The herald., 1896-06-19
HON. I. I. G|BBON TALKS
The Result of His WASH
ington Trip
The OUTLOOK FOR SAN PEDRO
Is Highly Encouraging and Its
Friends Confident
MUCH INTEREST MANIFESTED
The Good Work OF Senator White and
the Eastern Press
its Effect Is Demonstrated In Even the South.
ern Elections
In Regard to Politics, Mr.. Olbbon Saws That
the Silver Men Have Captured the
Democratic Convention and
VIII Run II
Is Highly Encouraging and Its
Friends Confident
MUCH INTEREST MANIFESTED
The Good Work OF Senator White and
the Eastern Press
its Effect Is Demonstrated In Even the South
ern Elections


Hon. T. E. Gibbon, who returned
home Wednesday from months So
journ at Washington, where he has been
in the interests of the San Pedro harbor
appropriation, is highly encouraged at
the outlook for the peoples harbor at
that place. He says that he has seldom
seen more interest displayed in any
proposition than that of the Southern
California harbor fight. In talking on
the result of his trip, Mr.. Gibbon yester-
day to a Herald reporter:
1.-THE present outlook Of the harbor
matter should be very satisfactory to
every friend of a free harbor for this
city. First we have in the bill an abb
solute appropriation of $S92,0O0 to car
ry out the Benyaurd project for deepen
ing the inner harbor at San Pedro to
eighteen feet at low tide.
This depth when obtained will accom-
n.odate easily vessels Of twenty-five feet
draft.
"Then the sum of three millions Is
also appropriated for deep water
harbor at either San Pedro or Santa
Monica, as the commission which Is to
be appointed shall determine
"True, the bill provides that should
the commission decide to construct the
deep water harbor at San Pedro all of the
appropriation for the inner harbor at
that place. save $5O,OOO, shall lapse, and
the $4,000 to be expended in beginning
the Benyaurd project. But as the ex-
80. o10 NV
the government of the whole project for
obtaining the eighteen feet at low tide,
as proposed the remainder Of the sum
required to complete it will have to be
appropriated later, and will probably
be given as fast as required to push the
work.
There is, however, another aspect
of the present situation which is even
| more encouraging.
"You will remember that the board
| of United States engineers of 1892 esti-
mated that a deep water harbor at San
| Pedro, constructed according to the
| plans which they submitted, would cost
| $2.SS5, ,0O0.
Taking the difference between the
| prices of labor and material now as COM
pared with what they were when this
| estimate was made, 1t is reasonable to
| suppose that the same work could now
| be done for two millions or little more.
| thus leaving nearly or quite million
| dollars of the appropriation subject to
being used for additional improvements
| upon the harbor, not heretofore con-
| templated.
LAS the commission to be appointed
| Is given the right to change the project
fnrs hnr rIn toff do 70
| make a new project If it deems best,
there would seem to be no reason why
the commission may not, in view of this
apparent surplus in the appropriation,
extend the project so as to include in it
an extensive deepening of the inner har-
Dor. Engineers have recently given it
as their opinion that the inner harbor
can be deepened to rs feet at low tide,
thus accommodating vessels of 20 feet
draft. The surplus of the three million
appropriation should be almost or quite
enough to accomplish this and give us
not only thoroughly protected deep
water harbor, but also an inner harbor
capable of accommodating all but the
very deepest draft vessels. This would
give to Los Angeles one of the finest har-
bors In the world and I believe that some
such plan will be adopted by the COM
mission. Certainly when the expendi-
ture of the appropriation at San Pedro
can secure such results, while the only
thing possible to be obtained by it's ex-
penditure at Santa Monica will be a
breakwater with both ends in the ocean
and furnishing at most only q partially
protected anchorage ground for ships,
with no provision for inner harbor, docks
or basins. there would appear to be no
reasonable doubt as to which place an
honest commission will select
That the commission will be one en-
nv hnfh tn,
ability to pass upon this important mat
ter. have not the slightest doubt
The frantic efforts made by the friends
Of the Santa Monica scheme to take
the appointing of this commission out
of the hands where Senator Whites
amendment put it, is evidence enough
that they considered their cause as good
as lost when it came before a commits
sion to be appointed by the president
the secretary of the navy and the chief
of the coast survey. For three days the
friends of Mr.. Huntington kept the
matter hung up in the conference COM
mittee while they tried in every way
to evade what they evidently regarded
as provision fatal to all the hopes of
their chief.
THAT they did not succeed was owing
to the unsparing exposure and denun-
citation which Senator White gave their
scheme, both publicly and in private.
and the use made by many of the great
eastern papers Of the facts which the
senator's statement furnished them.
1.-THE people are largely indebted to
the honest press Of the East as well as
of our own state for the defeat of the
effort to monopolize he-commerce of a
great section of the country. The wide
publicity which the harbor fight obtain
ed is strikingly shown by an incident
which occurred on train upon which T
was lately travelling from Little Rock.
Ark, to st. Louis. While chatting with
number of gentlemen in the smoking
car one evening met a lawyer who han
pened to say something about the recent
defeat of Blanchard for senator by the
legislature Of Louisiana. Blanchard ha
been for years first congressman and
then senator from that state, and is
known in Washington as one of the most
plant and subservient tools that Mr.
Huntington has ever found there, AMI
was in common with all of his kind. a
bitter opponent Of San Pedro. He was
defeated while the harbor fight was in
progress before the senate at Washing
ton. From his remark I learned that
this gentleman had been deenlv inter-