Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-06
HALF SAN PEDRO
FOR ANNEXATION
,cor,,Dued from Pcpe op.1


man of the consolidation committee for
that city, at noon yesterday telephoned'
President Butler the news that over so
per cent of the registered voters Of San
Pedro had signed the petitions asking
the board of trustees to call a special
election on consolidation with Los An
geles.
Mr.. Hanson said that this fact insured
the defeat Of the freeholders' charter
to be voted upon Monday and thai it
also made positive the assurance that
San Pedro would vote favorably on the
question of consolidation with Los An
geles.
1t is the intention of the friends of
consolidation, Mr. Hanson said, to con-
tinue the work Of securing signatures
to the petitions, in the hope of securing
practically every voter in the harbor
city to the plan of consolidation.
There are in San Pedro about 1900
registered voters, but of these only
about 700 voted at the last general cleo
| ton and are entitled thereby to par
| ticipate in the charter election. These
same voters, it is said, will be the only
ones qualified to vote at the special con-
solidation election.
Fight Has Been a Bitter One
The fight in San Pedro against the
consolidation plan has been a most
determined one, but confined to a GER
| tain few. In majority of cases the in
| terests of the leaders of the opposition
to San Pedro becoming a part Of
| Greater Los Angeles are closely con-
nected with corporations which have
been endeavoring to secure control of
the harbor frontage.
This opposition, while vigorous, has
| been able to turn the sentiment against
consolidation, as had been feared would
| be the case as the result Of an active
campaign inaugurated by the opposition
| of the Greater Los Angeles idea.
Until the past few days the fear has
| been entertained that the election to be
held tomorrow would result in the
adoption Of the freeholders' charter, in
which event no further move toward
consolidation could be made for at least
| two years.
At present the constitution of Califor-
mia does not permit of the consolidation
| of cities having charters, but in order
| to remove this obstacle to the plans OF
| Los Angeles an amendment has been
prepared for introduction at the coming
| session of the legislature. It's passage
| is considered certain, but the amend
ment cannot be voted upon until the
general election to be held in November,
1908.
Opposition in Long Beach
The opposition to consolidation in
Long Beach also is quite vigorous, but
| it is confined principally to the news
papers, which derive considerable rev.
enue from city printing and from the
officeholders.
Through the newspapers the opposi-
ton to consolidation has been greatly
magnified. 1t is known that large
majority of the leading business men
of the beach city are in favor of con-
solidating with Los Angeles, and the
prediction has been made that should
| the question come to vote 1t would be
carried in the affirmative.
| Considerable quiet work in Long
Beach now is being done by friends of
| the Greater Los Angeles movement, and
it is said that surprise will be in store
for the opposition when the first de-
cisive move is made.
1t is expected that the apparent over
whelming sentiment in San Pedro in
favor of consolidation will have tell
ing effect in Long Beach and result il
| creating an almost general desire tC
board the Greater Los Angeles band
wagon before it is too late.
To Inspect the Back Bay
| If the weather is favorable next
Thursday afternoon the members of
the consolidation commission will make
their postponed trip to Long Beach and
Wilmington. They will leave Los An
geles at 1243 At Long Beach they will
be met by the consolidation committee,
| and as the guests of that body will be
taken in a launch to inspect the Long
Beach harbor being built by the Los
Angeles Dock and Terminal company.
At o'clock the committee will turn
the Los Angeles visitors over to the
committee at Wilmington. They will
view Wilmington bay in automobiles
and hold an evening meeting there at
the invitation of Wilmington business
men.