The record-union., 1896-05-23
WHOLESALE MISREPRESENTAT

VsaOlLLSAlAE 4A11OAt
The San Jose daily Mercury which
is afflicted with anti-railroad paresis,
gives emphasis to it's imbecility in the
following sentence:
There has never been anything more
disgraceful than the dishonorable meth
DDS adopted by Huntington to secure an
appropriation from the Government
for the purpose Of improving his prop
erty at Santa Monica"
There has never been anything more
disgraceful than the lying misrepresen-
tation of this sentence. Mr.. Hunting
ton does not own property at Santa
Monica. The people of Los Angeles
wanted a deep-sea harbor. They wanted
the sea as a factor in the development
of their country. The Southern Pacific
Company bought $500 acres of land at
San Pedro, which it still owns. They
built a wharf at that place. They at
tempted to use that locality, and, after
an experience with winds, waves and
swells, which qualified them to judge
they abandoned the place and con-
structed a wharf at Santa Monica The
editor of the San Jose Mercury does
not appear to possess the necessary
honesty to judge Of these matters. The
southern portion Of the State, how
ever, wanted a deep-sea harbor, and If
they ever get one they will owe 1t to c..
IJr1p ffr1cr
therefore says that Huntington has
used dishonorable methods for the pur-
pose of improving his property at Santa
Monica, it cannot allege one fact which
would make this falsehood even half
way respectable.
The wharf constructed by Huntington
at Santa Monica is by stipulation to be
used in common for the terminal pur-
poses of all railroads, each railroad
using 1t paying its due proportion Of the
cost of the construction. Here, then,
is fine wharf, one of the finest in the
world. constructed and ready to hand,
which will reach a deep-sea harbor at
Santa Monica Here is an opportunity
for the Pacific Coast to acquire an ad-
ditional harbor It is with the greatest
difficulty that Government can be in
duced to spend public money for the
construction of a harpor seventeen
miles from a city, when there is a
magnificent harbor within less than
one hundred and fifty miles Of that
place. If there was any reason, de-
cency or common sense in some of the
journals Of the country, this Santa
Monica proposition would be looked
upon as a magnificent opportunity for
the people of California to receive a
great benefit.
The "Mercury's" statement is on all
fours with the miserable drivel which
crucifies every public-spirited citizen
who attempts to do anything for the
State. If that paper were called upon
to specify the property which Hunting
ton owns at Santa Monica, or to par
ticulariZe as to the dishonorable meth
DDS he has pursued, and were obliged
to tell the truth in every sentence
1t utters, it would simply stand dunn
founded. But the Mercury" evidently
belongs to the class Of papers who con-
denim everything done by Huntington OF
the railroad, because they believe both
Huntington and the railroad to be un-
popular. They have not that species OF
intellectual independence, nor that
character for manliness, nor that repu-
tation for honesty. which would enable
them to distinguish between abuses and
services. Fair minded men, whose rep
utation for honesty is above reproach
can sometimes applaud right action
without the danger of being charged
with either subserviency or corruption
The action of Congress gives to Los
Angeles deep-sea harbor. We hazard
nothing in saying that this result would
not have been accomplished in twenty
five years but, for the efforts of c. P
Huntington
THE Alameda Woman's Suffrage Con.