The weekly Butte record., 1863-08-01
TO THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF
CALIFORNIA.

aware, placed NE in nomination for the CHE
Executive Office of the State of California
At any time and under all circumstances tht
! people are entitled 10 demand from every can
dldate for their sufrages, who aspires to leg
isiative or executive position, candid exposi
tion of his opinions on all questions which
/ form the BASES of our political organizations
and an explicit statement of the policy that ht
will adopt 10 the event of his election. Sucl
a course, eminently proper in the existing stu
alton of the country, is certainly in accordance
with my own inclinations. l entertain nc
views which l would coneeal-advocate nc
policy which | would fear to avow, and would
accept no Office obtained by the sacrifice ol
candor and integrity.
Inasmuch my health at this time prevents
me frcm making an extended canvass of the
State, and comforting with you personally. |
desire in the present communication to record
in language which no one can fail to under.
stand, my deliberate opinions of the constitu.
/ tional rights and powers of the Federal and
State Governments, and their relative duties.
1t is my design, 10 this connection, to lay be-
fore you the line of policy which deem prop
er and applicable in the management of our
state affairs. solicit for them your impartial
consideration assuring you that, however i'm
perfectly expressed, they are the conclusions
of a judgment which seeks only the truth, and
of a heart that desires, above all earthly aspi-
rations, the trelfare Of CalJornid-fhe perpe-
tuty Of the Federal Ualon and the preservation
of the Constitution rgith all ats guarantees of
liberty. These objects can be obtained by one
course only-a faithful observance of the spirit
and letter of the Constitution, as understood
BY the fathers who framed our institutions, and
interpreted by the Supreme Court of the Uni
ted States. Even in period of profound
tranquility, deviation by any department of
the Government from the sphere of action pre-
scTibed for it by the organic law Of the land
is attended with dangerous results. But in q
time of war and extraordinary excitement,
when sectional animosites are intensified,
when the passions of the multitude, and the
zeal of the dominant party are intoerant Of
any opposition, the restraints and limitations
imposed by law on the Federal Government
should be sacredly observed. \ persistent
disregard of them by our rulers, if sanctioned
by the people, must speedily lead to revolution
constitutional liberty and the dissolution Of
the Union During the first sixty years Of
our national existence no statesman nor prom
inent leader of any political party, dared to
paiate, much less to justify, an encroachment
by the General Government on the rights of
the States or the liberties of the citizen. IN
deed, such was the jealous solicitude of the IA
theirs on this subject, that at the final session
of the first Congress of the United States the
following amendment to the Constitution was
proposed, and subsequently adopted by the
requisite number Of States
" The Potrers not delegated to the United
States by the Constitution. nor prohibited By it
TO the States, respectively, are reserred to the
States, respectively, or TO the people," Until
the advent into power of the Republican party
the foregoing amendment was held not less OBJ
ligatory than the grants of power to the Fed
era Government, recited in the fundamental
law.
No State is more loyal or devoted to the
American Union than California. She has
responded with alacrity to all demands made
on her patriotism, has paid with uncomplain-
ing cheerfulness her portion of the onerous
taxes levied by the Government, and contribu-
ted larger amount to the National Sanitary
Fund than any one of her sister States.
But while California has furnished the most
gratifying evidence of an ardent and unselfsh
attachment to the Union, yet her citizens must
have witnessed with apprehension and abhor
ence the repeated acts Of tyranny, usurpation
and corruption practiced by the Republican
Administration and Congress at Washington
city. and their officials. civil and military.
throughout the United States. We have seen
martial law proclaimed and the writ of habeas
corpus suspended, the right of trial by jury de-
MED, the sanctity Of the mails violated, contri-
buttons levied on whole communities by ire
sponsibe military subordinates. Imprisonment,
banishment or death inflicted on citizens accu-
sed of no crime and tried before tribunals un-
known to the laws, and system Of espionage
and secret police established which finds par
allel only in the annals of Asiatic despotism.
Newspapers which ventured to complain of
these outrages have been forcibly suppressed
by order of Government, or refused all mail
facilities, and meetings of the people called to
consider and peaceably petition for redress
of grievances have been dispersed at the point
Of the bayonet. Bear in mind that these
wrongs have not been perpetrated alone in
sections of the country where rebellion prevail