that any such direction has been given in this case. The governer, therefore, requests that you will inform him from whom you received such direction. Agreeably to your request, the governor will offer a reward for the apprehension of the prisoner. By order of Governor Riley: J. M. LEAVENWORTH, H. W. HALLECK, Brevet Captain, and Secretary of State. First Alcalde, District of San Francisco, California. Know all men by these presents, that I, Bennet Riley, brevet brigadier general United States army, and governor of California, do hereby appoint Joshua B. Haven notary public in and for the district of San Francisco. Done at Monterey, California, this third day of May, eighteen hundred and forty-nine. Official: B. RILEY, Brevet Brigadier General, and Governor of California. H. W. HALLECK, Brevet Captain, and Secretary of State. STATE DEPARTMENT OF THE TERRITORY OF CALIFORNIA, Monterey, May 3, 1849. SIR: I am directed by the governor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 30th ultimo, and to say that it affords him great pleasure to be able to forward you the appointment of notary public in and for the -district of San Francisco. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. B. HAVEN, H. W. HALLECK, Brevet Captain, and Secretary of State. San Francisco, California. CIRCULAR STATE DEPARTMENT OF THE TERRITORY OF CALIFORNIA, Monterey, May 3, 1849. The instructions from this office to the collector of San Francisco, dated February 24, 1849, (copies of which have been sent to the other collectors,) contain the views of the governor respecting the collection of customs in California. Those views. will continue to be carried out in every particular. The custom-house books and papers will be kept as near as possible in accordance with the regulations of the Treasury Department, and the accounts sent to this office for transmission to Wash ington. Monthly summary statements of revenue collected will be made out and forwarded to this office at the end of every month; and the quarterly accounts and papers will, at the end of every quarter, he submitted to the quartermaster of the nearest post for his examination; and if there should be no such officer in the vicinity, or he should fail to examine the accounts within a reasonable time, they will be sent directly to this office. As all matters relating to port regulations in California were assigned by the President to the commander-in-chief of the Pacific squadron, (and it is not known that these instructions have been changed,) the collector will on such subjects act in accordance with the views of the commanding naval officer. Such instructions have heretofore been communicated by the commodore through the governor; but if they shall be sent directly to the collectors, they will nevertheless be obeyed. In all other matters relating to the collection and disbursement of the revenue in California, the collectors (until further instructions) will be subject only to the order of the governor; and no orders, unless emanating from him, or communicated through hin, will be recognised or obeyed; and all officers having or receiving these civil funds will be held to a strict accountability, and no portion of them will be paid out or transferred or loaned to any military fund, without a written order of the governor communicated through the proper channel. The difficulties which have occurred in keeping these civil funds separate from the appropriation for military purposes, and the frequent delays in making out accounts and returns-difficulties attributed to the fact that orders have been received and acted on which did not emanate from the governor, or were not communicated through the proper channels-render it necessary that these instructions be rigorously enforced. The military officers appointed to receive the revenue from the collectors will render to this office monthly summary statements at the end of every month, and their quarterly papers at the end of every quarter. Such portion of the civil funds as may be required for that purpose will be expended to pay the expenses of the civil government of California,. and the remainder held subject to orders from Washington.. By order of Governor Riley: H. W. HALLECK, Brevet Captain, and Secretary of State. Know all men by these presents, that I, Bennet Riley, brevet brigadier general United States army, and governor of California, in virtue of authority in me vested, do hereby appoint Jabez Halleck notary public and commissioner of deeds in and for the district of Monterey. Done at Monterey, California, this 3d day of May, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and forty-nine. Official: B. RILEY, Brevet Brigadier General, and Governor of California. H. W. HALLECK, Brevet Captain, and Secretary of State. STATE DEPARTMENT OF THE TERRITORY OF CALIFORNIA, Monterey, May 5, 1849. SIR: Your letters of April 20 and 24, (erroneously directed to General Smith,) have been referred to Brigadier General Riley, commanding 10th military department, and governor of California, who directs me to present you his thanks for the information they contain. A military force has been ordered to the Sacramento valley, as you sug gest, to assist in maintaining public order, and in checking the mutual encroachments of the whites and Indians. Copies of your letters, and also of instructions to sub-Indian agents, dated August 16, 1847, have been sent to the commanding officer in the Sacramento district, who will render you every necessary assistance in carrying out the instructions of the government towards the Indians. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Captain J. A. SUTTER, H. W. HALLECK, Brevet Captain, and Secretary of State. Sub-Indian Agent, Sacramento city, California. STATE DEPARTMENT OF THE TERRITORY OF CALIFORNIA, Monterey, May 6, 1849. GENTLEMEN: By a decree of the governor, of this date, you have been named commissioners to examine into certain complaints against the 1st alcalde of the district of San Francisco. You are empowered to call for persons and papers, to administer oaths, and examine witnesses. You will assemble in the town of San Francisco as soon as practicable after the receipt of your appointment; and before entering upon the investigation, you will each take an oath faithfully and truly to perform the duties assigned to you. You will give to the alcalde (J. M. Leavenworth, esq.) due notice of the time and place of your meeting. A full record of your proceedings will be signed by each commissioner and transmitted to the governor, with your opinion whether there are sufficient grounds to justify the governor in exercising the power vested in him of removing from office. It may not be necessary to investigate all the charges that may be preferred against said alcalde; for if the commissioners, upon a thorough investigation of any one complaint, find that there are sufficient grounds for removal, they will close their proceedings and report to the governor for his action in the premises. Full trial for mal-administration of office may be had before a higher tribunal which shall possess power to inflict the proper punishment. One of the charges which you are called to investigate, is that of permitting the escape of a man named Passenger, (or Passanger,) who was charged with the crime of rape. Any other complaints made against said alcalde for official misconduct will be received by you, and, if necessary, fully investigated. You will be entitled to $10 per diem for every day you are in session. The fees of sheriff or constable for summoning witnesses, and witnesses for attendance on court, will be such as are usually charged by the alcalde's court in San Francisco. STATE DEPARTMENT OF THE TERRITORY OF CALIFORNIA, SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 8th instant. You say that one of your predecessors, Mr. Colton, sold town lands to various individuals, but left no record in your office of the governor's orders with respect to such sales, nor any plans to indicate what lands have been sold and what are still saleable, and that, under these circumstances, you wish the advice of the governor before proceeding to make any further sales. Your letter has been laid before Governor Riley, who directs me to reply as follows: 1. Neither Governor Kearny nor Governor Mason gave to alcalde Colton any power to sell lands. Governor Mason directly questioned the power of the alcalde to make such sales, and demanded of him his authority for so doing; to which the said alcalde repied, in effect, that the limits of the town were understood to be half a league from the church, but that he had no record of these limits, or of their extension; that it was the custom at least, if not the law, for the alcalde, with the advice of the ayuntamiento, to sell the lands within the town limits. 2. The most recent law that can be found in the government archives, and which is believed to be still in force, gives to the ayuntamiento power to sell out as solares the municipal lands (proprios) which have been regularly granted to the town. But the common lands (egidos) cannot be sold without special authority, nor can any town sell land without the limits of the grant made for the town, for all such lands belong to the government, and cannot be sold without the authority of Congress. The alcalde, being the executive officer of the town, may, it is believed, with the consent of the ayuntamiento, make sales and sign deeds in the name of the town; but it is thought he cannot sell without such consent. If there are no regidors and sindicos in the town of Monterey, the governor requests that you give due notice, and hold an election for filling the vacancies; and that when the ayuntamiento is formed, you will take their advice in this matter of land sales. But you are hereby forbidden to make any sales of land beyond the recognised limits of the town, or which has been occupied or designated for military purposes, the laws especially reserving all such for the use of the general government. 3. The law requires that the alcalde shall register in his office all sales of town lands, and that he shall keep a plan of the town, upon which shall be designated the land belonging to each individual. If the alcalde of Monterey has no such plan, the governor would strongly advise that no further sales be made until the town is properly surveyed and a plan formed; for otherwise innumerable difficulties will necessarily occur in the adjustment of titles, and the town authorities be liable to prosecution for damages for selling the same land to two or more individuals. However important it may be to raise funds for the expenses of the town, it is still more important that the proceedings of the municipality be conducted according to law, and in such a manner as not to infringe upon the rights of government or the claims of individual citizens. This letter will be laid before the ayuntamiento, and filed in the office of the alcalde. By order of Governor Riley: H. W. HALLECK, Brevet Captain, and Secretary of State. Señor Don IGNACIO ESQUER, Alcalde at Monterey. San Francisco. The above suspension will take effect on the receipt by the alcalde of a copy of this decree. Given at Monterey, California, this 6th day of May, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and forty-nine. Official: B. RILEY, Brevet Brig. Gen. commanding 10th Military Department, and Governor of California. H. W. HALLECK, Brevet Captain, and Secretary of State. PROCLAMATION. The undersigned has been directed by the Secretary of War, while exercising the functions of governor of California, to assist the civil authority of the country, with the military forces under his command, in executing the laws and maintaining public tranquillity. It is desirable that a portion of these forces should be employed in maintaining order in the gold districts, and also in restraining the Indian horse-thieves, who, in the absence of the rancheros from the southern districts, are driving the horses to the mountains and committing numerous robberies and murders; but in order to accomplish these objects, it is absolutely necessary that the civil authorities and all good citizens lend their aid and assistance to the naval and military commanders, by arresting deserters and restoring them to their ships and garrisons. Tempted by the flattering prospect of sudden wealth in the gold regions, and forgetful of their oaths and obligations to government, sailors and soldiers desert their colors, and leave their ships and military stores without the means of security and defence. The crews of merchant vessels, also yielding to the same seductive hopes, leave their vessels helpless and exposed to destruction by the elements. Very few of these merchant vessels which enter our ports are able to proceed on their voyages, and the owners are obliged to cover by the price of their cargoes the detention and loss of the vessels which bring them, thus severely taxing the productive industry of the country to pay for the neglect of the civil authorities to compel men to fulfil the obligations which they have voluntarily contracted. The civil authorities, however, can do little towards enforcing the laws without the countenance and assistance of the people themselves. The evils resulting from this state of things are daily increasing, and if allowed to continue, the discovery of the gold placers, instead of benefiting California, will prove her greatest curse. It is hoped, therefore, that all good citizens will give to the civil and military authorities their cordial aid and co-operation in the execution of their duties and the maintenance of public order. Given at Monterey, this 6th day of May, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and forty-nine. Brev. Brig. Gen. U. S. Army, Official: B. RILEY, commanding 10th M. Dept., and Governor of California. H. W. HALLECK, Brevet Captain, and Secretary of State. |