They  would  also  enjoy  a  permanent  government,  under  which
life,  property  and  the  right  of  worshiping  the  Creator  in  the
manner  most  congenial  to  each  one's  own  sense  of  duty,  would
be  secured — rights  which,   unfortunately,   the   government  of

^  Cal.  Archives,  D.  S.  P.  VII,  261,  262.
RAISING  OF  THE  AMERICAN  FLAG.  465

Mexico  could  not  afford  them,  destroyed  as  were  her  resources
by  internal  factions  and  corrupt  officers,  who  created  constant
revolutions  to  promote  their  own  selfish  interests  and  oppress  the
people.  Under  the  flag  of  the  United  States,  California  would
be  thenceforth  free  from  all  such  troubles  and  expenses;  the
country  would  advance  and  improve  rapidly  both  in  agriculture
and  commerce;  the  revenue  laws  would  be  the  same  as  in  other
parts  of  the  United  States;  American  produce  and  manufactures
would  be  free  of  duty,  and  the  goods  of  foreign  nations  admitted
at  one-quarter  of  the  customs  they  were  then  paying.  A  great
increase  in  the  value  of  real  estate  and  in  all  Californian  pro-
ductions would  be  very  sure  to  follow — in  fact  on  account  of  the
great  interest  and  kindly  feelings,  which  the  government  and
people  of  the  United  States  entertained  towards  the  citizens  of
California,  the  country  could  not  but  improve  more  rapidly  than
any  other  on  the  continent  of  America.
