Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-05
MAKES PLEDGE TO
PROTECT HARB0R
W. oNA MORTON PROMISES TO
BANISH S. P.
Tells How Railroad Has Secured Con-
troll of Water Front at San Pedro
and Shows How Grip May
Be Broken

| A complete history of the San Pedro
harbor was contained i'm speech de-
| livered by w. Ona Morton, Democratic
nominee for attorney general of the
state. Mr.. Morton has given the harbor
question thorough study and his adj
dress Is one which can be read with
profit by Republicans as well as DEM
ocrats. The text of the speech follows:
Mr.. Morton said among other things:
"The tide lands, which are the lands
between mean high tide and mean low
tide, are owned by the state by virtue
of her sovereignty, and were acquired
by California upon the admission of the
state i'm 1850.
"These tide lands are held by the
state for the use of the whole people,
and as q public trust, and the title is
similar to the title of the state to the
bed of the oceans and the navigable
waters between low water mark and
the three mile limit into the sea.
''It follows that none of the lands be-
low mean tide are owned by the United
States, or can be sold as United States
property, but the authority of congress
extends over such lands for the inn
provement of commerce and naviga-
tion, under the commerce clause of the
United States constitution.
Not Subject to Sale
"These lands of the state which lie
under the water, and are not suscepti-
BILE of reclamation for agricultural pur-
poses, are not subject to sale by the
state as swamp or tide lands, but are
held for the purposes of navigation,
and patents issued by the state to such
lands under water are void.
THE constitution of California. arti-
Gle XIV, section 2, forbids all obstruc-
tions to free navigation of the waters
Nf II nse ufO ND frsnc hot ctG
to them shall remain open.
1.-THE political code of California reg
ulates the granting of franchises for
wharves by counties, cities and towns,
as to the extent of the grounds to be
granted and as to the duration of the
franchise.
"It limits the width of the wharf to
seventy-five feet on the ocean or on
any bay but provides that upon riv-
ers, straits and sloughs the franchise
may extend along the shore not exceed
ing 1000 feet.
Act Provides for Franchises
"The act of the Legislature known as
the 'Broughton act,' originally passed
in 1S93 and repassed with some slight
amendments on March 22 1905, provides
for the manner of the disposal of the
franchises and privileges to be granted
by countless cities and towns.
Section of the said Broughton act
requires application for such franchise
to be made.
"Section provides for the publica-
ton of the application.
.'Section provides for sale to the
highest bidder for cash.
"Section 6 requires work to be COM
menced upon the construction within a
fixed time, and fixes the time for COM
pletion.
y l. I.
for faithful performance
And this act requires by section
that certain percentage of the gross
earnings shall be paid into the treas
ury by way of license tax during the
period of the franchise after the first
five years.
Hartman on Water Front
I'm People VS.. Dean, 122 Cal, 421, it
was held that the granting Of fran
chises or privileges for the construc-
ton of wharves is governed by the
Broughton act as to the manner of dis
position and that the said Broughton
act controlled the granting of all priv
ileges and franchises of every kind
which included those for wharves.
1.-The water front of the San Pedro
and Wilmington bays is nearly all oc-
cUpied by the Southern Pacific railroad
|
first unlawful seizure of water 'front.' or
| lands in that bay was by the Southern
| Pacific Railroad company, by the con-
struction Of a railroad north and south
through the middle { f Wilmington bay,
commencing in the town of Wilmington
and extending across the bay to a point
near 'Timm's point distance of about
four miles, occupying the navigable wa
ters of the bay through nearly or quite
the entire distance.
''There is no law in the state of Cali
fornia authorizing the construction OF
railroads SO as to in anywise obstruct
| navigation or the access to naVigable
waters, and even If the legislature had
pretended to authorize it such act
would have been unconstitutional and
in violation of the provisions of article
XIV, section 2, of the constitution above
mentioned.
Forbidden by Constitution
1.-The Southern Pacific claimed the
right to construct this railroad across
the bay under the provisions of section
474 of the civil code, which granted q
right of way for two hundred feet in
width over swamp and overflow lands
of the state, but the swamp and over
flow lands did not include land covered
by navigable waters, but only those
susceptible to reclamation for agricul-
tural purposes as above mentioned. and
the legislature could not authorize the
obstruction either from the land to the
ocean or from the ocean to the land, OF
upon the water, which is forbidden by
the constitution.
"The effect of constructing this line
of railroad, built at a low elevation
and barely above the line of high tide
by piles driven closely together. was
to cut off the access entirely to the
ocean from the entire westerly side
of Wilmington bay and inner harbol
of San Pedro, so that no boat or shiI
could pass from the land into the open
water beyond, and this effectually cut
off from public use one-half of the
water front Of San Pedro bay and Will
mington bay.
"The next seizure was by the Ban
nings, in securing alleged patents from
! the state OF California to lands lying
under navigable waters in Wilmington
! bay.
Patents Issued by Pretense
"These patents were issued under the
pretended authority OF the state for the
sale of lands for agricultural pur-
! ,osas ond for the sala NJ qwa ,,,,, "a NJ