The record-union., 1897-06-07
things better and act as if they believed

OuOttu IN CaHIOrnla paper Wnlcn
thinks that it is most sensible. There
is nothing for business men driven to
the wall by lack of customers or by
failure of collections to do but to call
it prosperity and pretend to believe it.
A STORY WITH A MORAL
Oakland Enquirer: A year or two ago
Colusa County rancher, who had
loaded UP too heavily with debt during
flush times, was gathered in by the
bank on a foreclosure sale. Recently
his son was in this city, and when
asked how his father was getting on,
he replied: "Oh, he is doing a great deal
better now He rents the land from
the bank and doesn't have to pay inter-
est" This is not joke but a fact. The
farmer gives the bank one-third of the
crop for the use of its land and keeps
two-thirds for his labor; formerly
three-thirds would hardly have sufficed
to pay interest. There are several in
stances of this kind in Glenn County
also and if there We're more it would
be better for all concerned.
THE WHEAT CROP.
Visalia Delta: 1t has been the habit
this year to speak of the wheat crop
as half a failure, but this is far from
correct. While a good rain early in
April would have been worth a fortune
to Tulare County, yet the cool weather
which prevailed prevented the loss
from being great. Large areas from
which, it was said, the farmers would
not be able to cut for hay. have ma
tured and will contribute to our grain
harvest. In the eastern portion of the
county and in the irrigated lands else
where, the crops are excellent-in some
places far above the average. In the
central portion of the county the crops
are fair, but elsewhere they are spot
ted, the average being light. In south
and west are fields in which the crop
will be a total failure, and others where
the yield viii be heavy The aggregate
yield of the county will be very large
and grain warehouses and transporta-
ton companies will find enough to do to
accommodate it.
ONLY THREE MONTHS.
Fresno Republican: 1t would be sup
posed from the tone of Democratic
criticism that the Mckinley Admins
tration had been struggling with the
political problems of the day for three
or four years instead of less than three
months. When a new administration
finds the ship of state stranded on the
rocks, with its bottom 'stove i'm and
the rigging dismantled. it cannot rea-
sonably be expected that she will be
gaily blowing the raging main in a
fortnight. 1t takes time to recover
from four years of disastrous voyaging.
and while delays in times of trouble
and misfortune are doubly exasperat-
ing, little retrosDection will satisfy
reasonable men that better progress
could hardly be expected under the cir
cumStances. The work of changing the
tariff for deficit to one for revenue
and protection is we'll under way the
international bimetallic commission is
vigorously at work, and decisive action
in the Cuban question may reasonably
be expected in the near future The
Repu blican Administration may or may
not achieve all that is hoped for, but to
condemn it within less than three
months from the time of it's inception
is manifestly unjust and unreasonable
TRAIN WRECKING.
San Diego Union: The frequency of
train wrecking and train robbery dur
ing the past year or two has resulted
in suggestions of late that Congress
might pass a law under which the Fed
eral Courts might have jurisdiction in
cases where these crimes are committed
on railways engaged in interstate COM
merce. Many of these outrages are
perpetrated on the great through lines
in the Territories and the thinly set
tied States of the far West. and the
local authorities often lack the ability
to follow up the offenders. AS a. matter
of fact, it is not in the thinly settled
States alone that the administration of
justice is found to be more
rigorous in the Federal Courts
than in the, local tribunals.
This is conceded to be the fact almost
everywhere, and contrasts between the
National and State authorities, to the
disadvantage yof the latter, are fire.
quently made in the more thickly pop
ulated, as well as the sparsely settled,
portions of the country While there
are faults in the methods of Federal
Courts, there is no doubt that as a rule
prosecutions are more vigorously con-
Quoted and penalties more generally
imposed than in the State courts. II
is a fact, too, that all over the coun-
try criminals have more fear of the
Federal tribunals than of the State
courts. If train wrecking and the So
called hold ups We're made capital
offenses and the Federal Courts were
given jurisdiction, there is little doubt
that these crimes would become less
frequent
SAN FRANCISCO AND STATE
TAXES.
Woodland Democrat: The truth is
that San Francisco does not now and
never has contributed a, fair proportion
of the money necessary to defray the
expenses Of the State Government In
the past. when the wealthy men and
! corporations bribed their Assessors to
undervalue property or omit it alto
gether, several of the San Francisco
newspapers defended the corrupt acts
of the officials. It was not necessary
TO go far to seek reason for this. An
investigation disclosed the fact that
| there Were newspaper plants in San
Francisco which were assessed for less
than the cost of one of their presses
One of them in particular that was vir-
ulent in the abuse of the State Board
of Equalization was assessed for less
than the Yolo Democrat
There are thousands upon thousands
of dollars worth of property in San
Francisco that still escape taxation
and it may be of public interest to
call attention to the fact that resi-
dent of San Francisco who once lived
| in this city, and who is known to be
! thoroughly reliable and competent in
! the discharge Of what he conceived to
! be a public duty. assisted in ferretine
out these delinquent taxpayers. and az