28 



When the Lisbon fruit is put up every half apricot was just the same as 

 if you had taken it from a mold — perfect; and the syrup was clean; and 

 even the laying in of these apricots was done in a systematic, proper 

 way. Now, sir, see the difference. The price of these is $2 a dozen — 8 

 shillings; and the Lisbon, 24 shillings — a difference of 16 shillings. But 

 you say, "You sell a great deal more of these than you do of the Lisbon." 

 " No, we do not. This is not salable here at all. A poor man cannot afford 

 to buy any kind of fruit. He lives on vegetables, mush, and soup, and 

 black bread; that is all. But the rich man don't want any stuff like that. 

 He wants the best; and the dishonest steward will come around and buy 

 this, and say he has bought that." "Now," he says, "this is of no value. 

 It is doing you an injustice." I sent out a communication to the "Rural 

 Press," and gave the name of the packing company that I found on the 

 label; and I don't know why they did not put the name in there. I think 

 it should have been done, for they were doing very great harm to Cali- 

 fornia. Now, if we have advantages we can make them known. 



Again, these people that are working for 20 cents a day, do all their work. 

 I followed them right in the field, gangs and gangs of men, and women, 

 the women especially, expert with some kind of a shovel that they work 

 on that side and they cannot do very much in a day; and they have got 

 old worn out lands, another advantage; in this country the custom is to 

 have the farmhouse adjoining the farm; they do not live that way in Spain 

 and in Italy; they have had so many years of war that they are inclined to 

 live in villages four or five miles away, and they have got to come to work 

 and to go back — quite a ways to travel — and take it all in all they have 

 not the advantages that we have; even in the matter of labor I doubt that 

 the men there could do any more than ours do; add to this, that we are 

 here living in a republican form of government, and that they are living 

 under a monarchial form of government with the peculiar disadvantages 

 of that form of government. I am not prepared to say that I know it 

 absolutely, but there is a very strong probability, by a great effort on the 

 part of the people here we can determine that so far as land and fruit is 

 concerned that we have every advantage over them, and that they will not 

 be able to gain this advantage unless they adopt this same mode of govern- 

 ment, because it costs an immense amount of money to keep up a mon- 

 archy. Now these matters have been laid before before various people; I 

 invited the State Board of Trade, men of experience, of intelligence, and 

 a committee was appointed, and after a thorough investigation adopted my 

 views; and my object in coming before you is to have the indorsement of 

 this body in carrying out this work. The question of the exhibition of 

 having a market is only one side of the plan; the Commissioner is sent there 

 for the purpose of attending this exhibition and may be instructed to bring 

 back with him products of Europe, the manner in which they are put up, 

 the cost of their production, etc., so that we may be informed. In this 

 behalf I offer the following resolution: 



Resolved, That the convention here assembled indorse the action of the State Board of 

 Trade in taking the initiatory step towards holding an exhibition of the products of Cali- 

 fornia in the City of London. 



Resolved, That in our judgment, an exhibition of the products of California in London 

 would tend to greatly accelerate the progress of this State. 



Resolved, That it is the sense of this convention that this matter shall properly, and 

 without loss of time, be placed before the coming session of the Legislature of the State 

 of California, for due consideration, to the end that the same receive legislative sanction 

 and State financial aid. 



On motion the resolution was adopted. 



