The herald., 1894-03-07
DONNEV, LATHAM AND WELLER
RecollectiOns Of the Dead Gov
ernOr and His Times.
The Parsons BuIkhead Scheme and
its French Projectors.
Gstham's sudden Risp and His Slow and
Sure Deoadenos The Stirring
Scenes Prior to the Out
break Of the Rebellion.
lCoNTRlDUTED.l

fCoNTnlDUTED.
The deRth Of kex.Governor John G.
Downey TsmovVs no ordinary man.
Cc=aing from Ireland poor boy, his
stIrrrnx and earnest life only reveals the
possibilities which await energetic and
shreTd young men in our grand re-
public.
His main idea OF government, upon
elssring into public life. was that the
secret OF countyy's prosperity lay In
the economical administration OF gov
ernment. and consequently low rate
OF taxation. He found the finances OF
the state and its component counties in
most deplorable condition. The min
ing counties had paid into the state
treasury largo sume OF money, anc re-
ceived therefor no fair or lust equtva.
lent; and the agriculture! portion OF
the state wac governed virtually by the
holders Of Mexican land grants, who
swore their taxes through county boards
OF supervisors. Of which they were gen.
orally members, or else had elected
some of their plant tools to let their
property go through &c one-tenth OF its
value, while small property holders
were taxed to the very last cent.
The collection of foreign miners
licenses included heavy commissions
paid to collectors chosen for auch pur-
poHes and in many cases spurious
licenses were sold to the Chinese (who
were about the only foreigners taxed),
all of which moneys went into the pock-
cts OF the officers, and the etate did not
get dollar so collected. In all the
prosperous decade following the discov-
cry Of gold, there was not q state in the
Union in which the taxation OF individ-
usl property was so unjust and unequal
! rs in California.
As most OF the HERAID's readers are
aware, he was not elected governor, but
lieutenant governor to Milton 5.
Latham, now IL years dead. The cleo
tion Of Lath' m to the senate in January.
1860, made Downey the governor of the
state; and it Vas q change which the
people of this bate, even to. this day,
have no cause to regret.
At the time Of his election to the legis-
lature ia 1857 (sessions were then held
annually he found himself surrounded
by class OF unscrupulous jobbere, for
the most part Good men were there,
to be sure, but they we're greatly in the
minority. Most of the members were
country politicians who had been given
nominations to the legislature as recon-
pense for their defeat in county COR
ventions for the more lucrative places of
sheriff, tax collector or county clerk.
Add to these few lawyers who had
sought seats in the legislature in the
hope Of so amending the statutes as to
enable them to win cases then pending
in the courts, and you have fair idea
of the personnel of go per cent of the
men by whom he was surrounded.
just prior to bis election, state
treasurer had defaulted for something
less than $500, 900. His honesty had
been proverbial and the news of his
shortage fell upon the people like clap
OF thunder from clear sky. II was
never believed that q dollar of this
money had found its way into his own
pockets, but that the lions share of it
had gone into O certain bank in San
Francisco through the connivance of the
treasurer's chief deputy. When the
legislature convened, bill to relieve the
treasurer's sureties of liability was in
troduced by senator whose friendship
for the aforesaid banking firm could not
be questioned. Downey waited till the
bill had passed the senate and came into
the house; and then he turned loose
upon it all the vehemence of positive
nature.
He went on to show that the treas
urer (who had died in the meantime
from shame and mortifcation) had been
repeatedly warned by his personal
friends against the man whom he had
appointed to the custody Of the states
funds in his safe; that il his bondsmen
had needed the warning, they would
either have compelled him to discharge
his deputy or would have vacated his
bond; and that after such warning had
been given Gas was proven on the trial
OF the deputy aforesaid) they made no
effort to protect themselves as euretieH
by insisting upon the deputy's dis
charge, so that their liability was clear
and undenisble. 1.-THE courts" he
added, "have set the real criminal ct
liberty while sending men to jail every
day in the week for the commission OF
smaller thefts in order to satisfy the
pangs of hunger; and there shall be
no further interruption OF justice If l
can help it. vote 'sNo" on the passage
OF any and all such bills as this. Should
it pass this house and become law
there will be no such thing as the en-
forcement of any official bond within the
state, and defalcations in every Office
will become as plenty as blackberries.
Ii Was Lue pcSluuluk Oh nav ora IN
the history OF state government, as Dow
ney was its inRugurator. Devoid of all
powers OF polished oratory and scorning
to essay gracefully rounded periods"
he captured men by the force of his
reasoning ard the earneBtneas of his
utterances, Those who had gone there
with tho intent OF doing what was
proper and just, welcomed the coming
OF new ally, while ths wesk-kneed,
who were on the point of geing over to
the ranks Of "the mercensry brigade"
stood firm and did not kick over the
traces. Ths day of adjournment saw
John &. Downey the strongest man in
either HOUSE of the legislature.
In 1859 came crisis In the history of
the Democratic party. 1t split upon the
slavery question, or rather upon that of
extending slavery into the two terrific
ries OF Kansas and Nebraska. All the
power of Buchanan's administration was
exerted in behalf Of the slavery element,
while Stephen A. Douglas and David @.
Broderick led the forces Of the opposi.