192 Transactions of the 



In the gift of these transcendent qualities of climate and soil to Cali- 

 fornia, it would seem that a benign Providence intended to close man's 

 migratory circuit of the earth in a land laden with His bounty. These 

 marvellous gifts are inert. Labor must develop them; nature will not. 



Nothing but sturdy enterprise and unvaiwing purpose can accomplish 

 this to its fullest end. If accomplished, the story of our growth will 

 be more wonderful than the dreams of oriental fancy. No such treasure 

 was ever before committed to man. None will be more unwisely wasted 

 if we permit it to go undeveloped. 



THE EXPENSE OF CANALS. 



The cost is one of the problems connected with this subject which is 

 difficult of solution. The same grave question met De Witt Clinton 

 when he commenced the construction of the Erie Canal. It came face 

 to face with M. De Lesseps when he gave inspiration to the Suez Canal. 

 Yet these were made, and canals for irrigation and transportation will 

 be constructed through the great valleys of this State within the next 

 twenty years. Large enough to transfer the waters of the Sacramento 

 and San Joaquin Rivers, the Tulare and other lakes out upon the plains, 

 if it will 'pay for the investment. Money is conservative; and before one 

 dollar of private capital will be put into such a great enterprise, it must 

 be made to appear that it will be remunerative. 



The cost of some of the irrigating canals of Italy and India is enor- 

 mous. From careful estimates made in the construction of the Ganges, 

 Bora, Doab, Sutly, and Soane Canals of India, it seems that a canal with 

 a capacity to irrigate seventy-five thousand acres or more, will cost 

 what would amount to thirty-five dollars per acre for the entire district 

 irrigated. This includes side channels (the side channels often cost 

 more than the main canals). 



The first seventy-five miles of the Madras Irrigating Canal cost forty 

 thousand dollars per mile. This canal is one hundred feet wide and 

 eight feet deep. 



The great Ganges Canal cost twelve million dollars. Its length, in- 

 cluding branches, is nine hundred miles. The branches comprise the 

 larger part of its length; width, one hundred and seventy feet; depth, 

 ten feet; and it will irrigate one million five hundred thousand acres. 

 The cost is much less per acre than the above estimate. Some of the 

 canals in Italy are lined with solid masonry, with locks of the most 

 massive character, and they have been in actual use for centuries. I 

 am persuaded, after comparing the expense of irrigation in Italy and 

 India, that twenty dollars per acre will be a fair estimate of all expense 

 for making channels large enough and long enough to transfer all the 

 waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Eivers, which is not required 

 for navigation, the Tulare, Tahoe, and other lakes. The cost for irrigat- 

 ing two million of acres would be, say forty million dollars. This 

 amount of money, thus expended, seems enormous; but it must be con- 

 sidered that the making of such gigantic works would extend through 

 a quarter of a century, and it presupposes a largely increased popula- 

 tion, and still larger increase of wealth. 



This question of cost is certainly the most debatable problem the 

 subject presents. 



Yet other people, not more enterprising, not more wealthy, and not 

 as favorably situated as we are, have not hesitated to expend greater 

 sums than this for a like purpose. For instance, by a report published 



