202 PROCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-SIXTH FRUIT-GROWERS' CONVENTION". 



we would have good engineering for the next four, eight or twelve 

 years, they would vote for eighteen million dollars right straight down 

 the line. How can they be assured that they will get their money's 

 worth ? 



MR. ELLERY. In answer to that, we are not assured of much of 

 anything in this world, but the present system is totally inadequate for 

 our needs, it does not solve the problem, and if the problem is not 

 solved by our present ways you have got to turn to some other scheme. 

 I do say this, that what we need in office are men who will properly 

 handle it, but that I can't guarantee. 



MR. HARTRANFT. We had some experience in that down in Los 

 Angeles, and I believe there is an ideal way of getting at those people. 

 We voted over three million dollars in bonds for good roads. We 

 have the best S3 T stem of municipal government that exists on the face 

 of the earth, and have recently found it out, but we have not got the 

 same form of government in the county, and we voted three million 

 dollars in bonds ; they sold part of it ; they put up a job in the selling 

 of them through a private sale; we stopped them in the court, and 

 the solid three have gone on and done about enough work to-day to 

 amount in its total construction cost about half what the interest is on 

 the bonds sold. To take the precautions, to get the money spent prop- 

 erly on the roads, which everybody was for, and the proposition carried 

 by about four votes to one in favor, if it appointed a business man's 

 advising board and a great engineering board and all the schemes that 

 you could appeal to the voters, and then instead of having the power 

 to force through the program as laid out, the entire will of the people 

 and the entire intentions have been thwarted by the powers of the 

 elected supervisors, because there is no form of government by which 

 they can be reached until an election under the old plan, and south- 

 ern California, I know from personal contact, is not for the state bond 

 issue, although I am for the building of good roads everywhere, but 

 southern California is not for it. We are going first to get a proper 

 form of government so we can do it, and I met on the railroad comiiiu 

 up here one of the fine political bosses in the south, and he said. 

 * ' When you meet any of those machine fellows over in Watsonville tell 

 them they licked the stuffing out of us in Los Angeles, and they are 

 all headed for Sacramento and they are headed there for direct legis- 

 lation, " and I think we have had in this convention before resolutions 

 for the initiative, the referendum, and the recall. If it isn't out of 

 order, I move that that is the sentiments of this convention. (Applause. ) 



PRESIDENT JEFFREY. We are under great obligations to the 

 State Engineer for the able address he has made to us to-day. It has 

 been illuminating and instructive and encouraging, and in behalf of the 

 members here I thank him, both as a friend and as an official, for coming 

 here to-day. He speaks with authority, he is a man of courage, a man 

 of incorruptible honesty, and if he could build our roads for us there 

 would be no question about the money. 



PRESIDENT JEFFREY. The next paper will be by Mr. Frank 

 Femmons of Ahwahnee, Madera County. Mr. Femmons is one of the 

 pioneer apple growers of the high Sierras. 



