Sacramento daily record-union., 1881-02-17
TIE ADDRESS OF MR.. CADwALADER's
COMMITTEE

ing interestin the great questions which in
voIve the perpetuity Of Sacramento, and
all that can be asked from any one who
to participate actively in the dis
oussion is that they shall use due diligence I
in ascertaining the truth and correctness of
their positions, and that they shall not en-
courage the ignorant in blind and mis-
assaults upon the conclusions of
competent authorities. Mr.. Cadwaladers |
committee has issued an address intended |
to inform the public concerning the objects
of the meeting which has been called, and |
we gather from this address that the pur-
pose of the meeting is to demand the stop
page of hydraulic mining.
II this proposal were but one link in
chain of remedies we should be prepared to
consider it favorably. But it appears to
be put forward as of itself sole and suffi-
cient cure for everything, and as this view
is in our opinion calculated to mislead and
deceive the public to their own great in
jury, we feel it necessary to challenge and
impeach it. The position of Mr.. Cadwal-
aders committee is stated with plainness.
1t is said Sufficient testimony is in the
" possession of the committee to show that,
'' were hydraulic mining to cease, the
" waters of our mountain streams would
" Immediately regain and maintain, to the
{" delight of both man and beast their
" original purity. And the committee are
" satisfied that no assertion possesses less
" truth than that the mountain canyons
" are full of tailings which will yet come
" down and cover the valley, though hy
% draulic mining were to Immediately
" cease. 1t should be apparent to all that
what the huge seething volume of water
80 of the last fortnight failed to move out
" of the beds of the mountain streams and
" into the valleys below would not be
" moved from place by lesser food-waters
90 yet to come and common sense fails ifit
't does not show that the beds and banks
" of our mountain streams are not cleared
" of mining rubbish to an extent that makes
g further abrasion of them practically i'm
possible.
The last sentence tangles up poor COM
mon sense terribly. We do not know what
Mr.. Cadwalader's committee meant to say
in it, but what they do say is in fiat con-
tradiction to everything that goes before;
for they assert that the Z" beds and banks
"of our mountain streams are not
cleared of mining rubbish, :" though they
have just endeavored to maintain the con.
trary. This however is doubtless one of
those slips which gentlemen unaccustomed
to the expression of their thoughts in
literary form are liable to. As to the main
argument, we are very much afraid that
Mr.. Cadwalader's committee has fallen
into the lamentable though common error
Of putting common sense" above Science.
We therefore wish to point out before the
matter goes any further that this is not
question to be determined by the loudest
assertions that it is question which
common sense is utterly incompetent to
decide and that it can only be settled by
scientific observation and experiment.
The statement that there is a great
mass of mining debris in the mountains,
and that it has not yet been washed down
into the valleys, rests upon the actual OBJ
servations of the engineers. The counter
assertion of Mr.. Cadwalader's committee,
that all this mass of debris has been
washed down and disposed of by the late
flood, rests upon no ascertained facts
whatever. It is, so far as can be perceived,
neither more nor less than the magination
of the framer of the address, and in the alb
sence of any proof Of it such a statement
ought to be refused credence. Mr. Cad
walader's committee say they have evidence
that If hydraulic mining were stopped,
the waters of our mountain streams
would Immediately regain and maintain
{" their original purity" 1t is, we think,
sufficient apparent that no evidence in
support OF this assertion is in existence,
In the first place, no evidence but scientific
evidence is of any value whatever on such
point. In the second place. it is
notorious that no engineering observations
of the late food have been taken, because
of the exhaustion of the disposable funds.
But the whole case of Mr.. Cadwalader's
committee hirges upon this. They are
under imperative obligations to proUe what
they say in this regard, for if they leave it
in any doubt their whole proposition be-
comes of secondary Importance. It would
be madness to trust everything to the
stoppage of hydraulic mining unless we
had complete assurance that such a meas
ure would at once restore our rivers to
their original purity. And the public
must be reminded that no irresponsible or
unscientilic or mere &" common sense as
surance on this point can possess any value
The committee must bring forward scien-
tiic proof that all the debris has been
washed out of the mountains, or it will
have failed to maintain the position it has
assumed. In such case it is impossible
to accept any demonstration less com
plete than this, for we are in strait which
affords room for no false steps, and we
cannot, on pain of ruin, allow ourselves to
be misled by confident assertions which
have no basis in fact. What we all want
is to protect Sacramento and the Sacra-
mento valley, and the only way to make
sure of that is to insist on having the cor
rectness of every new position demon
strated before we consent to move another
step. So far scientific observation fatty
contradicts Mr.. Cadwalader's committee,
and the onus of proof is all upon that
body.
THE DAYS WORK BILL.