author
lied by an act ,d Congress to form State Con-
stitution. True, Congress has not passed such an
act, yet it must be remembered that Congress mag
admit States without such an authorization; and
we have the preceGents Of eight States which have
been brought into the Union without the preface
of any such law They stand as follows:
Vermont in 1901, Kentucky in 1892, Tennessee
| in 1895, Maine in 1890, Arkansas in 1886, Micb-
gan in 1897, Florida in ls45, and Iowa in 1916
This objection, Mr.. Chairman, is, we see, en-
tirely destroyed by the legislation of our prede-
cessors and the influence Of precedents.
Others have, argued, as an objection, that aliens
| assisted in tn o formation Of the Constitution of
| California, and were allowed to vote for it. But,
| sir this has occurred In the formation Of every
State Constit ution sincelhe Confederacy was Gre
sted. In the case of Texas, all who voted were
foreigners in their relations TO the United States
yet in ls45, she was brought into the Union.
This objection is, therefore, entirely removed II
Is also objected that her population IL entirely in
sufficient to entitle her to two members Of Con-
| gress. But, Mr.. Chairman, IL must be remembered
that the in babitants Of California are the heads
and repres entatives Of families, which, II they
were with their fathers and husbands in that dis
tant land, would swell the population to-day to
more than 100000 souls Sir, ! feel perfectly
willing TO leave IL to the honest and candid mind
whether there is any weight or force in these OBJ
jections and pass on to another.
1t Is said further, MIR. Chairman, In objection
to the adj mission of California that her boundaries
are too great. True, there is within her limits an
extent Of territory covering some las 900 square
miles vet when the western slope Of the Sierra
Nevada and the various desert spots with which
she is covered distracted there is not as much
arabic md left there is In the State New York
or Ohio California presents long narrow strip
of abou so miles in width, her natural and prn-
cipal oundaries being as before mentioned, the
Sierra Nevada and the Pacific Ocean and, As the
expert enced Senator from Missouri Mr. BENTosl
has be autifuly said her heart Ia the Bay of San
Francisco and her arteries the rivers Sacra-
mento and San Joaquin, and their tributaries.
No naturalist, or statesman, could make divi-
sion of California, without violation Of natural
boundaries But why discuss 20 plain case 2
"A a. 81 tv, a.
ia the admission Of Texas, with her immense
prairies and her rich soil, stretching $4,000
square miles-nearly three times as large as Cali
fornia
Mr.. Chairman in conclusion Of what have TO |
say with reference to Californis, would remark,
that the various arguments and considerations
which have been urged In behalf Of her admission
into the Union have been most formidable and
conclusive-more 20 than any that have ever been
advanced in favor of the admission Of any other
State; and the objections which have been urged
against her. the most futile that statesmen ever
seriously advanced. This Is my deliberate opin-
ion
Mr. Chairman, We have heard much, since the
meeting Of Congress In December last, about the
North having aggressed upon the South. But,
sir, how docs the case really stand, when we come
to examine fully and fsirlyl What do We learn
from an examination Of historical facts connected
with the past and present history Of our Govern
ment7 When the Union was first organized, II
consisted Of thirteen States, seven of which were
free, or progressively free States, and six were
slave States. At present, the Union consists OF
thirty Statesffteen Of which are free, and fifteen
slave States. Thus, there has been one more slave
State added to the Union than the fair share OF
the South, since the Union was formed, taking
her own claim 10 equal division ~ well founded.
This q schoolboy ten years old would scarcely
d. ~ a M tkS Nagt
Again: 1t 10 universally concsded among honest
and businsss mon that when business association