Daily Los Angeles herald., 1879-04-09
Hssber Frsnssee.

The Erpress, in Its issue of the
9TH, asserts, as an argument In
favor Of the new Constitution, that
ths 18th article, Up. 30) on Harbcr
Frontages. &C., will baulk the de-
signs Of the Railroad Company on
the Wilmington harbor front.
That the Express should have a
high opinion of this article is ma
tural, (the second section of it hav-
ing, we believe, been introduced by
Its editor) but q comparison Of the
status Of the subject as 1t now is
under the old Constitution, and as
Il would be under the new, will
show that the effect of the new ar
ticle will be in exactly the oppo-
site direction. This will be appar-
ent, we think, to any candid in.
quirer who will examine the sub.
ject. The article in question con-
slsts OF three sections. the first OF
which reads as follows:
Section /. "The right of eminent
s'domain is hereby declared to ex-
fist fn the State to all frontages on
t'ths navigable waters of this
ssState."
Under the present Constitution,
ssthe right Of eminent domain" ex-
lists as to all lands whatever, the
only restriction upon 1t being the
Constitutional one that private
property shall not be taken for
public uses without just compensa-
tlon. Subject to this condition,
the State has and always has had q
right to take not only harbor front.
ages but our very homesteads, and,
II II thinks proper, even the ground
on Mob Hill covered by the pala-
tlal residences of the railroad mag.
mates may be SO taken.
This provision, therefore, certain.
" adds nothing to the old Constitu-
tIon. The I'd section reads as fol-
lows:
Section 2. ''No individual, part
s'nership or corporation, clai N Ing
s'or possessing the tidal lands of a
"harbor, bay, inlet, estuary or
"other navigable water In this
''state, shall be permitted to ex-
s'cluds the right of way to such
"water whenever it is required for
ssany public use, nor to destroy or
s'obstruct the free navigation of
'ssuch water; and the Legislature
ssshall enact such laws as will give
s'ths most liberal effect to this pro-
"vislon, so that access to the nav
'sigabls waters of the State shall
ssalways be attainable for the peo.
"pls thereof"
This sounds we'll; but. like its
predecessor, means nothing. Un.
der the present Constitution the
State has right to provide for the
condemnation of right of way for
public use to any navigable water
whatever; and laws have been en-
acted for this purpose under which
any citizen In this county, for in
stance, can acquire q right of way
and land for a wharf and ware
houses upon the harbor front of
Wilmington harbor, Santa Monica,
Newport harbor, or at any other
point Of our coast. The only con.
siitlon Is that where land belonging
to private parties Is taken il shall
be paid for, aud this would be tho
case under the new Constitution, ,as
10 expressly provided in Section Is,
Of Article I.
It II evident, therefore, that the
only adequate remedy to prevent
the Absorption of the harbor 'front.'
ages by private individuals would
be provision forbidding the sale
of tide-lands fronting on any har-
Dor to private parties. Instead of
suoh provision we have only the
following in the new document:
Section 3. "All tide-lands within
1.-TWO miles of any Incorporated city
s'0r town In this STATE, and front.
s'ing on the waters of any harbor,
s'estuary, bay or Inlet, used for the
sspurpeses of navigation, shall be
"withheld from grant or sale to
private parties"
This 10 simply an adoption of the
present provision of the Political
Code on the subject (section S4Ss),
but 1t furnishes striking illustra.
tion Of provision which, as a mere
is innocent If not even ben.
l'dcial, but which, as Constitutions
nj provision, is most pernicious in
IT. consequences; for, under the
present Constitution, 1t has been at
least doubtful whether the Legisla-
ture had the Constitutional power
Q sell any part Of the shores Of the
ocean, or Of harbors or navigable
rivers-as 1t has always been held
10 be an ancient principle of the
common law that these are COM
mon to all mankind and cannot be
reduced to private ownership. But,
~ this provision of the new organic
law expressly provides that such
lands, within two miles of an incer-
porated town or city, cannot be
1old, 1t. would follow, upon a we'll
'sttled principle Of law (erpressio
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