Your California Governments in Action, Second Edition

By Winston W. Crouch and John C. Bollens

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1960.

• Language: English
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Release date: Apr 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9780520328303

Winston W. Crouch

Winston W. Crouch was Professor of Political Science, Emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles. At the time of original publication, Beatrice Dinerman was Project Director of the Welfare Planning Council in Los Angeles. 

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Your California Governments in Action

Your CALIFORNIA

Governments in Action

SECOND EDITION

WINSTON W. CROUCH AND JOHN C. BOLLENS

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES 1964

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, LONDON, ENGLAND © 1954, 1960, BY THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SECOND EDITION, REVISED THIRD PRINTING, 1964 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NO. 60-11527 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Preface to the Second Edition

California is a state of growth and change. We have been impressed with this fact in preparing the second edition of Your California Governments in Action. Many important developments have occurred in the governments of our state since this book was first published in 1954. We have incorporated the most significant of them in this new edition, and have used numerous new illustrations that help to explain activities.

Acknowledgment is gladly given to numerous educators, public officials, and private citizens who have aided in our effort to make this new edition accurate, interesting, and realistic. Special appreciation is expressed to the large number of teachers who used the first edition and volunteered suggestions about its content. In striving to make each edition of Your California Governments in Action highly useful, we continue to invite the comments of its users.

W. W. C. and J. C. B.

Contents

Contents

1Making California’s Constitution

2The Constitution in Operation

3A Partner in the Federal Union

4The Voters and Elections

5Organizing the State Legislature

6The State Legislature Acts

7Direct Legislation: The People Decide

8The Executive Branch: The Governor

9The Executive Branch: Other Elected Officers

10Judges and Juries

11What the State Government Does

12County Government

13City Government

14Special Districts

Index

1 Making California’s Constitution

California became the thirty-first state of the Union with a popularly adopted constitution in 1850, one year after it became United States territory. Thus, very little time was spent in the status of a federal territory after Mexico ceded the region to the United States.

FROM BEAR FLAG REPUBLIC TO

STATE OF THE UNION

Settlers from the United States began coming into California in the 1820’s to engage in ranching and commerce. They became very dissatisfied with the local government and urged that the area break away from Mexico. The Bear Flag Republic, set up at Sonoma, was one of the products of this unrest. When the United States and Mexico went to war in 1846, American residents in California helped overcome the Mexican forces and a military government was established in December, 1846, under Commodore Robert F. Stockton of the U.S. Navy. Stockton drew up a constitution to guide the military government, providing for a governor and a legislative council of seven members appointed by him. Local officials were to be elected. Customs recognized by Mexican law were to be retained.

Government of California soon shifted from military to civilian control, and the federal government in Washington appointed General Stephen W. Kearny governor and directed him to govern the territory through civilian administrators.

Separating from Mexico

Terms of the peace treaty between the United States and Mexico, signed in 1848 and known as the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, transferred California permanently to the

The state flag is patterned after one flown by a group of American settlers who revolted against Mexican rule in California on June 14, 1846, at Sonoma. The Bear Flag Revolt ended when the

American flag was raised on

July 7,1846.

United States. Congress thereupon became responsible for establishing a regular system of government in this new possession.

In the midst of the discussions about getting up a permanent government under United States law, word spread that James Marshall had discovered gold at John Sutter’s mill near Coloma. The news spread eastward and even around the world. People began coming in large numbers. Shiploads of gold seekers arrived in San Francisco harbor, and passengers and crew set out for the mines in the mountains. Wagon trains plodded across the great prairies and over the mountains to California, bringing additional searchers. Clearly a permanent government was needed more than ever. Congress had not yet set up even a territorial government, a form of government that has usually been set up by law of Congress when a new territory has too few settlers and too little wealth to conduct a state government.

Calling a Constitutional Convention

In 1849, General Bennett Riley, the acting governor of California, took the responsibility of calling a convention to draw up a plan of government and a constitution. He set August 1 of that year for the election of delegates to the convention. Governor Riley had called for the election of thirty-seven delegates, but some sections of the state were growing so fast that they were permitted to choose additional delegates. Fortyeight delegates were seated when the convention met in Monterey on September 3, 1849.

The Delegates

Colton Hall, the building in which the first state constitutional convention met, still stands in Monterey and is maintained as a museum in the public park in the center of town. Pictures and records on display there show that almost all the delegates at this convention were young men in their twenties and thirties. Some, like Pico, Dominguez, Vallejo, and de la Guerra, had been born in California and were members of old families that had been large landowners and prominent in affairs even in Mexican and Spanish times. Others, like W. M. Gwin of San Francisco, J. M. Jones of San Joaquin, John McDougal of Sacramento, and Pacificus Ord of Monterey, had lived in California only a few months before being elected to the convention. The majority of the convention had lived in other American states until three years before this convention. The majority also were lawyers or merchants, although several were farmers, and a few were officers in the Army or Navy. Probably most of the delegates had some connection with gold mining. All in all, the convention was representative of the various groups in California at that time and presented a good cross section of opinion.

Dr. Robert Semple of Sonoma, who had been in the state five years and had been active in leading the American residents in the fighting in 1846, was elected president of the convention. Most of the business of the convention was conducted in English, but translations were made for the Spanishspeaking members, and both languages were used in recording the transactions.

One of the first decisions of the convention was to work for a state government rather than to propose a federal territory. Efforts of the convention thereafter were directed toward drawing up a state constitution which, if approved by the voters of California and by the national Congress, would permit California to be admitted to the Union as a state with full self-government.

Preparing the Constitution

The convention took six weeks to write the constitution. Delegates used the constitutions of New York and Iowa as models, and the wording of those two constitutions appears in several places in the California document. W. M. Gwin, a very active member of the convention, had participated in the Iowa constitutional convention. Several members of the convention at Monterey had come from New York. It was agreeable to most of the delegates to use these two state constitutions as models.

The slavery question was argued in the convention. It was agreed that slavery would not be permitted in the proposed

DELEGATES TO FIRST STATE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

new state. After extensive debate, it was decided also to admit free Negroes to the state. It must be remembered that this was twelve years before the Civil War.

There was also much controversy in the convention over

The first California constitutional convention met in Colton Hall, Monterey, on September 3,1849. The convention sessions were held on the second floor of the hall.

the boundary lines for the proposed new state. At one stage, an effort was made to divide the state into two parts, northern and southern.

The constitution which was finally agreed upon called for a state government headed by a Governor and a Lieutenant Governor, each elected for two-year terms. A legislature was to be made up of a Senate and an Assembly; senators were to be elected for two-year terms and members of the Assembly for one. Judges were to be elected rather than appointed. A Bill of Rights was modeled closely on that part of the Iowa state constitution. The right of voting was guaranteed to all adult male citizens.

Provision was made for amending the constitution as need arose. Amendments could be proposed by either house of the Legislature and, when approved by both houses, were to be submitted to the voters of the state. This was a new trend. Originally, the other states had not submitted constitutional amendments to the voters, but were beginning now to do so.

Approval by the People

The proposed constitution was put before the voters at an election on November 13, 1849, and approved by a vote of 12,061 to 811. At the same election the voters were asked to select officers to conduct affairs if the constitution were adopted and if Congress admitted California to the Union. Peter H. Burnett was chosen Governor. Two members of Congress were chosen, and state senators and assemblymen were elected.

Becoming a State

The Legislature met in San Jose, the new state capital, in December, 1849, and selected General John C. Frémont and William M. Gwin as United States Senators. Although California was not yet officially a state, the Legislature set about passing laws under the new constitution. Communication with the national capital was slow, and as each new state applied for admission to the Union, Congress was concerned whether it would favor the South or the North. President Zachary Taylor submitted the California constitution to Congress on February 13, 1850, but action was delayed.

Senators Fremont and Gwin arrived in Washington and worked diligently to obtain the desired statehood. Finally, on September 9, 1850, Congress adopted a resolution which began: Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the State of California shall be one, is declared to be one, of the United States of America, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original states in all respects whatever. President Millard Fillmore signed the document, and California became a state of the Union. Its constitution came into full effect on that date. In honor of the occasion, California each year observes September 9 as Admission Day and makes it a legal holiday.

THE MOVEMENT FOR A SECOND CONSTITUTION

The constitution which was adopted in 1849 served California for thirty years. There were some amendments during those years but they did not change the pattern of state government very much. One change gave the Governor a four-year instead of a two-year term of office. Frederic F. Low, who was inaugurated Governor on December 10, 1863, was the first California Governor to serve four years. Another change made the Secretary of State elected by the voters of the state rather than appointed by the Governor. The article of the constitution that concerned the courts was also rewritten.

Criticisms of the First Constitution

This first constitution served well enough for most purposes. There was little or no criticism of what it contained. Instead, discussion centered on what it did not contain, in light of the experience of operating a government under it.

Taxation.—One criticism was that the constitution did not contain directives about taxation. The Legislature had almost complete authority to determine what kinds of taxes should be levied and how the tax laws were to be applied. There were some complaints of favoritism and other charges that the Legislature had frightened away from the state investors who felt there was not sufficient protection against discriminatory taxes.

Regulation.—There was also some complaint that no provision was made for regulation of businesses such as railroads.

Making California’s Constitution | 9 In 1869 the transcontinental railroad had been completed over the Sierra Nevada. Railroads were being built throughout the state to link cities and to provide a means for shipping ranch products. The Legislature created a Railroad Commission to regulate the rates the railroads could charge, but the next session of the Legislature abolished the commission. A number of groups that were beginning to depend upon railroads to ship their goods thought the Railroad Commission should be created by the constitution which would prevent the Legislature from changing it.

State Lands.—There were no restrictions in the constitution upon the sale or disposing of state lands. When California became a state, it had been given large acreage of timber and other lands for the purpose of financing a public school system. Also, the publicly owned land along the coast had been turned over to the state. Various sessions of the Legislature had been very lax in disposing of state lands. In many instances large acreages along the water front had been turned over to promoters who promised to develop harbors but often did nothing except hold the land in the hope of selling it for a large profit. A number of political arguments also sprang up about the practice of state, city, and county governments’ buying stock in railroad companies and giving large sums of money to persuade the railroad to build through the town. Los Angeles had offered such rewards to the railroad that was building down from the north, but after accepting the city’s gift the railroad threatened to turn its lines away from the city unless an additional gift were made. These controversies brought out many suggestions regarding what the state government should do.

Cities.—The constitution of 1849 authorized the Legislature to create city governments whenever needed. Several of the mining communities soon felt the need for a city government to preserve law and order and asked the Legislature to set up a city government for them. The Legislature, however, abused its authority in some instances. If the new city elected a group of officers that was not popular with the members of the Legislature from that area, the Legislature sometimes abolished the city government. Other cities found the powers of their government changed by the Legislature if the city council did not give in to the wishes of a political group that had strong backing in the Legislature. Consequently, some people demanded that the constitution should protect city governments from this kind of arbitrary action.

Changing Conditions

By 1879, California’s population was seventeen times as large as in 1849. Agriculture had become one of the chief means of support of the population. Mining, however, was still in first place, although changing its method in important ways. In 1849, much of the mining had been done by digging with pick and shovel into the earth near streams and washing the gold from the dirt and rocks in pans. By 1879, most of the gold near the surface had been mined and seams of ore-bearing rock had to be dug far below the surface of the soil. This kind of mining was expensive and required financial support that made it necessary to organize companies. Mining and railroad companies became large employers.

The railroad companies had brought in many Chinese to help construct the railroad over the mountains from the cast. By 1879, most of this work had been completed, and the Chinese were released to look for other employment. Some of them went into the mines, but most of them went to the cities and took work in laundries, restaurants, or homes.

In the late 1870’s hard times struck. Many businesses failed, mines shut down, and banks closed. Thousands of men were out of work. Farmers had a difficult time getting money for their farm products and therefore found it hard to repay the loans which banks had made them to buy their farms and equipment. Farmers and businessmen were unable to pay their taxes for the support of city, county, and state government.

New Political Groups

In the midst of this economic unrest, several political movements sprang up, two of them particularly strong. One found its strength among the farmers, many of whom were angry at the bankers for pressing the repayment of loans and keeping interest rates the same as before the depression. Farmers in many parts of the state believed that the railroads were charging too much to haul farm products and were favoring some areas as against others in providing cars to ship produce. There were numerous demands that the state constitution be changed to prevent these matters from happening.

Unemployed workingmen, particularly in San Francisco, gathered on vacant lots and listened to political orators advocate ways of solving the problems of the state. An eloquent and shrewd young man by the name of Denis Kearney soon emerged as the leader of these sand-lot meetings. He organized a political party known as the Workingmen’s Party, and although its membership was chiefly in San Francisco, it had influence in Monterey, Stockton, and Sacramento. It soon became a force in state politics. The Kearneyites were vigorous in their attacks upon banks and corporations. They also turned upon the Chinese, believing that these men competed with them for jobs. One of the Kearneyite slogans was Out with the Chinese. Chinese were attacked by mobs in San Francisco. Several banks were attacked and their windows broken. Fear and unrest spread in many parts of the state.

THE SECOND CONSTITUTION

An Election in Troubled Times

Several attempts were made in the early 1870’s to call a constitutional convention to write a new state constitution, but the proposals had never secured enough votes. In 1877, however, the voters decided that a convention should be called, and the Legislature set the necessary machinery in motion to organize the meeting. Immediately the political struggle became one to elect delegates.

Kearney’s Workingmen’s Party was about at the peak of its strength. Many people had joined it who were neither workingmen nor unemployed; they had jumped on a political bandwagon that seemed to be gaining prominence and becoming influential. Several Workingmen candidates for delegate to the constitutional convention were lawyers or other politically active people who had joined the party shortly before. This party had its strength in the cities.

Opponents of Kearneyism urged all opposed to this new movement to get together on a nonpartisan basis and elect candidates who would prevent the Kearney group from influencing the writing of the new constitution. They were not in agreement as to what they would seek in the convention, but they agreed in their opposition to the Workingmen’s Party.

The major political parties also put up candidates. Excitement ran high in the state before this election, and there was much political activity. At the election, held in June, 1878, the Workingmen elected 57 delegates, the Nonpartisans elected 78, the Republican Party 11, and the Democratic Party 10.

Writing the New Constitution

When the constitutional convention met in Sacramento in September, 1878, there was much maneuvering for control of the convention. Although the Workingmen did not have a majority, they were able to line up almost enough support to win the presidency of the convention. They were able to get many of their delegates on committees that studied and recommended sections on corporation regulation, railroads, taxation, and exclusion of the Chinese. The Workingmen lined up support from among the other groups to get many of their ideas adopted regarding railroad regulation, taxation of banks, and restrictions upon the Chinese. They, in turn, supported rural delegates in getting exemption from taxation for growing crops and changes in taxation of mortgages and the like.

Almost every group in the convention was excited about one or more difficulties that concerned it and wanted to write something into the constitution about the matter. Since no group had a clear-cut majority for its view, it usually had to modify its proposals in some way to pick up added votes. The result was that in a great many instances the convention wrote into the new constitution matters that normally would have been the subject of legislation adopted by the Legislature. The delegates wanted these matters put into the constitution where the Legislature could not change them easily. Thus many subjects of a highly controversial nature were put into the constitution draft.

The convention worked from September, 1878, to March, 1879. The completed draft was not entirely satisfactory to any group, but it contained much of interest to all groups. The campaign that followed was intense and feelings ran high.

The People’s Decision

A number of writers in this state and in the East denounced the proposed constitution as a radical document, one intended to crush corporations and all forms of business enterprise. Its tax provisions were bitterly criticized. On the other hand, the proposed constitution was attacked by those of the opposite view for not going far enough, and many of the Workingmen faction became cynical and complained that their group had been outmancuvered or had been persuaded away from its original program by the opposition. The election results on May 7, 1879, were relatively close. The new constitution was adopted by a vote of 77,959 to 67,134.

American military forces, aided by American settlers, occupied California during the Mexican War in 1846-1848. The first government was set up by the military commander, Discovery of gold in 1849 brought in so many people that a strong demand was made to set up state government. A constitutional convention was called, a constitution was prepared, and officers were elected in 1849-1850. After some delay, caused partly by lack of communication between California and the national capital and partly by the struggle between Northern and Southern states over the admission of new states, Congress approved the proposed constitution and admitted California to the Union. California became a state without ever having been under territorial government.

The first state constitution was satisfactory as a starter, but the people of the state found a number of subjects that they felt should be in the constitution. After twenty-eight years, a move to elect a constitutional convention to write a new constitution succeeded. This election came during a severe economic depression when there was much unrest in the state. Consequently, the convention delegates were divided on policies; many wanted to write into the constitution a large number of ideas that grew out of the unrest. The constitution they drafted was quite long and contained many subjects that usually have been left to the Legislature rather than placed in a constitution.

INFORMATION PLEASE

1. Who was the first United States citizen to head the government in California?

2. When