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CALIFORNIA. 



CAMPS FOR BOYS. 



American and contrary to the best interests of the Ee- 

 publican party the cheap-labor policy of the Demo- 

 cratic Solid South of to-day, as we did the slave-labor 

 policy of the Democratic Solid South of 1861 ; and we 

 declare that the one was, and the other if permitted to 

 continue will be, destructive to the best interests of 

 the laboring-clas.ses of this republic. 



Resolved, That the purity of the ballot is the pillar 

 of the State, and the denial of a free ballot to the 

 humblest American citizen, whatever his color or 

 race, imperils the liberties of the people ; we therefore 

 denounce as dangerous to our country the Democratic 

 policy of the Solid South in depriving the colored 

 people living there of their right to vote. A govern- 

 ment based upon frauds committed against the elective 

 franchise can not long survive. 



Resolved, That a financial policy whereby both gold 

 and silver shall form the basis of circulation, whether 

 the money used by the people be coin or in certificates 

 redeemable in coin, or both, as convenience may re- 

 quire, is imperatively demanded. 



Reeofotd. That we commend our Representatives in 

 Congress for their efforts in behalf of restrictive 

 Chinese legislation, thus redeeming the pledges of the 

 party made for them, and renew our determination to 

 make such restriction effective, and in every way to 

 prevent the competition of Chinese with American 

 labor. We thank the Republican National Conven- 

 tion for its emphatic declaration on the subject, and 

 we have implicit faith that the Republican party of 

 the nation will protect us in all our industries against 

 the Chinese. 



On August 10 the State committee of the 

 American party adopted the Republican ticket 

 as their own. On the following day the Demo- 

 cratic State committee added the name of 

 Jeremiah F. Sullivan to their ticket as the suc- 

 cessor of Judge McKinstry. Some doubt was 

 felt in the early stages of the campaign as to 

 the ability of the Republicans to carry the 

 State on account of the failure of the National 

 Convention to nominate James G. Blaine, the 

 choice of Californian Republicans for President, 

 and the hostile record of Harrison, the nominee, 

 toward Chinese exclusion. These factors did 

 not, however, prove influential with the voters, 

 and at the November election the Republicans 

 obtained a strong plurality on both the State 

 and National ticket, electing a Congressional 

 delegation of the same complexion as in the 

 preceding Congress. The official vote for 

 President will be found in the article entitled 

 " United States." 



San Francisco. During 1887 the bank ex- 

 changes for the city reached the amount of 

 $828,427,816.35, an increaseof $186,206,425.14, 

 or 22 per cent. This shows San Francisco to 

 be the sixth city of the Union in the volume of 

 banking business. In round numbers the ex- 

 ports amounted to $33,000,000, against $35,- 

 000,000 for 1886, showing an apparent decrease 

 of about $2,000.000. 



The imports for the year reached $41,780,943, 

 against $36,048,621 for 1886, showing an in- 

 crease of $5,732,322. The customs receipts were 

 $6,742,078.41, against $5,855,619.93 for 1886, 

 an increase of $886,458.48. Despite the fact 

 that two transcontinental railway lines have 

 been completed to the Pacific Ocean on the 

 north and one on the south, San Francisco re- 

 mains the great port of entry for teas and silks. 



CAMPS FOR BOYS. Summer camps of a social, 

 or at least of a non-military character, have long 

 been a distinctive feature of American rural 

 life. They are a natural outgrowth of the 

 Methodist camp-meeting, which, in its turn, 

 was but an organized development of a life 

 common to all the pioneer settlers of the con- 

 tinent. The idea has developed in many differ- 

 ent directions. In the older States, the canvas 

 tents of the early camp-meeting have been 

 superseded by permanent structures, as at 

 Cottage City, Mass., and Ocean Grove, N. J. 

 The educational purpose in connection with 

 such gatherings found its first successful real- 

 ization at Chautauqua, and there are now sev- 

 eral similar organizations in various parts of 

 the country. Among the most commendable 

 of these annual encampments are those intended 

 for the benefit of boys, and incidentally for the 

 convenience and necessities of their parents 

 and guardians. Such camps are of compara- 

 tively recent origin, the oldest of which an 

 authentic account is at hand having been 

 opened for its first season in 1885. But long 

 before this, encampments formed a more or 

 less regular feature of the summer term in 

 many schools, that at West Point, established 

 as a regular part of the course in 1816, being, 

 no doubt, the first of its kind in the country. 

 It is certain that as early as 1860 Mr. Gunn, 

 principal of the famous " Gunnery," as his 

 school was called, in Litchfield, Conn., used to 

 take his pupils into camp among the beautiful 

 Berkshire hills, and about twenty-five years 

 airo William T. Adams ("Oliver Optic"), in a 

 story for boys, entitled " In School and Out," 

 introduced an episode of camp-life. Mr. Adams 

 informs us that the whole passage is imaginary, 

 and that he had never heard of such an enter- 

 prise on the part of any school. 



The instances cited differ from modern camps 

 for boys in that they are either undertaken for 

 recreation alone or form a part of the regular 

 curriculum. The modern camp, on the con- 

 trary, is an independent affair, existing for its 

 own purposes and having a definite object in 

 view, namely, the care and government, with 

 or without instruction, of a number of boys. 

 With a great many parents and guardians the 

 long summer vacation presents numerous per- 

 plexing questions, and in many cases it is diffi- 

 cult to provide adequate amusement and recrea- 

 tion coupled with reasonable supervision and 

 restraint. The summer camp is designed to 

 meet these requirements. It removes its mem- 

 bers from the undesirable influences of cities 

 and hotels ; it provides them sufficient amuse- 

 ment and employment, and while affording 

 plenty of fun and exercise in the open air, 

 reduces to a minimum their opportunities for 

 getting into mischief, and renders it quite im- 

 possible for them, in the exuberance of their 

 youthful spirits to become, even unconsciously, 

 a source of annoyance to their' elders. 



The selection of a site for a camp is of prime 

 importance. It should be far enough away 



