The San Francisco call., 1904-07-04

III July NlIB lnlS act WAS
evolutionary. 1t was the suggestion
OF legislative experiment beginning
with the act quoted, and rising
through the acts of April %, 1855, April
p, 1913. April Is, 1889, May 13. 1861,
April q, 1863. and April %, 1866. Each
OF these acts underwent preliminary
discussion in the public mind and par
iamentary examination by the Legis-
lature. Leading up to the act of 1868,
the entire question Of swamp land
reclamation was made the subject of
thoughtful examination and public ad-
Nocacy by the very best minds the
State has ever produced
The suggestion of combining all the
swamp land into one reclamation dis
trict and pursuing a system Of reclaim
alton that would distribute the burden
Of its cost TO each acre of swamp land
alike, regardless of the relative re-
clamability of the land, is now
brought forward as an original sugges-
tion, whereas it was advocated and
traversed until not one grain of wheat
was left in the thrice -threshed straw.
EXPERIENCE Is CITED.
The experience Of reclamation in old
er countries was appealed to and the
lesson of such experiment was read
into the current discussion Of the time.
The policy Of attempting a complete
reclamation of all swamp lands by
placing the ultimate value OF all such
lands behind the enterprise was reject
ed. because then, as now. the data upon
which the economic value of the policy
could be determined was wholly want
ing. There was not then and is not to-
day sufficient information concerning
the cost Of reclamation by that plan, or
the economic value of the result, to
justify the undertaking.
The granting act required the Sec
retary Of the Interior to make an ac-
curate list and plat of all the swamp
lands and transmit these plats to the
Governors of the States being bene-
ficiaries of the grant and upon the re-
quest Of such States. TO issue patents
conveying the title in fee-simple This
had not been done when the people of
California addressed their attention
seriously to the question of reclaiming
these lands in good faith and of add
ing their areas to the productive
wealth Of the State. and the require
ments of the law have not yet been
full accomplished.
The knowledge of the subject was
general, not specific. It was well
known that the lands were divided by
their physical condition into five nat
ural classes:
Lands overfiowed at extreme food stages
OF :he rivers and covered with water Tor
period short as TO be beneficial rather than
injurious and TO be practically a substitute for
annual irrigation
each year and az medium flood stages Of rivers;
reciaimable at small cost and possessing high
intrinsic value after reclamation.
Marsh lands on the margin OF tidal
reservoirs comprising the bay system econom-
ieslly reclsima bic and highly valuable when
swamp lands lying within a single by
drographic - stem. comprising all the grades
OF relative reclaimability. but more economic
ally Teclaimable by treatment as a system
than in senarate parts.
5-Lands wholly irreclaimable by any other
method than absolute control OF the
entire hydrogra phic phenomena of the interior
basin of the State
REVENUE LACKING.
The cost relating to the reclama-
ton of this fifth class was far beyond
the financial possibilities of the time.
The only inducement to the reclama-
ton Of any of the land was the value
of the land after its reclamation.
There was no source of revenue avail
able for this purpose. The legislative
experiments prior to 1868 had demon
strated this fact beyond all contro-
versy. The appeal to State or
Government aid was wholly imprac-
tica BILE. The State was not in a posi-
ton financially TO enter upon the cost
Of reclaiming all its swamp land prop
erty in one general scheme of reclama-
tion, because il was apparent then as
now that the cost of such an undertak-
ing would exceed 500, 900, 600, while
the assurance which would have
proffered request to the Government
to add its munificence by reclaiming
the property it had presented to the
State had not reached the stage of
pauperizing dependence it has attained
in recent times.
Mining was the paramount industry
of the country and the hydraulic
HydraU 'ic mining was charging the
tributaries of the Sacramento and San
Joaquin rivers with detritus, which
was being forced down the channels
of these tributaries on a declivity Of
100 feet TO the mile and into a central
drainage having less than four inches
to the mile. The detritus thus forced
into the channel of the main streams
must necessarily lodge, and the time
ticular would wander at will over the
alluvial bottom land of the valley
could not be foretold.
All commercial and industrial ac-
tivities, including agriculture, horti-
culture, manufacturing and mer-
chandise, were then merely subordi-
nate and allied industries to mining
4 ilt dDccAlIC VI AoAA
with the East had denied an Eastern
market for the field, orchard and vine
yard products of the State. Hence the
of arresting the de-
struction of the valley by enjoin-
ing hydraulic mining had not been
dreamed of.
The rapid filling up of the main
channel of the central drainage con-
stituted a menace to successful recla-
nation. The danger was apparent that
the river beds would fill up. that the
food maximums would rise, that
reclamation levees would have to be
increased in height and that vast
quantities Of mining detritus would be
imposed upon the valley lands.
THE ONLY INDUCEMENT.
The State was confronted with the
condition. which had been fully dem
onstrated by experiment, that the
value Of the land when reclaimed was
the only inducement to its reclama-
ton. 1t therefore entered upon the |
reclamation of that which was most |
readily and economically reclaimable. !
leaving the more costly work of rec
lamation TO a time when alluvial dep /
0sition, which was then and is now |
steadily in progress, would make the /
problem of reclamation more easy. /
when, by reason of the growth of the /