in force, and that the civil government would be continued in the hands of the existing officers as heretofore, until further action should be taken by Congress. A military contribution tariff, which had been previously enforced, was suspended, and civilians were appointed to the office of Collector, under the existing revenue laws of the United States.

The new and sudden change occasioned by the influx of miners, the extreme scarcity of coin for paying the custom-house duties upon importations; in short, the absence of a well-organized government, suited to the wants of the times, and founded upon the popular will, became every day more apparent. Yet, as at least four-fifths of the male population of the country were busy in the mines, and as a law for a territorial organization was daily expected, these evils were endured for a time, in the hope of early relief.

The treaty afforded some grounds for the organization of a State government, without first seeking the consent of Congress.

By Article IX of this instrument, it was provided that "Mexicans who, in the Territories aforesaid, shall not preserve the character of citizens of the Mexicar Republic, conformably with what is stipulated in the preceding Article, shal be incorporated into the Union of the United States, and be admitted at the proper time (to be judged of by the Congress of the United States) to the enjoy. ment of all the rights of citizens of the United States, according to the princi ples of the Constitution."

A large public meeting was held at San José, December 11, 1848, at which committees were appointed and resolutions passed, favoring the immediate formation of a Provisional Territorial Government, until a more regular system could be formally established. The proceedings of this meeting were published, and led to others in various places d'ring the months of December and January, 1848-'49. The measure, being of obvious and pressing necessity, met with general approval, and times and places for holding a Convention were mentioned, but not generally agreed upon. At this juncture, Brevet BrigadierGeneral B. Riley, who had arrived April 13th, and was then acting as Provisional Governor, issued a proclamation, dated June 3, 1849, in which he stated the anomalous and unsatisfactory condition of the country, described the civil organization and system of government as it then existed by law, and appointed the 1st day of August following, for the election of delegates to a Convention, and for filling such vacancies in office as might then exist. The Convention was to meet at Monterey on the 1st of September; the number of Delegates from each district was fixed, their boundaries described, and the places of election appointed. All free citizens of the United States, being males twenty-one years of age and upward, and actually resident, all Mexican residents of California who had chosen to remain, and all citizens of Lower California who had been forced to come into the country on account of having rendered assistance to the Americans in the late war, were allowed to vote. This course was declared to be taken under the advice of the President, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of War, and was deemed the best that could be taken under all the circumstances of the occasion.

The administration of civil affairs by a military officer had become extremely distasteful to the population, more especially because the laws thus administered were foreign in their origin, and unsuited to the necessities of the times. Still, as a matter of convenience, the advice of the Provisional Governor was generally followed, and a Convention met at the appointed time and place. After mature deliberation they adjourned on the 13th of October, 1849, having prepared a State Constitution, which was submitted to the people at an election held November 13, 1849. This day proved one of the stormiest that had been

known, and, from the want of roads, and difficulty of crossing swollen streams, the vote at the elections was very light. The number that voted for the Constitution was 12,061, and those against it 811. From 1,200 to 1,500 votes were blanks, in consequence of a failure to print "for" or "against" the Constitution upon the ballots. A legislature elected in November re-assembled at San José, then the capital, on the 15th of December. A Governor elected by the people was inaugurated, and, on the 20th of the same month, General Riley, by proclamation, declared the Constitution adopted, and delivered the civil gov ernment into the hands of the officers of the newly-formed State, which then went into full operation.

During the year 1848, two efforts were made in Congress to pass a territorial act applying to California, and one for its admission as a State. In 1849 and 1850 efforts were again made to provide a government for California, but the strongest opposition was made against admission under a free-State Constitution, and the partisans of slavery, claiming their privilege under the Missouri Compromise, insisted upon the maintenance of what they held to be their rights in the application of the rule then established. At length an act was approved, on the 9th of September, 1850, admitting the State of California into the Union with its present boundaries, as described in Article XII of the Constitution.

California was admitted upon the express condition, that the people of said State, through their Legislature or otherwise, should never interfere with the primary disposal of the public lands within its limits, and that it should pass no law, and no act, whereby the title of the United States to, and right to dispose of, the same should be impaired or questioned; and that they should never lay any tax or assessment of any description whatsoever upon the public domain of the United States, and in no case were non-resident proprietors, who were citizens of the United States, to be taxed higher than residents; and that all navigable waters within the State were to be the common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of said State, as to the citizens of the United States, without any tax, impost or duty therefor: Provided, That nothing herein contained was to be construed as recognizing or rejecting the propositions tendered by the people of California as articles of compact in the ordinance adopted by the Convention which formed the Constitution of that State.

The question of holding a Convention to revise the Constitution, was submitted to the voters in 1857, 1858 and 1860; and although, at each time, a majority of those who voted were in favor of the measure, still the total vote cast, for and against, was not at any time equal to half the whole number of voters, and therefore the measure failed. In 1857, the vote was 30,226 for, and 17,680 against; in 1858, it was 45,829 for, and 10,160 against; and in 1860, it was 59,732 for, and 12,481 against, a Convention.

The Governor, in his message in 1861, alluding to the little interest felt by the electors in certain features of the administration which required remedy, advised the Legislature to prepare and submit such amendments as appeared to be of most pressing importance, without the formalities of a Convention. These were accordingly made in 1861, approved in 1862, and ratified by the people in the latter year. Still grave doubts were raised, whether the requirements of the Constitution had been so complied with as to make these amendments valid; and the Governor, in his message in 1863, suggested great care in the framing of laws, until the question should have been carefully considered, so as to meet the contingency of either determination. The question, so far as related to the judiciary article, was brought before the Supreme Court of the State, at the January term of 1863, in the matter of Carlos Oliverez, by appeal, and it was decided that the purpose of Article Six, lately adopted, was not to suspend the

administration of any part of the laws of the State, but to provide a judiciary system, which will go into operation when the necessary officers should be elected, pursuant to laws to be hereafter enacted; that it was intended to continue the former judiciary system in force until the new one should be in condition to exercise its functions; that the Courts of Sessions would continue their jurisdiction until the new courts provided in the amendment should be organized; and that the provisions of the old Constitution would cease to have effect from time to time, as the substituted provisions commenced to operate.' Several amendments were proposed at the sixteenth session, held in 1866, only one of which was approved at the seventeenth session. It limited appropriations of money to two years, and was ordered to be submitted to the people for their approval at the election in 1871.

1 California Reports, xxi, p. 415.

15. Grants and commissions to be scaled, signed ARTICLE X.-Mode of Amending and Revising and countersigned.