Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-03-11

most valuable one when it comes 20 its end.
| Mr.. Del Nalle-l am sorry 10 interrupt the
this matter in n parliamentary manner aud his
saying that the appeal has been dishonest ap
peal certainly is not parliamentary.
| Mr.. Cross-lf did 80 say, | apologize. But
| appeal" And if the Senator would remain in
his seat while am speaking, he would prob
| ably understand what do say.
| MIR. Del NAlle-I was outside.
| Mr.. Cross-I claim the right 10 the floor.
have not violated any rule of the Senate or OF
| propIiety. so lar as am aware of, on this oCCa-
| sion have more TO say, but briefly and 10 the
| point. He who demands Tor sympathy an ear
| should have all ear tov the complaints of Others.
| Now, the men who press these bills in this
| Senate have no ear for anything except
thaI little locality of 10000 5000 people; and
| then only an TO one side of the question.
| think it but day before yes crday thst my
section of this state demanded a bar right to dig
| for gold. 1t WAS the demand of - on people,
| and put i'll such manner as not 10 iniUre the
| property or person of any man, woman or child.
! We showed lis absolute necessity; and ! know
/ what ii means to have ones home wrecked. by
| having seen thousands OF them wrecked all
around me within the last tiitCe months.
| know what ii is to have great indus
tries cut down and ruined. Bat these
| gentlemen who claim 80 much feeling for their
| particular locality, have no feeling or ear OF
| mercy for 10000 people who do mol happen TO
| live on the desert lands OF HaCgin x lewis. or
| within the counties of Kern, Fresno and Tulare.
|
| representatives of the mining counties | am
! willing. so long as | 50 continue member OF
this body, to stand here and lei those people feel
| as we have felt. until they are willing not
! merely, sir, 10 modify the rule so 10 give the
| residents of Il single valley or two bread by
| changing the law of water rights, but am pre-
pared TO stand. so long us l shall be
| a representative of 4 mining constituency. and
! continually offer 10 those people my hand and
| saw " Hand in hand we will vote to 50 reform
the statutes of this State as to benefit the whole
| people of the State, if we can do 50 honestly
! and without robbing any one" But when they
| turn their backs upon the demands of my pcO-
pie upon this same subject, and say that the
! question of water rights i no broader than the
question of the existence ofone part the people
in two or three river valleys, l. Tor one, rep
| reSentativc of the mining interest turn my back
| upon them and say when you have suffered
! until you are in n proper frame of mind to unite
| i'll common cause, viii extend to you the
! friendly hand and, with you, take upon my
neck one side of the burden of this yoke, and,
| with you, attempt to pillow up progress from
! the barren soils of California, whether it be in
| the valley of Kern county or upon the mount
! ain side of Nevada. Until then watch, and
| wait and pray and may the God who furnishes
| the sunshine equally upon the mountain and
! the plain. hear your cries iii vain until you
! award such mercy to Others as you demand for
! yourselves"
have more to say Whilst the Senator from
! Los Angeles has represented this matter as
| being pressing and binding at this time. and
said that we can offer our amendments If We
! will only take this thing up out of its regular
order and put it on its second reading, is there u
Senator in this body who does not know that as
| soon as that is done the previous question viii
| be moved and we compelled TO vote upon these
| measures Just as they have been presented here,
| without even a chance 10 propose au amend
| meHt TO it,
| I say more say that when Senate Bill No.
| 2l0-Word for word the same as this bill-Was
| before this body in Committee Of the Whole, the
| gentlemen who brought these measures here,
| and who advocated them continuously, refused
| 10 allow any amendment at all If it happened
| TO be broader than Fresno. Kern and Tulnre.
| ] say the policy is Il narrow one: say the
policy is Il selfish one; say the policy is an I'M
| feeling one. | say it is not policy State wide,
as should be the policy OF the law of water rights
! in q commonwealth of diversified, rich and
| large territory, like California. Sir, there is
| sometimes Il policy in legislation to postpone
| the consideration OF important measures until
| the Legislature has come so near its close as
to force the legislative BODY to either receive 1t
| or discard it as 1t is, and then by improper
! methods TO seek TO apply 4 lash OF public OIlr-
ion until the representatives OF the people snail
feel compelled to vote Tor bill full OF vices be
| cause there is not time TO remove or amend
| them. 1t has been the common remark OF Sena-
tors upon this floor: it has been the almost uni
| verSal comment, whenever thesSublect has been
| preached by those who formulated these meas
| ures and brought them here What does 1t
mean that these bills are brought forward; that
they are left at the foot of the hle all the time;
| that nothing is done towards taking them up so
4
| OF this legislative tem?' Sir. to every man
! who has witnessed this thing it has been worse
| than conundrum. But to me, knowing the
methods of legislation, the conundrum Is an
| swered: That these bills have been left al the
| bottom until so near the close of this Legisla-
ture that they should not be scanned, scruti-
| nized and perfected so that we should be com
| PEELED, out of mere stress OF lack of time. to
adopt them as they are, without due consider
! alton. | may be mistaken in this, but Sor all
results there are supposed to be causes.
to 81 of HOY I'd n
| the Conventions which have been held below,
! determined TO join hands with the people of any
| portion of the state where the present existing
water laws bore heavily, to put mine in theirs, to
| place my neck in the same yoke, and pull with
all the strength of my self, and all that my con-
| stituency could summon behind me, to so mOdi-
fy those laws as to build up these great interests
affected-of mining and farming But when !
reached here l found bills prepared as
narrow only one side of irrigation, and
so framed i'll express terms to take
from those who owned without giving any con-
sideration whatever, declaring new doctrines of
property, more progressive, if they be progress
sive, more advanced if they be advanced more
dishonest If they be dishonest, than the propO-
sitions of Henry George in his works upon the
right to own land. found here proposed pro-
visions which, il adopted wreck every land
holder in the State of California, unless he he a
large landhOder. And, sir, II these bills pass,
if this measure declaring water the common
property of the people of tins State ever be-
comes the law of the State. 1T will be q
mere question OF winch Is the stronger rs 10
who shall have the water; and in all countries
and in all times, in such struggles, the rich man
is always the gamer the poor man always the
loser. | say that these laws, If enacted, are
enacted in the interest of the faction who desire
to acquire the property OF others without pay
ing tor it. l say, il passed, they are passed i'll
the interest of one party to a suit now pending
l say if passed they will reach such conclu-
sions with regard TO what have been recognized
as water rights as will ruin half the people in
the State who irrigate their lands and will en-
rich every lawyer in California who is COM
petent TO try Il cause with reference to water
rights.
Mr.. President, ] recognize the fact that may
have been somewhat tedious in this matter.
do not desire TO be so. But l call attention to
the fact that though the Senator from Los An
geles says that If these bills need amendment
we can take them mp and amend them. He and
those who have fathered them in this body
have continuously voted against all amend
ments, no matter how necessary those amend
ments might have been or appeared to be. In q
single instance, | believe, where the word
mining" had dared to creep into the proposed
law with regard to water rights, they did vote
to strike out portion of the section, including
that word. They were willing that that part of
the section should go, because it was the only
parliamentary way by which they could pre-
! vent the mining interest of the state from OBJ
tanning little crumb of recognition. 1hCpe that
| l have not misunderstood, | hope that have
! not misrepresented the real principles and pur-
| poses involved in this matter. Pressing these
| claims and interested in them are as excellent
gentlemen rs there are in the state recognize
the fact that in the litigation between Lux d
| Miller and Haggin * Tevis It has appeared that
| certain parties have constructed enormous
! bitches which are now valuable to them, If
| the decision holds. ] recognize the fact that
these bills, if passed authorize men elected by q
majority of these very people to fix value
upon those empty bitches, without any limit
whatever as to price. and to saddle all the
lands of the district with bonded
Indebtedness, enormous in extent, for the
purpose of buying them l recognize
| the fact that in these three counties there is an
area of about 10000 square miles. ! recognize
| the fact that perhaps three-fourths of that land
or Is, 900 square miles-ls susceptible of cult
walton. l recognize the fact that in this SCI ton
of Is 900 square miles there are $40 acres TO the
| square mile. ! recognize the financial fact that
the preparation for irrigation of land costs from
OTTO SIS an acre, and let any one figure that up,
and consider the mortgage that will be placed
upon all the properties of that section of the
| State by carrying out this scheme.
There is a better way there is an honest way
there is an open way there is a just way. There
is Il way without changing the laws of the
State; there is way without appealing from
| the decision OF Courts to the decision of the
| popular branch of the Government and it is