CALIFORNIA. 



71 



the time of employment, instead of having one 

 thousand or two thousand idle men in San 

 Francisco, we would have five thousand or ten 

 thousand ; for they would come from all parts 

 of the State seeking work." At the previous 

 session of the Legislature a committee was ap- 

 pointed by the Senate to examine into and re- 

 port upon the actual condition of the Chinese 

 in California, and the effects of their presence 

 upon the white population. A report was 

 made and published, without containing a por- 

 tion of the testimony taken in the 

 city of San Francisco. A member 

 of the Senate, on moving that this 

 testimony be published, stated that 

 it disclosed, in part at least, the re- 

 lations that existed and still exist 

 between some of the authorities of 

 the city, including one branch of the 

 Police Department, and the criminal 

 classes in the " Chinese quarter." In 

 most instances these disclosures were 

 made with extreme reluctance, and 

 in one case the witness a special 

 police officer refused absolutely to 

 answer certain questions touching 

 his compensation and that of his as- 

 sociates at the hands of the propri- 

 etors of gambling-houses and houses 

 of prostitution then and now fla- 

 grantly kept open in the Chinese 

 quarter. An officer who had been 

 specially detailed to examine that 

 quarter, and who, because of his zeal, 

 was summarily removed therefrom, 

 testified to the existence of from four 

 to seven hundred of those houses in 

 that quarter ; and all the witnesses 

 admitted upon oath that those dens 

 of infamy and pollution, which are 

 a disgrace to the city and civiliza- 

 tion, could be closed by simply en- 

 forcing existing ordinances and laws ; 

 but, by reason of the fact that they 

 pay for the privilege of keeping open 

 and plying their infamous vocations, 

 they are not only permitted but ac- 

 tually encouraged to do so. A new 

 law was therefore passed entirely reforming 

 the police system of San Francisco, and abol- 

 ishing all offices of special police. It was thus 

 anticipated that the doubtful practices which 

 prevailed in the Chinese quarter, and which 

 have contributed not a little to foster the 

 prejudices entertained against those people, 

 would be stopped. 



A bill was also introduced in the House to 

 stop the destruction of small fish, shrimps, 

 minnows, etc., known to be the food of large 

 fish, by stopping the drying and exporting of 

 them to China, as is now done by Chinese fish- 

 ermen. It was stated before the Fish Com- 

 missioners that on the river Sacramento there 

 were about fifteen white men in the business 

 on the river and from five to eight hundred 

 Chinamen. The Chinese stretch two nets 



across the river about a mile apart, and then 

 draw them together, forcing all the fish with 

 them, and then everything in the net is hauled 

 on shore. Their nets are so small that nothing 

 can pass them the size of a man's finger. The 

 custom-house figures showed that the exporta- 

 tion of small fish to -China in 1875 was worth 

 $960,000. Specimens taken from a Chinese 

 boat were submitted, and consisted of young 

 perch, smelt, flounders, sardines, salmon, rock- 

 cod, tomcod, shrimps, and pipe-fish. Some of 



TOSEMITE VALLEY. 



the fish were not over two inches long and not 

 as thick as a lead pencil, indicating a very small 

 net. 



An act was passed to amend the sections of 

 the Code of Civil Procedure relating to attor- 

 neys, etc. The amendment consisted in strik- 

 ing out the words " white male " from the sec- 

 tions, thus permitting women and persons of 

 color to practice law upon passing the requi- 

 site examination. The first person to take 

 advantage of this act was Mrs. Clara S. Foltz, 

 of San Jose, who pursued her studies under 

 disadvantages that would appall most students 

 of the other sex. She had a family of five 

 small children to provide for. and most of the 

 time did her own housework unassisted, and 

 occasionally was obliged to take to the lecture- 

 field as a means of adding to her meager in- 



