Columbia gazette., 1854-01-14

of the Act, and pass to the States in
which they lie, by virtue of its provis-
ions.
The Act will doubtless receive the
same construction, when its provisions
shall be applied to the swmap lands in
the swamp lands in the state of Colifor-
MIA. By it, the State, it is believed ac-
quires absolute control of the overHowed
va lleys of the many streams within her
limits, except SO far as they may be held
by private individuals.
To avail ourselves of the benefit of this
Act, as suggested in my last annual mes
sage, steps should be taken and an
economical plan of operations devised,
to effect the early reclamation of the
lands thereby denoted. Hundreds of
our enterprising cirizens have already
located on these lands and at considerable
expense and labor, made valuable i'm
provements thereon. Justice and sound
policy require that they should be Sc
cured in their possessions on the most
reasonable terms.
The more liberal the terms, the more
certain and prompt will be thir reclama-
ton and Improvement. Their speedy
settlement and cultivation is matter of
great moment to the State, becaus it will
add immensely to the amount of taxable
property; and thus, Of course, greatly
increase our revenue. A partial knowl-
edge Of the location of these lands. as
we'll as csreful reflection, have satisfied
me that their reclamation can be best
affected BY donating them to actual set
tiers, in fixed quantitses, upon the same
terms that VIC have received them from
the General Cove nment. The State
must either reclaim each tract as soId
or devise general plan Of operations,
which, by means of drains or levees, will
reclaim the whole. Such work will not
only require years of labor, aud much
more treasure than will ever be realized
from their sale, but will delay their i'm
provement and greatly retard the pros
perity of the State. I therefore, rec
ommcnd the passage of an Act donating
these lands to actual settlers, in quanti-
ties not exceeding three hundred and
twenty acres. if limitation be considered
judlcious, as means Of reclamation,
upon condition that the settler shall de.
fray the expense of selection, and within
stated period reclaim the land occupied
the land to be subject to taxation from
and after the day Of )ocation.''
l still adhere to the opinion expressed
in my last annual message, that the sale
or lease Of mineral lands BY the General
Government, would exert blightinc IN
auence upon the advancing prosperity of
our growing State, and paralyze the en-
terprisng body Of men now engaged in
developing the mineral resources Of Cal
ifornia. At present there are 10 exac.
tions upon labor in the mines, and the
reasons are indeed, numerous and cor
ent why the National Government, in
common justice, should impose no addi-
tional exactions upon the industry and
enterprise of our people, or pursue a
course of policy favored by none except
those interested in the establishment of
powerful monopolies, against the do
ination of which Government should
assiduously guard
The Legislature of 1852, it will be
remembered, protested against the policy
of locating the Indians within the State
upon reservations of land set apart for
that purpose; and that the several trea-
ties made by the Iuiian Commissioners
in the year 1851 and 1852, in each of
which, It'll believed, provisions was
made for reservation oe land. were all
unanimously rejected by the United
States Senate.
The action of the Senate was regar-
ded by the authorities and people of
California as definite settlement of the
question, rem lering further action on the
subject, on their part unnecessary.
But it would now seem that we we're
mistaken-that the wishes of the people
of the State, as expressed by the Legis-
lature of 1852, are to be disregarded,
and the wise and humane policy, adop-
ted nearly half century ago, of locating
the Indians without the limits of Sow
ereign States, and distant from white
population, SO far as California is con-
cerncd at least, is to be abandoned.
The Superintendent of Indian Affairs in
California acting under a law of Con-
gress, passed at the last session, which
him to locate the various
tribes, either within the State or on
territory without its limits. is said now
to be engaged in collecting them to-
gether with the design of locating them
permanently at several points within the
State. In order the more fully to un-
derstand the authority on which is based
the present and contemplated action of
the Superintendent of Indian Affairs,
[ subjoin an extract from the law of
Congress- passed March 8, 1858, enti-
tied "An Act making appropriations for
the current and contingent expense of
the Indian Department and for fulfil
ing treaty stipulations with various tribes
for the year ending JUNE 30, 1884,"
viz: "That the President of the United
States if, upon examination, he shall
approve Of the plan hereafter provided
for the protection of the Indians" be,