rificing the state's lands, taking the place of the income which should have been derived from a judicious care for them.

Among all this waste, one idea has not been lost sight of, that the educational interests of the state must receive such aids as were possible; and accordingly much has been converted to education which was not intended by congress for the use of schools; namely, the internal improvement, seminary, and public buildings appropriations; and the state has drawn from the people to supply the deficiency created in its resources for public improvements. From the sale of tide-lands in the city and county of San Francisco, $200,000 was appropriated to the benefit of the state university in 1869. Subsequently, the legislature donated to the university a sufficient sum from the proceeds of the sale of salt marsh and tide lands to produce an annual revenue of $50,000, which sum was invested in the state bonds.43

It might reasonably be expected that, being involved in practices such as here are briefly touched upon, the history of land frauds, for example, being of sufficient bulk to fill a volume, the credit of the state would be destroyed. On the contrary, such is the vitality and such the resources of the people and country, that in defiance of oppressive taxation, and despite of waste, the upward tendency has been steady, and not slower than in other new states. No institution of public benefit customarily supported by the commonwealths but has been liberally provided for in California. The solid character of the people, underneath the political scum, has saved the reputation and the fortunes

43 I have made no mention of mineral lands, because they have remained the property of the gen. govt. After much discussion in congress, it was decided to leave them free and open to exploration and occupation, by and to all citizens of the U. S., and those who had declared their intention to become such, and to leave the govt of the mining districts to the local regulations of the miners, where they did not conflict with U. S. laws. Act of July 26, 1866, in Zabriskie, Land Laws, 199-207. At a subsequent period patents were allowed to a certain amount of mineral land; since which time a large quantity of this class of lands have been sold.

HIST. CAL., VOL. VI. 41

of the country, as in time it will rid the state offices of unfit incumbencies, and check the jobbery of its legislatures."

44 The California Register for 1857 contains the first attempt to present a tabular view of the finances of the several counties of the state,' and from it I extract the following totals: The total debt of the state in Jan. 1857 was $12,163,090, $8,592,994 of which was funded, and $4,068,589 was floating indebtedness. Total assets, consisting of cash, indebtedness from counties recently organized, and delinquent taxes, amounted to $498,493. Dividing the whole indebtedness between the state, the counties, and the cities, 8 in number, the state owed $4,128,927, the counties $2,365,260, the cities $5,668,903, S. F. debt being $3,661,730, and Sac. $1,507,154. The rate of interest ranged from 7 to 12 per cent, though a part of the debt of S. F. drew but 6 per cent, and a part of San José's drew 30 per cent interest. The assessed value of the occupied lands was $28,924,174.15; of the improvements thereon $17,319,470. The valuation of town and city lots was $6,494,008, and the improvements thereon $5,927,414. The personal property of the state was $29,877,679.95. Total value of property, real and personal, $95,007,440.97. The state tax of 70 c. on each $100 produced $665,315.45. The whole amount received into the state treasury, down to June 30, 1856, from every kind of tax, was $4,057,237.49, while the expenses of the state departments had been $7,039,651.19. There was a similar discrepancy in county and city incomes and expenses. The total shipments of gold out of the state in the same period were $322,393,856. The total duties collected on imports at S. F., $13,333,165. Total value of imports, free and otherwise, from 1853 to 1856 inclusive, $27,447,550.

CHAPTER XXIII.

POLITICAL HISTORY.

1850-1854.

QUALITY OF OUR EARLY RULERS-Governor BURNETT-GOVERNOR MCDOUGAL-SENATORIAL ELECTION-SOWING DRAGON'S TEETH-DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION-SENATOR GWIN, THE ALMIGHTY PROVIDENCE OF CALIFORNIA-PARTY ISSUES-GOVErnor Bigler-BRODERICK-WHITE VS BLACK -SLAVERY OR DEATH!-LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS-TALK OF A NEW CONSTITUTION—WHIGS, DEMOCRATS, AND INDEPENDENTS — ANOTHER

LEGISLATURE.

THE Composition of Governor Burnett's character was such that he could without friction accommodate himself to circumstances, and make friends, or at least avoid making enemies, on either side of a question. He was suave, correct, with enough of a judicial air to give his opinions weight in ordinary affairs, with enough lightness and elasticity of intellect to enable him to float safely upon the surface of public opinion, and from extraordinary issues to escape scathless. Whatever in the heat of conflict we may say of such men, they are of a recognized value in society, holding the balance even when anarchy would result from more able management. His life, though crowned by no great or noble achievement, has not been marred by a single conspicuous error. As superior judge, under Riley's administration, he occupied the highest position to which he could be chosen under the government de facto; and as first governor of California he again stood approved by the voters of 1850. But he was a little too slow in action and too wordy in speech for quick-witted men of deeds; a little too con

servative for the men of 1851, so rapidly did things change at this period; and had some prejudices which he did not care to render prominent, had changed his religion from protestant to catholic-a matter which he thought greatly concerned him, but did not in the least other people; besides which, he wished to attend to private affairs; so he resigned the executive office on the 9th of January of that year, just after the sec

1 Burnett, Rec., MS., passim; Sac. Transcript, Jan. 14 and Feb. 1, 1851; Cal. Jour. Sen., 1851, 43, 44, 45, 46. Peter H. Burnett was born in Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 15, 1807, of Va parentage, to which may be attributed his ineradicable dislike of the free negro. When 10 years of age he removed with his father to Howard co., Mo., and a few years later to Clay co., where he attained the age of 19 years, in contact with a rude border society. In 1826 he returned to Tenn., where he became clerk in a store at $100 a year, and later at $200. He married, before he was quite 21, Harriet W. Rogers, started in business, studied law, and became editor of a weekly newspaper at Liberty, Mo., The Far West. His first law business was in prosecuting some Mormons for debt, and afterward was employed as counsel by the Mormon leaders whom Judge King had committed to jail in Liberty, they being charged with arson, robbery, and treason. In 1843 he emigrated to Or., where he became a farmer, lawyer, legislator, and judge. In 1848 he came to Cal. in the first company of gold-seekers, and was unpronounced enough never to have made any conspicuous failures either in business or politics. In 1857 he was appointed a justice of the sup. court of California, which position he held until Oct. 1858. He afterward became president of the Pacific Bank of S. F., in which he held a large interest. He retired from business about 1880. A lengthy dictation which I took from him he had copied and printed as Personal Recollections.

"The senate consisted in 1851, in addition to the members holding over, of W. Adams of Butte and Shasta districts, whose seat was contested, and who resigned April 28, 1851; E. O. Crosby, of Yuba and Sutter districts; P. de la Guerra, of Sta Bárbara and San Luis Obispo districts; D. F. Douglas, of Calaveras; S. C. Foster, of Los Angeles, elected to fill vacancy; T. J. Green, of Sac.; B. S. Lippincott, of Tuolumne; S. E. Woodworth, of Monterey; M. E. Cooke, Sonoma; E. Heydenfeldt and D. C. Broderick, S. F.; A. W. Hope, Los Angeles; who resigned Jan. 11th; T. B. Van Buren, San Joaquin; J. Warner, San Diego. The assembly consisted by D. P. Baldwin and B. F. Moore, Tuolumne, F. C. Bennett, I. Ñ. Thorne, J. D. Carr, J. S. Wethered, W. W. Wilkins, W. C. Hoff, S. F.; J. Bigler, D. J. Lisle, C. Robinson, Sac.; T. Bodley, A. C. Campbell, Sta Clara; J. S. Bradford, A. Stearns, Sonoma; E. Brown, Contra Costa; H. Carnes, Sta Bárbara; J. Cook, San Diego; J. S. Field, Yuba; C. J. Freeman, San Luis Obispo; G. D. Hall, J. J. Kendrick, El Dorado; E. B. Kellogg, Sta Cruz; J. Y. Lind, D. W. Murphy, Calaveras; A. G. McCandless, Shasta; J. W. McCorkle, Sutter; W. C. McDougall, F. Yeiser, San Joaquin; A. Pico, Los Angeles; S. A. Merritt, H. S. Richardson, Mariposa; A. Randall, Monterey; R. F. Saunders, Butte. Cal. Reg., 1857, 192-6. Of that body of men I find here and there mention of one who has gone over to the silent majority. Thomas Bodley, born in Lexington, Ky, in 1821, came to Cal. in 1849, via N. O., and engaged in merchandising at San José with Thomas Campbell. He was also in the grain business, and at one time collector at Alviso. He served as under-sheriff during the term of Wm McCutchen. During this period he completed the study of the law, begun some years previous, and at the expiration of his service as sheriff began a successful practice. He sustained a character for integrity and liberality in his

FIRST GOVERNORS.

8

645

ond legislature met in session, and was succeeded by the lieutenant-governor, John McDougal, a gentlemanly drunkard, and democratic politician of the order for which California was destined to become somewhat unpleasantly notorious.*

adopted city. San José Pioneer, Sept. 21, 1878; Santa Cruz do. Times, Feb. 23, 1867. John S. Bradford came to Cal. from Ill. in 1848 or 1849. In the latter year he had a pack-train carrying goods from Sac. to Auburn. Later he used wagons, and had a store at Stony Bar, on a fork of the American river, where he built the first house of logs. Moore, Pioneer Express, MS., 2-7. He was in partnership with Semple at Benicia, as one of the firm of Semple, Robinson, & Co., for the transaction of general business. This firm purchased the Chilian bark Conferacion, with an assorted cargo of East Indian goods, which was dismantled and used as a wharf. Solano Co. Hist., 154–5. He was the first assemblyman from Sonoma dist. In 1853 he returned to Springfield, Ill., where he was several times elected mayor. Benicia Tribune, Feb. 7, 1874.

The prest of the senate was D. C. Broderick; prest pro tem., E. Heydenfeldt; secretary, J. F. Howe; asst sec., W. B. Ólds; enrolling clerk, H. W. Carpenter; engrossing clerk, E. Covington; sergt-at-arms, C. Burnham; doorkeeper, W. B. Stockton. Broderick was elected clerk of the supreme court Feb. 21st, and John Nugent filled the vacancy. Cal. Reg., 1857, 191. W. E. P. Hartnell was awarded the contract for translating the laws into Spanish. His pay was limited by law to $1.50 per folio. He was required to give bonds in the sum of $30,000 for the correct and entire translation of the statutes. Cal. Stat., 1851, p. 404-5; Val., Doc., MS., 35, 296, 307, 317. John Bigler was speaker of the assembly.

John McDougal was born in Ohio in 1818, and in boyhood removed to the vicinity of Indianapolis, Ind., where he was supt of the state prison in 1846. He was a captain in the Mexican war, in which he distinguished himself. The Black Hawk war breaking out about the time he arrived at his majority, he became captain of a company of volunteers, and served the country faithfully. In 1849 he came to Cal. with his brother George, and served in the const. convention. He was fine-looking, and adhered to the old style of ruffled shirt front, buff vest and pantaloons, and blue coat with brass buttons. He used to say that there were two beings of whom he stood in awe-God almighty and Mrs McDougal. The latter always treated him with patient kindness, although often compelled to bring him home from a midnight debauch. When he was afterward in the U. S. senate he made but one speech, in preparation for which he was three weeks in sobering off. On several occasions he attempted suicide. Although not at that stage of his ruinous career when elected lieut-governor, he was seldom fit for the discharge of his duties. Yet such was the influence of his naturally genial and generous deportment, cultivated mind, and brilliant social talents, that only his political enemies, and not always those, could bring themselves to treat him with the contempt another man in his position would have received. He owned property in Sutterville. He died March 30, 1866, in S. F. Monitor, April 7, 1866; Buffalo Express, in Hayes' Cal. Notes, v. 86; Buffum, Six Months in Cal., 153; Placer Times, Nov. 10, 1849; Hayes' Cal. Notes, iii. 46; S. F. Alta, March 31, 1866; Crosby's Early Events, MS., 37-8; Gwin's Memoirs, MS., 13; S. F. Call, Sept. 6, 1868; Overland Monthly, xiv. 329; Sac. Transcript, March 14, 1851. His brother George, a man of herculean proportions, engaged in cattle-dealing in Utah, and among the Navajos, was at Bent's Fort on the Arkansas River for some time. He absented himself so long from Cal. that he was supposed to be dead, and his estate was administered upon. Again he disappeared and was recognized in Patagonia, but could not be at that time induced to leave that barbarous coast. He returned, however, to Washington to prosecute a