COMMERCE. 173 



jave on the Colorado River, and 12,800 acres per mile for the 

 extension of the road from that point to some convenient point 

 on the Pacific ocean. A subsidy of 12,800 acres per mile has 

 also been given to the Southern Pacific Railroad Company of 

 California for a branch road to run from San Jose, to con- 

 nect at Fort Mojave with the main road of the Atlantic and 

 Pacific. 



127. Railroad Terminus. The question of the main 

 terminus of the railroad system of the State is not yet settled ; 

 although five years have elapsed since the cars from the Mis- 

 souri River began to run regularly to Sacramento. San Fran- 

 cisco, having all the importing business, all the exporting 

 houses, all the first-class wholesale houses, and nearly all the 

 banking and insurance capital of the State, was, so far as the 

 concentration of business and business men could make it, 

 the proper terminus for the road. But it had the serious dis- 

 advantage of being cut off from Sacramento the inland 

 business center of the State by swamps, mountains, and 

 bays. The distance from Sacramento to San Francisco, in a 

 direct line, is seventy-six miles ; to Oakland, by rail through 

 Livermore Pass, 135 ; to San Francisco, via Livermore Pass 

 and San Jose (the only rail route to San Francisco) 178 miles ; 

 to Oakland, by Stockton, Bantas, and Martinez, (road not 

 yet made) 148 ; to San Francisco via Bantas, Martinez, Oak- 

 land and San Jose, 248 ; to San Francisco, via Bantas, Mar- 

 tinez, Oakland, and projected bridge across the bay at Rav- 

 enswood, 208 miles. 



After the completion of the road to San Francisco, various 

 plans were considered to bring the cars into the city. A bridge 

 across the Bay from Oakland, a bridge across the Bay at Rav- 

 enswood, thirty miles to the south, a bridge to Goat Island, 

 which is only a mile and a half from the city, were all pro- 

 posed, discussed, strenuously opposed on various grounds of 

 public interest, and all have now been given up, or, at least, 

 allowed to drop, as if finally abandoned. It is generally ad- 



