"Officialdom": California state government, 1849-1879

California History, Wntr, 2003 by Judson A. Grenier

It was common, however, for political parties out of power to attack state governments controlled by the opposition. Some examples of that rhetoric follow.

The Whig Party meeting in convention on July 6, 1857, proclaimed that "We most heartily disapprove and condemn the administration and government of the state since the organization thereof, the results of which have eventuated in squandering $1,500,000 by the official cormorants who have been a constant curse upon the state." The Republican Party convention, on June 28, 1871, denounced "the scandalous abuse of power exhibited by a democratic legislature in the creation of useless offices, boards and commissions, and the exorbitant increase of salaries and fees, for partisan purposes." The Independent People's Party convention on September 25, 1873, declared, "The abominable and infamous practice of securing election to office by the corrupt use of money at the polls, and in bribing members of legislative bodies, which has become so prevalent in late years, is an evil which strikes at the very foundation of free government."

But though it might direct searing criticism during campaigning, when a new party came to power, it fell into the same pattern of patronage and payoffs as its predecessor. For example, when the American Party (dubbed the "Know Nothings") captured the legislature in 1856, it was expected to curtail political corruption. Instead, according to a student of the party's rise and fall, "Believing from the start that the Know Nothing organization was temporary, the politicians and their friends gave no consideration to its future and cared nothing for its accomplishments in office, but in the customary 'log-rolling' manner, dealt out the spoils of office for private gain." Reflecting on why, after the first two sessions, California legislators were so easily contaminated, former governor Frederick Low in 1883 told Bancroft:

The first venality developed itself in the state when Broderick fought for the Senate. ... Most legislators when they begin are well meaning simple-minded men--the mass of them intend to do what is right. Their poor pay don't support them; they see others voting and getting paid for it, and they do the same. They get discouraged and say, "Oh, what is the use?" and before the legislature adjourns the lobbyists have a ring made up and you can count on it just as surely as you can count on your fingers. ... You can buy a man sometimes with a good dinner quicker than you can with a thousand dollars. They study a man's character.

That first political factions and then special business interests compromised the integrity of the state legislature was recognized by most nineteenth-century historians and contributed to the public disaffection that led to the second constitutional convention. (11)

In the three decades between the first and second constitutional conventions, thirteen men served as governor of California (see table 6.1). The first two ran in nonpartisan elections and nominally were independents, but in actuality were Democrats. Prior to the Civil War, all except one, J. Neely Johnson (a Know Nothing), were Democrats. Beginning in 1862, four of the state's six governors were Republican. The time that each served in office varied dramatically. The state's first two governors served only a year; the third, four years (two two-year terms). Four of the next five governors were in office for two years, the remaining one only five days. After the length of terms changed to four years in 1863, most of the remaining governors were in office for one four-year term, the exception being Newton Booth, who resigned with ten months remaining to accept appointment to the United States Senate, thus promoting Lieutenant Governor Romualdo Pacheco to head of state for that brief period. To serve one term or less was the norm (only John Bigler was reelected); this practice guaranteed a rapid turnover in a leadership role where experience usually is considered an attribute. (12)