Daily Los Angeles herald., 1878-11-15
as SugsIts gtrald.
~. R.ilroad Reflections.
fsanta Monica Outlook

fBsnta Monica outlook.l
t<rhere isnow q good railroad con-
1 5m1ctIng Santa Monica with Los
AnEeles, which, during its three
I@ors' operations has sunk more
tney than Its cost reconstruction.
St. road IL an elephant of gigantic
. &tonortions which tho owners
Vo6ld be only too glad todispose Of
( - she most reasonable terms. The
: 1|ofty Of the first part John Hogan,
~ San Francisco] in the narrow
ENuQo railroad can purchase this
nuch cheerer than he can
s a Above extract Is taken from
! the San Francisco Golden Era,
S whose editor was for some time
wall known journalist of Los Ange-
4 Io6. and who, we might add, was
1r0Verbial for his reckless state
1nouts. It is not true that the
Ganta Monica Railroad, during its
three years operation, sunk more
money than Its cost Of construction.
co1ouel Crawford, who was the first
Superintendent, aud Captain Moul.
ton, his successor, repeatedly told
uo that the road made some money
&bove expenses. The road only
oeAsed to pay its owners when the
wharf was discontinued. Yet that
road was never run on o proper ba.
( VI. One dollar was not enough for
feDfGht. And then, there is the
& ether side of the matter. The San
- Monica road made q difference Of
! $500, 00O year in the cost of trans
portation to the people. But in the
& face Of these facts the Los Angeles
people did not support the road as
they should have done, and 1t was
cold. Now the CALLED jade winces.
Nor do we believe that the editor
of the Golden Era, who we'll knows
the status Of things down here, be-
1feveo that 1hg owners OF this road
would be 'onfy too glad to dispose
: ~ Non the most reasonable terms;s
nor that II can be purchased cheap
81 than . narrow-gauge can be
built.
Viewing the matter from a pure
" business standpoint, it Is easy to
BE seen that there is an indirect
Il 014y 8AtWk0 W tn0 oouthCih aCtHC
Company TO hold this port and keep
u closed. To cease operating the
road would be TO surrender the
( right Of way; and,then 1t would be
work of comparatively small cost
20 lay q narr0w-gsuge track on the
old road bed aud reopen the port.
70 sell the road would.be more re-
munerative to it's present owners;
but the result would be the same.
This would become an Independent
line; and could be held as a lever
age upon all the transportation to
San Francisco, both by waller and
rail.
The fact Is, Santa Monica is the
key TO the railroad situation of this
section. We said this three years
ago, and some of our readers re.
garded this assertion as an empty
declaration to enable Jones and
s, Baker 10 sell town lots. Now there
= none go blind as not to see it,
9hls port is several miles nearer
The business center than any other
It has been q saving of time and
expense TO the transfer of freights
and 1t has certainly proved advan'
tageous to steamer passengers In
every way. 1t Is true there are
brief periods when il is unsafe fol
vessels to land here; but the whole
time will not aggregate over fifteen
days. The wharf has defied ocean
swells that swept away similar
structures up and down the coast
But there is broader view tc
takeOf this matter. This county
fe, with its wonderful resources,
1v1 tn time have population
and NlciRess demands that will
utilize and manage all four of our
shipping points In n manner satis-
factory to their patrons. Nor is
this all. Let us look farther. In
our Judgment, the Southern Pacific
Company will themselves reopen
this port. Ifthe narrow-gauge pro
ject now pending succeeds the time
will be fastened. But whether
this movement proves q success OIL
failure, the Southern Pacific will
need this port. In a few years this
road will have southern over.
land connection. Then will come
the necessity for commodious
port for the largest vessels. Light.
erage will then be cumbersome
operation that will not be tolerated.
Santa Monica is the only practica
Bile place for such q port In this
section rs will be needed. Two OF
three millions for break water
will be no extravagant aid from
the Government. Business will
demand 1t; the Railroad will ask
u; and the people will petition
for 1t.
And there Ia another contingen.
cy which further strengthens oul
position. 1t is possible that the
Texas Pacific may be built to San
Diego. In that event the Southern
: PscIiic couldn't compete success.
fully by carrying freights from San
francisco. The San Diego line
would have at least six hundred
miles the advantage. The South.
ern Pacific would be compelled to
have port here In Southern Cali
f0rDia where 1t could start even
with Its great rival.
Some may regard the above as
an exaggerated idea Of the situa-
tion, when viewed from the pres.
ent aspect of affairs in Southern
California. But it should be re.
membered that the next decade
will witness some gigantic railroad
movements. The Southern Pacific
will grasp hands with the Atchisop,
Topeka and Santa Fe line: the
Uni0n Pacific will GEEK "A southern
outlet; the Texas-Pacitic will
push for San Diego; Guaymas
Will become n terminus; the
/. traveller will reach the City of Mex
leo on q Pullman sleeper; and
branch roads will diverge into ev-
cry section that has life and busi-
ness. As result, the vast terrific
~ Of Texas. New Mexico, Arizona,
Mexico, Colorado and Utah, with
their vast mineral, agricultural
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