Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-01
HAHN's LETTERS
CONVICT HIM
fcontInrea from rsre Ono,

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official organ have repeatedly goaded
the management of Charles w. Bells
campaign because It has not openly
attacked Mr.. Hahn in the manner that
the so-called Republican organization
has attacked Charles w. Bell and Ben
Ward They have stated that the al
legged connection of Mr. Hahn with the
railroad has not been shown, and they
have the temerity to ask what that con-
nection is.
''Mr. Bells campaign management
still refuses to enter the mud-slinging
contest, but glance at Mr.. Hahn's
career as a railroad bill introduoer may
furnish some inference as to the other
connections.
"At the last session of the legislature
Mr.. Hahn introduced altogether forty
three bills, of which this energetic and
influential statesman was able to secure
the passage of only nine. These nine
bills were either matters directed to
making the statutes conform to the
constitutional amendments passed at
the last general election, such as the
appellate court bill, or were matters on
which popular opinion was united, and
such as would have been passed no
matter who introduced them.
What Became of Them
What were these other thirty-four
bills introduced by Mr. Hahn and what
became of them? Most of them were
such as even the Sacramento legisla-
ture would not pass, or such as when
passed by that body were vetoed by the
governor. To be exact four of those
bills were refused passage by the
senate, four were vetoed by the gov
ernors with whom we have been told
Mr.. Hahn had such great inf1uence),
four were Withdrawn by Mr.. Hahn him
self and the rest died the natural death
of such bills. To illustrate the charac-
ter of the bills introduced by Mr.. Hahn,
and as showing his railroad connection,
notice the following:
Senate bill 232. This bill provided
that in every action to recover damages
for personal injuries the court or Judge
thereof must, upon the request of the
defendant and before the trial of the
action, require the plaintiff to undergo
a physical examination by physicians
or surgeons to be appointed by the
court. This iniquitous bill would have
become law but for the veto of Gov
ernor Pardee. 1t is true that many
vexatious and unjust actions for per-
sonal injuries are filed against rail-
ways, but what an unjust club it would
give to the railways for tba settlement
of damage suits. Picture the situation
to yourself. The sacredness OF the per-
son which every code of laws protects
would be violated.
Senate bill No. 81. This is known as
the lighting bill. 1t provided that any
city, city or county, or municipal cor
poration in which there was a plant for
supplying gas or electricity owned by
a private individual or corporation |
must, before establishing a plant of its |
own, appoint a competent engineer or
engineers to appraise the value of the
private plant. Within ten days after
the filing of the report of the engineers
the municipal governing body must
offer to purchase the private plant at
the price named in the report, or at a
less price. The owner of the private
plant might then notify the municipal
lty that it wanted an appraisement of
Its plant, whereupon the owner of the
private plant selected one arbitrator
and the city selected a second, and these
two named third. The arbitrators
were then to appraise the value of the |
private plant, and before the municipal |
body could construct or establish a |
plant of it's own it must purchase the
existing private plant at the price fixed |
by the board of arbitrators if the |
owner or owners of said private plant |
desired to sell the same at such price.
Bound Only the City
Notice the iniquity of this. Why |
should the city be bound by that arbi-
tration and the private owner not be
so bound? The private owner may put |
the city to the expense and delay of
the appraisement. Who ever heard of
an appraisement made by board of |
that wasn't binding on both
parties? The protection of private capi-
tai to embark capital and the encour-
agement of private capital to embark /
on public enterprises is a very worthy
thing and much to be encouraged, but
there is no justice or right in giving
private capital such a cinch as this
bill contemplated.
This bill was evidently, upon recon-
by the powers that induced |
our senator to introduce it, considered
unsatisfactory for the reason that it |
provided for an appraisement by en-
gineers to be appointed by the city for
the basis of the preliminary offer, and
the bill was allowed to die in the
senate. Our senator three days after
ward introduced a new bill which pro-
Vided that any city so situated, before |
constructing a gas or electric plant of |
its own, must request the owner of the |
private plant to fix a price at which |
such plant or plants would be sold to |
the city. If the price named by the |
private corporation was not suitable |
to the city it could not commence the |
construction of its own plant until a
board or arbitrators, as provided in the |
other bill, was appointed, and the value
of the private plant appraised. This
appraisement was binding upon the
city but not at all upon the owner of
the private plant. This second bill was
little more iniquitous than the first.
II passed both houses but was vetoed
by Governor Pardee.
Senate bill No. SO, This bill pro-
vided that real estate agent could col
lect commission for the sale of real
estate, regardless of the fact whether
he had written contract or not, from
the owner of the land authorizing the
agency. This bill opened the way to all
sorts of real estate fraud. 1t died in
the senate itself.
Senator Hahn voted for the overhead
crossing bill, which was a railroad
measure gotten up to prevent, or at
least delay, the Western Pacific Rail-
way company from operating in the
state of California, and 1t has been so