198 TRANSACTIONS OP THE 



ANNUAL ADDRESS, 



Delivered by Governor George C. Perkins, at the Pavilion in Oakland, Wednesday- 

 Evening, September 15, 18S0. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: I esteem it a great 

 privilege that your kind invitation gives me the opportunity of 

 meeting you face to face, and expressing in a plain way some- 

 thoughts, which seem to me to be so important that they ought to be 

 kept constantly in view by the people of this State, and especially by 

 the farmers of our commonwealth. As I am rather a practical sailor 

 than an experienced farmer, I presume you do not expect me to 

 speak particularly of topics relating to the management of the farm,, 

 or to present anything new in agricultural chemistry; but being' 

 temporarily the political representative of the people, it may not be- 

 amiss to give you an expression of my views from that standpoint- 

 It requires no great sagacity to perceive that the most important 

 physical element of a State is its soil — the land within its jurisdic- 

 tion. Without that there could be no people and no State. It is., 

 therefore, the very basis of the superstructure. Its limits are the 

 boundaries of the State or Nation ; upon it are created the homes, 

 about which cling the tender recollections of childhood; and those 

 homes give inspiration to the spirit of patriotism that defends the- 

 State in the hour of peril. Hence the soil, and those who cultivate 

 it, are most intimately connected with the life and growth of a 

 Nation. 



Dr. Draper, in his work on the " Intellectual Development of 

 Europe," which is justly held in high esteem, after an able and 

 searching review of the facts of history, announces the conclusion 

 that, " Nations, like individuals, are born, proceed through a pre- 

 destined growth, and die." " Man," he says, "is truly the archetype 

 of society ; his development is the model of social progress."* 

 Whether this theory be true or not, in a literal sense, there is doubt- 

 less enough of truth in it to justify the deduction which the learned 

 author referred to draws from it, namely, that " all political institu- 

 tions, imperceptibly or visibly, spontaneously or purposely, should 

 tend to the improvement and organization of national intellect." 

 If there is error in this deduction, it is perhaps in the fact that too- 

 much stress is laid upon, the importance of cultivating the intellect 

 as a product of civilization ; and not enough upon the importance of 

 culture in other directions, particularly in that of morals and patri- 

 otism. It is not my purpose, however, to enter into a criticism of 

 that kind, nor to indulge in any disquisition concerning the elements 

 of civilization, further than to supplement the opinion already 

 quoted with that of Mr. Buckle, that the chief cause of civilization 

 are soil and climate. 



The former, in ancient times, and especially in Asia and Africa, 

 exercised the most influence in consequence of the quick and abun- 

 dant returns it gave, but the latter, climate, through its genial effect 



