The San Francisco call., 1895-11-03
THE SACRAMENTO ASTIR.

1t has been given out as news that
number of large landowners of the Sacra-
mento Valley are organizing an extensive
scheme of pooling their lands to the ex-
tent Of 100000 acres and opening them up
in TO- 0000-acre tracts for immigration pur-
poses. One of these tracts is to be subdi-
vided and settled at a time, and on each a
number of houses for immediate occu-
pancy will be erected; the land subdivi-
sions are to be in tracts of fifty and a
hundred acres.
Thus far this is an admirable and COM
mendable scheme, and if intelIigently and
energetically carried out would destroy
land monopoly in the Sacramento Valley
and would be a splendid measure OF prog
ress for the State. If the news stopped
there it would arouse enthusiasm from one
end of the State to the other.
But it is added that c. P. Huntington,
G. f. Crocker and perhaps other million
aire owners of the Southern Pacific Com
pany had been taken into the scheme and
have cheerfully promised to contribute
large sums of money in their individual
capacity to forward its purposes. Indeed,
Mr.. Huntington is quoted in an interview
amount of money in the enterprise.
On its face this would appear an excel
lent arrangement. The Southern Pacific
Company, with its innumerable offices and
agencies all over the United States and in
many parts of Europe, has the best con-
ceivable machinery for advertising Cali.
fornia and inducing immigration. It has
expended incredible sums of money in
that work on its own account and solely
for the purpose of increasing the popula-
ton of the State. The extraordinary part
of it all is that these heavy expenditures
and this vast amount of work have not
brought immigrants to California and have
not served to advance the prosperity of the
State. On the other hand, the Atchison,
Topeka and Santa Fe, which made similar
expenditures and did similar work for
Southern California, has seen it's efforts
rewarded in very conspicuous manner.
The wealthy landowners of the Sacra-
mento Valley have doubtless reasoned
that by securing the direct financial inter-
est of the leading owners of the Southern
Pacific the company will have stronger
incentive to make more earnest efforts
than ever before, and that with the whole
OF its perfectly organized machinery at
work in the interest of these lands their
value will be much enhanced by large
demand and their owners accordingly en-
riched. If that line of argument has been
followed it might be well to consider it.,
thus:
L. The Southern Pacific Company's eff
forts to bring immigrants to California
have not been successful in the past; those
of the Santa Fe have been successful. The
reasons of both these facts are familiar to
all.
2. The recent action taken by the Rail.
road Commission was for the purpose of
making it possible for farming to be car
ried on in the Sacramento Valley as well
as other valleys. The Southern Pacific
Company is bitterly fighting the reduced
schedule of freight charges.
3. The building of the San Joaquin Val
ley Railroad has aroused and dismayed
the Southern Pacific, which recognizes the
fact that the new road will reduce charges
and make it possible to carry on farming
In the San Joaquin at profit. Such a
road projected for the Sacramento Valley
would have exactly similar effect.
4. The taking of the Southern Pacific
magnates into the scheme for the settle
ment of the Sacramento Valley would
make it extremely difficult, and in all like
hnood impossible, for the people in the
Valley to construct an independent COM
petlng line, as the best lands would be
tieo up in a copartnership with the South
ern faclhc magnates, and If that should