The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1850-03-30
and d T, I.' s..,..5,,ee .l,ssrala.

uon Oh tat prahoh VI "i'' -
port, published in your paper OF this morning, en-
titled :. ,,r pun1ro DOMAIN" and TO make few
-.ha..,,,,on The nort;on referto l. as
~ ''''''"P'"'
'olows3
"Theextent and value of the public lands, suit
able foragrcultural purposes IN Caniornia cannot
be ascrtained with any degree OF accurry until
some very important preliminary questions shall
have ben settled.
"It bnot known whether the Jesuits whofounded
the MISSION, or their successors' the Erciscans,
ever 60 or 40 now uJJ any nv .c Mr. has
anv i,vestieation been made to ascertainhow far
those titles, if they ever existed have beq inval-
idated by the acts OF the priests, or the dcrees OF
the Mexlcan goverhment, III,
ON, 2, IIad ~ he snnno.;t;on that the JHuits so
Celebrated for wisdom and cunning, woul, not fail
to secure that which, at that time, would probably
have been obtained by merely asking nor iYa royal
aecrg, ~ .' O., S sar
n,'qrnasss Thsre have heen some int;mItions 10
that Eject, but nothing is distinctly known Thcse
missions embrace within their limits sorle of the
most valuable lands IN the lerrltory, anu very
.hpoh @, 'ua ~ Gouns,rosnt a. NAV ;n.,lv
| claimed bv individuals
| GHOST Of the land fit for cultivation, Suth of
latitude 39o, and west OF the valley OF the Sacra.
men.o ana gan yoalu, r, .ia Me. unaeh VIA
p nant - W s'aA''
"On most of these grants the minerals and metals
are reserved to the Government conditionsvere
coupled with many OF them wnich nave not peen
coInplea VIII - v.' shs IT, - ,o',nI vi
az tbe Grant convevs ~
"The Mexican law required all grants made by
the provisional government with few exceptions,
20 oe Confirmed ~ ihe supreme governIncn.i Inc
ar,,.nt o. d;fscnit Ypeans ~ conornn;cation
made compliance with the law SO expensive and
tardy, that it came to be almost disregarded."
There are as MANY errors in the above para
graphs as there are propositions
First Mr. KING is entirely in error in surprising
that the missions of Upper California, (of which, 1
suppose, his report is intended ID treat) were
founded by the Jesuits That order never had an
establishment in Upper California The missions
there were exclusively under the charge of the
Franciscans
Second He is entirely mistaken in supposing that
cit is not known whether the missionaries "ever
did, or do now hold any title from the Spanish
crown to the lands which they occupied" II is
known whether they did or not, and the whole
subject understood.
TAivd He is entirely wrong in saying, "nor has
any Investigation been made to ascertain how far
those titles if they existed have been invali-
dated by the acts ofthe priests, the DEGREES of
the Mexican government" An investigation has
suggests, though the points themselves are certain
ly not very logically stated
Fourth. The sssupposition', which he POUNDS on
the celebrated wisdom and cunning, of the Je-
suits is erroneous because, as above shown, the
Jesuits had nothing to do with tho matter The
Jesuit order was abolished throughout New Spain
anterior to the date of any settlements in Upper
California
Fifth II is mistake that though there have
been some intimations' of ecclesiastical titles,
(" nothing is distincay kNoirn." A great deal is
distinctly known I" indeed believe may say
every thing is :" distinctly known" that can have
a bearing upon the question.
Sirh 1t is an imputation most seriously and in
uriously erroneous the statement that smost Of the
land fit for cultivation south of latitude ago and
west of the valley of the Sacramento and San Joa-
'quin is claimed under what purport to be grants
from the Mexican government" This is doubly
erroneous erroneous, and deeply injurious and
unjust, in the intimaton that the grants are not
what they "purport" to be-and erroneous in the
suppostion that they purport to be " from the
Mexican government" ! can say, from the best
possible opportunity of knowing the facts that the
bulk of the land grants in California other
wise than they purport TO be, and that very few
are from the Mexican government. They are
from the local government, in pursuance of law
given by the Mexican government think, also,
when the country shall be surveyed, there will be
found a great deal of land fit for cultivation"
still vacant south OF ss' and west of the sacra-
mcnto and Joaquin"
Seventh. think Mr. King must be in error in
the statement, that "on most Of these grants the
minerals and msfals rsservedf 10 the Government"
The grants are generally on the same model, and
think il cannot be accurate TO say that "most Of
them contain any reservation that is not common
to all; and am quite sure that such would be the
to reservation of the kind Mr.. King speaks
Of. If there were any such thing.
EIGHTH. Mr.. King makes a great mistake in sup
posing '"a, o -e~a" 20" 'ef1no1 a' s~1
mace oy uhe provisional government win lew ex-
'ceptions, TO be confirmed by the supreme govern