The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-22

generally provincial in his ideas and
therefore, in most cases, great.
boaster concerning matters and con-
ditions appertaining to the state which
he calls his home. His views are en-
vfroned by the lines which mark the
boundaries Of the state, all within it
being superior to that which may be
found outside. That he is able to
point out many things which justify
his claim of superiority is true, but in
his desire to prove that California pro-
duces everything On a scale larger
than do any of the older common
wealths he will even proudly instance
the little principalities usually called
ranches, which have for so many years
handicapped the general prosperity OF
the state. He will boast Of her tO,-
OO0-acre ranches and her 1.OOO-acre
wheat fields, the property of one man,
or one firm, knowing as he must that
he is only citing another illustration
of the evil effects of unreStralned
greed. Altogether California is the
very lair of monopoly in all its multi
form shapes and phases, reference
herein will be made only to that which
pertains to the ownership OF land, ana
that necessarily only in a brief way.
Every Herald reader knows that this
system of colossal ranches prevailed
here at the time of our acquisition OF
California from Mexico. In those days
the lands were used only for grazing
purposes. They then had little value,
and the same was true of the herds OF
native horses and cattle that roamed
over them with scant attention from
their owners. Few oe the early miners
believed that California would be
worth anything to a white man after
she should be despoiled of her metal
lie treasures. A greater confidence IN
the saving grace Of water as applied
to great variety of uses, might have
made the difference between success
and failure to many an Argonaut
While these large holdings are not
profitable to their owners they consent
to their segregation with the greatest
reluctance. A mans standing in So
ciety is largely gagged by the number
of his acres, just as, not many years
ago, a mans position in the south
was determined by the number of his
slaves, whether their labor profited
him anything or not. In this state
there are many farmers possessed each
of SOC acres who barely make a living
from them but who refuse to sell any
part of them on the invitation of any
person other than the sheriff. And the
experienced traveller or peddler VINO is
in search of some place at which to
put up for the night gives wide lee
way to the house of the big California
farmer because he knows that either
the bull dog is the constituted dis
penser of all the hospitality on tap
for wanderers or that at best his sup
per will consist OF bread and sowbelly
and that he must then compose him
self to sweet dreams in the hay NOV
bridal chamber. For hospitality is not
one of the besetting weaknesses of
the big California farmer, and his dig
nifty as such prevents his fooling with
such petty things as raising vegetables
or keeping dairy. He simply raises
grain and stock and either buys grub
or does without
AS stated above, few of these large
tracts have been subdivided. Usually
when q landed proprietor died his land
ed possessions remained intact, the
heirs of the estate forming a corpora
ton and deciding the property to it.
Instead of dividing the land they di-
vided the annual rent value or the an
nual result Of is cultivation. But the
San Francisco papers have lately given
great editorial prominence to the fact
that the Croker estate company has de-
cided to put upon the market in 40
acre lots, q 42,000-acre tract of land
at MERGED, lying subject 70 the best
irrigation system ever constructed in
the United States.
In taking this action the company
seems to be Influenced by two consider
ations, the first being that it owns
about one-fourth of the Southern Pa
cific railroad system and naturally
wants a. large population Of producers
whom it can tax ''all the traffic will
bear" and, in the next place, it is own
er of the very expensive irrigation Sys-
TEN named and will therefore have the
perpetual felicity not vouchsafed to
pc people," of collecting water rates
from a thousand farmers.
Therefore il cannot be inferred that
the land monopolists of California are
generally going to give the state and
the poor man a chance by sub-dividing
their little kingdoms. AS shown above
even the death of the proprietor has
not brought about that result But
why should the city papers, except in
the way of advertising, make so much
noise about his Croker subdivision?
Salt Lake has not done much blowing
about he Bear Lake canal or the Swan
Lake reservoir, and probably few peo-
pie there even know that Messrs. Cham
bers. Jessen ana Daggett have recently
constructed canal about thirty miles
long near Green river, capable of irri-
eating $4,000 acres of land. And the land
in first class quality is there too. That
illustrates the difference between Cali
fofnia and Utah brag.
But there is one branch of trade in
which the blghting effect of monop-
oily is not felt in San Francisco Fol-
lowing the idea established here near
ly half century ago, that "suthin to
take should be classed amongst the
neceSSafieS Of life, the liquor license
is only $21 per quarter. As a result of
this substantial municipal in
terest in a mission which has
for its purpose the alienation
of human thirst, there are nearly six
thousand places here furnishing raw
material fer DR.. Keeley's foundry.
Every grocery has bar attachment
in the rear, and these places are most
harmful of any. Families living near
rush the GROWER all day long and have
the beer charged as groceries. Some
narrow side streets contain as many as
ten such saloons in the length of a
single block. They are everywhere in
districts occupied by working people
and, Of course, keep the people con-
stantly broke" Children brought UP
in such an atmosphere must become
drunkards, and it must be confessed
that they submit to inevitable fate
with becoming resignation
While no young girl would think of
going INFO a saloon which opened on
the street, 1t is different in one of these
dens with the decoy front She may
unsuspectingly accept an invitation to
go there for a glass of soda" and re-
gret it during the remainder of her
life.
For long time the clergy, the pious
women and all others who have been
commissioned to regulate other .peo-
pies daily walk by their own, made
war on the dives. which were run in
public. ignoring those, far more dan