The morning call., 1893-07-18
CALIFORNIA; OPPORTUNITY.

A gentleman from Fresno is said 10 have
the great project in his mind of connecting
Bakersfield with Suisun Bay by ship canal.
He only requires S1O,OOO.ooO; of this
amount $4,000 is reported to have been
subscribed. An English capitalist. sup
posed to be looking around for invest
ments. is declared to be prepared to take
$40, 600 worth of stock, aud to find the rest
in England if the Fresno protector likes
the idea. 1t is to be canal with locks,
aud therefore expensive, but the variations
of level are to be tributary to system of
irrigation which Is to reclaim $50. 900 acres.
Great ships are to be navigated up the San
Joaquin Valley right to the wheat fields.
and the whole region is to flourish on ln-
creased fertility and cheap transportation.
The name Of this gentleman from Fresno
is the very musical one of Major c. Sharp.
The ansportation problem in California
is not joke. The people have no reason
so TO regard it, The Southern Pacific does
not so regard it. At this moment the
to blind the people to the real issues, to
divert attention from the really vulnera-
bic position, and to rivet afresh the fetters
which have bound the State down. ANY
byplay or side comedy which diverts the
gaze from the actual goal is welcomed by
the Southern Pacific, which never for a
moment loses sight of what it Is pleased
to term its interest in California. But un-
til California is freed from the clutches of
that company it can never make the rapid
progress which it should do, with its in
Vulnerable advantages of soil. resources
and climate.
Mere temporary booms, or flashes Of
prosperity sporadic in localities, are not
to be reckoned in the balance with SUBJ
stantial. permanent gain snch rs would
accrue from developing the sagacious and
far-seeng plans of the San Francisco Traf-
fie Association. The aims of that body are
purely those which would benefit every in
terest in the State except that of the mo-
nopoly. The real estate owner. the
farmer, the merchant, the trading and
working classes of every description are
all directly interested in the success OF
that policy, for it is othing less than en-
abling California to reach out ADVANTAGE
ousiy into the markets of the United
States and foreign countries. We are
Daylight through the wool in which we
have been wandering is at last visible.
The steamers of the North American
Navigation Company are keeping open the
Panama route on tree footing, and the dis
examinations and 0ntemptuOus indifference
Of the Pacific Mail Company to shipping
wants are ended. The clipper ships round
the Horn are an aid in the same direction.
But supplemental to all these conquered
facilities of San Francisco harbor is the
necessity of getting into the interior of the
State by railways built aud managed for
the sake of traffic alone. Mr.. Leeds says
rightly that local railroads are the key TO
the whole situation. Construct these and
own them always as railroads for the
people, not 10 enrich few men by bond
and stock jugglery, and the flank of the
Southern Pacfic's position will be turned.
The Stockton and Bakersfield is the first
of these roads. Every dollar spent on il
will be remunerative hundredfold. Ex-
orbitant rates will no longer be possible,
because the new road, with its water con-
necto1 with San Francisco, will fix the
rates beyond doubt. 1t is, from the en-
glneering point of view, cheap road. but
if it cost three times as much 1t would still
be an economical project. Dividends are
assured from the outset. Once that road
is completed there will be confidence In
undertaking others. The Stockton and
Bakersfield should be pushed ahead with
energy and with determination n OF to be
seduced by will-0'-the-wisp phantasms.