USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > San Francisco, a history of the Pacific coast metropolis, Volume II > Part 25
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It does not much matter what estimate was placed on the Bancroft histories by captious critics, one fact stands out plainly and it reflects credit on San Fran- cisco and California. No other city of thrice the size of San Francisco would have supplied the stimulus which prompted Bancroft's undertaking, which can only be fittingly described by the word monumental. The histories were subscribed for with a liberality that excited the surprise of Eastern publishers. The series which embraced "Central America," "Mexico," "North American States and Texas," "Arizona and New Mexico," "California," "Nevada," "Wyoming and Colorado," "Utah," "Northwest Coast," "Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana," "British Columbia," "Alaska," "Chronicles of the Builders of the Commonwealth," "Califor- nia Pastoral," "California Inter Pocula," "Popular Tribunals," "Essays and Mis- cellany" and "Literary Industries" and "Native Races" constituted a library in itself. The fact that the vast collection found a place in many private homes, and
Bancroft's Works Form a Library
Bancroft's Histories and His Methods
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in most of the libraries of the world did much to advance knowledge concerning regions that had thitherto been neglected, and the candid judge has been compelled to admit, even though the general reader has often not found them entertaining, that their contents justified the publication of the Bancroft histories. In the prep- aration of his great work Bancroft accumulated a large collection of books and manuscripts which he later sold to the University of California. They constitute one of the most important sections of the growing library of that institution, num- bering more than 60,000 titles.
The "Overland Monthly," which had gained a national prestige through the work and contributions of Bret Harte, never prospered greatly. Its publishers never learned the art of making the advertising carry the reading matter. Perhaps this was not so much due to lack of business judgment as it was to the sparseness of population. In 1882 the "Overland" emerged from a cloud of adversity and entered on a fresh career under the editorship of Millicent W. Shinn. There was no mate- rial improvement in its fortunes, but for several years it attracted to its pages contributors, many of whose names are still familiar to the reading public and not a few of which have red marks opposite them. In the list may be found David Starr Jordan, Dan de Quille, Mellville Upton, Charles Edwin Markham, John Vance Cheney, Irving M. Scott, Horace Davis, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Josiah Royce, F. K. Upham, Warren Olney, John S. Hittell, Frank Norris, John T. Doyle, Charles G. Yale, George Davidson, Frank B. Millard, Douglas Tilden, Clarence Urmy, E. W. Hillgard, Morris M. Estee, John P. Irish, James D. Phelan, Samuel Davis, James O'Meara, Joseph T. Goodman, Edward S. Holden, Joseph L. Conte, D. G. Gilman and many others less well known, whose work was fully up to the magazine standard of a later day and infinitely superior to that of the present catchpenny stuff which finds its way into many monthly publications. A couple of years earlier than the revival of the "Overland" a magazine known as "The California" was launched. Its career was brief, but the curtailment was in no sense due to literary deficiencies. Its list of contributors embraced many of the names of those appear- ing later in the "Overland," but the appetite for magazine literature was not then as avid as it has since become.
If the activities described in the preceding pages do not dispose of the unwar- ranted assumption that San Francisco was indifferent to learning, the lively inter- est in the subject of the higher education displayed during the period must effectu- ally do so. Such incidents as the contest of the will of Horace Hawes, who sought to devote his estate to the creation of a university, could not have divided a city into camps unless a large proportion of the people had a high regard for the bene- fits of learning. Hawes died March 12, 1871, at the age of 58, leaving an estate valued at nearly half a million, consisting of property in San Mateo county and San Francisco. By the terms of his will he sought to establish an institution of learning where law, medicine, agriculture, mechanics, art, commerce and fine arts were to be taught, which he desired should be called Mont Eagle university. His failure to make proper provision for his wife and son and daughter caused the will to be attacked on the ground that the testator was insane at the time of its execution. The will was set aside and Mont Eagle was not created. That Hawes was a very eccentric man, and in his later life had become extremely egotistical and overbearing there is no doubt, but he was not insane. His political activities, and his penurious disposition had raised up many enemies for him who regarded
Magazines During the Eighties
Horace Hawes' Unsuccessful Attempt to Found a University
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him as an abnormality. He did not fit in with his surroundings, but his cynical attitude was not wholly unwarranted. About his public spirit there can be no question. That he exerted a great influence during his career no one denied, even when the dispute over the will was most acrimonious. He was branded as insane because he took the extreme view that it was more desirable to do something for the general welfare than to make liberal provision for his family.
Foundation of Leland Stanford, Jr., University
Political animosity may in a sense be held responsible for the creation of a public opinion whose reflex action resulted in the failure of the Mont Eagle proj- ect, and there is ground also for the assumption that the great Stanford foundation was inspired by the resentment caused by the refusal of the legislature to confirm the appointment of Leland Stanford as regent of the University of California. On the retirement of Perkins from the governorship he named Stanford for the posi- tion of regent, but the senate refused to confirm and his name was withdrawn by request. The statement was made at the time that Stanford was greatly chagrined, and there was much talk of his avenging the insult put upon him by creating a rival university. That he was desirous of an appointment as regent indicates that he took an interest in the higher education, and that he may have had in contempla- tion a liberal endowment of the state institution, but Creed Haymond, who had a large part in the drawing up of the Leland Stanford, Jr., enabling act, subse- quently asserted that the project of a separate foundation had been long entertained by Stanford, and that he desired to serve with the governing body of the State university in order to thoroughly acquaint himself with the requirements of a great institution devoted to the higher education.
The public school system of the City during this period furnished an interest- ing illustration of the close relation between the general welfare and the advance- ment of learning in this country. At the beginning of the period funds were abun- dant, but with the collapse of the speculative boom the municipality was obliged to practice retrenchment. In 1880 the salaries of teachers were reduced from 16 2/3 per cent to 45 per cent. Preceding this reduction there was a vigorous discussion of the question whether it was not a serious mistake to depart from the original simplicity of the American public school system, and the tendency to broaden the curriculum was deprecated. The opinions expressed were not responsible for the action of the authorities in cutting down appropriations, but were rather in the nature of an excuse for the enforced contraction of the revenues of the school de- partment. In September, 1875, before the necessity of reduction was felt, there were 515 teachers who received an aggregate of $525,820 per annum, and in addi- tion 24 who taught in the night schools, and a superintendent and deputy superin- tendent, making the total expenditures for salaries in that year $544,070. The highest salary paid was $4,000 to the superintendent and the lowest $600 per annum. Ten principals received $2,400, six $2,200, thirteen $2,100. Nearly four hundred of the 515 teachers of the day schools received less than one thousand dollars per annum.
Growth of Public School System
In 1871, the beginning of our period, there were 56 schools and 416 teachers and the number of pupils enrolled aggregated 26,406. The average daily attend- ance was 16,978 and the expenditures for all purposes amounted to $705,116, making the cost per capita of the average daily attendance $41.58. The school census indicated that there were 28,971 children of school age in the City at the time. The estimated value of school property was $1,786,400. Owing to uncer-
Public Schools During the Period
PALACE HOTEL, BEFORE THE FIRE
TOWERS OF THE OLD CITY HALL, LARKIN STREET WING
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tainties respecting the valuation of personal property the relation of school expen- ditures to the wealth of the City cannot be accurately stated, but in 1870 the assessed value of all property in the City was given at $114,759,510. In 1883 the assessed value of San Francisco property was $201,992,152 and the school expen- diture was $791,175, the cost per capita based on average daily attendance being $25.66, a reduction of $15.87 per capita compared with the earlier mentioned year. The number of schools in the meantime had increased from 56 to 63 and the teachers from 416 to 687. There were 40,722 pupils enrolled and the average daily attendance was 30,827.
The variation of the figures of daily attendance in the public schools from those of the census figures are largely accounted for by the growth of private and paro- chial schools, particularly the latter. During the period described the educational activities of the Catholics were very marked. In 1872 the Christian Brothers were chartered to grant degrees. In 1874 the Sacred Heart college was opened and not long after St. Joseph's academy for small boys. The numerous convent schools were well attended and altogether the pupils of the various Catholic institutions must have aggregated several thousand in 1883. The number attending the private schools and finishing academies for young ladies was also very considerable. These facts must be kept in mind. They are frequently lost sight of by commentators who make the error of assuming that the difference between the number of children of school age and the average daily attendance at the public schools exhibits a lamentable degree of truancy.
Among the earlier troubles experienced by the school department was one which accompanies the selection of text books. In 1877 the state superintendent of public schools was charged by C. Augustus Klose with having been improperly influenced by a Cincinnati firm. The superintendent who was accused of having received a bribe brought suit against his accuser and recovered $1,000 damages. Another source of trouble grew out of the mode of appointing teachers, and there were several serious scandals. In 1879 it was discovered that the series of questions prepared for the examination of applicants for positions was being sold in San Francisco. The principal of the Eighth street, now Franklin Grammar school, a man named Moore, was found with a set of questions in his possession which enabled him to guarantee, through a go-between named Ewald, the passage of the required tests by anyone patronizing him. He had obtained the questions through a clerk in the office of state superintendent, named Carr. When the exposure was made Moore and Clarke fled the state and escaped punishment, but the discovery was not without good results, as it was responsible for the provision in the consti- tution which has stood in the way of like abuses.
In discussing the social changes of this period we are brought face to face with the fact that a new generation had come on the scene. At the beginning of our period the number of Americans, not of Latin origin, who could claim California as their native state, was small; but toward the middle of the decade they became numerous enough to follow the law of mutual attraction. . In 1875 the observance of the national holiday was still something more than a perfunctory performance, and it was saved from that ignominy by the spirit of the boys of the City, who had determined to make the Independence Day parade interesting by departing from the conventional. The novelty they hit upon was the reproduction of the typical dress of the miners of argonaut days. The affair proved a great success and
Private and Parochial Schools
Text Book Troubles
Native Sons of the Golden West Organized
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suggested a permanent organization of the boys for the perpetuation of memories of pioneer times. On July 11th a number of the native sons met and organized. The objects of the association were stated to be "social intercourse, mental improve- ment, mutual benefit and general promotion of the interests of its members." Only males of sixteen or over "born in California or west of the Sierra" were eligible to membership. In March, 1876, the organization was incorporated, Joseph Fish- bourne being its first president. The original membership was less than a hundred. In the following year, in December, a "parlor" was formed in Oakland, and after that date the order grew rapidly. In the early stages of its growth the Native Sons' organization escaped criticism, but later it was contended that politicians derived benefit from their connection, and occasionally the figures of election returns seemed to support the imputation; but it is an open question whether membership senti- ment operates more strongly in it than in other social bodies, whose numerical strength in the City and state has increased as rapidly. But whatever the result it is undoubtedly true that the original purpose in forming the Native Sons was to keep alive state pride, and that its chief attraction as an order has, from the beginning, been the possibilities it presents for social intercourse.
A PERIOD OF GREAT PROGRESS FOLLOWED BY DISASTER 1883-1906
CHAPTER LVI
TRANSPORTATION TROUBLES OF SAN FRANCISCO MERCHANTS
RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS CORRUPTED BY THE CORPORATION-EFFORTS TO REGULATE DEFEATED-CORPORATION COMPELLED TO PAY ITS BACK TAXES-THE FRESNO RATE CASE-BUYING OFF SEA COMPETITORS-MERCHANTS SHOW SIGNS OF REVOLTING FORMATION OF TRAFFIC ASSOCIATION- THE TRANSCONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION- NORTH AMERICAN NAVIGATION COMPANY-THE MOVEMENT TO BUILD A COMPETING RAILROAD-SUBSCRIPTIONS TO SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY RAILROAD-TERMINAL FACILI- TIES SECURED-THE ROAD TURNED OVER TO THE ATCHISON, TOPEKA AND SANTA FE- THE PEOPLE BETRAYED-PACIFIC COAST JOBBERS AND MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIA- TION-GROWTH OF SOUTHERN PACIFIC SYSTEM-MONETARY TROUBLES OF 1893- BUSINESS DEPRESSION IN SAN FRANCISCO.
HEN Bryce made his survey of conditions in California sev- CC O eral years after the so called "sand lot upheaval" he re- W marked that "the city government of San Francisco is much what it was before the agitation, nor does the legis- lature seem any purer or wiser. When the Railroad Com- SEAL OF OF SAN FR. mission had to be elected the railroad magnates managed so to influence the election, although it was made directly by the people, that two of the three commissioners chosen were, or soon afterwards came under their influence, while the third was a mere declaimer. None of them, as I was told in 1883, possessed the practical knowledge of railway business needed to enable them to deal in the manner contemplated by the constitution, with the oppressions alleged to be practiced by the railroads. I asked why the railroad magnates had not been content to rely on certain provisions of the federal constitution against the control sought to be exerted over their undertaking. The answer was that they had considered this course, but had concluded that it was cheaper to buy the commission."
It is true, as Bryce here asserts, that the railroad bought up a majority of the Railroad Commission elected by the people, and that course was adopted to save trouble. Had the people been capable of exercising the discrimination necessary to secure able men who would have proved true to their trust they might have accomplished something in the way of control, but that result could only have been achieved by a fresh agitation directed against the legislature which deliber- ately, because controlled by the railroad, refused to make the necessary appropria- tions to enable the commission to perform the duties imposed upon it by the consti- tution. Mr. Bryce speaks of the third member of the commission who could not be bought by the railroad as "a mere declaimer." In forming this estimate of
A Corrupt Rallroad Commission
Railroad Fools the People
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Foote he fell into the trap which the railroad cunningly set for the dear people. It was by discrediting every one who sought to correct railroad abuses that the reform of the corporation was delayed over thirty years. By fooling the people into the belief that railroading was an esoteric mystery the shackles were fastened on San Francisco more firmly than they were before the agitation, and they had to pay dearly for the childlike faith they reposed in the soundness of the judgment of those who contended that "whatever is is right."
Efforts to Regulate Defeated
Had Mr. Bryce, and like critics, not put those who were contending for corpo- ration regulation out of conceit with themselves San Francisco would have worked out many problems, and effected many reforms which would have saved the nation a great deal of trouble later. As these troubles were more or less intimately related with the fortunes of San Francisco, it is necessary to describe them briefly in order that the degree of influence they exerted over the growth of the City may be deter- mined. The connection cannot always be clearly established, but it can easily be shown that by benumbing the growing disposition to regulate San Francisco helped to extend the term of the railroad monopoly for many years, and thereby contrib- uted to the political corruption which finally aroused the people and caused them to bring about an approach to the results aimed at by the agitators who forced the adoption of the Constitution of 1879.
The First Railroad Commission
The first Railroad Commission elected consisted of George Stoneman, Joseph S. Cone and Charles J. Beerstecher. Stoneman had held the position of commissioner under the Irwin administration prior to the adoption of the Constitution of 1879. Cone was a land owner in the northern part of the state and Beerstecher was one of Kearney's lieutenants, an utterly corrupt creature who sought the office for what there was to be made out of it. The only member of the commission who showed any disposition to exercise the powers conferred by the Constitution of 1879 was Stoneman, whose ability was called into question by just such tactics as those reflected in Bryce's estimate. Because he urged that abuses existed he was characterized as "a mere declaimer," and thus the hands of his colleagues who thwarted every proposal obnoxious to the railroad were held up by an influential public opinion. The legislature of 1883 took up the matter, and the corporation committee of the assembly reported as a result of an investigation that Cone, al- though wealthy before becoming commissioner had received deeds for large tracts of land from the railroad company while in office, that Beerstecher had been bought outright and that Stoneman, although he had tried to do his best, had always been thwarted by his colleagues.
The success of the railroad company in dealing with the commission emboldened it sufficiently to defy the tax gatherer, and during a period of four years the cor- poration refused to pay the taxes levied upon it by the State Board of Equalization. Suits were brought against it in the federal court at San Francisco, and were pend- ing when the state attorney general ordered their dismissal. His action aroused indignation and Stoneman, who had been elected governor, chiefly upon his anti- railroad record, called an extra session of the legislature which assembled March 24, 1884, the objects stated in the call being almost entirely confined to proposed regulative measures for the railroad corporation and the collection of the revenues. The assembly was in sympathy with the recommendations of the governor, and framed nineteen bills, but the senate under the leadership of a San Francisco re- publican named McClure, an able but unscrupulous opponent of the Constitution of
Railroad Compelled to Pay its Taxes
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1879, and wholly devoted to the interests of the railroad, contrived to defeat all but four which were of slight consequence. In the ensuing legislature another at- tempt was made to deal with the question of railroad taxation. An amendment was proposed for submission to the people providing for the levy of a 21/2 per cent tax per annum on the gross income of railroads. Although it met the approval of the legislature, it was rejected at the election of November 2, 1886. In the meantime, after the dismissal of the suits by Attorney General Marshall, new suits had been instituted in the federal courts in which the state proved successful, and the corporation was compelled to pay a sum which represented the amount with penalties added that Marshall, the attorney general, had sought to sacrifice to the railroad when he compromised and dismissed the cases, and the unpaid taxes of 1885-86.
The history of the Railroad Commission during the entire period 1883-1906 was practically one of nonaccomplishment. The commission which followed the Cone, Beerstecher, Stoneman body was as flagrantly defiant of popular opinion as its predecessor. Two of the members, Carpenter and Humphreys, arrayed them- selves on the side of the railroad and Henry S. Foote was in opposition. In the only case of importance before them, that of Richards & Harrison who alleged dis- crimination and extortion, relief was denied by the majority. Foote's antagonism was forceful, but accomplished nothing against the instructions of the railroad. In 1887 W. H. Robinson brought a case before the commission which resulted after a long hearing in a reduction of the passenger fares between San Francisco and the Alameda shore points. After that date various cases were decided by the com- missions in which the complainant was occasionally favored, but none of these decisions were rendered so as to form a principle or establish a precedent. In 1896 a vigorous effort was made to secure a horizontal reduction of grain rates amounting to 10 per cent, and the commission yielded to pressure, but the courts interfered, deciding that a horizontal reduction without an investigation of each particular case would be unconstitutional.
The most important matter in many respects which the commission was called upon to decide was that of Edison vs. Southern Pacific and known as the Fresno rate case, which was brought in April, 1900. The Southern Pacific, when the San Joaquin valley railroad was built from San Francisco to Fresno, reduced its rate of fare from $5.90 to $3.75. The Constitution of 1879 provides that when a railroad reduces its passenger or freight rate to meet competition it may not restore the same without the permission of the Railroad Commission. When the Southern Pacific subsequently entered into an arrangement with the company which had acquired possession of the San Joaquin valley railroad it promptly restored the fare to $5.90. The commission, when the case was brought before it under pressure of public opinion, and perhaps because the Southern Pacific was confident of the final outcome of its contention, decided that the rate could not be restored. The corporation promptly carried the matter into the courts and the case was finally decided in its favor by the supreme court of the state on the ground that the $3.75 was an excursion rate, and that the railroad constantly kept on sale the regu- lar $5.90 ticket. The action of the court in sanctioning the disreputable trick came in for severe censure, but it had been accustomed to adverse criticism and treated the matter lightly.
Vol. II-12
Useless Commissions and Accom- modating Courts
The Fresno Rate Case
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Buying Off Sea Compe- tition
In view of the fact that the commission was regarded with distrust by the people, very little attention was paid to a decision rendered in the federal circuit court in 1888 which deprived it of the right to regulate steamship as well as rail- road rates. The court held that as the steamships of the Pacific Coast S. S. Co., which brought the action to test the matter, passed beyond the three-mile limit, the commission had no jurisdiction over them. As a result of this decision numerous alleged competitive steamship lines were started at different times and were kept in operation until the railroad deemed it expedient to buy them off. The conse- quence was disorganization of business and the practical impossibility of establish- ing a line or lines which might have given an effective competitive service.
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