The San Francisco call., 1898-07-12

Southern Pacific managers, obvious ly forgetting that San Francisco had been emancipated from railroad slav- cry, sought last Saturday evening to introduce the old-time tactics of bar ricading the water front. For very many years the corporation had such complete ownership of every official connected with the Harbor Commission that the political manager of the com pany had only to hold up his finger to the board in order to secure instant compliance with any decree from the railroad.
 Notice was given a few days since by the Harbor Commissioners that the new depot at the foot of Market street would be ready for occupany on Mon day, July Il. Although preparations had been making for years to get everything in readiness to give the public the advantages to be derived from the occupancy of the new quar- ters, the Southern Pacific boats were not ready to receive passengers on the upper deck. Instead of issuing rush orders to get the boats ready, the relics of a past generation in railroading con- cluded to barricade the stairways lead ing from the first floor of the depot to the capacious and finely appointed waiting rooms and grand nave of the second floor The consent of the Har- Dor Commission was not solicited and the convenience of the public was never thought of for a minute. It was enough for the corporation to know that the old boats had not been put in order and the new boats to fit the new conditions would not be ready un- til next October. What was more nat ural then for the Southern Pacific, in the light of its past dealings with the California public, than to close up the entrances to the depot and exclude the people until the corporation got ready to open up for regular business?
 To the surprise and consternation of every one about the railroad institution from the president down the antique line to the ticket clerks, the Harbor Commis- siOners instantly removed the iron rods barring admission to the second floor of the new depot. In olden days such an act would have been construed as high treason and the offending Commissioners would have been bounced from ofhce and turned out to the cold charities of the world. The audacious HarbOr Commis- siOners who removed the bars did not complain to the managers of the railroad
 
 the corporation as common trespaSser and broke down the Iron gates. So far as can be ascertained the company has not demanded of Governor Budd that the ConlmiS SsionerS be removed. Everything is different from the style of the old days when Governors sent around every nICrmine to get instructions from railroad headSuarters.
 The utter lack of enterprise in the man. agement of the Southern Pacific is again very clearly exhibited. After all the money and time expended by the progress sive people of San Francisco to prepare modern and first-class accommodations for the travelling public, it Is now found that the boats belonging to the old South ern Pacific are not ready to receive pas sengers on the cabin deck. Noah could have done better with his ark in the days of the deluge than the Southern Pacific is able to do at the dawn of the twentieth century. Forms keep moving about the yellow building and there Is a tradition that some of the inhabitants of the houss are really alive, but one watching the construction and repair of the ferry boats to fit the new depot landings would not fancy that vitality existed in the man. agement.
 The trouble between the Commission CTS and the railroad grew out of the quarters set aside for the Southern Pa cific in the new ferry depot. The liar Dor Commissioners notified the corpora ton last week that the apartments in the building that had been arranged for them would be ready for occupancy on Tuesday and it was supposed that the long-suffering public. after years of waiting, would be at last afforded the luxury of up-to-date depot accommoda- tions.
 On Saturday the board was shocked with the statement that the Southern Pa cific Company had sent its employees to the ferry depot and erected barriers to