EECLAMATION OP SWAMP LANDS IN CALIFORNIA. 181 



sliowu tbe inadequacy of mere local organization to accomplisb. general 

 results. It is now seen that an adequate system of reclamation must 

 be based upon more liberal views of public interest, and must be organ- 

 ized upon a broader basis. 



RECENT COMBINATIONS. 



For the reclamation of the swamp and overflowed lands of California, 

 several associations of native and foreign capitalists have been lately 

 formed. Among these the most imposing and extensive is the Anglo- 

 American Syndicate. This is an association of English and American 

 capitalists, with a capital stock of $5,000,000. It proposes to purchase 

 and reclaim, by scientific processes, large bodies of swamp and overflowed 

 land and sell it, after reclamation, to actual settlers in small tracts, on 

 easy terms, and at prices as low as is consistent with the return of a fair 

 interest on the capital invested ; or it will lease land to cultivators on 

 shares, a specific mode of cultivation being agreed upon. The Syndicate 

 is to use its influence in Europe to secure a direct immigTation to California 

 of small capitalists and agricultural laborers. To such, lands will be sold 

 as above on long credits, and money will be advanced to pay expenses 

 of transportation and settlement. The general interests of the Syndi- 

 cate will be, supervised by a board of directors in London, while its 

 local administration will be controlled by a board of management at San 

 Francisco. It was stated that under this arrangement 50,000 acres of 

 salt-marsh lauds lying upon the bay of San Francisco and its branches 

 had been secured, besides 250,000 acres of fresh-water lands lying upon 

 the Sacramento and San Joaquin Elvers. According to the latest ad- 

 vices of this Department, however, this arrangement had either failed 

 or had been suspended. The reason alleged for this suspension was the 

 dissatisfaction expressed by some of the English legal advisers of the Syn- 

 dicate with the tenure of the lands proposed to be purchased. It should 

 be remembered that a large portion of the best lands of California are 

 held by virtue of old Spanish and Mexican titles, a class of tenures in 

 California which has given rise to extensive and vexatious litigations. 



The Tide-Land Eeclamation Company was organized about three years 

 ago, with a nominal capital of $12,000,000. It has already purchased 

 120,000 acres of land lying in the delta of the Sacramento and San 

 Joaquin Elvers. This area embraces the greater portion of Eoberts, 

 Union, Grand, Twitchell, Andros, Brannan, and Staten Islands, with 

 some large tracts on the banks of the rivers adjoining the uplands. 

 Portions of this land have since been sold after reclamation ; other por- 

 tions are being cultivated either by the company directly or by its les- 

 sees. Other companies and firms have purchased largely of these 

 swamp-lands, besides many private individuals, and are engaged with 

 very encouraging success in their reclamation and cultivation. 



AREAS OF OVERFLOWED LANDS. 



The area of swamp or overflowed lands in California is variously es- 

 timated from 2,000,000 to 5,000,000 acres. The surveyor-general of the 

 State land-office places the aggregate at 3,000,000 acres. Of this area 

 about 400,000 acres are called tide-lands, being located upon the arms of 

 the sea or within the range of tidal influences upon the rivers Sacramento 

 and San Joaquin. These lands are subdivided, about equally, into 

 salt-water and fresh-water tide-lands. The former are all found below 

 the head of Suisun Bay, which receives the waters of the Sacramento 

 and San Joaquin Elvers. The latter lie between the mouth of those 

 rivers and a line drawn across their valleys from Stockton, on the San 

 Joaquin, to a point six miles above the head of Steamboat Slough, on 



