1G0 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



the most valuable varieties of all the climates, of her extensive vineyards 

 and promising wines, of the magnitude of her mulberry plantations and 

 the superior excellence and richness of her silks — to say nothing of all 

 these and many other subjects which go to make up the grand recoi'd in 

 honor of California as a State, still the present occasion is one of which 

 we, as citizens of California, as farmers, mechanics, artisans and laboring 

 men and women, may all well be proud. 



For the last seven years we have each and every one of us been con- 

 tributing of our means to the accomplishment of one of the boldest 

 undertakings, one of the grandest achievements the world has ever 

 known ; and this year has witnessed the final completion of that great 

 undertaking. We have, on a former occasion, appropriately celebrated 

 the great event. 



I need not say I refer to the completion of the Pacific Railroad — the 

 connecting link which binds w.ith an iron band the two extremes of our 

 noble country together. By this road, not only the East and the West, 

 but the North and the South, are made one. Politically speaking, of 

 many countries, of many conflicting interests, of many people, this road 

 has made one — while heretofore we have felt and acted as citizens of 

 many States, with conflicting and apparently unreconcilable interests. 

 Now we all begin to feel that we are citizens of one common country, 

 with" interests and objects identical. Hereafter, the Pacific and the 

 Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico and the lakes, bound one common country 

 and surround one common people — a country which has no equal, 

 geographically, physically, morally or politically — a people, compara- 

 tively speaking, at least worthy of the country they possess. 



But we are here to consider the material interests of California, and 

 while this road is so important to the nation as a whole, if properly man- 

 aged its importance to California cannot be overestimated. With cheap 

 fares, it will make California the high road of the travelling world; with 

 cheap freights, it will become the means of transportation of the richest 

 commerce the world has ever seen. It will stimulate our agriculture, 

 and make our State what in respect to soil, location and climate she is 

 capable of being — the Garden of Eden of modern times. It will be the 

 means of reclaiming that vast region of country lying between the 

 Rocky and Sierra ranges of mountains from a vast trackless and value- 

 less desert, making a rich, fertile country, dotted with thriving towns 

 and cities, and teeming with a countless and industrious population. It 

 will make of our tradesmen, in reality, merchant princes. It will make 

 our principal towns and cities the banks and centres of exchange for 

 all the commercial countries of the globe. 



These things can only be brought about by a liberal policy in the 

 management of the road — a policy as liberal and enlightened as the 

 enterprise is grand and magnificent. With such a policy, a few years will 

 suffice to make this road the grand trunk to which other roads, branch- 

 ing in every direction, and spanning the continent north and south, will 

 become contributary. As we Californians are all, in one sense, stock- 

 holders in this grand highway, we have a right to expect and demand 

 that its management shall be shaped with referenco to the accomplish- 

 ment of these most desirable objects. 



Hence it becomes proper, on occasions like the present, when we come 

 together, to bring the evidences of our prosperity, and while counting 

 up the advantages of our State and country, to consider whether we 

 are reaping all the benefits we might, from the circumstances which sur- 

 round us. Particularly on this occasion is it proper to consult as to 



