126 



CALIFORNIA. 



districts, and destroys the value of many miles 

 of irrigating ditches. A State Irrigation Con- 

 vention convened in San Francisco on the 20th 

 of May and adjourned on the 21st. The re- 

 sults of its deliberations are embodied in the 

 following demands : 



Resolved, That it is the sense and determination of 

 this convention : 



I. That the cubic foot per second be adopted as the 

 unit of measurement throughout the State. 



n. A declaration by the Legislature that all the un- 

 navigable waters of the State, in natural streams and 

 lakes, not rising or wholly included in lands under 

 private ownership, belong to the people thereof, and 

 are subject to appropriation by the people for irrigation, 

 mining, manufacturing, and other useful purposes, and 

 that the customary law of appropriation of water for 

 these purposes as it has grown up in this State should 

 receive the formal sanction of that body as follows : 



1. That there is no individual or corporate owner- 

 ship of water except that which rises upon land under 

 such individual or corporate ownership^ this owner- 

 ship continuing so long only as it remains upon the 

 premises, or so long alter it leaves them as they may 

 control it in pipes, ditches, or any other means of con- 

 veyance, and apply it to useful, beneficial, and neces- 

 sary purposes. 



2. That the appropriation of water from any public 

 source does not imply individual or corporate owner- 

 ship, but that it is taken for the time and to the ex- 

 tent only that it is applied to a useful and necessary 

 purpose, after which it is free to other or subsequent 

 appropriates under the same conditions. 



3. That the appropriation of water and its convey- 

 ance through canals and ditches for sale, rental, or 

 distribution, is a useful, necessary, and beneficial pur- 

 pose, sale or rental not implying ownership of the 

 element, but just remuneration for the use of the 

 franchise and the plant employed in its conveyance. 



III. A system of law providing for the control, 

 management, and just distribution of the waters of 

 the State in accordance with the foregoing principles. 



IV. To so extend the law of eminent domain as to al- 

 low an irrigation district when formed, corporation or 

 individual, to condemn and pay for rights of way, 

 lands, canals, ditches, and water-claims, and rights of 

 whatever nature, held by any person or corporation, 

 or any other private rights of property, however ex- 

 isting or acquired, or by whatever name designated, 

 which may be necessary for the appropriation or use 

 of water: I*rovided, That in condemning water used 

 at the time of the commencement of an action for the 

 same, a manifestly greater public advantage and use 

 can be shown. 



We respectfully submit the accompanying measures, 

 which are proposed for adoption by the Legislature 

 and as a pledge to be required of candidates as here- 

 inafter set forth. 



These measures consist : 1. In a proposed constitu- 

 tional amendment to fix and determine the nature ot 

 water-rights; 2. A proposed constitutional amend- 

 ment to regulate the use ot water appropriated for 

 irrigation ; 3. A proposed act of the Legislature con- 

 cerning the right to acquire the use of water by ap- 

 propriation ; 4. The repeal of section 1422 of the Civil 



An Executive Committee was appointed to 

 carry out the objects of the convention. 



Chlnf.se. Two Anti-Chinese Conventions met 

 in Sacramento on March 10, and, after fusing, 

 remained in session until the 12th. The fol- 

 lowing resolutions embody the results of the 

 session : 



That we demand that the Government of the United 

 States take immediate steps to prohibit, absolutely, 

 this Chinese invasion. 



That to encourage the early removal of the Chinese 

 we accept the suggestion of the Constitution of Cali- 

 fornia, which says that no Chinese shall ever be em- 

 ployed upon any public work of the State, except in 

 punishment for crime. 



That the interests of the people of the State of Cali- 

 fornia demand, in harmony with the organic lav/ of 

 the State, that the presence of Chinese should be dis- 

 couraged in every particular, and that in every in- 

 stance preference should be given to white labor ; and 

 we earnestly appeal to the people to do their utmost to 

 supplant the Chinese with such labor. We are not in 

 favor of any unlawful methods, but, so firmly are we 

 impressed with the great importance of discouraging 

 the employment of the Chinese, that we recommend 

 that they be not patronized in any way, and we are in 

 favor at the earliest moment of boycotting any person 

 who employs Chinamen, directly or indirectly, or who 

 purchases the products of Chinese labor. The date at 

 which the boycott commences in different localities 

 shall in all cases be left to the local leagues. 



That a permanent State organization be perfected 

 by this State Convention, to. be known as the Cali- 

 fornia Anti-Chinese, Non-Partisan Association. 



That an Executive Committee be selected by the 

 chairman of the convention, consisting of three from 

 San Francisco, and one from each other county in the 

 State, who shall be fully empowered to have control 

 of the State work, call State Conventions at such times 

 and places as they may deem proper, and devise ways 

 and means for advancing the cause. 



That we recommend that a State organizer be se- 

 lected by the convention, whose compensation shall 

 be fixed by the Executive Committee. 



This convention had been preceded by ac- 

 tive measures for driving out the Chinese in 

 many localities. 



Political. The Prohibition State Convention 

 met in Sacramento, on the 13th of May, and 

 nominated the following candidates : For Gov- 

 ernor, Col. Joel Russell; Lieutenant-Governor, 

 Judge A. D. Boren ; Supreme Judges, Judge 

 William G. Murphy and Judge Robert Thomp- 

 son; Secretary of State, Frank E. Kellogg: 

 Comptroller, J. A. Fairbanks; State Treasurer, 

 H. S. Graves; Attorney-General, George Bab- 

 cock ; Surveyor-General, George B. Tallman ; 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction, Rev. D. 

 A. Mobley ; Clerk of the Supreme Court, Ju- 

 lius Lyons. In addition to the prohibition of 

 the manufacture, sale, and importation of all 

 alcoholic beverages, they declared in favor of a 

 Sunday law, and adopted the following : 



We are in favor ot the largest personal liberty con- 

 sistent with orderly civil government, and would 

 gladly welcome to our free country all those who come 

 with the intention of enjoying our institutions as they 

 find them ; but we demand the exclusion of those 

 whose purpose in coming here is to overthrow our 

 government and destroy our liberties. We demand, 

 further, that the right of franchise be withheld from 

 all foreigners till they shall have lived in this country 

 for a period sufficiently long to enable them to become 

 familiar with our institutions and politics, and to dem- 

 onstrate their disposition to live in conformity there- 

 with. 



The Republican State Convention met m 

 Los Angeles on the 25th of August, and ad- 

 journed on the 27th. The following nomina- 

 tions were made: For Governor, John F. 

 Swift, of San Francisco ; Lieutenant-Governor, 

 W. R. Waterman, of San Bernardino ; Secre- 

 tary of State, Walter S. Moore, of Los Angeles; 



