Year: 1867

:


twenty eight thousand, while the preset
e ratio Of representation is one hundrt
. and twenty-seven thC1sand.


There can be no reason that I can De
7 ceive for the admission Of Colorado th,
I would not apply with equal force |


nearly every other territory now organ
. lied and I submit whether, if this bi
; become a law. it will be possible to resi-
: the logical conclusion that such territC
4 ries as Dakotah, Montana and Idah
! must be received as states, whenever the
! present themselves, without regard {
q the number of inhabitants they ma
respectively contain. Eight or ten ne'
. senators and four or five new member
: Of the house IF representatives woul
, thus be admitted. to represent q poI


ulatiOn scarcely exceeding that whic
, in any other portion of the nation
/ is entitled to but a single membe


Of the house Of representatives, Will
. the average for two senators in the union
as now constituted, is at least one mil
| lion Of people 1t would surely be unjus
, to all other sections of the union to ente
upon a policy with regard to the ad


mission Of new states which might resui
in eonferring such a disprOpOrtionat
share Of influence in the national legis


lature upon communities which, in pur


suance Of the wise policy of our fathers


should for some years to come be re


tanned under the fostering care and pro


lection Of the national government. l


it is deemed Just and expedient now t.


depart from the settled policy of the ma


ton during all its history, and to admi


all the territories to the rights and priv
ileges Of states, irrespective of their pop
: HrTa ffnr fra fr,-g


is submitted whether it would not bt


well to devise such measures as vii
bring the subject before the country fol
I consideration and decision. This would
seem TO be evidently wise, because, a.
has already been stated, if it is right tC
admit Colorado now, there is no reason
for the exclusion Of the other territories


It is no answer to these suggestions
] that an enabling act was passed author.
/ iZing the people Of Colorado to take ac-
I ton on this subject. II is well known
! that that act was passed in consequence
! Of representations that the population
/ reached, according TO some statements,
/ as high as eighty thousand, and TO none
| less than fifty thousand, and was grow
/ ing with a rapidity which, by the time
l the admission could be cOnsummated,
| would secure a population of over hun
| dred thousand. These representations
prove to have been wholly fallacious I;
and in addition the people Of the terri
tory, BY a deliberate vote, decided that
they would not assume the responsible
/ tiles Of a state government.


By that decision they utterly exhaust
ed all power that was conferred by the
enabling act and there has been no
step taken since in relation to the admis-
sion that has had the slightest sanctien
or warrant of law. The proceeding upon
which the present application is based
was in the utter absence Of all law in re-
lation to il, and there il no evidence that
the votes on the question Of the fOrma-
ton Of a state government bear any rela-
ton whatever to the sentiment of the
territory The protest Of the house Of
representatives, previously quoted, is
conclusive evidence TO the contrary.


But if none Of these reasons existed
against this proposed enactment, the bill
itself, besides being inconsistent In its
provisions in comforting power upon
person unknown to the laws, and who
may never have a legal existence, is so
framed as to render its execution almost
impossible. II is indeed a question
whether it is not in itself a nullity. To
say the least, it is exceedingly doubtful
propriety TO confer the power proposed
in this bill upon the governor elect"
for as, by It's own terms, the constitution
is not TO take effect until after the admis-
sion of the state, he in the meantime has
10 more authority than any other pri-
vate citizen. But even suppOsiDg him to
be clothed with sufficient authority to
convene the legislature, what constitutes
the state legislature" to which is TO
be referred the submission Of the cOndi-
tons imposed by congress? Is it a new
body to be elected and convened by proc
lamation of the governor elect" or is
it that body which met more than a
year ago under the provisions Oi the state
constitution


By reference to the second section of
the schedule, and 10 the eighteenth
section Of the fourth article of the state
constitution, it will be seen that the
term of the members Of the house Of
representatives and that of oRe-half of
the members of the senate expired on
the first Monday Of the present month.
1t is clear that if there were no intrinsic
objections to the bill itself in relation to
purposes to be accomplished, this OBJ
lection would be fatal as it is apparent
that the provisions of the third section



erence TO period and state of facts
entirely different from the present and
affairs as they now exist, and if carried
into effect must necessarily lead TO con-
fusion.


Even II It were settled that the old,
and not a new body were TO act, it would
be found impracticable 10 execute the
law, because a considerable number Of
the members, as / am informed, have
ceased to be residents OF the territory,
and in the sixty days within which the
legislature is to be convened after the
passage Of the act, there would not be
sufficient time 10 Oil the vacancies by
new elections, were there any authority
under which they could be held.


il may not be proper To add that if
these proceedings were all regular, and
the result to be obtained were desirable,
simple Justice TO the people of the terri
tory would require a longer period than
sixty days within which to obtain action
on the c0pdin0ng proposed by the third
section of the bill. There ale, as Is well
known, large portions of the territory
with which there is and can be no gene
raj communication, there being several
COUNTIES which, from November TO May,
can only be reached by persons travelling
on foot, while With OpneF regions Of the
territory occupied by a large portion of
the pOpulation there is very little more
freedom af sceess. Thus, if this bill
should become iaV, i WOVld be i'm
practicable to obtain any expression Of
public sentiment in reference TO it's pro-
visions, with a view to enlighten the
'a0isIsBIre, If the old body were called
together; aad, Of course, equally I'M
practicable TO procure the election of a
new body. This defect might have been
remedied by an extension of the time
and submission Of the question to the
people, with fair opportunity to enable
them to express their sentiments.


The admission Of a new state has gen.
orally been regarded as an epoch id our
history, marking the onward progress OF
the nation, but, after the most careful
and anxious inquiry on the subject,
cannot Deroeive that the proposed pro-
ceeding is ia conformity with the policy
which, from the origin Of the govern
ment, has uniformly prevailed in the
admission Of new states. ! therefore re-
turn the bill 10 the senate without nv
signature. ANDREW JOHNSON.