Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-03-03
SPEECH OF DIR. MAY.

The Assembly having S. r. 81 under consdera-
ton on the evening Of Monday, February 2Sth, DR..
May spoke as follows voted. Mr.. Speaker for the
previous question because thought the time had
been reached when we should come to a vote on
this question; but the House voted decidedly
against that proposition, and believe it is the issue
now 20 discuss this to the end and then vote on 1t,
and then be done With it. shall not detain you
with protracted speech. | have few Thoughts
that NAV occupy me ten minutes, perhaps fifteen,
which shall bring before you, and shall hope to
have your patient attention So far as am person
ally concerned, | am not my feet here to make
any excuse to the p ople that | represent,
or to the people of California, for my vote.
The people who sent me here know
very well how | viii vote, and did know
it on the day of the election. began my record On
this floor on this subject in the year 1S77-7S. That
was the day when the debris question that we are
discussing tonight had its birth. The Hon. Grove
Johnson Senator now, acted accoucheur in its
birth, aud gentleman from San Joaquin (Mr. Sar-
CENT? if he will pardon me for referring TO him,
and were nurses, or m dwives, if you will, on that
occasion. We both of us supported the proposition.
have remained faithful to it from then till now,
and am not going to desert it tonight.
Mr. Sargent-That a different bill,
Mr. May-The gentleman says that another
proposition and he is right and here is the record
of it. Here is the proposition that the gentleman
from San Joaquin supported-Senate Bill No 1872
let me read you the title: " An Act TO provide a
system of irrigation, to promote rapid drainage and
improve the navigation of the Sacramento and the
question of improving tho San joaquin river the
gentleman from San joaquin (hr. Sargent) was
ready to take 100000 out Of the State treasury of
California and he did not grudge cent of it, and
voted with him for it, and we got the money and
thst was the beginning OF this thing that we are
discussing here tonight. went back TO my home.
aud my people knew full well the stand took, for
was not an idle spec atnr of the fight, and they sent
me back here with an increased majority and |
stood here on the floor last winter and with what
ability had fought for the debris bill, and my
people knew it. There WAS not one of them that
did not know it, and went back home, and without
solicitation, and when was in remote corner of
the State they renominated me for this place and
stand here tonight, as L have stood before,
in favor of the Debris Act and opposed
to Its repeal and know my people well enough to
know that they would scoru me II deserted 200,
600 people who are lifting up their cry to-day for
lief and refused to give it to them. have never
seen the day or the hour when the cry of humanity
came up TO me for help and did not respond In
some sense have been lever of art i'll past times,
and l remember full well an engraving that all OF
You have seen, representing mother dog sitting
chained on kennel that is floating down torrent,
and she has two or three of her little ones on her
arms and two three others struggling in the
waters and she is lifting up her voice to heaven to
know If there is God in Israel. tell you, and it
may seem small in me TO confess it, that never
look the picture but my heart sinks within me.
cannot look upon the face of the dog in its mortal
agony, agony that is more than human-it is
dvine-and when you tell me that more than 200,
ask pittance from me OF five cents every Sl0O,
l would despise myself. Mr.. Speaker, if / said to
them I" No" believe from my knowledge of the
people of California if l went to-day to San Diego
and made personal appeal to any one or two hum
dred men that l got together there upon street.
corner and represented the condition of the Sacra-
mento valley from that point where the second
drop of water is united with the first at its northern
most point and showed them the danger Of ami
haton OF this valley, and then asked them for hat
contribution that the 200 of them would give 81,
~ II -
that is ALL that is every dollar that this debris bill
takes out of the people of San Diego in any one
YEAR | tell you there is something more behind
this than the mere fact that it draws five cents on
the hundred dollars from the people of this State
said know my people in San Francisco. and 1
know that represent them tonight on this floor
and il thought did not, when went back home
would leave there and go to some other place
Alameda county No, / wouldn't 70 to Alameda
| will tell you where | would 60, Mr.. Speaker
would 70 up TO Butte, or Suffer, or Yuba, and L
would say 70 them, Mr.. Speaker and to you, and to
the gentlemen who represent those counties, " Your
God shall be my God, and your people shall be my
people and will sink with you in your calamity or
rescue YOU in your peril" That is where stand
gentlemen of the Assembly and you suspect BY this
time that ready 10 vote 81 No" on the repeal of
this bill
will tell you there are some of the counties Of
this State that have been in the habit of milking
heretofore and they are not accustomed to the pro-
cess of being milked. We IN San Francisco have
a different training. We have pad-during the last
five wears San Francisco has paid over 5000 coo for
the support of the schools in other counties of the
State and she is accustomed to contributing for the
benefit of others, and she Is not alarmed when you
ask for five cents on the hundred dollars for any pur
pose of charity or mercy. To Los Angeles county
think the gentleman will pardon me for referring
to his county-San Francisco paid, year by year. for
the last five years. averaged almost $4,000, for
the support Of her schools. She has paid more-San
Francisco has-than Los Angeles county has herself
raised for that purpose and the amount received by
Los Angeles ecu ty is in proportion to that received
nv all the other counties down there
Mr.. Murphy-San Luis obispo gets no San Fran.
cisco money.
osnt this: that in 1876 We paid $3.50 to her; in
is17. OPS; in 1875, So $50; in 1879 s. aS, and
in 1850, 5000. That is what We PAID to San LUIS
c1bspo in the last five years; s39, o90 to San LUIS
0bispo to support her schools. Bat we don't
9rrdge cent OF it, aud won't come on this floor
and inquire whether she has derived any ,.
any educational brush dams. We will take our
-S.-ess ~ .Lst ho,>s there has been no dr,YtnS