Year: 1867

Do More and Talk Less.


1t has been customary, for . number of
years past, for the Stockton papers. during
the continuance of the rainy season, while
they were shut out from the outer world,
completely blockaded by an impossible sea
Of mud, to bemoan, in the most doleful &C.
cents, the horrible condition of the roads
which connect that place with the interior,
and many are the plans which they have de-
vised, but never executed, for remedying the
evil. Each year they have been profuse in
their assurances to the people who reside in
the section of country which receives its sup
plies through the medium Of Stockton. and
who. during the Winter months, suffer all
the inconvenience of interrupted communi-
cation, or have to pay an outrageous tariff
for the transportation of freight, that not
another season would be allowed to pass
without at least an effort being made to rem
der that place accessible during the Winter.
Relying on these promises, and believing
that the citizens Of Stockton had enterprise
enough, and were sufficiently awake to their
own interests to see the necessity of immedi-
ate action in the matter, especially when
other cities are competing for the inland trade,
they have waited patiently, from year to year,
and meekly borne the disadvantages under
which they have labored, in hopes that ulti-
mately something besides talking would be
done. The present season has been severe
one, and for the past two months our mer-
chants have been unable to get their goods
from below, except by pack trains. Dissat-
isfaction with this state of affairs is becoming
general throughout the county. and unless
measures are taken before another Winter to
correct the evil, our citizens will adopt some
other method of receiving their supplies
Stockton is the entrepot for large section of
mining country. Calaveras, Stanislaus, San
Joaquin, Tuolumne, Mariposa, and Merced
counties seek their supplies through that
source, and their trade forms the principal
part of the business transacted in that town
Are her citizens SO blind to their own inter-
ssts, so apathetic as to allow this vast amount
Of patronage to be diverted to other chan
nelsi Can they afford to lose the greater
portion Of their mountain trade without most
seriously affecting the prosperity of their
city, both present and future: The danger of
such an unfortunate contingency arising is,
perhaps, much more imminent than they i'm
agine. The cost of hauling freight from
Stockton to Mokelumne Hill is now three
cents per pound, and great difficulty is expe
risnced in getting it done even at that price,
and no reliance can be placed on receiving
goods at any specified time. On the other
hand, merchandise can be obtained by way
of Sacramento, including transportation by
rail to Latrobe. for one and half cents per
pound-a saving of fifty per cent. over the
Stockton route-and besides not more than
one half the time is consumed in Its carriage.
The cost of transportation to more Southern
points in the county would of course be
slight advance on this rate, but still the odds
"Noio " AoAS SSAs Ai Ao'oA VI eAAc SoSiohiculo
route. With the more southern counties the
difficulty Of adopting any other channel than
Stockton, through which to export and i'm
port, is much greater. but it is our opinion
that it will yet be obviated; if not by the
Stocktonians, then by the citizens of those
counties themselves. Should no other means
be adopted to remedy the inconveniences of
transportation which now exist, a railroad
will be built for the purpose of supplying the
extensive and growing wants of the southern
mining counties, and it will intersect the San
Joaquin river at q lower point than where
Stockton now stands. The result of such an
enterprise, and the effect it would have upon
the material interests of Stockton, are too
obvious to require elucidation. The amount
of the business is just this: The plains, from
Stockton to the foothills, must be bridged
the coming Summer, either by rail or good
solid, macadamized road, SO as to insure in
gress and egress during all portions of the
year. or by another Winter Stockton will
find herself minus the greater share of her in
terror trade. Fair promises will not answer
the purpose any longer. Talking has ceased
to satisfy the people on this question. and
the time for action has arrived.