He Wasn’t Afraid to Believe

It was a time of many crises. Newcomers were pouring in faster than jobs could be created to employ them. The state budget defied balance. Attempts to complete a statewide water system were being undermined by regional bickering and fears that California could no longer afford such an enormous investment in its infrastructure. Businesses were threatening to flee to more industry-friendly states.

As current as this all seems, the bad patch of road described actually was encountered more than three decades ago. California had a new governor, Edmund G. (Pat) Brown. In March, 1959, three months after his inauguration, he appeared before a business group in San Mateo and discussed how he intended to deal with the difficulties. Here in part is what he said:

“We must grow. Industrial expansion is basic to a vigorous state and a prosperous people. Last year, we had a labor force of over 6 million people. This year, we must keep all of these people employed and find new jobs for another 200,000 people. And next year, our growth will challenge us to produce new employment for more than 200,000. If this task seems overwhelming on the face of it, we must remember that it is the challenge of growth. We shall accept that challenge. I, for one, intend to be governor, not of a withering state, but of a strong and growing one. . . .

“For years now, we have been deceiving ourselves about our state finances. Despite an expanding economy, we have spent far more than we have taken in. This is wrong. What good business cannot afford to do, the state must not attempt. . . .

“Again this year, we have been told that we can dodge the hard facts of fiscal life. We have been urged to invade the Investment Fund and abandon our vital water program. This is wrong. I am convinced that we should take this well-named Investment Fund and, through water, invest it in a greater future. Also, as we develop our water resources, we must plan for electrical power. With foresight, we can make this energy available in quantity. . . .

“Since the budget was made public, I have been waited upon by dozens of interested groups. They claim that I cut this many or that many millions of dollars from their essential services. Oddly enough, many of them also complain about the increased taxes. Enough tears have flowed in my office that I have been tempted to suggest a new approach to the water problem. . . .

“We may not like new taxes, but the alternative is a weak California burdened with fears, handicapped by inadequate state services and threatened with debt. Industry could not thrive in such an unhealthy economic climate. . . .

“Last week, I sent to the Legislature new proposals that will enlist the resources of the state in the battle against one of the deterrents to our continued industrial growth--air pollution. Industry will not want to come to a place where people don’t want to live. . . .

“Some have argued that my program will drive industries to the low tax states in the South. I do not believe it. I have too much faith in California to accept this counsel of fear. Businesses that would ignore our state because of a tax benefit elsewhere are ignoring the real economic advantages of California. In the long run, our best interests do not lie with industries that search for cheap labor and unrealistic tax advantages. . . .

“Bludgeoned as we often are with competing geographic prejudices, and with conflicting economic pressures, we must never forget that we are one people in one state. With wise planning and good government, let us blend the strength of each into the greatness of all.”

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This abridged version of Brown’s address is offered for two reasons. First, it testifies to the cyclical nature of crises. Part of the fear that pervades California today flows from a natural inclination to believe that our problems are both novel and extreme. California, as this remarkable little artifact reminds, has faced similar jams before and managed not only to escape, but thrive. When politicians forget this fundamental fact--which our current crop of Sacramento Chicken Littles seems to do with regularity--it is not necessarily fatal, but it also doesn’t help. The power of optimism, and of faith, is amazing, and Brown had it: He believed in California.

The second reason involves reports that leaked last week from the former governor’s private residence in Beverly Hills. It was said that Pat Brown had taken a grave turn. Details remain sketchy, but the man is 88 years old and has not been in good health. Obituaries, of course, are never read by the one person they are meant to flatter, and so I thought it might be good now to remember how, in another time of many crises, California was served so well by one of its own.