The herald., 1896-05-13
THE PEOPLES VICTORY

The friends of free harbor for Los
Angeles have won great victory. The
scheme to incorporate in the river and
harbor appropriation BILL now pending
In congress, an appropriation of $S.00o,-
900 for the Southern Pacific Santa Mon
lea harbor, and to make such appro-
priation the condition precedent to one
for completing the inner harbor at San
Pedro, has suffered signal defeat. The
rapacious raid of the Unsuitable Hunt
ington has been checked on the floor of
the United States senate.
BY the dispatches in this issue of The
Herald 1t will be seen that the gallant
battle made by Senator White for the
appointment of a commission to investi-
gate the claims of the rival deep sea
harbor sites and to determine on the one
to be utilized by the government, has
been won, and that an independent ap-
preparation OF 1892 900 for the completion
of the inner harbor at San Pedro has
been obtained, as far as the senate is
concerned.
The idea Of a commission to examine
into the merits of the rival harbor sites
and to decide as to which should be i'm
proved by the government has been
most strenuously fought by the Hunt
ington lobby since 1t was first advanced
by Senator White to~he senate commit
tee on commerce. The hostility displayed
to the proposition by the monopoly
forces furnishes the best sort of evil
dence of the intrinsic weakness of their
cause. The light of honest. intelligent
investigation is not what they desire.
The merits of the peoples choice of har-
bors and the dement's of their own pro-
ject as far as public interest are con-
sdered, are too we'll known to Hunt
ington and his associates to warrant
ready acquiescence on their part in any
plan that would call for turning on the
light of truth. But Senator Whites
magnificent exposition of the cause of
the people in the harbor matter, Joined
with his unsparing exposure of the
weaknesses of the Huntington harbor
site and the designs of the Huntington
corporation has compelled a surrender
on the part of the enemies of a free har-
Dor
The Frye amendment adopted by the
senate means a capitulation to Senator
White, as it provides, like the amend
iHcHt VI Tic OOQtiGlh SdlllOl llld Scld-
tor, for commission, but of slightly
different character. The commission
provided for by the amendment
agreed to will consist of three
civilians to be appointed by the
president. one member of the
geodetic survey and one naval officer.
To the appointment of army engineers
on such commission Mr. Huntington
and his staff seemed unalterably op-
posed. They have reason to be. The
gentlemen of the army corps of engineers
are invariably men of exceptional attain
ments in their calling and of sterling in
tegrity. They can neither be deceived
nor influenced in the way peculiar to
the Huntington tribe. The training of
the army develops the sense of honor
that usually proves impervious to the
assaults OF people who have Inducements
to offer for official or expert opinions of
a kind agreeable to themselves. Hence
the hostility to army engineers. How
ever, little has been gained by the inter-
ests Senator Frye represents in the
elimination Of army engineers. The
members of the geodetic and naval serv-
ices are equally with the gentlemen of
the army jealous of their good name and
conscientious in the performance of their
duties, and it may be depended on that
the civilians appointed by President
Cleveland will be men far beyond the
reach of Huntington and his lobby.
To Senator White and Senator Per-
kins and the little group of senators
from distant states who lead the fight
against the powerful Vaccinations of one
of the most gigantic and INSCRIPTIONS
monopolies in the land the thanks of the
people of Southern California are due,
and The Herald herewith takes the lib
erty of extending them. They made a
royal battle and they have demonstrated
that the president of the third house"
at Washington is not greater than the
people.