"Suburban electric railways have reached a high stage of development and utility in Southern California, in the Santa Clara Valley, connecting numerous cities and towns in the vicinity of San Francisco Bay, and in the Sacramento Valley. The increase of electric power by the further utilization of the water power of the Sierra Nevada streams will certainly bring about in the near future a great extension of electrical transportation for freighting as well as in passenger traffic." _Frederick H. Clark, Head of History Department, Lowell High School, San Francisco._ CALIFORNIA: A. D. 1900-1909. Constitutional changes. "Amendments to the state constitution originate with the legislature, and are placed before the voters of the state at the biennial state elections. Dissatisfaction with parts of the state constitution is manifested by an increasing number of proposed amendments. So long as property interests are not antagonized, the voters show a willingness to make changes by ratifying a large majority of the amendments proposed. Among the important subjects upon which amendments have been adopted within the past ten years are the following: authorization of legislation for the control of primary elections; providing for the use of voting machines; the establishment of a system of state highways; increasing the salaries of judges and of state executive officers; changing the pay of members of the legislature from $8.00 per diem for a period not to exceed 60 days to the sum of $1000 for the regular session; authorizing the legislature to provide a state tax for the support of high schools; permitting exemption from taxation of various forms of property, such as buildings used exclusively for religious purposes and the endowments of the Leland Stanford Junior University, the California School of Mechanical Arts, and the Cogswell Polytechnical College, —also personal property at the will of the owner to the amount of $100; eight hours made a legal day’s work on all public work throughout the state; authorization for the depositing of public funds in banks. {63} An important change in the state judiciary was made in 1904 by the creation of district courts of appeal for the relief of the congested condition of the business of the State Supreme Court. The state was divided into three judicial districts, in each of which was established a court of appeal consisting of three judges elected from within the district for a term of twelve years.