82 



CALIFORNIA. 



then intensified to the highest degree; the 

 grounds of opposition to the measure were the 

 company's attempt to break the compact, the 

 injury to the harlior from the intended bridge, 

 and chiefly the apprehension that the location 

 of the terminus at Goat Island would cause it 

 gradually to grow into a city, whither would 

 also be transferred a large proportion of the 

 business now transacted in San Francisco. 



This apprehension seems not to have been 

 ill founded. Within six weeks after the intro- 

 duction of the bill at Washington, in March, 

 the market value of real estate in San Francisco 

 declined 25 per cent., and it was anticipated 

 that, in case of its passage by both Houses of 

 Congress, the depreciation would reach 75 per 

 cent. 



On the 6th of April, 1872, a number of citi- 

 zens met and appointed a committee of seven, 

 enjoining them to select, from among the prom- 

 inent residents of San Francisco, one hundred 

 persons belonging to every department of trade, 

 to be organized into a committee representing 

 the citizens, " for the purpose of considering 

 the interests of San Francisco in respect to 

 railroads, etc., and report a form of organiza- 

 tion at a future meeting." The meeting took 

 place at the Chamber of Commerce on the 

 17th of the same month, when the Committee 

 of Seven presented their report. This docu- 

 ment contained a list of 143 names of well- 

 known residents, unanimously selected ; organ- 

 ized them into an association to be styled 

 "The Committee of One Hundred;" nom- 

 inated their officers, consisting of a president, 

 two vice-presidents, a secretary, and a treas- 

 urer ; and proposed the names of twenty-nine 

 members to act as an executive committee, 

 "whose duty should be to arrange and execute 

 the business of the association, and whose acts 

 should be subject to the approval of the gen- 

 eral committee." The president, vice-presi- 

 dent, secretary, and treasurer, were ex-officio 

 members of the Executive Committee. This 

 report was unanimously adopted by the asso- 

 ciation at the said meeting. It also adopted 

 by acclamation the following preambles and 

 resolutions, setting forth the causes of the or- 

 ganization and the purpose intended to be ac- 

 complished by its action : 



Whereas^ The Central, Western, and Southern 

 Pacific Railroad Companies have received enormous 

 grants of land and subsidies of bonds and money 

 from the Federal Government, from the State of Cal- 

 ifornia, from various counties of the State, and from 

 the city of San Francisco, which grants and subsidies 

 were more than sufficient for the entire construction 

 and equipment of said roads ; and 



Wherta*, This State and city have given to said 

 railroads large subsidies and valuable grants of land 

 within this city, with the intention and understand- 

 ing that the said roads should make their western 

 terminus within the city of San Francisco, and upon 

 the tract of land granted for the purpose in Mission 

 Bay: and 



Whereas, The said companies have obtained large 

 grants of land on the opposite side of the bay 

 in front of Oakland, and have directed the entire 

 railroad system of the above lines, and all the rail- 



roads of this coast, toward said last-mentioned 

 point, in disregard of the conditions of the said 

 compact ; and 



Whereas, The said companies have been, and 

 are now, making strenuous efforts to obtain 1'n.m the 

 Federal Government a grant or lease of Goat Island, 

 lying in the bay of San Francisco, midway between 

 this city and the Oakland shore, for the purpose of a 

 terminus of all the lines aforesaid, in spite of and 

 against the expressed wishes of this city, and in de- 

 fiance of the damage and danger to the harbor and 

 commercial interests of this port, as conclusively de- 

 monstrated by scientific investigations and the judg- 

 ment of eminent engineers: 



Resolvtd, That the city of San Francisco has a 

 right to expect, and docs expect, of said railroad 

 companies a strict compliance with the terms and 

 conditions of the compacts made by said companies, 

 to wit: the actual and immediate location of the 

 terminus of said roads (now merged into one own- 

 ership) upon the sixty acres of laud in Mission Bay, 

 in this city, and the actual and immediate tibandon- 

 ment, on the part of said companies, of any construc- 

 tion or proceeding having in view the fixing of such 

 terminus at any other point whatsoever. 



Resolved, That the citizens of San Francisco believe 

 that the said companies should withdraw from Con- 

 gress immediately all claim, demand, or request, for 

 any grant, lease, or privilege of using, or connecting 

 said roads with Goat Island, and at once cease all 

 further construction of wharves, pier^, or slips, in the 

 channel of this bay or the terminus of their present 

 Oakland wharf or elsewhere. 



Resolved, That in case the said companies ehall 

 decline, refuse, or omit to comply with this reason- 

 able request, it is the right, the duty, and the pur- 

 pose of the citizens of San Francisco to take all law- 

 ful measures for maintaining their rights in the 

 premises, and to prevent the said wrongful acts of 

 said companies. 



Resolved, That, if the city of San Francisco should 

 be compelled to resort to legal tribunals to assert and 

 maintain her rights as against said companies, it 

 would be proper and just that the grants and sub- 

 sidies conditionally made to said railroads be an- 

 nulled and set aside. 



Resolved, That it is to the interest of San Francisco 

 and of the said companies that there should be com- 

 plete accord and harmony of action between them ; 

 and that, to facilitate and aid the requirements of 

 commerce, this city should not be, and will not be, 

 governed by any .hostile or unfriendly feeling toward 

 said companies, but should continue to be liberal 

 and accommodating, only demanding in return, on 

 the part of said companies, the same prompt and 

 exact compliance with agreements as would be de- 

 manded of and accorded by this city. 



Resolved, That it eminently concerns the whole 

 Pacific coast, and especially the city of San Fran- 

 cisco, that another railroad, connecting the Atlantic 

 with the Pacific, and traversing a route free from 

 danger of obstruction and delay by severities of 

 winter, and having its terminus in San Francisco, 

 should be constructed as soon as possible ; and that 

 this city and the adjoining counties should contribute 

 liberally to aid such an enterprise. 



Resolved, That the Executive Committee of this 

 association be instructed to act upon and carry out 

 the spirit of these resolutions, and to take such 

 measures for so doing as in their judgment may be 

 most efficient. 



Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent 

 to Leland Stanford and to every member of Con- 

 gress, and to the May^or of St. Louis, and to the 

 president of the Atlantic and Pacific Eailroad Com- 

 pany. 



The Committee of One Hundred then pre- 

 pared a memorial to Congress, which was 

 signed by twenty-five thousand residents of 



