90 



CALIFORNIA. 



C 



CALIFORNIA, a Pacific coast State, admitted 

 to the Union Sept. 9, 1850; area, 158.360 square 

 miles. The population, according to each decen- 

 nial census since admission, was 92,597 in 1850; 

 :iT!.994 in 1860; 560,247 in 1870; 864,694 in 1880; 

 and 1,208,130 in 1890. Capital, San Francisco. 



(Government. The following were the State 

 ofliecrs during the year: Governor, James H. Budd, 

 Democrat; Lieutenant Governor, William T. Jeter, 

 Democrat, appointed by the Governor to succeed 

 Spencer G. Millard, Republican, who died Oct. 24, 

 1895 : Secretary of State, Lewis H. Brown, Repub- 

 lican; Treasurer, Levi Radcliffe, Republican; At- 

 torney-General, William F. Fitzgerald, Republican ; 

 Comptroller, E. P. Colgan. Republican; Superin- 

 tendent of Public Instruction, Samuel T. Black, 

 Republican ; Surveyor General, Martin J. Wright, 

 Republican ; Superintendent of State Printing, A. J. 

 Johnson, Republican ; Chief Justice of the Supreme 

 Court, W. H. Beatty ; Associate Justices, T. B. Mc- 

 Farland, C. H. Garoutte, R. C. Harrison, W. C. Van 

 Fleet, P. W. Henshaw, and Jackson Temple all 

 Republicans, except the last named. 



Finances. For the year 1894 the total amount 

 of State taxes charged was $5,722,926, and the 

 amount paid into the treasury on the first install- 

 ment was $3,822,378. For 1895 the total amount 

 charged is $7,462,623, and of this $4,917,154 was 

 paid in on the first installment. For county pur- 

 poses the further amount of $12,572,335 was neces- 

 sary. On the basis of a population of 1,250,000 in 

 the State, this is a taxation of about $16 per capita 

 for State and county purposes alone, and to this 

 must still be added the city taxes. 



The total receipts of the State treasury during 

 December were $5,344,185.68. Of this amount 

 $1,809,722.84 was credited to the school fund, and 

 on the first Monday in January was apportioned 

 among the counties; $95,992.72 went to the State 

 University, and $99,498.42 to the payment of prin- 

 cipal and interest on the State funded debt, all of 

 which is held in trust for the university and com- 

 mon schools. Apportioned to the general fund 

 was $3,263,211.34, and the remainder was credited 

 to special funds. 



San Francisco pays for State and county pur- 

 poses $7,376,520.19 annually. Comparison with 

 preceding years shows that the charges against 

 the city for government purposes has been increas- 

 ing at an enormous ratio. 



Valuations. The Board of Equalization, at its 

 meeting in September, 1896, raised the assessments 

 of several counties, making the greatest increase in 

 that of San Francisco, which was raised 20 per cent. 

 Alameda, Sacramento, San Bernardino, and Santa 

 Clara were each raised 5 per cent., while Monterey 

 was reduced 5 per cent, and San Diego 10 per cent. 

 The Auditor's figures, as returned by the counties, 

 showed a total of $1,149.548,346, and the board 

 increa-cd this to $1,220,575,843. To this must be 

 added the railroad .^--Mnents, amounting to $43,- 

 ~'.':v>44, and from the total 5 per cent, is taken for 

 delinquencies. The tax levy was fixed at 42'9. It 

 is apportioned among the funds as follows: General 

 fund. 2'M ; school fund, is-: 1 ,: interest, and sinking 

 fund, 1"2 ; university fund, O'Ol. The total amount 

 t.o^bc raised for 1896 was sr,,ois,265. 



The assessors' figures for the city of San Fran- 



i.:;-jr,.o::i, of which $83,406,790 were 



on personal property. The increase over 1895 is 



$32,520,884, California's city, county, State, and 



school debts combined are equal to' $13 per head 

 of its population. 



Education. The amount of school money ap- 

 portioned to the counties in January was $1,987,- 

 249. The regents have chosen San Francisco as the 

 site for the Wilrnerding Trades School, for which 

 $400,000 has been given. 



The Granges of San Jose and Tulare are advocating 

 the removal of the State Agricultural College from 

 Berkeley, the reason given being that " the value of 

 agricultural instruction at Berkeley had been greatly 

 lessened because results at the experiment station 

 there did not correspond with results in other parts 

 of the State, climatic and other conditions being so 

 much at variance." In its published statement 

 Tulare Grange says : " There appears to be sur- 

 rounding a classical university an atmosphere in- 

 imical to and holding in contempt the calling of 

 agriculture. We believe this is the experience of 

 every State where the college of agriculture has 

 been" combined with the classical university, and 

 we believe it is, without exception, the rule also 

 that where the college of agriculture has been re- 

 moved from university influences in practical as 

 well as theoretical instruction in the number of 

 students it instructs and graduates it is a success." 



Announcement has been made that $4,000,000 

 has been promised by private citizens for the State 

 University, to be given when the State will give 

 $500,000.' Mrs. Phoebe A. Hearst is a large sub- 

 scriber. 



In April the President signed a, bill providing 

 for the establishment of a naval training station on 

 Goat island, in San Francisco Bay. This island has 

 been unoccupied, and is described as a dreary desert. 

 Pending the erection of the station a training ship 

 will accommodate such boys as are enlisted. 



Banks. The total number of banks in 1895 was 

 279. The resources of savings banks amounted to 

 $144,990,729, and the deposits to $126,830,512. The 

 total assets of commercial banks amounted to $130,- 

 514,624, and those of national banks to $31,157,277. 

 The assets of private commercial banks amounted 

 to $2,516,943. 



Railroads. The Chief Justice of the United 

 States Supreme Court handed down a decision, 

 March 16, in the cases of the people of California 

 against the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific 

 Railway companies, involving the right of the State 

 to tax the franchises of those roads. The railroad 

 companies resisted taxation on the ground that 

 their franchises were derived from the National 

 Government as well as from State authorities and 

 . were inseparable. The court decided against this 

 view, holding that the railroad companies owe their 

 existence as corporations to the State and are sub- 

 ject to State laws in respect to taxation. Justice 

 Field read a dissenting opinion. 



A like decision was given in a suit against the 

 Southern Pacific for recovery of taxes assessed in 

 13 counties of the State. 



Suits were brought in the Superior Court at Sac- 

 ramento, in July, to recover State taxes from the 

 Atlantic and Pacific and the California and Nevada 

 Railroads. In the case of taxes assessed in 1894, 

 the Atlantic and Pacific paid under protest, and 

 then brought suit to recover. This suit being still 

 pending, the road refused to pay the 1895 taxes, 

 and therefore the Comptroller brought suit. 



The entire tax is levied on rolling stock assessed 

 at $125,000. The road owns no track in the State, 



