arnestly protest against the passage of a
law admitting the State without first having the question submitted to
a vote of the people, for the reasons, first, that we have a right to a
voice in the selection of the character of our government; second, that
we have not a sufficient population to support the expenses of a State
government. For these reasons we trust that Congress will not force upon
us a government against our will.

Upon information which I considered reliable, I assumed in my message of
the 15th of May last that the population of Colorado was not more than
30,000, and expressed the opinion that this number was entirely too
small either to assume the responsibilities or to enjoy the privileges
of a State.

It appears that previous to that time the legislature, with a view
to ascertain the exact condition of the Territory, had passed a law
authorizing a census of the population to be taken. The law made it
the duty of the assessors in the several counties to take the census
in connection with the annual assessments, and, in order to secure
a correct enumeration of the population, allowed them a liberal
compensation for the service by paying them for every name returned,
and added to their previous oath of office an oath to perform this
duty with fidelity.

From the accompanying official report it appears that returns have been
received from fifteen of the eighteen counties into which the State is
divided, and that their population amounts in the aggregate to 24,909.
The three remaining counties are estimated to contain 3,000, making a
total population of 27,909.

This census was taken in the summer season, when it is claimed that the
population is much larger than at any other period, as in the autumn
miners in large numbers leave their work and return to the East with the
results of their summer enterprise.

The population, it will be observed, is but slightly in excess of
one-fifth of the number required as the basis of representation for a
single Congressional district in any of the States--the number being
127,000.

I am unable to perceive any good reason for such great disparity in the
right of representation, giving, as it would, to the people of Colorado
not only this vast advantage in the House of Representatives, but an
equality in the Senate, where the other States are represented by
millions. With perhaps a single exception, no such inequality as this
has ever before been