Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-09-07
OUR IMMIGRATION WORK.
What Has Been Accomplished by tn
Northern California Association.

The first annual meeting of the Directors
OF the Immigration Association of North
ern California takes place. next Thursday,
the 10th, at u NJ, in the office of the Asso-
citation in this city. The first meetings of
representatives of the people of the north
ern part of the State for the organization of
this Association were held year ago. As
the country was absorbed in the excite
ment of national and State elections, work
after organization was postponed until the
1st of December At that time DR.. Latham
assumed charge of the office of Secretary.
The first step was TO open an Office, which
was done in a commodious room at 500
Second street. The work of collecting data
for full and comprehensive description of
the northern half of the State was under
| taken, and it is within bounds to say that
the information brought together was more
complete than from any previous effort. 1t
was written in a plain but very readable
style, and illustrated Thirty thousand
copies, with a handsome autographed map,
| were printed and distributed in the East.
AT that time l. n. Hoag, immigration Com
missioner at Chicago, wrote that he did not
have single line descriptive of northern
California TO circulate that was of any par
ticular use. He further said that in all the
| time he had been in the East in the interest
OF immigration he had never received any
matter relating to northern California.
Southern California had, however, kept
him supplied with descriptions of that part
of the State. For some years be had dis
tributed annually 10000 pamphlets con-
| corning the southern counties. The result
was that everybody who inquired about this
State wanted TO 90 TO the Southern part.
Tho tbarr half Io,
and Pennsylvania-was unknown and at
tracted no attention.
The work of compiling all the informa-
ton that will be required by tens of
thousands of people relating to such vast
and varied country is no small labor
There were other labors to be done The
people of the northern half of the State
had to be awakened to the importance of
immigration work. Circulars were pre-
pared at the office of the Secretary giving
mass of figures of the migration of people
on this continent, and the immense results
that followed in settling and developing
vast tracts of country. Most of the north
ern counties were visited and local Immi-
grafton Societies were formed.
The large land holders were written to
and the advantages of the subdivision of
the large land holdings were discussed,
with the result that hundreds of thousands
of acres were offered for subdivision and
sale that had never been on the market.
Daily many letters from all parts of the
East have been received making inquiries
with view of selecting homes here All
these have been answered by letter and by
printed matter.
In addition to the issuing of the de-
scriptive pamphlet of 10000 copies, as
mentioned, the Home Seeker, a monthly
illustrated pamphlet, is published, and
several thousand copies distributed. This
! has been prepared by the Secretary, and
made source of revenue to the Society
The Home Seeker has been placed on a
lasting and paying basis. An outside page
OF German paper has also been secured,
and filled with information concerning the
northern portion of the State, to reach
German-speaking people of the East and
| elsewhere. Appointment arrangement has
been made whereby the Secretary, here
| after, will have this much space free in the
journal referred to.
To make the resources of the northern
counties more widely known, page of the
Western World, published iii Chicago, with
circulation of 100000 copies has been
| secured. By these means future advertis-
ing of the advantages of northern Califor-
MIA can be done, to an immense extent,
free of cost to the Society. The only out
lay will be in the labor of editing the mat
ter for publication, and this Dr. Lathsm
has shown himself entirely competent to
do. By these means the money required
to maintain the Society in the future has
been successfully reduced, by the efficient
work and arrangements perfected by the
Secretary to a small sum. In addition to
the income of the Home Seeker, it will not
require more than $50 per month"; sum
of utter insigniticance, compared to the
benefits to be derived from the work.
In all the history of the American occu-
patton there has never been a year that
presented so many difficulties for this work
as the present. We have been in the
midst of an unprecedented business de-
| preston. In the East many of those who
| have decided to come here and make
homes and develop our resources, have
been unable to realize anything that was
| satisfactory from their property, and there
fore have had to postpone their coming till
another year. From the testimony of
those who have been East, and from a
| wide-reaching correspondence by the Asso-
CATION from nearly every county in the
| Eastern States, it is certain that when bust
| ness revives there and times become better,
we shall have migratory stream pour into
| this part of California that will rapidly
| take the land now offered. Our valleys
will fill up and the warm gold belt" of
| lllt IOOlillllS Will DC GONeIpu WlIn an active
| and industrious new population.
Mr.. Hoag expresses the opinion that next
year, from the present business outlook,
| will witness all the people come here that
we can locate. Hon. A. L. Chandler of
Suffer county, who has Just returned home
| from trip through the East, from the Gull
| to Canada, says that never before has he
| heard northern California so much talked
of as now. He further says that the de-
scriptive pamphlets of this Society are in
| all parts of the East and have awakened
general interest for the northern part of the
State. Although not as many people have
come here as the more sanguine may have
anticipated, according to the times and the
difficulties to be overcome the number is
astonishingly large. They have also been of
| the better class, and very many have
| bought land and are now improving it and
will become permanent producers. As
many as twenty colonies are in process of
| forming. and will, if times get better, come
here in the spring.
The question that will be considered by
the Directors at the meeting next Thurs
day, whether the society shall be main
tanned, must be answered without q mo-
ment's hesitation. The sum required is so
small as to be easy to raise. We need the
society as q means of attracting the capital
brain and muscle to work out our almost
boundless possibilities, and we must have
it. One year ago the work of the Immi-
grafton Association of Northern California
was in thesnature of an experiment To-
day it has become fixed fact eminentlv
successful, and, under wise management
and efficient work. is largely self-sustain-
ing. Let the small amount of funds needed
20 continue be promptly provided let the
good work go on uninterrupted and the
results, through vast increase of popula-
ton and extensive development, will be
marvellous and nnldan