CALIFORNIA. 



elaborate report on the general subject of rail- 

 road legislation, and recommended the passage 

 of an act, originating in the Senate, known as 

 the " O'Connor bill." This was passed, and 

 received the approval of the Governor on the 

 3d of April. It provides that the Governor 

 shall, on or before the 15th of May, 1876, ap- 

 point three competent persons as Commission- 

 ers of Transportation, who shall be in no way 

 connected with or interested in railroad busi- 

 ness, and who shall serve two years, or until 

 their successors are appointed. They must 

 qualify by taking an appropriate oath, and en- 

 tering into bonds of $10,000 each for the faith- 

 ful performance of their duties. Each com- 

 missioner is to be paid $3,000 per annum, and 

 a secretary may be employed, at a salary of 

 $1,800. It is made the duty of the commis- 

 sioners to inspect railroads and require them 

 to be kept in a safe condition. All companies 

 are required to file with the commissioners 

 copies of their tariffs of charges, their rules, 

 regulations, and instructions to employes in 

 force on the 1st of January, 1876, and to make 

 no changes in them. The president, or other 

 executive officer in charge of each railroad 

 company, is required to furnish detailed infor- 

 mation of its affairs, sixty-three items being 

 designated of the information to be given, cov- 

 ering the amount of stock and debts of the road, 

 cost and equipment, characteristics, operations 

 of the last year, earnings, and expenses. Neglect 

 to furnish this information is made punishable 

 by fine of $100 to $1,000. Authority is given to 

 the commissioners to examine the books and 

 papers and the officers and employes of any 

 railroad company in order to ascertain its con- 

 dition and management. In case of dispute the 

 commissioners may fix the route of any new 

 line, determine the compensation to be made 

 by one railroad to another for transportation, 

 and determine the time-tables, accommoda- 

 tions, etc., required by the public. Awards by 

 the commissioners are subject to revision in the 

 county courts, with the right of appeal to the 

 Supreme Court. Extortion and discrimination 

 are defined and prohibited under penalties, to 

 be exacted by the commissioners. The sub- 

 stance of the definition of extortion is demand- 

 ing or receiving more than the regular specified 

 rates for fare, freight, storage, or delivery, and 

 discrimination is demanding or receiving more 

 or less of one person than another for a like 

 service. The issue of free passes is restricted 

 to the directors, officers, and employe's of the 

 railroads, with their families, the officers and 

 agents of other railroads, and of telegraph 

 companies, destitute persons, the State Com- 

 missioners, and their employes traveling on 

 official business, public messengers, troops and 

 persons entitled by existing laws or contracts 

 to free transportation. There is a penalty of 

 $100 for issuing free passes to others than 

 those designated. It is made the duty of the 

 commissioners to investigate violations of the 

 law and prosecute suits therefor. 



Among the bills which were prominent in 

 the deliberations, but which failed to pass, was 

 one to simplify the school system, one repeal- 

 ing the compulsory education law, one com- 

 pelling publishers of libels to make retraction, 

 and one requiring the signature of the writer 

 to be appended to all newspaper articles. 

 Among the other acts passed was one to regu- 

 late the practice of medicine, requiring all 

 practitioners to have a diploma, either from 

 some medical institution or from a board 

 of examiners authorized and established by 

 the act; one abolishing the Board of Tide 

 Land Commissioners ; one repealing the act to 

 permit the voters of every town or city to 

 vote on the question of granting licenses for 

 the sale of liquor ; and one establishing a So- 

 ciety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. 



A committee of the Assembly, appointed to 

 examine into the affairs of the State Land- 

 Office, having reported unfavorably on its 

 administration, a commission was provided 

 to inquire more thoroughly into all matters 

 relating to the sales and disposal of the pub- 

 lic lands of the State. Its report was made to 

 the Governor on the 14th of October. This 

 showed that the fees of the office of Surveyor- 

 General and Register of the Land-Office from 

 December 4, 1871, to December 6, 1875, 

 amounted to $74,713.36, of which $42,499.97 

 was unaccounted for. The Surveyor-General 

 during that period claimed to have expended 

 $31,004.07 for extra clerk-hire, maps, certifi- 

 cates, postage, expressage, and traveling-ex- 

 penses. Allowing these items, there was still 

 $11,211.32 unaccounted for. Besides the fees 

 of the office, there had been expended by it 

 $65,565.60 drawn from the State Treasury. 

 The commission concluded that "lamentable 

 extravagance (to use the mildest possible lan- 

 guage) " had " characterized the official con- 

 duct of the ex-Surveyor-General." 



The subject of Chinese immigration was 

 taken up by the Legislature and an investiga- 

 tion by a commission of the Senate ordered 

 to take place during the recess. The following 

 resolutions were also adopted : 



Whereas, It is the duty of the General Government 

 to promote the welfare of its citizens by the enact- 

 ment of wise laws, and to advance their material in- 

 terests by treaties of friendship and commerce with 

 foreign nations, by conceding to their subjects such 

 rights as they allow our citizens to enjoy in their 

 territories; and 



Whereas, Our present treaty with China grants to 

 her subjects privileges for which in return we re- 

 ceive no corresponding advantages, but which 

 bring to our shores large numbers of her people, 

 many of whom come among us to pursue an immoral 

 vocation, which has made certain quarters of our 

 towns and cities localities where human degradation 

 is seen in its most abhorrent forms ; and 



Whereas, The laboring element that is brought 

 among us from China by organized companies of 

 capitalists is not of a desirable character as resi- 

 dents, because, owing to the low standard of living 

 on which it can subsist, it deprives our own working- 

 people of employment in industries which they have 

 learned only by a long apprenticeship ; and 



Whtreas, Pauper wages for our own working- 



