The herald., 1897-08-01

is an exceedingly able man, and very
familiar with legislation coming with
in the Jurisdiction of the commerce COM
mittee led the fight against San Pedro
and procured majority report of tbs
commerce committee in accordance witr
his views The river and harbor bill
as it left the house contained no refer
ence to the subject. The work was Who'll
ly done in the senate. NotwithStandine
the recommendation of the majority OF
the commerce committee the last boaro
was appointed, and curiously enough
during the progress of the debate, Sen
ator Frye proposed to name the five
members of the new board in the bill
This proposition l declined TO accept
and the appointment was eventually
/ left TO the chief of the coast and Seodetic
survey, the secretary of the navy and
the president-the executive being re-
quested to name three eminent engineers
from civil life familiar with riparian
work
THE HARBOR COMMISSIONERS
'"The first name on the list submitted
by Senator Frye was Admiral Walker
and eventually he was appointed by the
| StCIttdTy Ol tHS navy anu bSCdlIt plcs-
ident of the board. One of the engineers
selected from civil life was Mr.. Morgan,
whose son had been an employe of the
Southern Pacific company, and when
I noticed the appointment l recognized
Mr.. Morgan as a gentleman who had
made a report to the California railroad
| commission strongly indulgent to the
same corporation. 1 wrote imme diately
to Mr. Cleveland protesting against the
appointment. When the decision was
rendered Morgan was the only dissent
ing member. The report of Admiral
Walker, which was concurred in by all
cf his colleagues except Morgan, stated
that the latter had not at that time
made up his mind as to whether he
would or would not concur with the ma
jority. AS a matter of fact he was not
heard from until Mr.. Huntington and
Mr. Hood saw the majority report III
Washington, in Secretary Alger's Of
flee.
1T is not a stretch of the imagination
to suppose that the Morgan report was
the result of deliberations in which 9TH
ers participated including the last
| named Southern Pacific representatives.
bill the report of the Walker board was
final as to location.
ALGER'S EVASION OF DUTY
'Secretary Alger has attempted to
avoid the performance of his duty by
asserting that that board failed to sug-
gest harbor of refuge and commerce
the claim being that the completion of the
hive ly,x- WI, icl, nHt a1,c Orb he
tire appropriation, would result in thf
formation of a harbor of refuge only
and that a harbor of commerce would
not be created until another appropra
tion was made for further development.
The vice of the secretary's argument is
found mainly in his avoidance of the
facts. The Walker board did not deter
mine that the breakwater construction
would make a harbor Of refuge solely
ON THE CONTRARY, it is directly
therein stated that when the breakwater
is completed in accordance with the de-
tails given, there will be a harbor of
refuge AND OF COMMERCE. But the
report proceeds and shows as an ad
vantage of decided moment favoring the
selection of San Pedro, that the inner
harbor is susceptible of great develop
ment and that by spending more money
an anchorage for commercial purposes
will be afforded within the inner harbor's
limits. aud that commerce will be there
provided for without the necessity of
lhe construction Of long piers such as
that now utilized at Port Los Angeles
and which would become necessary if
the harbor of refuge was relied upon
for commercial purposes. In other
! words, the breakwater will make a har-
Dor of refuge and of commerce, but with
breakwater there is in the immediate
nelghborhood a splendid field for the
formation of deep, still and commodi-
Gus commercial anchorage accessible
at very light expense.
HIS OBVIOUS OBLIGATION
"1f the harbor had been located at
Santa Monica. work on the inner har-
Dor at San Pedro would still have been
prosecuted. Under these circumstances
1t was obviously General Ayers obli-
CATION to advertise for the construction
of the breakwater mentioned by the
Walker board. That board made nc
specifications for any other work. .rhe
recommendations regarding the inner
harbor were purely suggestive. General
Alger some time ago in an interview
published in the Los Angeles Herald
expressed himself in favor of Santa Mon
lea. Notwithstanding his prejudices he
should have obeyed the law, which was
clear. He had no discretion but to go
ahead, yet he insisted that congress
should express ite Interpretation of its
own act. l attempted to comply with
this unique request by insisting on the
passage of the concurrent resolution.
BARLOW's ACTIVITY
"After considerable opposition. which
has been already referred to in the press
dispatches, the resolution prevailed and
reached the house. Mr. Barlow, who
has been very active in connection with
| this subject, called Oh the secretary and
asked him whether he would not re-
quest Mr. Reed TO permit the subject to
be considered in the house. Secretary
Alger replied that he had no objection
| to doing so. Mr.. Barlow saw the pre- 81
dent and was informed that there was
no antagonism there. Still he could not
procure Mr.. Reeds acquiescence. In
some quarters it is claimed that the ac-
| tion of the speaker in preventing the
passage of the resolution did not meet
! the approval Of the executive of the war
department. While it is fair to Gen.
| Alger to say that he evidently did not