78 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



maidens, hand in band; at first, with timid, faltering steps, as if doubtful 

 whether to proceed ; but later, with the firm, elastic tread of two 

 coquettish damsels who feel well assured of an easy triumph. In fact, 

 the struggle is already ended and the victory won. A State with only 

 a half million of inhabitants, which can raise in a single year twenty 

 millions of bushels of wheat, ten millions of pounds of wool and twelve 

 millions of gallons of wine, is already on a firm and stable footing, as 

 regards its agricultural interests; and when it can build such steamboats 

 as now ply on our waters, manufacture such woollen fabrics as we have 

 seen on exhibition, such steam engines as our foundries turn out, such 

 superb cutlery as we now produce, such magnificent furniture, such 

 beautiful carriages, such excellent boots and shoes, such splendid glass- 

 ware and pottery, and a thousand other articles which I have not space 

 to enumerate, we may well conclude that California is rapidly assuming 

 a high position amongst those States most justly renowned for mechan- 

 ical skill and manufacturing enterprise; but we require something in 

 addition* to all this to make us a really great and prosperous people. 

 It has been truly and beautifully said that commerce is the hand-maid of 

 agriculture and manufactures, ready to do their behests and always await- 

 ing their commands. It is its province to promote an interchange of 

 commodities between nations as well as between individual citizens. 

 Without its aid our surplus grain would rot in our storehouses; our 

 native wines would find no purchasers; our beautiful woollen fabrics 

 would cease to exist, and our magnificent floating palaces would decay 

 at their docks. No more railroads would be built, and the shrill music 

 of the steam whistle would no longer startle the echoes in our mountain 

 gorges. 



Our commerce, though yet in its early infancy, gives promise of a 

 vigorous youth and a robust maturity. In this respect, also, nature has 

 lavished her gifts upon us most profusely. She has spread out before us 

 the great Pacific ocean, which is already whitened with the sails of all 

 civilized nations; and has carved out from amongst our bills a magnifi- 

 cent harbor, in which all the navies of the world might safely ride at 

 anchor. She has placed us in a temperate climate, midway between the 

 northern snows and tropical heats, as if to allure toward our shores the 

 products of the Arctic and the Torrid zones. She has confronted us with 

 the vast hordes of China and Japan, upon whom the light of a true civ- 

 ilization is but beginning to dawn. She has filled our mountains with 

 silver and gold,, which are the great mediums of exchange throughout 

 the world. She has covered our hills with magnificent forests, to supply 

 us with clipper ships, and with rich copper mines to furnish the fasten- 

 ings. She has placed us in the direct line of travel, b}* the nearest route, 

 between Europe and the East Indies. In short, she has so arranged it 

 that California must of necessity command the trade of this vast ocean ; 

 and that San Francisco shall become the key to a great commerce, whose 

 ramifications will penetrate every corner of the civilized world. 



Nor have we been slow to avail ourselves of these great advantages. 

 Large fleets of clipper ships, built expressly for our trade, ride at anchor 

 in our noble bay. Splendid ocean steamers convey passengers and 

 freights up and down our coasts, while our inland waters are daily vexed 

 with the keels of heavily laden vessels. Railroads traverse our valleys 

 in many directions, and more are being rapidly constructed. The mer- 

 chants of San Francisco have erected a magnificent exchange for the 

 conduct of commercial transactions; whilst our bankers receive and send 

 forth from their marble palaces daily streams of gold, to fructify industry 



