440 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



too beautiful, no soil was too rich, to save it from the miner's pick. I 

 did mj^ share of the work of spoliation, and shall take my share of 

 the shame. For thirty-five years the inhabitants of Nevada, El 

 Dorado, and Placer have pursued principally the vocation of mining. 

 They have extracted millions upon millions of gold. Where is your 

 glittering prize? I will tell you: the farmers have got it. You have 

 toiled and sown, but they have reaped. 



Suppose that thirty years ago one had been asked, what will be the 

 future of the counties named. Plere, would say the questioner, are 

 thousands upon thousands of brawny men, of cultivated intellects, 

 of the best blood of the land, firm of purpose, fertile in resources, 

 able and willing to dare and do, and eager for wealth. Here are 

 millions upon millions of gold only awaiting the sesame of labor to 

 be the slave of man. He who thus would be questioned, if unac- 

 quainted with the fate of mining countries, would have replied: 

 '' Gold 3^ou will get, the world wants gold, and you can buy the world 

 with gold. Property must increase in value, your counties will be 

 densely populated, your gold will go to the uttermost parts of the 

 world, and the riches of Indies will be vours, wealth will induce cul- 

 ture and culture foster intellect, the mining counties will rule the 

 State, and the toilers of the valleys will be the slaves of the lamp to sup- 

 ply your every desire." Who would at that date have questioned 

 the truth of the prophecy? Has it been fulfilled? Alas! no. You 

 have been like "the nightingale that leans its breast against a thorn 

 and sings in pain." You have sung your golden notes to enchant the 

 world, and little else remains to you but memory. But I will no 

 longer permit memory "to blend with the twilight charm and bear 

 us back to other days." 



I wish to show you a better way. I am not here to pronounce a 

 panegyric upon agriculture; that has been done by many a more able 

 and eloquent tongue than is mine. I am here rather to awaken you 

 to a keener perception of the wide and inexhaustible resources of this 

 district, and to point out to you how you can regain your vantage 

 ground. I hope you will pardon the last expression. The man who 

 lives on Shasta cannot see the mountain. Only the dweller in the 

 valley sees that grim peak in all its grandeur of dimensions. And so 

 having lived among you and now dwelling in the valley, I do not 

 think it ill becomes me to return and tell you of the beauties and 

 possibilities of your mountain slopes. 



I firmly believe that the tide has now come to you at its flood, 

 which, if taken, will lead you to a fortune, and that the first genera- 

 tion of pioneers shall not pass away until it shall see this district 

 among the first and wealthiest portions of the State. 



To those of you who still cling to the belief that mining is the first 

 industry of the State, I would invite you to a comparison between 

 the counties of this district and certain other counties devoted mainly 

 to agriculture. I know of no more acceptable mode to show you the 

 true path to wealth and of progress. I hope no one will be offended 

 at the comparison. 



I select these counties because they are not strictly horticultural 

 counties, and because they occupy the lowest scale in intelligent, 

 wealth-producing, energizing agriculture, to wit: that of grain grow- 

 ing. 



The assessment of property began to approach a uniform and equal 

 standard of valuation after the passage of the Political Code, and I 



