CALIFORNIA. 



117 



$9,803,253.69 ; for the thirty-fourth and thirty- 

 fifth tiscal years, $8,591,009.62. In addition 

 to the ordinary expenses of the government 

 daring the two years past, $163,000 was appro- 

 priated by the last Legislature for the erection 

 of an additional building for the insane at 

 Stockton ; $40,000 was appropriated for a por- 

 tion of the construction fund of the State Agri- 

 cultural and Industrial Exhibition Building, at 

 Sacramento; the Horticultural, Sericultural, 

 and Forestry Commissions and Bureau of 

 Labor Statistics were created, and money was 

 appropriated therefor; appropriations were 

 made for the Veterans' Home and the Old 

 People's Homes, and the number of orphans, 

 insane patients in the asylums, and convicts in 

 the State Prisons is constantly increasing. 



Keeping step with a decrease in the expenses 

 of the government, there has been a decrease 

 in the rate of State taxation. This rate in 1881 

 was 65*5 cents on each one hundred dollars 

 valuation of taxable property ; in 1882 the rate 

 was 59-5 cents; in 1883, 49 '7 cents, and in 

 1884, 45'2 cents, showing a steadily decreasing 

 rate for the past four years. The present rate 

 of taxation, 45*2 cents on each one hundred 

 dollars, is the lowest reached in the history of 

 the State government. The legal proceedings 

 against certain railroads, instituted for the 

 collection of taxes, are in an unsettled and un- 

 satisfactory condition. An appeal to the Unit- 

 ed States Supreme Court was taken in one 

 case, a few months since, it being stated that 

 the one case presented all the issues necessary 

 to be determined in order to decide all similar 

 cases pending. But the United States Supreme 

 Court has declined to advance the case men- 

 tioned upon its calendar, and the time at which 

 it will be heard and determined can not be 

 definitely stated. The Governor says : " These 

 corporations should be made to obey the law 

 in its entirety, or they should not be taxed at 

 all. There is no middle ground that the State 

 can take on this important question." 



The State debt is less than $2,500,000. 



In September, in several suits, the railroads 

 made an offer to pay to the Attorney-General, 

 in behalf of the State, the snm of $329,520.63, 

 a stipulation being filed that such payment 

 should not prejudice or affect any right of 

 either party to maintain suits to recover the 

 balance claimed by complainant. The money 

 offered is what the railroads consider just, but 

 what the Attorney-General considers a part 

 payment. The suits and the amounts offered 

 to be paid are as follow : Central Pacific, 

 $169,685; Southern Pacific, $124,720.81; 

 Northern Railway Company, $15,646.93 ; San 

 Pablo and Tulare, $5,295.80; California Pa- 

 cific, $14,172.09. The Attorney-General ac- 

 cepted the offer, and the court issued an order 

 that the sum specified above should be paid 

 over in United States gold coin to the Attor- 

 ney-General of the State of California within 

 five days. Subsequently, during the day, the 

 , railroad companies paid to the Attorney-Gen- 



eral their tender on the taxes of 1884. The 

 following statement illustrates how tax mat- 

 ters stood in September. 



Amount of taxes paid by the Central and 

 Southern Pacific Railroad system on account 

 of taxes assessed for the years 1883 and 1884: 



To the State of California $211,178 10 



To the counties 448,12095 



Total $654,299 05 



The following-named companies belonging 

 to the same systems had paid in full for the 

 years 1883 and 1884 the following sums: 



Stockton and Copperopolis Railroad Company... $3,878 00 



Amador Branch Railroad Company 5,154 74 



Sacramento and Placerville Railroad Company.. 9,126 85 



V:ica Valley and Clear Lake Railroad Company. 5,015 98 



Santa Cruz Railroad Company 4,449 98 



$27,625 05 

 654,299 05 



$651,924 10 



Aside from the assessment made by the State ~ 

 Board of Equalization, the Central Pacific and 

 Southern Pacific Companies had*paid in assess- 

 ments made by county assessors for the years 



1883 and 1884 the sum of $258,994 05 



681,924 10 



Grand total $940,918 15 



Attorney-General Marshall then had in his 

 hands $654,299.05 belonging to the State and 

 counties as above set out, and about $140,000 

 belonging to the State and the counties of 

 Placer, San Joaquin, and Contra Costa, col- 

 lected on taxes for the year 1882, and had 

 paid to other counties on the taxes of 1880, 

 1881, and 1882, about $300,000, making his 

 total collection over a million of dollars. Of 

 the taxes assessed by the State Board of Equal- 

 ization, the railroad companies had paid in 

 addition to what passed through Gen. Mar- 

 shall's hands, about $800,000, making in all 

 over $1,800,000, exclusive of local taxes, which 

 amounted to about $700,000 more. 



Statistics. The following table gives the pro- 

 duction of wool in the State : 



Pounds. 



1871 22,187.188 



1872 24,255,468 



1873 81,155,169 



1874 89,356,981 



1875... 43,532,228 



1876 56,550,970 



1877 58,110,745 



Pound*. 



1878 40.862,091 



1879 46,900,360 



1880 46,074,154 



1881 45,076,639 



1882 40,527,119 



1888 48.848,690 



1884 87,415,380 



The wine-product of 1884 has been stated at 

 15,000,000 gallons. 



According to the latest reports of county 

 assessors, the area planted to vines in Cali- 

 fornia is 120,932 acres. The State Board of 

 Viticulture estimates the actual area of vine- 

 yards at about 150,000 acres, classified as fol- 

 lows: One year old, 20,000; two years, 35,- 

 000; three years, 35,000; four years, 10,000; 

 five years and over, 50,000. The average yield 

 per acre, according to the assessors' reports, is 

 about three tons and a half. The product of 

 raisins in 1884 reached 145,000 boxes. There 

 are 150 gallons of wine to a ton of grapes. 



The production of quicksilver for five years 

 has been as follows : 



