January 14, 1853 (5 pages)

VOL. IL—NO. 38. PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY MORNING BY BUDD & SARGENT. Ofice on Broad street, opposite the Placer Hotel. TERMS. For one year, in advance $7 00 Six months 4 00 Three months 209 20 ois, Single copies, vs! YS SNS NOREEN A NN San Francisco Agency. J. M. Parker, of San Frane’seo, suceessor to OcravtaNn Hooas, is our authorized agent for that city, Who is duly authorized to receive and receipt for moneys for advertising er subscription. All communications directed to the “Nevada Journal,” and forwarded thro agh Adams &Co’s or Wells, Fargo & Co.’sExpress, will be attended to sv ithout delay. Per Wells, Fargo § Co’s Express. Governor's Message. . Fellow Citizens of the Senate and Assembly : The duty again devolves upon me to communicate with the People’s Repreeentatives on the condition of the State, and recommend such measures as! may deem expedient. Permit me, then, to weleome you to the scene ef your legislative labors, and to express the hope that all the measures matured by you may not only be promotive of the interests, but meet the warn approval of eur common constifaents, who have confided to you the most important trusts which can be dalegated to public agents. I need hardly assure you of my sincere desire to co-operate with you in all your efforts to exalt the character, establish the credit. and advance the genera! int-rests of the State. You have assembled at an interesting period inthe history of our public affiirs. Our imterests have xequired a more permanent and selid character; che people have generally yielded a willing obediance tothe laws; our commerce is rapidly diversifying and expanding; the sources of our wealth have been immensoly augmented: agriculture and the mechanic arts are more generally engaging the attention of our people ; institutions of learaing are epringing up in our tnidst : and, in fact, all the arts of peace are beginning to progress and flourish throughout the State. We have entered upon our career of freedom and civilizition with prospects the mast flattering. Uninterrupted and surprising as has been the progress of these sister States from which we are divided —not by feeling, but by geographical position ~—astonishing as have been the uchievements of science, and astounding the political events which bave distinguished . the past history of our country, the set. tlemept and partial development of the . resources of California by the American . people. is by no means the least amongst the great achievements which lave been consummated. The importance of events ig estimated by their influence upon the destinies of mankind ; thatof the settlement and development of California, to which . have above alluded. possesses a peculiar interest, since it evidently hastens the period when a more considera~ ble portion of this c.ntinent—ineluding, perhaps, some of the proximate islands ol the seas—may be in sabjestion to the enter} the Government ef the United States.— The settlement of California has develeped inthe public mind a streng bias favorable to ether peaceful acquisitions, and has preved, that, while in accordance with the uniform policy of the Gevernment, we bave ever been ready to welcome the emigrant foreigners to our soil who ean, consistently with the Constitutien and Laws of the United States, become citizens by naturalization, they are, at the same time, disposed to make the soil itself, peacefully, a portion of the Republic. Despotisms foreibly subdue and subject foreign terri-. tory in violation of the laws of nations, while it is the policy of our Government to extend the when it can be done consistently with the rights ofathers, and by a due observance of the laws governing national intercourse. Pursuing the path of peaceful progress, we have advanced in all the elements of national greatness, and enjoyed adegree of individual proeperity under the operations of our civil institutions, unexampled in the history of govern. ments. Amongst the most important duties . which will devolve em you at your pres: ent session, is that of regulating the finances of the State, and fixing them upon a basis at once permancat anil sure ; which shall, at the same time, serve to! secure usaguinst the embarrassments of . an overdrawn Treasury, as well as against the burdens of oppressive taxation. It cannot be disguised that for the past three yours, we bave not devoted that advised und well-informed attention to this subject which its great imporianee demands. Yeur after year, since the organization of the State, we have been steadily contracting heavy liabilities, until at length the burden is enerously felt, and the embarrassments thus occasioned begin to seriously affect our standing and credit, and retard our progress. ‘That measares must p 4v be adopted immediate, if practicable, “in their effeet, and radical in their nature, would seem to admit of no question. We . have pursued a system heretofore, the ful in its construction, and would seem 'to impose a novel, unnecessary, expeny the present financial condition ef the jsive, and—as it has been sometimes actState, are certainly net such as will) ed on—inoperative duty. It A . that, in order to revise or amen system which produces such results, . or Section, the Act or Section proposed . must be defective, and should be aban-. to be amendcd, must be re-enacted and To sustain the credit of the . jre-published at length. This requising snd enlightened policy of . ‘area of freedom” only . i NEVADA, CAL, FRIDAY MORNING, JANUARY 14, 1853, ractical result of which, a8 exhibited i commend it to further adhesion. doned. . State, toavoid the burdens of embar-~ . rassing liabilities, and to expend no more than the annual revenues derived from . easily borne taxation, are amengst the . first and great objects of legislation.-— . But we have signally failed to do either! upto this time, and must, therefore, . have pursued a system neither well founded nor wisely practical, considered with reference to the objects intended . to be secured thereby. A debt has been . ) already contracted, which, under existing arrangements, will continue to ac. . cumulate toa disastrous extent. Fortunately, however, it rests with you to cheek this growing evil, by a suspension of the existing, and the adoption of another system, which, while it aveids the errors into which we have fallen, shall, introduce such salutary reforms, as past, experience demonstrates to be indispensable. . With this view, it is my purpose to) present. generally, for your considera-. tion, a few of the leading reforms which . have occurred to my mind, as important and necessary. The existing debt of the State on the 15th December, 1852, is set forth as follows in the Report of the Comptroiler of State: CIVIL DEBT. Amount of 3 per cent. bonds outstanding, ; $63.750 Interest on same to date, 63700 ° $127,450 00 Amount of 7 per cent. bonds of 1851, $397,000 09 . Interest on same, 3,218 58 Am't of 7 per cent. bonds of 1852, $790,500 00 Interest on same, 281 41 —— 790,781 41 Am’t of Civil Warrants outstanding,69.763 79 $1,388,213 73 WAR DEBT. Am’t of 12 per cent War Bonds of 1851, $200,000 00 Interest on saine, 39,812 20 ————— 239,812 20 Am’t of 7 pereent. War tonds of 1852, 478,000 68 Mstimatcdint.on same 10,850 00 } -—--—— 489 850 00 Anv’tof War Warrants outstanding,41,727 85! 400,218 58 . Total War debt, Ain’t of School Land Warrants, 190.080 00 WAOLE DEBT OF THE STATE. Am‘ tof Civil Debton the 15th Deeember, 1852, $1,388,213 73 Am't of War Debt same time, 771.190 05 BITLAII . prosperity and welfare. $2,159'403 83 {The governor goes on to say that, excepting the principal of the school fund, which eannot be considered a debt, and ) the war debt, which will probably be assumed by the general government, the indebtedness of the state is $1,388,213. The estimated receipts of ensuing fiscal year are 434,150 00 Expenditures, 1,093,213 68 The message next recommends an amendment to the constitution, so as to require biennial instead of annual ses. sions of the Legislature, for the duration of ninety days. Second, to repeal the twenty-eighih section, so as to prevent the necessity of taking the census in 1855. Third, te abolish the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, and devolve his duties on the Secretary of State. It says:] Intive indebtedness, The office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, as a distinct department, is . of very doubtful necessity, as an original . question; and if, under any circumstances, it were desirable, can now, with propriety, be dispensed with, and thus relieve the Treasury annually to the ameunt of the salary and contingencies of . that office. In adopting the policy pro. . posed, we follow the example of a large majority of our si-ter States on this interesting subject. On examination, it will be found that more than two-thirds lof the members of the confederacy have, after mature experience in some of them, ! finally settled down on the measure ad. vocated by thisamendment. The States }of Vermont and Wisconsin are the only ones which haye constituted this a seplarate and independent office; New York, Massachusetts, [linois and Peansylyania have merged the duties of this office in that of the Secretary of State; . Indiana has placed in the hands of the . State Treasurer; Connectieut, with the State Auditor; und Maine, New Hampshire, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, . Florida, Geergia and Missouri, have divided them out among Commissioners elected by the people of the various school districts. Such commanding pre cedents should not be disregarded by us. The fundamental law of government, which can only be changed after long and strenuous effort, it would seem, should be confined to provisions for great and admitted principles and measures. and leave the ways and means of carrying those great truths into effeet to the wisdem and patriotism of the legislative power, acting under a kuowledge of the peculiar circumstances of the times. Fourth: The twenty-fifth Section of rovides an Act tion iacreases considerably our printing expenditures, and {rom the useless labor required, is frequently disregarded in practice. Thus. at one and the same time, teaching us to evade the solemn injunctions of the Constitution which we have sworn to support, and uselessly enhancing the demands upon the Treasury. I therefore recommend that the portion of this Section liable to these ebjec. tions be repealed, and that the Section be left to read, “ Every law enacted by the Legislature shall embrace but one object, and that shall be expressed in its title.” Filth: That the 18th Section of the 5th Article of the Constitution, providing for the election of Surveyor General, be amended, and that the whole matter of the necessity of appointment or election of sueh officer be confided to the Legislature. The reasons fur this recommendation are the same as_ those which ebtain in the ease of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Sixth: The 8th Section of the 11th Article provides that the Fiscal Year shall commence on the Ist day of July. I recommend that this Section be so amended as to make the commencement of the fiscal year on the 15th of December. The reasons for this change will readily present themselves. Under the existing provision, the Legislature which assembles on the lst Monday of January, cannet obtain satisfactory information from the Annual Reports of the Comptroller and Treasurer as to the condition of the State finances, after the lst day of July preceding. And, consequently, it becomes necessary for this information to be obtained by special resolution, alWays at great eXpense of time and labor to those officers. If the change suggested, however, were made, the Reports of these officers would display the condition of our finanees up to the 15th of December, and be much more satisfactory. These alterations are suggested under a solemn sense of duty, believing them not only conducive to the interests of the State, but absolutely essential to our By adopting the method of amendment pointed out by the Section of the Constitution to which [ have referred, you will avoid the expense and agitation of calling a Convention of the State, and itis hoped that this course will eommend itself to your judgment as the most prudent and desirable. The office of Superintendent of Public Buildings is believed to be unnecessary, and a useless burden to the Treasury. . recommend, therefore, that the law creating that office, unless it expired by limitation on the Ist of January, as is believed to be the case, be repealed, and that the duties thereof be required to be performed by some one, or all of the State officers, without additional compensation ; or that seme other disposition be made of those duties whieh will relieve the Treasury ef the expenditures incident to that office. In this, too, we follow the example of most of our sister States. New York vests these duties in the Governor, Lieutenant Goy-~ ernor, Speaker of Assembly, Secretary of State, Attorney General and Comptroller,,by right of office. Mississippi vests them in the Auditor and Treasurer of State. Illinois places them with the Secretary of State. Wisconsin with the Governor alone. In no State of the Union, save that of Missouri, can I find this constituted a separate and distinct office. Our Judicial Districts are much more numerous than our necessities seem to demand. We now have eleven District Judges, with salaries ranging from three thousand to seven thousand five hundred dollars each. These might well bs curtailed to eight, and thus effect a eonsiderable saving to the Treasury. I recommend that this be done, and that the County Attorney system be also changel to thatof the election of one Attorney for each Judicial Dist iet, to be eompensated by the fees of office. This lattor provision will relieve the County Treasuries of the salaries of these officers, and inves! the office with more importance and dignity, besides saving te the State the annual sum of five thousand dollars now paid to the District Attorney of San Francisco county. The State Prison Inspectors, authorized by the Act of April 25th. 1851, are not required, and are an unnecessary charge upon the State, their salaries amounting te $2,000 per annum, each.— These may be dispensed with without detriment te this particular branch of the public service, and their duties devolved on a beard composed of any three of the State officers, without additional compensation. By adopting this suggestion a saving would be effeeted tothe State of $6,000, annually. In pursuance of the system of retrenchment and reform proposed, I come now to consider the propriety of a further reduction of the salaries of officers of State and pay of members of the Legislature. The general object is to reduce both to a cash basis, and thus to provide for their payment in cash instead of, as heretofore, depreciated evidences of State in~ the fourth Article is equivocal and doubt-'!debtednese. from which has been realized little, if any more, than the sum at which it is now proposed to fix them.— It is well understood that these salaries and pay, practically, have been and are, to the extent of at least thirty-three per cent., nominal, so far as the recipients of them are concerned ; while, on the other hand, the effect is to burden the State with extravagant expenditures — The State must ultimately pay at the rite of $16 or $12 per diem, while the member receives in fact but $8 or $10, The reason of this is obvious. So long as we continue to exceed in eur annual expenses Our annual revenue, the credit of the State must continue to be impaired, and its bonds, warrants, or other obligations depreeiated; and while the pay of members or salaries of officers are received in such depreciated evidences, & proportionate neminal increase of both is in Justice required. I feelitmy duty therefore, to earnestly present this important subject for your attentive consideration. A The expenses of the Legislature, as well as the Executive Department of the Staae Government, considered with reference to their ultimate payment. and in casi, instead of fictitious amounts, have been undeniably exorbitant. ‘The mileage and per diem of members, alone, have annually averaged over $220,000 since our organization as a State Goyernment. ‘This amount is exclusive of Legislative printing—the printing of the laws and journals, and the ‘contingent expenses of the twe houses, which a~ invunt in the aggregate for the same peried to $365,555,06, an average of over 121,000 annually. ‘These exorbitant expenditures may and ought to be preat~ ly reduced. So also with the Executive Derartment. The salary paid officers of State, if fixed upon a exash basis, are tanecessurily large, and with proper 4iscriminations may be reduced without ' practically diminishing the amoun! now received by them. The expenses incurred in the support and maintenance of our State Ho-pitals, too, are excessive and unwarranted b our present financial condition. Muc a3 we may regret the necessity, still it is certain, that as one of the means to restore the eredit of the State and preserve it, the very large aunual expenditures consequent upon the support of this system must needs be avoided. Ir appears from the Comptroller’s Report that appropriations for our hospitals for the present fiscal year exceed the sum of $238,000 So great an outlay we are in no condition to sustain, even were the necessity for it greater than at present is believed to exist. I ean de no less, therefore, than earnestly recommend that . Some measure be adopted, which, while it provides for the care of the indigent sick in such manner as the means and . resources of the State justify, shall relieve the Treasury ef the burdens of the existing hospital system. By adopting the suggestions which have been thus imperfectly esubmicted, it is estimated thas an annual saving may be effected te the State of $512.700 00, which consists of the following items: Surveyor General, $2.000 00 Sup. of Public Instruction, 4,500 00 Sup. of Pubiie Buildings, 4,000 00 Prison Inspectors, 6,000 00 Biennial Sessions, 171,000 00 Reduction of pay and mileage—pay to $8 per diem, mileage one-half, Limiting Sessions to 90 days, Reducing transportation of Prisoners from one dellar to fifty cents per mile, which 110 000 00 43,200 60 is recommended, 8,000 00 State Hospitals, 140,000 00 Reducing salary of Governor to $7,000, 3,000 Of Supreme Crt Judges to $7,000 3,000 Reducing namber of District Judges from 11 to 8, about, 12,000 5,000 Salary of District Attorney of San Francisco, {The message next states that the enormous sum of $157,933 89 has been paid as interest on our three per cent. . bonds. The resistance at San Francisco to! the tax on consigned goods 1s referred to . the Legislature. It is recommended chat the law be so) . amended as to authorize receiving state . war) ants for dues. . It complains of the frauds aguinst the state in the disposal of the water lots at San Francisco, and recommends the appointment of a committee to ascertain whether the limits of the city cannot be extended without injary to commerce. and ifse it is recommended to divide the additién in suitable lots to be leased for the benefit of the state. The refusal of the steamship companies to pay taxes in this state on the ground that the same property is taxed in the other states, is referred to. Two suits had been decided in favor of the State, others were pending. The subject of the public lands takes much space in the message. It opposes the action of the board of commissioners, especially in the Fremont decision. The blame of the states prison conteact is laid on the commissioners and on the law. §o,] a eee WHOLE NO. 142, I have, therefore, considered it proper to submit for your examination a copy of the contract, as well as direct your attention to the imperfections of the law, and commend the whole subject to your careful consideration. The amount appropriated by the last legislatnre for the relief of the overland emigration to this State has been devoted to the object designated by that body, and has served to mitigate the sufferings and save the lives of valuable citizens. The report of the agents herewith snbmitted, will more fully and in detail, exhibit their operations, The report of the Superintendant of Public Instruction contains many valuable suggestions on the interesting subject of education. California will, probably, as soon as it can be judiciously expended, possess ample means to foster and sustain a system o Common Schoo! Education, which must in time, give a high character to our civil institutions. The fund applicable to this object, the interest on whieh is annually appropriated for the exclusive support of common schools, is now nearly bes hanced thousand dollars, and when the residue of the school lands are sold, will amount to one million. This considerable sum is still not the full extent of our means, or the only resource, upon which our common school system rests } its fature prospects and hopes. The last ' Legislature, alive to the great interests of ed. mcation, and regarding its permanent and liberal support as intimately interwoven with the first duties of the representatives of a government which has derived form and . vitality, and the future existence of which maay be said to depend upon the intelligence of the people, wisely made provision for an ! additional sun, pledged to the extension of the blessings and bounties of knowledge and science, to — family within this, the youngest State of the confederacy. The addition means relied upon consists in an annual tax of five cents of the thirty impesed on each one hundred dollars of valuation which has already commenced flowing into the treasury, and on the 15th of December last, amounted to $1,687 16; and the amount of interest due onthe School Land Fund on the first day of January, 5,412 31; making a total of $16,099 46, now,in the treasury. The amount of assessment, deducting expenses of collection, $22,696 26, of which sum $12,009 10 is still due frem the several county treasuries. 4 The amount realised annually from taxation, as well as the interest accruing on thé amount derived from the sale of school lands has been set apart for the sustenance of this ennobling system, from which,in a few years, the children of the state will reap the rich reward it promises, and participate in the blessings of mental culture and improvemcnt dispensed by it, [The project of a Pacifie Railroad is advocated. The inadequacy of the force of the United States on the Pacific is stated, and it is recommended that Congress be memorialized to make adequate military provision for this State. A block of marble 4 ft. long and 22 inches square for the Washington Morument was in Sacramente, and would be shipped without delay. A recommendation of more promp!ness in passing important measures in the early part of the session ia made. In conclusion, the message says :] Under the guiding and protecting care of that Divine Geodness which has nurtured and preserved us heretofore, let us enter with cheerful confidence upon the labers awaiting usin the future. JOHN BIGLER. City or Vaiieso, Jan. 3, 1853. Synopsis of the President's Message. After Li the lack of partizan excitement, Mr. Fillmore returns thanks for the staying of the cholera, and the abundance of the year's harvest, notes the death of Daniel Webster in a brief tribute. and passes to the statement of the difficulties on the fishing question. The sum of the whole matter is, that a more liberal commercial footin , bes tween the United States and the British Provinces, is likely to be arranged the present winter, Respecting the Cuban affuird. we learn that the refusal of the Captain General to allow passengers and the mail to be landed in eertain cases for a reason which dees not furnish, in the opinion of this Government, even a good preog at ground for such a prohibition, has been made the subject of a serious remonstrance at Madrid, and he has no reason to doubt that due respect will be paid by the government of Her Catholic Majesty to the representations which the U. 8. Minister has been instructed te make on the subject. The refusal of a tripartite convention with Brapen sae England, for discountenancing all attempts for the ession of Cuba, is also noted in Sonneation wi th this subject. The action of Mexico disclaiming the rant of protection to the transit of tho sthmus, (be hopes) may be adjusted. — So aleo of the Costa Rica and Nicarargua difficulty. He next states that Venezuela has acknowledged some old claims of citizens of the United States, and that the tecent revolution of Baenos Ayres, and @ trea~ ty of commerce which had been concluded between the Republic of Uraguay, have given hope that these vast regions will be opened to the United States commerce. The Lobos Island question is settled “ the full acknowledgment of Peru's claim to them and their rich production —the guano. OF the U.S. acquisitions of territory [Concluded on Fourth Page.]

VOL. IL—NO. 38. PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY MORNING BY BUDD & SARGENT. Ofice on Broad street, opposite the Placer Hotel. TERMS. For one year, in advance $7 00 Six months 4 00 Three months 209 20 ois, Single copies, vs! YS SNS NOREEN A NN San Francisco Agency. J. M. Parker, of San Frane’seo, suceessor to OcravtaNn Hooas, is our authorized agent for that city, Who is duly authorized to receive and receipt for moneys for advertising er subscription. All communications directed to the “Nevada Journal,” and forwarded thro agh Adams &Co’s or Wells, Fargo & Co.’sExpress, will be attended to sv ithout delay. Per Wells, Fargo § Co’s Express. Governor's Message. . Fellow Citizens of the Senate and Assembly : The duty again devolves upon me to communicate with the People’s Repreeentatives on the condition of the State, and recommend such measures as! may deem expedient. Permit me, then, to weleome you to the scene ef your legislative labors, and to express the hope that all the measures matured by you may not only be promotive of the interests, but meet the warn approval of eur common constifaents, who have confided to you the most important trusts which can be dalegated to public agents. I need hardly assure you of my sincere desire to co-operate with you in all your efforts to exalt the character, establish the credit. and advance the genera! int-rests of the State. You have assembled at an interesting period inthe history of our public affiirs. Our imterests have xequired a more permanent and selid character; che people have generally yielded a willing obediance tothe laws; our commerce is rapidly diversifying and expanding; the sources of our wealth have been immensoly augmented: agriculture and the mechanic arts are more generally engaging the attention of our people ; institutions of learaing are epringing up in our tnidst : and, in fact, all the arts of peace are beginning to progress and flourish throughout the State. We have entered upon our career of freedom and civilizition with prospects the mast flattering. Uninterrupted and surprising as has been the progress of these sister States from which we are divided —not by feeling, but by geographical position ~—astonishing as have been the uchievements of science, and astounding the political events which bave distinguished . the past history of our country, the set. tlemept and partial development of the . resources of California by the American . people. is by no means the least amongst the great achievements which lave been consummated. The importance of events ig estimated by their influence upon the destinies of mankind ; thatof the settlement and development of California, to which . have above alluded. possesses a peculiar interest, since it evidently hastens the period when a more considera~ ble portion of this c.ntinent—ineluding, perhaps, some of the proximate islands ol the seas—may be in sabjestion to the enter} the Government ef the United States.— The settlement of California has develeped inthe public mind a streng bias favorable to ether peaceful acquisitions, and has preved, that, while in accordance with the uniform policy of the Gevernment, we bave ever been ready to welcome the emigrant foreigners to our soil who ean, consistently with the Constitutien and Laws of the United States, become citizens by naturalization, they are, at the same time, disposed to make the soil itself, peacefully, a portion of the Republic. Despotisms foreibly subdue and subject foreign terri-. tory in violation of the laws of nations, while it is the policy of our Government to extend the when it can be done consistently with the rights ofathers, and by a due observance of the laws governing national intercourse. Pursuing the path of peaceful progress, we have advanced in all the elements of national greatness, and enjoyed adegree of individual proeperity under the operations of our civil institutions, unexampled in the history of govern. ments. Amongst the most important duties . which will devolve em you at your pres: ent session, is that of regulating the finances of the State, and fixing them upon a basis at once permancat anil sure ; which shall, at the same time, serve to! secure usaguinst the embarrassments of . an overdrawn Treasury, as well as against the burdens of oppressive taxation. It cannot be disguised that for the past three yours, we bave not devoted that advised und well-informed attention to this subject which its great imporianee demands. Yeur after year, since the organization of the State, we have been steadily contracting heavy liabilities, until at length the burden is enerously felt, and the embarrassments thus occasioned begin to seriously affect our standing and credit, and retard our progress. ‘That measares must p 4v be adopted immediate, if practicable, “in their effeet, and radical in their nature, would seem to admit of no question. We . have pursued a system heretofore, the ful in its construction, and would seem 'to impose a novel, unnecessary, expeny the present financial condition ef the jsive, and—as it has been sometimes actState, are certainly net such as will) ed on—inoperative duty. It A . that, in order to revise or amen system which produces such results, . or Section, the Act or Section proposed . must be defective, and should be aban-. to be amendcd, must be re-enacted and To sustain the credit of the . jre-published at length. This requising snd enlightened policy of . ‘area of freedom” only . i NEVADA, CAL, FRIDAY MORNING, JANUARY 14, 1853, ractical result of which, a8 exhibited i commend it to further adhesion. doned. . State, toavoid the burdens of embar-~ . rassing liabilities, and to expend no more than the annual revenues derived from . easily borne taxation, are amengst the . first and great objects of legislation.-— . But we have signally failed to do either! upto this time, and must, therefore, . have pursued a system neither well founded nor wisely practical, considered with reference to the objects intended . to be secured thereby. A debt has been . ) already contracted, which, under existing arrangements, will continue to ac. . cumulate toa disastrous extent. Fortunately, however, it rests with you to cheek this growing evil, by a suspension of the existing, and the adoption of another system, which, while it aveids the errors into which we have fallen, shall, introduce such salutary reforms, as past, experience demonstrates to be indispensable. . With this view, it is my purpose to) present. generally, for your considera-. tion, a few of the leading reforms which . have occurred to my mind, as important and necessary. The existing debt of the State on the 15th December, 1852, is set forth as follows in the Report of the Comptroiler of State: CIVIL DEBT. Amount of 3 per cent. bonds outstanding, ; $63.750 Interest on same to date, 63700 ° $127,450 00 Amount of 7 per cent. bonds of 1851, $397,000 09 . Interest on same, 3,218 58 Am't of 7 per cent. bonds of 1852, $790,500 00 Interest on same, 281 41 —— 790,781 41 Am’t of Civil Warrants outstanding,69.763 79 $1,388,213 73 WAR DEBT. Am’t of 12 per cent War Bonds of 1851, $200,000 00 Interest on saine, 39,812 20 ————— 239,812 20 Am’t of 7 pereent. War tonds of 1852, 478,000 68 Mstimatcdint.on same 10,850 00 } -—--—— 489 850 00 Anv’tof War Warrants outstanding,41,727 85! 400,218 58 . Total War debt, Ain’t of School Land Warrants, 190.080 00 WAOLE DEBT OF THE STATE. Am‘ tof Civil Debton the 15th Deeember, 1852, $1,388,213 73 Am't of War Debt same time, 771.190 05 BITLAII . prosperity and welfare. $2,159'403 83 {The governor goes on to say that, excepting the principal of the school fund, which eannot be considered a debt, and ) the war debt, which will probably be assumed by the general government, the indebtedness of the state is $1,388,213. The estimated receipts of ensuing fiscal year are 434,150 00 Expenditures, 1,093,213 68 The message next recommends an amendment to the constitution, so as to require biennial instead of annual ses. sions of the Legislature, for the duration of ninety days. Second, to repeal the twenty-eighih section, so as to prevent the necessity of taking the census in 1855. Third, te abolish the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, and devolve his duties on the Secretary of State. It says:] Intive indebtedness, The office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, as a distinct department, is . of very doubtful necessity, as an original . question; and if, under any circumstances, it were desirable, can now, with propriety, be dispensed with, and thus relieve the Treasury annually to the ameunt of the salary and contingencies of . that office. In adopting the policy pro. . posed, we follow the example of a large majority of our si-ter States on this interesting subject. On examination, it will be found that more than two-thirds lof the members of the confederacy have, after mature experience in some of them, ! finally settled down on the measure ad. vocated by thisamendment. The States }of Vermont and Wisconsin are the only ones which haye constituted this a seplarate and independent office; New York, Massachusetts, [linois and Peansylyania have merged the duties of this office in that of the Secretary of State; . Indiana has placed in the hands of the . State Treasurer; Connectieut, with the State Auditor; und Maine, New Hampshire, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, . Florida, Geergia and Missouri, have divided them out among Commissioners elected by the people of the various school districts. Such commanding pre cedents should not be disregarded by us. The fundamental law of government, which can only be changed after long and strenuous effort, it would seem, should be confined to provisions for great and admitted principles and measures. and leave the ways and means of carrying those great truths into effeet to the wisdem and patriotism of the legislative power, acting under a kuowledge of the peculiar circumstances of the times. Fourth: The twenty-fifth Section of rovides an Act tion iacreases considerably our printing expenditures, and {rom the useless labor required, is frequently disregarded in practice. Thus. at one and the same time, teaching us to evade the solemn injunctions of the Constitution which we have sworn to support, and uselessly enhancing the demands upon the Treasury. I therefore recommend that the portion of this Section liable to these ebjec. tions be repealed, and that the Section be left to read, “ Every law enacted by the Legislature shall embrace but one object, and that shall be expressed in its title.” Filth: That the 18th Section of the 5th Article of the Constitution, providing for the election of Surveyor General, be amended, and that the whole matter of the necessity of appointment or election of sueh officer be confided to the Legislature. The reasons fur this recommendation are the same as_ those which ebtain in the ease of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Sixth: The 8th Section of the 11th Article provides that the Fiscal Year shall commence on the Ist day of July. I recommend that this Section be so amended as to make the commencement of the fiscal year on the 15th of December. The reasons for this change will readily present themselves. Under the existing provision, the Legislature which assembles on the lst Monday of January, cannet obtain satisfactory information from the Annual Reports of the Comptroller and Treasurer as to the condition of the State finances, after the lst day of July preceding. And, consequently, it becomes necessary for this information to be obtained by special resolution, alWays at great eXpense of time and labor to those officers. If the change suggested, however, were made, the Reports of these officers would display the condition of our finanees up to the 15th of December, and be much more satisfactory. These alterations are suggested under a solemn sense of duty, believing them not only conducive to the interests of the State, but absolutely essential to our By adopting the method of amendment pointed out by the Section of the Constitution to which [ have referred, you will avoid the expense and agitation of calling a Convention of the State, and itis hoped that this course will eommend itself to your judgment as the most prudent and desirable. The office of Superintendent of Public Buildings is believed to be unnecessary, and a useless burden to the Treasury. . recommend, therefore, that the law creating that office, unless it expired by limitation on the Ist of January, as is believed to be the case, be repealed,

and that the duties thereof be required to be performed by some one, or all of the State officers, without additional compensation ; or that seme other disposition be made of those duties whieh will relieve the Treasury ef the expenditures incident to that office. In this, too, we follow the example of most of our sister States. New York vests these duties in the Governor, Lieutenant Goy-~ ernor, Speaker of Assembly, Secretary of State, Attorney General and Comptroller,,by right of office. Mississippi vests them in the Auditor and Treasurer of State. Illinois places them with the Secretary of State. Wisconsin with the Governor alone. In no State of the Union, save that of Missouri, can I find this constituted a separate and distinct office. Our Judicial Districts are much more numerous than our necessities seem to demand. We now have eleven District Judges, with salaries ranging from three thousand to seven thousand five hundred dollars each. These might well bs curtailed to eight, and thus effect a eonsiderable saving to the Treasury. I recommend that this be done, and that the County Attorney system be also changel to thatof the election of one Attorney for each Judicial Dist iet, to be eompensated by the fees of office. This lattor provision will relieve the County Treasuries of the salaries of these officers, and inves! the office with more importance and dignity, besides saving te the State the annual sum of five thousand dollars now paid to the District Attorney of San Francisco county. The State Prison Inspectors, authorized by the Act of April 25th. 1851, are not required, and are an unnecessary charge upon the State, their salaries amounting te $2,000 per annum, each.— These may be dispensed with without detriment te this particular branch of the public service, and their duties devolved on a beard composed of any three of the State officers, without additional compensation. By adopting this suggestion a saving would be effeeted tothe State of $6,000, annually. In pursuance of the system of retrenchment and reform proposed, I come now to consider the propriety of a further reduction of the salaries of officers of State and pay of members of the Legislature. The general object is to reduce both to a cash basis, and thus to provide for their payment in cash instead of, as heretofore, depreciated evidences of State in~ the fourth Article is equivocal and doubt-'!debtednese. from which has been realized little, if any more, than the sum at which it is now proposed to fix them.— It is well understood that these salaries and pay, practically, have been and are, to the extent of at least thirty-three per cent., nominal, so far as the recipients of them are concerned ; while, on the other hand, the effect is to burden the State with extravagant expenditures — The State must ultimately pay at the rite of $16 or $12 per diem, while the member receives in fact but $8 or $10, The reason of this is obvious. So long as we continue to exceed in eur annual expenses Our annual revenue, the credit of the State must continue to be impaired, and its bonds, warrants, or other obligations depreeiated; and while the pay of members or salaries of officers are received in such depreciated evidences, & proportionate neminal increase of both is in Justice required. I feelitmy duty therefore, to earnestly present this important subject for your attentive consideration. A The expenses of the Legislature, as well as the Executive Department of the Staae Government, considered with reference to their ultimate payment. and in casi, instead of fictitious amounts, have been undeniably exorbitant. ‘The mileage and per diem of members, alone, have annually averaged over $220,000 since our organization as a State Goyernment. ‘This amount is exclusive of Legislative printing—the printing of the laws and journals, and the ‘contingent expenses of the twe houses, which a~ invunt in the aggregate for the same peried to $365,555,06, an average of over 121,000 annually. ‘These exorbitant expenditures may and ought to be preat~ ly reduced. So also with the Executive Derartment. The salary paid officers of State, if fixed upon a exash basis, are tanecessurily large, and with proper 4iscriminations may be reduced without ' practically diminishing the amoun! now received by them. The expenses incurred in the support and maintenance of our State Ho-pitals, too, are excessive and unwarranted b our present financial condition. Muc a3 we may regret the necessity, still it is certain, that as one of the means to restore the eredit of the State and preserve it, the very large aunual expenditures consequent upon the support of this system must needs be avoided. Ir appears from the Comptroller’s Report that appropriations for our hospitals for the present fiscal year exceed the sum of $238,000 So great an outlay we are in no condition to sustain, even were the necessity for it greater than at present is believed to exist. I ean de no less, therefore, than earnestly recommend that . Some measure be adopted, which, while it provides for the care of the indigent sick in such manner as the means and . resources of the State justify, shall relieve the Treasury ef the burdens of the existing hospital system. By adopting the suggestions which have been thus imperfectly esubmicted, it is estimated thas an annual saving may be effected te the State of $512.700 00, which consists of the following items: Surveyor General, $2.000 00 Sup. of Public Instruction, 4,500 00 Sup. of Pubiie Buildings, 4,000 00 Prison Inspectors, 6,000 00 Biennial Sessions, 171,000 00 Reduction of pay and mileage—pay to $8 per diem, mileage one-half, Limiting Sessions to 90 days, Reducing transportation of Prisoners from one dellar to fifty cents per mile, which 110 000 00 43,200 60 is recommended, 8,000 00 State Hospitals, 140,000 00 Reducing salary of Governor to $7,000, 3,000 Of Supreme Crt Judges to $7,000 3,000 Reducing namber of District Judges from 11 to 8, about, 12,000 5,000 Salary of District Attorney of San Francisco, {The message next states that the enormous sum of $157,933 89 has been paid as interest on our three per cent. . bonds. The resistance at San Francisco to! the tax on consigned goods 1s referred to . the Legislature. It is recommended chat the law be so) . amended as to authorize receiving state . war) ants for dues. . It complains of the frauds aguinst the state in the disposal of the water lots at San Francisco, and recommends the appointment of a committee to ascertain whether the limits of the city cannot be extended without injary to commerce. and ifse it is recommended to divide the additién in suitable lots to be leased for the benefit of the state. The refusal of the steamship companies to pay taxes in this state on the ground that the same property is taxed in the other states, is referred to. Two suits had been decided in favor of the State, others were pending. The subject of the public lands takes much space in the message. It opposes the action of the board of commissioners, especially in the Fremont decision. The blame of the states prison conteact is laid on the commissioners and on the law. §o,] a eee WHOLE NO. 142, I have, therefore, considered it proper to submit for your examination a copy of the contract, as well as direct your attention to the imperfections of the law, and commend the whole subject to your careful consideration. The amount appropriated by the last legislatnre for the relief of the overland emigration to this State has been devoted to the object designated by that body, and has served to mitigate the sufferings and save the lives of valuable citizens. The report of the agents herewith snbmitted, will more fully and in detail, exhibit their operations, The report of the Superintendant of Public Instruction contains many valuable suggestions on the interesting subject of education. California will, probably, as soon as it can be judiciously expended, possess ample means to foster and sustain a system o Common Schoo! Education, which must in time, give a high character to our civil institutions. The fund applicable to this object, the interest on whieh is annually appropriated for the exclusive support of common schools, is now nearly bes hanced thousand dollars, and when the residue of the school lands are sold, will amount to one million. This considerable sum is still not the full extent of our means, or the only resource, upon which our common school system rests } its fature prospects and hopes. The last ' Legislature, alive to the great interests of ed. mcation, and regarding its permanent and liberal support as intimately interwoven with the first duties of the representatives of a government which has derived form and . vitality, and the future existence of which maay be said to depend upon the intelligence of the people, wisely made provision for an ! additional sun, pledged to the extension of the blessings and bounties of knowledge and science, to — family within this, the youngest State of the confederacy. The addition means relied upon consists in an annual tax of five cents of the thirty impesed on each one hundred dollars of valuation which has already commenced flowing into the treasury, and on the 15th of December last, amounted to $1,687 16; and the amount of interest due onthe School Land Fund on the first day of January, 5,412 31; making a total of $16,099 46, now,in the treasury. The amount of assessment, deducting expenses of collection, $22,696 26, of which sum $12,009 10 is still due frem the several county treasuries. 4 The amount realised annually from taxation, as well as the interest accruing on thé amount derived from the sale of school lands has been set apart for the sustenance of this ennobling system, from which,in a few years, the children of the state will reap the rich reward it promises, and participate in the blessings of mental culture and improvemcnt dispensed by it, [The project of a Pacifie Railroad is advocated. The inadequacy of the force of the United States on the Pacific is stated, and it is recommended that Congress be memorialized to make adequate military provision for this State. A block of marble 4 ft. long and 22 inches square for the Washington Morument was in Sacramente, and would be shipped without delay. A recommendation of more promp!ness in passing important measures in the early part of the session ia made. In conclusion, the message says :] Under the guiding and protecting care of that Divine Geodness which has nurtured and preserved us heretofore, let us enter with cheerful confidence upon the labers awaiting usin the future. JOHN BIGLER. City or Vaiieso, Jan. 3, 1853. Synopsis of the President's Message. After Li the lack of partizan excitement, Mr. Fillmore returns thanks for the staying of the cholera, and the abundance of the year's harvest, notes the death of Daniel Webster in a brief tribute. and passes to the statement of the difficulties on the fishing question. The sum of the whole matter is, that a more liberal commercial footin , bes tween the United States and the British Provinces, is likely to be arranged the present winter, Respecting the Cuban affuird. we learn that the refusal of the Captain General to allow passengers and the mail to be landed in eertain cases for a reason which dees not furnish, in the opinion of this Government, even a good preog at ground for such a prohibition, has been made the subject of a serious remonstrance at Madrid, and he has no reason to doubt that due respect will be paid by the government of Her Catholic Majesty to the representations which the U. 8. Minister has been instructed te make on the subject. The refusal of a tripartite convention with Brapen sae England, for discountenancing all attempts for the ession of Cuba, is also noted in Sonneation wi th this subject. The action of Mexico disclaiming the rant of protection to the transit of tho sthmus, (be hopes) may be adjusted. — So aleo of the Costa Rica and Nicarargua difficulty. He next states that Venezuela has acknowledged some old claims of citizens of the United States, and that the tecent revolution of Baenos Ayres, and @ trea~ ty of commerce which had been concluded between the Republic of Uraguay, have given hope that these vast regions will be opened to the United States commerce. The Lobos Island question is settled “ the full acknowledgment of Peru's claim to them and their rich production —the guano. OF the U.S. acquisitions of territory [Concluded on Fourth Page.]