801 &44 M , w«f»;K^::ii^p-fK^ Admission of New Mexico as a State — Her Resotirces and Future. SPEECH HON. STEPHEN B. ELKINS, DELEGATE FROM NEW MEXICO, HOUSE OF REPEESENTATIVES, MAY 31, 1874. There should be no obligation of a nation more sacred or more faithfully complied with than that which is contained in its treaties with other governments. Our treaty with Mexico imposes upon us an obligation which we cannot disregard at this time, unless we mean to be faithless to our treaty stipulations. — Senator Hamlin'a speech on the admission of California. The lowest death-rate from tubercular disease in America is in New Mexico. The censuses of 1860 and 1870 give 25 per cent, in New England, 14 in Minnesota, from 5 to 6 in the different Southern States, and 3 per cent, in New Mexico. * * -K * 1 *'* «• The whole Territory has been always astonishingly free from epidemic disease.— 2)r. Kennon, Santa Fe, New Mexico. The climate ot New Mexico is mild and healthy, the sky as clear as that of Italy, and the air transparent and pure. In fact, the very act of breathing in this country makes existence in it a pleasure.— a^rt. S. W. Raymond, U. S. Mining Commissioner, Report for 1871. Coal apparently is as good as the Westmoreland coal of Pennsylrania.— e'en. W. J. Palmer, Railroad Surveys in New Mexico. As far as its practical application for all practical purposes is concerned, it is undoubtedly fully equal to Pennsylvania anthracite, and really the best fuel so far discovered in the West.- ifon. B. W. Raymond. They are by far the be?t that have been discovered in the Rocky Mountains. They are equal to the best bituminous coals of Illinois, Ohio, or Pennsylvania. ******** Ten years ago the mineral wealth of New Mexico was hardly supposed to exist. It is now known to be immense, far surpassing the wealth of "Ormus or oi laA."— Professor C. D. Wilbur. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1874. FRED LOCKLEY RARE WESTERN BOOKS 4227 S. E. Stark St. PORTLAND. ORE. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/admissionofnewmeOOelkirich Bflncrott Library ^ SPEECH HON. S. B. ELKINS The House, according to order, proceeded to consider the bill (H. K. No. 2418) rv to enable the people of Xew Mexico to form a constitution and State government, and for the admission of the said State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States — Mr. ELKINS said : Mr. Speaker : I desire to urge the passage of the bill now pending before the House, providing for the admission of New Mexico as a State into the Union, on the following grounds and for the following reasons, in the presentation of which I beg the patience and indulg- ence of this House : First. Because she is entitled to such admission as a matter of ^^ right, having the requisite population prescribed by law and the ->>. capacity to support a State government. ^ Second. She is entitled to admission into the Union by reason of ^^ the promises and assurances made by our Government to her people previous to the ratification of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, by '"^ which she was ceded to the United States, as also by the terms and ^^^ stipulations of the treaty itself. POPULATION. In 1850 the population of New Mexico was 61,547, and in 1860, .>3, 93,516 ; showing an increase in ten years of about 32,000, or about 50 "^ per cent. In 1870, according to the census — which was necessarily imperfect owing to remote settlements and Indian hostilities — the population was 91,871, showing an apparent decrease from 1860 to 1870. This is owing to the fact that during that time the Territory of Ari- zona was organized out of New Mexico, taking 9,000 of her people, and there was annexed to Colorado the northern tier of counties, con- taining a population of about 15,000 — making in all taken from New Mexico during this period 23,000 people. If a correct census could have been taken in 1870, it is believed it would have shown a popula- tion of about 110,000 inhabitants, not including the Pueblo Indians, re- cently decided by the supreme court of New Mexico to be citizens of CM the United States. Taking, however, tlie census of 1870, and consid- ering the 23,000 given to Ai-izona and Colorado Territories, it will show the increase in the population of New Mexico from 1860 to 1870 ta have been about 35 per cent., notwithstanding during most all this period the Territory was cursed by sanguinary Indian wars, her peo- ple killed, and her property stolen ; her mining, stock-raising, and other industrial enterprises paralyzed, and the nearest railway a thou- sand miles from her borders. The average increase of twenty or more of the older States during that time was only about 20 per cent., and the actual increase proper of New Mexico has been about 10 per cent, greater in the last ten years than that of Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Arkansas, Dela- ware, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missis- sippi, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina* Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ehode Island, and Tennessee. The present population is estimated to be about 135,000. The south- ern, northern, and eastern portions of the Territory are rapidly set- tling, and have been since 1870, with a very substantial class of inhabitants, devoted as they are for the most part to stock-raising and farming. This increased impetus given to immigration to the por- tions of the Territory just named is owing to the fact that for the last three years New Mexico has been free from Indian hostilities, for which reason also, since 1870, in those portions large mining districts have been opened and occupied. In the memorial to Congress unanimously adopted at the last ses- sion of the territorial Legislature, asking and praying for the passage of an enabling act, the following language is used : Your memorialists, the council and house of representatives of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of New Mexico, would most respectfully represent, that the Territory of New Mexico at this time, we believe, has a population of 135,000, aside from the Pueblos or Village Indians, who from time immemorial have been agriculturists and among the best citizens of our Territory, and who now number little short of 10,000, making a total population of over 140,000 people, mostly a quiet, pastoral people, and as truly loj^al to the Government under which they live as any people under the sun ; that at the time of taking the last census there were in this Ter- ritory at least 10,000 people, living in the many various mining districts, remote from the mass of the settlements, and residing on the extreme borders of this Territory, who could not be reached by the census officers without great danger and risk, and were for that reason not included in the census ; and that since said census was taken a very large immigration has come into this Territory from the States and European coun- tries, amounting to at least 20,000, who have settled permanently in our Territoiy, bringing with them capital and means ; that this new population is dispersed very generally throughout the Territory, but will be found mostly in the mining regions, ■which are fast becoming developed. "We believe that outside of the native Mexi- can population of this Territory, there are at least 40,000 people of American and European descent among us, who are permanent residents. Fifteen States have been admitted into the Union with a less pop- Illation than New Mexico had even in 1S70, as shoAvn by the follow- ing table : Date df admis- sion. Popula- tion. 1791 85. 339 1792 73, 077 1796 77, 202 1802 41, 915 1812 76, 556 1816 63, 805 1817 75, 512 1818 34,620 1821 66, 586 1836 52, 240 1845 54, 447 1846 81, 920 1849 52, 465 1864 40, 000 1866 60, 000 Vermont Kentucky Tennessee Ohio Xouisiana, largely foreign Indiana Mississippi Illinois Missouri Arkansas Florida Iowa Oregon ITevada. Nebraska And it is asked, " If fifteen of the twenty-four States admitted since the original thirteen have been so admitted on an average popula- tion of less than sixty-three thousand, shall not New Mexico, with an admitted population of sixty or seventy thousand in excess of this average, be allowed this long-denied right ?" And, in addition to this, two States are now in the Union with a less population than New Mexico, and two with about the same. The ratio of representa- tion entitling a State to admission into the Union has been as follows : At first it was 30,000 ; in 1793 it was 33,000 ; in 1813 it was 35,000 ; in 1823 it was 40,000 ; in 1833 it was 47,700 ; in 1843 it wa« ,680 ; in 1856 it was 93,420. No less than four States have been itted without the required ratio, as follows : Popula- tion. Florida .. Oregon. .. Nevada . . Nebraska 54, 447 52, 465 40, 000 60, 000 New Mexico having more population than either of these States at the date of their admission. The ability of New Mexico to support a State government is not doubted by those acquainted with her condition and resources. She will start on her new career as a State with virtually no debt, the sum being now only about $75,000 with a sure prospect of being liqui- dated in a year or two at furthest. Not a county in the Territory has created a debt of any kind for any purpose. The warrants in most 6 . of tlie counties are worth oue hundred cents on the dollar. The peo- ple favor the cash system. They are wisely conservative in all mone- tary affairs, and are averse to creating either a territorial or county debt, and their conservatism has been greatly strengthened by the fact that they see in other portions of the country the inhabitants ai*e groaning beneath town, city, county, and State debts, often recklessly incurred. New Mexico being an old country, her improvements and wealth are substantial, the result of two centuries. Her people have been censured for want of enterprise and public spirit, but now that they owe comparatively nothing, and there is no necessity for any increased taxation, the Territory becomes peculiarly inviting to those seeking homes. While New Mexico is but little known tlu'oughout the country generally, her merchants have been long and most favora- bly known to the commercial world in the cities of New York, Phila- delphia, Chicago, Baltimore, and Saint Louis. The resources of New Mexico are not surpassed by those of any State or Territory in the Union. She always has produced and always will produce enough to support her population. For the last ten years she has done this, and with the surplus supplied the Army and the Indians now on reservations in the Territory. Her beautiful and fertile val- leys yield an abundant return to the farmer for his labor, and as a wheat-producing country she is certainly surpassed by none and equaled by but few of the States and Territories. Her boundless plains and plateaus, covered with the most nutri- tious grasses known, make her take rank pre-eminently as a stock- growing region. This branch of industry is now encouraged by accessions to her stock-growers from all parts of the country. The receipts for wool and hides sliipj>ed to Saint Louis, Philadelphia, and New York amount annually to about $2,000,000, and the cattle sent to the eastern markets, together with beef supplied to the Indians and the Army, amount to near $2,000,000. The Territory abounds in minerals of all kinds, principally coal, iron, lead, copper, silver, and gold, and in inexhaustible quantities, but little developed and worked for Avant of machinery and railway connections. It is estimated that her mines yield annually, of gold silver, and copper, about $2,000,000. The observations of all scientists and travelers who have visited the Territory confirm in the amplest manner her claims to immense coal-fields and iron deposits, rivaled only by those of the State of Pennsylvania and being almost equal to hers in extent and quality. It is estimated by one of the best authorities in the whole country that in the completion of either the Atchison, Topeka and Santa F6 or the Kansas Pacific Railway to Cimarron, New Mexico, there wiU grow up in a short time a coal trade of three thousand tons per day to supply the six hundred miles of country reaching from the base of the Rocky Mountains down the valley of the Arkansas River far into the neighboring State of Kansas. This coal must be supplied from New Mexico ; it can come from no other quarter ; and this will be only the beginning of the coal trade, not to speak of the copper, lead, iron, and precious ores that will be shipped for reduction. New Mexico must become a manufacturing country. She has all the elements necessary to this end. Unskilled labor and the neces- saries of life are cheaper in New Mexico than in the Atlantic States and in the Mississippi Valley, and when it is considered that New Mexico has in the greatest abundance coal, iron, lead, copper, and silver, also wool and hides, the time is certainly not far distant when she will have maniifactures of all kinds, and instead of paying high freight for cloths, carpets, shoes, machinery, farming utensils, and railroad iron, she will not only from her own manufactures supply the wants of her people, but compete with the manufactories of the East in supplying less favored sections. Five lines of railway are under construction, and pointing to New Mexico : The Texas and Pacific, Atlantic and Pacific, Atchison, To- peka and Santa F6, Kansas Pacific, and Denver and Rio Grande ; three are within ninety miles of her borders, with a fair prospect of being rapidly extended, and three will terminate within the heart of New Mexico, and two it is supposed will become transcontinental. EDUCATION. Although education has been much neglected in New Mexico, I have pleasure in stating that the people have become aroused to its transcendent importance, and in 1871 the Legislature passed an act establishing a common-school system throughout the Territory, and provided for the support thereof that there should be set apart not only the poll-tax and one-fourth of all other taxes, but a certain surplus in the various county treasuries. This act has been in opera- tion about three years, and according to the report of the secretary of the Territory there are now established and in full operation one hun- dred and. thirty-three public schools. From this it will be seen that New Mexico appropriates a larger share of her taxes for the support of her public schools than any other State or Territory in the Union, and as yet she has had no help from any source whatever for school purposes. In addition to the public schools there are a number of colleges and high schools in the Territory. It is often asked why Territories seek so zealously to become States To those who have lived in Territories no answer to this interroga- tory is needed, but to those who have not enjoyed this experience I desire to say, that the interests of a Territory to the General Gov- ernment are necessarily secondary. The Territories have no vote and no power, and are therefore not heard. The long arm of the Govern- 8 ment cannot reach to distant and remote sections and jealously guard the rights of the people, anticipate their wants, and build up their interests. In trying to do so the Government is attempting too much, and what was never contemplated. The Territories want local self-government, because they can better build up their own interests and insure their own jirosperity as States. The history of the whole country attests that States flourish and increase more rapidly than Territories. The following table will show these facts : Tennessee admitted in 1796; population in 1790, 35,791 ; in 1800, 105,602. Ohio admitted in 1802 ; population in 1800, 45,365 ; in 1810, 230,760. • Louisiana admitted in 1812; population in 1810, 76,556 ; in 1820, 153,407. Indiana admitted in 1816 ; population in 1810, 24,520 ; in 1820, 147,178. Mississippi admitted in 1817; population in 1810, 40,352; in 1820, 75,448. Illinois admitted in 1818 ; population in 1810, 12,282 ; in 1820, 55,200. Missouri admitted in 1821 ; population in 1820, 66,586 ; in 1830, 140,455. Arkansas admitted in 1836 ; population in 1830, 43,388 ; in 1840, 97,574. Michigan admitted in 1837 ; population in 1830, 31,639; in 1840, 212,267. Florida admitted in 1845 ; population in 1840, 54,477 ; in 1850, 87,445. Wisconsin admitted in 1848; population in 1840, 30,495 ; in 1850, 305,391. Iowa admitted in 1848; population in 1840, 43,112; in 1850, 192,214. California admitted in 1850 ; population in 1850, 95,597. Minnesota admitted in 1858; population in 1850, 6,077; in 1860, 173,855. Oregon admitted in 1859; population in 1850, 13,294; in 1860, 52,465. Nevada admitted in 1864; population in 1860, 6,857; in 1870, 42,491^ Nebraska admitted in 1867 ; population in 1860, 28,841 ; in 1870, 122,993. The idea of a Territory to the people of the East suggests want of law, want of protection to property and life, want of society; indeed, the word is a synonym for disorder and lawlessness, for which reason emigration and capital find their way so slowly into the Territories ; but, on the contrary, a State carries with it the idea of law, order, strength, and dignity, and has invariably attracted immigration and promoted prosperity. But, in addition to all this, the keeping and holding large bodies of people in remote localities in territorial bondage and subjection; governing them by laws they have no part in enacting ; taxing them without representation ; denying them the right to elect their own officers ; appointing to the highest places among them entire strangers who have no interest in the country, who sometimes prove to be mere political adventurers, is not only unjust and unrepublican, but hostile to our ideas of true government. It is often said you have a Legislature and a Delegate in Congress. This is worse than no answer. The first is a farce, a political hybrid, without sovereignty ; the second only a beggar at the doors of the Executive and Congress, without power. Then, to escape from this vassalage, subserviency, and injustice, where there is no growth, no encouragmeut, but where everything is dwarfed and limited, we ask to be admitted as a State. Mr. Cass, iu liis great speech on territorial governments in the Senate in 1850, said: A great principle is involved in tliis controversy — the inseparable connection between legislation and representation. And what paramount necessity calls for its violation ? Are not the people of the Territories competent to manage their own internal affairs ? Are they not of us and with us ; bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh 1 The same people, ^N-ith the same views, habits, and intelligence ; all, indeed, which constitute national identity? Ay, sir, and exhibiting by the very act of emigration a spirit of enterprise which commends. them the more to our respect. Cannot such a people administer their own government safely and wisely? Expe- rience says they can. They have in every instance proved their capacity for seLf- govemment. — Appendix Congressional Globe, volume 22, page 59. New Mexico has been in her pupilage about twenty-six years. She has had her Delegates during that period on this floor, who like other Delegates, in season and out of season, have implored and importuned the General Government for attention to the wants of the people, show- ing that their necessities were great ; but for the most part Congress, I learn, has been deaf to their entreaties. The Constitution has vested this power of admission in the discre- tion of Congress : New States may be admitted bj* the Congress into this Union. Mr. Sumner said in his speech on Kansas : New States may be admitted; out of that little word inay comes the power, broadly and fully, without any limitation founded on population. As to the proper exercise of this discretion Congress should exercise it wisely, fairly, and impartially. She has the power to refuse any Territory admission, but not the right when such Territory comes properly prepared. On this point Mr. Holmes, a member from Massa- chusetts, speaking on the admission of Missouri, said : "What would be a fair construction of this ? Surely not that Congress might hold a Territory in a colonial condition as long as they choose, nor that they might admit a new State with less political rights than another, hut that the admission should be as soon as thepeople needed, and were capable of supporting a State government. — Ap pendix Congressional Globe, volume 22, page 251. Mr. Barbour, then a Senator from Virginia, in speaking on the same subject, said: And even this power is subj ect to control. Whenever a Territory is sufficiently large and its population sufficiently numerous your discretion ceases, and the obligation becomes imperious that you forthwith admit ,- for I hold that, according to the spirit of the Constitution, the people thus circumstanced are entitled to the privileges of self- government. — Ibidem-. Mr. Hardin, from Kentucky, in speaking on the same subject and the exercise of this discretion, uses the following language : . The manner in which that discretion has been exercised has been so uniform and invariable that it amounts to a law. It is, Mr. Chairman, a proclamation to the in- habitants of all the Tenitories, that whenever tlieir numbers approach to fifty or 10 lixty thousand they shall be at liberty to burst from around them the bonds and ihains of territorial servitude and vassalage, and assume and exercise the rights of self-government — the inalienable rights of mankind. And again, in language stronger than I can command, a liigh authority has declared : The TeiTitoiies of the United States are rightfully held in pupilagie as long as their infancy unfits them for self-government or admission into the Union, but un- justly detained in bondage whenever their maturity arrives. At that period they have a right to demand admittance into the political family as equals, or the enjoy- ment of Liberty as independent States. Power may enslave them longer, but the laws of nature and of justice, the genius of our political institutions and our own example, proclaim their title to break their bonds and assert their freedom. — Appen- dix to Congressional Globe, volume 22, page 251. By applying for admission, New Mexico testifies her willingness to relieve you of the expense of continuing in existence a territorial government, and enables you to reduce your annual appropriations at a time when economy and retrenchment is the popular demand. She has shown herself amply able to support a State government and keep her credit ; and above and beyond all, she has shown her devotion to our institutions and her fitness to become a member of the Union by giving U13 the lives of some of her noblest sons to maintain the one and preserve the other. Unlike many of our own people, more fortunate, w ho had been bom and educated under our flag, the Mexican population^ did not hesitate, did not doubt, but saw their duty clear ; and when the proclamation of the President of the United States came, calling for troops, for help ; when the cause of the Union looked dark and doubtful, and when General Sibley's trained soldiers from the confederate'armies were already on the soil, these people as one man rallied under their adopted flag, and fought gallantly to preserve the Union into which they now seek admission. How well they did their duty let the graves at Fort Craig and Peralta, on the banks of their own loved Rio Grande and at Apache Canon, testify. They loved the Union well enough to fight for it, and the Union ought to love them enough to adopt them as her sons in truth and in fact. But apart from all these considerations, which it would seem were of themselves overwhelmingly sufficient to induce Congress to at once provide for the admission of New Mexico into the Union, I claim her right to admission on still higher grounds and for stronger reasons, which cannot, certainly ought not, to be disregarded by Congress. I claim it by virtue of the stipulations of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the promises and assurances of our Government previous to the ratification of the same. It will be remembered that during the Mexican war General Kearny was the officer in charge of the troops that marched against New 11 Mexico. -On the Slst of July, 1846, lie issued the following proclama- tion: Proclamation to the citizens of XeW Mexico by Colonel Kearny, commanding the United States forces. The undersigned enters New Mexico with a large military force for|the purpose of seeking union with and ameliorating the condition of its inhabitants. This be does under instructions from his Government, and with the assurance that he will be amply sustained in the accomplishment of this object. It is enjoined on the citi- zens of New Mexico to remain quietly at their homes and to pursue their peaceful avocations. So long as they continue in such pursuits they will not be interfered with by the Ameiican army, but wiU be respected and protected in their rights, both civil and religious. All who take up arms or encourage resistance against the Government of the United States wiU be regarded as enemies, and will be treated accordingly. S. W. KEARNY, Colonel First Dragomis. Camp at Bext's Fokt on the Arkansas, July 31, 1846. After advancing about two hundred miles farther into .the Terri- tory, in an address to the people on the 15th August, 1846, at Las Ve- gas, he said : Mr. Alcalde and people of New Mexico, I have come among you by the^orders of my Government to take possession of your country and extend over it the laws 'of the United States. We consider it, and have done so for some time, a part of the territory of the United States. We come among you as friends, not as enemies,- as protectors, not as conquerors. We come among you for your oivn benefit, not for your injury. — Appendix to Congressional Globe, volume 22, page 777. He next speaks to the people of New Mexico in a iiroclamation dated August 22, 1846, and used this language : Proclamation to the inhabitants of New Mexico, by Brigadier-General S. W. Kearny, commanding the troops of the United States in the same. As by the act of the republic of Mexico a state of war exists between that gov- ernment and the United States, and as the undersigned, at the head of his troops, on the 18th instant, took possession of Santa r6, the capital of the department of New Mexico, he now announces his intention to hold the department, with its orig- inal boundaries, on both sides of the Del Norte, as a part of the United States, and under the name of "the Territory of New Mexico." The undersigned has come to New Mexico with a strong military force, and aa equally strong one is following close in his rear. He has more troops than neces- sary to put down any opposition that can possiblj' be brought against him, and therefore it would be but folly or madness for any dissatisfied or discontented per- sons to think of resisting him. The undersigned has instructions from his Grovemment to respect the religious institutions of New Mexico ; to protect the property of the church ; to cause the worship or those belonging to it to be undisturbed, and their religious rights in the amplest manner preserved to them ; also to protect the persons and property of aU quiet and peaceable inhabitants within its boundaries against their enemies, the Eutaws, the Navajoes, and others ; and when he assures all that it wiU be his pleasure as well as his duty to comply with those instructions, he caUs upon them to exert themselves in preserving order, in promoting concord, and iu maintaining the authority and eflScacy of the laws ; and he requires of those who have left their 12 homes and taken up arms against the troops of the United States to return forth- with to them, or else they will be considered as enemies and traitors, subjecting their persons to punishment and their property to seizure and confiscation for the benefit of the public Treasury. It is the wish and intention of the United States to provide for Kew Mexico a free government with the least possible delay, similar to those in the United States ; and the people of 'New Mexico will then be called on to exercise the rights of freemen in electing their own representatives to the tenltorial Legislature. But until this can be done the laws hitherto in existence will be continued until changed or modified by competent authority, and those persons holding ofiice will continue in the same for the present, provided they will consider themselves good citizens and willing to take the oath of allegiance to the United States. The undersigned hereby absolves all persons residing within the boundaries of "New Mexico from any further allegiance to the republic of Mexico, and hereby claims them as citizens of the United States. Those who remain quiet and peace- able will be considered good citizens and receive protection ; those who are found in arms, or instigating others against the United States, will be considered as trai- tors, and treated)accordingly. Don Manuel Armijo, the late governor of this department, has fled from it. The undersigned has taken possesvsion of it without filing a gun or spilling a single drop of blood, in which he most truly rejoices, and for the present will be consid- ered as governor of the Territory. Given at Santa F6, the capital of the Territory of New Mexico, the 22A day of August, 1846, and in the seventy-first year of the independence of the United States. S W. KEAKXT, Brigadier-General United States Army. By the governor : Juan Bautista Vigil t Alarid. In the first proclamation he says under instructions from his Gov- ernment he seeks union with and desires to ameliorate the condition of the people, and his military force is for that purpose. In the second he says by order of his Government he comes to take possession of the country, and extend over it the laws of the United States ; that he came as a friend and not an enemy, as protector and not as con- queror. In the third he declares it is the intention of the United States to provide New Mexico with a free government similar to that in the United States. He then absolves the people from their alle- giance to Mexico, and claims them as citizens of the United States. In other words, our Government wanted to acquire New Mexico. She promised in return friendship and free government. But I beg espe- cial attention to that portion of the last proclamation which says : It is the wish and intention of the United States to provide for ]N^ew Mexico a free government with the least possible delay, similar to those in the United States ; and the people of Xew Mexico will be called on to exercise the rights of freemen in electing their own representatives to the territorial Legislature. This language contains a promise, and that promise was made by the Government to the people of New Mexico, because General Kearny was not only a military officer in our service, but he was 13 clothed witli extraordinary powers from our Government in respect to Ms conduct in New Mexico, and had full power and authority to make the assurances he did. Under this promise the people at once ceased all opposition to our forces, laid down their arms, believing they were to be rewarded for so doing — and how? " With a free govern- ment with the least possible delay, similar to those in. the United States, and to exercise the rights of freemen in electing their own representatives to the territorial Legislature." The people believed at that time that this language created an obligation on the part of the Government to admit them as a State at once ; and acting on this idea, immediately after the treaty they applied for admission. Their leaders and the intelligent portion of the whole Territory so construed the proclamation and address of General Kearny, and with this idea they gave in their adhesion to our cause and did not fire a gun ; it was with them a contract, a bond of faith, for the keeping of which they were to be " admitted into the Union, as they believed, and to the exercise of the rights of freemen." And I submit just here, with and to a people unaccustomed to our institutions, and but partially acquainted with our governmental system. Constitution, and laws, was not this construction natural, fair, and just ? I know it may be claimed that the import of the language was that they should be admitted to a territorial condition, but I know they did not so understand it. They construed the words "free government similar to those in the United States" to refer to States ; and this was entirely correct, because there is no such thing in a Territory as free government. They were willing and anxious to become a part and portion of our Government. Many American mer- chants had for a long time previous resided there, and not an incon- siderable commerce had grown up between New Mexico and the States, and the people had become attached to our institutions. But let us proceed to the treaty. About two years after the date of this proclamation New Mexico was ceded to the United States by the ratification of the treaty, the ninth article of which contained in substance the promise made in the proclamation of General Kearny, which is as follows : Mexicans who, in the territories aforesaid, shall not preserve the character of citizens of the Mexican Republic, conformably with what is stipulated in the pre- ceding article shall be incorporated into the Union of the United States, and be admitted at the proper time (to be judged by the Congress of the United States) to the enjoyment of all the rights of citizens of the United States, according to the principles of the Constitution.— Z7/iited States Statutes at Large, -volume 9. By section 8 of the treaty it was provided that Mexican citizens who should elect to retain their character as such should do so within one year after the date of the treaty, and those who should fail to do so should become citizens of the United States. At that time New 14 Mexico contained about forty thousand inhabitants, out of which num- ber only about three hundred elected to retain their character as Mexi- can citizens, the remainder en masse acting upon the idea that the promise of General Kearny, confirmed by the treaty as they supposed, would admit them as a State, enthusiastically transferred their alle- giance from the government of Mexico ; and although disappointed in their hopes of absolute rights, they have ever been loyal and law- abiding. But as to the exact and known policy of our Government both before and after the treaty in respect to New Mexico and California we are not left to conjecture, but have the most positive proof from the highest sources. President Taylor, who followed the policy of President Polk, in avowing his action in a message to Congress, said : I did not hesitate to express to the people of those Territories my desire that each Territory should, if prepared to comply with the requirements of the Constitution of the United States, form a plan of a State constitution and submit the same to Congress with a prayer for admission into the Union as a State. And he again said : In advising an early application by the people of these Territories for admission as States I was actuated principally by a desire to afford to the wisdom and patriot- ism of Congress the opportunity of avoiding occasions of bitter and angry discus- sions among the people of the United States. (See Appendix to Congressional Globe, first session Thirty-first Congress.) This was in accordance with the promise of General Kearny. President Taylor also, in his annual message of 4th of December, 1849, said: The people of New Mexico will also, it is believed, at no very distant period pre sent themselves for admission. Here we have the policy of the Government immediately after the treaty unequivocally set forth. The President declares he did advise the people of those Territories to apply for admission. He could not do otherwise, because he was bound by the promises made by the officers of our Government previous to thetreaty which secured New Mexico and California without a struggle. But, Mr. Speaker, let us admit for a moment that there were no promises nor assurances made by our Government to the people of New Mexico pre\'ious to the treaty that were binding, and that their claims to admission must rest solely in the discretion of Congress, as provided in the words of the treaty, " to be admitted at the j)roper time, to be judged of by Congress." Now I beg to inquire when should this discretion and judgment be exercised? How long can it be delayed? Can Congress arbitrarily prolong the exercise of it ; or should it be a sound discretion, like the discretion of a court, to be exercised within a reasonable time. 15 wisely, equitably, and impartially? In my opinion it means and obliges this Government to deal and act with the people of New Mex- ico just as it would and has with her own people in like cases and under similar circumstances. It certainly means this much, in other words, that Congress would require no more of New Mexico for ad- mission than it did at the time of the admission, or' since, of any other Territory not protected by the treaty. Has Congress done this ? Not at all. She has admitted Oregon, Kansas, Nebraska, and Nevada, and denied New Mexico admission ; ignored her petitions and memorials, although she had more population than either of these States when they were admitted. This seems to me a clear and positive violation of the treaty and of our*pledged faith. As to the proper construction of the ninth article of the treaty, I desire to refer to the speech of Mr. Peck, of Vermont, made in the House in 1850, on the admission of California. He says, referring to the proclamation of General Kearny and other officers : These provinces were conquered, and, by the treaty of peace, ceded to this coun- try. What effect these proclamations had upon the conduct of the inhabitants, it is difficult to determine ; but the assurances made by those acting under the authority of the Grovemment have not been carried out. .No government has been established. We ought not to lose sight of the obligations imposed upon us by the acts of the author- ized agents of the Government and by the terms of the treaty. By the ninth article of the treaty Congress, it is true, is to determine the time when they shall be admitted into the Union. The matter is 16ft to the discretion of Congress ; but in order to carry out in good faith this stipulation, the discretion to be exercised should be a sound one, one not influenced by caprice or controlled by formal objections. These Mexican citizens, in conjunction with American citizens who have emigrated from the different States of the "Union, now claim to be admitted. Considering all the circumstances of the case, the population of the Territorj- and its character, the extent of her commerce and the necessity of some regularly organized government, can any one seriously doubt that it is the duty of Congress, in the proper exercise of its discretion, to ad- mit her as a State ? Sir, it will be recollected that the treaty with the French Ee- public by which we acquired Louisiana contained a stipulation very similar in its terms to the ninth article of the Mexican treaty. It will also be remembered that when Louisiana applied for admission the application met with very serious oppo- sition from northern statesmen, on constitutional grounds, they insisting that Con- gress had no power, under the Constitution, to acquire foreign territory and admit it as a State. The question was much discussed, and Mr. Poindext«r, the Dele- gate from the then Territory of Mississippi, after replying at great length to the various arguments urged against her admission, and referring to the third article of the treaty, put an inquiry which is not inappropriate to the present case: "And are we here sitting to deliberate whether we will perform the solemn engagements which have been entered into by the constituted authorities, and which are pre- sented to us in the imposing attitude of the supreme law of the land?" Sir, what satisfactory response could we make on the present occasion to a similar inquiry ? None, in my judgment. France was then all-powerful, and could enforce the due observance of any treaty stipulation with a foreign power. This Mexico cannot do, but this fact does not lessen our obligations, — Appendix Congressional Globe, volume 22, page 516. This language was used immediataly after the treaty was ratified, 16 -when the history of the whole transaction and the facts were fresh in the minds of the people. Twenty-six years have passed by and the treaty still stands violated in respect to New Mexico. Conld we if called on make any proper or reasonable answer for our conduct ? If Mr. Peck's speech was timely and his construction correct then, how much more imperative is it the duty of Congress to admit New Mexico now ? In my opinion there was no answer to his argument then, and there can certainly be none now. California was admitted under this construction of the treaty. Senator Hamlin, of Maine, who is still honored and distinguished ill the public service, in speaking of the proper construction to be given to the ninth article of the treaty, in his ^i^eech on the admission of California says: There is iu the ninth article of the treaty of peace with Mexico a stipulation that the Territories ceded to our Grovernment shall l6e incorporated into the Union of the United States. There should he no obligation of a nation more sacred or more faithfully complied with than that whichis contained in its treaties with other govern- Tnents. Our treaty with Mexico imposes upon us an ohligationyfhicli we cannot dis- regard at this tiyne, unless we mean to he faithless to our treaty stipulations. Now, such Mexicans as remained in the Territory twelve months after the ratification of the treaty of peace with Mexico became thereby American citizens. Under the ninth article it is expressly stipulated that they shall 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 enjoyment of all the rights of citizens of the United States. Taking the existing state of things into account, who can doubt for a single moment what is our dutj', and whether we should not give our assent now ? True, we are made the tribunal which is to judge of the time. In the exer- cise of that power we are to deal justly; and with the population now iu California, and with its rapid increase, we are bound by the highest consideration to admit California. To my mind there can be no reasonable doubt. It is certainly no more than fair to admit that, when California has a population as large as she has now, we should admit her at once and without delay. — Ibidem, page 248. Senator Hamlin uses clear and forcible language and makes the duty and obligations of the Government under the treaty plain. If he was right then, what answer is there or what excuse can be pleaded for denying New Mexico admission for twenty-six years ? Our Gov- ernment has continued this mistake and injustice toward New Mexico too long, and it should be only too willing to correct it by her im- mediate admission. But that the entire duty of Congress in the premises may be uvade clear and relieved of all doubt, I beg to refer to the assurances con- tained in the letter of Mr. Buchanan, Secretary of State, to the min- ister of foreign relations of the Mexican government, dated March 18, 1848, in respect to the alterations made in the ninth article of the treaty by our Senate. It will be remembered that owing to these alterations, one of which was inserting the words "to be judged of by the Congress of the United States," the Mexican govoinmont re- 17 fused to ratify the treaty because her statesmen were fearful the peo- ple in the t