Santa Fe weekly gazette. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1864-1869, 1865-02-18

considerably and Justly manifested it,
appreciation Of their desire to preserve
and perpctuate their ancient and vencr.
ated system Of jurisprudence. Under thC
fostering influence Of that law, the legisla.
tive anactments and the judicial ministra.
tons of the Territory have conformed
harmoniously to tho ancient usages of the
country, and tho AgitatiOus that have
otherwise been experienced have not in
the slightest degree disturbed the founda.
tions on which are built their courts OF
Justice and their system Of law. The peo.
pie Of whose severance from New Mexico
we complain, were amongst those whose
voice was hear and whose will was express
ed in the StatuatOry retention of the civil
law over that Territory, of which they then
farmed part. Their separation from
New Mexico has defeated, SO far as they
are concerned, the purpose of that legis-
laton; and, under their new status, they
become subject to system Of iurispru-
dOnco foreign from, and in some respects
rcpugnant to, that to which they have al
ways been accustomed and to which they
still fondly and dcvoutly cling,
1t may be said that the Territory Of Co.
dorado can, by legislation, meet this latter
difficulty, and satisfy the desire of the pco-
pie il question. That can be done only
by extending the system of civil jurispru-
densc over tho whole Territory, or by
giving toa portion Of the Territory in
question system Of law different! from
that which prevails generally over the
country. Tho idca that the former method
would DO adopted is not, for moment, to
be entertained. The adoption of the lat
ter mode Of relief is not by any means
probable; for the existence Of two variant
systems Of law under one government, and
extending over contiguous Territory,
would be an anomaly attended with great
inc0ngruily and inconvenience in lOgi5!a
ton, and endless confusion aud embar-
rassment in Judicial ministrations. Those
people have no remedy but in an appeal
to Congress for revocation Of an oppres
siye law no hOpo but in a political res
toration to their former Territory.
The foregoing arguments may be met by
the assertion that tho people in question
should conform, in their language and ju.
risprudence, to those which prevail genor-
ally throughout tho United States. The
enforcement Of such q proposition would
be ungenerous and unjust. If tho people
inhabiting the section of country in qnes.
tion had como voluntarily within the pro-
vince of the United States, for purposes Of
protection or other benefits, it would bt
proper that they should conform, in Lam
guage and ether usagcs, political and ju-
dicial, to the customs Of the country with
which thoy had formed voluntary assO-
citation. But such, in the present instance,
is far from being the case. Those people
were brought under the sovereignty and
authority Of this Government not by their
own volition, but by the fortunes of war.
II, at tho time of the conquest Of New
Mexico by the United States, or itS acqui-
sition, through the instrumentality Of war,
the will Of the people inhabiting that
country had been consulted, they would
greatly have preferred remaining under
the authority and protection of their ma
tive sovereign. Although they have since
formed n patriotic fondness for this gov.
crnment, and are now earnest and true in
their allegiance to their new sovereign,
the change was not matter Of their own
choice. Tho acquisition of their country
was tho fruit OF q war waged by the Uni
ted States against their native land, and
bv every confederation Of justice and hu-
manity they are entitled to the enjoyment
of their native language, and their systOm
Of law and domestic usages, so long and
SO faras they do not conflict with the
principles Of the general government. Il
would be unjust and nngcncrous in tht
extreme to require them to learn the En-
glish language before they could comprc.
bend the deliberations preceding the en-
actment of their laws, or the force and OBJ
legation of those laws when enacted; and
it would bo scarcely less unjust to require
of them a sudden REIMBURSEMENT Of the
system Of law aud jurisprudence on which
the structure Of society amongst them i,
founded, so long as it is not repugnant tt
tho great principles of liberty that lie a
the foundation Of this Government.
The people inhabiting tho section O
country in question are unanimous il
their desire to be restored to their politi
cal association with The Territory Of Nov
Mexico. 1t is not a subject which they re
gard with that comparative indifference,
that might characterize hoterogoneou
community of u newly settled region, OF
being transferred from ono theatre ofgoy
ornment to ansthOr. Thoy feel prolounl
interest in the question: thcir stronges
and deepest affections are interviewer witt
the subject, and their future contentmen
and happiness arc greatly involved there
in. II must bo remembered that Ney
Mexico is not u newly, Sparsoly settlet
country, Its people, now numbering NOR
than one hundred thousand, have lonl
been residing in her valleys, in the enjoy
mont of tho blessing Of christianity, civil
cation and enlightened civil government
Together they have stood, from the foot 0
the Rocky Mountains to the mouth Of th
Bravo, resisting tho aggresgions Of tn
aboriginal barbarians who have inccssanl
" opposed their efforts to extend tho are
Of civilization and industry. For genera
tions they have thus labored togeihor, an
; from the northern to tho southern ox,rc
nifty Of their land they have been unite,
by inlissolublc ties Of consanguinity an
I affection. From the mountains in tn
north to tho gulf in the south, they hay
long been harmonious, fraternal people