Daily Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1876-1884, 1878-02-22

In his argument before the House
Railway Committee, at Washing
ton, Col. Joseph U. Crawford I'M
doubtedly made a specious and
slnewy plea for Col. Scotts road.
Every shortcoming Of the Southern
and Central Pacific Railways was
paraded with a great flourish.
Every instance In which the man
ayers of the Southern Pacific have
Disseminated against the people of
Southern California is made the
most of, while OF any cases in which
the Company have made conces-
sions to our people no mention is
made. He is careful not to mem
tion the fact that, during the past
year, the Southern Pacific have
Arried grain distance of five
hundred miles for thirty.three and
one-third per cent. less than is
charged by narrow gauge road in
Oregon for transporting 1t about
one-twentieth part of that distance.
AS Col. Crawford is in Washington
city as one Of the paid and accred-
tied agents of San Diego, 1t is right
that he should make the strongest
possible presentmsnt of the claims
OF that place. AS to what would
be the result of success in his mis-
alon, he leaves US in no doubt. He
Is laboring, to employ his own
words, to establish ia great COM
mercial emporium at San Diego"
We quote:
The people of San Diego and
Southern California will have
nothing to do with such mock
cry of railroad service as this.
Their harbor is admirably adapted
to the establishment of great
commercial emporium, and Is nat.
urally and advantageously situated
to be the terminus of a competing
southern transcontinental line, and
the effrontery of Mr.. Huntington
and his colleagues borders upon
the sublime when they propose to
make such O concession to those
people in order 20 get the permits
sion of the United States Congress
to hermetically seal the entire Pa
cific seaboard in the interest Of
the Central Pacific Railroad Com
pany.
As we have said, Col. Crawford is
perfectly right in making this ar
gument, from his standpoint The
people of San Diego, from their
Rtsndpoint, are right in sending
him 70 Washington to make it. The
only question we raise Is whether.
from our standpoint, when we have
q chance to have distinctively
Los Angeles road-a road which
now runs through Los Angeles city
and county-extended to the Rio
Grande, the Mississippi and the
cities of the Atlantic sea-board, it
is not as much our interest to push
that road as it is the interest of
the people of our Southern
neighbor to push the distinctively
San Diego road. We admit that,
In common with the great mass of
the people Of Los Angeles, we would
have some distrust of an unchecked
management of such road by the
same men who own the Central
Pacific Railway. They would hard
ly run in opposition to themselves.
But Mr.. Huntington voluntarily
proposes to remove this ground of
objection by offering to place the
road, from the East to Santa Mon
lea and Wilmington, absolutely
under the regulation of Congress.
We claim that the Congress Of the
United States would see justice
done in the running of such road,
and that happy practice, fruitful
of good to the people, would be thus
inaugurated.
We find in the Santa Monica
outlook, of the Goth inst, the fol-
lowing trenchant review of Col.
Crawford's speech or essay. After
recapitulating its salient features,
the Outlook says:
Now, 1t seems to us, that while
Col. Crawford's speech for ESSAY,
perhaps) displays both industry and
Ingenuity, it is radically defective,
when the whole subject is carefully
examined, and fair conclusion
is desired. The argument may be
divided into three headings:
Truths, irrelevancies, and false de.
auctions. All those statements in
regard to locations, commercial re-
lations, and the importance of a
Southern overland road, are Just as
applicable to the extension Of the
Southern Pacific as to the con-
struction of the Texas-Pacific. AS
to the irrelevant statements, which
are many, they are of no import.
ance, i'll the argument. The false
deductions may be grouped into
one and stated thus. The Texas
Pacific should be aided by the Gov
eminent, in its construction across
the continent, to terminate at San |
Diego, because it will be competi-
tive in its character and best sub
serve the interests of an extended
commerce. AS opposed to this
proposition, which Is fairly stated,
we will present another: The Texas.
Pacific should not be aided by the
Government, because another com.
dany (Ihe Southern Pacific) offers
to do the same service for nothing,
and that, too, more speedily and
effectively. Now for the compar-
ison:
The people of the South want a