Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-08

their payment of stated sum per
month for term of years. If the
payments lapse the refugee property
owner, so-called will forfeit his bond
and the payments he has already made
will be considered as merely rent. Con-
sidering the character of the majority
of the refugees, there may be more for
FIXTURES than continued payments, so
that In the end much of the property
may fall back into the hands of the
relief building loan companies.
Several private corporations have
eagerly offered to work out this home-
building scheme. All they ask is the
loan of enough money to enable them
to buy the land and put up the houses.
OF course, the loan will have to be
made at a minimum rate of interest
The company is perfectly willing that
the refugees should receive a bond glv-
ing them contingent title to the prop
erty. These building loan financlers
figure that in ten years the company
would own practically all the property
through forfeitures of bonds. Undoubt-
edly the land would increase in value
in the course Of ten years and there
would remain only the loan to repay.
But who would then receive the loan,
and what is ultimately to become OF
the $4,000, 900 that the refugees are only
The politicians have an answer for
this-the money will have been eaten
up in salaries. 1t is only necessary to
make the scheme of di-tributions com
plcated enough to carry a payroll that
will soon devour 1t. The relief budget
will be $4,000 more for August than for
July, making 1t more than 100000
month 1t is expected to increase, even
after the bread line Is cut off and the
issuance of supplies of clothing and
household gear has been stopped.
Dangers Of the Camps
The need for better sanitation is be-
coming more pressing as the winter
approaches. Several of the camps are
In menacing condition and will have
to be moved. Thousands of dollars are
being spent in laying floors of tents
that will have to be pulled up in few
months. Physicians of the city are
pointing out the danger of an epidemic
If the great community of refugees is
continued under canvas though the
fall, when the heavy rains begin. But
even the new home building corpora
tion cannot hope to get UP any wooden
structures of the sort suggested until
late in the winter. The new corpora
ton has not been fully incorporated
yet. Not even tentative scheme of
organization has been drawn. The Of
fcers of the corporation are men of
many affairs, and can devote only a
small part of their ii: ie to the matter
They are James D. Phelan. president;
F. w. Dohrmann, first vice president;
w. F. Herrin, second vice president;
F. G. Drum, acting secretary. Mayor
Schmitz and Governor Pardee are
members of the board of directors.
Undoubtedly there will be lone delays
over a selection of site for the $3000,-
600 worth of buildings. There will be
delay over the letting of building con-
tracts. Friends of Mayor Schmitz say
that the corporation will eventually be
wound up in such a tangle that the en-
tire task of home building will be
turned over to the city administration. !
This is what the politicians are hop
ing for. Once turn the fund over to |
the city and the problem of spending |
the money will be speedily solved.
There will be state election this fall
and Mayor Schmitz is ambitious to be-
come governor. Once the Schmitz ad-
gets possession of the re-
lief fund the votes of the refugees will
be assured to Schmitz. Until election
day the destitute would have a beg |
gar's holiday. Afterward they would |
have to go to work or. starve.
Demand for Labor and Strikes.
There is no doubt about the great
present demand for labor, and the labor
unions are taking advantage of 1t by
going out on strike and tying up build |
ing operations. The sailors are still out, |
hampering the water front. The plumb
ers have struck for Sc, and the cleo |
trical workers threaten to strike today |
and tie up the trolley lines of the city. |
The only reason the other trades are
not striking Is that they can get al |
most anything they ask for their SER
vices on rush construction contracts |
There is also a scarcity of BARRIERS, bar i
tenders and walters. Several large res
taurants, which recently opened, had |
to send to Los Angeles for walters, and |
they are payin~ rs cents an hour.
''If $4,000 laborers came into San !
Francisco tomorrow" said prominent
eastern contractor, who has many
building contracts in the city, "they
could all get work within a week. /
Even the railroads are paying 50 per