The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1875-05-05
WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA, MAY s.


l
The st. Paul Pioneer Press of the
23d says: Many State papers have
chronicled the return to their former
| homes of persons who were induced
by the glowing accounts sent out by
the railroad companies and real estate
agents to emigrate from Minnesota to
California. Every locality possesses
| one or more of these victims who
have gone to the Pacific coast, and
who, after acquiring the usual expert.
ence of disappointment and blasted
hopes, have sadly returned to their
old localities to commence life anew.
Too many, unhappily, are unable to
return at all, while others have halted
by the wa.- in other States. where they
are struggling to make up the losses
incurred in the ill-advised removal to
the golden shores of the Pacific.
But Notwithstanding these numerous
examples of the misfortunes which
have befallen the victims of the Cali
| fornia fever, some people still refuse
to learn by the experience of others,
and prefer to try the experiment for
themselves.
Mr.. Justus Ramsey has just return
ed from a several months visit to
California, and he corroborates the
statement that everything is grossly
exaggerated about that State; that all
sorts of business is Overdone; and
that an immense number of people all
! over the States are totally without
employment. A San Francisco Ger
man newspaper, in an earnest edito-
rial, urgently appeals to the Germans
to stay away from there, as large num-
bers of their countrymen are already
! in distress, owing to the absence of
remunerative occupations. Mechan-
les by the thousand arc out of work,
| and having exhausted their resources,
arc without the means of removing
| their families to more favorable re-
gions. Mr.. Ramsey met with an esti :
mable man, formerly from Anoka, a
ekillful mechanic. who was out of
work, and had been for many months,
and who could not even get an oppor-
| tunity to labor for his board.
| Farmers who have removed to Cali
fornia are even worse off than mechan-
les and laborers, for the quantity of
arabic land in the State is out of all
! proportion tc the area of the State,
and the best land is limited to the
valleys, and consequently its price is
fabulous and totally beyond the reach
of men in ordinary circumstances.
Land brings $40 to $50 an acre in To-
calities 200 miles from San. Francisco.
and that, too, in regions where trans
portation facilities and local markets
are none of the best.
Much he's been sid about the WON
derful capacity of California for the
production of fruit, but this, like all
the rest. consists of a modicum of
truth, upon which is based an i'm
mense amount of humbug. Califor-
MIA oranges and lemons are a failure.
even when produced as far south as
the Mexican boundary line, and few
of them are fit for consumption.
Grapes, to be sure, can be raised in
some of the valleys, in abundance,
just as they can be profitably raised
in Minnesota; but the vintage bust
ness is only successful when carried
on by the largest dealers, who, with
an immense capital, are able to raise
the fruit and manufacture it into wine
and brandy, or ship the same in large
quantities to the centers of consump-
ton.
Another imposture is the statement
so largely circulated. that several
crops year can be gathered. This is
declared to be a humbug by those
who have lived there, and who are
disposed to tell the truth. Everybody
has heard about Strawberries in Cal
ifornia all the year round" but when
on the 18th of March the newspapers
announced that strawberries had ap-
peared in the San Francisco markets,
Mr.. Ramsey went out to get some. but
4 20 ho hal be-,
quently appeared that about two
pounds OF berries had been produced,
which was two or three weeks earlier
these two pounds sold at the extrava-
CANT figure of $3.50 a pound. No more
strawberries then appeared until the
goth of March, when two more pounds
came to market So much for straw
berries all the year round, which is
simply another illustration of the gen
eral catchpenny phrases with which
people have been deluded into paying
tribute to the Union Pacific Railroad
Company.
Small farmers cannot flourish in
California. There is no place for
them there, for they are brought into
direct competition with the men and
associations who do everything on so
large a scale that the humble tillers of
the soil are overshadowed and crush
ed out.
Neither is the climate of California
anything like what is claimed for it.
In January and February Mr.. Ram
sey saw everybody wearing about the
same sort of winter clothing which is
necessary in Minnesota, and though
the mercury rarely reached the freez-
ing point, people hugged the fires and
stoves just as they do in the colder
latitudes.
The nor'wes ters which sweep down
over California, and which are in mo-
tion a good portion of the time. sweep
ing before them as they do, the sand
and dust from the arid plains, are as
detestable feature of life on the Pa
cific coast as the coldest weather OF
Minnesota.
Polite Children.
'Thauk YOU. Charlie" said Mrs.