The San Francisco call., 1896-12-31
THE CLOSING YEAR.

The year which closes to-day has been
in the main prosperous one for Califcr.
mia, even if it cannot be so accounted fol
the Nation at large. In this State oul
realizations have been greater than oui
disappointments. We are not only better
off in material sense, but we are more
hopeful al the close than we were at the
beginning of the year.
The most notab BILE accomplishment in the
State during the past twelve months has
been the opening of the Valley Railway
from Stockton to Fresno under conditions
which assure the speedy extension OF the
line to Bakersfield and to this City. Claus
Spreckels, to whose energy, financial
strength and public spirit we owe what
has been achieved in the promotion OF the
road, is still urging the work forward, and
the new year will see the fulfillment of the
promise of the old.
The late frosts of the spring injured the
crops of the State to some extent, but the
loss seems to have been more than coun-
terbalanced by the increase in prices over
those of last year. Viney yards, orchards
and farms have rewarded with fair profits
the industry of those who titled them and
throughout the rural districts an air of
prosperity prevails, which seems bright in
comparison with the depression OF past
seasons.
In all the cities and towns of the State
there have been evidences OF renewed ac-
tivity in trade and industry, and in not
few of them there have been notable ad-
vances in municipal Improvements and
enterprises. In this respect the closing
weeks of the year have been remarkable
in San Francisco. The movement for
better street lighting has been carried for
ward with degree of rapidity and by an
extent of cooperation which has sur
prlsed even the most sanguine.
The Presidential election, which was the
great National event of the year, ended in
beneficial results whose magnitude cannot
yet be calculated. ALI the long seething
discontents of the people, all sectional
isms, all class prejudices. all passions ex-
cited by agitators all fol!ies engenGered
by mistaken conceptions of politics, hav-
ing been brought together in one mass,
were effectually crushed out by the
patriotism, the honesty and the sturdy
common-sense OF the majority of Ameri.
can voters. The political atmosphere is
therefore clearer than it has been in lor g
lime and public welfare, as far as it can
be affected by legislation, is we'll assured.
Even our relations with foreign coun-
tries are in better condition than they
were at the beginning of the year. II
much has been left undone in regard to
Cuba enough was done in the Venezuelan
affair to impress upon Europe the fact
that the United States must always be
consulted in every controversy affecting
the territorial integrity of any country OF
the American hemisphere.
Taking all things into consideration the
year has been prosperous at least for Cali
fornia and honorable for the Nation as a
whole. Sufficient has been done to give US
reasons for hoping for better things to
come. We have confirmed the faith of the
world in our industrial and political secur-
ity. We have laid broad and deep the
foundations of future building and to that
we can address ourselves with confidence
in the year which begins to- morrow.