Los Angeles herald., 1906-06-26
Meeting WILL
Be IMPORTANT
vExATloUS QUESTIONS MAY BE
SETTLED FRIDAY
President Butler Calls Session Of
Consolidation conrnissIon--All
but Two Members viii
Be Present

President S. A. Butler Of the consoli-
dation commission has issued call for
a meeting of the commission next Fri
day evening. This meeting was origin
ally called for June is, but owing to
the absence from the city of several
members Of the organization it was
found necessary to order c postpone
ment. 1t is expected that all but one or
two of the members will be able to be
present next Friday evening.
This is likely to be one ef the most
important meetings the commission has
yet held. Delegates from San Pedro,
Long Beach, Wilmington and Holly
wood will be present, and efforts will be
made to further the project for merging
the harbor town with Los Angeles and
also to overcome such objections as
Long Beach may have to becoming a
part of this city. here will be full
discussion of all the important phases
OF the proposition, and IL possible the
subject will be advanced to a stage
where definite steps toward bringing
about a merger can be taken.
Delegates Are Prominent
The delegation from San Pedro will
include representatives of the board of
trustees of that city, the chamber of
commerce and the federation of labor.
The chairmen Of these delegations are
Minor p. Goodrich, Frank Burns and J.
w. Craig.
Wilmington will be represented by a
delegation headed by e. S. Kennedy,
secretary Of the consolidation commits
sion of that city.
There will be two delegations from
Long Beach, one headed by -red Bauld-
win, city clerk, and the other by J. A.
Miller. secretary of the Long Beach
board of trade
E. Winterer of Hollywood will look
after the interests of that city.
Favor the Merger
At the last meeting of the consolida-
tion the statements made by members
of the delegation from San Pedro indi-
Gated that the sentiment in the harbor
town was strongly In favor of a merger
with Los Angeles, provided an equitable
plan could be agreed upon This, the
members of the commission are conf
dent can be done, and it is probable
that the discussion at the meeting next
Friday night will go somewhat into the
details of the proposition. Some of the
leading men of San Pedro have stated
that they fully recognized the fact that
a merger Of that city with Los Angeles
could be arranged on terms that would
be mutually advantageous, and it is
believed they voice the sentiment of a
majority of the citizens. Wilmington
apparently is ready to join in any move
ment of this kind that is satisfactory to
San Pedro.
Action Is Delayed
In view of the failure of the legisla-
ture at it's extra session to take action
I,a tons
eral consolidation act have been de-
layed at least two years, but it is be-
lieved that this will not necessarily in
terfere with the proposed joining of Los
Angeles with San Pedro and Whining
ton, and possibly Long Beach. Mem
bers of the commission say they are
confident that the desired result can
be brought about satisfactorily through
direct annexation. This idea Is gaining
considerable favor, for the reason that
1T not only will save good Geal of time
but the deal can be so arranged that
San Pedro, or any other town that cares
to come in under this plan, can be fully
protected in any rights or .rivileges it
would have under a general consolida-
tion plan, provided such a project is
eventually carried out.
May Withhold Action
So strong is the sentiment on the
commission along this line that it is in
timated that possibly the city coun-
ell will be asked to hold up the annexa-
tion proposition now before t until ar
rangements can be perfected for includ-
ing San Pedro annexation in the cleo
tion call. This means that vote on
the proposition would be obtained early
in the coming fall.
The proposition now before the coun-
ell is for the annexation of about
twenty-five square miles of territory,
including parts of the Cahuenga valley
and the towns of Hermon and Eagle
Grove. This question was referred to
the consolidation commission and the
latter in turn has appealed to the
water board for an opinion as to the
ability of the city to supply the new ter
ritory with water.
Not Ready to Report
Several efforts have been made by the
commission to secure a conference with
the water commissioners, but so far
without avail. In view Of these re-
peated failures to get together the COM
mission has about come to the conclu-
sion that the water board does not
really care to go on record on this ques-
tion, but prefer rather to hold a neu-
trail position.
At any rate the commission is not
yet ready 10 MAKE ltb report 10 lne
council, and consequently the special
election question is still held up. The
council of course will be compelled to
call an election providing the petition
for one is found to be sufficient, but 1t
can delay action Utmost indefinitely.
If an understanding can be reached
with San Pedro and Wilmington re-
garding annexation these towns could
be included in the election to be called
l,u fba aItxy council and pOneidara hIa px-
pense saved to the city