Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-08-02
Mere Leather and Pruneila.

A%oo
Tribune, is at present engaged IN the
grand comedy act of holding itself up as
the journal of progress in Los Angeles.
Its plaintive howls for an outfall sewer
to the ocean along route half OF which
is an outright cienega remind one OF the
vhangdoodle mourning for its first born,
or the sadly cadenced notes of an alliga'
tor bemoaning the paucity OF flies IN
mid,July. 1t goes back to the platforms
of the Democratic and Republican par
ties in the late municipal election and,
regardless of the facts that an eminent
Republican said that the platforms
of his own party were "merely molasses
spread cut to catch flies" and that the
Democrats meant an outfall sewer which
should be built through country which
could utilize the sewage, it clamors tc
have 81 ,2Se, 600 placed in the hands Of
the present Council for grand outfsll
sewage system projected by an engineer
whose favorite scheme looked to the
purchase of city sewage farm.
The sum required by the existing plan
is 60 enormous that any man of sense,
especially if he be property-holder and
taxpayer, would hesitate long before
voting for it. Taken in connection with
the $2O0, 600 asked for for school pur.
poses, the appropriation of this large sum
would exhaust the city's margin of debt
contracting for years to come. The sewer
by way of the Ballona to the ocean would
necessarily be an experiment, and the
only certain things about it are (1) il
would be terribly expensive; (2) il
would utterly waste the valuable fertiliz-
ing matter discharged from the city sew.
-ers; and (3) it would bind the city to
supply single individual, as a consid-
Grafton for the right OF way, with fifty
inches of water and sewage, worth $50, ,00O
o year annually, for all time to come.
All this Notwithstanding the fact that
the city has already received offers. with
whatever bonds should be required, t.
take charge of the sewage for nothing
while another organization agreed tt
handle the whole problem on systems
which have approved themselves salts
factory in the East for $4,000 That the
enormous expense and waste involved in
the Ballona project are unnecessary is
shown by an extract taken from q Lon
don scientific journal, and which was
published in yesterdays HERALD. The
sensible plan, it would seem, would be
for the city to provide itself with sys.
tenn of sewers within the municipal linn
its and then dispose of that portion Of
the fertilizer not already contracted for
to the Southside Irrigation Company on
the best terms attainable.
Two Los Angeles gentlemen, the
Messrs. Albert M. Stephens and ]. G.
Harmon, stand ready to take charge OF
the sewage and dispose of it to the entire
satisfaction of the citizens, giving ample
bonds to comply with the obligations
they should assume.
Some time ago we republished in de.
tail the proposition made by Mr.. J. G.
DAILY to the Council, at time when that
gentleman was City Attorney, by which
the city would get rid of the whole
sewage proposition and would be able
to keep its $1,2SO,O00. The syndicate
represented by Mr.. DAILY still stands
ready to make its offer good.
How ridiculous, is it not, in view q
these facts, for any journal to claim that
progress or common sense requires our
people to waste their substance and a
great source of wealth on a project
neither recommended by necessity nor
good policy? Our contemporary under
values the intelligence of the Los Ange.
les voter in assuming that it can make a
point by such arrant nonsense. There
was time when the plan might have
carried, but discussion, in the judgment
of those best acquainted with the tenn
per of our people, has been fatal to it.