Butte record., 1854-11-25

the latter, then the law was in force up
on its approval by the Governor, and the
seat of Government would be at Vallejo
whether Mr.. Vallejo complied with the
terms of the law or not; and in case OF
OF his failure so to comply the redress
Of the State would be upon his bond
First. from the law itself-there is NJ
absolute change of the Capitol-the
change is dependent upon the condition,
and does rot vest until the conditions
are performed This is the difference
between conditions precedent and subse-
quent. In the former, the grant does
not vest until the conditions are per-
formed in the latter, the conditions are
not required to be performed until the
grant has been vested. The grant is
void upon the failure of the former,
while it is not affected by the failure of
the latter. The grant is dependent up
on the former the latter are dependent
upon the grant. The former are annex
ed to the grant, and usually have no
penalty for non-performance except the
voiding Of the grant the latter follow
after the grant, and can have any other
penalty for performance except the
voiding of the grant. In the law of
Feb 4, 1851, there is no absolute grant
or change, but this is dependent upon
the performance of the conditions, and
as If to leave no doubt as to the intent
of the law, it adds-"That if said Val
lejo shall fail or refuse to comply with
the terms Of his proposition, in whole or
part, then this act to be void y
Second, from the understanding of
Members of the legislature, Mr.. ling
ley Member of the Legislature which
passed the law, gives his Interpretation
of it in the third reas IN of the protes t
entered upon the Senate journals 1852,
p. 6, as follows: "Because no law exists
that is operative, changing the Seat of
Government from San Jose and if the
act or agreement, on which the change is
claimed by Vallejo, ever becomes opera
tive as a law, it can only become so
when the stipulations Of his entire con
tract shall be strictly fulfilled, which is
not required to be done until two years
after the passage of said act, or the
date of the agreement between Vallejo
and the State.''
Third, from the opinion and under
standing of the Governor. Gov Me
Dougal in his protest says: "The sec
ond proviso, requiring Gen. Vallejo to
provide certain buildings for the use of
rublic officers, was not and is not COM
piled with; consequently, under the very
declaration Of the law itself it becomes a
nullity" But it may be said that the
makers of the law should not act as its
interpreters. The Supreme Court of
the State then becomes the Interpreter.
And from the decision of the Supreme
Court, in the matter of the removal of
the Supreme Court to the seat of gov
ernment, the Court in speaking of this
law, says: can examination of the
character of the first act passed by the
Legislature, in our opinion, settles the
whole question The act is to be void
if certain conditions are not fulfilled,
and upon the face of the act, these are
conditions preced mt. IF the Act be-
came void, the eff CT is as if it never had
any existence and indeed, its efficiency
according to its own terms, could never
be- in until the provisions on which i.
depended were fully complied with"
On the 10Th January 1852, the SEN
ate by a vote of l3 to 10 adopted the
resolution of the Assembly to adjourn to
Sacramento on the 10th January, and
on the same day the Assembly adopted
the amended resolution Of the Senate bv
a vote Of 3 to 90 This was not inten-
ded law to fix the seat of government,
but as temporary change for the con-
venience of the Legislature uring the
session. On the 10th, pursuant to the
resolution, the Legislature met at Sac
ramento, and continued at that place
during the session. The Legislature of
1858, met again at Vallejo. On the
18th February, 1858, law was appro, ed
entitled Gan act to provide for the per-
manent location of the seat of govern
ment, " which, reciting that M. G. Val
lejo Laving filled and refused to comply
with the conditions of the act of 1851
and having petititioned the Legislature
for release from the performance OF
said conditions, enacted that tie seat of
,