Year: 1876

to the Union in 1921. Her admission was
opposed by Representatives from Free
States, because her Constitution sanctioned
slavery. This may be said to have been
the real beginning of that struggle which
convulsed, and came so near destroying,
the Nation. 1t is not our purpose to-day
to discuss the rights and wrongs Of the
question of slavery. Upon questions of
this nature, men are the children of edu-
cation the ideas imbibed and fosterod in
childhood govern the actions Of after life.


1t is for us to deal with the truths of his
tory alone, and to analyze the results fol-
lowing or growing out of these facts. 1t
boded i'll to the country when the political
questions affecting its government partooll
of sectional character. But the fact re-
mains, that out of the agitation growing
from this question Of slavery do we, in
great measure, owe our position to-day as
one of the States of the Federal Union.
For in the march Of events which have
crowded thick and fast to make up tho
history of the American Republic in the
present century, the annexation of the Re-
public of Texas, which led to the acouisi-
tion Of California, was not one of the
least. That was an event urged by South
ern statesmen, who saw, in the large ter
rltory claimed by the Lone Star Republic,
the material for future States whose rem
reSentatives would unite with them in the
defense OF their assaied institution. OF
course measure of this character could
not be carried without strong opposition,
but when 1t was accomplished it received
the sanction OF the nation. twas part of
the destiny Of the great Republic that it
should possess the broad domain across
the continent; ; that the lroad valleys of
California and the wealth of her golden
hills should be wrcstcd from the nervoless
grasp of the etfete Spaniards, to become
the home of IL people who would utilize
Its resources, develop its hidden wealth,
and lay upon the shores of the Pacific the
foundation of Empire, as their fathers
had done upon the Atlantic two centuries


before.


The tide OF pioneers, that advance guard
of civilization which had first opened up
the great States of the West, now turned
its feet across the Rocky Mountains.


No pent-up Utica contracts our powers.


For tho whole boundlcss Continent is ours"
became their motto, as they started tow
ards the Western ocean. And now came
an event which gave an impulse to the
speedy settlement of this State, such as it
had not been the good fortune of any other
land to have befall. 1t became known
that the mountain ranges of the newly
acquired territory tccmed with riches
greater than the fabulous wealth of the
Indies, and the civilized world became
wild with excitement. From all quarters
Of the globe the adventurous spirits turned
their steps toward the new El Dorndo.-
From the Western States of the Union
came the long lines of emigrants, sealing
the hitherto untrodden nights and winding
through tho deflles of the Sierra Nevada,
undaunted by the dangers which menaced
them from hunger; from thirst from
privation; from the stcalthy attacks Of
the savage nations through whose terrific
ry the route to be Travelled lay. And on
the ocean the ships of all nations turned
their prows hther, while even the sealed
doors Of the Chinese Empire were opened
to pour food Of its strange people upon
the land. Across the Isthmus, around
Cape Horn, from up the coast and down
the coast, over the plains and over the
ocean, came the living tide of gold.secI
ers. The spirit Of adventure was confined
to no age or sex, though most Of those
who came were in the flush of youth and
well fitted to endure tho trials and hard
ships incident to pioneer life. Nor was it
confined to any condition of society-in-
deed, it may be said that among those
who thronged these shores could be found
some Of the highest minds Of the nation.
In less than one year from the time when
the Mexican sovereignty had ceased, the
country had made greater progress toward
development than in the whole period Of
Spanish rule. And before two years had
passed, California came to the door Of the
Union, asking admission as one Of its
Sovereign States.


The pioneers Of California were of
superior class to those who had opened the
way for settlement in the States of the
East. One, two, or at most five years,
was the limit which the pioneers Of Cali
fornia allowed themselves for absence, as
they bid adlcu TO their Eastern homes
In that time, they argued, they could
realize a fortune If the land was all that
was claimed for it-less time would suffice
if the golden reports which were borne to
their ears had been too highly coiored
Yet, question If in any one Of the audi
ences which will assemble in the Golden
State TO day, the form Of the pioneer will
be missing. Some fulfilled the promise
they had made to loving friends and re-
turned, only to make their way back again
in brief period others stayed from year
to year, with that "hope deferred which
maketh the heart sick" until the desire
to revisit the land of their birth was lost
or deadened. Scattered throughout the
State, from Siskiyou to San Diego, they
can be found; poor, perhaps, in purse,
bnt rich in spirit, and proud OF the part
they have borne in building up great
State. They penetrated the Businesses Of
every mountain range, revealing to those
who followed, the hidden wealth which
was to enrich the world. They have seen
the changes which quarter Of a century
have brought forth-the building up of
cities whose commerce is destined 10 rival
that Of the great metropolitan cities Of the