The record-union., 1895-01-10

us fostering care. National laws compel
shlps to hail from some port. Local laws
! permit their taxation for local purposes
az the haiilng ports. California has but
Two natural harbOrs, San Francisco and
oan Diego, and they are known to the
! shipping world, and vessels of this State
are almost compelled to hail from them.
| Callfornla encourages almost every other
state INDUSTRY In a most substantial man.
| ner. Why should she forget ali industry
that has so uniformly been protected by
all nations of the earth? The navies of
the world have recognized the enter
| prise of California IN ship-b building, and
we should do all in our power to encour-
age the merchant ship-owners of our
State. The State of New York passed a
law In 1881, and amended the same in
1897, eXempting from State and local tax
alton all vessels registered at any New
| York port, owned by American citizens,
| and engaged in ocean commerce between
| any port of the United States and any
foreign port, and providing for exemp-
| ton Tor thirty years on the franchise,
| earnings, ETC., of all corporations organ
lied under the laws of the State for that
| purpose.
The fact that the great bulk of our reg
! lstered merchant shipping of the United
States Is credited to New York may be
due To the liberal tax laws of that State.
There is every reason why California
! should give equal encouragement to the
! shipping interest, and the passage of q
law as liberal as that in force in New
! ork would be of material advantage to
| the state.
| a tax on American shipping tends to
! drive the vessels away or substitute for
| e!gn ones. The abolition of the tax would
not perCepuDly increase the burdens of
otner property owners, as many OF our
! ships are registered from Eastern ports,
| and 1t would tend to attract to our ports
! ships which now stay away. 1t would
! stimulate our trade improve our general
! taxable resources and largely increase
the ship tonnage of these two ports. 1t
! Will take constitutional amendment to
enable any such measure to be adopted
here, and step in that direction should
be made by removing all taxation on
vessels owned by our citizens which are
! engaged in ocean commerce between our
! ports and those of foreign nations, and in
| addition to this, let IL be hoped that the
day will come when those harbors can be
| used as the home OF all vessels owned in
| this State and exempted from unneces-
! Sary charges of any kind. The great
| commercial nations of the earth have
ever been interested in this subject for
their national good. and why SHOULD not
| our State be willing to lend helping
hand to an industry that can bring the
products of the world 10 our doors?
TORRENS LAND COMMISSION.
The transfer of titles to lands in this
! State has been regarded by many whose
vocation leads in this direction as cum
bersome and confusing, and a subject
that demands simplltication. Concur
ring in that belief, I approved a bill of
the last Legislature Statutes 1898, p. l2l)
| authorizing the appointment of a COM
mission TO examine and report upon the
method adopted in Australia, and known
as the "Torrens Land Transfer Act of
Australia"
l appointed the following named gen.
tlelnen on such commission: Edwin +.
Adams of Alameda, Frank Miller of
Sacramento, Bart Burke of Santa Cruz.
Elliott McAllister OF San Francisco and
K. \. Bulla of Los Angeles.
AS the report of this commission is TO
| be directly submitted to your honorable
bodies, l am unable to make any further
statement regarding it.
GOOD ROADS.
One of the foremost subjects claiming
the attention OF the people at the time
! assumed the Executive Office | found to
be that relating to the betterment OF the
country roads throughout The nation. 1t
! is subject that has long had my thought,
/ and one in which | tax ke profound interest,
since l am convinced it is eminentIy true
that a peoples civilization, progressive
spirit and economic methods are largely
! to be estimated by the character and con-
dition OF the highways that are their
means OF transportation and greatly of
! communication. 1t was true OF the
ancient nations, and the truth has not de-
ciined with US because this is a railroad
building era. On the contrary, we have
been SO absorbed in the promotion of the
| latter industry throughout the United
States, that we have lost sight of the ne
cessity OF building and maintaining coun-
try highways to relate us 10 railroad sys-
TENS more economically. Now the mat
ter Is so before US as to demand imme-
diate attention, because the fact has been
developed that the producer hauling to
market, or to point OF rail shipment,
a dozen miles over a bad road, is more
distant than the producer who is located
upon a railroad line hundred miles
away.
Ii is also apparent to the most super
nclal observer that our bad road condi-
tIons in California are decided detri-
ment in the matter OF inducing desirable
| immigration and in peopling our rural
sections. The home-seeker OF to-day de-
mands as one of the conditions of change
and settlement, the largest possible de-
gree of the privileges, the rehnements
and the advantages of town life, while at
the same time lie enjoys the independ-
Z
The construction OF good, permanent
| highways for trunk lines at general
cost of the county, leaving to districts the
contraction of feeder lines, is, in my
judgment, the right policy to adopt. The
town, equally with the suburb, is inter-
ested in the road between the two; every
dollars worth or assessable property in a
county is as much the subject OF response
| Dility for road conditions, as is the prop
erty of landowners in the country. |
have vainly sought for substantial reason
tor adhering to the present system, which
visits the cost of road building and main
tenauce upon the farmer and rural land
owner alone. 1t is supported by no more
worthy reason than this, ''it always has
been so.'
The amendment to the Constitution.
adopted III 1892, relative to county and
municipal credit, enlarged the limits
thereof to forty years from twenty, the
former period. When, however, the last
Legislature came to the reformation OF
the road laws, it did not recognize this
constitutional extension solemnly voted
by the people, but retained the credit
limit at twenty years. This has given
rise to confusion, and has greatly embar-
rassed the friends of road reform. On
the one hand they claim that the Con-
stitution governs; that it is a grant the
Legislature cannot restrict, since if it can
cut off twenty years it can with equal
right restrict to any lesser time, and thus
nullily the Constitution. On the other
hand, it is urged that the Constitution
simply states the maximum period for
which communities may, under legis-
lative regulation, pledge their credit after
a two-thlrds affirmative vote, and there
fore the Legislature has the right to pre-
scribe any period within the maximum
limit.
l call your attention to the subject that
the relation between the Constitution
ana the law may be harmonized, and l