roof, but the earthquake of October, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, which was severely felt at that point, threw over the chimneys and also one of the gables. It was considered judicious to replace the chimney tops with others of galvanized iron, and in the gables, wood was substi tuted for stone, to avoid any danger in future. These changes and some repairs involved an unavoidable expenditure of about nine thousand dollars. The site is well chosen, in the immediate vicinity of the University grounds, and possesses similar advantages. The tract embraces one hundred and thirty acres, well supplied with water from a spring in the rear of the building, which furnishes about ten thousand gallons a day, from a height sufficient to supply the upper stories. The present number of pupils is seventy-three, and will be increased soon to at least one hundred. To liquidate the present debt, caused by the necessity of repairs above referred to, and provide for heating apparatus, gas works, laying out the grounds and procuring sufficient furniture, etc., will require the sum of twenty-nine thousand dollars, in addition to the regular biennial appropriation. The items of this sum will appear from the report of the Principal and the Directors, which will be laid before you. The management of the institution reflects great credit upon the Principal and those associated with him in this benevolent work. I recommend the report of the Commissioners and Principal to your early and favorable consideration. STATE UNIVERSITY. In conformity with the Act of last session, providing for the organization of a State University, a Board of Regents was appointed soon after the session, who have proceeded to select a corps of professors and instructors, and to adopt measures for the erection of suitable buildings for the accommodation of the Faculty and students. The selections of instructors thus far made are judicious, and the Regents have manifested commendable interest and zeal in the success of their difficult and important trust. The site of the University is regarded as a very desirable one. It embraces two hundred acres of land, about three miles northeasterly from Oakland, commanding a view of the bay and islands, and of the City of San Francisco and its vicinity. The grounds have been tastefully laid out and planted with trees and shrubbery, and are already attractive and beautiful. The number of students at present is about fifty (50), and the number of instructors is ten (10). The purchase of apparatus, the improvement of the grounds and the erection of buildings, with current expenses, will exhaust the sum realized from sales of tide lands, together with the funds in the State treasury transferred to the Board of Regents, leaving as the nucleus of an endowment the Agricul tural College land grant and its proceeds. To realize the full benefit of this grant, it is desirable to have Congress modify it so as to permit its location, acre for acre, upon the even railroad sections and upon unsurveyed lands, and in subdivisions as small as forty acres. It is no more than just to make these modifications, because by means of College scrip issued to other States large bodies of the most desirable public lands here have been entered and are held by private individuals, thereby very much impairing the value of the grant to this State, unless it is modified as suggested. With these modifications (and such disposition of a portion of the proceeds of the tide lands as is recommended elsewhere) the University would be placed upon a firm basis, and would soon be an honor to the State. In this connection it is proper to acknowledge the disinterested liberality of the Trustees of the College of California, who, from an enlightened zeal for the cause of education, first donated to the State one hundred and sixty acres of the two hundred referred to, and then placed at the disposal of the State all the assets of the corporation which remain after payment of its liabilities. The liberality and public spirit of these gentlemen have very much facilitated the attainment of the objects had in view in organizing a University. The report of the Board of Regents will be laid before you, giving a brief history of their operations thus far, with the names of the professors and instructors, the items of expenditure, rates of tuition, etc. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. By an Act passed in April, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, provision was made for the commencement of a thorough geological survey of the State, and a gentleman, whose qualifications for this duty were generally recognized, was selected to superintend and direct the work. The great value and utility of such a survey, if thoroughly performed, are universally admitted. In no State would its practical advantages be greater than in California. Biennial appropriations were made for its prosecution, and its progress is shown in the report of the State Geologist, to which your attention is invited. At the last session, owing in part to some controversy as to the amount to be expended, the Legislature failed to provide means for the prosecution of the survey, but left in force the law under which the State Geologist was appointed and the survey commenced. To leave a work of such importance to all the material interests of the State unfinished, would be to sacrifice most of the practical results of the expenditure thus far made, and defeat most of the benefits anticipated from its completion. It is thought by those best qualified to judge that the geographical maps alone, when published, will be worth the entire cost of the survey. It is poor economy to have such a work imperfectly performed; and while there are some portions of it, the practical utility of which is not so apparent as others, there are no parts destitute of practical as well as scientific value. Among the educated men of this country there seems to be a unanimous verdict in favor, both of the manner in which the work has been prosecuted and of the qualifications of the State Geologist, for its thorough completion. There has been some criticism upon the time and labor expended upon that portion of the work relating to paleontology, or the science which treats of fossil remains of plants and animals. The opinion seems to be entertained by some that this science has no practical bearing, and that the expenditure of money in its investigation tends only to satisfy the curiosity of antiquarians and scientists. The study of this science, however, although at first sight it may seem. abstruse and unpractical, is essential to a thorough understanding of geology, mineralogy, zoology and botany, by the exposition of which, in California, we seek for a more complete development of all the resources of the State. I submit to the wisdom of the Legislature, that both the credit and the interests of the State are involved in the completion of the survey, and that it would not be wise, at its present stage of progress, either to abandon it or to make a change in its management. One objection to such change, among others, is that no one can well assume an unfinished work of this character without retracing the steps already taken, and doing over again work already done, at a great expenditure of time and money. At the close of the last session, an indebtedness of eleven thousand five hundred dollars ($11,500) had been incurred in prosecuting the survey, which has since been increased by publications in progress. It is just and proper to make provision for the payment of the amount due the State Geologist for moneys advanced, and I recommend that a further appropriation be made for the continuance of the survey. TIDE LANDS. The Legislature at its last session wisely provided for the survey and sale of the State's interest in the tide and marsh lands in the City and County of San Francisco, under the supervision of a Board of Commissioners. The execution of this duty by the gentlemen selected to carry out the law has involved much labor and responsibility, and the results have been quite satisfactory. The first two sales realized the sum of eight bundred and thirteen thousand one hundred and eight dollars and seventy-four cents ($813,108 74) gross proceeds, of which the sum of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) was appropriated for the University, to be paid over to the Board of Regents. The benefits of the measure have been very great, in removing from legislation a subject of contention and corruption, and in securing to the State, from this source, funds urgently needed for the University and other purposes. The operations of this commission in detail will appear from the full and able report herewith presented, and it affords me pleasure to testify to the fidelity and ability with which the duties of these officers have been discharged. I know of no better disposition which could be made of a portion of the proceeds of these lands, than to provide a permanent endowment fund for the University, as it is uncertain how much will be realized from the Agricultural College grant. I therefore suggest that one-fourth of all sums realized from the deferred payments due upon sales of these lands be appropriated to the Board of Regents, to be held and invested as a permanent fund, the income alone of which shall be devoted to the payment of salaries and the current expenses of the University. By this means tuition in the institution could be rendered practically free, and the State relieved from any annual expenditure for its support. The portions of these lands not included in the first two sales will produce probably seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($750,000). The powers of the Commissioners to compromise with adverse claimants might be beneficially enlarged. STATE HARBOR COMMISSION. The construction of a sea-wall along the water front of San Francisco, by the State Harbor Commission, has progressed in accordance with the plan heretofore adopted, as will appear by reference to the report of the Commissioners The receipts and disbursements of the Commission during the two years ending November third, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, have been as follows: RECEIPTS. Rents and revenues of wharves...... Amount drawn by Commissioners from San Francisco California Dry Dock Company, amount paid...... DISBURSEMENTS. Urgent repairs........ $47,241 61 Cleaning wharves...... 13,776 40 Dredging.... 73,359 00 Expense account-rent, printing, etc....... 6,056 57 Current expenses, wharfingers..... 46,652 67 Legal counsel.... 6,000 00 State Wharf and Dock Fund-amount remitted State 121,334 52 $1,246,529 20 The report contains much valuable information, and some suggestions worthy of consideration. It would doubtless be judicious to authorize the Commissioners to purchase a dredging machine, as requested by them. The recommendation to abolish the office of Harbormaster will also probably be generally concurred in. Some interesting statements are made respecting experiments in preserving timber from the destructive attacks of the teredo navalis. These experiments, if successful, will be of great benefit to our shipping and commercial interests. Your attention is also called to the reasons presented by the Board against the reduction of rates for dockage and wharfage. It is the opinion of the Board that no reduction in these charges is practicable until the seawall is completed. Their reasoning seems to have force, and it may be that the rates of dockage and wharfage ought not to be disturbed. I have shared in the general impression that the port charges at San Francisco were too burdensome, and that the pilot charges and port charges generally ought to be very much reduced. I doubt not you will investigate the subject thoroughly, and arrive at a correct conclusion in reference to it. The total length of the sea-wall authorized to be built is eight thousand three hundred and thirty-seven (8,337) feet, extending from Chestnut street to Harrison street. With the fulfilment of the present contracts there will be completed three thousand two hundred and fifty-two (3,252) feet of the stone embankment, extending from the south line of Pacific street to a point fifty-two and one-half (524) feet northerly from Howard street. It is the opinion of the Board and of their engineer that this stone embankment will fulfil all the desired objects of the construction of a sea-wall, without an expensive superstructure. The valuation of land granted to Dunphy and others is stated in the Commissioners' report at one hundred and fifty dollars ($150) per acre. This valuation was so much below what I regarded as its actual value, that I thought it my duty to resist the issuance of the patent and seek to set the appraisal aside. The Supreme Court held, however, that the valuation by the Commissioners was conclusive, and ordered the patent to issue. STATE REFORM SCHOOL. At the last session an Act was passed abolishing the State Reform School at Marysville, and providing for the transfer of the boys there to the Industrial School at San Francisco. The law was promptly complied with, and the building at Marysville has since remained unoccupied but has been taken care of by the Secretary of State, under the general authority and supervision exercised by him over State buildings. It will be necessary for the Legislature to provide for the disposition of the property, as it will not be likely to be made use of by the State. It might be as well to donate the property to the County of Yuba, if it can be usefully employed by that county as an alms-house or for some similar purpose, because if sold it would realize a comparatively small sum, and it may be of some value to that county for public use. The report of the Commissioners appointed to supervise the transfer of the boys in the State Reform School to the Industrial School in San Francisco is herewith transmitted. STATE CAPITOL. Since the last session the work upon the new Capitol has been pressed as rapidly as possible, with the hope of being able to get the building ready to be occupied during the present session. This result was regarded as very desirable, in order to secure the spacious and elegant legislative chambers for your use, instead of the rooms heretofore occupied, and to facilitate the transaction of the public business by collecting the Legislature, library and State officers in one building, in apartments commodious, well ventilated and in every way well suited for their various purposes. In the accomplishment of this, many and serious. obstacles had to be overcome and some responsibility assumed. The embarrassment, however, of arresting the work and the loss which would thereby result, connected with the general anxiety to get the building ready for use at this session, the saving of rent and the inconvenience of having State officers and committee rooms located in different parts of the city, together with the advantage in point of health, of a session in chambers so commodious and well ventilated, determined |