Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-10
JOSEPH H. CALL SPEAKS AT
SAN PEDRO
Prominent Attorney Tells How South
ern Pacific Has Controlled sltu-
alton In Southern California
to Its Own interests

Pedro, briefly upon some OF tne lssue'
of the present campaign.
The achieven ents OF the Sacra-
mento convention, which eliminated
in the nominate of Theodore A. Bell
and other splendid men upon the state
ticket, and in the formation of a plat
form the like of which has not been
presented in this or any other state In
it's open warfare against government
ownership by railroads, had their
origin In a spontaneous movement OF
the non-partisan or Independent men
of this state to free the body polite
from corporation control.
AS delegate from Los Angeles
county and a member of the commit
tee on resolutions l speak with some
knowledge of the situation when
say that upon our arrival at Sacra-
mento, our first object was to ascer-
tain who the Southern Pacific ma
chine was supporting for governor
and who that machine was opposing.
Lobby Supported Diggs
We had no difficulty in ascertaining
that the railroad lobby which had In
truded itself into that convention, as
well as in every other convention Of
every character, was supporting Diggs
for governor and was violently oppos-
ing Bell.
| upon the nomination of Bell for gov
ernor, knowing that we could not go
wrong, inasmuch as he was being
fought by the Southern Pacific
Most of us had known Mr.. Bell well
and know him to be an able and high
minded man, entirely beyond the reach
of corporate influence but it was with
great difficulty that we finally secured
! Mr.. Bells consent to accept the nomi-
nation.
He was not a candidate for governor
and did not desire to be nominated.
but consented to accept it, only be-
cause his nomination was demanded
by three-fourths of the delegates.
The committee on platform and
resolutions received the hearty sup
port of the entire conventio in de-
manding a resumption of government
| by the people and against corporate
control of political affairs and in de-
manding the abolition of the present
infamous election laws, and the re-
/ storation of the direct ballot and di-
rect primaries. to be applied to all Of
! fees, including United States sena-
| tors.
No Law Against Trusts
The other planks of the platform,
against the abuse of injunctions anc
in favor of a state law against trusts
ana mOnOpOlleS, received unanimous
and hearty support.
The state of California, under the
absolute control of the Republican ma
chine and the Southern Pacific rail-
road for more than ten years, has had
no law against the maintenance ol
trusts and monopolies, and it is for
that reason that there now exists in
this state the infamous box trust,
which jobs the orange growers out
| af
The lumber trust, cement, and coal
trusts likewise receive protection and
immunity from prosecution by reason
of total LACK of law upon the sub
ject of truStsA
1t should never be forgotten in po-
litical affairs that presidents and gov
ernors are elected by the non-partsan
or Independent vote of the country 1t
was the non-partisan vote that elected
president whose name viii stand
alongside, Theodore Roosevelt.
| A change of one vote in twenty
makes difference in the result of
over one million and a quarter votes
in the United States and a difference
of 10000 in the state of California, suf-
ficient to overcome even extraor-
binary majoritles
viii Vote for Bell
The independent and non-partisan
voters of California not tied to cor
rupt party machines and the same
persons who gave the electoral vote
| of California to Roosevelt will now
give their votes to Bell and will secure
his election by a. large plurality. This
| fact is demonstrated from a canvass
in various parts of the state among
its non-partisan voters, and from
every county the returns come in
showing that the non-partisan vote ot
the state is for Bell.
The political issues in this elN'tion
while largely local, or confined 10 the
state, are not wholly so.
Your city of San Pedro, by reason
of its topography and position upor
the coast. ought to be the great port
Of Los Angeles and of all Southern
California, where the commerce of the
Orient and all of the commerce be.
tween the Atlantic ocean and the Gul,
of Mexico on one side and of South
ern California and Arizona on the
other, should pass both ways.
This city. which has population o.
5000 people, ought to have today {
/ population of more than 100000, witt
commerce of 100000 tons a year
and would have, were 1t not for tn,
reason that commerce has been sup
pressed by the Vaccinations of tn,
Southern Pacific or Hartman com
blne, in order that the railroads nigh
hold the long transcontinental haul b,
rail maintained at an exorbitant rat,
by combination between parable
lines
owns $4,000 Miles
E. II. Hartman testified last winte
before an investigation of New
York life insurance company i
which he was implica ted. that he ha,
under his control and supervision
Sc, 900 miles OF railroad. 1t is well un
derstood that these $4,000 miles o
railroad are the railroads of the Stan
dard oil and comprise railroads reach
Ing from the Atlantic to, the Pacific, in
cluding the Southern Pacific system
the Union Pacific and their numerou
dependencies
The Hartman system is opera te,
somewhat like a great department
store, the different departments beinj
represented by the names OF dIfferen
corporations, and upon this coast w
have the department of the Southern
Pacific proper. the department of tn
salt Lake railroad. the department o
the Huntington lines and the depart
ment OF the Los Angeles-Pacihc rail
way.
Let us not at any time be deceivel
IN the belief that any of these road
are competing with each other. no
| f.f l.. =