Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-02-19
AN ATTACK
Written by a Prejudiced
Person.
MALICIOUS AND UNFAIR.
A Specimen of the Manner in
Which Eastern Journals
Use California.

''~AAOAA A<N"SNSAA OONA AAW'O
Use California.
The following is taken from th
shreveport, La, Times:
All history teaches us that bub
bles are being constantly inflated ant
blown in every, direction to cap,ivat,
She fancy OF the unwary. Everybod,
has read or heard OF the grea
South Sea bubble which in its day
ran the people of Europe wild will
the passion for speculation. Later
the tulip bulb mania had it's run
when as high as ten and ever
twenty guineas were paid for single
bulb. In more modern times
the white mulberry madness
seized the people OF this country
when everyone expected to make an
enormous fortune by the raising oi
silk-worms, a favorite food of which
was the leaf OF this tree. The conse.
quence was the shrubs found theii
way even into the most remote and
sparcely settled sections of the Union
Then came the Florida boom, later
the Birmingham boom, and vet later
the Sonth California boom. This sec
ton which bad been known for many
years was, as if by magic, invested
with attractions that set all Classes
wild with desire to reach the
promised land. Capitalists and rail-
road companies took the matter in
hand, and a tremendous boom was
the result.
At length all the indications are
that the bubble is pricked. The
press of other sections of the Union
are filled with damaging develop
ments and dis s;losures which must
needs check the craze. The Houston
Post has an article on the subject
which is telling one. 1t calls atten-
ton to the thousands OF letters being
received in the East by duped inves-
tors and immigrants to the southern
portion Of the State and especially to
Los Angeles, and refers to the
expose made by the New York
Herald, whose correspondent has
made speciality of investigating the
subject in all its phases. In recent
issue the Herald punctures the Los
Angeles bubble in It's usual effective
style. Under a striking caption the
expose is prefaced with the following
suggestive headlines: clos Angeles
Land Crooks Gathering in Fools and
Shekels;" "Buy, Buy, Buy" water
less Deserts and Soilless Hills Selling
at Extravagant Prices;" ''$140O a
Front Foot" Mr.. Benefits special
commissioner then proceeds to trace
the steps of the land swindlers from the
everglades of Florida. The trailextends
across the Rocky Mountains and winds
up in the arid sands of Southern Califof-
MIA. The sharpers made their head
quarters in Los Angeles section
where the apparent supply of the
heaven-given fluid of life is not equal
to the irrigation of one-half the land,
and without water the land is useless
Traps for the unwary tenderfeet were
at once laid, and, by the methods
peculiar to sharks, the tide of immi-
grafton was soon started California
wards. To day, says the cor
respondent, the city is filed with
rustling real estate men and half
starved immigrants. The most alb
surd real estate quotations prevail.
Land that is spoken of as marvellous
and worth So 1000 an acre, is in reality
as dry as bone and just about as
capable Of being made productive as
the topmost peak of San Bernardino
mountains. Every train that arrives
by either Of the railroad routes center
IN, fhnrn lNrxon n Nf
comers who find the hotels over
crowded and charging the highest
prices commanded in New York,
while the fare and accommodations
would disgrace q fifth-ra,e coun-
try clearinghouse. Although the
country is said to be the home of the
orange and other sub-tropical fruits,
Northern apples are the extent of the
products of horticulture offered the
expectant visitor. Originally poor
sheep pasture and cattle ranges, the
broad plains and inclined mesas at
the foot OF the mountain ranges are
now held at prices ranging as high as
$500 a front foot. This Southern
California bubble has indeed proved
worse than the South Sea insanity Of
the last century.
The above is specimen OF many
of the malicious and unwarranted
attacks on Southern California that
find their way into the columns OF the
Eastern journals, and can be attrib-
uted to no other cause than that of
jealousy. There are at present
a few eentlemen from the Cane
brake State who are growing
rich in Los Angeles, and who will
far from substantiate the statements
made in the above jealousy inspired
article. They are the following:
Hon. H. W. Ogden, J. Cumps-
ton, j. 81. Booty, r. R. Deming,
H. L. Flash, George J Denis, Louis
Wildemar and Mr.. Hatmel. These
false statements bear their
own refutation in articles published
year or two ago. in the same journals
In which Southern California was
lauded to the Skies and the only
cause to which to attribute the
publication of such malicious state
ment., is that OF jealously and the
fear that our prosperity and success
will depopulate many eastern cities
and towns, which is rapidly being
done.
THE POLICE COMMISSIONERS.
difference OF Opinion as to the
Power to Make Changes.