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 SPEEC H 
 
 -BY- 
 
 D." L. EMEESON, OF OAKLAND, 
 
 -osr- 
 
 Oakland 
 
 JUDGED FROM AN 
 
 Eastern Standpoint, 
 
 DELIVERED IN DIETZ HALL, (OAKLAND,) 
 NOV. 30, 1875. 
 
 Sin&le Copies, 25 Cents : 5 for $1 OC ; I OO for $ 1 5 OO. 
 
 SEISTT TO J^1SJ^5^ .A.3DIDIIESS. 
 
 Butler & Bowman, Peinters, Oakland, Cal. 
 
 iiT^^ 
 

 rt 
 
ANNOUNCEMENT. 
 
 The undersigned is prepared to lecture on either one of the 
 following subjects, at prices varying according to the time, 
 place, occasion and other circumstances: 
 
 Eloqimnce and The Orators; 
 
 The WorlcVs Greatest Orators, Ancient and Modern; 
 
 Elements of Success; 
 
 Popular Errors and Popular Jeudencies. 
 To which will soon be added a lecture on * ' Gush " — a theme 
 which gives scope for a much greater variety of original thought 
 and apt illustration than might at first be supposed. 
 
 He is also prepared to give a course of lectures — either six 
 in number or sixty — on the distinguishing characteristics of 
 one hundred or more of the most famous Orators, Advocates, 
 Divines, Actors, Actresses, Professional Readers and Lecturers 
 of Ancient and Modern Times . These lectures will include a 
 critical analysis of the style of thought and expression of each; 
 also, a comparison of one with another. 
 
 Twenty-five years of earnest study in this rich field for the 
 exercise of the critical faculty, render the preparation of such 
 lectures less laborious than they would otherwise be. 
 
 The following notices of the Press in different sections of the 
 country afford some guarantee that the audiences who may lis- 
 ten to any of these lectures will not be required to endure 
 the old-fashioned professioncd style; nor yet the scarcely less 
 objectionable new-fashioned style of the merely professional 
 vocal gymnast: 
 
11 
 
 [From the OaklatuI Daily Trihwnfi, Dec. 3, 1875] 
 
 Mk. Emkeson'h Lecture — Oakland Judged from an Eastern Standpoint — 
 
 A Masterly Effort by one of our Old Citizens. 
 
 Notwithstiiudiug the heavy rain-storm which j^revailed last nif^ht, Mr. Kin- 
 erson was greeted by an audience composed of the most wealthy, learned, and 
 appreciative of our citizens, who complt^tely tilled Dietz Hall, some even stand- 
 ing in the entry. Mr. Emerson's audacious advertising, and the assiirances of 
 his old triends had raised the very highest expectations, and the audience were 
 evidently determined not to surrender to the speaker; but he had not spoken 
 more than hve minutes before the entire assemblage seemed to say, " we give it 
 up." Mr. Emerson spoke one hour and a half , and we did not see a single per- 
 son leave the hall: all were held in wrapt attention till the close. The lecturer 
 had promised the people of Oakland a great deal — some thought too much 
 altogether — but he gave us even more than he ^jromised. Hi.s delivery is char- 
 acterized by an utter abandonment to his subject, and it does not seem to re- 
 quire the slightest ettbrt for him to pitch his voice, of w^onderfiil Hexibility and 
 power, on any key, vising in an instant from the deepest bass to the lightest 
 tones of wit and raillery. And his style of composition is equally varied. He 
 reasons by means of rigid logic, by illustrations — some of them droll enough 
 — by wit, sarcasm and, above all, by forcible jesture. So far as we know, the 
 lecture gave universal satisfaction, and if tens of thousands wme published 
 for general circulation, they would benefit Oakland immensely . We under- 
 stand this is to Vie done as soon as possible, though Mr. Emerson tells as it will 
 take some little time to w'rite out the extemporized portions of his speech, 
 which was certainly brilliant and grand. 
 
 [Frotn. the Boston Jvnrii/U, Oct. 3, 1872.] 
 D. L. Emerson, of California, lectured Tuesday evening in Treniont Tem- 
 ple, on* "The World's Greatest Orators, Ancient and Modern." The lecture 
 was a masterly production, evincing vast research and preparation. 
 
 '\From the Fittsburij Chronicle, Dec. 3, 1S7(I.] 
 Mr. Emerson's Lecture. — The lecture by D. L. Emerson, Esq., last even- 
 ing, in the Sixth Presbyterian Church, was attended by a very large audience, 
 and was a perfect success in every resiiect. Mr. Emerson is an eloquent 
 speaker, and we understand that our citizeus will have an opportunity of hear- 
 ing him again on Monday evening next on a popular subject. 
 
 {From the Fittsbury, Pa., Gazette, Dec. 3, 1870.] 
 Mr. Emerson's Lecture. — This gentleman's lecture at Dr. Wilson's Church, 
 Thursday evening, was spoken of as a splendid efibrt by all who heard it. 
 
HI 
 
 There was a large audience present, and at the close of the lecture Dr. Wilson 
 spoke of it as one of the most instructive and eloquent lectures that has ever 
 been delivered in this city. Mr. Emerson will piobablj' speak here again on 
 popixlar subjects. 
 
 I Extracts from the Sdv, Frandsco Golden Era, Dec. 17, 1871.] 
 His reputation in the lecturing field is too well established to need an ex- 
 tended criticism from us. He is now under engagement to deliver the lectures 
 he is now preparing on his return to the East, where siiperior talents in this 
 field command something more than a mere nominal sum. 
 
 Mr. Emerson's delivery is clear, deliberate and emphatic. A.s a speaker, he 
 is noted for his intense earnestness — a quality which includes many others, 
 and which contains the chief secret of oratorical success. He has that perfect 
 control over a voice of great compass and ptjwer, which many years of elocu- 
 tionary training will secure. 
 
 (Letter from Rev. J. E. Moorehearl.J 
 
 Beaveb Falls, April 16, 1872. 
 Mr. D. L. Emeeson: — Deae Sib: Having lived much of my time in or near 
 Pittsburg, I have had opportunity — and of course improved it — of hearing 
 most of the eminent orators of the country. And now, sir, I assure you that I 
 have never heard any lecture with which any of the three, which you delivered 
 in Beaver Falls last week, will not bear favorable comparison. I hope to see 
 your name on the list of orators for next winter, in Library Hall, Pittsburg. 
 With kindest regards, I am, &c., yours, 
 
 J. D. MOOREHEAD, 
 Pastor Presbyterian Church, Beaver Falls 
 
 (Correspondence of the Pittsburg Gazette.) 
 
 Bbavek Falls, April 13, 1872. 
 I am happy to say that we are side by side with you in so far as the lectures 
 are concerned. I now speak not of the quantity but of the quality. D. L. 
 Emerson, of California, gave us this week three such literary treats as are cal- 
 ciilated to make hungry minded mortals glad. Had any of our Committee 
 heard his lecture either on "The Elements of Success," "The Sandwich 
 Islands," or "Eloqiience and the Orators," California, I am satisfied, would 
 be represented next winter in Library Hall. 
 
 Ereatum. — For the word " professional "—first page of this announcement 
 -read professorial. 
 
SPEEC H 
 
 -BY- 
 
 D. L. EMERSON, OF OAKLAND, 
 
 -o*- 
 
 Oakland 
 
 JUDGED FROM AN 
 
 Eastern Standpoint, 
 
 DELIVERED IN DIETZ HALL, (OAKLAND,) 
 NOV. 30, 1875. 
 
 Single Copies 25 Cents ; 5 for $ I 00 ; 100 for $ISOO. 
 
 BoTLEE & Bowman, Peintees, Oakland, Cal. 
 
Eiitf r.'d according to an Act of C'onKi'esfi. in tlic yr.ir a. d. 1.H75, in tin- ottici- <,f tlic Liliraiiau 
 of i-'untfi'CKs, at Washiiigioii. D, C. 
 
JUDGED FROM AN EASTERN STANDPOINT. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen : — To every one of those who did me 
 tlie high honor to come to this place, last Friday evening, and 
 wait for my appearance, longer, probably, than any other 
 speaker was ever waited for, under similar circumstances, on 
 this Coast, I wish, on this occasion, to tender my most profound 
 and heartfelt thanks. I was in my room, down on Sixth street, 
 Avearied by the labors of the day, supposing that I had made 
 such arrangements that the hall would not be lighted up, and a 
 little disappointed, I confess, that God should have seen tit, 
 just at that time, to pour down such copious Hoods of glorious 
 rain; l)ut had I known that even fifty, of the three hundred 
 persons then present, were waiting for me here, I would have 
 come here and "spoke my little piece" if I had been compelled 
 to swim through ice-water! 
 
 Again, I say, I thank you. 
 
 1 have been al)sent from Oakland long enough to enable me 
 to look at our fair city through Eastern eyes — long enough to 
 see and to realize what rapid strides the city is takiiig toward a 
 fultillment of the fondest dreams of the most sanguine citizen. 
 And I wish, to-night, to contrast Oakland with one or more of 
 our Eastern cities of about the same size, that we may settle 
 the question, at once and forever, as to whether the present 
 values of our property are founded on a solid gold basis, or 
 merely upou the flexible plank of inflation, rotten in the middle 
 and not fastened at either end. I intend, also, before I get 
 through, to answer the question, pretty eftectually, whetJier 
 every owner of real estate in this city, in estimating the value 
 of his earthly possessions, may not safely add from 30 to 50 
 per cent, to the present market price and wait patiently, if need 
 be, for purchasers to come, uatil a suflicient number of insane 
 
8 
 
 speculators shall have goue down, hopelessly, in the seething 
 vortex of wild venture to convince the rest that only redJ prop- 
 erty is wealth and that peace of mind alone is happiness. I do 
 not come before you, to-night, with a classical oration, the utter- 
 ance of whose rounded periods will fall on your ears like the 
 sweet strains of artistic music. And, you listen so often to the 
 bewitching cadences of your scholars and your orators, that 
 a few plain facts, couched in homely phrase, may afibrd a va- 
 riety, for the passiiig hour, not altogether unendurable. The 
 question is eminently a practical one of vast financial import- 
 ance; and I am well aware tliat neither capital nor labor is 
 especially attracted l)y the gorgeous tiowers of rhetoric, and 
 that the consummate uctiitg of a Roscius would not be regarded 
 by an Oakland banker as sufficient security for the loan of a 
 dollar. He might, possibly, accept the artistic grimaces and 
 the appropriate jestures as collateral security after the first mort- 
 gage on his real estate had been tiled for record. And, more- 
 over, shrewd business men look with suspicion even on a state- 
 ment of facts, when those facts are coated all over Avith alo- 
 pathic quantities of sweet epithets. I intend, therefore, 
 this evening, to employ plain and even homely words; and if I 
 should give utterance to some expressions which s)iiack of the 
 '■^ Back-ivoo(h districts,'' as we say down East, I do not want you 
 to attribute such expressions to any wish, on my part, to ai pear 
 either coarse or rude, but rather to the fact, far less reprehen- 
 sible, though quite as unfortunate, that my exrh/ education was 
 somewliat neglected. And, in referring to the past history of 
 Oakland, which I shall do at some length, if I should seem to 
 reflect unjustly on any one of her citizens, I disclaim in the 
 outset any such intention. Indeed, I shall avoid as far as pos- 
 sible any unwelcome personalities. That distinguished hyx>o- 
 chondriac — Josh Billings — says that men love to be "cussed" if 
 they can only make money by it; and if I should say anything 
 to-night which savors of cursing, I shall do so with the iuten- 
 tion of increasing your resources. I will qualify this remark, 
 however, — for it is cowardly and mean to be hypocritical — by 
 saying that I would not willingly add a single dollar to the 
 wealth of any man, or any set of men, who have ever sought 
 to cripple and crush Oakland. Such men would be richer 
 
9 
 
 than they deserve, already, if ^ey were wheeling sand on Al- 
 eatraz Island for a pound, per day, of bread and meat. 
 
 Now, lest any of*'you should imagine that I come here, to- 
 night, for the purpose of inflating values unduly, I will make 
 a proposition or two before I get through, which will convince 
 you, I think, not only of my boundless faith in Oakland, but 
 also of my willingness to forfeit a few thousand dollars if it 
 should happen to turn out that my confidence in Oakland is 
 misplaced. Any shrewd financier, on visiting our citj-, will be 
 especially impressed with two important facts. The first fact 
 is, the unequaled advantages and the supreme beauty of our 
 situation; our mild, equable climate, the romantic and sublime 
 Scenery, whichever way we turn our eyes, — for the Pacific 
 Ocean, lashed by the storm, is not letjs sublime than the snow- 
 capped peaks of the everlasting hills — and the peculiar attract- 
 iveness and the enchanting beauty of our homes — not oases in 
 the midst of the desert, but green hoivers, exhaling sv>'eet orders, 
 nestling in the very bosom of an earthly Paradise. This is tlie 
 first fact. The next fact which would at once impress and 
 startle him is not quite as poetical as the first, but it is certainly 
 not less important, and its strange significance is intensified by 
 the first. This fact is the low price of business property and 
 the small difference between the prices of business property 
 and residence property, as compared with this same difference 
 in Eastern cities. Let us examine this financial inconsistency, 
 for a little while, that we may see clearly whj it exists, and 
 thus, at least, be prepared to remove and forever obliterate it. 
 
 While traveling from place to place in the East, I have taken 
 the pains to make some inquiries, and I speak far within the 
 truth when I tell you that business property in any one of a 
 hundred prosperous cities, about the size of Oakland, in the 
 Eastern States, will sell, to-day, ^ — -although real estate is in a 
 more depressed condition there now than at any previous period 
 since 1857, — for nearly twice as much, over and above the actual 
 value of the improvements, as Oakland business property will 
 sell for. Take any half-dozen cities in Massachusetts — -Lynn, 
 La«rrence, Haverell, Wort;ester, FaU River, Springfield, — each 
 one of which is a little larger, 1 admit, than Oakland, but 
 neither one of which is increasing in numbers, according to its 
 
10 
 
 populatiou, oue-half as fast as Oakland, aud you will liiid this 
 statement of mine to be true, unless, indeed, it discriminates 
 agaiiist those cities. Take Worcester, Mass., as a fair sample 
 of a flourishing Eastern city. If you could buy 100x100 feet 
 of the best property in that city for $100,000 in gold, besides 
 the actual value of the improvements, you would have a hundred 
 offers, inside of a week, of a very large advance over that price. 
 One of the best lots of this size in Oakland Avould not bring, 
 I supjDose, more than 170,000. But I found, on inquiry, that 
 the price of residence pi-operty in and about Worcester, if we 
 except those lots which will be soon in demand for business 
 purposes, does not differ very materially from the price here. 
 Now, the important question is, why is this so? In the first 
 place, this difference is not due to the difference in rates of 
 interest. The average rate of interest in Worcester, for the 
 last five years, has been as high as 8 per cent. ; the average 
 rate in Oakland, during that period, has not much exceeded 10 
 per cent. This difference is not due to a difference in the rate 
 of taxation. If there is any one question concerning which you 
 are a]it to be deceived, it is this single question of taxation. I 
 do not remember the exact rate of taxation in Worcester, but 
 I do know one fact, and I challenge investigation as to its full 
 force and validity, and it is this, namely : that any one of the 
 New England States pays a higher rate of taxation than Cali- 
 fornia pays, and that an average New England city is taxed at 
 a higher rate than Oakland is taxed. Allow me to remind jon 
 that if you own*a piece of property there, you pa}' taxes on 
 the full value of that property. 
 
 I am ver}' sorry to say that I OAvn a good many pieces of real 
 estate in New England, and I will sell it to any of you for 10 
 per cent, less than it is taxed for. I don't mean 10 per cent, 
 less than it cost me; that I won't do. And, while I am about 
 it, I may ^s well own up to a regular Oakland trick and confess 
 that if I should sell for less than it cost me, I should have to 
 hire somebody to take a part of it oft' my hands ! Of course, a 
 v> ry rich man in the East, — one who can aftbrd to pay any 
 amount of taxes, — can get a liberal reduction as they do here, 
 AVhy not? How do the}- obtain gold to pave the streets of 
 Paradise with, if rich men don't take it with them when they 
 
11 
 
 dieV But, to return; and if you want me to utter the most 
 abominable lie that was ever told in Oakland, I will admit that 
 this difference in favor of Worcester property is partly due to 
 the superionty of that dimnte. Tlie climate there is perfectly 
 splendid. We had, last Wintei', twenty-two days of the most 
 bracing zero weather, the most hofriM// bracing weather, in the 
 city of Boston, during the mouth of February alone; and no 
 washer-woman ever cultivated the acquaintance of a hot Hat- 
 iron, after nine o'clock at night, more assiduously than we did 
 to keep our feet from freeing in bed. "Worcester is a manu- 
 facturing city," you will say. Yes, I admit that it is. And if 
 you will take your pencil and note book with 3'ou and canvas 
 this city thoroughly, you will find a very large nnmber of man- 
 ufactories here. But su})pose there were none here, would you 
 swap your commercial advantages for Jive times the number of 
 Worcester's manufactoriesV I beg your pardon for asking the 
 stupid question. One wui'd now as to the patronage of those 
 Eastern cities. We often hear it said that there aie more people 
 there than here. My answer is that there are more places of 
 business, in proportion to the population, east of Chicago than 
 there are either in this city or this State. 
 
 Trade is eminently aggressive in the East. You will find 
 there the sharpest rivalry between villages and cities. Well, 
 what about the debt of Worcester as compared with that of 
 Oakland? I do not know how much money that city owes, but 
 if any of you will take the trouble to ascertain and you do not 
 find that Worcester owes five times as much as Oakland, I will 
 pay for a supper, at the Grand Central Hotel, for twelve of the 
 heartiest eaters in this city — and I do not know but I would 
 say thirteen; and, pai'adoxical as it may seem, other things 
 tqaal, cities liourisli in proportion to their debts — provided 
 the ruoiiey is welt expended. 
 
 Boston is one of the most prosperous cities on this continent; 
 and, except New York, Boston owes nearly twice as much, ac- 
 coiding to her population, as any other city on the continent. 
 But they don't have any Boss Tweeds, nor any other bosses, to 
 any great extent in Boston; and New York has become dis- 
 gusted with the one-man power; and I thought I recognized 
 just a little of that wholesome kind of disgust in Oakland at 
 
12 
 
 one or two of your late elections. Oimihroiv the one-man 
 power wherever it do/es to show its audacious head ! We have 
 had too much of it even in Oakland, but it is not verv popular 
 just now. And one word more as to the debts of cities. You 
 can Scarcely lind a fidnrlshing city in New England — mark m}'^ 
 w^ords, a Jloai'isk'mg city — of the size of Oakland, which does 
 not owe a miJliov dollars. And they owe their prosperily to 
 their debts. Capitalists fear taxation, it is true, but they fear 
 stagnation and death still more; and the best preparation for 
 the reduction of taxes is to make such public improvements as 
 to attract capital, and thereby increase your resources. Taxes 
 in Boston, wdth her enormous debt of $40,00U,000, are not very 
 high. But she has something to s/ioiv for her debt. M}' taxes 
 in Oakland are not as high, relatively, as they were a few years 
 ago when we owed only |80,00U; and I have never yet asked 
 the Board of Equalization to reduce them, though I have always 
 paid a much higher rate of taxation than some rich men that I 
 could name. And it was just good enough for me; I might have 
 been rich, too, if I had not taken to lecturing and had been, 
 in other respects, sharp. It is not manly for us to whine over 
 a little debt of four or live hundied thousand dollars, which 
 Dr. Merritt alone could pay out of the net proceeds of one of 
 his little side speculations in real estate down by the lake. 
 And while I think of it, let me say one word in regard to that 
 beautiful sheet of water. Some people declare that that lake 
 isn't worth a — dam. But it is worth a dam, and a good dam, 
 too; and I hope the City Council will dam it. i^ow, my friends, 
 I am not in favor, and never was in favor, of shutting my eyes 
 and wading, thoughtlessly, into an ocean of debt; but if this 
 city should borrow $200,000, more or less, pat a tunn<il through 
 yonder hill, and make a cheap toll road into those vast and inex- 
 haustible valleys beyond, she woidd add to her property 
 •14,000,000 before you could see daylight through that tunnel. 
 And the toll would pay the interest ou the debt twice over. 
 
 Since writing the above, I have ascertained the cheering fact 
 that tliis grand enterprise is to be undertaken, at once, by pri- 
 vate capital; that the Floods and the O'Briens and their friends 
 have come forward and are going to <id<l to Oakland's prosperity 
 by snatching this splendid opportunity from her grasp. I do 
 
13 
 
 not know liow much stock Senator Sharon will take in this 
 company, now fully organized; but I do know that the road — 
 which is to be a rail road — when completed, will appear more 
 beautiful to the people of Oakland than the /o.se of Sharon and 
 ihe liUies of the vaUei/s. And an appro^Driation of another 
 ^100,000 for the encouragement of manufactures in our midst 
 would pav us ten per cent, per titoiifh on the investment. 
 
 Now, the simple fact that Ijusiness })roperty is so much higher, 
 relatively, in Eastern cities than in this city involves no mystery. 
 This is the explanation, and it is easy and simple: Capitalists 
 there, as well as in San Francisco, have learned perfectly how 
 to make their ground pay rent four or live times over. In 
 other words the}^ build high. And allow me to say that the 
 architecture even of New York C'ity and of Boston is far less 
 elaborate and expensive, but is, on the whole, much better 
 adapted to the purposes of trade than the architecture of San 
 Francisco. A. T. Stewart's dry goods palace, five stories high, 
 is a very plain structure; but no other building on this conti- 
 nent is so well adapted to his business as that. And Mr. 
 Stewart has managed from the first to make a nice little profit 
 of a couple of millions a year out of that improvement, although 
 when he commenced the building, one mile above the limit of 
 retail trade in dry goods, the enterprise Avas called Steivart's 
 follij. But if he was a fool he was not a coward. And a little 
 getmine courage, a little doivnright, old-fashioned, New England 
 pluck, often makes up /or a woful lack of brains.' Dire necessity 
 has compelled me to try it and I speak, therefore, from sad ex- 
 perience. The famous Tribune building, tegi stories high, is a 
 brick structure. Another building, just completed, on lower 
 Broadway, also ten stories high, is built of brick; and no build- 
 ing material on this earth will stand earthquakes or fire better 
 than brick, if the walls are well tied together with iron. Sim- 
 etry, beauty, adaptability, strength, these are the four funda- 
 mental principles of architecture. Now, as to the height of 
 buildings : S'X-^toxy buildings, in the East, are scarcely higher 
 than an average five-story building in San Francisco; and the 
 former answer the purposes of trade even better; and it has 
 been demonstrated beyond a doubt that high structures resist 
 the earthquake shocks much better than low ones. The Wilcox 
 
14 
 
 block stoorl the great shock of LS68 very much better than any 
 other in tcjwn, and the Avails of tliat building are onl)- one foot 
 thick; but the Captain has had a little experience with anchors 
 in his day, and he profited by that experience, i assure you, 
 when he reconstructed that building. One word riglit here as 
 to the commercial value of a good elevator which will make its 
 round trip every three minutes all day. Such an elevator in a 
 five story building 80x100 feet, or larger, does hicreas'' the rents 
 of that property from 25 to 40 })er cent., above the cost of run- 
 ning it, both in the East and in San Francisco. 
 
 ]^ow, fellow citizens, with these facts in full view, listen to 
 me patiently while I prove, beyond the shadow of a reasonable 
 doubt, that any one hundred feet square, including a corner, 
 even on the wroiu/ side of Broadway, Oakland, between Eighth 
 and Fourteenth streets, will pay a large interest on $1,000 per 
 front foot, besides interest on the cost of the improvement. 
 Let us see. 1 am prepared to take the contract to cover every 
 sc[uare inch of this space with a sj^mmetrical and beautiful ed- 
 ihce, dve stories high and earthquake-proof, with a pressed 
 brick front, or some other suitable front, properly ornamented, 
 and containing an elevator of the kind just mentioned, for the 
 sum of $180,000. This structure will contain a basement 
 100x100 feet, two stores in the first story nearly 50x100 feet 
 each, and, in the second story, two stores of the same size. 
 The three upper stories will contain ninety rooms, any one of 
 which will be much more desirable, partly on account of the 
 elevator and partly on account of the attractiveness of sucli a 
 structure, and for bther important reasons, than the best room 
 on Broadway. Now, as to the rent: Basing my calculations 
 on the rents actually paid on the wrong side of Broadway, the 
 first story will bring $500 per month; the basement will rent 
 for $100 per month; the second story will rent for $350 per 
 mouth. The best rooms on Broadway bring readily $20 per 
 month. We will rate these at $18 each, which, with the elevator, 
 are better worth twice that sum than any room on Broadway is 
 worth $25. Well, these various sums foot up $2,570 per month. 
 The interest on the $230,000— the value of the land at $1,000 
 per front foot and the cost of the building, — amounts, in 
 round numbers, to $1,917 per month. Deducting this sum 
 
15 
 
 from the $2,570 and we have left a nice little margin of $7,836 
 per annum for taxes, insurance and other incidental expenses. 
 Now, if the advice which I am going to give you property hold- 
 ers on the wrong side of Broadway is not worth anything to 
 you, please remember that it don't cost you very much. Any- 
 liow, the advice is that you better not offer again to sell your 
 property for Jiftij cemts on the dollar. People will respect you 
 just as much if you ask a respectable price for it. If owners of 
 real estate on the r'uiht side of Broadway want to barter away their 
 birthrites for a mess of pottage, let them do it. We can't help 
 it, but we con pltty them and pray for them. And I only reit- 
 erate the well nigh universal opinion of our citizens, who are 
 the best informed on this subject, when I say that two thonsand 
 rooms and fifty stoi'es of the kind above named could all be 
 rented here to good tenants long before they can be constructed. 
 Am I asked, now, why I, pretending to have so mncli faith in 
 the intrinsic value of our real estate, do not, at once, com- 
 mence the erection of some such structure? The question is 
 eminently proper, and this is my answer. Like some other men 
 that I could name, I am not able to erect such an edifice. But 
 I will tell you what I am able to do : I am able to submit to 
 you capitalists a proposition which will prove my faith in my 
 own statements. 1 will sell 100x100 feet of my Twelfth street 
 property for 05 per cent, of its actual value, provided every 
 square inch of it shall be covered by a three-story building, or 
 a five-story building, with an elevator . And if I can have the 
 privilege of buying the property back at an advance of $20,000, 
 over and above the cost, within two years and a half from the 
 completion of the improvement, I will put $10,000 into the 
 building; and if I do noi find a purchaser for it at that time 
 aiid that advanced price, I will forfeit the $10,000 and $5,000 
 besides. I will also submit another proposition, separate and 
 distinct from the first : I will take a lease of those premises 
 for three years, or foe years, from the date of the completion 
 of the building, at an annual rental equal to fourteen per cent, 
 per annum on the cost of the land and the improvement. I 
 have two good tenants already for the first and second stories, 
 and if I cannot lease the upper story to good advantage I will 
 open a free school up there and teach little children, as well as 
 
16 
 
 I know liow, the fuiulanieiital principles and the solemn neces- 
 sity of enterprise and enerj^y in all fiinnicial undertakings. 
 
 Now, it any of you have half as much faith in your own city 
 as I have, we can make a bargain. I do not ask you to come 
 forward and help me — I am not quite as cheeky as that — but I 
 do come and offer you at least $20,000 if you will seize an op- 
 portunity to help yourselves. 
 
 But I hear capitalists say ' ' Bring us the tenants and we will 
 build just what they want; but we don't see where they are 
 coming from." Well, suppose you spread molasses on a sheet 
 of paper, during the month of August, and then ask where the 
 f.'ies are coming from ? While you are discussing that profound 
 question, three thousand enterprising flies will be enjoying a 
 good square meal right before your face. And, moreover, the 
 molasses will make them stick there — just as good stores make 
 tenants stick. Or, suppose the owners of this ferry, instead of 
 making ample provision for the half million already here and 
 the million more soon to come, had exacted a guarantee from 
 the City Council that sufficient patronage should be furnished 
 them? Or, to show the bifiuate folly in this particular case of 
 such want of faith, suppose every woman in this city should 
 take a solemn oath that she will never provide another article 
 of infantile wearing apparel till tlic child k horn? They won't 
 take any such stupid oath; and what is better, the garments 
 will not pinch after they are put on. We have just 250 mer- 
 chants in this city waiting and praying for larger stores. One 
 told me the other day that he waited two years for such a store 
 and then had to accept one altogether too small. And how 
 long will the stores which they leave remain unoccupied ? Not 
 more than three minutes and a halt". But I am met at this 
 point, by persons with whom I have conversed, with the extra- 
 ordinary objection that the people of this city will not occupy 
 such high buildings and will not appreciate good elevators. My 
 answer is, prove to me the truth of the following false declara- 
 tions and I will admit the validity of the objection. The first 
 false declaration is, that the people of Oakland are materially 
 dijferod from other American citizens of intelligence and cul- 
 ture. The second falsehood and slander is that they love to 
 trot up and down stairs better than other folks; and the third 
 
17 
 
 is that they do not appreciate, as fully as other people, the en- 
 chanting panorama which our city presents to one looking out 
 of a fourth story. Prove these false statements to be true and 
 I will co)isider your objection. Indeed, rooms in the third and 
 fourth stories are much preferred even here, especially in Winter. 
 The landlord of the Grand Central Hotel, in this city, — which 
 would be grand d it were not "central," for its patrons inform 
 me that it is grandly kept — its landlord tells me that his rooms 
 in the fourth story are greatly preferred even by Oakland peo- 
 ple. And with good reason : It is more quiet up there; the 
 air is more healthful and the outlook is incomparably better, 
 and besides this it would be better for us all, both bodily and 
 spiritually, if ive lived nearer heaven. If a man is not able to 
 improve his property as he could wish, he is fully justified in 
 making temporary improvements as a means to a higher end. 
 
 And, right here, I w^ant to make a frank confession. When 
 I built my block of little stores on the wrong side of Broadway, 
 above Twelfth street, I was called a fool for supposing that 
 trade would ever extend as high up as that. And I ivas one of 
 the biggest fools in this city ; but my folly extended in the 
 opposite direction. If I had, at that time, erected a three-story 
 building 100x100 feet — not of brick then but of wood — I could 
 hold up a bag of gold before you to-night containing just 
 $20,000 more than I now possess. They say an honest confes- 
 sion is good for the soul, but I don't see it exactly in that light. 
 Nor am I not quite as complacent as the good deacon was of 
 whom I once read. He confessed to his brethren that he was 
 a great sinner, and thanked God that he was not ashamed to 
 own it. I will make the confession just to please you, biit I 
 won't go another inch ! 
 
 Now, I wish to enumerate as briefly is possible, some of the 
 main obstacles, which, from time to time, have stood in the 
 way of Oakland's prosperity, in order that we may have some 
 sort of a valid excuse to offer the new-comer who is enabled to 
 profit by our folly. 
 
 Some of my friends have kindly informed me that no man 
 can speak in Oakland more than an hour and still be orthodox. 
 Now, I want to be orthodox — of course I do — and I want to 
 speak more than an hour; and if you will let me do both and 
 
18 
 
 will hear me through eompletel}' to the end, 1 will make tho 
 same solemn promise to you whiih the Irishman made to the 
 Lord during a storm at sea. He thought he was going to be 
 cast away and he fell down on his knees and prayed as follows : 
 " Oh Lord Jasus, if ye will only spare poor Pat's life now 
 joost, it will be a Imuj time before he will be throubJing your 
 Riverence with his prayers again !" Substitue lecfures for 
 prayers, and I am that Irishmaii ! 
 
 When I first came to Oakland our population numbered less 
 than 1000 ; and at that time this whole region of country' above 
 Seventh street was the most attractive cow-pasture that you 
 ever beheld. Then, and for years after, all the travel to Han 
 Francisco was by way of the creek route ; and it was consid- 
 ered a risky venture to embark on that tedicms journey without 
 sufficient food for several meals ; for that bar at the mouth of 
 the creek, about as changeable as a hungry hen trying to catch 
 a grasshopper, would be very apt to debar us from anything 
 like a rapid transit. How often have I seen anxious wives, 
 standing on the Oakland wharf and peering out through tlie 
 villainous fog, trying to catch a glimpse of their hungry lius- 
 hiiiidii stiick in the mad ! But now the Ball has been set in 
 motion, his dredger has removed the bar and it is no longer 
 a bar to our progress. In a few years the new ferry route was 
 completed and it made at first, four round trips a day. And 
 when we petitioned for one more trip, we were met with tlie 
 discouraging promise that our request should be granted as 
 soon as the census taker could record, under oath, twenty-live 
 new births in Oakland. No ! that was not the exact promise — 
 it was not one-half as encouraging as that . Now what a change ! 
 I do not know, perhaps you know, but I very much doubt it, 
 a single other ferry in the United States so ample and com- 
 plete in all its appointments as this ; and I am sure there is none 
 over which you can ride with so much comfort for so little 
 money. At that time, also, we had a whole army, both in 
 Oakland and out of it who seemed sworn to injure our city all 
 they could. No frog-'pond ;4n the United States ever sent up, 
 during the month of April, so infernal a din to the delicate ears 
 of any nervous invalid as this army of human frogs poured 
 into the ears of citizens and strangers in depreciation of our 
 
19 
 
 unrivaled city. For some unaccountable reason Oakland was 
 full of them, San Francisco was full of them, and the country 
 all about was full of them. If a people ever had occasion to 
 curse Pharoah and pity the Israelites, we were that people. 
 If these mtelleciual exclamation points saw a man pacing off a 
 lot of land or carting a bunch of shingles across town, they 
 would forthwith liarraugue him, with lugubrious countenances, 
 on the supreme folly of squandering his hard earned dollars on 
 any such a worthless bed of sand. And these croakers, so 
 numerous and so persistent, we ought to confess with shame, 
 had their influence upon all of us. I tind here a few of them 
 now — there are not cluds and brickbats enough on the Pacific 
 Coast to make them duck their heads and hold their tongues,^ 
 but their croaking is comparatively harmless now — like the 
 mumbling of an idiot which everybody is accustomed to, even 
 their presence and jargon would be more or less missed. I 
 could enumerate the almost insuperable obstacles which we had 
 to encounter in the adjustment of our adverse land titles. 
 But the recital would be long and tedious and might do injus- 
 tice to innocent parties. And it is sufficient for us, during all 
 time to come, that the highest tribunals of the land have de- 
 clared to us, by solemn decree, that we may now "read our 
 titles clear to mansions in " — Oakland, About that time also 
 our public schools were in a deplorable condition ; and if any 
 member of the City Council had proposed to borrow $900 for 
 educational purposes, he would have been unceremoniously 
 dumped into the bay by outraged citizens. And I do not know 
 what we should have done for public schools, if the first Mayor 
 of Oakland, a graduate of Harvard, I believe, and a benefactor 
 to our town, had not generously come forward and donated to 
 our city a school house worth several hundred dollars ; and all 
 he ever received in return for his magnificent gift was only 
 about nine miles of our miserable and worthless marshy water 
 front— which would sell to-day for 1500,000! 
 
 Now, I do not know of a city on this continent which has 
 expended its money so liberally and so judiciously in behalf of 
 our system of public instruction. The only danger against 
 which I would warn you is that of seeking to imitaie the schools 
 
20 
 
 of the East by crushing and overwhelming the poor pupils 
 Avith a multiplicity of studies. 
 
 Then, the town was distracted for a year or so over the ques- 
 tion of a railroad terminus. Tliui question is now settled to 
 our entire satisfaction. After that we had a squabble over the 
 location of our City Hall. Some wanted it at the Point, 
 others wanted it near the bridge on Twelfth street, a large mem- 
 ber were determined to have it on one of the plazas down town, 
 and an old Frenchman on First street, who didn't understand 
 the English language " so besser als goot," supposing it was to 
 be a billiard hall for the accommodation of the city officials, 
 generouly offered to donate one-half of his hack yard for the 
 purpose, together with an alley-way leading in. But the 
 building was at length located where it ought to be, and it is a 
 credit to the town . Then, two or three men, who were ambitious 
 to immortalize their names, exploded a tremendous bomlishell 
 in our midst in the shape of a proposition to alter the cit}' 
 grade. And forthwith they collected the measuring rods of half 
 a dozen surveyors, })iled them up, one on top of another, and 
 called into requsition the best microscopes to be found on the 
 Coast, ill order to prove that there ivas an inhntessimal differ- 
 ence in the length of those measures; and, during the contro- 
 versy that ensued one of the most concientious and one of the 
 most competent surveyors that ever came to this Coast — and 
 that man's name is W. F. Boardman — was shamefully and 
 wantonly misrepresented and traduced. But let that pass — I 
 beg your pardon for telling this truth — at any rate the one-man 
 power prevailed ; the grade was altered, and in spite of the 
 temporary set-back the price of real estate continued to ad- 
 vance. In the next place a most startling rumor was 
 set affoat by some mischievous individual which pro- 
 duced a terrific excitement in this entire community. 
 This rumor was to the effect that two or three men, nobody 
 knows who, living at Oakland Point, or somewhere else, were 
 concocting a scheme by which our county buildings were to be 
 attached to those slaughter houses in East Oakland, in order 
 that — so the rumor ran — cattle thieves might enjoy a very sen- 
 sihle foretaste of the delectable orders of San Quinten before 
 conviction; and that lawyers and Judges might have a perpet- 
 
21 
 
 \vA\.olfaclorij demonstration of the solemn necessity of a sure 
 and swift administration of justice. 
 
 This was the rumor, and the excitement it produced Avas sim- 
 pl}'' tremenaovs. It alienated old friends. It revived for a time 
 the old habit, once chronic and poj)ular across the Bay, but not 
 so any longer, of sneering at Oakland. I am told it separated 
 two or three families — at any rate several divorce cases imme- 
 diately followed — and, like the presence of a pestilential dis- 
 ease, it made some of us feel sick, when we were well, and 
 caused others to think that they were well who were soon after 
 taken sick. No earthquake ever unsettled real estate like this 
 report. It revived the spirits of the croakers. It opened our 
 eyes very Avide to the uncertainties of all things pertaining to 
 earth; but when that jail and court house took to themselves 
 the Avings of the morning and ilcAV — to the plaza doAvn toAvn — 
 we Avere more thoroughly convinced than ever before that the 
 Holy scriptures are designed for all classes and conditions of 
 men. People in West Oakland might be heard quoting such 
 passages as these: " Ihey came to a place where two seas met 
 and they run the ship aground;" "Where I am, there shall ye' 
 — meaning the county seat — "be also." And God said "Let 
 there be light, and there was light." In East Oakland, the peo- 
 ple exclaimed, "Oh, ye generation of vipers!" "Ye are of 
 your father, the devil, and his Avorks ye do;" "Where the car- 
 cass is, there are the eagles gathered together." And now we 
 hear the people of both sections sweetly chanting together that 
 beautiful prophesy of Holy Writ : ' 'The lion and the lamb 
 shall lie down together, and the little child shall lead them." 
 
 The last and only obstacle in the way of our future greatness 
 Avas the difficulty of securing Congressional aid in making the 
 best and safest natural harbor on this continent available for 
 commercial purposes. The securing of that aj)propriation, in 
 the face of a hydraheaded and a ti'emendous opposition, Avas a 
 signal triumph; and I think that Congressman Page is one of 
 the brightest pages in Oakland's history. I confess that I Avas a 
 little skeptical about an appropriation for this grand work. 
 But our friends in Congress — and we have a host of them East 
 — mean business noAv in relation to this matter. The first 
 $100,000 has been well expended; the second $100,000 will be 
 
22 
 
 forthcomiug; a large appropriation will be made tliis AViuter; 
 tliej are surveying the route for the new canal, ai;(l we shall 
 soon have a harbor which will be worth more to Oakland than 
 five times the mauufacturies of Lowell would be to that cit3^ 
 And I am informed by one of the largest owners in the Water 
 Front Co., who has never yet misinformed me and never de- 
 ceived me, that water lots will soon be offered for sale at reas- 
 onable prices. 
 
 These obstacles in the way of Oakland's prosperity were very 
 formidable; but now they are all overcome. And I should like 
 to have some inveterate groioler, some man who possesses a rare 
 genius for manufacturing bugbears, mention a single barrier to 
 our future greatness and grandeur; and then I should like to 
 have a chance at that man for about twenty minutes! The only 
 obstacle in our way, one-half as formidable as a moist spider's 
 web, is the enormous price of lots oat in the cemetery; which is 
 another proof of the intrinsic value of Oakland property. But 
 a man need not die in Oakland, unless he wants to, till he is 
 rich enough to pay his funeral expenses w\i\\oui feeling it. And 
 I will present the best lot there is out there, to any depredator 
 of our city, if he loiU agree to die right aiua?j. Such a dona- 
 tion would assist, indirecth/ at least, the Ladies' Benevolent As- 
 sociation of this city. 
 
 For us, then, the future is secure. We oecupy unequaled 
 vantage giound on the great highway of nations. Space has 
 been idmost annihilated between here and the East, so that we 
 can throw a kiss to our old mothers back in the old homesteads, 
 even while we stand so near the islands of the sea and the na- 
 tions of the Orient that they can hear us say to them, ' ' Give us 
 your varied and rich products in exchange for our gold and our 
 grain !" Oakland needs, just now, one or two men who shall do 
 as much for mercantile architectu.e as Dr. Merritt and a great 
 many others have done for residence architecture. Xwd £ think 
 tills want will be supplied. I have been permitted to examine, 
 already, the plans of two or three beautiful structures soon to 
 be erected off of Broadway, and I am told by one who ought 
 to know that the bank folks are soon to commence a magnificent 
 building on the corner of Twelfth street and Broadway. I have 
 
23 
 
 opposed this scheme all I dare; but fighting a bank is uphill 
 work, and I have finally concluded to subside. 
 
 Some of the older citizens of Oakland, who had boundless faith 
 in her future greatness, are gone; and as I walk these streets, 
 musing on the past, 1 sometimes feel lonesome, even at home 
 and among friends. I think of Brayton, one of my early 
 teachers, a man of gentle, loving spirit, who reminded one of 
 the quiet stream that flows sileiitly on toward the ocean, seem- 
 ing io feel its way down through the lowlands and between the 
 high banks and rugged clifi's, but whose current, nevertheless, 
 is steady and strong and irresistible. And I often recall Tomp- 
 kins, who resembled, rather, the mountain torrent, leaping over 
 oi- sweeping away every barrier, and reaching the level plain 
 beyond, before the plodding husbandman is ready for its ap- 
 proach. And I remember Shafter, who, during his more vig- 
 orous years, swept along like a flood of water, at times a little 
 restless and turbid, but overwhelming everything in its way 
 by the very might and majesty of its immense volume. And 
 Henry Diirant, of blessed memory, alas, what can I say of him? 
 What a multitude of thoughts throng the mind at the very men- 
 tion of that sacred name ! He was the noiseless river, the rushing 
 torrent, the majestic flood and the sublime ocean all in one. 
 For five years my beloved teacher — nay, he will continue to be 
 my teacher iiWlife shall end — and for many years more one of my 
 associates in business, and I may say, without presumption, that 
 I was acquainted with e\erj phase of his most remarkable charac- 
 ter and familiar with every avenue to his great, sympathetic, 
 loving heart. How boundless was his faith in the future of our 
 city ! How confidently did he predict that, at no distant day, 
 the space intervening between Berkeley and Oakland would be 
 filled up ; that our young and vigorous mother — my own cdma 
 mother — on yonder eminence, would reach out her arms tow- 
 ards her sons and her daughters in the valley below, until, be- 
 fore the eyes of all of us shall have become dim, they shall first 
 meet, then embrace, then kiss each other ! 
 
 How rapidly is that prediction becoming verified ! But even 
 were 1 competent to the task, this is not the time nor the place 
 to pronounce his eulogy. Much as we miss these men, we 
 would not, if we could, call them back to this scene of turmoil 
 
24 
 
 and strife. In their peaceful graves they sleep ivdl ^ let 
 them rest. 
 
 I do not believe in drawing fancy jnctures ; but I do believe 
 we have the logical right to judge I he future bj the past when 
 every obstacle in the way of the future has been removed by 
 the past. And, in view of this most prosperous and grand 
 outlook for our city, I dubn, the nijld to tell you that I see be- 
 fore me, in the clear future, our water front lined with ware- 
 houses, docks and wharves, in front of which are safely moored 
 multitudes of steamers and merchantmen from every clime ; 
 that I see along our principal streets costly and spacious edifi- 
 ces devoted to trade extending one mile from the water's edge 
 and occupying ground which will sell at $1500, $2000 and $2500 
 per Irout foot ; that I see the State University containing its 
 one thousand students within the northern limit of the city ; that 
 I see two thousand charming villas lining the foot hills north of 
 the city ; that I see the city stretching out toward the east, ex- 
 tending far into the valley beyond ; that I see 200,000 people, 
 the most intelligent, the most happy and the most free ; 
 and I think I see on yonder height, in the distance, the 
 gilded dome of our State Capitol, whose turrets and towers 
 are kissed by the rays of a genial sun, and from whose sum- 
 mit the fiiuj of onr country, waving in ample folds in the 
 tempered breeze, its greeting and its welcome to the stranger 
 from every clime, and saying to him, " Come, make this 
 your home .''' 
 
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