USA > California > California gold book : first nugget, its discovery and discoverers, and some of the results proceeding therefrom > Part 21
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These great qualities were observed by the managers of other lines. They were exactly the desideratum in the make-up of most roads in the country. They were the qualities whose possession meant dividends to the
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stockholders, and the presidents of other roads began to covet the services of this man. The first company to make a bid for his services was the Union Pacific Company. It baited its hook with the general superin- tendency, carrying a fair salary and almost unlimited power. It was scarcely a temptation to leave the employ to which he had been so long and agreeably attached. Then came Mr. Huntington, and his first bids were rejected. The great railroad authority tired of that ; said he: "Consult the officers of your company, and telegraph me what salary will induce you to take the superintendency of the Central Pacific Company." Mr. Towne did so, naming a sum more than twice and a half more thau he was then receiving. Promptly he had a telegram : " Come on. Collis P. Huntington." That added A. N. Towne to the effec- tive force of the Pacific Railroad system, which is now superior in executive ability and energetic force to any railroad combination in the world, and for that one reason is the target for the malevolentand leveling tendencies of the anarchist classes, and many others who would spurn the intimation that they were doing the work of these enemies of order.
But it is not alone in the management of a power- ful railroad that Mr. Towne is great. In the last few years, when the irresponsible agitators have influenced Congress to enter upon long and laborious investiga- tion of the methods of business pursued by the Govern- ment-aided companies, Mr. Towne has frequently been before the Commissions appointed by Congress. The information he has supplied has been clear and con- clusive, and supported by irrefutable facts and figures, which greatly lessened the work of these bodies. It
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is greatly to be regretted that the papers prepared by Mr. Towne have not been placed before the same readers who had been deluged with newspaper com- plaints against the aided roads, and charges, reaching from simple misdemeanors to public robbery gigantic in character. These papers of Mr. Towne would have liad the same effect upon the public which they pro- duced upon the investigating bodies, and would have given intelligent readers new and valuable ideas in regard to the relative duties and obligations of cor- porations and the people. They stamp Mr. Towne as a conservative statesman of superior ability, and deserve an audience much greater than they can ever obtain as parts of the reports of Congressional Commissions. The clear and masterly statements prepared by Mr. Towne should be placed before the public in popular form. They would prove great educators, and would remove troublesome doubts as to the manner in which all the aided companies have complied with their obliga- tions to the people. The American people can be depended upon to decide justly any question properly placed before them, and these papers would put them in possession of important facts, of which, unfortu- nately, they are now in complete ignorance.
ENATOR LELAND STANFORD .- At no time in the history of the world, and nowhere out- side of California, have such vast accumulations of money by individuals been devoted to the regeneration and improvement of mankind as in California, by Californians by adoption. Foremost among these is Leland Stanford and his devoted helpmate. Others
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have dealt generously with their fellows, giving a fair percentage of the sums entrusted to their keeping for the enlightenment of the world. Senator and Mrs. Stanford have devoted practically all of their great possessions to the uses of those of their own and suc- ceeding generations down to the end of time.
A brief review of the career of Senator Stanford serves to emphasize the assertion in one of the opening chapters that the All-wise Eternal had directed every event in the history of this land, and had been the ever present "cloud by day and pillar of fire by night," inspiring every act of prominent individuals for the benefit of the race. The results prove this as unerringly as though He had declared "for this purpose have I raised thee up."
It is decidedly commonplace to say that Leland Stanford was born at Albany, New York, March 9, 1824, and that after a creditable youth, spent exactly as his other youthful associates spent theirs, divided between work in summer and the district school in winter, he finally determined on adopting the profes- sion of law, and at twenty began reading law with Messrs. Wheaton, Doolittle & Hadley. Two years diligently devoted to study enabled him to pass an examination and receive authority to appear before courts in the interest of clients. Then he went west, and opened an office at Port Washington, Wisconsin, where, when he deemed himself so well established as to render taking to himself a wife, a matter of prudence and justice to the woman who was to be one with him until death, he returned to Albany and married Miss Jane Lathrop, the daughter of Dyer Lathrop, a suc- cessful merchant, and citizen of standing. Together they
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returned to Wisconsin, and no doubt with the hope and expectation that there their lives would be passed. Here he met with his first important mishap, and at the time one that appeared most disastrous and dis- heartening. A fire destroyed his library and nearly every valuable he possessed. With the light we now possess, we unhesitatingly declare this apparent mis- fortune to have emanated from a merciful and all-see- ing God, and to have been the means of severing his connection with Wisconsin interests. in pursuance of the grandest purposes.
Previous to that time one of the brothers of Leland Stanford had been drawn to California by the discovery of gold, and was selling merchandise and other supplies to the miners and doing more or less prospecting and mining. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Stanford cared to return to Albany whence they had lately gone with such brillant anticipations. They determined to come to California, of which the brother could not do other- wise than paint in glowing colors. They arrived here July 12, 1852, and Leland Stanford engaged earnestly with them in mining and mercantile ventures. After four years, mostly spent at Michigan Bluff, Placer county, in 1856 he removed to Sacramento and became a partner in the extensive business which the brothers Stanford had built up, and which extended to every part of the State.
In 1860 Mr. Stanford was sent as a delegate to the Chicago convention. Nothwithstanding the great regard every native New Yorker was supposed to have for Mr. Seward, Mr. Stanford earnestly espoused the cause of Abraham Lincoln, and a friendship was then formed between the two, founded on mutual regard,
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which continued unabated until the death of Mr. Lincoln. From the first intimation of trouble between the North and South, Mr. Stanford was a pronounced Union man, and was not slow to declare his reasons for the faith that was in him. The South had sympa- thizers in California, far more noisy than numerous, and yet sufficient in numbers to give the friends of the Union cause for uneasiness. Against his personal wishes Mr. Stanford was nominated for governor in 1861, and at considerable sacrifice accepted the nomina- tion and thoroughly canvassed the State. He was elected by a plurality of 23,000 votes, which was very unexpected success under the difficulties attending affairs. His administration was marked by a clear exposition of patriotic principles, and all his state papers were characterized by an intimate comprehension of State and National questions, and when he retired from office the loyalty of California was second to no State in the Union. He was urged to accept a second term, but that was not in accord with the plans of the Great Ruler. The great transcontinental line which he had been inspired to commence, and the first shovelful of dirt on which he had thrown out February 22, 1861, nearly a year prior to entering upon his duties as governor, demanded his personal attention and super- vision. For the time he peremptorally declined political position.
In 1887 Leland Stanford was elected United States Senator, and in 1891 was chosen to succeed himself. His course in the Senate has met with the approval of the general public, excepting only in the proposition to loan public money on reliable securities, to needy farmers and others, at low rates of interest. This
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measure has been harshly criticized, and especially by the large and influential class of money-lenders, who see their own loss in the success of such an innovation. It has been usual to leave a considerable portion of the surplus belonging to the country in the possession of banks without interest. Of course these favored institutions seriously object to any reform which would deprive their stockholders of the free use of millions of Government money. A rapidly growing minority of the people of the country heartily endorse the proposi- tion of Senator Stanford, and there seems to be little doubt that, when properly understood, the measure, somewhat modified, will receive the earnest approval of a large majority of voters outside the influence of banks and money-lenders.
The great wealth of Senator and Mrs. Stanford has enabled them to show whether they considered it bestowed for their personal aggrandizement, or as a sacred trust to be used for the improvement of their race. It is a fact well known in California that both of these broad-minded people have been very liberal to all charitable objects without regard to creed. The only question asked by them was as to whether the money they were ready to give would be expended for the relief of the distressed, and the improvement of their fellow citizens.
A few years ago the world was astounded by the rumor that Senator and Mrs. Stanford had determined to devote many of the millions they possessed to the erection and endowment of an educational institution superior to anything of the kind in the world, and that this grand benefaction wasin accord with the expressed desires and intentions of a deceased son who would have
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inherited all their vast accumulations if he had lived. The world is nearly six thousand years old, and during that time many devotedly cherished children have preceded their parents to the golden shore, but this is the first instance where the bereaved have been inspired to carry out expressed wishes with such munificence, and to rear a monument to the loved and lost as much grander and more enduring than marble as the love of God is tenderer and more true than that of any human. It was beyond human belief to accept the rumor as true, and yet the reality proved the first rumor but half the truth. The sum in cash and lands, the value of the latter of which was continually enhanc- ing, devoted to the endowment of the Leland Stanford Junior University, on a conservative appraisement, amounted to twenty millions of dollars.
Having determined upon the consummation of this mighty benefaction, shortly after the death of his son, Senator Stanford actively set about the under- taking. The laws of the State in regard to the pro- tection of the endowments of institutions of learning were rather lax, and to remedy this in 1885 the Sena- tor draughted and secured the passage through the legislature of an enactment placing further safeguards about the administration of the finances of all such institutions, and making some changes in the form and method of incorporation. Having thus completed the preliminary steps, he proceeded at once to the con- summation of his plans. The selection of trustees was a delicate and difficult matter, but being an acute judge of human character, and having a thorough acquaintance with and knowledge of all the prominent men of the day, Senator Stanford was able to unerr-
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ingly choose those who are the right men in the right place. The gentlemen to fill the important position were : Lorenzo Sawyer, one of the presiding judges of the United States Circuit Court, San Francisco (since deceased); James McM. Shafter, San Francisco, lawyer, formerly State senator, and ex-president of the State Agricultural Society ; Charles Goodall, San Francisco, of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, formerly a representative of San Francisco in the legislature ; Alfred L. Tubbs, merchant, St. Helena, Napa county, formerly senator from San Francisco; Charles F Crocker, San Francisco, vice-president of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company ; Timothy Hopkins, San Francisco, treasurer of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company ; Henry L. Dodge, San Francisco, merchant, formerly a State senator from San Francisco and ex- superintendent of the mint ; Irving M. Scott, San Fran- cisco, of the Union Iron Works; Dr. H. W. Hark- ness, San Francisco, of the San Francisco Academy of Science ; Horace Davis, merchant, San Francisco, ex -. member of Congress from San Francisco ; John Boggs, farmer, Colusa, formerly State senator from Colusa, a director of the State Agricultural Society and of the Board of Prison Directors of the State; Hon. T. B. McFarland, Sacramento, formerly in the legislature of the State from Nevada county, and an ex-judge of the Superior Court of Sacramento ; Isaac S. Belcher, Marysville, formerly of the Superior Bench of Califor- nia ; John Q. Brown, Sacramento, ex-mayor of Sacra- mento ; George E. Gray, San Francisco, ex-chief engineer of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company ; N. W. Spaulding, Oakland, manufacturer and ex- United States sub-treasurer, and grand treasurer of the
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Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Califor- nia ; Matthew P. Deady, Portland, Oregon, presiding judge of the United States Circuit Court of Oregon ; William M. Stewart, Virginia City, Nevada, ex-United State senator from Washington, Nevada ; Stephen J. Field, Washington, D. C., justice of the Supreme Court of the United States ; Joseph D. Grant, Esq., of San Francisco; S. F. Lieb, a prominent lawyer of San Jose, and Rev. Horatio Stebbins, D. D., of San Francisco.
Shortly after the announcement of the names of the trustees, they were summoned to the resi- dence of Senator Stanford, and there was delivered to them the grant, executed by Senator and Mrs. Stanford, which endowed with millions an institution which was to bear the name of their lamented son. On the delivery of the important document, Senator Stanford, in a short speech, briefly stated the objects at which he aimed. Simply and beautifully he told of the origination of the grand project, and the hopes which his wife and himself had centered in its consummation. The proceedings lasted but little over an hour, and neither Senator nor Mrs. Stanford betrayed the least consciousness that they considered the act other than one of simple duty, which they owed to the country of their birth. The matter of giving away millions was so unostentatiously per- formed that none present could help but marvel. It showed the high character of the donors and the lofty aims which animated them. Vast as the gift was, the Senator intimated that it was not all they intended to do. He stated that the wills of both himself and wife had been made but shortly previous, and at their
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death the University would receive additional bequests and benefits.
The grant states that the aim of the founders is to establish a University in the broadest sense of the word. It shall include such seminaries of learning as shall make it of the highest grade, including mechan- ical institutes, museums, galleries of art, laboratories, conservatories, together with everything necessary to the proper understanding of agriculture in all its branches, for mechanical training, and the studies and exercises which tend immediately to the enlargement and cultivation of the mind. Its object is stated with a simplicity and force which allows of no misunder- standing and shows the wisdom of the founders: "To qualify students for personal success and direct use- fulness in life."
Its purpose is also stated in a similar succinct manner: "To promote the public welfare by exercising an influence in behalf of humanity and civilization, teach- ing the blessings of liberty regulated by law, and inculcating love and reverence for the great principles of government as derived from the inalienable right of man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
To those who have felt the shadow of a great sor- row, the language in which is couched the clause naming the University has a touch of pathos. It reads: "Since the idea of establishing an institution of this kind for the benefit of mankind came directly and largely from our son and only child, Leland, and in the behalf that had he been spared to advise us as to the disposition of our estate, he would have desired the devotion of a large portion thereof to this purpose, we will that for all time to come the institution hereby founded shall
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bear his name, and shall be known as "The Leland Stanford Junior University."
The plan of the founders of this wonderful benefac- tion to California children, and through them to all the aspiring youth of other lands down to the end of time, has been clearly stated by Senator Stanford
" The future of the State of California will equal in its greatness the capacity of the human intelligence for expansion. Nowhere are the conditions of life happier and better, no place on the globe contains so fully the resources necessary for the physical and intellectual improvement of mankind.
"The faculty for advantageously using the resources of nature, which is only bounded by the almost illimit- able range of human conception, is all that is needed to place this state in the position it is possible for her to occupy-the land of the highest development of human comfort and intellectuality.
"To advance that time was my object in founding the institution at Palo Alto which bears the name of my son. I was satisfied when I provided for this insti- tution that all education tends to the physical as well as the intellectual advancement, and what man does for education he does for civilization. Any education does this, but I hope to have more from my institution. I want to improve the methods of education.
"I wasstruck by a remark that Professor Agassiz made to me when he was here and examined the great glacier. I asked him if he thought it would ever be accounted for. He answered that it would. He said that when the system of education was so much improved that the knowledge of the mineralogist, the geologist, the pale- ontologist and the astronomer were combined in one person the theory would be understood.
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" We had quite a lengthy discussion about education that impressed me very much, and when I recall that the source of supply from which it all came would not be materially affected - that is, the mines and fields and cultivation of the soils that give us these things would not be appreciably lessened. I have great faitlı in man's power to perfect his control of the forces that surround bim.
"Already the discovery of the power of steam and the way to control it, has added immensely to the power of production, though nearly all the labor- saving inventions have been brought into use during the present century. How immeasurably this power of production has been increased in the last fifty years is beyond conception.
"It was centuries before Watt noticed the throb- bing of the boiling water in the tea-kettle, and gave us one of the natural forces that we have controlled to a limited extent. So with the element of electricity- to what extent we can control it can not be told, but we have reason to hope for great things from this great power. With this increase of the power of pro- duction the time will come when provident and indus- trious men may have all the comforts and luxuries that are now only within reach of the rich. Labor, properly distributed and aided, will do even more for the intel- lectual requirements of man than for his physical needs. Physical needs are small in comparison to the intellect - ual requirements, for, while the former are limited, the latter are capable of indefinite expansion. Our capacity for intellectual pleasures increases with our enjoyment of them. It is not so with the physical. A man's mind can never be filled to repletion, nor his appetite for beauty and art satisfied.
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"In view of these things I wish my school more especially directed to the investigation and teaching of how to control the forces of nature-how to make the elements the servants of man-from the kindergarten pupils to the post-graduate pupils who may have a desire for deeper investigations.
" My aim is to make the education very general in character ; and, particularly, I want the students to understand that labor is respectable and that idleness is disreputable. We propose to fit the student, so far as practicable, for his after life, and not to confine our course to literature and art.
" I deem it especially important that the education of the female should be equal to that of the male, and I am inclined to think that if the education of either is neglected it had better be that of the man than the woman, because if the mother is well educated she insensibly imparts it to the child. I remember that Bain, in his Elements of Criticism, says that a child in the first seven years of its life has more new ideas than in all his after life. Voltaire says, I think: ' If you give me the education of the child up to five years I do not care who educates him after that.' The mother's system of teaching is substantially the kindergarten system. This is the opinion of Professor Agassiz.
"My own son never went to any school except the kindergarten. On one occasion he came home de- lighted with something that had opened his mind, and wanted to tell me about it. His teacher required all the children to bring some natural object to school as a subject for a small talk. My son had taken a pebble to the school. His teacher looked at it, and noted that it was round. She explained that that indicated that
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it had probably been rolled back and forth on a beach, for if it had been in a running stream other stones passing over it would have flattened it. Then she dis- covered that it was sandstone, and she told him all about the formation of the rocks. Then she saw a scratch on it, and explained how that might have come -maybe from a stone passing over it or perhaps from a glacier. This opened the way for a talk about glaciers which unfolded to his mind the truths of nature, and so interested him that I am satisfied in his short life this episode of his kindergarten training turned his mind in the direction of inquiries, the answers to which were an education in themselves. I became much impressed with this incident, and in following out the course of education that impressed him so deeply I hope for great things.
' The current publications are really the great edu- cators, because they preserve and disseminate ideas wherever people can read, and do much in raising the standard of intelligence among the people, thus enabling the many to appreciate and take advantage of the genius of the few.
" It is a lack of education alone that makes the great mass of the European peasantry so slow in adopting the modern improvements. They do not use machinery because they are neither aware of its existence nor able to appreciate the advantages of its use. One can- not fail to remark even the great superiority of hand- tools in America over those in use abroad. The great- est extravagance in Europe-greater than that of their large standing armies-is in the waste of labor, using their hands and poor tools instead of machinery and fine tools.
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" So I want these schools to provide an education to make the people, so far as possible, able to secure the fullest amount of comfort and luxury from the natural resources that are at their disposal. I want to teach the people how to make their living, and satisfy their physical longings, that they may have the largest pos- sible amount of time and means for the enjoyment of intellectual pleasures.
" The possibilities of human enjoyment are as bound- less as the beneficence of the Creator, and the Creator could not have placed His great gifts beyond us, for there is no beneficence in the existence of the unattain- able. That being the case, and I think the proposition does not admit of doubt, it becomes the duty of those having the means in their power, to teach the people how best to attain all the good possible in this life.
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