openly advocated independence as the proper policy for the Pacific
Coast.

"Why depend on the South or the North to regulate our affairs," wrote
our junior Senator from Washington. "And this, too, after they have
proved themselves incapable of living in harmony with one another."
Starr King had been a resident of the state nearly a year when the San
Francisco Herald published the following letter received from
Congressman John C. Burch:

"The people of California should all be of one mind on this subject of a
Pacific Republic. Raise aloft the flag of the hydraheaded cactus of the
western wilds and call upon the enlightened nations of the earth to
acknowledge our independence and protect us from the wreck of a once
glorious Union."

Governor John B. Weller, a man not only holding the highest office
within the gift of the people of the state, but also one who had
represented California in the United States Senate made deliberately
this declaration:

"If the wild spirit of fanaticism which now pervades the land should
destroy the magnificent confederacy - which God forbid - California will
not go with the south or north, but here on the shores of the Pacific,
found a mighty republic, which may in the end prove the greatest of
all."

These quotations which might be greatly extended are sufficient to prove
that a strong feeling existed in favor of a Pacific Republic standing
wholly aloof from the coming struggle. It is unthinkable that a Senator