290 TUANSACTIONS OF THE 



Tlie brii^litest and best of the yuiin^ iiilii of our country gathered 

 here, and it was here the soil ^ave up its wealth; mountain, glen, 

 and canon |»oured forth their treasures, and when the ^old stream 

 weakened in its vohime thi; hills and valleys beckoned you to woo 

 them, and promisetl you an ample dowry of fruit ami ^rain. We 

 may not compute the minted n;illions of its goltlen wealth that is 

 poured into the laps of you, its pioneers. And now, to-day, this 

 week, as I drive over the fainiljiir places, I observe your farms and 

 oi'chards, your lii'lds and \ineyar<ls ; I see in your exhibition such a 

 displ:iy of fruits, I taste such wines, I see such promises of abundance, 

 ami in your faces such evidences of health, in your forms such 

 stren<;th, in yc)ur sons and dauj^hters such signs of intelligence and 

 beauty, that 1 am led to woncler and incpiire: Why do 1 hear tiie 

 complaint that times are hard and business is depressed? I stood 

 to-day on one of your hill-tops — an orchard budding with such 

 hicious fruit as 1 never saw elsewiiere, vines loaded witli clustered 

 grapes, a cottage home embowerecl with Mowers — an<l I remember 

 stautiing in the same place twenty-nine years ago, kicking the toe of 

 my boot into the red soil and wond6ring if it would grow potatoes. 



"Plant El l)orado County amid the glens of JScotland. amid the 

 Alj>s on the plains of Lombardy, within the dykes of Holland, and 

 give to it a jiopulation of French, (Jerman, Italian, Swiss, Belgian, 

 Austrian, Sclav or llun — make them the owners of the fee of the 

 soil, and <lo you think they would complain of hard times'' 



"What 1 havesaidof Kl Dorado ap|>lies to ("alifornia— to the Pacific 

 Coast. Rich in everything — in forests, fisheries, mines, fruitful lands, 

 rich in the op])ortunities for homes, farms, comforts, a land of health, 

 a lanil of plenty, a land of inexhaustible res(»urces, a land of liberty, 

 of freedom of thought, freedom of conscience, and freedom of action 

 under the law. 



"When I think of this laml of marvelous wealth and boundless 

 opportunity, this climate that presents no extremes of heat ]iov cold, 

 tiiis land where a primeval race could subsist and multiply upon the 

 fisiies that crowded its streams, the animals that abounded in plain 

 and forest, the fruity nuts of its j»ine trees, the grain of its hill-sides, 

 and the berries of its river bottoms, I ask, ' What is the matter?' It 

 is not the country. The tendency of the times is for families t(^ flee 

 from the country and to crow<l the cities. The most independent, 

 dignilied, and honorable life a man can lead is upon some of (tod's 

 unincundjcred acres, where intelligence prevails and contentment 

 dwelleth. The best population in any country i>^ that which lives 

 upon and tills its own acres." 



To conclude: Our fair was a grand success, and shows that the 

 peo|)le generally are determined to maintain the efforts of the Jioard 

 of Managers in fostering a competition towards imi»roving our pro- 

 ducts, mechanical skill, fine stock, and all the varie<l in<lustries 

 which tend to build un our county, ami to show to other sections of 

 our State, and to our r'astcrn friends, that in the near future, with 

 climate unsurpassed and soil capable of producing everything neces- 

 sary f(tr man or beast, with lands free for homesteads, that old J'^l 

 Dorado County will be the most desiral)le of the foothill counties in 

 our State for the emigrants from the Eastern States and Europe to 

 build themselves homes. 



C. II. WEATIIERWAX, 



Financial Secretary. 



