Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-12-28

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their highways, and certainly nothiu
would conduce more to the benefit OF ou
city than that of maintaining good ap
proaches from every direction. l es
pecially call the earnest attention o
Your Honorable Body to this matter.
OPENING sTEETs.
Experience has demonstrated that i
is no easy task to open or widen stree
against the wishes of property owners
who are disposed to htigate and to OBJ
struct. but the public interest requires
the opening of new streets, and that the
work should be pushed rapidly, as wei
as efficiently. In my opinion, it is q
mistake to suppose that property can
hereafter be purchased for less than the
present ruling prices, and we have al
ready sustained severe loss because oi
the ia lure to open Los Angeles street
At one time the proceedings progressed
SO far that awards were made which
ought to have been satisfactory, and
which were acquiesced in. l believe, by
the persons to whom the damages were
awarded; but unfortunately those within
the assessment limits were discontinued,
and the result was the Inauguration oil
new proceedings. The extension of Los
Angeles street should receive your earn
est attention, and the legal adviser ol
the city will no doubt do his utmost to
procure q speedy adjustment by the
Court of any differences which. may
arise between the municipal government
and the persons whose property is to be
taken. The latter should, OF course, be
adequately compensated, but they
should not be permitted to subordinate
the city's interests to their own.
I also call your attention and that of
property owners to matter OF great
| inheritance. Court street should be
opened. The county is about to erect q
new courthouse. A passage from the
business center to that building, when
finished, would be public benefit.
also suggest the proprlety OF open
ing Commercial street t. Sand. The
ever increasing population demands short
routes in the interests OF business. The
only way to accomplish this is to open
| the streets.
| NEW CHARTER.
| | cannot refrain from calling your at
! tention to the fact that there IS great
and pressing necessity Tor the enact
| ment of new charter. 1t seems some
what difficult to prepare one which will
be satisfactory to the people to whom
| it must be submitted, or even to Its
| trainers, yet it must be that such an ln-
strument can be prepared. and l think
that energetic and intelligent manage.
ment will enable us to secnre the co op-
Grafton of those who are interested Ill
cities of the class to which we belong, so
that we may be afforded the requisite
means to establish and maintain the
many improvements which the demands
OF the time are hourly suggesting. The
LEGISLATURE is about to convene. and L
suggest that you adopt the most efficient
mode which can be suggested to pro-
mote the passage of law which will
permit us to adopt new and more satls-
factory charter. l have already men,
toned the condition of the streets, also
the difficulties incident to the construc-
ton of sewers and the opening OF new
thoroughfares. Those matters are suff1-
cient OF themselves to demonstrate that
we require new and more liberal
charter. In case we fail to procure
charter in the way now permitted by
the constitution it might be desirable
for our representatives in the Legisla.
ture to propose an amendment OF the
constitution which would allow cities OF
population equal to our own to select
Board of Freeholders who should be
empowered to prepare and submit
charter under similar restrictions as that
now provided in the case of cities of one
hundred thousand Inhabitants and over.
| believe such an amendment to the
constitution would prevail, because 1t
does not seem reasonable that the priv.
leges of local self-government should be
given merely to cities containing as
many as one hundred thousand inhabi-
tants. Los Angeles city, as well as those
munici palites in the State containing a
similar number of inhabitants, ought to
have right to provide her own meth
cd OF government.
THE NEW LEvEE.
The citiz Ems of that portion of the
city which has heretofore been flooded
have displayed great activity in taking
proper me ms to protect their homes.
and right Of way along the bank OF
the river has bsen granted to the RIVER
side, Santa Ana and Los Angeles Rail
road Company, and the grant is coupled
with the condition that a levee shall be
in part constructed by that company and
shall be maintained in such manner as
to render is improbable, if not impos-
sible, that we will again witness the
scenes of distress and misfortune which
accompanied the last food. believe
the day is not far distant when it will
become advisable to locate all the varI-
Gus railroads which pierce our city, in
the neighborhood of the bank of the
river. Alameda and San Pedro streets
would undoubtedly be much improved If
the railroad tracks now existing there
were removed. do not think it advis.
able to place the title to the lands upon
the margin of the river in such condl-
ton as to prevent the city from giving
a right of way to other railroad compa-
MES in the same locality. 1t will be
your duty to watch the construction OF
the levee and see that those to whom
tue pri isilege of using the public domain
has been granted comply strictlys with
their contract. This, no doubt, they will
do, but as public agents we should see
to it that no obligation incurred by any.
one in favor of the city is left undis-
charged or is in any way avoided.
CHARTER LIMITATIONS ON EXPENDITURE.
Section 6 of Article 2 of the present
charter provides that the Council may
delegate to the Superintendent of Streets
such power as it may see fit regarding
the making of repairs and improve.
ments upon the streets and other pub
lie grounds, when the expenditure there
for will not exceed the sum of $500.
Section of Article IL of the same in
strument provides in effect that the
municipality shall not be bound by any
contrac unless made in writing by Or
der of the Council end signed by the
nronar officer but that a liability not