The herald., 1897-03-04
BULLAS STREET CAR BILL
Causes Much Excitement at the
Capitol
VOUCHERS FOR PENSIONS
Must Be Executed Without the Pay.
ment Of Fees
Large Number Of Bills Passed-The Date
Of Finai Adjournment Has Not
Yet Been Pixed
epsoial to Tho Herald.

special TO Tho f1eralu.
SACRAMENTO, March 3.-The figh
ever Bulla's five-block bill promises t.
make 1t the liveliest contest of the ses
sion. Yesterday printed copies Of a reso
luton of the Los Angeles city council
on the subject were laid upon all thu
desks in the senate and assembly, ant
this morning a circular appeared signed
w. Clayton. secretary, San Francisco
and San Mateo Electric Railway com
pany. which reads as follows:
THE five-block bill (Senate No. 1892
will kill street railway competition
stihe the growth OF cities. fortify and en-.
trench monopolies.
Senator Bullas bill was designed to
meet an alleged special condition OF Los
Angeles. The municipal authorities ol
that city granted a franchise that, 1t Is
claimed, never should have been grant
ed, but is that good reason why street
railroad enterprise in the whole state OF
California should be throttled?
Under the law demanded by Senator
Bulla no railroad may use more than
fve(or ten) blocks altogether of any one
Of its competitors lines. 1t may use up
that Ave Cor ten) blocks In one stretch
or in five separate pieces of track at a
distance of even three miles apart, but
as soon as these five Cor ten) blocks are
used up its competition must end. 1t
might be necessary for competing
road to run only one more block over its
competitors lines In order to reach out
side territory and thus help build up the
suburbs of a city as well as introduce
healthy competition. But this bill says
no. 1t has had It's five Cor ten) blocks
1t can have no more. The fact that the
five Cor ten) blocks used may be five
miles away from the point where the use
Of two more blocks Of its competitors S
lines would open up large district, is
to out no figure. The law is mandatory.
Five Cor ten) blocks shalt thou have
and no more. And this because the city
authorities of Los Angeles are alleged
to have abused the intent of the present
statute.
Does the legislature of California re-
alize that this bill for the relief of false
condition In Los Angeles gives to the
Market street railway Of San Francisco
q greater hold than ever? That it prac-
tica1ly fences them in from reasonable
and legitimate competition? Is it the
purpose of this legislature to fortify and
entrench street railway monopolies?
1.-THE striking out OF the word Com
eecutively'' from the present statute Is
going to work against the interest of the
cities and state so far as street rail-
roads are concerned. Take San Francis
CO, for example, no matter what the
needs OF the city may be, no new street
railroad could, In the face of the legisla-
tion proposed, start in competition with
the Market street railway for the next
thirty-five years. when some of the fran
chises expire.
San. Francisco could not build up its
suburbs In many directions in the face
OF such law save by consent and active
cooperation of the Market street sys-
tenn. What incentive will the Market
Street Railway company. or any other
company, have to give good service to
outside districts II competition be killed
and nothing could kill competition more
enectually than the five or ten block
Limitation, for under that law no new
railroad could get down town.
The cry from Los Angeles that cap
ital calls for such legislation is ridicu-
ious. Capital does not need ask such
protection In the state at large. It
asks only reasonable and just protec-
tion. 1t does not demand absolute local
monopoly. If the city fathers of Los
Angeles nave failed to appreciate the de-
eirability of granting proper protection
to street railway investments, then let
Los Angeles suffer. and not the whole
state Legitimate enterprise in the me-
tropolis and the state at large should
not be placed under restrictions be-
cause Los Angles corporation de-
sires to perpetuate a monopoly of its
own.
1.-THE city fathers of any city should
be capable of discriminating between
legitimate competition and that which
Is neither legitimate, reasonable nor
Just. The proper use of the statute linn
iting tho competing roads to the use of
five blocks consecutively is neither a
hardship nor an injustice to any rail-
road in the state.
1.-THE present statute could, perhaps.
be made more liberal. properly safe
guarded, with advantage to the people.
but any curtailmept of the present stat
ute can only tend to stifle competition
and be detrimental to the growth of cit
les and the interests of the people of the
state"
Bulla considered that these circulars
reflected on him, arsi when Judge Lam
me approached his 1sk this morning,
ne ordered him away and threatened to
have resolutions passed denying the
Judge the courtesies OF the floor. Later.
Just before the noon adjournment, he
rose and said that Judge Lamme had
come to him and he had treated him po-
Htely, supposing the latter was gen.
tleman; he had told Lamme that he had
not asked any assemblyman to vote for
the bill, and would not. The bill. how
ever. was not before the senate. having
passed that body. and the only purpose
Of distributing the circulars in the SEN
ate was to reflect on him, which he de-
Mounced. He believed the bill was a
good bill and wanted 1t to pass on its
merits. He read kilograms from Pres
ident Silver and four members of the
council. saying the resolution was
rushed through Just before adjourn
ment. without debate, and they did not
understand what they were voting for
II appears difficult to get the senate
and assembly to agree Oh date Of ad-
tournment and they talk now of remain
ing In seFsion until March 20
The committee to investigate the
printing Office will hold its first session
Saturday afternoon.
The bill to exempt Stanford university
from taxation was overwhelmingly de-
feated in the senate today. The SEN
ate passed and sent to the governor a
bill removing the girls from Whittier
to Santa Clara
The assembly raised the appropria-
eion fer the support Of whittier to l2oo,-