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failure of the crops on account of the lack of rainfall, notwithstanding 

 the high price of the products. Thus the rainfall became the barometer 

 which foretold the prosperity or the financial depression of the State, 

 and agriculture became an extra-hazardous risk except where it was 

 carried on in connection with the limited area of the moist lands. 



The original Mexican population understood the situation, and in 

 some sections of the State, especially in Southern California, they 

 diverted the streams, where such work could be done without too much 

 labor, and thus insured the success of their crops by means of irrigation. 



When the more energetic American race began to take possession of 

 the land they took lessons from the old settlers, but improved upon 

 their methods. They organized irrigation companies, and took out the 

 water on a larger scale and took it up on the higher levels, where better 

 soil could be found. This was first done by organizing neighborhoods 

 where the owners of the land would club together to do for a community 

 and for their own benefit what one man could not do singly and alone. 



The keen- eyed capitalist next saw a chance to turn a penny several 

 times in a few minutes. He would hunt up a good location where he 

 could buy a large tract of dry land for a song, file on a good stream of 

 water, construct a canal or irrigation system, and then sell off his land 

 and water at prices limited only by what the traffic would bear, and 

 thus settlements were made. Sometimes those prices and water rates 

 were satisfactory and sometimes they were burdensome. 



About this time the strong arm of the law was invoked, and the 

 Board of Supervisors and governing bodies of incorporated cities and 

 towns were empowered to fix water rates for irrigation as well as for 

 domestic use. Capitalists called a halt and there was a cessation of 

 construction of irrigation systems on the old plan. 



In 1884 an irrigation campaign was commenced in this State. It 

 had its origin at the first State Irrigation Convention held in the city of 

 Riverside in May of that year. This movement had two objects in 

 view: the repeal of that old common law idea of riparian rights, and 

 the other was the enactment of a law providing for the organization of 

 irrigation districts. 



The first State convention was followed by a second at Fresno late 

 that same year, and a third at Sacramento at the opening of the Legis- 

 lature the following January, and the fourth one in May, 1886, in San 

 Francisco. 



The work before the Legislature in 1885 resulted in failure, because of 

 lack of time to reach the bills. 



In the meantime, prior to the holding of the San Francisco conven- 

 tion in May, 1886, the Supreme Court had rendered its celebrated ripa- 

 rian rights decision in the case of Lux vs. Haggin, by a vote of four to 

 three of the Supreme Bench. This irrigation campaign ended disas- 

 trously in the extra session of the Legislature of 1886, which was called 

 by the late Governor Stoneman (with the best of intentions), who had 

 in his possession before the session w T as called the written guarantee of 

 a majority of both branches that they would pass those irrigation bills 

 if he would call the session. These pledges were never fulfilled, and 

 the Legislature did nothing but elect a Republican United States Sen- 

 ator to succeed a Democratic Senator (Hearst) whom Governor Stone- 

 man had appointed to fill a vacancy occasioned by the death of Senator 

 Miller. 



