The record-union., 1894-10-05

naturalized may inherit. The Constitu-
ton suggests herein To the Legislature
TO provide for the disposition Of that real
estate which was acquired by the alien
through descent or devise or heirship. If
the maxim that remedies need not be
broader than the evils they are intended
to cure is good, its reverse should be
equally good, and remedies should be
as broad at least as the evils they are in-
tended to cure. Amendment No. does
not remedy the abuse 1t aims at. There
is no remedy of the abuse of ownership
by unnaturaiiZed foreigners and residents
OF foreign countries, because the present
practice is to own the real estate of Cali
fornla through the Intervention of a COR
poration which by reason of being or
ganized under the laws Of California is
domestic.
When, therefore. the voters of the State
act upon the question as TO whether
Amendment No. shall become part OF
the organic law of the State, they should
ask themselves the question as TO whether
the evil, II any exists, is remedied by the
provision of the amendment. To my
mind California has great future. 1t will
IN time become an empire OF wealth and
| population. | base this honestly enter
tanned belief and ardently entertained
hope upon the fertility of It's soil and the
| clemency of it's climate, as well as the
mary use OF the soil is in the support OF
| the life of the agricultural occupant and
! his family. The profit beyond that sup
| port is an incident TO the maintenance of
life and the requirement of moderate for
/ tune. The ownership of a sufficient num-
ber Of acres to employ the industry of an
/ agricultural holder and his family is the
highest use OF the real estate. In the Mis-
slssippi Valley the value Of the average
| return Of the acres under cultivation is "a
! an acre. Under the expanded possibili-
! ties due to the peculiar climate of this
/ State. the average value Of cultivated
| land, when devoted to other uses than the
growth of cereals, is fully $40 an acre, or
five times that of the average in the Mis-
! sissippi Valley.
When men come to contemplate the
| soil as primarily useful i'll the support OF
population engaged in agriculture, Cali
fornla Will have five times the density OF
| population on the same acreage as in the
| Mississippi Valley. The speculative use
of land prevents the accomplishment OF
this result. Hence / have been opposed
to the large aggregates OF ownership so
common in this State, and have regard ed
them as displacement of population and
civilization. | should be pleased as a
citizen of the State to promote the higher
and better conception of the use OF the
soil. Trades and callingS are over
| crowded. The tendency of population has
been to the cities. a great reaction from
this condition is inevitable. Self-support
and self-helpiulness will drive men back
to the soil. and the sooner it's subdivision
Ofownership comes to be based upon what
an Individual cuItiyator and his family
may profitably use and devote to culti-
vatiOn, so that its product will be the re-
suit of their individual labor, the better
, it will be for the entire human family.
Ii, as was evidently supposed by the
| trainers of Amendment No. 1, its pro-
visions would set in motion q tendency in
this direction, L should be most happy to
vote for it. But unless L am mistaken in
my conclusions, the amendment falls far
short of its object.
l have taken the liberty of writing to
| you on this matter because it is one in
which the people OF this State are deeply
Interested and one having an important
| bearing upon its future. l take the
| further liberty of suggesting that you
consult some one of the learned attorneys
of your city concerning the suggestions
herein made. II my conclusions are con-
Cured in by those skilled in the inter-
! probation of the law, | feel confident that
| you Will oppose the amendment, because
its adoption Will not only accomplish no
| good but will stand in the way of a
proper future amendment.
| Conveying high personal considera-
tlons, beg to remain yours very truly,
WM. II. MILLS.