The San Francisco call., 1898-08-08
FOR GOOD LEGISLATION.

PRELIMINARY steps have been taken oy the
 Manufacturers Association to reorgani%e 'iie Council of Associated Industries TOT the pun po'e of using its influence to promote good leesiaor oi the general welfare at the coming session o the o islature It is to be hoped the movement thus s'dleu will be carried briskly forward There IS liuo that should be done at Sacramento during the coiiiihs winter and it is too early to begin prepai for it.
 The Council of Associated Industries IS designed to include representatives of all influential orsaniza +;or. f trade commerce and industry in the State,
 d u he therefore well fitted devise and support
 measures calculated to advance the larger interests o the neople It can in this way render ettectuai ser vice to the commonwealth and demonstrate ane" the advantage that accrues to community when us more intelligent more enterprislng and more puDhc so;,;ted men work together for a common object 1n- stead of relying upon individual and separate eols
 The full programme of legislation be sought tor from the Legislature has of course not yet been marked out That cannot be done until the pro- posed council has had time to consider all the con dtons of the State and discover what evils exist anu what remedies should be applied It is fairly certain, however, that the pure food question will De taken up and also the issues involved in the problems ot providing for highway improvement and the better protection of white labor from the ruinous compe- tition of coolie workers.
 These matters have been so long under discussion they are well understood, and there IS a general agreement among intelligent, progressive men con- corning them It should not be difficult, therefore to provide some means of solving the problems re- latng to them. With respect to the pure food law indeed if is questionable whether any really adequate leqislation on the subject be provided py the State Until Congress makes law covering the whole Union and the whole subject It IS not hkey that we shall ever be free from the sale o impure foods Nevertheless 1t is worth while for the State to do what it can, and any well devised measure di- rected to the end of preventing food adulteraton will be generally supported
 It would be we'll for the proposed council to give its attention also the subject of forest preservation The fires that have swept the woods and the rancheS of the State since the beginning of the dry season. and that are even now raging in localities have oven us impressive object lessons in the value and need of such protection What has been lost by such fires within the last month would alone more than defray the cost of protection for a whole year The Issue Is one of pressing importance, and some steps sboud he taken to provide remedy at the coming Legislature.
 The council 1t goes without saying, will find plenty to do when it begins its proposed work The only danger is that in the multitude of things before 1t so many may be undertaken that the efforts ot the council will be scattered and weakened This of course must be guarded against. Ii a few measures of great importance are taken up and all the energies o the industrial associations are directed solely to nrocuring their enactment, much good will be surely accomplished for the people and for the com