UNIVERSITY 



simple, and the foreign mirrors are frequently injured in trans- 

 portation. We produce no manufactures for exportation, and 

 many years may elapse before we supply the finer articles 

 needed for home consumption. 



134. Obstacles. The lack of water-power near the me- 

 tropolis, the high price of transportation, the dearness of fresh 

 water in our large towns, and the high price of land suitable 

 for factory sites near a deep water-front in secure harbors, all 

 tend to increase the difficulties of manufacturing. The high 

 rate of wages, however, is the chief obstacle. This is felt at 

 once, at the very beginning of every enterprise, and is much 

 more oppressive in many branches than all the other obstacles 

 together. The expenses of living are less here than in the 

 Eastern States ; and in no city on the Atlantic slope can so 

 much comfort and enjoyment be obtained for the same money 

 as in San Francisco. The extreme heat of summer, the cold 

 of winter, and the diseases which they bring upon the poor, 

 make a great difference against Eastern cities. There is no 

 good reason why labor should not be as cheap here as beyond 

 the Rocky Mountains, except that, on account of the lack of 

 manufactures and of irrigating ditches, there is not sufficient 

 regularity of employment. At favorable seasons the demand 

 for laborers in the mines and farming districts exceeds the sup- 

 ply, and the excessive competition of employers at such times, 

 and the idleness of laborers at others, equally tend to keep 

 up wages. 



The interest of the State demands the payment of the high- 

 est wages at which the employer can aiford to find work for 

 all white applicants ; but a rate so high that it prevents the es- 

 tablishment of manufactories, and leaves a considerable part of 

 the people without occupation during three or four months ev- 

 ery year, repels immigration, keeps down the value of land, 

 hampers commerce and agriculture, and is one of the most se- 

 rious misfortunes that can befall a State. 



Our agricultural and mining industries have reached ad- 

 vanced development in some branches, while our manufactures 



