THE TRUTH ABOUT CALIFORNIA 



long when labor has made them from the materials 

 which nature provided ? Upon the answer to that ques- 

 tion hang the destinies of California. 



The seed of the California of the past was in the little 

 group of feverish gold-hunters who camped by Sutter's 

 mill in 1849. It bore the gaudy weed of speculation, 

 with its bitter harvest of misfortune and discontent for 

 the many, accentuated only by the superfluous riches 

 which it gave to the few. The seed of the California of 

 the future is in the irrigation canals owned and admin- 

 istered by small landed proprietors ; in the fruit ex- 

 changes, which are supplanting the commission system 

 and securing to the producer the rewards of his labor ; 

 in the co - operative creameries and canning factories 

 which, in the face of deficient capital and unfair compe- 

 tition, are slowly fighting their way to the sure ground 

 of abiding prosperity ; in the multitudinous and uni- 

 formly successful manufacturing and mercantile associ- 

 ations which Mormon genius has planted in the valleys 

 of Utah ; in the banks, insurance companies, and loan 

 and building societies which, all over the Union and all 

 over the world, have vindicated the possibilities of asso- 

 ciated man. 



It is interesting to consider what portions of California 

 will receive the bulk of the future population. The 

 topography of the State is peculiar and readily compre- 

 hended. The coast region presents a frontage of over 

 one thousand miles to the sea, and is narrowly hemmed 

 in by mountain ranges which, in many places, come down 

 to the shore itself. But in these mountains there are 

 many picturesque and fertile valleys which have long 

 been applied to agricultural purposes. The coast region 



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