DEBATES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, CONVENED AT THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1878. cause a printed schedule of such rates and fares to be properly framed and hung in a conspicuous place at every railroad depot and every railroad station in the State. "SEC. 14. The Railroad Commissioners shall perform all duties in relation to the railroads, other than those prescribed in the last two sections, as may be required of them by law." MR. WHITE. All that I wished to do was to show that I gave them absolute power; and that they were to arrange the fares and freights as in their judgment should be fair and just. Now, is it common sense for this scribbler to write down that Leland Stanford would be willing to put that power into the hands of any three men in this State? I regard it as the silliest nonsense and the most malicious sort of lying that could be got up. MR. HUESTIS. I move that the Convention resolve itself into Com mittee of the Whole. REMARKS OF MR. HOWARD. MR. HOWARD. Mr. President: I rise to a question of privilege. This is a matter of no very great importance, perhaps, but I take two exceptions to this publication. The first is, that it insinuates that the whole Committee on Corporations, in advocating this scheme, have been in the interest of the Central Pacific Railroad Company. Now, sir, it seems to me that the daily denunciations of the press in the interest and pay of the corporations, notoriously so of the Central Pacific Railroad Company, should have protected us from any such imputation. The principal organ here has denounced us as Communists, and has given virus to it by saying that we are Communists as bad as Jesus Christ and the Supreme Court of the United States. [Laughter.] Well, now, it seems to me that that should have been sufficient to have demonstrated to the writer of this article that none of us had been stowed away in the pigeon-holes of the Central Pacific Railroad Company. Again, sir, the writer is entirely mistaken when he assumes to say that the magnates of the Central Pacific Railroad Company desire this Commission, because they believe they can control it. Now, sir, that is a mistake, because they made an experiment on three Commissioners which proved disastrous. I have it from authority which I believe, that a certain railroad agent, or assumed railroad agent, approached one of the former three Commissioners with a proposition. He happened to be a man of honor, who had borne his country's flag on many a field. He was indignant to an extent amounting to a towering passion, and he made an appeal to the code-not to the Civil Code, not to the Penal Code, not to the code that obtains among railroads-but to the code which did obtain among gentlemen once. The officers of the railroad at once declared that the party who had approached this gentleman had done it without their authority, and they disowned him. Of course that stopped But the railroad took its revenge. When the Legislature met, through its conduit pipe it run into the Legislature the Hart bill. It repealed the law under which the then existing Commission had been carried on, and of course wiped out the Commission. And they substituted for it, and carried through the Legislature, by means which I need not reiterate, a proposition to have one Commissioner. It seems that they came to the conclusion that while they could not manage three, that one, as the Irishmen say, might be very convenient, and, therefore, they displaced the three Commissioners and took the one. It was given out that the Governor would veto the Hart bill, and it was believed by a great many people, but when he came to act on the matter his patriotism got the better of him, and he signed it. That was the end of that it. matter. So, then, I say that the Central Pacific Railroad Company does not desire three Commissioners; that they desire either one, or the Legislature. That is what they want; and the accomplished author of this letter is laboring under a delusion. Nor is that all. Even if it were possible for them to buy up the three Commissioners-which they have not been able to do yet-or experiment, the people could fall back and elect three others who have been under fire and come out unscathed; MR. SCHELL. It seems to me that the gentleman has a right to be heard on a question of privilege. I move that he be allowed to go on. MR. O'DONNELL. It won't take two minutes. MR. HUESTIS. If the house desires to hear it I have no objection. MR. O'DONNELL. MR. O'DONNELL. Mr. President: I rise to a question of privilege as a member of this body, and respectfully request my colleagues to give knows that members of the State and National Legislature can be called me their attention. Every man familiar with parliamentary rules to account for words spoken in debate. In other words, so long as they act in accordance with their sworn duty as members of the legislative In the discharge of my duty as a delegate I gave offense to the mandepartment of the government, they will be defended and protected. agers of a vulgar newspaper called the Chronicle. I differed from that newspaper on the law of libel. I voted for a measure which I deemed libelers. In this step I acted in concert with some of the most honored essential to the protection of society from the attacks of professional members of this body, and for the exercise of my right and privilege I have been vilified by the paper which I confess ought to be nameless among honorable men. I shall at the proper time appeal to the Courts and endeavor to aid the authorities in their endeavors to bring these men to justice. I do not think them worthy of the notice of this body. I do dered ask the passage of any resolution, nor do they require any vindinot think that any of the gentlemen whom this mongrel paper has slancation. All I ask now is the privilege of assuring every member of this body that the charges published against me in this nameless sheet due time I will cram the libel down the throats of the infernal libelers. are utterly false and without foundation, and I pledge myself that in I thank you kindly for your attention. CHINESE IMMIGRATION. MR. HUESTIS. Mr. President: Now, if there is no other gentleman who wishes to rise to a question of privilege, I move that the Convention resolve itself into Committee of the Whole, Mr. Larkin in the chair, on the question of the report of the Committee on Chinese. Carried. IN COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE. THE CHAIRMAN. The Secretary will read the first section. SECTION 1. The Legislature shall have and shall exercise the power it deem necessary. MR. BLACKMER. Mr. Chairman: I wish to point out what in my so I do not think we are in so much danger as the writer seems to think, judgment is a little error in the first section, and I was in hopes that the of the three Commissioners. There is another thing in this matterChairman of the committee would be here this evening, as I had a short and I say here, that if the writer of this letter was not above suspicion-I conversation with him upon that point. It is in the fifth and sixth would believe that he had been stowed, and that this attack was a weak lines of the first section of the report, and I hope that this will not be device of the enemy. There is another matter in connection with this, passed so that it cannot be taken up again. I am not ready to offer an since they have seen proper to provoke this attack upon us, which I may amendment, but I suggest that the words, "invalids afflicted with conas well mention. Two or three years ago, the North American Review tagious or infectious diseases," means altogether too much. It means published an article which stated that the railroads no longer purchased more, I believe, than the committee themselves intended to convey, votes in detail, but that when they wanted a Senator, they elected him- because they may mean such diseases as are contagious or infectious, but advanced cash enough to elect him-and that then they owned him may inflict any people, and they certainly do not wish to have the during his term. The Central Pacific Railroad Company seems to have police power of this State invoked for the purpose of excluding them profited by that suggestion. They seem of late to have elected the simply upon that ground. Now, the section should certainly be modSenator, and to have put a collar on him, with "Central Pacific Rail-ified so as to reach only the point aimed at. It is not intended that if a road Company written upon it, so that if he got lost, or strayed, he person have the smallpox, or anything of that kind that may be concould be recaptured and returned to his lawful owner. I am told here, Yet by members of the last Legislature, that when the Hart bill was before tagious, that for that reason we would send them out of the State. this is broad enough to cover that. Now, the section should be the Legislature, he reappeared here and did his best to carry the Hart amended so that it would mean exactly what the committee, I think, bill through. Therefore, it is, I say, that the learned author of this had in their minds when the section was framed. I hope that there letter is barking up the wrong tree. He does not understand his business will be no action taken, but that it can still be amended. There is fully, and whatever may have been his purpose, he is mistaken alto- discussion to be had, and it should be had now, but allow the Chairman, gether in his facts-if he has any facts-or in his conjectures; and he as I know it is in his mind, an opportunity to perfect the section as he does not pretend that they are anything more than conjectures. It desires. I would move that we do not pass any section to-night in any seems to me, in fact, that he had been dreaming, and it was nothing way so that it cannot be called up again in the regular way. more than a feat of somnambulism which dictated this letter. MR. HUESTIS. I renew my motion. MR. STUART. I second the motion. THE CHAIRMAN. It is moved and seconded that the section be MR. O'DONNELL, I rise to a question of privilege. I rise to a temporarily passed. question of privilege. I have a right here on this floor. THE CHAIR. Does the gentleman withdraw his motion? THE CHAIR. You are not in order, Mr. O'Donnell. MR. FREUD. Mr. Chairman: I hope no such proceeding will be adopted. The Chairman will have an opportunity, when it comes up in Convention, to amend it as he may deem fit. I think we can go on with our usual business with propriety. MR. AYERS. I send up an amendment to section one. "Strike out all after the word' shall,' in the first line, to and including the word and,' in the second line." MR. AYERS. The object of that amendment is to make the enactment of such laws and the exercise of such powers mandatory. MR. STUART. I suppose the whole article is open to discussion. THE CHAIRMAN. It is all under consideration. SPEECH OF MR. STUART. MR. STUART. I have been a patient listener in this Convention, and have not been on the floor since its first organization-over two months ago. I have heard what was said with a great deal of instructionsometimes; and sometimes with disgust and disappointment. I have been, during my life, in California nearly thirty years. During the thirty years that I have been here I have been a cultivator of the soil. I have made my living, raised and educated a large family through the cultivation of the soil. I have employed hundreds and hundreds of men. I have never been in the political arena; it is distasteful to me, and consequently I know little of the political movements, and of the management, and the plans that are used in the State for self-preference. I do not know whether I shall get through to-night with what I want to say, or not. I am somewhat unprepared and unaccustomed to public speaking. I will only make a few remarks, and then prepare myself for some future day on this article a little better. Sir, I am opposed to all these sections from number one to number eight. They are not proper to be placed in any Constitution of the United States, let alone ours. It is in direct conflict with the Constitution of the United States and the treaty-making power. It is a boyish action for us to admit either one or the whole of these articles to be engrafted in our organic law. It would be the laughing-stock of the world, a disgrace to the State, a movement toward secession, and a disregard of the constitutional laws of the United States. I am not prepared to be one of the advocates of, or one of the silent listeners here and have it pass. I believe, sir, it is in conflict with article six of the Constitution of the United States, which says: "This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding." That is sufficient for me, sir. That is sufficient for any intelligent gentleman in this body to reflect upon before he will take up a hotch potch, you may call it, or a set of articles of that character, that is neither one act or another, that belongs to a Constitution. It looks to me like the act of a ward political meeting, for the purpose of catching votes, or like some of the acts of this Convention in that behalf. I do not desire to reflect upon any gentleman, or the course of any gentleman's procedure here; neither do I desire to make an unparliamentary remark. MR. O'DONNELL. You say you have employed hundreds of men; have you not employed hundreds of Chinamen? MR. STUART. I have, sir, thousands of them, and hundreds of white men and thousands of white men, too. MR. O'DONNELL. I thought so. MR. STUART. That is what I am coming to now. There is not a man in California in my profession, that of farming, but what employs, directly or indirectly, the Chinaman. The Chinaman becomes your cook, the Chinaman becomes your servant, he becomes your hewer of wood and drawer of water, even in the City of San Francisco. The Chinaman has been, for the last twelve or fourteen years, a hobby horse for all political parties to pass their resolutions on and make their platforms. Before that, it was the honest contraband in the fence. The honest contraband and the Democratic party came hand and hand into every campaign until, finally, the question was ended in blood and war. The honest contraband now is never heard of, but the Chinaman is in the fence in his stead. The Chinaman is now used by both parties, or by all the parties, if there be more than two-I believe there are three parties now. One party, which is probably like other eruptions of that character, may throw something upon the surface that may remain there. There are a good many elected by this Workingmen's party, young men that I delight to know, men of talent, of character, of responsibility, and I hope they will succeed as politicians, I hope they will succeed as men, but I hope they will not lay themselves up in this Convention for the purpose of future promotion, for future renown. Here is the place to make it without regard to their political party, without regard to who will be Governor, or who will be the Judges, or who will be the next representatives in our Legislature and in our Congress. These things, sir, are what I am astonished at. This thing is what I have listened to for months with a great deal of calmness and a great deal of interest. These are matters which the gentlemen who are foremost in their aspirations probably know better than I do what their motives are. I do not intend to impugn them. But let me go back a little further. In eighteen hundred and fifty, I believe it was, in San Francisco, there was a celebration of the admission of California into the Union. I think it was October fourteenth; the State was admitted on September ninth. At that time, sir, if I am not mistaken, the Chinamen, few as they were, were admitted to a post of honor, and they followed the officers of the State and city in the parade. From that time down to the war, every movement of our government and every movement of our State, was to induce the Chinaman to come here and to capture the oriental trade. There were treaties made, first by force, by Porter, for he went with the navy, next by peace, and next by Mr. Burlingame, who was at one time in the Congress of the United States. The Burlingame treaty admitted, and has since admitted, the Chinaman to our country as free probably as any other treaty that has been made among the nations. That power lies in the government. There have been steamboats between here and China subsidized, and there have been other connections made and railroads built since. The Chinese have been the laborers of this coast for almost twenty years. White men we have plenty of here; and, sir, I will go further. If I was a member of a Constitutional Convention of the United States, I would raise my voice and put in an article there to repeal the naturalization laws. We have over forty million of inhabitants now, of Americans-foreign and native born. We have too many. We have thousands and tens of thousands of white men traveling this State and the United States, voluntary idlers-not involuntary. We have a class of so-called white laborers that never have worked, never intend to work, and never will work. I do not desire to go into details on that subject now. I desire more especially to have this article passed over until the Chairman of the committee comes in here so that he can explain them to me. Looking at it as a juror, it looks like a perfect hotch potch-nothing in it. There is not a section in the report that should be put into any school book, let alone the Constitution of the State. It is all very pretty to talk about, and the speech of my friend, the Colonel from Los Angeles, Colonel Ayers, was all very beautiful, handsomely arranged, beautifully delivered, and it almost, as Agrippa said to Paul, converted me. Also, my young friend to the right, Mr. Freud, just from his college days. He was eloquent, but there was no pith in it. It was a little as if we were upon a jury and some lawyer was prosecuting a Chinaman for some act he had done. Unfortunately our friend from Los Angeles quoted all his authorities from the minority report of the different Judges. MR. AYERS. Not all of them. MR. STUART. Well, most of them, I took notice. He also quoted very lengthily from Roger Taney. I remember when Taney made another decision. Do you know what became of it? I remember his Dred Scott decision. I think that was the first political case that was ever decided in the United States, and I remember what that led to, and I think you do. I want to steer clear of all that kind of Constitution making here; I want none of those things to be thrown up to us when we are out, by the Courts, or by the United States Courts and these attorneys-that we are a set of school boys, here as a debating society, getting in things not competent to a Constitution, and things that would not be fit to put into a common school book. I will say, for one on this floor, that I am in favor of holding America for Americansthat Americans shall rule America. I have no confidence in this wave of discontent, as you call it; I have no confidence in anything that may be thrown ou top. It is only intellect that will tell in the United States; nothing else. I will say, sir, that I believe, taking the farmers in this Convention-and I tried to find out how many there were probably twenty-(what I mean by farmers is, men that have cultivated the land for years, men connected with farming pursuits, men who live upon farms and support themselves and families there)-I believe that a vote among them to-night, sir, would throw that report into the waste basket. They would say: "We want labor; let the Chinamen alone." Let the Government of the United States control the matter; place it in the hands where it belongs, and have none of this senseless tinkering here, as you would tinker an old tin kettle if it was leaking. I have not inflicted you before, and I do not intend to now. I am somewhat unaccustomed to this kind of business, consequently I am going to leave that to others who are better posted than myself-after awhile. Chinese immigration is injurious to the country, is it? Chinese immigration to the country has made it what it is. [Derisive laughter.] Labor has made it what it is. The labor that has been done for the last fifteen years has been the progressive labor of the State of California. It has been labor that has cleared up farms, that has planted fruit trees, that has built cities, that has done every thing except the mining, and even then, the tailings we always used to rent to Chinamen in early days. Everything has been done by this labor. There is only one class of men you can get for servants-I mean servants that will do what they are wanted to do. I believe one white man is worth two Chinamen; that one Chinaman is worth two negroes, and that one negro is worth two tramps [laughter and hisses]-that is, for labor. It is a well known fact that in all nature, both animate and inanimate, both animal and every other kind, that the weak fall under the march of the strong. That is a well settled fact in all governmental philosophy-that the weak fall under the strong. The black man has faded away, and the Chinaman takes his place as a laborer. He is for a day, and gone. The idea of the Chinaman, or the Chinese Empire, overthrowing the AngloSaxon race is preposterous. A hundred thousand a month scattered through the United States would not affect it in a hundred years. The growth of the United States is something, and their energy is a great deal; and it has surprised me that the laboring portion of the people of California have not captured all this floating capital of labor and rented it out to us at increased rates. That is what has been astonishing to me. No, it has not been astonishing, Almost every gentleman that ever got up, has been perfectly astonished at something. I have never been astonished. Nothing astonishes me. One of the gentlemen from San Francisco said money never made the man. Well, that might be so, but I would like to see the man that ever made money and became very wealthy but what is a big man. I would like to see the nation that has large amounts of money and has become very rich, but has been great. That is a mistake. It fills in very well in speech; it is beautiful to the ear, and it is very well for those who are satisfied with declamation only. I will not say anything more about it now; some other time-to-morrow, may be, I will refer to it again. I would like to hear from the farmers here; the men who live by the cultivation of the soil; the producers; that class of men who form one half of the population of the United States-over twenty millions of men who feed the world. Two years of the stopping of farming-yes, one year-would starve one half of the nation to death. The |