Glasgow weekly times. (Glasgow, Mo.) 1848-1861, 1850-05-02
THE linn .ES
REPORT OF
EzOla. II. Esutgcr FGiBg,
ON
CA III F O R n I A.

The steamer in which took passage
was the first conveyance that reached
California with intelligence of tho in.
auguration Of President Taylor and
the appointment of his Cabinet, and
that Congress had failed TO aid the
Executive in providing government
for the people of that territory. The
greatest anxiety wasEnaturally felt and
manifested to ascertain the causes of
this neglect on the part Of the Govern
ment of the United States, and what
steps duty to themselves required them
TO take, in the painful and cmbarrass
ing position in which they were placed
for their protection and welfare.
A brief sketch Of their position will
explain the cause Of this anxiety.
The discovery of the gold mines had
attracted large number of citizens of
the United States to that territory, who
had never been accustcd to any other
than American laws, administered by
American courts. There they found
their rights of property and person
subject to the uncertain, and frequent,
y most oppressive, operations of laws
written in language they did not IN
derstand. and founded on principles, in
many respects, new to them. They
complained that the alcaldes, or Judges,
most of whom had been appointed or
elected before the immigration had
commenced, were not lawyers by cdu.
cation or profession; and being Ameri-
cans, they were of course, unacquainl.
with the laws Of Mexico, or the princi-
Piles Of the civil law on which they are
founded.
AS our laws, cxcep, for the colIcc-
ton of revenue, the transmission of
the mails, and establishment of post of.
fees, had not boon extended over that
territory, the laws of Mexico, as they
existed at the conclusion of the treaty
Guadalupe Ilidalgo, regulating the re-
lations of the inhabitants Of California
with each other, necessarily remained
in forcc,& yet, there was not single
volume containing those laws, as far as
know or believe, in the whole terrific.
ry, except. perhaps, in the Governor
Office, at Montery.
The magistrate. therefore, could not
procure them, and the administration
of justice was necessarily as unequal
and huctua,ing as the opinions
of the judges were conflicting and va.
riable.
There were no fcc-bilIs 10 regulate
costs, and consequently the mos, crue
eXactions, in many instances, were
practiscd.
The greatest confusion prevailed re
spccting titles to property, and the de-
cision Of suits, involving the most i'm
portant rights, and very large sums o.
money depended upon the diclum o.
| the Judge.
The sale Of the territory by Mexico
to the United States had necessaril,
cut off or dissolved the laws regulatin!
the granting or procuring titles to land
and, as our own land laws had not beer
extended over it, the people were com
pollcd to receive such titles as were OF
lered TO them, without the means ofas
, certaining whether they were valid o
not.
Litigation was so expensive an,
= precarious, that injustice and oppres
I, sion were frequently endured, rathe
= than resort TO so uncertain a remedy
Towns and cities were springing int
: existonce-many of them without char
= acler or any legal right to organic
1 municipal authorities, or 10 tax proper
S ty or the citizens, for the establishment
Of police, the erection of PRISONS, @
providing any of those means for tn
). protection Of life and property whic
are so necessary in all civil commun
ties, and especially among peopl
y mostly strangers to each other.
;. Nearly one million and a half of do
lars had been paid into the custom
houses, as duties on imported good
before our revenue laws had been e,