Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-08-20
TUES nA.. AUGUST go, 1859.
Interminabl bic Delays.

There is no reasonable doubt OF the
fact that if the sewer bonds are voted by
the people, Senator John P. Jones,
q citizen of. Nevada, will bring an in
junction suit to restrain the prosecution
of the work. He has plainly stated it to
be his purpose to do this, not only to the
writer but to the editor of the Santa
Monica Outlook. In considering this
very material obstruction, the fact must
be borne in mind that Senator Jones is
not only a citizen of Nevada, with the
right of hearing in the courts OF the
United States, but he is very infiuen-
tial citizen as we'll. His large property
interests in Santa Monica, which place
he believes to be threatened in all its
special attributes as health and pleas
ure resort, will unquestionably lead him
to throw special energy into his
action. With q suit initiated under
such powerful auspices it is as
certain as that the night shall sue
ceed the day that there will be an inter-
ruption of years in the programme out
lined by the City Council. In the first
place, the Injunction moved for by SEN
ator Jones would be granted or denied
by the United States District Judge. If
granted, that would end the matter for
all time. If denied, Senator Jones would
undoubtedly appeal from the United
States District to the United States Cir.
cult Court. If this latter tribunal should
reverse the action of the District Court
there would again be an end to litiga-
ton, and the sewer would be restrained
from proceeding beyond the city limits.
But if the decision were still against
Senator Jones and the people of Santa
Monica, he and they would next, as has
been repeatedly declared, appeal the
case to the Supreme Court Of the United
States.
WE. have thus far merely reviewed
steps that are not simply problematical
but certain to be taken. The only ele.
ment of doubt in the matter is as to
whether the Council, with its Ballona
sewer project, can ever succeed in reach
ing the Supreme Court of the United
States, the presumption being, and it is
what in law is known as violent pre-
sumption, that the intermediate courts
would make the injunction perpetual.
But let US, for the sake of argument.
suppose that the case should reach the
court of final resort in the forum of the
Supreme Court of the United States, at
Washington. 1t is a notorious fact
that it takes at least three years to be
reached on the docket of that tribunal.
1t would probably be a year before it
took up it's journey to Washington, and
the dilatory nature of the proceedings
which it would encounter there, espec-
tally when the negative of the proposition
was championed by such powerful Re.
publican as United States Senator John P.
Jones, before Republican tribunal like
the Supreme Court of the United States.
would make the promoters of the sewer
bonds grieve.
We have thus traced the progress of
the inevitable litigation attending sue
cessful issue of the next election on the
sewer bonds in the course towards the
capital of the nation. We next return to
Los Angeles county. Coincidently with
che initiation of restraining order in
the United States Courts, some prominent
taxpayer of Los Angeles would sue for
an order restraining the issue of
the bonds pedente hte-that is to
say, pending the result of the suits in the
IID;tad Gtotor Go1rfn Thia prornpt and
intelligent action would save the loss of
interest on the bonds; but, all the same,
we should be a long distance away from
any effective or intelligent eewer system.
All of which brings US back to the car
dinal point that the only real way to get
an effective sewer system is to defeat the
present immature and bungling project
of the Council.