PROCEEDINGS OP THIRTY-THIRD FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 139 



duty of the County Commissioners to enforce the State Commissioner's 

 order. In Yuba County the Commissioners were duly served with the 

 official notice, and they immediately started to enforce the order. Of 

 the excellent manner in which they carried out their part of the pro- 

 gram there can be no question. The duty of these gentlemen, which 

 was to compel their neighbors to destroy their shade trees and to tem- 

 porarily disfigure their yards, was not a pleasant one, and great credit 

 is due each of them, especially the Marysville District Commissioner, 

 who remained faithful to the discharge of his duty even in the face of 

 incurring the personal enmity of his town-folks. 



I beg your forbearance while I relate a few of the obstacles that 

 obstructed and delayed the workings of the plan of campaign as origi- 

 nally outlined, and which obstacles servecl to make the direction of the 

 work anything but a bed of roses. 



Whatever prejudices may have existed at the beginning of the cam- 

 paign, as of one section of the State toward another, this gathering 

 to-day is convincing proof that all such engendered passions have been 

 buried and that we are all now loyal California citizens striving for 

 the general upbuilding of our State. 



I express my own sentiments, and I hope yours also, when I say that 

 no man is to-day a true lover of this glorious State who would endeavor 

 to rekindle the fires of sectional strife from the dying embers of the 

 unhappy beginning of the white-fly campaign; and any facts that are 

 mentioned in this paper relating to the actions of the citizens of Marys- 

 ville during that time are given only as history in connection with the 

 work, for having met a majority of the citizens, in the routine work of 

 the campaign, I can only speak of them all in the highest terms of 

 praise, and I glory in their justifiable pride and defense of their city 

 while dealing with a vexing question which they did not fully under- 

 stand, and one that time would not permit of a campaign of education ; 

 so while referring to some of the circumstances that attended the work 

 I wish it understood that no discourtesy is meant to any one and I 

 shall not knowingly state anything which could, by any construction, 

 wound the feelings of any resident of this city. 



Upon the first intimation that drastic measures were to be employed 

 against the invasion of the pest, almost simultaneously arose the story 

 that the southern section of the State was endeavoring to wipe out its 

 worthy antagonist— the northern section. Much credence was given 

 the story, which became generally circulated. This was followed by 

 the announcement that those in charge of the work were to receive a 

 fixed price for each tree destroyed. These little stories caused a great 

 deal of annoyance and tended to keep many people from proceeding 

 with the work. However, the arguments of the cooler heads soon pre- 

 vailed, and these citizens soon convinced those in doubt that the idea 



