CALIFORNIA. 



97 



Aug. 1, to have said: "I have received a partial 

 report of past conditions of affairs at some of 

 these State institutions, and the facts have 

 shocked me. It is frightful that servants of the 

 people, paid out of the public treasury to main- 

 tain decency, to say the least, have shown such 

 utter disregard of the importance of their duties. 



1 intend to investigate the conduct of every pub- 

 lic institution in the State. Several have already 

 been inspected and privately overhauled by my 

 orders without the knowledge of those in charge, 

 and something will drop as soon as I return to 

 Sacramento. It makes my blood boil when I 

 think of some of these things." As a conse- 

 quence of the investigation at the Agnews Asy- 

 lum, the superintendent was dismissed on charges 

 of immorality and two of the doctors for incom- 

 petency. 



The Legislature was asked to make more 

 stringent laws in order to stop the trade in 

 opium at San Quentin prison. Guards were ac- 

 cused of smuggling in the drug for the use of 

 convicts. 



From a confession by one of the prisoners in 

 March it was learned that a conspiracy had been 

 formed to kill the guards and effect a whole- 

 sale delivery of prisoners, and on investigation 

 the directors were convinced that the matter had 

 not been exaggerated. Later, in May, a murder- 

 ous assault was made upon one of the guards 

 by a life prisoner. In view of these and instances 

 of assaults by convicts upon their fellow-prison- 

 ers, the directors ruled that hereafter when a 

 convict is found with a deadly weapon in his 

 possession he shall be kept in solitary confine- 

 ment for the rest of his term,, even though that 

 term be for his natural life. This went into op- 

 eration, and in July seven men were undergoing 

 this awful punishment the man who assaulted 

 the guard and the leaders of the conspiracy above 

 mentioned. Four of them are life prisoners. 



Railroads. The right of the Railroad Com- 

 missioners to regulate the fares and freight 

 charges of the Southern Pacific road has been the 

 subject of litigation since 1895, in which year 

 the board sought to establish a reduction of 8 

 per cent, in grain rates. The suit was dismissed 

 on motion of the railroad company in May, the 

 commissioners of this year having rescinded the 

 action of their predecessors. A new schedule 

 made by the commissioners, June 12, was re- 

 sisted by the company, and threatened to bring 

 on further litigation. The reductions were 

 estimated to amount on the average to about 



2 per cent. 



The fruit growers of the State, having failed 

 to get what they deemed fair and just rates from 

 the owners of lines of refrigerator cars, formed 

 an organization and determined to establish an 

 independent line owned or controlled by the or 

 chardists of the State. 



A San Francisco newspaper makes the follow- 

 ing comparison between the assessed value of 

 railroad and other property: In 1884, when the 

 mileage of the State was 2,721, the assessed value 

 of railroad property was $50,746,500. Last year, 

 when the number of miles operated exceeded 4,400, 

 the Board of Equalization assessed the railroads 

 of the State at $44,457,473. In the first-named 

 year (1884) the assessed value of all other than 

 railroad property was $770,364,265. In 1898 it 

 had increased to $1,086,426,224. It is impossible 

 that the value of other property than that be- 

 longing to the railroads should have increased 

 28 per cent., while that of the corporations de- 

 clined 14 per cent. The value of the railroads 

 was placed in 1899 for assessment at $46,394.375. 

 VOL. xxxix. 7 A 



Banks. According to the report of the Bank 

 Commissioners, the bank deposits in the State 

 have increased during the past two years by the 

 sum of $50,000,000. The increase is not confined 

 to any one locality, but has been distributed in 

 almost equal proportions among commercial, na- 

 tional, and savings banks in city and country 

 alike. The deposits in the savings banks of San 

 Francisco amounted to $113,294,213 at the date 

 of the report, a gain of $6,961,372.35 over the 

 previous year; the deposits of interior savings 

 banks aggregated $37,648,949.60, an increase of 

 $2,862,565.33 for the year. The showing of the 

 commercial banks incorporated under State laws 

 is equally good, those of San Francisco exhibit- 

 ing a gain of $6,195,663.91 in deposits over those 

 of the preceding year, and totaling $40,677,836.57. 

 The interior commercial banks had deposits to 

 the amount of $36,946,850.63, this being $4,204,- 

 627.06 in excess of the preceding year. In addi- 

 tion to the above the national banks held de- 

 posits amounting to $31,858,489.22, the increase 

 in the past year being $4,010,150.67. These fig- 

 ures, when aggregated, present a grand total of 

 $258,864,395.47, and an increase in one year of 

 $24,155,111.31. 



The Union Savings Bank of San Jose was 

 closed Jan. 30, and was declared insolvent. The 

 County Bank at San Luis Obispo, the Commercial 

 Bank of the same place, and the Bank of Paso 

 Robles closed in March. The latter two were 

 permitted later to resume. The Bank of Mendo- 

 cino, at Ukiah, was closed in May. 



Water Supply. The Los Angeles Times pub- 

 lished in August the results of an exhaustive 

 inquiry into the recent development of a water 

 supply in southern California. The Times prints 

 reports from all the irrigated districts there, by 

 which it appears that since the drought began 

 a systematic search for water has been made, 

 with a result that during twelve months past 

 30 inches have been added to the previous total. 

 Of this, 10.797 inches are credited to Los Angeles 

 County, 3.77 to San Bernardino County, 3.175 

 to Riverside County, 12 to Orange County, and 

 5 to San Diego County. In the case of the 

 latter county the Times says that about 2 inches 

 have been developed from wells, but that the 

 permanent output is one fourth that. The esti- 

 mates are the result of personal inspection by a 

 member of the Times's staff, who traveled thou- 

 sands of miles on his zigzag rounds of inquiry. 



A convention for the conservation of the flood 

 waters of the State was held in November. Reso- 

 lutions were adopted, which were summarized in 

 the statement that the convention favors the 

 storage of flood waters by the National Govern- 

 ment to the extent that such aid can be had 

 by the State when national aid fails, and by 

 private enterprise if both fail: the leasing of the 

 public grazing lands is favored, and the inclusion 

 in forest reserves of all public timber land lying 

 about the head waters of our streams. The con- 

 vention concluded its labors with the creation 

 of a water and forest association, which is to 

 be provided with an adequate income and is to 

 labor for the measures which have received the 

 approval of the convention. 



Products. The State's output of gold in 1898 

 was somewhat larger than that of 1897, and the 

 yield of silver somewhat smaller. The estimate 

 of gold produced was about $14,833,721 ; of sil- 

 ver, $414,055. The copper industry is growing, 

 especially in Shasta and Siskiyou Counties. Shas- 

 ta's copper product amounted to $2,465,830. The 

 value of the oil produced is placed at more than 

 $7,000,000 a year. The entire mineral product of 



