Robert B. Crichton, A. C. Adams, J. B. Mullen, Sister Greer, Wm. G Smith, Ms. Beck, Mrs. Geo. Ligare, Mrs. Ann E. Howe, H. D. Adams, L. E Keiser, L. G. Keiser, J. Widey, Wm. H. Stephens, D. W. Herrington, Wm. Crowther, REPORT. D. W. GELWICKS..... STATE PRINTER. Mr. SPEAKER: The undersigned, a minority of your Committee on Public Lands, recommend the indefinite postponement of Assembly Bill No. 370, for the following reasons, viz: There is no good reason why the present Board of Tide Land Commissioners should be disturbed in the discharge of a public duty, when, in all their public acts, they have earned a reputation for honesty, fairness and fidelity that challenges alike the shafts of envy, malice or revenge. To supplant them by a new and unexperienced Board at this time, when their knowledge is of so much importance to the State, seems to us to be an experiment that might jeopardize the success of a work which, thus far, is regarded with uniform satisfaction by the people and tax payers at large, and is justly deemed by all as the crowning act of the first Democratic Legislature since the war. No censure can attach to any member of the Commission, upon the other hand; they have all discharged their duties honestly and fearlessly; and, under the personal supervision of the Governor, who, under the law, is Chairman of the State Board, there has been realized from sales some eight hundred thousand dollars, and not half of the property is sold. These are facts known to every one; and should the present Board be dissolved by the Legislature, and any change be made by which the management of this vast domain should descend to an inexperienced Commission, under a bill without guards, such as this one, the people will hold each and every one of us responsible for this Act. Again, we deem the present bill a stab at the Executive of the State; it is an unwise attempt to take from him the appointing power; to do by the Legislature of this State what Democrats have so strongly denounced in the Congress of the United States. It is an insult to the Democratic Governor of the State, which should not for one moment be tolerated by the majority of this House. All of which is respectfully submitted. MARION BIGGS. FACTS AND FIGURES CONCERNING THE PROPOSED NEW COUNTY OF SAN BENITO. D. W. GELWICKS.........STATE PRINTER. To the Honorable the Senate of the State of California : SENATORS: The undersigned begs leave to submit for your careful consideration the following facts and figures, concerning the proposed new county of San Benito: First-The County of Monterey is divided into two distinct communities by the Gabilan range of mountains, which traverse the county from northwest to southeast; those living west thereof having their social and commercial interest westward to the Bay of Monterey; those living east, having their's to the north, through Santa Clara Valley to San Francisco, there being no intercourse, either social or commercial, between the two sections. Second-The size and peculiar configuration of the county renders it unnecessarily expensive to run the county government-and the burdens of taxation bear very unequally upon the two sections, whilst those upon whom the burden bears heaviest are least benefited thereby. Third-The county contains nearly six thousand square miles of territory, of which about two thousand one hundred square miles lie east of the mountains, and will, we hope, constitute the new county Fourth-The new county contains about three thousand five hundred inhabitants, one thousand of whom are voters-mostly heads of families. Fifth-There are forty thousand acres of first class arable lands in the new county, mostly under cultivation; and forty-five thousand acres of second class, or grain lands, mostly under cultivation; and fifteen thousand or twenty thousand acres of light uplands, rolling hills, etc., besides a vast amount of unsurpassed grazing lands, there being very little waste lands in the county. Sixth-The assessed value of the taxable property of the county for eighteen hundred and sixty-nine is about one million five hundred thou sand dollars, a tax upon which, at two dollars and seventy-five cents per one hundred dollars (which is fifty cents less than we now pay) will more than run the county, after building county buildings, etc. Seventh-Our resources are varied, and consist, as they ever must, of agriculture, grazing, dairying, etc., thus rendering us less liable to be ruined by the failure of crops than in a purely agricultural community, etc. Eighth-We are neglected and left unprotected in our persons and property by our trans-mountain brethren, and derive little or no benefit from the taxes we pay to keep up a political relation that is destructive of our best interests, and only seeks to bind us unto themselves in order to make us a party to their own aggrandizement at the expense of our own, and in violation of every principle of right and justice Ninth--The people of the new county are almost a unit on the subject of division; the exception being a few landed proprietors, four-fifths of whom are non resident tax payers, who are in no way affected by the many inconveniences that our political relations at present entail upon those who live in the county. Tenth-The people of San Juan, who were originally foremost in the new county movement, and who now turn their backs upon their former acts and remonstrate against division, are at heart still in favor of division; but actuated by selfish motives, and a fear that San Juan will not be the county seat of the new county, are now trying to defeat the bill, in order that at some future time they may be more lucky. Eleventh-That this same people who now remonstrate against division, (one hundred and fifty in number,) and who, upon receiving the glad tidings that this same bill, now so obnoxious, had passed the Assembly without opposition (one "no"), assembled en masse, fired cannon, and had a grand jubilee in honor of the occasion. Twelfth-That the local representative supported the bill in the House; that Senator McDougall was before the House committee and advocated its passage, waiving his personal objections to do an "act of justice to the people of the new county, who, by all rules, right and justice ought to have a new county." but who, now that San Juan (150) remonstates, and half a dozen rich landed proprietors and non-resident" tax payers: choose to stultify themselves by "going back" upon their past actions, follows out his own peculiar views and goes back" upon HIS former actions; and by using his influence in the Senate, endeavors to defeat a measure that is demanded by the voice of an overwhelming majority of the people of the new county. Thirteenth-That of the one hundred and fifty signers to the remonstrance, many are native Californians, who cannot read nor speak the English language, and signed what they believed to be a "petition" for the location of the county seat at San Juan, and when made aware of the truth, were not permitted to erase their names Many reside west of the mountains, and have no interest in the new county. And that after several weeks of vigorous canvass, not two hundred persons in the whole County of Monterey could be cajoled or deceived into the signing of a remonstrance, out of a population of nearly or quite ten thousand. Not five hundred, all told, are opposed to division. Fourteenth-That the one hundred and fifty remonstrants of San Juan, by their actions in this matter, have not only stultified themselves, but have forfeited all right to a respectful consideration by your honorable body, in thus trifling, not only with their Senators, but with the liberties and most sacred rights of three thousand five hundred American citizens, and thus trying to make you the instruments for accomplishing their own selfish aims and ambitions. Fifteenth-In conclusion, the undersigned would state, as a matter of fact, that Senator McDougall was elected two years ago, at a time when the whole County of Monterey contained a population of little more than that now contained in the proposed new county; that only one thousand and thirty-two votes were polled in said County of Monterey at that election; that there are now registered in the new county over one thousand voters; that for the past eighteen months the Senator has not resided within the county three weeks. The most of the citizens of the new county are recent accessions to our population, and, as a matter of course, entire strangers to the Senator; that the undersigned does know them personally, and fully understands their views, sentiments and wants, and is authorized to speak for them in this matter, so vitally concerning them and their interests. Sixteenth-Our county is out of debt. We are able and willing to assume the responsibilities of our new relations, and know we are right. Will you, Senators, in the discharge of the high duty imposed upon you, see to it that a few disappointed and selfish schemers and non-resident "nabobs" make you not the instrument of their selfish schemes to crush out the liberties and destroy the best interests and brightest hopes, of three thousand five hundred American citizens, who now look to you as their last hope in this their hour of danger? Will you allow "courtesy to come between you and the discharge of your duties? We think not, we KNOW YOU WILL NOT. We ask justice, nothing more. That we will receive it at your hands we have not the slightest doubt. Fiat justitia, ruat cœlum. |