Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-02-07
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
EcoNrrNuED FROM FIRST pAGE.l

ments of the Senator, touching upon any
other point than that OF retaining mining debris
in the mountain In fact, his whole argument
amounts to this theory That because an infant
when it is born is not man II should therefore be
Immediately srangled: that is TO say, because this
Act has not accomplished all these results OF stay
iug the mountain debris rectifying the river chan
neis dising the rivers retaining the plains, 1t
should therefore be instantly and immediately re-
pealed, although it is barely few weeks since the
ntiatory steps were taken IN That great measure Oh
retaining the plains of California. The child has
barely given its first cry of existence in this world,
barely drawn its first BREATH when we get the opp ST.
ton of middle and southern California, and because
the child instantly does not mount into the giant
and accomplish all that intended OF him, 1t
must be Immediately repealed, stranged ana
put out of SIGHT Now, Mr.. President,
in taki"g the ground that do take,
upon this measure, I am well aware that lay my
self open to tine criticisms Of Journals Of sJIne parts
of the State. am well aware that they have al
ready thrown such bOmbshells at Us as 70 say that
the men who favored the debris measure as they
call it. were marked men, and they that vote not Tor
the repeal of the Act will commit political suleIde
I only say, in response to that Mr. PRESIDENT
that from my ildhood up | have had aud nave
actsd up to the teaching Of my cJnscehceas my
guide and not the journals OF the State OF Caillor
MIA, or any other State and furthermore, can say
to those Journals and to th Sc people VINO indulge
in such remarks and criticisms that only wish taG
the same thing would be done 10 those criticisms
as we want done to the mining debll5 II Jhe cIlah-
nels of the mountain, that IS, we want 70 u0ih
them up. The questions which oug TO agItaJe
US in discussing this BILL Mr. ffUsiueLui Is Hot
whether the people Of our districts are IN favor OF
il or not not whether we have been up 70 the dam
and have found few hundred feet that has sUnken
and therefore it IS failure but the questions whlc1
should agitate Us are these Is II necessary 10 40
ANYTHING to reclaim the valleys and rivers OF Calfor
MIA hat is necessary to be done what Is the
most feasible an the best devised measure that we
should adopt to reclaim our valleys and our rivers
Now Mr. Pre- ident, in the State OF California we
are lacking in cultivation in thing, and that IS IN
a community feeling, rather | should say N an
interest in enterprises Why when the
new Constitution adopted special leg
islation was forbidden because the frends
of the new Constitution thought that what
was good for section OF the state sheuid be good
for all and it wa the intention and spirit Of that
instrument to bind the people OF the State OF Cal
fornla together as one community, with community
interests; to build up the farming interests, 70
build up the mining interests, to bu!id
up the commercial interests, to build up the
mercantile interests and tax all for the benef5 OF
ALL And until we have cultivated ourselves in the
State OF California up to that point, when We can
realize that the interests OF one portion are the IN
terests OF aluntl we have done that, IL Is useless
for us to expect immigration it is useless for Us to
expect capital; it is useless Tor US 10 expect that
our capital will be projected when 1t comes here
The distinguishing mark between Darbarism
and civilization is this that b1rbaric States live IN
the glory of their present and in the glory OF their
pas. They congratulate themselves upon the PROV
ess OF their ancestors. They congratulate them
selves upon the Warke deeds Of their fathers, and
they yaunt themselves upon their own courage and
warlike successes. But civilization not only spans
the past and reags its history, not only views the
present and endeayOrS to prosper by 1t, but 1t l.
long headed 3; it is qui keyed. 1t anticipates and
looks ahead into the future Al this present time
there is proposition to build a snip cadal across
the Isthnlus of Panama What good viii you and
get from it Those on the floor OF this Senate who
are yheaded and approaching the d0wn-hlil SIDE
of life, will You ever send any ships
through there? VIII you ever receive any fnan-
cml benefit directly from it? 1t viii take
years TO construct that canal The history OF the
operations Of the construction OF the Panama tiaii-
road tells us what 4 terrible undertaking 1t Is 70
build such a canal as that across the isthmus.
Why then, do we invest our capital initE Why,
then. does modern civilization undertake sHch an
operation the building Of canal across that
Isthmus Why, because they see that their children
will benefit by it. They see that the commerce
which now goes around the grim cape on the south
OF Sotth America will sling Itself through the
sthnus and that after ages and coming generations
win profit by their undertaking anu their carrying
it on to a successful completion. The question
which ought to agLate III all these matters OF IN
ternal Improvement should be, Shall use the pres
ent and forget the future or shall we bear
heavier burden in the present and retain the
future with hope OF SUGGEST That IS
the real question in lscusslng tins bit NOW, real
ze that It is icut matter former lIkeme to COM
prehend the proposition Of science. l can realize
now difficult it is to demonstrate geological theory.
can readily understand that 1t is difficult almost
impossible 70 drive, or so force Into the minds OF
the average people OF this state, or any other State,
a geological theory. But, hlr. President propose
to discuss this bill for a few minutes, and have
seldom taken up time in this Senate, and VIII
talk rapidly this time-frst from geological stand
point, and secondly from an engineering standpoint.
l am not an engineer and ! am not geolagist. l
have read geology and have read il again this year
With an eye to this very Act. have studied it
carefully tiat might act carefully ON the bill.
/ have studied it conscientiously that l might
HIr~ hill no
lieye that | am right and shall vote
against the bin which is before the Senate. wish
to repeat n remark which | made at random last
wear upon the discussion Of this very bill. repeat
it simply because it touches upon what wish TO
say in the course Of my remarks. 1t is that
Civilization is occupying the Sacramento valley and
the valleys Of California great many years ahead
OF the time that God Almighty and Nature Intended
il should. How many years do not venture to
say. But do repeat 1t now, that we are occupying
this valley in an unfinished and incompleted state.
Nature has not finished its work. 1t has not m5de
this valley vet with such preparations and with
such conditions that ought to occupy it, or cal
Cuate to il, unless to use artificial means
TO assist Nature in reclining the valley from its
present state All these val eys, MIR. President
made by waShings from the mountains. IL IS use
less for men to say that all OF the damage which has
been done in the Sacramento, the Bear, the tuba,
and other rivers Of California, has been done by
mining debris. II is useless to say that, because it
is not true. We nit the fact that the mining
debris has come down here and fastened opera
tons. But the Civil Engineer or state Engineer OF
California himself says his report last year, and
in which report he agrees with the best scientific
authorities, that there are other Influences in opera
ton and other causes which have brought about
this terrible danger just as bad in their operations
and Just as mighty IN their power as the dctrltus
from the mines. To illustrate this truth: a great
many thousand years ago, when the first mouutlns
reared themselves up above the raging seas OF the
world, away up in southern Canada, there was no
American continent al that time But as the wash
NJ ~
debris and the washiugs from the rock
made soil on those mount1ins, 1t gradually
piled up ridges upon ridges all along lying in q
s0Uthwestery and nOr.hcasteIiy direction, and the
Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada Mountains
and Allegheny Mountains were the result
Of those Washiugs and operationsof nature,
and in time hr. President, those mountain
chains BEGAN their operations and great SHOWS set
tied upon the submits aud they washed down into
the valleys carrying With them the detr7tus which
nature has put in the canyons Of the mountains.
IL carries With it the dirt aud soil and rock and
gravel and sand, and 1t S up the river it fills up
the valley, until BY and by we have spread out he
fore us broad, beautiful green valley. Bat until
those mountains are laid bare To the rock until the
very ribs OF those chains nave been exposed by these
operations Of nature natures work Will not be done
and these valleys will not be completed. I read
one Of the best authOrit6s-and / think Senator
Chase and some Others will agree with me that it Is
q good aut6oritY-it is a geological work by
Eilsee ReCiu5, French engineer ana a French
geoiogist, and he has gwen me an ideG wJica 1 tell
YOU. gentlemen of tue Senate, Is good one. He
SAWS that the cause Of tine trouble 10 q great many
Of these mountain streams which bring down detri-
tus-aud ! VIII refer 10 some Of them-is tn t our
advancing civilization goes upon the mountain
chains, cuts down the forests, tears up the stunps
turns its thousands Of cattle and sheep nut upon the
mountain sides 10 Craze. and they in turn break up
the roots OF the verdure and the grass and the forest
plants which grow there You cn1 readily see the
resultant the moment you have taken away the
roots Of the trees the very moment that you have
taken up the yerduTe and grass and helped TO drag
i from the soil, that moment You have loosened
the soil upon the mountain side and the very first
freshet that comes carries down with il the soil
and surface water which ought to have
stayed ami been retained by the roots Of the
trees and by the roots OF the underground ;
and you viii End, ii you wander over these noun
tains as have on snowshoes and on horseback and
in other manner, you viii find that from one end to
the other OF this valley ali over these mountains
that operations OF this kind have been going on.
The forests are rapidly gong. Underbrush has
been torn up by the roots. Thousands upon
thousands OF sheep are roaming there IN the can
yous and on the hillsdes daily, and we have taken
away from the mountains the very process, or very
power, which nature gave them TO retain the waters
which how there and rua there from the melting
SHOWS and rains OF winter. heard gentlemen say
here that at times they had seen years ago. the Sac
rament0 river as clear as crystal. 1 do not doubt