was thirty-five per cent ad valorem under former laws, and is thirty per cent by the Act of eighteen hundred and ninetyfour. In the nature of these products a specific duty seems not practicable, but a duty of forty per cent is none too large, and we recommend that rate.

lemons,

(9) Citrus Fruits-Oranges, Lemons, and Limes. The citrus- Oranges, fruit industry has, perhaps, contributed more to bring to the and limes notice of the world the wonderful range of California's fruit products than all others combined. In point of acreage planted, rapidity of its development, capital invested, and relation to the Eastern fruit markets, it stands at the head of all our varieties. We have competitors, not only in the eastern, but also in the southern portion of the western hemisphere, and from the islands of the sea. The orange and lemon have passed beyond the class of luxuries and have become a necessity to the American people, and are demanded and consumed in large quantities. The competition with our lemons is very close and very unfair, because an inferior lemon is put upon the market at low prices, and seriously affects the price of good lemons. Mexico is preparing to enter into strong competition for our orange trade, and will this season send in over eight hundred carloads. Our present orange and lemon duty is not as protective as it should be, and is not as high as it should be to yield revenue. The rate under the Acts of eighteen hundred and eighty-three and eighteen hundred and ninety was thirteen cents per cubic foot on box of one and one quarter cubic feet, and twenty-five cents per box of two and one half feet, and fifty-five cents on box of five feet, and twenty per cent ad valorem on each additional cubic foot. Oranges run from one hundred and twenty-eight to two hundred and sixty to a box of one and three quarters cubic feet. The average number is about one hundred and sixty to a box, on which the McKinley bill placed a duty of about twelve cents per hundred, and the Wilson bill eight cents per hundred. We claim that this duty is so inadequate, as offering protection, that our country is flooded with grossly inferior fruit, and the business of producing good oranges discouraged. The same may be said of the duty of one dollar and fifty cents laid on one thousand oranges in bulk. It is not protective, nor is it sufficient for revenue. We see no reason for these several classifications. The duty should be laid at a uniform rate per cubic foot, regardless of the size of the package, and should not be less than twenty cents per cubic foot, and when in bulk (which are always high-grade and large oranges) should bear not less than two dollars and fifty cents per thousand. We further recommend a specific duty of ten cents per pound on citric and oils. acid, and fifty cents per pound on essential oils of oranges and lemons.

WHEREAS, The orchards of California are proving to the country what her gold mines were in the fifties, with the advantage that they have come to stay, and are practically unlimited in possibilities; and

Citric acid

WHEREAS, Nature has decreed California to be the orchard of America, if not of the globe. Here are produced the fruits of every zone. The whole country has the same interest in our success, or should have, that it has in the success and prosperity of other specially favored regions of our marvelous country-as in the South in her cotton and sugar and rice and tobacco, the great West in her corn and wheat, the Middle States in their iron and coal, the East in her manufactures. That we can produce in California every fruit known to the Mediterranean basin, and the hardier fruits of all other climes, should arouse the pride of all Americans, and challenge their friendly aid; and

WHEREAS, The more nearly the United States are enabled to produce all articles of human consumption, the more nearly we shall approach the ideal country for human habitation. We desire to furnish to the people of the United States fruits in abundance and at reasonable prices, such fruits especially as cannot be elsewhere grown in the United States. We ask only such legislation as will enable us to do this; therefore, be it

Resolved, That these resolutions be printed and duly attested, and a copy be forwarded to each member of the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives, and to each present Senator and Representative in Congress, and to each Senator and Representative of the forthcoming Congress of America.

Channel to Mare Island.

Request

CHAPTER VIII.

Senate Joint Resolution No. 5, relative to dredging channel from
San Pablo Bay to Mare Island.

[Adopted January 29, 1897.]

WHEREAS, There is an open channel for all vessels of the
United States Navy from San Pablo Bay up to Mare Island
Straits, which run between the United States Navy Yard,
Mare Island, and the western shore of Solano County, State
of California; and

WHEREAS, The United States Government considers it unsafe
at present to allow vessels of such draft as the U. S. S.
"Oregon" to be sent to Mare Island Navy Yard on account of
the shoaling of the channel of said straits; and
WHEREAS, A survey has been made and estimates submitted
to the United States Government, approximating the cost of
dredging said channel; therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That our ing an ap- Senators in Congress be instructed, and our Representatives therein be requested and urged, to pursue such course as shall be necessary to secure an ample appropriation by the

propriation for dredging.

United States Government to carry on and complete the dredging of said channel.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to said Senators and Representatives in Congress by the Secretary of the Senate.

CHAPTER IX.

Senate Joint Resolution No. 10, relating to foreign immigration and proper restriction thereof.

[Adopted January 29, 1897.]

immigra

WHEREAS, Immigration to the United States of the illiterate, Foreign
pauper, and criminal classes of other countries has grown to tion.
such proportions as to seriously endanger the interests of our
people, and even threaten the perpetuity of our institutions;
and
WHEREAS, There is now pending in Congress proposed legisla-
tion for the correction of this rapidly growing evil; now,
therefore, be it

restriction

laws.

Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That our Passage of Senators in Congress be instructed, and our Representatives be earnestly requested, to vote for, and use all honorable means. to secure the passage of, such pending measures as they deem best fitted to secure proper and sufficient restriction of foreign immigration, to the end that the interests of our people shall be adequately protected, and the blessings of free government be maintained and assured.

CHAPTER X.

Senate Joint Resolution No. 11, requesting Congress to impose a tariff on foreign fresh table grapes competing with the American product.

[Adopted February 2, 1897.]

table

grapes.

Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, WHEREAS, In Tariff on
the memorial to Congress, adopted by the fruit-growers of t
California, in convention assembled, at Sacramento, on the
second day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, a
request that a tariff be imposed upon imports of fresh table
grapes was overlooked, and not intentionally omitted from.
the schedule adopted; and

WHEREAS, There are annually imported into the United States
many millions of pounds of grapes, that come in competition
with those grown in this country; and

WHEREAS, The tariff law of eighteen hundred and ninety-the
McKinley law-whereby a specific duty of two cents per

Requesting additional tariff.

pound was imposed upon fresh table grapes, was amended in eighteen hundred and ninety-four, by making it an ad valorem tariff of twenty per cent, equal to about eighty-one cents per one hundred pounds; and

WHEREAS, It must be remembered in fixing the schedule for foreign grapes competing with ours, that our principal markets lie about three thousand miles away from our vineyards, and that the cost to California growers for transportation alone, to New York and other eastern markets, is about two and one half cents per pound, while, generally speaking, the cost of transportation on imported fruits is about thirty cents per one hundred pounds, which, together with the import duty of eighty-one cents per one hundred pounds, makes the total cost to the importer one dollar and eleven cents per one hundred pounds, while the California growers have to pay for transportation alone about two dollars and fifty cents per one hundred pounds, or about one dollar and forty cents more per one hundred pounds than the importer; and as we believe the California producer should have at least one cent per pound clearly protective over the foreign producer; therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Congress of the United States be and is hereby requested to add to the twenty per cent ad valorem tariff now imposed, a specific tariff of two and one half cents per pound upon all fresh table-grape importations.

Resolved, That the same be printed and duly attested, and a copy forwarded to each Senator and Representative in Congress now serving, and to each Senator and Representative of the Congress to assemble after the fourth of March, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, and that the Senators and Representatives from California, at the time serving as such, be and they are hereby specially requested to give the subject of this resolution their most earnest attention and support, and to press the same upon the attention of the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Finance of the Senate.

Preamble.

Indorsing

act to send food to India.

CHAPTER XI.

Senate Joint Resolution No. 15, relative to sending food to the famine-stricken people of India.

[Adopted February 15, 1897.]

WHEREAS, Senator George C. Perkins is about to introduce a bill in Congress to appropriate funds to send a vessel to carry food to the starving inhabitants of India, and Secretary Herbert of the Navy is coöperating to that end; now be it

Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That our Representatives in Congress are requested and our Senators in

structed to urge the passage of said bill as a matter of urgency, to demonstrate to all nations the sympathy and humanity of the American people; and be it further

Resolved, That the Governor be and he is hereby requested to immediately transmit by telegram to Senator George C. Perkins at Washington, D. C., a copy of these resolutions.

CHAPTER XII.

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 8, relative to recalling bills from the Governor.

[Adopted March 2, 1897.]

ing bills

Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That we Requestrequest the Governor to return to the respective houses Senate returned Bill No. 1 and Assembly Bill No. 22.

CHAPTER XIII.

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 30, relative to and advocating the passage of the California Mineral Lands Bill.

[Adopted March 4, 1897.]

WHEREAS, There is now pending in the Congress of the United Mineral States, the California Mineral Lands Bill; and

WHEREAS, The speedy enactment thereof is a matter of vital importance to California; therefore, be it

Lands bill.

Resolved, That our Senators be instructed, and our Repre- Urging its sentatives in Congress be requested, to use all honorable means passage. to secure the passage of the same; be it further

Resolved, That the Governor transmit a copy of this resolution by telegraph to the California delegation in Congress.

CHAPTER XIV.

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 9, relative to recalling Assembly Bill No. 419 and Assembly Bill No. 76.

[Adopted March 4, 1897.]

returned.

Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That Assem- Requestbly Bill No. 419-"An Act to amend section five hundred and ing bills forty-two of the Code of Civil Procedure"-and Assembly Bill No. 76-"An Act to amend section two hundred and sixty-one of the Penal Code of the State of California, relating to the