The herald., 1896-05-20
MORE HUNTINGTON MANIPU.
LATION

| LA11ON
| It will be seen by the dispatches in this
I mornings Herald that the corrupting
hand of Coils p. Huntington is still at
tempting to manipulate the course and
| character of the river and harbor bill.
The capitulation to the demands of
Senator White in the senate. it appears,
was attached to string. with the end
thereof in the hands of the superser-
viceable Mr.. Frye of Maine. The COM
| pact entered into by Senator White on
the part of the people and Senator Frye
on the part of his masters, Huntington
ct al, the latter propose to keep in so far
| as it will suit their plans. This is typical
| of the Huntington brand of good faith
and 1t will not in the least surprise those
people Of the Pacific coast that are rea-
sonably familiar with the practices of
Huntington and his tribe.
The proposed change in the senate
| amendment authorizing commission to
choose between San Pedro and Santa
Monica for a deep-sea harbor site for
Los Angeles is as Senator White bluntly
said before the conference committee
yesterday scheme to place the whole
IIdIlcT III luc VI tiCSS llAlOiSS
in the Santa Monica project. and it was
undoubtedly contemplated at the time
that the Huntington emissaries In the
senate acceded to Senator Whites prop
osition to appoint a new commission.
The commission as provided for by the
bill as passed by the senate would con-
sist of three civil engineers. to be ap-
pointed by the president one officer of
the coast and geodetic survey, to be ap-
pointed by the superintendent of the
coast survey, and one naval officer. to
be- appointed by the secretary of the
navy. Now 1t is proposed in the con-
ference committee to make such changes
in the bill as will permit the committee
to name the members of the commission
And It is a proposal that Mr.. Hunting
toms ambassador in the upper house,
nominally a senator from Maine. not
only expresses a Willingness to consent
to, but frankly advocates in the face of
the virtual agreement he concluded with
the friends of free harbor to leave the
subject to commission appointed in
the way before designated.
The conclusions to be drawn in the
premises are-that Mr.. Huntington's
only hope of having his Santa Monica
site selected lies in the appointment of
a commission that he can control, and
that he is in a position to dictate the ap-
pointments or at least a majority of
them, that the conference committee
would make. The prospect of using the
president, and the secretary of the navy
and the superintendent of the coast sur
vey he doubtless views as hopeless and
rightly So Neither the naval nor the
geodetic service is easy to prostitute
and the announcement that has gone
out that that President Cleveland in
tended to appoint men on the commits
sion Of absolute integrity II he had to
comb the country for such has probably
sent a cold chill down the Huntington
spine. Men that would be located with
the Cleveland honesty comb the arch
lobbyist of the day would consider
very unreasonable and untimely ap-
pointees.
Hooker that he is opposed to any ap-
preparation for a harbor in the vicinity
of Los Angeles and that the same should
be stricken out. is of course a part of
the plan of campaign in the conference
committee by which the Southern
Pacific people hope to work their job,
AS Senator White said: Such course
would be taken, if al all, only to annoy
him and force him to acquiesce in the
proposed change in the commission
Mr.. Hooker appears TO be very apt
and ready Huntington hooker, but it is
not likely that his bluff will accomplish
much with the able and plucky senator
from Southern California. 1t is apparent
from Senator Whites utterances that
he intends to stand pat for the COM
mission as specified in the senate bill
and if in spite of his protests the change
desired by Huntington is made, the
public may expect some remarks in the
senate of sensational and unpleasant
ly suggestive character.
AS an Independent proposition, sep
arated from all consideration of Hun
tingtons designs, the idea of either or
both houses of congress, in committee,
appointing members of a commission is
absurd and unprecedented. Congress
can create and authorize commissions
but it has not been the custom for it to
appoint the members of such commits
sons. That is essentially the function
of some one or more of the executive de-
partments, and strictly speaking, should
be left for the president or the executive
department ordinarily having within its
province the kind Of work the commis-
sion is appointed to carry on. The ad-
vocacy of this extraordinary innoVa-
tion by the Southern Pacific harbor
clique affords one illustration of the
length they are willing to travel to Sc
cure their points.
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY