Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-03
PRESENT PROJECT
To LONG BEACH
THOUSAND PERSONS HEAR OF
CONSOLIDATION
Some Oppose Making Beach City Part
of Los Angeles - others
Favor Annexation
Scheme

OSnCI1C
Special to The. Herald.
LONG BEACH, Dec 2.-Nearly 1000
citizens gathered at the audltorluI.l
Saturday afternoon to hear tne
speeches made by representative Los
Angeles men concerning the proposeu
city and county consolidation. 1ils
was the first occasion upon whlcn lne
Los Angeles side of this matter mas
heen presented here. The audience,
conposed of representative business
men. showed a deep interest in the DIS
cussions of the question and undouDt-
edlv took away considerable food Tor
serious reflection on the proposition: NO
action was taken in the matter ana no
expression of opinion was called LOT,
Both the speakers and those III tne
audience who made plain that they
opposed the consolidation project were
applauded and cheered.
The speakers were Judge III. c. Dill
lon. formerly of this city; Milton K.
Young and Attorney Walter Haas
Others in the visiting party were Presi-
dent S. F. Butler and J. H. Pridham
of South Pasadena.
The party arrived at o'clock and
proceeded at once to the place of meet
ing. Rev. E. w. Thornton, pastor OF the
Christian church, presided. In an open
ing speech the chairman urged that the
matter to be presented be given careful
attention and that 1t be discussed fairly
and squarely.
Advantages of Consolidation
Judge Dillon eulogized this city and
spoke of it's great growth. He de-
precated the action of Long Beach in its
recent fight against consolidation. He
then introduced the other speakers and
mentioned the topics they were to dis
| cusS.
Judge Young mentioned the various
ways in which he thought Long Beach
might profit by the consolidation.
Among these We're reduced expenses
of government and the securing of ter
minal rates. He said that the saloon
question could be handled here as it is
| in Los Angeles where certain districts
are kept dry" He urged that the great
Owens river project would prove of
benefit to Long Beach. Mr.. Young ex-
pressed the desire that there be no fric
tion between the cities of Long Beach
and Los Angeles. All should work to-
gether to form big municipality There
| was no disposition on the part of Los
Angeles to "gobble up" this city.
In reply to a question by DIR. l.. A.
Perce president of the chamber of COM
merce, as to when Los Angeles expected
to get the Owens river project through
and as to whether the object of that city
was not mainly to get Long Beach to
assist in paying for the work, Judge
Young said: 1.-THE commission never
considered the matter Of getting Long
Beach in to help provide funds for this
impr9vemen M sioo ooH d[m no our could nro
baby get along without the $11,00O,000
assessed valuation of Long Beach The
Owens river will be brought to Los
Angeles just as fast as ingenuity and
capital can bring it.
Attorney Walter Haas told of the ap-
pointment of the commission and
pointed out that 1t had not come as
bunch of invaders, but upon invitation.
Consolidation would be a good thing
for Southern California as whole he
said. and he cited the fact that Los
Angeles has a chamber of commerce
with 2400 members, and that each
member pays 81 a month into its treas
ury for purposes of advertising. This,
he said, advertised not Los Angeles
alone, but the entire section.
He made plain that 1t was impossible
for Los Angeles to "gobble up" any
municipality and that the city would
have to vote in favor of annexation be-
fore 1t could be brought about. He
objected to the phrasing which defines
the present project as Greater Los
Angeles" move. The various NUM-
cipalties,' he said. would remain prac
tically the same, but for business rea-
sons it would be found profitable to
consolidate.
DIR. Perce asked the speaker If the
move was not to be made simply to
"swap Owens river for some ocean
frontage" Mr.. Haas replied that, II
water famine should ever occur the
river water would come in handily,
but DR.. Perce answered that the Pa
cihc could be distilled If necessary.
Danger of Water Famine
DR.. M. A. Schurz vigorously made it
known that he agreed with Mr.. Haas
i that there was danger of a water
shortage here within the next five
years He said that a number of wells
had dried up already and that more
would follow suit.
DIR. Perce asked why Long Beach
had not been consulted earlier in the
progress of the annexation agitation.
| Attorney Haas replied that the crlti-
cism was just, but that the commits
sion was not a self constituted one,
/ and could not be held responsible.
Rev. Thornton brought the meeting
to a close with an urgent appeal that
! those present think seriously over the
things they had heard
''Not from the standpoint of your
own personal aggrandizement," he
said. but from the standpoint of a
greater Southern California. What
ever is the best thing for the greatest
number should be agreed to without
further delay"
President Butler asked that a COM
mittee be appointed TO meet with the
commission and make a careful study
Of the scheme, its purposes and its
probable results.
Lend me hundred, old man."
Cant do it,"
"Iu pay you per cent interest"