COLORADO. 



115 



large proportion of the people of the Territory 

 not, desirous of admission to the Union. 

 The Senate accordingly refused to ord.T the hill 

 to a tliird reading; hut in the latter part of 

 April this action was reconsidered and the hiU 

 passed that hody. An amendment offered by 

 Mr. Sunnier, that the act "shall not take cflVct 

 with the fundamental condition that 

 within the State there shall he no denial of the 

 elective franchise, or any other right, on ac- 

 count of color or race, arid all persons shall bo 

 equal before the law," was defeated by a large 

 majority. Tho bill next went to the'IIouse of 



r, scntatives, where it also passed. 

 ( >n May 15th the President returned the bill 

 to Congress with his objections, the chief of 

 which were that the erection of Colorado into 

 a State was at that time unnecessary for the 

 welfare of the people; that it was not clearly 

 established that the people were desirous or 

 prepared for the change, and that the popula- 

 tion was insufficient, having decreased rather 

 than increased during the previous year. The 

 veto message will be found in PUBLIC Docu- 



MKNTS. 



In August an election for Delegate to Con- 

 gress took place in Colorado, at which George 

 M. Chilcott, the Republican candidate, received 

 3,529 votes against 8,421 thrown for A. C. Hunt, 

 the Democratic and Administration candidate, 

 and 40 scattering votes. The Territorial board 

 of canvassers found a majority for Chilcott over 

 Hunt of 108 votes, and gave a certificate of 

 election to the former ; but the Territorial Gov- 

 ernor, Alexander Cummings, gave a certificate to 

 Hunt, mainly on the ground that persons lately 

 in the Confederate service had voted for Chil- 

 cott. The State Legislature elected in 1865, in 

 anticipation of the speedy admission of Colorado 

 into the Union, retained its organization during 

 1866, although without any authority to con- 

 trol public affairs. It was Republican in both 

 branches. The Territorial Legislature had also a 

 Republican majority. 



An act of the Territorial Legislature passed in 

 1862 established the capital of Colorado at 

 Golden City, but until 1866 the Legislature con- 

 tinued to meet at Denver, thus practically ig- 

 noring the law. In the latter year Governor 

 Cummings transferred the executive department 

 of the government to Golden City, whence, on 

 December 10th, he transmitted his annual mes- 

 sage to the Legislature, which assembled as usual 

 at Denver. He stated that the mining interests,- 

 on which the prosperity of the Territory must 

 mainly depend, were recovering from their re- 

 cent depression, that the crops had been abun- 

 dant, and that on every hand the immense 

 resources of Colorado were "witnessing a fresh 

 development. "The mines, he said, "need 

 nothing but labor to make them profitable in 

 excess of all that has ever been claimed for 

 them ; the farmer is sure of largo harvests ; the 

 climate is wonderfully healthful and invigora- 

 ting, and every feature of the country invites 

 the immigrant, and gives to his industry the 



assurance of success. " He recommended that 

 branch roads should be constructed to intersect 

 l.oth lilies of tho Pacific Railroad, in order that 

 the mineral regions lying around Denver might 

 ho reached; and that Congress should be so- 

 licited to make appropriations in aid of this 

 object. The immigration from the East, he said, 

 had steadily increased during 1866, and the ap- 

 prehensions of an extensive Indian war, at one 

 tin ie prevalent, had been nearly dispelled. With 

 regard to the proposed admission of Colorado 

 as a State, he expressed himself as follows: 



During the past year, owing to the action of the 

 different departments of the national Government, 

 the people have been much excited on the subject of 

 the admission of Colorado as a State into the Union. 

 It would be idle to attempt to conceal the fact that 

 there are two parties to this issue in the Territory, 

 although a strenuous effort has been made to create 

 the impression abroad that the people were united 

 on the question. But here, where the evidence is 

 readily attainable, it would be equally idle to deny 

 that the party desiring a State government forms a 

 very small portion of the population, and is repre- 

 sented by those who seek personal aggrandizement 

 and place, at the expense of the welfare of the Terri- 

 tory. 



Governor Cummings then proceeded to de- 

 clare himself opposed to the State project on 

 three principal grounds, viz. : the illegality c^ 

 the convention by which the State constitution 

 was framed ; the failure of that instrument to 

 bestow the electoral franchise npon colored 

 men ; and the inadequacy of the population of 

 the Territory. Means had been taken, he com- 

 plained, to convey the impression that the popu- 

 lation of Colorado amounted to between fifty 

 and sixty thousand; but the returns of the 

 census, authorized by the previous Legislature 

 to be taken by the assessors of the different 

 counties, and the correctness of which he 

 thought could not be questioned, showed that 

 this estimate was very far from the truth. From 

 fourteen counties tho returns were as follows : 



Counties. 



Gilpin 6,847 



Jefferson 1,782 



Bowlder 1,456 



Conejos 2,269 



Costi'lla 2,192 



Las Animas 985 



Fremont 508 



Summit 456 



Counties. 



Park 552 



El Paso 565 



Arrapahoe 4,145 



Douglas 542 



Weld 1,192 



Pueblo. . . 800 



Total 24,331 



From the four remaining counties no returns 

 were received, and the Governor estimates the 

 population as follows : 



Counties. 



Counties. 



Laramie 600 



Clear Creek 1,500 



lluerfano 1,000 



Lake. 



Total. 



500 

 3,600 



This would give a grand aggregate of 27,931 

 tigainst 84,277, as returned by the census of 

 1860, showing an apparent decrease of 6,346 in 

 six years. 



Other objections, alleged by Governor Cnin- 

 mings, against the admission of Colorado were, 

 that the territorial treasury was without money 

 to begin the State government with, which 



