94: 



CALIFORNIA. 



modes of separating the metal from the ore were 

 illustrated, from the primitive method of fifty years 

 ugo to the improved methods of the present day. 



Public Lrtmls. The reeeipts of the Land Ollk-e 

 in 1SH7 wre nearly $16,000. This includes the 

 .11 original entries as well as on final proof of 

 claim-. Most of the original entries in 18S7 were 

 from Monterey County. .Mendocino was next in 

 order, and San' Luis (ibispo third. There are in the 

 San Francisco district about 4.000.000 acres of land 

 as vet unclaimed and open to entry. Of the land 

 open to entry nearly 1,000,000 acres lie in Monterey 

 County. Mendodno County has about 800,000 acres, 

 much 'of which is available lor grazing, and some 

 ha- valuable redwood timber. 



The Yoscmitc Park. Report was made to the 

 :ary of the Interior in July that special forest 

 au'ents have ejected more than 85,000 sheep from 

 the Vosemiie 1'ark. California. The Secretary has 

 heretofore requested a detail of troops to the several 

 national parks in California, but the soldiers so as- 

 signed were removed in order to accompany the 

 Philippine expedition. The Secretary of War has 

 detailed aii officer and ten men of the Utah Volun- 

 teer Cavalry to patrol Yosemite, Sequoia, and Gen- 

 eral Grant National Parks. 



Earthquakes. San Francisco and the neighbor- 

 ing part of the State were shaken by an earthquake 

 Mar.-h :!(>. The water in the bay rose in a wave two 

 feet high, but almost immediately subsided. The 

 shock lasted thirty to forty seconds. The greatest 

 damage was done at Mare Island Navy Yard, where 

 it amounted to $840,000. That at Vallejo was esti- 

 mated at $;>0,000. A series of shocks were felt at 

 Mendocino and in its vicinity, April 14, and much 

 damage was caused. 



Court Decisions. The primary election law, 

 passed at the last session of the Legislature, provid- 

 ing for holding all primary elections on the same 

 day, and for a special test for voters, and other 

 safeguards, was declared unconstitutional by the 

 State Supreme Court in March. 



A case involving the enforcement of the Federal 

 eight-hour law was decided in June, the court 

 holding that the fact that the Government work on 

 which the labor was done was upon land over which 

 the Slate holds political jurisdiction does riot set 

 aside the application of the Federal law. 



A decision of the Supreme Court in the appeal of 

 a newspaper from the sentence for contempt passed 

 upon its editor by a judge, affirmed the principle 

 that a newspaper may criticise a judge without 

 danger of a summons by him for such punishment 

 a- he is authorized to inflict upon a man who is 

 disrespectful to him in court. The judge had pro- 

 iioiuirod the paper's report of testimony in a case 

 In-fore him as a fabrication." The newspaper de- 

 fended it, and rebuked its accuser, whereupon the 

 justice had the editor brought to the bar and sen- 

 tenced him. without benefit of jury or of a defense, 

 to a term in jail. The Supreme Courl held, among 

 other principles, that a person who is not a party or 

 participant in a case on trial lias a right to defend 

 himself again-t the aspersions of the bench. 



By a decision of the Supreme Court in August 

 it WHS ruled that the nephews and nieces of Leland 

 Stanford, legatees under his will and residents of 

 States other than California, are entitled to the 

 same exemption from collateral inheritance tax as 

 the State Legislature conferred upon nephews and 

 nircrs of the millionaire living in California. 



San Francisco. A vote was taken in May on 

 the adoption of the proposed new charter, result ing 

 in 14,:iS6 for and 1:2,025 against its adoption. 



Political. The earliest State convention of the 



Jear was held by the People's party at Sacramento, 

 uly 12. Plans for fusion with the Democrats and 



Silver Republicans had been proposed and met with 

 favor from a majority of the delegates, who nomi- 

 nated James G. Maguire, a Democrat, for Governor, 

 and agreed to divide the other offices with the other 

 part ies. The minority, consisting of those opposed 

 to fusion, withdrew, repudiated the action of the 

 convention, nominated a straight Populist ticket, 

 with T. \V. II. Shanahaii as candidate for Governor, 

 and issued an address in which they said : " When 

 fusionists speak of success they can mean nothing, 

 except that they may succeed in getting some offices 

 and the emoluments thereof. The People's party 

 was not born for such a purpose and can not survive 

 by such methods. Fusion simply places the party 

 in the hands of Democratic political opponents, and 

 they gain complete control of the fusion organiza- 

 tion." 



At a meeting of the Democratic State Central 

 Committee in April, a resolution had been adopted 

 providing for a committee " to confer with repre- 

 sentatives of the Populist and Silver Republican 

 parties with a view to obtaining concert of action 

 as to the time and place of holding the State con- 

 ventions of said parties." 



The convention met at Sacramento, Aug. 16. 

 The chairman of the "Fusion Committee" read a 

 report, which was adopted, showing how the places 

 on the ticket had been distributed viz. : To the 

 Silver Republicans, one justice of the Supreme 

 Court and clerk of the Supreme Court ; Populists, 

 Lieutenant Governor, controller, Superintendent of 

 Public Instruction, member of the Board of Rail- 

 road Commissioners from the Third District ; Demo- 

 crats, Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, At- 

 torney-General, Surveyor General, State printer, 

 one justice of the Supreme Court, Railroad Com- 

 missioners from the First and Second Districts, 

 members of the Board of Equalization from all four 

 districts. The Populists were given the nominations 

 for Congress in the First, Sixth, and Seventh Dis- 

 tricts, and the Democrats took these in the Second, 

 Third, Fourth, and Fifth Districts. The platform 

 declared in favor of free coinage, approved the war 

 with Spain, rejoiced in the obliteration of sectional 

 lines, condemned the war-revenue measure, and 

 praised the war vessels built in California, " insist- 

 ing that further similar work shall be done here." 

 It favored the " immediate construction of the Nica- 

 ragua ship canal by the United States Government, 

 and its ownership, operation, and permanent con- 

 trol by the Government " ; urged the State's repre- 

 sentatives in Congress to work for liberal appropria- 

 tions for improving the water ways of the State, and 

 said : " We denounce the persistent and long-con- 

 tinued efforts of the present Secretary of War to 

 prevent the improvement of the public harbor of 

 San Pedro and his persistent efforts to divert the 

 sums of money appropriated' by Congress for that 

 purpose to the improvement of the private harbor 

 of the Southern Pacific Company at Santa Monica. 



An amendment to the Federal Constitution 

 making Senators elective by the people was recom- 

 mended, the revival of hydraulic mining when not. 

 detrimental to other interests was favored, un- 

 warranted interference of the Federal judiciary was 

 deprecated, the general use of the label of the 

 Allied Printing Trades Council and other union 

 labels was recommended, also the extension of the 

 contract labor laws to Hawaii and all other annexed 

 territory, road improvement, regulation of primary 

 elections by the Australian law, pure food laws, 

 continuance of the existing State text-book system, 

 abolition of the State poll tax, and the constitutional 

 amendment giving self-government to the counties. 

 With reference to railroads the platform said : "We 

 denounce the measure recently adopted by the 

 Fifty-fifth Congress, providing for refunding the 



