ORANGE CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 6 1 



new terms and hard bargains, or to take from them their water 

 supply. 



"Third If such settlers have come in good faith, and made 

 homes, and have obtained ten, twenty or eighty acres of land, 

 and have not yet commenced to cultivate it, the water company 

 should be bound by statute to furnish a supply as fast as needed, 

 if it can, until all his land shall be under improvement, and then 

 continuously in exact compliance with its articles of corporation 

 and its advertisements. They should be required by the statute 

 to carry out, in good faith, their professed purposes, promises 

 and implied promises. 



"Fourth Water companies should be prohibited from ex- 

 tending their operations beyond their water supply. If a com- 

 pany has sufficient water for only one hundred families, it should 

 be made a penal offense, as well as a case for damages, to de- 

 ceive twice that number, and induce them to purchase and 

 settle, relying on false promises. Such a mode of obtaining 

 money under false pretenses is no better than the worst form 

 known to the law. The ordinary confidence-man takes but a 

 small portion of his victim's money, but water sharps some- 

 times aim at all he has. If they are successful, the man is left 

 destitute of even a home for his family. 



"Fifth In cases in which the water supply is limited, the 

 first settlers should have the preference. Having invested their 

 all in improvements, relying on the water, which was then 

 abundant, they should not be deprived, by any subsequent set- 

 tlement, of a complete supply for their lands. 



"Sixth When settlement has been made at the invitation 

 and by the encouragement of companies proposing to supply 

 water, and said companies afterward neglect or refuse to supply 

 the settlers with water, as they had been encouraged to expect, 

 there should be a mode of relief more speedy and less expensive 

 than an action at law. There should be an officer empowered 

 to afford relief at once, so that no trees or vines would suffer 

 before relief could be obtained from the courts. A water police 

 may become a very useful branch of local government. If a 

 man on the street be assailed and robbery be attempted, a 

 public officer will protect him at the public expense. If the 

 4* 



