The herald., 1894-11-04
THE CONGRESSIONAL SITUA TON

The votes which will be caet by the
business men and producers of the Sixth
congressional district on next Tuesday
will bear directly upon question which
ia of infinitely more Importance to the
voters than any tariff or other general
legislation which can be enacted by con.
gress for the next two years. We refer
to the influence which the congressman
who will be elected by those voters mus
necessarily have upon the result
OF the contest which is now going on
between those same business men and
producers on the one hand, and the
Southern Pacific company on the other, in
which the former are endeavoring to se'
cure the construction by the government
of q harbor at which they shall have the
advantages of competition in handling
their freights. We cannot better express
the Importance OF the proposed harbor
to every business interest OF this
country than by quoting tho words oil
the last board of government engineers
who were appointed to select place for
it's construction by the government, and
who, on page Of their report in favor
OF San Pedro, used the following lan'
guage: as.
By far the moot important aspect oil
this subject, however, is its relation to
the probable future development OF the
deep.sea commerce OF the country.
Heretofore the Asiatio trade has natnr-
ally gone to San Francisco, but it has
been pointed out that the construction
of the Canadian and Northern Pacific
railroads has introduced two competit.
ors for the overland transportation oil
the Asiatic commerce. Two through
lines, the Southern Pacific and the
Santa Fe systems, cross the continent
| from Los Angeles at much lower eleva-
| tions than the northern lines, and also
connect the Pacific with the Gull Of
| Mexico, and their operation is never
obstructed by snow or ice. III sale,
accessible and convenient harbor ior
deep-draft vessels existed on the south
| ern coast these would appear the mos,
favorable lines for the transportation o.
Asietic and Australian commerce.
Should the Nicaragua canal be com.
pleted the importance OF the proposed
| harbos will become still greater. AT
| the present time the most convenienl
course for sailing vessels coming arounc
the Horn, 10 to 60 out into the mid
Pacific and strike the trade winds tc
On AXE the port OF San Francisco. WIFI
the completion of the canal, commerct
will be principally transported by steam
vessels of moderate draft, which viii
move north along the coast and seei
| t. onA aonyaniQn
| port from which their freight can react
it5 market.
A deep water harbor on the southern
coast would thus receive the Asiatic ant
Australian freights for shipment owe
lines, accommodate large part OF thu
commerce passing through the Nicara
| qua canal which now goes around TIT
Horn, and finally furnish port of ship
msnt and supply not only for the pro
duotive territory in its immediate vic
unity, but also for the great interio
plateau reached by the southern rail
ways beyond the mountain ranges. Con
sldsring, therefore, the probable need
OF commerce in the near future, tn
board is of the opinion that the propos
ed deep water harbor is OF high nationa
importance and we'll worthy OF con
atruction by the general government.
On page II of their report the boar
specially refer to the Importance OF tn
proposed harbor to the producers
Southern California, and say:
Should the Nicaragua canal be CON
pleted, it ia predicted that there will b
q very great increase in the fruit pro
duction of Southern California, and tina
fruit will be transported in refrigerato
steamers to New York in ten days, t
New Orleans in eight days, and to Liver
pool in fourteen days. For this prot
pective traffic the San Pedro harbor
the nearer point.
Upon every point which goes to tn
making of harbor for the accommod'
ton of such vast commercial interest
az are foreshadowed in thei
quotations the board of engineers fou n
in favor of San Pedro. Upon the points
accessibility 10 competing lines OF tran
porta.ion and the possibility of con
s.ructing such inside basina and docl
tor repairing and reiitting ships as wi
be necessary to accommodate the con-
merce predicted for this fortuna
city. they emphasize the superior &C
vantages OF San Pedro and declare Thu
none of the latter advantages can ever