USA > California > A history of California: the American period > Part 39
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10 Already much has been done in the way of electric power develop- ment, both by means of water power and the use of steam gener-
ating plants. In 1902, $36,500,000 was invested in the industry; by 1920 the figures stood at $408,000,000.
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MATERIAL PROGRESS
actually supplying its citizens with light or power, has undertaken to build an aqueduct from the Hetch-Hetchy Valley, which lies some distance above the Yosemite, to secure an adequate water supply, and will shortly have its power plants in operation as an integral part of that enter- prise.11
In 1920 the hydroelectric plants of California supplied approximately 1,000,000 horse power. But this marks only the beginning of the industry, and probably represents less than one-fourth of the state's potential capacity-an esti- mate which does not include the vast resources of the Colorado River, to which Southern California is already looking as an additional source of power.
The use of petroleum and the development of hydro- electric energy, as already indicated, have in recent years made possible the creation of an industrial life formerly regarded as impossible for California. Other factors, such as an abundant supply of raw materials, shipping and trans- portation facilities, ever widening markets, favorable condi- tions of labor and for labor, and the rare advantages offered by nature in the way of climate, have also played an im- portant part in this new feature of the state's economic life.
The results of the federal census of 1920 are not yet available in detail for an adequate survey of California's industrial growth since 1910. Suffiicent material, however, is at hand to show at least the broad features of this progress. In 1899 California had 4,997 manufacturing establishments, which employed 77,224 persons and represented a capital investment of $175,468,000, with a total output valued at $257,386,000. In 1914 there were 10,057 establishments, em- ploying 139,481 persons, representing a capital investment of $736,106,000, and having a total output of $712,801,000. According to the preliminary figures for 1919, the num- ber of establishments had risen in that year to 11,942, and the number of persons employed to 243,000. A total of
11 The estimates of the potential capacity of the Los Angeles and San Francisco municipal projects
vary widely. A fair approximation would set 260,000 horse power as a minimum.
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A HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA
$1,333,382,000 was invested in California manufactures, and the value of the yearly production came to $1,981,410,000- or an increase of approximately 6,700 per cent in twenty years. 12
The development of transportation facilities has kept pace with the industrial and agricultural progress of the state. The history of steam railroad building has already been dwelt upon in previous chapters and need not be repeated here. Nearly 3,000 miles of electric road are also now in operation in California, serving the local needs of the chief cities and the demands of interurban transportation. Chief of these systems is that of the Pacific Electric Railway Company, originally built by Henry E. Huntington but now a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Company. This line, with its center in Los Angeles, has not only knit the sur- rounding cities into a compact community with the larger city, made possible the upbuilding of hundreds of square miles of rural territory, and furnished easy access to the beaches and mountains for the city's population, but has also prevented, perhaps as much as any other agency, the development of a congested tenement and slum district in Los Angeles by enabling the wage earner and small salaried man to own his own home in one of the many subdivi- sions which have sprung up along the company's various lines. 13
Passenger and commercial automobiles, it is a truism to remark, have also worked a revolution in the development of transportation throughout the state. The 2,800 miles of paved highways in California have become a great drawing card for the eastern tourist. They have also furnished the means for developing a huge freight and passenger business by means of automobile trucks and commercial stages. Best of all, they have encouraged travel among the people of the state, and thereby vastly widened the hori- zons of pleasure, added to culture, strengthened the spirit
12 Space does not permit a de- scription of one of the latest and most distinctive industries of Cali- fornia-that of the motion picture
business, with its center in Los Angeles.
13 The Pacific Electric Company operates 1,092 miles of track.
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MATERIAL PROGRESS
of unity, and bred an appreciation, deeper than ever be- fore, of California's resources, beauty, and charm.14
With the state's material progress along other lines there is no space to deal, and only a few bare figures can be used to sum up the results of this great economic advance.
The assessed valuation of real and personal property in California from 1850 to 1920, using the figures for each tenth year, was as follows: 15
Year
Amount (Rounded)
1850
$ 57,670,000
1860
148,193,000
1870
277,538,000
1880
666,400,000
1890
1,101,137,000
1900
1,217,648,000
1910
2,372,944,000
1920.
4,551,583,000
In 1920 the five wealthiest counties of the state, in order named, were Los Angeles with an assessed valuation of $1,275,751,000; San Francisco (city and county), $818,- 074,000; Alameda, $302,649,000; Fresno, $169,426,000; and Sacramento, $130,162,000. Bank assets totaled $2,440,487,000. Exports and imports to the value of $487,000,000 passed through the chief ports. Among the states of the Union, California ranked eighth in population, fifth in banking capital, fourth in general agriculture, fell a few thousand barrels short of holding her accustomed first place in the petroleum industry, and surpassed all her competitors in the output of gold and horticultural products.
As one scans the figures cited in this chapter, his mind recalls the old predictions of William Shaler, Richard Henry Dana, Waddy Thompson, Thomas O. Larkin and the other
14 The automobile registration of California in 1912 was slightly in excess of 88,000. In 1920 it was nearly 569,000.
15 The assessed valuation is not indicative of the true value since real property is never assessed at its full value in California but commonly on a 50% basis.
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A HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA
early prophets of California's future. Yet today's prosperity and achievements surpass the destiny these enthusiasts foretold. The Californian, in very truth, is a citizen of no mean state.
The figures and tables contained in this chapter have been taken or compiled from federal and state official publications.
CHAPTER XXX
REVIEW AND PROPHECY
As the writing of this history draws to a close, the mind instinctively looks backward over those eventful years with which the volume deals. In this brief survey one sees first the faint awakenings of American interest in the Spanish province of Alta California. The New England merchants traffic again along the sunlit, poorly guarded coast; the shadow of Russia hangs for a moment over San Francisco Bay; the hide and tallow vessels laboriously collect their cargoes at every little port; Smith and the Patties pioneer a way across the continent; the first adventurous immigrants wind wearily down the mountain trails; and John C. Frémont fights his slow passage through the Sierra snows.
Then the scene changes. Jackson and Tyler have already pressed their futile negotiations upon the Mexican Republic for the province; Larkin seeks to bend the disaffection of the native leaders to the interests of his government; English ambitions hold a threat of danger to the program of the United States; the Sacramento settlers raise the crude Bear Flag as symbol of revolt; and finally a strong-willed President acquires California as the fruit of war.
The gold rush follows-a tumultuous beginning for the new day! Statehood then, and a time of social and political adjustment, when a restless people seek to accommodate themselves to ordered government and the restraints of law. Vigorously, too, they give themselves to the greater task "of making nature serve the purposes of man." They fill the treasury of the world with gold, reclaim an empire from the wilderness, turn the rivers into useful channels, meet the challenge of the mountains with a railroad, and securely lay the material foundations for a splendid state. Upon this
461
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A HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA
foundation later generations build-how swiftly and success- fully the preceding chapter but just now sought to show.
So much for the past of California. What of her future? Of the state's increasing economic progress throughout the coming years there can be no doubt-so long, at least, as her mineral resources last, her soil retains its fertility, and nature takes no unwarranted liberties with her climate. Along less material lines, the promise of the future is no less attractive.
The last few years, especially, have witnessed a surpris- ing growth of culture and education among the people of California, and an increasing emphasis upon the agencies which make for these things. Art galleries, libraries, and museums, either privately endowed or provided for from public funds, are being erected in ever larger numbers. Education, too, in the generally accepted sense of that word, has become almost a passion throughout California. The public school system, using the term to include all branches of education supported by the state, has justly acquired a fame of national and even international scope. Except in very sparsely settled regions, the old-fashioned school houses, unsightly and poorly built as generally they were, have been replaced by buildings architecturally beautiful and thoroughly equipped to minister to the comfort and efficiency of the students. Whether grammer school or high school, in rural communities or the largest cities, these attractive buildings, which so impress chance visitors to the state, stand as unmistakable evidence of the place education holds in public favor from one end of California to the other.
Of colleges, universities, and technical schools, the state has also many splendid examples; but in recent years the facilities of these institutions of higher learning have been sadly overtaxed to care for the students seeking entrance. The State University at Berkeley, founded nearly three- quarters of a century ago by a handful of earnest men under old Dr. Willey's leadership, has grown to be the largest university in the United States.1 At Palo Alto, Stanford
1 The enrollment for 1922, including students in the extension courses, is over 43,000.
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REVIEW AND PROPHECY
University-established by Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford as a memorial to their son-long since won, and still main- tains, a distinctive place in national educational life. The University of Southern California, situated in Los Angeles, and now having a total enrollment of over 5,000 students, stands as an abiding testimonial to the early Methodist belief in higher education.
Smaller institutions of a high grade collegiate character are Mills College near Oakland, the only women's college in the state; Pomona College at Claremont, founded under Con- gregational direction; and Occidental College, located about midway between the center of Los Angeles and Pasadena, a school of Presbyterian origin and traditions.2 The Cal- ifornia Institute of Technology, situated in Pasadena, is an engineering school exceptionally well equipped, and giving promise of great attainments in various fields of science.
The Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton in Northern Cal- ifornia, and the even more renowned Carnegie Solar Observa- tory on Mt. Wilson, near Los Angeles, enjoy an international reputation for their part in broadening the knowledge of astronomy. The Golden Gate Museum in San Francisco; the Los Angeles County collection at Exposition Park; and the Southwest Museum, also of Los Angeles, are making valuable contributions in the fields of art, history and science.
Most of the cities and counties of California maintain public libraries of an excellent type. In Northern Cali- fornia, the State Library at Sacramento, and the libraries of Stanford University and the University of California are of out-standing importance. In Southern California the Los Angeles Public Library, so long serving a great need with efficiency and success, though poorly and in- adequately housed, will shortly have a handsome and fitting building of its own. The Henry E. Huntington library and Art Gallery near Pasadena-the unique benefaction of Mr. Henry E. Huntington to the Southern California
2 The names of Whittier College at Whittier, Redlands University at Redlands, the College of the Pacific at Stockton, and especially the South-
ern Branch of the University of Cali- fornia at Los Angeles should also be added to this list.
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A HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA
public-has already attained an international fame because of its priceless art and literary treasures and the rare beauty of its building.
To the realm of literature California has already made certain noteworthy contributions. Of these the works of Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Helen Hunt Jackson, John Muir, Frank Norris, and Jack London are perhaps the best examples. Among the nation's poets the names of Joaquin Miller and Edwin Markham are not unknown. Hubert Howe Bancroft and Theodore H. Hittell during their life- time achieved a distinctive and permanent reputation in the realm of history; but the newer school of historians, with its center at the University of California, and to a lesser degree at Stanford, bids fair to win an even larger fame.
Indeed, in nearly every field of literature, as also in paint- ing, sculpture, and music, California's greatness lies ahead rather than in the past. Though the prophecy lacks the pleasing feature of novelty, it at least contains the virtue of truth, that as these arts came to their full fruition under the warm skies of Greece and Italy many centuries ago, so here in California they will sometime flourish with all the vigor and beauty they enjoyed in those earlier lands. The Panama-Pacific Exposition at San Francisco in 1915 and the Panama-California Exposition at San Diego in the same year gave tangible evidence of the growing influence of this æsthetic spirit in the state.
There is, too, in California, with all its vigorous life and earnest purpose, a recognition of the value of leisure and wholesome recreation that modern society sadly needs. Here there is unlimited opportunity for outdoor pleasure. In few other states is it possible for motoring, tennis, and golf to be so universally indulged in by families of moderate means. The seashore, especially the numerous resorts from Santa Barbara to San Diego, furnishes a vast, all-year playground for the people. The Coast Range and Sierra Madre Mountains, and to a much greater degree the Sierra Nevadas, are a vacation ground for tens of thousands of Californians annu- ally. Who shall say what it means to the welfare of a state
THE KING'S RIVER CAÑON
HEADWATERS OF THE TUOLUMNE
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REVIEW AND PROPHECY
if even the smallest fraction of its population can stand on such a spot as Glacier Point, and see spread out before them a panorama, too full of splendor to be described, of mountains and snow and sunlit peaks? The Yosemite Valley, Lake Tahoe, Giant Forest, General Grant Park, the Feather River region, and the Humboldt County redwoods are all easy of access and internationally known. But no less wonderful for scenery and of even greater attraction to the more primitive lover of outdoor life are those regions, beyond the reach of ordinary tourists, through which run the head- waters of such great rivers as the Kern, the King's and the San Joaquin.
From many other aspects, life in California also holds peculiar distinction and attractiveness. Small towns and ranch communities are so closely linked to one another, and to the larger cities, by paved highways, electric railway lines, and telephones; so many labor saving devices are in use in the homes of these communities; and such a high standard of prosperity obtains among the agricultural population that the oppressive handicaps of isolation and drudgery, so long associated with rural life, have in large measure been abolished.
California cities, too, are fortunately seldom so congested and cramped for room as eastern cities; and the tenement problem, consequently, is not so common or acute. For persons of moderate, or even modest means, the typi- cal dwelling is the bungalow, built in any one of a thou- sand different styles, and nearly always seen in a setting of flower gardens, shrubbery, and lawns.
Altogether, therefore, the citizens of California today enjoy a prosperity, an attractiveness of life, and cultural opportunities probably greater than those to be found among any other people. But these advantages are not all clear gain; and in certain of them, at least, may lie the springs of serious danger. It is more or less a maxim of history that increase of wealth tends to stifle the spirit of democracy and soften the fiber of a people. The stability of California, as of the nation itself, rests upon the broad
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A HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA
shoulders of the middle class. Only so long, therefore, as the great body of her citizens remain true to the old American virtues, and to the old American traditions, will the state's security be assured. In the luxury and ease of modern life, in the spread of lax ideas regarding morality and the sacredness of law, in the increasing demand for government to do for the individual what previously he has willingly done for himself, there are unmistakable evidences of danger.
Nor is this all. The unprecedented industrial develop- ment of the last few years, the disappearance of cheap land, and the rapid growth of an urban population have already brought to California the perplexing labor problems of the older states. Not as yet so aggravated or difficult to deal with as in older communities, the issues between capital and labor must sooner or later be solved in California, however, as in the nation at large, by justice and reason on either side, or they will destroy the very foundations of the social order.
Other problems also present themselves. By origin and tradition California is essentially an Anglo-Saxon state. Her people as yet are still largely of American stock, and hold fast to the American ideals of home, family, government, and religion. Today, however, currents of foreign blood are emptying into the main stream. California not only faces an Oriental problem (the danger of which to the superficial observer seems to rise and fall according to the proximity or remoteness of a political election), but also has in some respects the more serious task of assimilating an increasing number of un-Americanized Europeans. Most of these belong to the laboring population, but others rank higher in the social scale. So long, however, as the stand- ards and ideals of a foreigner run counter to the fundamental traditions of this country, it makes scant difference whether he is literate or illiterate, a laborer or a millionaire. His presence under any condition constitutes an evil to the nation and to the state.
Indeed, in some respects the most serious problem now faced by the United States is how to remain American.
467
REVIEW AND PROPHECY
California as yet has not felt the full pressure of this issue, but with her rapid economic development and the ever in- creasing foreign immigration (using that term in a sense broad enough to include all those who are out of sympathy with the fundamental traditions of this country), she will soon be called upon to guard her heritage as an American state from perversion and extinction. It is altogether likely that this will prove her most difficult task.
Such are some of the problems which the future holds in store for California. They are no longer the problems of a frontier state, for California has long since outgrown the pioneer age, with its discomforts and simplicity, its crude- ness and open-handedness, its provincialism and freedom from conventionality, its lack of so much that we today regard as essential to "the higher art of living," and its vigorous individualism, and has adapted herself to the changed conditions of the modern day. Her problems, accordingly, are the complex problems of a highly civilized, cultured, prosperous people. But the same strong spirit that three-quarters of a century ago pushed across the con- tinent, transformed a Mexican province into an American state, and gave to that state boldness and vigor and wealth and ideals, will solve these newer problems also. So long as that spirit lives, and the fear of God remains in the hearts of her people, the destiny and greatness of California are assured.
APPENDIX A
THE GOVERNORS OF CALIFORNIA, 1846-1922
MILITARY GOVERNORS 1
John D. Sloat.
.July 7, 1846
Robert F. Stockton. July 29, 1846
John C. Frémont. January 19, 1847
Stephen W. Kearney
February 23, 1847
Richard B. Mason.
. May 31, 1849
Persifer F. Smith.
February 28, 1849
Bennett Riley
April 12, 1849
GOVERNORS SINCE STATEHOOD
Peter H. Burnett, 1849-1851
. Democrat
John McDougal, 1851-1852
Democrat
John Bigler, 1852-1854.
Democrat
John Bigler, 1854-1856.
Democrat
J. Neely Johnson, 1856-1858
Know-nothing
John B. Weller, 1858-1860.
Democrat
Milton S. Latham, 1860.
Democrat
John G. Downey, 1860-1862
Democrat
Leland Stanford, 1862-1863
Republican
Frederick F. Low, 1863-1867
Union
Henry H. Haight, 1867-1871
.Democrat
Newton Booth, 1871-1875.
Republican
Romualdo Pacheco, 1875
Republican
William Irwin, 1875-1880.
Democrat
George C. Perkins, 1880-1883.
Republican
George Stoneman, 1883-1887
Democrat
Washington Bartlett, 1887
Democrat
Robert W. Waterman, 1887-1891.
Democrat
Henry H. Markham, 1891-1895
Republican
James H. Budd, 1895-1899
Democrat
Henry T. Gage, 1899-1903.
Republican
George C. Pardee, 1903-1907
Republican
James N. Gillett, 1907-1911
Republican
Hiram W. Johnson, 1911-1915
Republican (Progressive)
Hiram W. Johnson, 1915-1917
Republican
William D. Stephens, 1917-1919.
Republican
William D. Stephens, 1919-Date
Republican
1 Owing to the confusion in au- thority during the period of military rule there is some uncertainty as to
the exact terms of the various gov- ernors from 1846 to 1850.
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APPENDIX B
SHALER'S DESCRIPTION OF CALIFORNIA 1
On the 24th of February [1805], I arrived without any remarkable occur- rence on the coast of California, where we got plentiful supplies of provisions as usual, and were not unsuccessful in our collections of furs. The 14th of March, I paid a visit to the island of Santa Catalina, where I had been informed, by the Indians, that there was a good harbour. We remained there a few days only to ascertain that point. We found the harbour [Avalon] every thing that could be desired, and I determined that, after collecting all the skins on the coast, I would return to it and careen the ship, which she was by this time greatly in want of. After completing our business on the coast, we returned to Santa Catalina, and anchored in the harbour on the 1st of May. As I was the first navigator who had ever visited and surveyed this place, I took the liberty of naming it after my much respected friend, M. De Roussillon. We warped the ship into a small cove, and landed the cargo and every thing moveable, under tents that we had previously prepared for their reception. The Indian inhabitants of this island, to the amount of about 150 men, women, and children, came and encamped with us, and readily afforded us every aid in their power.
After caulking the ship's upper works, and paying, or rather plastering them with a mixture of lime and tallow, as we had no pitch, tar, or any resinous substance on board, we careened her. We found her bottom in a most alarming state; the worms had nearly destroyed the sheathing, and were found to be lodged in the bottom planks. I was now pretty well assured of what I had long before fearcd; that is, that she would not carry us back to Canton. We, how- ever, repaired the first side in a tolerable manner, and paid it with a thick coat of lime and tallow; righted and hove out the other side, which we found far worse than the first. The keel and stern-post were nearly reduced to a honey-comb. It was necessary to heave her far out, in order to apply effectually such remedies as were in our power, but unfortunately we hove her rather too far, and she upset and filled. This was a sad misfortune. It did not discourage us, how- ever, and we went to work with spirit and resolution to remedy it, and had the satisfaction of righting her the next day, without apparently having suffered any material damage. The day following we pumped and bailed out the water, and the day after hove the ship out a third time, but had the misfortune to find her Icak so bad, that we were obliged to right her immediately. I
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