Evening star., 1867-01-28

Message Of the President Of thu Uu;,.d
states, Returnin. to the senate n RiII
Untitled ''An Act 20 Admit the state al
Colorado into the Union Flr--'

A'A' sS~oS " sne HScSioeob OIL Inc United
states, Returnin. to the senate n RiII
Entitled ''An Act 20 Admit the state Of
Colorado into the Union.
To the Senate Of the United States
l return TO the Senate, in which House n
originated, bill entitled s.an act To admit the
state OF Colorado into the Union" to which l
cannon, consistently with my sense Of duty,
additional section, con tanning new pro Visions
1t Is ubetantially the same as the bill of a 81 mi
~ lar ute passed y Congress during the last
session submitted to the President for his ap-
prevail, returned with the objections Contained
IN message bearing daie the 18th of NAV last
sno yet awaiting the reconsideration OF the
A second bill. having in view the same pur.
pose, has now passed both houses of Cong gress
and been presented for my signature. Having
again carefully considered the subject, have
been unable to perceive any reason for chang
ing the opinions which have already been COM
munlcated to Congress. find, on the contra.
~, th At there are many objections to the pro.
posed legislation Of which was not at that
time aware, and that while several OF those
when then assigned have in the interval
gained in strength, yet others have been created
oy the altered character of the measure now
submitted. nv"
The Constitution under whi.h this State
Government Is propo-sd TO bsformed, yerv
properly contains provision that all laws IN
orce at the time Of it's adoption and the ad.
mission OF the state into the Union shall con.
tinue MS II the Constitution had not been
adopted. Among those laws is one Absolutely
prohibiting negroes and N lattoes from yotinS
AZ the recent session of the Territorial Legis.
iature bill for the repeal Of this law, intro.
duced into the council was almost una nimous
iy rejected; and the very time when Congress
was engaged n enacting the bill now under
consideration, the Legislature passed an Act
excluding negroes and mulattoes from the
right 10 sit as jurors. This bill was vetoed hv
the Governor Of the Territory, whe held that
by the laws OF the URited States negroes and
mulattoes are citizens and subject TO the dnties
as well az entitled TO the rights OF citizenship.
Inc OH, however, was passed, the objections
OF the Governor to the contrary, not twithstand
Ing and is now law OF the Territory Yet in
the bill now before me, by which il ia pro
posed 70 admit the Territory as . State, it is
provided that "there shall be no denial of the
elective franchise or any other right to anv
person, oy reason OF race or colors, excepting
,9S..a tnuiahs NOT taxea: The lncongruty thus ex-
that OF the Territory. taken in connection with
the protest against The admiss sion of the state
hereinafter referred to. would seem clearly 20
Indicate the lmpoliey and injustice Of the pro.
1t might indeed be q subject OF grave in.
curry, and doubtless will result in such in.
quiry il this bill becomes a law. whetbhr IL
does not attempt to exercise a power not con-
ferred upon Congress by the Federal Consul
.n.on: Ina. insInment simply declares tna.
II nowhere says that Congress NAV make ne W
States for the purpose OF admitting them in
this bill Is a. clear an attempt 70 mako the In.
stitutions as any in which the peopIe them.
selves could engage.
In view OF thus action Of Oong gress the House
OF Representatives, Of the Territory ha 90 ear
nestly protested against being forced into the
Unisn. without first having the question sub.
reasonable than the position which thev Tins
ass me- and 1t certainly cannot be the purpose
OF Congress to force upon comm Rity, against
5os Ti e0vernmsI. whlcn they do not be-
the following is copy OF the protest al.
luded to, as officially transmitted TO me:
that 1t is the intention Of Congress 70 admit
Colorado as State into the Union. There.
"Resolred by the House of Representatives, Of
his Territory, That representing, as we do the
last and only legal expression Of public opin-
lon on this question, we earnestly protest
State without first having the Question sub-
mitted 10 a vote OF the people, for the reasons
first that we have right t. . voice in the
selection Of the character Of our Government:
second, that we have not sufficient pop MA
ton TO support the expenses of q State eovern.
ment. For these reasons we trust that Con.
gress VIII not force upon MS a government
Upon information which considered rel,a.
BILE. assumed, in my message OF the 18th Of May
more than thirty thousand, and expressed the
opinion that this number was entirely too
small either to ass ums the responsibility or to
enjoy the privileges Of q State.
II appears tnat previous to that time, the LIE.
gislatnre, with view to ascertain the exact
condition Of the Territory, had passed law
taken The law made II the duty OF the asses.
sors in the several counties TO take the census
In connection with the annual assessments
Of the population, allowed them q liberal com.
pensation for the service by paying them for
every name returned. and added TO their pre-.
vious oath Of ONCE ar oath to perform this duty
from the accompanying official report it an
pears that returns have been received from
SSieen OF the eighteen counties, into which the
State Is divided. and that their population
amounts in the aggregate to TWEEN ty -four thou.
sand nine hundred and nine. The three ne.
naming counties estimated to co tain tn ree
Thousand, making total population of TWEEN.
ty.seyen thousand nine hundred and nine,
when it is claimed that the population is much
larger than at any other period, as in the an
tumn miners In large numbers leave thar
VOLTA woiK ana return 70 the east with the results
The population, II will be observed, 10 but
signify N excess OF one-fifth Of the number
requ,reS !,n a. ss the basis Of representation for
States, that number being 127,OOO.
am unable to perceive any good reason for
such great disparity In the right OF ofrepresenta.
tton; giving, as II would, to the people OF Col.
orado not only this vast advantage In the House
OF representatives, but an equality in the
senate; where the other States are represented
no such inequality OF this has ever before been
attempted. know that 1t Is claimed that the
population OF the different States at the time of
tnelr admission has varied at different periods.
but it has not varied much more than the non,
ulatlon OF each decade. and the cerrespondiss
basis OF representation for the Different periods
that no State should be admitted with a iess
population than the ratio for Representative ve
at the time OF application. The limitation. in
the second section Of the first article az the
Consultation, declaring that aeach Ststs shaII
nave at least one Representative" was mani.
fesfly designed TO protect the Statas whieh
originally composed the Union from hahn = ia
priyed, in the event Of waning ponnistion
OF voice In the popular branch OF Coueres'
and was never Intended as q warrant 10 force
new state INTO the Union with q rspresents-
the time he reqpired of sister members OF the
Confederacy. This bill. In view Of the proni.
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