The herald., 1894-06-21
SOMETHING ABOUT OUR DEEP SEA
HARBOR.


On Tuesday, the 10Th instant, the
senate committee on commerce gave a
hearing at Washington to Mr.. E. l..
Corthell, representing Santa Monica,
and Engineer Raymond, who repre-
scented San Pedro, both gentlemen
speaking in the interest of deep sea
harbor near Los Angeles. About the
opening of spring Mr.. Oorthell, who is
q gentleman of great distinction in his
profession, that of an engineer, made a
very elaborate inspection and survey OF
the bay OF Santa Monica. As to this
gentleman's standing there can be no
question whatsoever. He is the person
placed in charge of the jetties at the
mouth OF the Mississippi river by the
government OF the United States. He
ranks high all over this country and
over the world, for that matter. When
he made his estimates of the cost of the
construction of breakwater at Santa
Monica he drew upon facts which he
had carefully investigated. Such a
man cannot be whistled down the
wind. Mr.. Corthell places the cost of
the building of breakwater at
Santa Monica at So, 729, 1879. This is
lust two millions of dollars less than the
several boards of government engineers
had placed it, and it is $1,1l4.000 less
than the estimates OF the army boards
for the construction of a deep sea hsr-
Dor at San Pedro. The fscts embodied
in this brief cspitulation at once dis
pose of the constantly reiterated claim
that San Pedro offers great advantages
az compared with the cost of construc-
ton over Santa Monica. In his line Mr..
Corthell has no superior on this conti-
nent, and his statement at once brushes
away the I'D captandum arg uments
founded upon the reports of Col. NJ en-
dell, Col. Craighill and other gentlemen
who are prejudiced in favor of San Pc
dro.
For some reason best known to itself
the Los Angeles Times has started out
to bulldoze people into accepting San
Pedro as the only place where deep sea
harbor can be created to do the enor.
nous business which the growing COM
MERGE of Los Angeles and of the vast
country contributcry to this city will nee
essarily concentrate at some point on the
sea- board of Los Angeles county. There
is absolutely no reason whatsoever for all
his febrile vehemence. Although any
one with half an eye can see that Los
Angeles and Santa Monica are growing
towards each other with great rapidly.
and it is seen that, before many years
they will be practically one city, with
Santa Monica, the Los Angeles water
front, our esteemed contemporary still
keeps up it's insane cry. 1t endeavored
to get the late Republican county con-
vsntion to declare in favor of San Pedro,
with the result of an entire failure. A
similar movement in the congressional
convention of the Sixth district was
laughed down. The situation has
changed vastly since San Pedro was
thought, with government appropria-
tions, ample to meet the requirements Of
what was looked upon at that time as a
small provincial city. The City of the
Angels has grown to metropolitan pro-
portions, and it is seen that the whole
expanse of continent, on the shortest
line between tidewater and tidewater,
within the limits OF the United States,
will be tributary to her commercial de-
velopment, and it is also seen by saga
OiouB people that the exigency requires
the creation of a deep sea harbor at
Santa Monica, the natural outlet for
this immense region. The friends Of
Santa Monica are in no sense hostile to
the completion OF the inner h0rbor at
San Pedro, for which the house com.
mittee on rivers ana harbors have pro-
cured the insertion Of an appropri alton
of $4,000, which may possibly go
through at this session of congress-. On
the contrary, they have favored this sp-
preparation, and desire to see the inner
harbor completed. But when it Gomez
to the creation OF deep sea harbor the
case lie entirely different. In view Of
the large outlay involved in the latter
project they desire to see justice done to
the great and growing interests which
are involved.
Whenever it enters upon what it is
pleased to look upon as an argument on
this point our contemporary dwells upon
the fact that three several boards Of en-
gineers of the United States army have
pronounced in favor of San Pedro. OF
course the first report. which provided
for the inner harbor, was made under
conditions entirely different from those
which exist at present. Los Angeles
was Their q town of five or six thousand