hubert howe bancroft - Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History ...

254 LOYALTY, OR DISUNION AND A PACIFIC REPUBLIC?
senate 4 left vacant by Broderick, and filled temporarily
by Harm. The whole appeared to be a trick, and
people said in their wrath that Latham had sold himself,
or had been elected to the senate by the archplotters
to get him out of their way for infamous
purposes. 5
The legislature of 1859 had passed an act authorizing
the people of the six counties of San Luis Obispo,
Santa Bdrbara, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Bernardino,
and a part of Buena Vista, or all that part
of the state south of the 36th parallel, to vote upon
the question of separation from the state, with the
design of being relegated to a territorial condition.
The Lecomptonites, taking advantage of the fact that
the native Californians had always been opposed to
being taxed for the support of a state government,'
that they complained of the inequality of taxes as between
agriculturalists and miners, and maintained
their right to carry slaves into any territory, had
fixed upon this means of consummating their purpose
of bringing slave property to the Yacific coast. By
shrewdly fanning the flame of discontent in the southern
counties, they managed to secure a two-thirds
4 Says Tuthill: 97 of them, democrats, went into caucus together, and on
the 1st ballot ex-governor Weller had 38 votes, ex-congressman Denver 31,
Judge Baldwin 11, Collector Washington 9, and Gen. McDougall 8. They
tried it again on an early ensuing evening; Baldwin was withdrawn, Denver
Btepped aside, and the nrst ballot showed Latham 51, Weller 43, Washington
2. The two houses met in joint convention on the 11th of January. A
Sac. member nominated Latham, a San Franciscan nominated Oscar L.
Shafter, and John Conness for the anti-Lecomptonites nominated Edmund
Randolph. The first ballot gave Latham, who the day before was inaugurated
governor, 97, Randolph 14, Shafter 3.
6 One obnoxious scheme was the Omnibus Wagon Road bill, which provided
for the construction of several different roads over the Sierra, in the
same direction, and at a great expense, to give contracts to political friends.
This the governor vetoed. Another bill vetoed was for changing the venue
in the murder case related in cap. ix., pp. 212-14, of this vol. But the legislature
of 1861 passed it over his head. CaL Stat., 18G1, 47-8; Quigley, Irish
Awe, 308.
« Val Doc.t MS., 36, p. 262, and 13, pp. 39-45; Sta Sdrbara Archives, MS.,
CaMfornian. Feb. 1881, pp. 124-7.