The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-05-21
FRYE's LATEST SCHEME.

| The attempt made by Senator Frye to
/ have the conference committee OF the
| Senate and the House appoint the mem
| bers of the board to which 1t is proposed
to leave the selection of site for deep
water harbor for Los Angeles is altogethel
one of the most extraordinary proceedings
| ever undertaken by a statesman of his
rank and reputation.
! The Senator had in express terms agreed
/ in the Senate to leave the selection of the
site to commission of five persons, one
of whom is to be a naval officer appointed
by the Secretary of the Navy, one an
| officer OF the Coast Survey appointed by
the Secretary of the Treasury, and three
civil engineers appointed b. the Presi-
dent. That he has now sought to break
away from this agreement seems a clear
proof that he and Mr.. Huntington are
afraid OF such an impartial comm ssion
and desire to obtain one which will be
pledged to their interests beforehand and
can be counted ON to recommend the site
at Santa Monica.
The whole course of this controversy has
been marked by proceedings on the part
OF the railroad lobby which can hardly be
called anything else than disgraceful. The
work began by calling bogus mass-meet-
ing in Los Angeles to pass resolutions op-
posing the improvement of the harbor OF
San Pedro on the very evening when q
genuine mass-meeting of the best citizens
and business men of the city was held to
urge Congress to undertake the work al
that port. This was followed by sending
to Washington petitions favoring Santa
Monica to which fictitious or forced names
were signed, and now the series of tricks
eliminates in this attempt to violate a
fair agreement and reopen the whole ques-
ton after it has been satisfactorily settled.
Rarely has the Southern Pacific of Ken
lucky in the whole course of it's exactions
and expressions shown itself more adj
verse to the welfare of California or a more
unscrupulous foe TO the interests of the
State than in this contest. Ii is not Los
Angeles only, but all California, that re-
qulres and justly asks for deep water
harbor at that point of the coast. 1t is
not too much to say that the entire region,
from Utah to the sea, is concerned in the
establishment of such harbor. The
Southern Pacific will itself profit by it.
Yet such is the greed, the avarice, the
monopolizing instinct OF the management
of the road that it persistently and un-
scrupulously fights every plan to obtain
such a harbor except under conditions
that would place the entire wharf front
age of the port absolutely and exclusively
under the control of the Southern Pacific
Com pany.
1t not infrequently happens that poetic
justice is done in this world. The villain
frequently walks into his own trap. The
engineer is occasionally hoist by his own
petard. Frye's brazen attempt to violate
his agreement to leave the selection OF the
site for the harbor to an impartial commits
sion may have the effect of disgusting
every honest Congressman WITH the tao
tics of the railroad lobby and it IS support
ers in Congress, and so prompt them to
settle the question at once by providing al
San Pedro harbor that shall be for Los
Angeles and California, free from the
domination of the monopoly and open to
the trade and com merce of the people al
large.