118 



CALIFORNIA. 



nation against the companies contrary to the 

 fourteenth amendment of the Constitution in 

 disallowing a deduction for mortgages, which 

 is allowed to all other citizens ; second, that 

 the assessors included property which, by the 

 State Constitution, the State Board of Equali- 

 zation had no right to assess, but which was 

 assessable and actually assessed by county 

 boards; third, that assessments in some of the 

 cases included franchises granted to the com- 

 pany by Congress, such as that of constructing 

 railroads in the United States' Territories as 

 well as in the State. The Circuit Court found 

 these defenses to be true in points of fact, and 

 the Supreme Court without expressing any 

 opinion on the first ground of defense, based 

 on the fourteenth amendment, sustains the 

 other grounds and affirms the judgments of the 

 Circuit Court. The decision conforms to the 

 former decision of the Court made two years 

 ago, in reference to similar taxes on some of 

 the same roads, the only new point being the 

 illegality of taxing franchises granted to the 

 company by Congress. The judgments of the 

 Circuit Court in all cases are affirmed. 



This decision covers suits brought by the 

 State against the Central Pacific Railroad Com- 

 pany, Southern Pacific Railroad Company, 

 Northern Railway Company, and California 

 Pacific Railroad Company. 



On May 31, in the case of the Turlock Irri- 

 gation Company vs. Williams, the State Su- 

 preme Court rendered a decision of great im- 

 portance, upholding the constitutionality of 

 the Wright irrigation law passed by the last 

 Legislature. Extensive irrigation has been 

 hitherto impossible in the State by reason of 

 the decision of the same court, that riparian 

 owners had a right to the natural and undi- 

 minished flow of the stream as against all other 

 persons. As any act of the Legislature giving 

 to other individuals or private corporations 

 rights in the stream would be unconstitutional, 

 the Wright law created public irrigation dis- 

 tricts, provided for their organization, and then 

 declared that the use of water required by such 

 districts for irrigation, together with rights of 

 way and other property necessary for them 

 should be a public use, and that private rights 

 and property should be condemned and taken 

 for such use. The court decided that such dis- 

 tricts were in effect public corporations, and 

 their right to take or condemn private prop- 

 erty was constitutional. The court say : 



The districts, when organized as provided in the 

 act under discussion, have all the elements of corpo- 

 rations formed to accomplish a public use and pur- 

 pose, according to the rules of law laid down in Ha- 

 gar vs. Supervisors of Yolo County. Such a general 

 scheme, by which immigration may be stimulated, 

 the taxable property increased, the relative burdens 

 of taxation upon the whole people decreased, and the 

 comfort and advantage of many thriving communities 

 subserved, would seem to redound to the common ad- 

 vantage or all the people of the State to a greater or 

 less extent. It is true that incidentally pnvate per- 

 sons and private property may be benefited, but the 

 main plan of the Legislature, viz., the general wel- 



fare of the whole people, inseparably bound up with 

 the interests of those living in sections which are dry 

 and unproductive without irrigation, is plain to be 

 seen pervading the whole of the act in question. If 

 the use for which property Is taken be to satisfy- a 

 great public want or public exigency, it is & public 

 use within the meaning of the Constitution, and the 

 State is not limited to any given mode of applying 

 that property to satisfy the want or meet the exigency. 



Another decision of this year declares the 

 act of 1880, providing for the protection of 

 lands from overflow, to be unconstitutional in' 

 that it permits the levy of assessments upon 

 land-owners without giving them notice or al- 

 lowing them a hearing thereon, providing also 

 for a summary mode of collection without a' 

 suit at which the tax-payer could be heard. 



Industrial. The total wheat product of the 

 State for 1887 is estimated at 874,000 tons of 

 2,000 pounds each, distributed among the coun- 

 ties as follows : 



COUNTIES. Tons. 



Alameda 25,000 



Butte 7n, noil 



Colusa 30,000 



Contra Costa 30,000 



Fresno 50,000 



Kern 30.000 



Lake 4,000 



Los A ngeles 3i i.OoO 



Mendocino 5,000 



Merced 50,000 



Monterey 80,000 



Napa 5,000 



Placer 15,000 



Sacramento 20,000 



San Bernardino 5.000 



San Diego 15,000 



San Joaquin 60,000 



COUNTIES. Tons. 



San Luis Obispo . . . 40,000 



Santa Barbara 20.000 



Santa Clara 20,000 



Santa Cruz 10,000 



Shasta 5,000 



Siskiyou 5,000 



Solano 80,000 



Sonoma 15,000 



Stanislaus 50.000 



Sutler 50.000 



Tehama 40,000 



Tulare 50,000 



Ventura 10,000 



Yolo 50.000 



Yuba 15,000 



Total 874,000 



"While the eastern and northern counties of the 

 Sacramento valley show an increased yield 

 over 1886, there is a decrease in the San Joa- 

 quin and Santa Clara valleys and in the south- 

 ern counties. The total product is nearly 200,- 

 000 tons less than in 1886. 



The production of wool for 1887 is placed at 

 31,504,231 pounds or about 7,000,000 pounds 

 less than in the previous year. Revised esti- 

 mates give as the production for 1884, 37,415,- 

 330 pounds; for 1885, 36,501,390 pounds, and 

 for"1886, 38,500,160 pounds. 



The raisin industry is in a flourishing condi- 

 tion, the product for 1887 being 800,000 boxes 

 or 1,600,000 pounds, an increase of nearly 100,- 

 000 boxes in one year. Nearly one half of 

 this total comes from Fresno County, which a 

 few years ago was considered a barren plain, 

 but which has proved to be admirably adapted 

 to this industry. 



Other dried fruits were produced in the State 

 as follow : 



There were also produced 1,090,000 pounds 

 of honey extracted, 250,000 pounds of honey in 

 the comb, and 25,000 pounds of beeswax. 



