The Senate met at twelve o'clock, M., pursuant to the requirements of the Constitution of California. Lieutenant-Governor Wm. Holden, the President, addressed the Senate as follows: Gentlemen of THE SENATE: The hour having arrived, I call the Senate to order. After a separation for nearly two years, I am pleased to meet you of the last session in good health, with buoyant spirits, and eager to renew your labors for the benefit of those who have confided their trusts in you. To those who have but lately received the indorsement of the free white voters of their several districts, coming here impressed with their political sentiments and aspirations, I extend a hearty greeting. Amidst our congratulations and rejoicings, however, there is a sadness in the hearts of those who held seats in the Senate two years ago. The beloved and kindly expression of a venerable Senator [Mr. Perley], whose voice then mingled with yours, is not seen here to-day; he has passed to that country from whose bourne no traveller returns. Peace be to his slumbers. We have many causes of congratulation and rejoicing. Since we separated, many changes have been made in the moral, political and physical condition of the country. A kindlier and more fraternal sentiment exists among the people. Their will, so long smothered, has been triumphant. The Pacific has been united with bonds of iron to the Atlantic slope; the source of all wealth-mother earth-has yielded up an abundant harvest; joy and gladness beams from every husbandman's countenance; the hardy miner has been rewarded for his toils, and the honest mechanic, after eight hours labor, for which he is rewarded, seeks that solace and comfort in the bosom of his family for which his labors have prepared him. Senators: We are assembled for the first time in this chamber, which, for beauty and grandeur, is unsurpassed by but few, if any, of our sister States. I am much better pleased with the appearance of this chamber than I was with the old hall where we used to meet. It is convenient in its arrangement and commodious in its proportions, being fifty-six feet in width, seventy-three feet in length, having a beautifully ornamented ceiling, forty-eight feet high, supported by thirty-six pilas ters surmounted with entablature; ten massive fluted columns, of the Corinthian order, supporting this spacious gallery; all of which adorn as well as beautify this spacious hall. This happy mingling of colors by the painter's brush, this ingenious carving by the skilful worker in wood, that horn of plenty, this guardian angel of the liberties of the people, and this gracious smile of the father of our country upon us, all tend to impress the mind with pleasurable and patriotic emotions. Let us see to it, that the labor of those who reared these massive walls, as well as the artistic skill which adorned and beautified these halls, shall be fully compensated. If the laws you shall frame during this session shall have the same solidity, the same elegance of proportion, the same adaptability to the objects for which they are intended, as this structure, at the close of this session your constituents may well say, "Well done, good and faithful servants." Let the laws you shall enact here have the advancement of the interests of those you represent, the permanent well-being of this commonwealth, and the establishment and perpetuity of this Union for their objects, so that your children and your children's children may be proud to say, "My father was a member of the first Senate held in the new Capitol." Although this hall has never reverberated with the lofty eloquence of Edgerton, Kirkpatrick and Thornton, or the impressive strains of Ferguson or Griffith, now numbered among the dead, I see those before me who may make this quite as historic as the old. Whatever rules you may in your wisdom adopt for the government of the Senate, I shall feel it my sworn duty to enforce. I may err in my judgment, but be assured of this, that to whatever of experience I may have, and to whatever of ability I may possess, shall be added a constant and earnest attention to business. Nothing so much conduces to dispatch and the enactment of wise laws as a strict adherence to those settled forms of parliamentary procedure devised and perfected by the experience of the past. To this end I invoke your earnest co-operation. It is for you to make and for me to enforce the rules. In this manner only can the object of the rules, the dispatch of business and the protection of the rights of minorities, be obtained. Although I may not be entirely exempt from the fretfulness and impatience which are of no unfrequent occurrence with those whose duty it is to preside over legislative bodies, I shall deem it a serious misfortune if, in the petulance of the moment, I should deprive a Senator upon this floor of a right, or inflict upon him an undeserved or unnecessary punishment. You stand here the highest legislative body in the State, with no divided responsibility, and you may rest assured that your acts will be closely scrutinized by your constituents. If the dominant party expects to perpetuate its power, wisdom and moderation should pervade your councils. Economy in expenditures, special legislation for none, equal and exact justice to all, should be your shibboleth. Of the correctness and utility of your acts I have no doubts, and of the approbation of your constituents I have no fears. Let those laws of a proscriptive character, as well as those touching upon the personal and political rights of the people, now standing upon your statute books, be repealed, and, for charity's sake, let them be forgotten; but let none of a retaliatory nature be enacted. Thus you will prove your sincerity when advocating the personal and political rights of the people. That that dignity of deportment becoming your honorable positions, and that kindness of heart so ennobling in those holding exalted situations in life, may prevail, is my most earnest wish. The Chair now awaits the pleasure of the Senate. The Secretary will call the roll of the Senators holding over. The roll of the Senators holding over was called, and the following Senators responded: Beach, of Yuba and Sutter; Chappell, of Shasta and Trinity; Conly, of Butte, Plumas and Lassen; Conn, of San Bernardino and San Diego; Curtis, of Sacramento; Green, of Contra Costa and Marin; Hunter, of El Dorado; Kincaid, of San Mateo; Lawrence, of Mariposa, Stanislaus and Merced; Lewis, of Colusa and Tehama; McDougall, of Monterey and Santa Cruz; Morrill, of Calaveras; Murch, of Humboldt, Klamath and Del Norte; Pendegast, of Napa, Lake and Mendocino; Roberts, of Nevada, and Tweed of Placer. The newly elected Senators presented their credentials, and took the oath of office, administered by the Hon. Lorenzo Sawyer, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of California. The following are the names of the Senators elect, who responded to the call of the roll: Banvard, of Placer; Betge, of San Francisco; Burnett, of Sonoma; Comte, of Sacramento; Farley, of Alpine and Amador; Fowler, of Fresno, Kern and Tulare; Gwin, of Calaveras; Hutchings, of Yuba and Sutter; Irwin, of Siskiyou; Maclay, of Santa Clara; Minis, of Solano and Yolo; O'Conner, of Nevada; Orr, of San Joaquin; Perkins, of Butte, Lassen and Plumas; Tompkins, of Alameda; Turner, of Sierra; Wand, of San Francisco, and Wing, of Tuolumne, Inyo and Mono. By invitation of the President, Rev. W. R. Gober offered a prayer. PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT. Mr. Lewis offered the following resolution: Resolved, That the President of the Senate appoint a committee of three to prepare and report a system of rules for the government of the Senate; said committee to act with a committee of the Assembly in recommending the joint rules of both houses; and that such committee be instructed to report such Senate rules at the next meeting of this body. Adopted. In accordance with the foregoing resolution, the President appointed. the following committee on Senate rules: Messrs. Lewis, Mandeville and Murch. On motion of Mr. Pendegast, at twelve o'clock and twenty-eight minutes P. M., the Senate adjourned until twelve o'clock M. to-morrow. WILLIAM HOLDEN, President of the Senate. Attest: JOSEPH ROBERTS, Secretary of Senate. The Senate met pursuant to adjournment. The President in the Chair. The roll was called and a quorum present. The Journal of yesterday was read and approved. Henry Larkin, Senator elect from El Dorado, presented his credentials, and was sworn into office by the Honorable Lorenzo Sawyer, Chief Justice. Mr. Lewis from the committee on providing rules for the government of the Senate, asked and obtained leave for further time to report. APPOINTMENT OF PORTERS. The President announced the appointment of A. D. Rightmire and James Crosby as Porters for the Senate Chamber. POINT OF ORDER. Mr. Farley presented a list of persons nominated by a caucus of Democratic Senators, for officers of this body. Mr. Roberts raised the point of order, that no communication of such character could be received. The President decided the point of order well taken. Mr. Irwin offered the following resolution which was adopted: Resolved, That the Senate proceed to elect the following officers: The Senate, on motion of Mr. Pendegast, received nominations and elected the following officers: PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE. Mr. Pendegast nominated E. J. Lewis. |