Los Angeles herald., 1892-06-27
LETTER BAG.
TO Make Los Aureles : GREAT Cit

To Make Los Angeles Great City.
EDITORS HERALD: There are num-
Der of suggestions before the public for
the improvement OF Pacific coast COM
merce, such as the expenditure of one
hundred million dollars for canal at
Nicaragua, etc. We here are especially
interested in the commerce of Los An
geles, and want six millions for safe
harbor for large vessels. All Americans
would like to see our national shipping
interest increase, and the Republican
party propose to secure this result by
costly bounties. All these things will
require money out Of the people which
can only be got by taxation. Taxes are
already high and our extraordinary
wildness in pensions makes an increase
of taxes presumable from this cause
alone.
Now it is clear that if all the results
enumerated can be achieved without
any tax or bounty or more than equaled
by one comprehensive scheme it is to be
desired.
Such an omnibus scheme exists and
one that will even do more. 1t is sim
pie and requires but very short act of
congress.
This grand and comprehensive idea is
this:
Enact that all foreign goods destined
for the Atlantic coast brought in Ameri-
can ships around Cape Horn shall be
admitted free of all duty at the port of
Los Angeles.
The effect, it is perfectly plain, would
be to cause the bright flag Of our country
to float over vast fleets of American
ships, to employ an army of citizens in
our own vessels and send the echo of our
marine cheers from the equator to the
Antartic circle. In fact, it would build
up magnificent mercantile marine for
our country. 1t must be remembered
that the present fleet of ships perform
ing this service direct would have to be
exceeded by the new American one by
five times on account of the time re-
quired for this long haul. The lighter
age and wharf business at San Pedro
and Santa Monica would become i'm
mense. Every existing railroad from
our city to the east would have to be
double and quadruple-tracked and many
new ones would have to be built. Los
Angeles would boom into the CONNER
cial center of the union. She would
boom as no city on earth ever doomed
before, and with all this the average
gain to the eastern merchant and con-
sumner by the new route would be 20 per
cent.
Here is q chance for the patriotic
protectionist to get in some work. Let
us submit the question to the people of
the country. That is the rule Of pro-
tectionist legislation. To submit pa
triotic questions ex parte to the private
persona benefited and then wave the
flag and build up the country.
In this scheme is an immense increase
of distance, q poor port of entry and
long land line imposed on commerce to
its advantage. That is with great ad-
dition of natural tariff greater gain
would accrue by the Simultaneous re-
moval Of the artificial tariff barrier.
In this way no one hundred millions
need be expended for the nigger-in-the-
wood-pile. canal, no six millions for. San
Pedro and Santa Monica to tear each
others hair about, no bounty OF invidi-
GUS favor to make our landsmen take to
the briny. Mol all would be accom-
plished by this sinaple law without
canal, harbor or bounty.
Rise, patriot protectionist, to the oc-
casion and close the Los Angeles custom
house.
That is the only thing we need to be
great, and with the shipping enactment
for foreign goods destined for eastern
ports to come in American vessels the
destiny of Los Angeles corruscates in
glory like the sun in field of brilliants.
And who so blind as not to see the
advantage of artificial barriers to trade
when VIC propose to spend one hundred
millions to do away with natural ones.