The St. Johns herald., 1896-07-04
COMMERCE IS CALIFORNlA'S
 HOPE.
Errors Which Should be Eradicated
 From Our Pilot Laws.

Errors Which Should be Eradicated
 From Our Pilot Laws.
 California is favored beyond calcula,
 tion in the possession of a land-lockeG
 harbor unsurpassed i'll accessibility
 capacity, safety. and beauty on the face
 of the globe. .., Her people, it would seem, little appreciate what this fact
 means to the greater California of the future, and what advantages should accrue to the present generation of Cal
 ifornians by an intelligent use of this valuable San Francisco harbor. It is unfortunate, possibly for some reasons, that it is called ''San Francisco har- bor; because this title conveys to the average mind, perhaps, by analogy, a very narrow and limited idea of this great inland sea harbor. which extends practically the length of the entire bay from Alyiso on the south, to Vallejo on the north, distance of seventy miles or more, and contains sufficient deep water to accommodate the fleets of the entire merchant marine, together with all the navies of the world. The impression very generally prevails, we fear, that San Francisco harbor means the circumscribed portion of the bay fronting the city by the same name, and that it is part and parcel and the property of the said city, but this is a mistaken idea. San Francisco city is simply natural and an incl dental growth, an adjunct to the har- bor, and acts as the terminal landing place-the avenue, as it were, leading from the ocean to the whole State, and being the shipping port for productions from every part of California over the highway of the ocean to the markets of the world. The city and the harbor belong to the people of the entire State, and the harbor is under State control. So, then, let us consider it: "We are the people, the family; the State is our home, our heritage; the Golden Gate is our western doorway. Suppose we talk little about the entrance to our home and the "Stand and deliver welcome which meets the approaching ship from o'er the sea.
 First, then, we have: Compulsory Pilotage." ''Ship ahoy, there! Will you take tug, Captain?" ''Aye, aye, sir; hook on your hawser, being ebb tide we must have tug.'' Tug hooks on and starts for the Golden Gate with her valuable tow. Then appears an- other friendly helper who halls with: Ship ahoy, there! Captain, will you take pilot?" ''No, mo-" sings out the master, mo use of that expense; we're in tow of good tug that will pilot us safely into port. 'All right, re- spends the happy pilot, "but you know that if you don't take pilot, which would cost you $100, you will have to pay half-rates, or $90: that is the law of California. :" ''Very well," replies the unfortunate captain, "I'll pay half rather than all, because am now paying one pilot (the tug captain) and certainly have no use for two; charge it up.' And the play goes on, with ship after ship both coming in and going out; the same story over again: ''Take pilot and pay the full limit allowed by law-even though you must have tug that will take you safely in or out-or, if you don't take a pilot, pay good round sum, anyway" This is what is termed compulsory pilotage," or paying for what you do not get nor have any use for.
 Then comes in regular order the high charges for "dockage, I" "tolls," and wharfage" beyond which, if the ship be owned in California, she is taxed as personal property; the foreign owned vessel having the advantage of paying no taxes either here or at home. The producer who ships by water, and the of goods imported by sea, pay all these excessive charges in the shape of high freights.
 (To be continued.)