Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Appendix to the Journals of the Senate and Assembly of the Twenty-First Session of the Legislature of the State of California, Vol. 4
The conditions under which you meet are peculiarly favorable. The recent growth of our State has been both rapid and wholesome; no unusual ?ood or drought has occurred; agriculture has been successful; mining developments have increased; and no general disaster has resulted in business pursuits. Our community has met and sustained two grave financial shocks, either of which would probably have seriously disturbed the greatest money-centers of the world; and has recovered from them with a prompt and elastic strength that compels universal respect and admiration. We have passed through a peaceful revolution in a political campaign, differ ing in its essential features from all others, the result of which has been readily accepted; and you, who are here convened, assume the powers of government at a time when the outstanding debt of the State is less than it has been for twenty-three years, when there are great interests to foster and maintain, and when you may justly reflect, in your gravest deliberations, that you are legislating for a people characterized by ability, energy, wealth, and the spirit of justice.
The purposes of this message will be attained by presenting to you brie?y a clear statement of operations under various laws, and of expenditures made in the support of public institutions. I Will not be called upon to aid you in determining questions of general policyand interest, and, while it is my duty, under the Constitution, to make such recommendations herein as the welfare of the State may seem to require, in the discharge of that duty, I shall refrain. From discussing at length many subjects that Will engage your. Attention.
It will devolve upon you to ignore or to define the relations between the State and the corporations under her laws; and to either assert the superior power of the one, or admit that of the other. Until that practical question is settled, there is no debatable ground upon which equities may he arrived at; and the questions of regulating freights and fares will create new and yet more virulent discord and strife. It is well understood that the scope of the power of the Legislature has been made a matter of open debate, that its authority has been systematically assailed, and that the higher law of contracts, the doc trine that defines control to be confiscation, the paramount authority of the National Government, and many other logical and exact shields to the abuse of power, have been invoked hitherto, and will be again.
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