The herald., 1898-10-16

n Icihc company in evasion of its obligation
: to the state and In defiance of the condi
tions upon which 1t holds It's public fran
, chises
We condemn the action Of the last Repub
l lican legislature in refusing to appropriate
the money necessary to enable the state
railroad commission to properly defend it'
rights and powers in the state and fedora
courts, and to properly investigate the
business methods, earnings and expenses
!: Of the railroads subject TO it's Jurisdiction,
We re.terate the position repeatedly as
serted by the Democratic party OF Califor-
MIA that in the limitation of freight ana
Dare charges by the state railroad comm!s-
sion no allowance should be made for IN
terest on any fictitious capitalization or
l any railroad companies; that reasonable
| interest should be allowed upon the actual
investment IN the construction OF the rail-
road, including stations and terminals. ana
upon the actual value Of rolling stock ana
other property used in connection with rail-
! road transportation, and no allowance
should be made as or for interest upon the
value of any privilege given by the people
| to such companies, and no allowance OF
/ interest upon any bonded indebtedness be-
yond the actual value of the railroad meas
ured by the cost of reproducing 1t at any
given time at which rates are to be fixed.
! In determining the allowance to be made
| for operating expenses OF railroads, the
commission should provide literally for the
wages of men employed thereon, and all
railroad companies should be compelled to
pay wages in accordance with such allow
ance
| The preservation of the navigable rivers
/
Importance to the commerce and develop
ment of the state, and We therefore urge
upon our delegation in congress the inn
! portance of securing liberal appropria-
tions for the maintenance Of the naviga bill
| ity and improvement Of the same
Fully realizing the great importance of
/ early completion of the work undertaken
upon the Sacramento and San Joaquin riv-
| ers and the possibility of placing the i'm
provement Of these waterways under the
! contract system at an early day, we pledge
our representatives In congress to exercise
! their utmost endeavors TO accomplish this
purpose. and declare that the completion
of this Improvement should be expedited
| by both state and nation.
| Whereas, This Is the first time In the his
! tory of our state, Notwithstanding vast
| SuIIls nave HcIctOlOLC pccA CAPSlluSd AT
making surveys for plans Of improvement
and reports thereon, that practicable effort
for the improvement of navigation and
flood water escape has been inaugurated
by the state. under the approval Of the
United States board Of river engineers and
sanction of the secretary Of war; therefore.
, be 1t
Resolved, That we commend the commits
-
board for having secured concert Of action
! between government and state authorities
/ in executing the long-needed and practical
works now under process of construction
on both the Sacramento and San Joaquin
rivers.
We denounce the persistent and long
continued effort of the present secretary of
war to prevent the Improvement Of the
public harbor Of San Pedro, and his per-
s.stent efforts to divert the sums of money
appropriated by congress for that purpose
to the improvement of the private harbor
of the Southern Pacific companw at Santa
Monica, California; and the Democratic
congressman from California are hereby
pledged to use every effort to prevent such
diversion Of any portion of the 81 800 900 ap-
propriated for the construction of the har-
for the construction Of the breakwater and
the deepening Of the inner harbor at that
point.
We congratulate the Democratic party
and the people of the state of California on
the fact that by the legislation initia ted
by the Democratic party under the plat
forms Of conventions held respectively In
1890 and 1892, the mining industry In all its
Aro oh hp- l,~,r1 IT.,
today gives 1t a leading position In the de-
velopment and progress Of the state. We
favor the continuation Of the work so aus
p.ciously initiated by the national and
state governments on the lines laid down IN
the law to the end that all interests in
volved be fully and adequately protected,
and each be given the recognition demand
ed by the important bearing each has upon
the general welfare.
We believe in fostering the mining in
dustry in all its branches, and favor the
rehabilitation Of hydraulic mining wher-
ever L may be carried on without ma
terial injury to other vested interests.
Inasmuch as the last legal impediment
to the immediate expenditure Of the $780,
900 appropriated. $3.50 900 thereof by con-
gress and s25oooO thereof by the state of
dams, was removed by the present con-
gress, and the whole Of said sum is now
available for that purpose, we demand the
immediate construction Of such restrain
ing dams.
We condemn the rapacity Of the Central
Pacific and other railroad companies in
procuring the issuance to themselve. of
patents for large tracts of mineral lands.
Notwithstanding the original grants under
which said patents ore issued especially
excepts from its operation all mineral
land, and we demand that all such patents
be Cancelled, that the lands covered there
by be restored to the public domain and
thrown open to exploration and entry, and
IN this behalf we favor an early enactment
of the California mineral lands bill now
pending before congress and Endorsed by
the California Miners association, affect |
Ing both such patented and unpatented
lands
We demand the election Of United States /
senators by a direct vote of the people of |
the states, and we pledge our senators and |
representatives In congress to vote for the !
submission of such amendment to the |
Federal constitution.
We are IN favor of a strict adherence 70
the rule that the legislative, judicial and
executive departments Of our federal gov
ernmert and Of our state government shall |
be kept separate, and that neither shall en- |
croach upon the powers or functions Of the |
other, and we particularly oppose and con-