T. Butler King's report on California.: Message from the President of the United States, transmitting the report of T. Butler King, esq., heretofore appointed bearer of despatches and special agent to California ...

Doc. No. 5,9.
Territory, there was none of the machinery of party or of the press; and
it is even more absurd to suppose that any secret injluences, for or against
slavery, could have been used tlhere, than it would be to believe that
they could be successfully emlployed in Maryland or Georgia.
I therefore declare all assertions and ill)sinllationjs that I wm secretly
instructed to, or that I did, in any way, attempt to influtence the people of
California to exclude slavery from, their Territory, to be without foundation.
The election of delegates to the convention proceeded regularly, in pursuance of the proposed mode of holding it; antid, as far as I amn informed,
no questions were asked whethler a candidate was a whig or a democrat.
or whether he was fromn the North or the South. h'lhe only object seemed
to be to find competent men who were williiig to make the sacrifice of timne
which a proper discharge of their duties would require.
As soon after niy arrival at Sani Fraticisco as the arrangetnents of Gen.eral Smith would perriit, 1 proceed(led with hinr to the ii)terlor of the cou.iitry, for the pnrl)se of examining the gold region and other interesting
and important portions of it. I did not return un}til the [Gtti of August.
The elections had taken place when I was in tle moultitaitis. 1 wxas
taken ill on the 20'th of ttiat moiith, alid was confined to my bed and nly
roomi more than two months.
The convention met on the 1st of September. So it will be seen that
I was not present where any election was held, nor had I anythilng to do
with selecting or bringing out ca-ididates; atid mny illtiess is sufficient prootf
that I did not and coied ilot, had I beeti dis-)sed, exercise anty itifluelice
in the convention, which was sittilng oJte hlundred anid thirty niles from
where I was.
Some intimations or assertions, as I am informed, have been thrown
out that the Southt was not fairly represented in the conrvenition. I amn
told by two of the members of Coiigress eleet frotn Califorlnia, wIl!o were
members of the convention, thl-at, of the thirty seveni delegates designated in General Riley's proclatimation,,,ixteen were froim slaveholding, ten
from the non-slaveholding States, arid eleven wYere citizens of California under the lvexican goverlirnent, and that ten of those elevein cantie
from districts below 36~ 3t)'. S,) that there were in the convention
twenty six of the thirty seven meniebers from thle slaveholding States and
fiom })laces south of the MAissouri coiilpro)nise litie.
It appears, ont the journal of the coilve-ition, that the clause in the constitutioli excluding slavery passed utarnimously.
1 now proceed to give youl the result o mny inquiries, observations, and
reflections, respecting the ppultation, cliniare, sol[ prltiC siIS; thie geieral character of gra[its of lajd r)m MNexico; the extent aijd cotidition of
the publlic domain; the coimtieicial resoutrces arid prosl)ects, thte mtinieral
arid nietallic weattil, of Caliltoriia.
Popul,'tiom.
HumbolIt, in his "' Fssay on N,,-w Spain," states the population of
Upper Califortia, iii. 18S)2, to hlave consisted ofConvered Iticdians - - - - - 15,562
Other classes - - - - - 1,300
16,862
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