ORANGE CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 6/ 



only be a proprietor of the soil, but one who actually holds the 

 plow, and whose character is beyond reproach. This officer 

 has absolutely the entire control of the distribution of the water 

 in times of scarcity and drouth, and, making himself acquainted 

 with the conditions and needs of the growing crops in his dis- 

 trict, he decides who and what crops are most in need of water, 

 and to that crop and owner the water is given, without fear or 

 favor. These first officers, or Syndics of the different districts, 

 form a tribunal of justice, that meets once a week in front of 

 the Cathedral of Valencia, to summon offenders, hear com- 

 plaints and decide as to the rights of contestants. This tribunal 

 hires no clerk, keeps no record, and defers no judgment until 

 some future time ; but after hearing all the evidence, at once 

 decides, from the judgment seat, all questions. The jurisdiction 

 of this court is absolute in matters of fact that of police over 

 those who appear before it. 



"It may well be supposed that this court of peasant judges 

 has often been assailed. The Government has more than once 

 attempted to make changes more in harmony with the usual 

 course of procedure ; but the steadfast attachment of the people 

 interested in the tribunal has sufficed to maintain it substantially 

 as it descended from the Moors. 



" It is a noticeable fact, and one to which I desire especially 

 to call your attention, that among all these rules and regula- 

 tions, qualifications for membership, etc., the legal fraternity is 

 scrupulously excluded from all participation in the conduct of 

 cases ; and whenever they come before these august tribunals, 

 they, like other men, are made to stand off at a respectable dis- 

 tance, hat in hand, head uncovered. 



"Would that America were permitted to establish such tribu- 

 nals with equal jurisdiction over special cases tribunals that 

 might decide in conflicting claims, without the intervention of 

 lawyer or jury. We could then have in this land more peace, 

 more law, more justice, more love among neighbors; and the 

 occupation of many legal gentlemen having been taken from 

 them, we would have more actual producers, more irrigators 

 and cultivators of the soil. I would now suggest to our legis- 

 lators that if they desire to enlighten themselves, they earnestly 



