Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-11-10
. Chance to Do Great Good.

General Vandever will now have an
opportunity to surpass any Of his prede-
cessors in the amount of good he can
accomplish for the people who have just
elected him by 80 unprecedented ma
jority to represent them in Con-
gress. He will be in harmony
with the majority in the House,
and his party will continue to
control the Senate. The Presi-
dent will stand ready to endorse all
measures that meet the sanction OF the
legislative department of the Government.
There is no reason, therefore, from pol
itical point of view, that General Vande-
yer should not exercise an influence in
the Fifty-frst Congress surprising that
of any representative we have ever had.
That being the case our people will look
with confidence to him to sue
cessfully secure appropriations for the
improvement of the harbors in his dis
trict commensurate with their import
ance to the commerce and the interest 8
of the people of this Coast, and some
| what in keeping with the size of the
appropriations usually made to much
less important places on the Lakes and
on the Atlantic Coast.
Colonel MeDdell said in one OF his re-
ports to Congress on the subject OF the
work OF improving San Pedro harbor
that the appropriations had been sc
small that they were not sufficient to
enable him to carry on the
work in way that the money
would accomplish the most good
They were only large enough to keep the
work that had been done from deteriorat
ling without any margin to carry
out new and extensive improvements
OF course this doing out OF small and
inadequate appropriations, instead O.
being economy, is actually waste. Now
if General Vandever will use the righ
kind of energy. with the influence hi
ought to exercise in House dominated
by his own party, instead of only getting 6
paltry appropriation for the improvement
of San Pedro harbor of 500, 900 or $50 900
he ought to be able to secure half million
dollars, and thus place to the use of the
United States engineers sum sufficieH
to enable them to do work that will tel
in actual results in short space of time
| The arguments will all be favorable t.
the General in his advocacy of larg'
appropriation. The vast increase O
population and of maritime com
merce at this point, the absence O
natural harbors for long stretches OF
this coast, the advantage to the Govern
ment in military and naval point O
view of having deep and commodioul
port at San Pedro-all these are reasons
that are obvious and which can be
effectively urged. But besides these
there is one point which ough
to appeal with decisive effec
to Republican Congress ant
President, and that is that the section
which makes these claims upon the
liberality of the Government has become
the Gibralter of Republication on the
Pacific Coast. This argument, deity
handled, would leave no excuse fo
a failure to secure not onl,
large appropriations for the completion
OF the improvements in San Pedro
harhor, but for the other appropriation
needed to make harbor improvements a
all possible points from Port Hartford ts
San Diego.
We shall look for results in these mat
ters from the exertions OF General Van
deyer commensurate with the position O
unprecedented advantage that gentle
man will occupy as Republican repre-
sentative in Washington.