The herald., 1897-03-15
When the Governor Vetoes the
Dredging Bill
HE TAXPAYERS WILL SMILE
And Especially Those Living South Of
the Tehachepi
The Pull Text Of the Famous Treaoy Bill
for the Relief Of the Honorstls
uasmpIoyed

SACRAMENTO, March 1S.-I hear a
rumor that the Dredger bill, which dis
cussed at some length in my last letter,
and which carries an entirely unneces-
sary expenditure of 100000. is likely 20
be vetoed by the governor. 1 trust the
rumor Is correct. because IL it is tha
money that would have been expended
on dredging the river, and doing the
work that congress should do out of the
federal treasury, will be expended on
state affairs or saved entirely to the tax
payers.
1t is going to take good deal Of Nerve
to veto the bill. because the number Of
members behind it is SO large that big
howl will go up as soon as the veto mes
sage Is read, and heaven and earth will
be moved. not to mention a warmer
place, to pass it over the governors veto.
North, of Yolo. for instance, tells me
he has eighty-five miles of river front
in his district, and other assemblymen
and senators are nearly as badly off,
They must howl and yell and denounce
the governor If he vetoes the bill, or they
need never expect to come back to the
legislature again. On the other hand,
the rest of the state will benefit by the
veto and the distribution of the ap-
preparations, and as they are vitally
interested in the matter they should
stand by the governor If he declines 10
inuorse this enormous expenditure for
natural improvements.
They are pretty slick" people here,
anyhow. as the boys say. They get over
W per cent of the appropriations and ex-
pendlIure OF the state on this side of the
Tehachepi, and only pay rs per cent Of
the taxes. Many of the purposes for
which taxes are collected and expended
are purely local, and could be avoided
II ordinary business sense was used N
managing the great corporation bust
ness or the state of California. For in
stance. notice in the general appropria-
ton bill over 100000, about per
cent of the entire amount of expendi-
lures that 1t covers, are for the rent Of
Offices for state officials in San Fran
cisco; where it Is now proposed to erect
big state building, besides the new
wharf and depot, which the state is
putting up on the bay front at the foot
of Market street. That expenditure is
unnecessary. Now the state is going
to furnish the stone for the highway
flee as IAN object lession," to use the
words of Senator Doty. Next year we
shall have more 'object lessons" more
expenditures, and, as usual, the people
of the south will get left, except when
1t comes to collecting the taxes; then
there Is never any forgetfulness or clam
or that the south should be overlooked.
Another scheme that would reduce
taxation would be to provide that half the
expense for maintaining inmates of the
various public institutions of the state
should be borne by the counties If that
provision Is made the county authori-
ties would be more careful in permitting
commitments to be made; and as Is the
case when the system of the states ap-
propriating all the money for caring for
the aged was changed so as to make the
charge county one, the expense to the
taxpayer would be reduced; the county
officials not caring to be held RESPONSE
BILE for excessive expenditures. The
coyote bounty claims will probably be
paid this year. so the appropriations In
the future will not be as large as they
appear to be this year. No money will
have to be raised, however, to pay these
claims and there Is now In the treasury
the money that was collected to meet
them two years ago, the present bill
being merely re-appropriation. That Is
true also Of the money appropriated for
the affiliated college buildings, the very
special appropriation which escaped the
governors vetoing pen two years ago.
I hear that following the example of
the state university, which now has an
annual tax of two cents from the state,
the normal schools are going to ask the
next legislature to impose cent or two
cents for their benefit, so they will not
have to go to the legislature every two
years for an appropriation. The Idea In
some respects is all right, but 1t certain
ly is an invasion Of the good old Anglo
Saxon system and principle Of appro-
priating money regularly every fewyears
for the support OF the state; a principle
which has ever kept the legislative and
popular branch of the government in
control of the rest of it.
A graveyard Is not a very lively sub
ject to discuss and yet graveyards are
very interesting places as rule to visit.
Sacramento has one that found well re-
paid me for trip there the other day.
do not know how big 1t is. and what mat
tiers 1t, 1t is all Gods acre." but 1t is
large, we'll laid out cemetery and noted
what to me was novelty In graveyard
that 1t had no mounds, the graves all
being perfectly fiat, only the tomb
stones indicating the presence OF grave.
Some of the monuments are very fine
one, said to have been erected by man
to his wife with whom he perpetually
quarreled. is appropriately Inscribed:
AT rest In peace" Perhaps the most
pretentious tomb Is a gigantic affair Of
red marble which contains the remains
of the Hopkins family. Mark, Moses and
their brothers and sisters. 1t has very
solid look and the deceased are securely
laid away behind great blocks OF stone
that must have taken derrick to move.
A tall white marble shaft, with bronze
bear at its base and medlllions on the
four sides, was raised by the Native
Sons of the Golden West to their found
er, General A. M. Winn whose portrait
adorns one of the medalions. Portraits
on tombstones seem to be very popular
in the Sacramento graveyard and pho
tographs of the departed are inserted
in many of the tombstones. General
Winn, his tombstone informs tie public.
was born in 1910 and he died In 1883. but
whether he was himself a Native Son
does not appear by the inscription. The
monument that interested me the most
was short, gray obelisk of granite that
stood by itself away from any Of the
other graves. It bore medallion por-
trait in bronze OF Alexander Hamilton
and was erected over the grave Of his
son who lies buried at the base. His
name was William Stephen Hamilton
and he was born on August 4, 1887. and
died just fifty-three years later.
There Is part of the graveyard sur
rounded by tall hedge Of evergreens
that is set aside as a potter's- field.
Among the tombstones Is that of q
Chinese-a tall marble slab which bears
in Chinese characters the name, and I
presume brief biography Of the Celes-
tad that lies beneath.
A large plot Is set aside for the burial