Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-04-10

what Should Nc.
We have now reached the stage In
Los Angeles when manufacturing on
considerable scale should bo undertaken
here. While we have as yet only one
and but partially developed coal-bed-
that in the Santiago caiion-we can i'm
port coal easily and chsaply from Aus
trAlia, British Columbia and Washing.
Ton Territory. In addition to this un.
falling resource this county and this
whole section is pcrmeated with petro.
lsum and underlaid with brca. Coal or
rock oil has been found to be a cheap
aad serviceable fuel, and brca in com.
blnAtion with wood and coal affords
invariably economical and effective
tu6l. The London Telegraph is devel'
eplRg the scheme Of converting the
yucca Of our Moiave Desert into pulp,
which Il TO be converted into paper in
mills located on the river Thames.
Why should not some enterprising
homo capitalist duplicate this expert
nsnt! Why not make in our midst the
paper which will be consumed in the
large and growing region OF which Los
Angeles Is the natural trading and COM
msrcial centeri This is one of dozen
branches OF manufactu res which ought
70 grow up here. Every one knows
how very expensive it has been to
ssnd commodity Of any kind to a
distant market in the past. Yet,
notwithstanding the fact that more
than half the weight Of our wool, as it is
row shipped. is grease and dirt, we have
never erected here any cleansing works,
which would have made the transporta-
zion charges less by more than one-half.
We have not only shipped our wool in
thb unclsansed state to New York and
Boston, paying the heavy freight on
mere sxorescenoes, but we have also paid
the return freight on our woods when
they were sent back in the shape of man
ufaotured fabrics. Why should not
some effort have been made here to save
all these immense largesscs to the outside
wsrldi So OF our hides. Southern Cal
isrnia II full OF the wild sumach, which
mAkss the bcst tanning bark in the
world, while she had been shipping hides
10 al points Of tho globe long before the
Ansrioan occupation. We sec, no rca-
son Why tanneries on large scale
should not have been in operation hero
Tor years, with their correlatives Of
beot and shoe and trunk factories.
Il Il true that, until lately, there has
bean . great drawback to the man
ufacturing progress Of this coun-
~. in the shape of oppressive
rates Of interest. which have
happily, in the short experience which
the writer has had Of Southern Cali
fornia, run down from two per cent. a
month, compounding monthly, to six
and ssven per cent. per annum. la-
dustriss are now profitable which would
have involved financial wreck ten and
even FIVE years ago This is splendid
advance, which, of itself, is doing much
to vitalize this section.
II is also true that, within the past
couple Of years. We have made some sub
stantial developments in the manu-
facturing limo, The Los Angeles Woolen
Aills have done o good deal to demoa-
etrate the ability Of our people to pro-
ducs prime articles for home consump-
sion. Under the present and energetic
proprietorship, these mills are turning
out excellent work. We have also
machine shops, foundrics, cannerios.
cheese factories, and other industries,
which are rs yet but in their infancy,
and which ought to grow to colossal
proportions.
Los Angeles should not only be a
manufacturing center, within certain
limits, but ought also to develop large
jobbing trade. While VIC are in the trans
itioner between making our ownongines
and boilers, for instance, the miners
from the hundred contiguous points in
Southern California. Arizona, South.
western Nevada and Utah, ought to be
able to come here and pick out, from ex-
tsnsive stocks, everything they may
need to develop their mining interests.
The merchants of this extensive and but
partially developed country ought to be
able to come here and find, at less than
San Francisco prices, everything they
want. Our city is crowded with enter
prising retail merchants, who conduct
their business OH the most modern prin.
ciples. The time has at length arrived
when men Of large capital can find a
profit in making Los Angeles distrib-
uting point on scale second only to San
Francisco and Portland, and it need not
be second to the latter place long, as the
country tributary to Los Angeles admits
Of an infinitely greater and more remu-
nerative development than that which
adjoins Portland.
Undoubtedly these capital advantages
possessed by our growing young city will
not long escape the attention of the in
quiring man Of money