OCR Text |
Show 274 LEADING FACTS OF NEW MEXICAN HISTORY THE to slavery in any form. The constitution was adopted on the 20th of June, with little if any opposition, and at the same time state officers were elected. The legislature assembled on the first of July of the same year at Santa Fé,1°* where they elected two senators in congress, Otero, who came to Santa Fé about the year 1776. He afterwards moved to Valencia. Judge Otero lived at Peralta, when the Americans took possession of New Mexico, and was thirty-five years of age when Kearny made him judge. He presided over the third district court, which at that time comprised every- thing south of Santa Fé and all of what is today the territory of Arizona. He was a man of large views and commanding influence, and was held in high esteem by those who knew him personally. He received a portion of his education at Laguna, N. M., where he was taught by Father Pefiol, a Franciscan friar. He also studied with the eminent Rev. Antonio José Martinez, of Taos. He was endowed by nature with fine intellectual powers, all of which were deve and strengthened by a discipline which enabled him to comprehend readily an accurately the important the whole, viewed from questions demanding his attention in after years. On any standpoint, he seems to have given far greater satisfaction than did Judge Houghton. He was an excellent man and a just and impartial judge. He died in 1871, about sixty-one years of age, a and respected by all. Though the population of New Mexico is so largely Spanish, Judge Otero is the only man in the supreme court of the territory. of Spanish He origin was who a very ever held a ey man, rarely cautious giving expression to an opinion until, upon reflection, the matter under consideration was clearly and definitely fixed in his mind. It is a matter of wee than passing notice that Judge Otero, born and reared under the Spanish a Mexican governments, whose laws and customs were so different from those fe the United States, growing to manhood in a portion of the world, at tha time far removed from all the influences of modern thought and civilization, residing in a locality whose inhabitants were engaged six months in every year in wars with hostile Indians, could so well fill his place upon the bench. He delivered the only opinion from the superior court which has been preserved — the case of Joab Houghton, admr., vs. Manuel Armijo. 198 This legislative assembly memorialized congress guage, portraying the conditions existing in New in Mexico no uncertain lan- at that period a8 follows: ‘‘The inhabitants of New Mexico, since February 2, 1848, have groaned under a harsh law, forced upon them in time of war, when they weré thought undeserving of confidence. ‘*The military is independent of and superior to the civil power. ii ‘‘The inhabitants have no voice or influence they are governed. ‘“*Some power other than the congress Judges dependent on its will alone for amount and payment of their salaries. ‘Some power other us to a jurisdiction than foreign the congress of the of tenure the to the constitution laws. ‘“We are taxed without our consent and plied to the public benefit, but embezzled people. in making the of United and the laws by whie United States, their has offices, States has unacknowledged taxes when by officers sa ae and ¢ ‘ catad subjec a by collected are not i irresponsible to pi ‘“No public officer in New Mexico is responsible to the people. JU a unlearned in law, decide upon life, liberty and property. Prefects and alca impose fines and incarcerate without the intervention of a jury. ** Alealdes assail the rights of the people freely who exercise : their ligion Té 18 WAR WITH MEXICO 275 Francis A. Cunningham and Richard H. Weightman. At the state election Henry Connelly was elected governor and Manuel Alvarez lieutenant-governor. Dr. Connelly, being absent in the states, Alvarez was acting governor for the time being, who, supported by Major Weightman and the legislature then in session, as well as by all of the newly elected officials, attempted at once to put the state government into full operation without waiting for any action by congress. This action caused a very lengthy and acrimonious correspondence between Governor Alvarez and Colonel Munroe, who forbade any assumption of civil power by the officials who had been chosen by the people.’ The position taken by Colonel Munroe brought forth a vigorous protest °° from the legislature as appears without restriction and dictate the sacraments of the church. ‘‘The full extent of the to congregations power to control what and priest injure shall which administer this unre- Strained and organized band of office-holders wielded can only be entirely understood when it is known that the military commander held to no accountability civil officers charged with assaults upon the religion of the country and embezzlement of the public funds. ‘‘The influence of the quartermaster’s department in the elections was by no means an inconsiderable one. With its army of employes, with its con- tracts forage to let, with its agencies to purchase the entire surplus of the corn and of the country, and with its easy means of communication by express, at government expense, it proved itself very formidable; and this influence with some honorable exceptions was thrown against the state party. _ “This web of influence extending to the frontiers of New Mexico was, like the other, organized and, like it, also easily managed from the center; and the managers of both webs were acting in concert and, as has already been told, against the state party. , ‘At this time there was available only territory, and it belonged to the government. : one printing-press in the entire This press was sold and fell in- to the hands of the territorial party. It was used solely for the advancement of the interests of that faction and, being owned by an army sutler and contractor, and edited by Judge Houghton and the chief clerk of the quartermaster, all communications of the state party were excluded from the columns or the Paper. That party could not secure the printing of its ballots and upwards of twenty thousand tickets, issued by the state party, were written out by hand. "With the press against the state party, the office holders against it, and © moneyed interests of the government against it, it cannot be said that the State movement was born of or grew to manhood by executive influence. It appears clearly that the voice of the people, as expressed ballots, made itself heard under very difficult circumstances.’’ — Letter byof R.their H. Weight- ver 32d Congress, Ist session, p. 325. ak t ij * The position taken by Colonel Munroe and by Mr. Alvarez 1s well outined ‘nan official communication from Alvarez to Colonel Munroe, of July 13, 1850. See The Military Occupation of New Mewico, 1846-1851, R. E. Twitchell, “nver, 1909, where this letter is given in full. “°° Twitchell, R. E., The Military Occupation Pp. 191.2, gives the text of this resolution as of New follows: Mexico, ‘‘ Whereas, 1846-1851, a letter |