The San Francisco call., 1905-01-25


President Pro Tenn. Frye has long been
in the habit of calling the Californian
to the chair whenever he himself
wished to vacate for time, and so
when Senator Frye took sick the place
fell naturally to Senator Perkins. AS
the days ran on there came bills to
be signed. Senator Perkins declined
to assume that function. But other
days passed and other bills piled up
ready to go to the President or to the
House, and so the Senate passed
resolution authorizing Senator Perkins
to sign and make the bills good. So
he has since then been virtually
! President of the Senate and as such
has certified to the Presidential re-
turns from a number of the States.
And there are none to say that the
business of the most distinguished leg
islative body in the world does not
move as smoothly and correctly under
his guidance as at any time in its his
tory.
Senator Perkins spent the Christ
mas recess in Florida. He had Curl
osity about it as being the only State
in the Union he had not visited. He
found a good many things much as
they are represented on the bills, but
he says "Pshawi" when you speak OF
comparisons with California. The no.
tells and the price per day are big and
fine, but for the rest, well, Califor-
mans don't know what they've got.
II always feel that way when I
visit places that bear big regulations
along our own lines-for fruit, nuts,
olives, wines and the like. I've been to
Spain, Italy. Greece and the islands of
the Mediterranean, but in every case l
go back to California satisfied that
they have little to show us. When l
say that l, of course, take into account
the difference in age and put some
what into the balance on our side our
great stretch of fertile lands and the
energy and purpose of our people. In
very many things we have distanced
the old countries in the very products
that have made them famous. Still
there are things that we have not
done that we can do and that we will
do We are moving rapidly and we
have almost unlimited opportunity.
IF Florida had our energy she too
could do much that she has not done.
For modern progress the State Is in
:. debted almost to tone man alone. The
negro as a laborer is a lazy and shift
! less quantity and nothing very rapid
can be expected where he is greatly
! depended upon. But yet Florida has
! SOUlGIDlIS W lGdCu US. II 10 uOW anu
why to grow the pineapple. That is an
easy thing to do, 1t appears, and they
tell me it yields a value of $400 per
acre. Why Ii has not been grown lin
California i do not understand. The
eastern portions of San Diego, River
side and San Bernardino counties are
peculiarly adapted for the crop. The
pineapple is more of an air than an
earth plant. 1t grows in sand and re-
quires very little water. 1t also re-
! quires but little attention, which Is one
reason, no doubt, that 1t is so popular
1 down in Florida. However, that should
not be an objection anywhere.
] Senator Perkins says this little ex-
cursion was the first bit of recreation
/ he has taken in many years. During
/ the twelve years he has represented
! California in the upper house he has
! been absent from his seat but twice
while the Senate was in session and
then he was sick.
In the matter of drydocks, because
of the failure of contractors in more
! places than San Francisco, the Gov
ernment is suffering a handicap. Only
at Brooklyn, of all the navy yards of
] the nation, is there a dock of suf-
! ficient size to admit a battleship. And
!. because there are several battleships
| undergoing repairs and which will have
| to be docked for one reason or another,
] the demand is much larger than the
supply. 1t will thus be seen that the
| regiving of the contract at Mare Island
| was none too hurried.
In the long stretch Of the Pacific
/ Coast from San Diego to Point Bar
row, there are two navy yards. That
at Mare Island Is to be equipped at
once with a drydock capable of re-
ceiving the largest battleship and also,
it is hoped and believed by the Cali
fornia delegation. despite the opposition
manifested in the Bureau of Construc-
| ton, with cranes. and tools fitting 1t for
building as well as repairing. This is
recognized as a necessity. On the At
Iantic Coast within the distance repre-
sented on the Pacific Coast by Puget
Sound and Mare Island, there are seven
/ navy yards. These facts plead for
! the most liberal treatment at the hands
Of Congress for the Pacific Coast and
its two navy yards.
The growth and popularity of the
Benevolent and Protective Order of
| Elks Is said to threaten the existence
Of the magnificent animal from which
| 1t gets its name. so far at least as the
! State of Washington Is concerned. In
| cidentally the slaughter that annually
takes place there in the Olympic
forest reserve robs Senator Foster of a
good deal of the JOY of living that
ought to be his. A constant stream OF
petitions and protests pours in upon
him complaining that hunters go into
the Olympic Mountains weeks before
the law gives them the right and that
| they kill elk in great numbers only to
secure their teeth. Where the antlers
| are good they take the head. Such
has been the wholesale killing this
year, it Is said, that another such sea-
| son will see the end of the elk. Sena-
tor Foster has sought the aid of the
/ Secretary of Agriculture and of the
Secretary of the Interior, but both de-
clare themselves helpless. Secretary
Wilson advises the State of Washing
ton to enforce her game laws, pro-
/ tect male as we'll as female elk for a
| period of years, prohibit the sale OF
teeth and heads and to provide an ef-
fective warden system il she would
prevent the extinction of the animal
The nation, he says, lack jurisdiction
Senator Foster of Washington. who
takes lively interest in the salmon
fishing industry Of the Pacific Coast
has been informed by Commissioner
Bowers of the Bureau of Fisheries
that artificial propagation is exerting
a very remarkable influence on the
l supply Of salmon, as is instanced by
the fact that in 1896 5000 marked
lingering salmon were released from
! the Clackamas (Oregon) hatchery and
/ of these during 1898, 1899 and 1900
hundreds we're caught by the Wash