Evening star., 1896-07-25
CALIFORNIA; HALF CENTURY.
How the State Has Been Developed
Under the Stars and Stripes.

no" une btate Has Been DPvelOpeu
Under the Stars and Stripes.
From the San Francisco Chronicle.
When the American flag was raised at
Monterey on the 7th OF July, 1916, Califor-
MIA gave no promise of becoming either
populous or wealthy part Of the Union.
Though greater in area than the combined
states Of Connecticut Vermont, New Jer-
sey New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massa-
chusetts Maine, Ohio and New York, it
produced nothing for export beyond hides,
tallow and a very small quantity of wine.
In the opinion Of those VINO had visited it,
the country could not afford support to
much more than the scanty population it
already had. Ship captains and travellers
Wa!'deflES trapperS and explorers, all
agreed that the grea ter part of the terri
1ory was desert. As late 1853 the gov
efhInent engineers reported that the San
Joaquin valley was irrec!aima BILE The best
that was thought for California, when the
Stars ana stripes were planted over it, was
mat II mad certain strategic value
against both Mexico and Great Britain and
that Its POSITION the Pacific might in
long process of time, become of commercial
advantage TO the country at large. But the
peieHts seemed so remote and problemau-
cal that many statesmen, among them
Dahlel Webster, sneered al the acquisition
OF California as fantastic adventure
which was unbecoming to the dignity and
q
States government.
1T took but little more than two years
after Commodore Sloats achievement at
monterey to give the people of the east,
ana, indeed, OF the whole world, very diff
terent opinion. The discovery of gold put
California in new light and drew to 1t the
ehterprising and adventurous spirits of
Europe and America. The population,
Wnlch In lS46 had been confined to Yerba
Buena, Monterey, Santa Barbara Sonoma
Los Angeles and San Diego-mere adobe
i'amie's-and TO the cattle ranches of the
interior, expanded SO greatly that by 1850
California was ready to assume the dignity
OF statehood. Gold had been produced dur
ing 1913 to the value of $5,p0OoO In 1919
the output was s23,e0,Gn, in 1853 It had in
creased TO S65,G0,GN0, and during the four
years OF the war about S2o,ooGoO0 was sent
10 the eastern states to maintain the tot
terlng credit of the nation. Up TO the pre-
sent year California has added to the
worlds supply of the yellow metal over
81 25ooOo,o0o, which is more than one-haIf
the total supply of available gold In the
world.
Long after California had proved itself
treasury Of precious metals however The
beltef that 1t was a state of no other re-
sources, with the sole exception of cattle
continued to prevail. Few We're SO daring
IN IN me, iace OF the long, dry seasons as
to credit the land with agricultural possf-
blllties; fewer still We're knowing enough
TO foresee what irrigation might 90 10
make the desert blossom. Yet the time
draw the husbandman as il had the miner
ana become a greater contributor to the
national wealth through the tillaye and
occupation of the soil than it had been
through the production of auriferous rock
The vacant dust-swept land which Com
modore Sloat had seen from his garter
deck as he sailed along the c1cs, to Mon
terey fifty years ago he round itself pos
sessed or 4o,oH.%J arabic or susceptible
acres. 1t Io7' ranks twenty-second among
the states in population, its growth hay-
ics increased from g5.5g7 in 1850 to .o0S.-
13O in 1899. Between 1850 and 1880 the
population had gained in the ratio of 40
per cent, while that of the remainder of
the country had increased but - per cent.
In 1888 California ranked fifteenth in rail-
road mileage. and ii has increased in tina.
regard between 1880 and 1890 by the sum
of III per cent, against 80 per cent for
the United States as whole. The val
uation of property went up from SD 161 S1o
| in 1880 to s.. 5333, 733, ,627 forty years later
There has been phenomenal increase in
every department of state activity and