Los Angeles herald., 1909-01-28

| fee"
Capt Fries pointed out that first class
harbors are the worlds clearing house:
and that San Pedro has not only ar
abundance of anchorage room, but also
space for almost twenty miles OF
wharves along government harbor lines
not counting slips or the Long Beach
harbOr.
Fine Approach to Harbor
Continuing he said:
''The approach to the harbor, which
| is of vital Importance in railroad build
| ing, is one of the best in the country.
| Going back up the valley of the Los
Angeles and San Gabriel rivers, the
| grade is but a few feet per mile, max
ing railroad construction cheap and
maintenance easy.
"The harbor is the first commercial
center in the United States to be
reached by ships passing into the Pa
cific through the Panama canal. It's
position is such that vessels passing
from the canal to the Hawaiian islands,
| Japan, China or the Philippines need
go but a short distance out of their
| way to call
"It is the first commercial center in
| the United States to be reached by
vessels trading along the west coast of
| South America, and when the canal is
|
from the east coast of South America
than are the cities on the east coast of
the United States,
"San Pedro harbor is also strategic
center, considered from the naval and
military standpoint. The same rich
| country, easy approach to the harbor,
excellent railroad facilities, the near
ness to mountain passes and its CEN
! trail location with regard to other coast
| nnjnfC q MI Of 1i0r
value for the support of our own army
and navy, and as a base from which
! to operate.
Likewise it would be one of the
most valuable points on the Pacific
coast for an enemy to use against the
! interior Of the country and the rest of
the coast. At present it is entirely un-
| fortified, but undoubtedly this will
soon be remedied.
Now Owned by OIigarchy
'The control of the harbor at present
is in the hands Of an oligarchy formeI
/ into great transportation company,
and the problem now presented is how
| to bring the control back into the
/ hands of majority of the people vi
| tally interested in the harbor."
Captain Fries pointed out that the
| logical way is to place it under the
control of the city of Los Angeles. in
which are Joined, under one compact
municipal government, two-thirds of
the people south of the Tehachapi.
| mot only does Los Angeles by her
| large population deserve to control the
| harbor," he continued, "but she has
| laws far in advance of those of San
Pedro and Wilmington; laws which
! insure that the control will remain in
| the people. In her present charter (or
city constitution she has Incorporates
| three most excellent laws, the ini-
tiative, the referendum and the recall
| That is, the people may draw up laws
! and have the same submitted for ap-
proval by getting a certain number of
voters to sign a petition, or thew can
have any law submitted to a referen-
, dunn vote of the people in the same
manner, and by means of the recall
any unfaithful official who has been
elected to office may be dismissed by
majority vote of the people.
Charter Amendments
In addition, on February 2. Los
Angeles will vote on thirty-one charter
amendments, some of which are de-
! signed to safeguard the city's property
and also by means Of direct primary
nominations of non-partisan candidates
to aid the people still more in getting
| honest. efficient men into office.
These are all laws of the greatest
value, as they tend to put more fully
the control of public affairs in the
! hands of the majority, No honest. up-
fright man of ability need ever fear any
I one of them
"One of the usual objections to such
laws is the cost of holding special cleo
tlons. Let US examine that subject
! and see if it is worthy of consideration
! Los Angeles has voted $4,000 OOO
! for bringing water into the CITY from
| Owens river, 215 miles away. Suppose
corrupt or inefficient officials shouId
cause the city to pay for each dollars
worth OF labor or material for the
aquedCot only one cent-a single penny
more than it should pay.
DO you realize what that one cent
on each dollar would amount to? Two
hundred and thirty thousand dollars.
Enough to hold special election
every three months for five years-the
! estimated time for completion of the
Work-supposing, as is stated. that
each election will cost the city $40 600
But a loss of cents, or 10 cents. or
| even more, on each dollar, can easilv
occur through incompetent or corr1pt
officials, and instead of $3.50, ,OOO the
i loss may easily amount to one or two
millions, enough to pay for a special
election every ten days during the en-
| tire time of construction of the aoue-
duct, and still have money to spare.
Cost of Corruption
"And that is only about one-half of
the possibilities in Los Angeles. We
are told the city raises and spends al
most four millions of dollars each wear
not counting the Owens river Assum !
only one cent loss on each dollar OF
| that and it will cost tho +avno1a~
100000 more in five years, and, as in
the case of the Owens river water. the
loss may easily be five or ten times as
much.
Every business man knows that he
can be successful only by holding to a
strict accountability every employe
under him, from the general manager
down to the poorest paid day laborer
He must be free to hire and free to
dismiss for cause.
1.-THE citys business is the greatest
business in SOTtharp CaIifoypio