ICG 
SEMI-TROPIC CALIFORNIA. 
HORTICULTURAL FAIR. 
CLOSING ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT SHORD. 
Ladies nml Gentlemen, ami Members of 
tbo Horticultural Society: Another .year 
1ms passed liVMiy ami \vo have again 
reached the closing night of Dili' third mi* 
Dual fair. 
It has been mV pleasant duly to bid you 
nil the welcome ai the opening nights, nml 
to express the directors' thanks for the 
kind support gjveu us by you all at the 
closing hour, it seems scarcely necessary j 
for me to say to you anything regarding 
the good influence annual fairs have ex¬ 
erted throughout America in promoting 
the unparalleled .vircexs of 1 lie nation iu her 
Agricultural supremacy. This is universally 
recognized, and all public-arm ited puoplc 
therefore indorse agricultural fairs, I run 
not resist the impulse that induces me to 
refer to the difference iu the times and eon- 
damns and my own feelings when wo fast 
opened our joint fairnt tlio old milroud de¬ 
pot three years ago, and now. I lien, sad¬ 
ness nml trouble rented on all our land, and 
the heart of the nation seemed crushed 
beneath Iho weight of accumulative Bunn- 
ciul distress. All the great energy Hud 
once characterized us us a nation seemed 
paralyzed by the want of hope for the fu¬ 
ture. In every liruneli of business cuiuc 
reports of failure; Ibousnudsof prosperous 
nml conservative men saw nil I hr results tlf 
years of economy and labor surely depart¬ 
ing from them; colossal fortunes, tho sav¬ 
ings of several generations, supposed to 
be as lasting na our granite- inountniiis 
themselves, were dissolved into nothing¬ 
ness in a single night; the iron furnace* 
and forges stood still; and the happy hum 
of the busy loom was lost to our eajs. 
That sound would have been a false accom¬ 
paniment to the saddened and dirge-like 
notes of the times. 
The savings of the mechanic, artisan, 
and ordinary laborer made in better times, 
wire day by day depleted or exhausted, 
and in the place of nil honest competency 
from honest toil, ejiiUQ pinching economy 
and oftentimes real want. Those great 
enterprises, begotten of wealth, energy, 
and genius, of which wo felt so justly 
proud as a nation, were either abandoned 
or indefinitely postponed. 
In one word, a great nation of great men 
seemed wrecked—lost iu the universal 
gloom of doubt. 
" No matter where; ol cum fort no mnu «pe.ik»; 
Let's talk of grav n, uf worms suit epitaphs, 
M As chut our piper, amt with rainy oyan 
Write sorrow mi tin' liovom of the earth," 
Our daily newspapers and journals 
throughout the land, especially those in 
sued from the great mauufuetuimg centers, 
and which are more carefully read by all 
classes during tbu periods of great distress, 
had but little comfort to give to the idle 
baud nml hungry appetite; they had bill 
one advice left them to give to tho me¬ 
chanic; that he go to till'field and furm; 
to try and earn there that living which he 
could uu longer get by hm trade in the 
cities. All this trouble nud misery came 
from well-known economic cuuses. 
From out of the great war and Hush 
times following, from Iho flood of easy 
money, all classes went mad in the wild 
riot of wilder speculation, and even the 
conservative and careful fanner seemed to 
forget Ids polar star, t pnvk, am! 
r'cniiniiijj, as his only guide to success. 
Then came the inevitable resuli.aml nil 
that followed and him been described was 
the just punishment for the flagrant disre¬ 
gard of fundamental law governing all 
lauds, nations, ami people. And such has 
lici-n the picture staring tis iu the face 
since 1874 . Have I overdrawn or colored 
it? Are the shadings too deeo for the 
little light on tin canvas? 1 know flic 
picture might be taken ns a representative 
of inky midnight; moonless and starless ns 
Byron's night, uml yet. such must bo Un¬ 
faithful picture. 
And now l'tis come tile glorious change. 
Nut ns n tidal Wave, na if in mild desire to 
obliterate nt once all traces of the unhappy 
(>nst; bat by alow ami steady approaches 
to retrieve the past, and take strong hold 
of the prosperity grasped. From all I In¬ 
states in the American Union came I he 
glad tidings of returned prosperity In 
every branch uf business, in every palli of 
human industry, meu arc at work, satisfied 
and happy. 
Those long-still lilt-lmuimcrs arc again 
in million, forging out the implements nml 
machinery of commerce, trade, nml agri¬ 
culture. The iron furnace* »« long stand¬ 
ing black nnd sullen, arc again illuminat¬ 
ing our midnight, and pouring forth their 
limy glare far out into the night, as 
national bonfires celebrating iho return uf 
happier times. Railroads i utalilisbed for 
years scarcely paying cxpCIi-Si-s are now 
by the improved condition of Affairs earn¬ 
ing large Minis of money, and swelling the 
incomes of their fortunate owners. Pro¬ 
jected roads arc building in all directions, 
stretching out thru- iron arms to grasp uml 
carry forward the nation's wealth to llm 
different points of shipment. 
The woolen and cotton mills are all run 
ning oil full t i me. cm ploying more operators 
limit ut any post history of this country. 
Specie resumption lias been reached with 
no financial disturbance; our bondB long 
held by foreign capitalists have, in great 
part, returned to us, und thoso which are 
still lmlil abroad arc worth more than iinv 
simitar securities issued by European 
countries. 
The gold coin shipped by us in the pout 
to meet the interest on our bonds, and ab¬ 
sorbing vhcroby much of our wealth, lias 
coins, like tlm bunds, buck to us, and 
along w ith it millions of dollars nye by ouch 
steamer pouring into the nation’s lap 
Tn vain may tlm banks of England nml 
France advance their ml ft of discount; iu 
v4i.i1 may the statesman of Europe bewail 
the departing commercial and manufactur¬ 
ing supremacy and prosperity of then 
loved countries; still lha tide of great 
prosperity sets full toward America, aud 
I,hey live helpless to arrest it. 
England, in her great wisdom, under¬ 
standing well tho situation, lias gent for¬ 
ward able commissioners to examine into 
Iho resources of America; Franco, also, 
her Scientific viticultiUill commission. The 
report of those two able commissions to 
their respective governments will carry 
dismay to their hearts, nml well may it be 
so— they must report that they have mainl¬ 
ined a country rich beyond plcccdcut and 
belief in nil bet' Agricultural productions, 
capable of Biipporling well a population 
as great ns nil Europe cam birred, and sup¬ 
porting them mure cheaply tiinn ituy other 
civilized country They must describe a 
Country fm varied in its productions that 
when properly developed will supply to 
our population all they HIT now buying of 
Other nations, and our smpbiM productions 
will still be .sufficient to feed the world. 
Would that those commissions hud the in¬ 
spiring sight now stretched before me in 
this hill I to-night. Could they not have 
then truly reported that within a radius of 
a few miles, geographically speaking, they 
saw- in magnificent perfection, gathered in 
one hull, 1 ho productions of all Europe 
combined ? 
And now let us examine into tho great 
potential cause that has wrought the won- 
aL-i fnl change in the times described as 
existing four years ago, and (ho degree of 
prosperity now recognized ami enjoyed by 
all. Is this remarkable change doc lo any 
psychological cause difficult If) analyze or 
impossible to fathom? Has this pimper- 
iiy wo sec now on every side ot US sprung, 
as Aladdin's pnlace, into all its fullness of 
glory in a single night? Is it due to some 
lucky chance, oris it duo to the same influ¬ 
ence that underlies the greatness of every 
country; that has formed the keystone of 
i he. a fell on which bus rested the life of 
empire* in the past,uml without winch uone 
din hope lo live in tlm future? 
Look around this ball to-night, ray 
friends, and you will see presented to you 
that potential agent that 1ms uiudu us 
again a prosperous nation, that has turned 
all our sorrowing into happiness; our dull 
despair into glorious hopes, our common 
country into tlu grnunty of the world. 
No thanks are due to our diplomacy or 
slam craft, No thanks arc dim to our 
mighty Platemacn, of wrinkled prows and 
thought-lined faces. No thanks are duo 
the uitnnifacLurer or merchant, hunkers, 
brokers, railroad managers, or capitalists 
—but all thanks and credit are due to the 
“ utateinauehip of the plow " and the stub¬ 
born force of its results. The brain and 
muscle that have guided that implement 
have given us all Wfi lightly boast of to- 
duy. 
From till' soil and its successful cultiva¬ 
tion spring* all our wealth, excepting tho 
treasure taken from the mines. In the 
days of great prosperity this fact seems to 
be forgoItJ-ii; and only the commercial 
factors between created wealth and thoso 
who finally uso aud aggregate it arc con¬ 
sidered. , . * , 
The legislator who may honest y try to 
do his duty, is too apt to think only oj tho 
good ho may render Ins so-called business 
constituency, and leaves the real great in¬ 
terest of the nation— agmmllurc-uueurcd 
for Aud so it is with our Congress and 
