Los Angeles herald., 1906-04-03

community for truth and veracity and
when | voted against the ordinance Ut
Mondays meeting he whispered in my
ear that | had knocked out a trans
continental railroad, That is what IN
duced me to change my vote.
Houahton Says He Was Deceived
81 took his word for it. But now
mine eyes have been opened ana L
wouldn't take the word of the Apostle
Paul if it were given on a franchise
question. My faith in my telioW men
has received a severe jolt. A FEW days
ago I was very much alive Today I'm
a dead one"
What Houghton might have said
further has been lost to history, for
lust at that moment f. c. Culver, an
old man, for many years MEMBER OF
the Electrical Workers union, OF which
union Dock Houghton Is also melh-
ber, Interrupted.
"When YOU voted for that franchise
did you vote for organized labor? ne
asked of Houghton in thln falsetto
voice that shook with wrath. lie was
called TO order by President Summer
land, but Houghton answered the ques-
ton. ,.-!,
labor" he replied Il voted for the
people of Los Angeles.
culver tried to ask him If he thought
he now represented organized lapor IN
any capacity, but before he could get
the question out Sergeant-at-Arlns
Willard Goodwin threatened to throw
him ont of the council chamber IL he
didn't keep still, so the old man SUD-
sided. ,,.,..t
11,,ol,tor started on another diScou-
nected harangue, and concluded with:
"When [ vote for a franchise again
Won will have to show me the railroad
line that is going to receive the iran
chise and not a picture OF II. wait
to see the choo-choos and the contracts
or I'll balk.' .,, -.
humiliation of sustaining the mayor
veto of the franchise ordinance. Inc
lobby was as full of prominent cltlzens
Yesterday afternoon as it was last wed
nesday when the council passed the
ordinance, and the council dld not IKE
TO have the mayors reproaches reau
ont loud with all those interested spec
tators listening. i'll.
The members fooled around WIN
other business in hope that the crowd
would be satisfied with IT'S acllou III
recalling the ordinance from the mayor
But that crowd was there to get its
moneys worth. 1T wanted to see the
whole show and soon it did.
Clerk Lelande picked up the message
and read the opening paragraph Al
this point Houghton moved that 1t be
filed without reading. Councilman
Smith seconded his motion. PresIaeIlt
Summerland put the notion IhtIe
was a weak yes, pGt d rru.as
stronger mo- and the clerk continued
reading the message, in part as fol-
lows:
McAIeer Shows Omissions
| return to you herewith, without my
approval, proposed orullldnce or Pea35,,G ~
March 49, granting to F. ". GliHlore,
and his assigns. the right TO Coz cohstaeTs e,
and fol- the period of twenty-ohe years
to operate and maintain single or aous
BILE track steam railroad in the city OF
Los Angeles along the westerly slde OF
the official bed of the Los Angeles river,
Considering the ordinance you nave
presented to me as a legal document IN
landed to grant certain rights trom lns
city to a private individual OF corpoLIh-
ton, / think that the ordnance is hlshly
Objectionable in many particulars, any
ESPECIALLY by reason of certain important
omissions therefrom the most consplcu-
GUS of which l wish to call your atteh-
In the first place, 1t will be noted that
the nroposed grant is for a period or
twenty-one years, without any qaulltttca ia
tions whatsoever specltylns tne tllde
when the work of construction there
under shall begin, or when the ROAD pro
posed shall be completed ana placeu III
operation. In my judgment TINS Is Inoss
serious oversight, and no franchlse OF
this Character should be granted by the
city which will not insure to the city, by
proper conditions, the construction anu
operation of such a road Wlthin u [ea1 a,sd
s0nable time, and its satisfactory ana
continuous operation thereafter.
CITY Should Be Protected
Again, wish to point out T,a that hie one 5ne
in the hands of any person, ana the CITY
should be protected against the gift OF
valuable right without WI tbis cSnS1Gii frane6ise
is beyond recall by the city, and may pe
used bv the grantee, or his assigns, for
speculative or other private purpose OF
prot without restriction: In my Juds-
breach of public trust for the city OF
Los Angeles through its official repre-
sentatives to give away unuer such
loose and ill-considered ordinance,
franchise whose value Is today immense,
and which in the future VIII De tne
source of incalculab)e profit to any per
son or corporation enjoying Tic rights
In the next place, the line or right-of-
way Of this proposed grant Is almost en-
tirely in the bed of the Los angeles L river; thc
CITY and in that respect is quite different
from the ordinary grant of a francmse
for railroad purposes over city streets
or other public highways. doubt the
power of the city to grant rlght-ot-
Way for railway purposes or Tor any
other purposes over city property WIN
out consideration
Would Open the Door
Another point involved in the grant of
this franchise as affecting part OF the
bed of the LUos Angeles river, is the
duty dt Of the city to protect by all possible
means its possession and title to the
lands in the bed of the river. IL the
citv can grant one right-of-way in the
river bed for railroad purposes, 1t may
grant another, and the door would be
9pened, unless public policy counts for
something, to entirely occupy the river
bed for railroad purposes, or at least to
impair it's usefulness as to seriously en-
barrass the city in it's rights thereto.
Another objection which | make to this
ordinance is that 1t contains no clause
providing that the city shall have the op-
tion at the termination of the grant to
take over the plant and property belong
ing TO or used by the grantee IN the
streets and other public places of the