Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-08-06

I The San Francisco Herald Of Trade in
referring to the splendid editions of some
of the San Francisco papers, in honor of
the visit of the Grand Army of the Re
public, holds, that with most of them, it
was wasted opportunity" The Herald
says:
TRANSFERRING chapter after chapter and vol
ume after volume of history for the columns of
| the daily press seems a waste of energy Dur
| ing the excitement that prevails this week not
one in 100000 have read any of these papers
through. The object aimed at was TO furnish
papers that would be sent East and kept as
souvenirs of the occasion. Still, it is something
like sending Goals to Newcastle to reWrite the
long story of the great events of the war for the
benefit of people who necessarily know more
about these details than ourselves because
many of them were on or near the spot, or read
them from day to day as furnished by the war
correspondents who followed the army at the
time, or heard them fresh from the lips of par
ticipators when they were at home on furlough
or after being mustered out.
And we concur. While we do not deny
the enterprise of our contemporaries, nor
underestimate their energy, or the great
output of money and labor and skill these
issues called for, nor deny them one title
of the deserved praise due them, we be-
lieve that they made mistake in their
method. What our guests wish to hear
and read about is California. 1t is that
they came to see of its capabilities they
desire to learn; its system of agriculture
they wish to inquire into; the opportuni-
ties for home-seekers they are anxious to
ascertain. Mammoth papers that would
have ssmost interested them would have
been such as treated mainly of California
1t would not have been treated as selfish
advertising, nor the seizing of the oppor-
tunity of the host to do good turn with
the guest for our own household On the
contrary, the Grand Army people ex-
pected to read much of this State in the
local press, and to be able to confirm its
truthfulness by observation. The Herald
further INDUCES in these comments:
The Chronicle of Monday did little better; it
had good article on northern California with
a map of the railroads and public lands in the
northern counties. But we would like to have
seen one-halt the space given to war history
the best of which was taken bodily from we'll
given to detailed descriptions OF the special fea-
lures and productions of the several counties of
this State, as well as of those which are com
mon to all California. We want the East TO
know more about this coast, and we have missed
grand opportunity. Many times it has oc-
Cured that Californians in telling in the East
the plain truth Of the wonders of the Pacific,
have been treated with incredulity. But if the
facts had been plainly stated in the newspapers
which our visitors are sending to their friends,
and on their return their statements had been
derided as eXaggeratons, our 20 900 visitors from
all parts of the Union could reply: This state
ment is true, and that statement is true for saw
these things with my own eyes" Good for Cali
fornis will come out OF the veterans visit, but
more might have come had the great daiies d.
rected their energies more to publishing in
formation about this country and & little less to
making compilations of histories
And the soundness of these statements
and conclusions is not to be questioned.
Our great dailies at the "Bay" have
missed their opportunity. Some of the
weeklies have done better, and all of the
country press that issued special numbers,
so far as the exposition of California in
terests are concerned, clearly eclipsed
them. A good many interior papers have
issued &c A. r. editions" and in every
case great credit was deserved. We do
not recall one in which California, and
the immediate locality where the journal
is published, were not made the texts for
most Of the matter and illustration.
Neither do we recall an instance in which
there was misrepresentation or exagger-
alton. 1t was all solid information about
valley and foothill, mountain and seashore,
soils, cultivation, products of all kinds,
prices Of staples and necessities, educa-
tional advantages and transportation
facilities, prices of lands, opportunities for
home seekers, fruit culture, grape growing,
the cultivation of citrus fruits. state of
society, and so on through a long chapter
of truthful and valuable matter. Every
one of this class of special issues ought
to have wide distribution at the East If
the immigration agencies have been
awake they have secured thousands of
| these papers and placed them in the
hands of our visitors. Every such paper
will be taken "back East . it will be seed
in good soil and it must bear fruit to our
gain.