Sacramento daily record-union., 1881-07-11
SAN FRANCISCO AND TIE DEBRIS
QUESTION.


Z" an average of over 81, 900. 600 month
We do not know whether this statement
is mere guess work, or whether it is based
upon actual research, but there can be no
doubt that very serious shrinkage of
business must result from the stoppage,
and even from the temporary suspension,
Of hydraulic mining. But whatever the
merchants of San Francisco may have to
suffer from this cause, they must thank
their own press for, and their own
apathy. The resort to litigation which has
been had by the farmers and other resi-
dents of this valley was the natural conso.
quence of the blind and fierce opposition
made by San Francisco to the one equit-
able, farsightcd and statesmanlike plan Of
treatment which has been proposed in this
connection.
Experience showed that if hydraulic
mining was continued few years longer
without any restrictive action, not only
would the rivers be destroyed, but the cul-
tivab,e land and the cities and villages
along the various streams affected would
be overwhelmed. So far as the owners of
the threatened property were concerned it
was a case of fself-preservation. They were
under no obligation which compelled them
to remain passive and endure whatever
might happen. It was plain that remedies
must be applied forthwith. But those
who had given the subject most attention
perceived that however clear and strong
the equities of the valley residents might
be, there were property interests involved
on the side of the miners which would
render sudden and final stoppage of
| hydraulic mining most disastrous in it's
consequences. Capital had been invested
in very large amounts in the mining
region. a great industry had been built
up there. 1t supplied thousands with
work and business, and assisted materially
in maintaining the prosperity of the State.
It was necessary that before summary steps
were taken to destroy this interest an
effort should be made to ascertain whether
the valley lands could not be effeetually
protected without requiring the abandon
ment of hydraulic mining. The aid OF
science was invoked to determine this i'm
portant question. Engineers of national
reputation were brought here to examine
and report upon the situation. They de-
cided, as the result of their investigation,
that the rivers could be kept clear without
stopping the mines. On the strength of
these reports measure was framed pro-
viding for the application Of the remedies
recommended, and as the primary object
of this whole scheme was to save the State
the loss which the stoppage of hydraulic
mining would entail, it was considered just
to levy a State tax for the prosecution of
the engineering works.
These works were begun, but so late in
the season that it was impossible to do
more than make beginning. Winter
arrived, and an unusually heavy rainfall
put great strain upon the rivers. The
incipient dams did not perform the
work which no sane person ever expected
from them, and at once there came an
outcry. The press of San Francisco,
which had throughout exhibited an equal
ignorance, stupidity and meanness in de-
cussing the debris question, and which
had been dominated by the one con.
sideration of the insignificant tax imposed
by the Drainage Act, led the onslaught.
The reporters, bent only upon obeying
their instructions, assailed the brush dams
all through the session. The lawyers,
who had opposed the Drainage Act becausc
it threatened to make litigation unneces
sary, did their part in disseminating
skepticism as to the value of the engineer.
ing works A hue and cry was raised all
over the State against the tax, ard event
ually the engineering scheme was dis
credited on the strength of representa-
tions which only displayed the folly and
credulity Of those who made them, ans
testified to their profound Ignorance OF the
principles and methods involved. Science
was overborne and fairly swamped
The public most deeply interested lacked
the patience to give the proposed system
anything like fair trial. It was prac
tically condemned by those who did MOI
understand it, and what the RECORD
UNION had foreseen and pointed out lon2
before, happened.
The opportunity of the lawyers arrived
Their sedulous and interested depreciation
of the engineering plans bore fruit. Th,
people of the valley, finding that San Fran
cisco and the rest of the State resisted thc
prosecution of the intended work on the
ground of expense, and that though these
penurious objectors did not want hydraulic
mining stopped, they were psfectly willing
to leave the Sacramento valley at ths
mercy Of chickens" did what was tc
have been expected under the c;rcum.
ssances-they turned, that is to say, to
litigation, as q last recourse. The present
situation, therefore, is largely due to the
course of San Francisco in the past Had
that city possessed a press capable of recog.
nizing the interests of the State, and OF
working for them intelligently, the re-
course to litigation need not have been
had. But the residents of this valley could
not be expected to cit down patiently and
see their homes destroyed, and as the State
made it very conspicuous that it cared
nothing for them, there was no reason why
they should take any thought for the in.
terests of the State We have said from
the outset that this question was one Of the
first consequence to San Francisco, but
she did not or would not recognize that
truth, and it is rather late in the day fol
her press to discover that she is likely tc
take serious harm from the pending litiga
tion. The time for action was when the
RECORD UNIoN was battling for fair and
full trial of the engineering plans. Had
she then stood by US the remedial measures
proposed by Capt. Eads and his colleagues