The record-union., 1899-10-07


climate, are capable of giving to the
commonwealth the largest rural pop
ulation of any equal area in the world,
but the investment of the necessary
capital is attended by the extra-haz-
ard limitations of profit by reason or
unreliable and unscientific cultivation.
The mining industry of the State,
which, Notwithstanding the vastness or
past production, is now clearly per-
ceived to be in its infancy, has reached
that limit of future proftableness which
is unalterably fixed by the available
water for it's prosecution.
notwithstanding the Importance OF
field culture, in all it's diversified activ-
tiles, and of mining as a source OIL
wealth, no commonwealth rises to the
level of material well-being, conf
mensurate with the opportunities OF
modern civilization, which is devoid oil
manufacturing activity. In all its past
history, the absence Of cheap coal, that
reservoir of mechanical power, has de-
MED to California the development or
it's manufacturing skill and the pront-
able investment of capital in this
higher and more profitablee field OF nu-
man activity For this reason, Call
fornia, as a commonwealth, has not
kept pace with the older common
wealths of the nation.
The high price of coal, from which
mechanical power alone could be de-
rived, has placed the manufacturing
and transportation interests of the
State equally at disadvantage. That
condition has happily passed away ana
a. new condition has superseded-one IN
which California possesses superlat1ve
advantages.
The natural topography Of the
State lends itself admirably to the de-
velopment of mechanical power by the
force of gravitation- Coursing down
the western flank of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains in parallel channels are
streams having their sources in nat
ural reservoirs of snow on the hign
SUBMITS and from the perpetual
glaciers of the highest mountain peaks
The electrical transmission OF the
power capable of being generated py
these rivers would transform the IN
dustries Of the State. It's economic
creation possesses incalculable value to
the agricultural and horticultural in
terests by furnishing cheap power Tor
the application of the higher and more
economic method of irrigation by
pumping. It will enable our people to
devote their industry to manufactures
and to all the more profitable oceupa-
tions which always attend the produc-
tions of skilled labor, thus comforting
-, fully rounded self
sustaining capacity and eventually
evolving an empire of wealth and pop
ufation.
To all these must be added the con-
servation of the navigability Of the
rivers by preserving their channel
securing capacity throughout the sum-
mer months. A fully navigable stage
of water in the two great rivers of the
valley would keep their channels clear
of the detritus which descends from
natural erosion incident to the culti-
walton of the foothills and to mining
operations at nearly all attitudes. The
storage of the food waters would place
the flood variations of the navigable
inland waters of California under the
direct and intelligent control of man,
and thus settle all conflict of interest
between the mining and the agricul-
tural sections of the State.
The storage of flood waters would
also facilitate the reclamation of the
fertile garden lands now relegated to
wasteful disuse because of the destruc-
tive overfiows. The accomplishment
of the work proposed is attended with
many difficulties, but when cost is cor
related with the values to be created
by expenditure, as in the proposition
under consideration, the financial diff
culties are diminished to comparative
insignificance.
These statements presented in a Spir-
it of moderation and candor being ac-
cepted, it follows that the people Of
California stand in the presence of a
crisis in the history of this common
wealth The State possesses vast pri-
mary resource in the flood waters which
flow to waste in the channels of its
rivers The value residing in this prop
erty itself, if wise, economic and hon
estly administered measures can be
devised for storing these waters and
applying them to the augmentation OF
every natural resource.
The question which demands imme-
date attention is How shall this new
force be brought into being? The an
swer is a matter of the highest impor-
tance to every citizen of the State, af-
fecting the private fortune of every
individual. In view of the paramount
considerations underlying this question
| it has been deemed expedient and wise
to call into convention for the purpose
of sober and thoughtful deliberatior
the leading publie-spirited citizens OF
the representative Of every in
terest-to whose councils the solution
of this question may be submitted.
The attention of the people of Cal
| ifornia is earnestly directed to the
/ great Importance of this convention. II
4 is hoped and believed that its delibera-
/ tions will inaugurate a new era OF
/ growth and progress. In this belief
/ a convention is hereby called, to as
/ semble in the city of San Francisco
on the 14th day of November, to con-
slider the bearing which the increase
/ of the available waters of the State foI
| agricultural, horticultural, mining and
mechanical purposes will have upon its
1 future growth and prosperity, and te
/ devise plans and means whereby this
/ important result may be attained.
| To the convention hereby called the
| following persons and classes are in
vited as delegates:
| The Governor and Lieutenant Gov
ernor of the State
The Chief Justice of the Supreme
/ Court.
| The ORIGINAL ooynpaiftaa