Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/372



content and  permanence  which  now  began  to  appear in well-tilled  lands,  with  fences  and  drains  in  hand- some dwellings with  cultivated  gardens  and  commo- dious outhouses. Culture and  improvement  began  to be  seriously  considered;  institutions  were  organized devoted to  morals,  religion,  temperance,  and  the  im- provement of the  mental  and  physical  condition  of  the young. Plank roads  were  made,  and  substantial bridges built  across  the  principal  streams.

Some eastern  men  made  money  in  California,  but more lost  heavily. If from  sickness,  fire,  flood,  or any  other  cause,  the  extravagant  ideas  of  eastern speculators failed  to  be  realized,  agents  were  accused of fraud,  and  the  reputation  of  the  whole  country called in  question. A loss  is  mourned  in  louder  tones than tell  a  profit,  and  as,  owing  to  the  chaotic  state  of affairs,  venture  after  venture  was  lost,  and  men  who had been  known  and  trusted  from  boyhood  slipped from the  fingers  of  rectitude,  the  world  was  filled  with complaints of  California,  and  it  was  thought  that  gold and its  corrupting  influences  had  so  undermined  the principles of  its  votaries  that  the  atmosphere  of  the Pacific slope  was  tainted  with  moral  contagion. How many of  those  men  labored  true  to  their  trust  amidst the most  disheartening  reverses,  their  friends  at  home never knew. Rushing hither,  blind  to  all  before  them, they found  a  condition  of  aftairs  very  difterent  from what they  had  anticipated. The mart  was  crowded with articles  un suited  to  the  requirements  of  the country, and  lacking  what  it  needed  most. The mines did not  yield  inevitable  and  immediate  wealth,  but severe labor  was  there  rewarded  by  fluctuating  suc- cess, so that  the  most  faithful  to  their  trust  were sometimes forced  to  annul  contracts  and  disappoint expectation.