Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-01-01


The same causes which led to the selec-
ton of this city as the most fitting seat |
for the State government, and which |
must ever make Sacramento the political |
center of the commonwealth, were at last |
realized By her citizens to be precisely |
the same which, under the new order of
things brought about by the development
of the railway system of California, should
be awaited of to build up for the city a
new business, which should give her a
commercial Importance compatible with
her political significance, and enable her
to enter successfully into the competitive
commercial field, and make a future in
which doubt should have no place.
THE MEN WHO MAKE CITIES.
The men who make nations, build
cities and create markets, are First, the
men who create new material for human
use, either by digging it out of mines and
quarries, fishing it out of the sea, or rails
ing it out of the land-these are the pro-
ducers second, the men who transform
this material into other shapes, fitting it
for human use, as men who make grain
into -four and bread, cotton into cloth,
iron into tools and needles, and the like
these are the manufacturers third, those
who simply use these things and whose
ranks are recruited from all other classes
these are the consumers fourth, men who
buy to sell, and sell to buy, and who deal
between the other classes-these are the
distributors or Observation-Disclosures behind
counters and desks, and traders behind
neither counter nor desk. So long as
there are producers there must be con-
sumers, so long as there are producers
there must be manufacturers, so long as
there are any of the others there must be
distributors. Beside these classes there
are others who are not merely incidental,
but fundamental in the building of ma
ton. They are the men who are found in
all the other classes-the men of head, the
producers of thought; the men of talent,
the mental manufacturers the men of
tact, who talk with tongue and pen-the
mental distributors.
THE RESULT.
1t so happened that Sacramento was
in the midst of region to be peopled with
producers and consumers, and so situated
as to be inviting to manufacturers, and be-
cause of these two the precise spot for the
energy of the distributors. By reason of
her cosmopolitan character, the severe ex-
periences of her early future, and the natu-
raj and artificial advantages of her stua-
ton, she was possessed likewise of the men
of thought, talent and tact. These classes
brought into happy conjunction, disabused
Of old traditions, shaken out of self. conceit
and over confidence, by due combination of
their interests and powers have achieved
for Sacramento the proud position she to-
day occupies. But in the transition from
the old to the new order of things, a ifth
class took an important psrt-a class which
is the product of modern times a class
represented in former commercial systems
by carriers on water and carriers by ancient
methods-the railroad builders. The de-
velopment of railway systems did not
change, but only fully developed the laws
of commerce and made them more intense
than ever. The effect of railway construc.
ton upon California, and especially upon
Sacramento, was no whit different from
the result in other lands. The carrier class
is distinct one from all other commercial
classes. 1t has its relations with all, and
its interests are common with all it brings
producer and consumer together, aids the
distributor, and is the
MAINSTAY OF THE MANUFACTURER.
Without it the commercial system would
fall to pieces it is the product of COM
merce, and yet the dependence of each
upon the other is mutual. 1t has no in
herent antagonism with any of the other
classes; its strength is proportionate to
theirs, its vitality is drawn from them, and
in turn their results are best worked out
through it as a medium. 1t is an indis.
pensable factor in civilization a unit, the
absence OF which is destructive OF the en-
tire commercial problem. In California
this class has always had its largest repre-
sentstion in Sacramento-as distinct from
the sea. going carriers which find harbor at
San Francisco. Sacramento was and is the
central point of debarkation and arrival
for the river carriers, who have made the
chief navigable stream of California great
highway of commerce. At Sacramento
the germ of the present railway system of
the coast was wLrmed into life. Here the
ideas which have resulted go propitiously
for the State were conceived, found form,
and were made realities. This was and is
the radiating point for the railway system.
The first railroad built upon the Pacific
slope was commenced at Sacramento, and
by it the city reached out eastwardly and
commanded a broader field of trade over
the line of the Sacramento Valley Rail-
road, and subsequently over the Sacra.
mento and Placerville Railroad, which
was, in fact, an extension Of the line of the
former road.
THE NEXT ROAD
Constructed was the Central Pacific,
which, beginning at Sacramento, stretched
more northwardly into the Sierras, scaled
the summit and ultimately linked the
Capital City with the Atlantic seaboard.
The California Pacific was next built, with
Sacramento as its terminal point, and by
which we were connected by rail with tide
water at Vallejo on the west. The West
ern Pacific Railroad with its point of com.
mencement at Sacramento, was next con-
structed, and trending sOuthwardly and
across the San Joaquin valley, and the
counties beyond it, penetrated the Santa
Clara valley stopping at San Jose; and
from Niles station thereafter continuing on
up the northern shore of the Bay of San
Francisco, and terminating at Oakland, it
formed connection with the commercial |
metropolis OF the Pacific coast. Next in |
order OF construction was the California |
and Oregon Railroad, which begins in this |
city, traverses the great valley of the |
Upper Sacramento, and reaches nearly to |
the northern limit of the State, and pros
pectively aims to link us closely with the |
great heart of that rich, prosperous neigh |
Dor, the State of Oregon. Out of these |
lines, and the consolidation thereafter
effected, grew the railway system of |
California, which, with its numerous
feeders, branches and connections, brought
Sacramento into closer relation with the
best districts, mining and agricultural, OF
the entire State. In Sacramento dwelt the
men who conceived and carried out the
plans upon which the system rests. They
were business men with US, received their
business education in this school, and
gained the experience which led them to
success among this people. But, as has
been pointed out, the new System brought
to Sacramento
NEW ORDER OF THINGS.
Her old supremacy, the result of necessity,
passed away, the people were free to
choose their market place, and Sacramento
for the first time was placed in the lists for
legitimate commercial encounter But the
spirit which bore her through fire and food
was equal to the occasion. The transition
period was brief but bitter, and the
nj tho citv CANA o,t oF 49,